News

Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company (GSCCO), part of the Gulftainer group of companies, has signed an agreement with Red Sea Marine Services Company Limited to manage and operate King Fahad Industrial Port in Yanbu. The deal takes GSCCO’s portfolio of terminals in Saudi Arabia up to four, a statement said. GSCCO said it will handle all types of cargo at KFIP, including containers, breakbulk cargo, vehicles and bulk cargo. adding that the company will invest in new equipment. The decision to award the operation of the port to GSCCO, which also operates the Northern Container Terminal in Jeddah and Jubail Commercial Port, was taken by Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani).

Top Chinese grain trader COFCO is in talks about buying a shareholding in a grain export terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk as part of its expansion in Europe, sources said. COFCO is understood to be in talks about buying a shareholding of about 25% in the KSK deep water grain terminal in Novorossiysk

Indian Oil Corp has issued a tender for short-term commercial lease of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tank at Ennore terminal near Chennai, according to a notice posted on the company website. The company is seeking bids for the short-term lease for LNG unloading, storage and reloading services at the 5 million-tonnes-per-annum (mtpa) import facility which was commissioned earlier this year. The contract period is for two years from the date of the agreement execution, according to the document.

(Reuters) – Finland’s 110 million-euro ($124.5 million) Manga liquefied natural gas import terminal has fully opened after a year-long delay to the project, engineering firm Wartsila and part-owner Gasum said on Tuesday. Manga, the largest LNG terminal in the Nordic region with storage capacity of 50,000 cubic metres, began receiving some shipments in November 2017, but is only now ready for full commercial operations after an additional year of tests. A Wartsila executive told Reuters the testing period had been prolonged due to some adjustments that the facility needed, but declined to specify the nature of the extra works. The terminal includes facilities for LNG unloading, storage, pipeline distribution, regasification, truck loading, and ship bunkering, said Wartsila, which will also maintain the facility for 10 years.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Boudicca made her inaugural visit to Poole Harbour in Dorset on 4 June, becoming the largest cruise ship to berth in the UK town to date. Measuring just over 205 metres long and weighing 28,000gt, Boudicca berthed at Poole Harbour’s South Quay as part of her free eight-day cruise marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy, France.

The Port of Durban has been named Africa’s Leading Cruise Port at the World Travel Awards – and winning in two other categories, Leading City Destination and Leading Meetings and Conference Destination. Operated by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), the Port of Durban came up against some stiff competition at the Africa & Indian Ocean gala awards in Mauritius on Saturday. Among the contenders for the award was Kenya’s Port of Mombasa, Tanzania’s Ports of Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar, as well as South Africa’s Ports of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The Port of Durban previously held the title from 2010 to 2013 before losing it to Cape Town in 2014 and then to Mombasa from 2015 to 2017.

(Reuters) – Medium-sour crudes from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are being snapped up by overseas buyers, paving way for a record six supertankers to load at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in a matter of weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The six scheduled loadings in late May and early June would double the record of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) reached in December. An unusual influx of Gulf of Mexico crudes to the U.S. deepwater export port and weakening prices are contributing to the exports, according to one of the people close to the matter.

The government of Tanzania said the expansion of the Dar es Salaam port by China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) will enable it to handle large vessels ferrying up to 6,000 containers when the project will be completed.

Egypt's Minister of Transport, Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, announced the completion of a new multi-purpose terminal in Damietta Port at an investment cost of LE 1.365 billion. The new terminal has been established under the supervision of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority (AFEA) and implemented by a number of Egyptian national companies. The multi-purpose terminal includes a 630 meters long,17 meters deep berth and is equipped with a backyard area of 50,000 square meters with anticipated capacity of about 4 million tons per year.

On 12 June 2019, AS Tallinna Sadam (hereafter “Tallinna Sadam”) signed a cooperation agreement and a building title agreement with PK Terminal OÜ (hereafter “PK Terminal”) for the development of a dry bulk and general cargo terminal in Muuga Harbor, which deals with the handling and storage of round timber, wood pellets, metal products and crushed stone. With the agreements, PK Terminal took over the using rights of the two quays and their hinterland area used in the former steel sheet galvanizing plant, and in addition the Koorma 2 real estate. The total area of the dry bulk and general cargo terminal development is 4.4 ha. The agreements are signed for a period of 20 years, with the option to prolong for another 15 years.

Less than two months after selling its 50% share in the Medcenter Container Terminal of Gioia Tauro to MSC, Contship Italia has decided to exit Cagliari International Container Terminal, a big blow to Italy’s transhipment aspirations. Many jobs are expected to be axed when Contship leaves the Sardinian port.

Reference Trade Notice No: 01/2019 Disruption of Electricity Power Supply from GETCO, This is to inform all the concerned stakeholders that the power outage from GETCO has been restored and all port operations are normalized.

The Aqaba Development Company (ADC) has completed installing the first oil-tanker steering gear of international standards at the Aqaba Oil Terminal, located within the new southern port.Terminal director, Mohammad Louama, said the new and upgraded system utilises laser technology to monitor speed and calculate distance, thus facilitating the process of docking tankers at night, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.The previously used docking mechanism relied on the estimations and expertise of the maritime piloting crew, thus making it difficult to dock tankers at night, Louama said.

Brittany Ferries has extended its partnership with Portsmouth International Port, UK, adding five years to a joint long-term agreement which will now end in 2031. Between now and then, Brittany Ferries will add three new ships to its fleet which will sail to Europe. As of 2021, Galicia and Salamanca will join LNG-powered sister ship Honfleur to homeport in Portsmouth. The new ferries will not only increase freight numbers, but also the number of tourists using the service.

International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) subsidiary Adriatic Gate Container Terminal (AGCT) has announced a major expansion plan at the Port of Rijeka to enable it to be the first terminal in the northern Adriatic able to berth vessels of up to 20,000 teu capacity.

The first vessel has successfully docked at Tema Port’s new MPS Terminal 3, Ghana. The container vessel will be used for training purposes over the coming weeks, to ensure that the terminal runs smoothly from day one, when operations begin later this month on June 28. Chartering the test vessel will cost around 250,000 Dollars. Over the coming weeks it will be used to run a full-scale test of the port and for final staff training. “When it comes to training, the benefits significantly outweigh the cost involved,” explained Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Port Services Ltd, Mohamed Samara.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) said Wednesday it has suspended vessel operations at its Tuna and Mundra Port in Gujarat for next 24 hours in the wake of cyclone Vayu hitting the state.

The Maritime Authority of Suriname has issued the following Notice to Mariners: "From June 7th till August 12th, 2019, the survey vessel HARRIER EXPLORER will conduct a seismic survey at one hundred and fifty nautical miles (150 NM) off the coast of Suriname. The survey vessel will be towing a seismic cable with a length of twelve 1/2 kilometer (12.1 km) will be towed. Vessels must maintain a safe distance of at least eight nautical miles (8 NM) of the HARRIER EXPLORER. During the operation HARRIER EXPLORER will be restricted in maneuverability and will display the relevant characters. The vessel SHANNON will serve as a support vessel during the operations. Ship communication is through the VHF channels 16 and 68. All ships are requested to take notice of the above mentioned."

The world’s largest shipping and logistics company looks set to drop its anchors in Timaru following a visit from the largest ship ever to berth at the port. The town’s port would definitely see more ships like the massive Rio de Janeiro, which berthed here on May 26, if that trial run proves successful, Maersk says. Maersk Oceania area product manager Greg Paradine said it had recently customised its services to accommodate New Zealand ports such as Tauranga, Napier, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers. Timaru could be next on that list after the Rio de Janeiro’s stop over late last month, he said.

(Reuters) – A lockout of longshore workers at Canada’s biggest port, the Port of Vancouver, ended in a deal on Thursday after a few hours, averting a potentially massive shipping disruption, the workers’ union and employers association said. The lockout was immediately lifted and the union also withdrew its strike notice, according to separate statements by the BC Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada.