The Japanese carrier MOL will extend its SAF-WAF service ‘AOS’ (#192) to Mozambique. Effective immediately, MOL will add a call at Maputo, as well as a new westbound call at Coega (aka Ngqura) to the ‘AOS’. In order to maintain the extended service on a 14-day round trip, the present call at Walvis Bay, Namibia, […]
The previously announced changes on the West Med – ECNA service Amerigo Express (#109) are now materialising. As reported earlier, CMA CGM and Maersk Line have stopped their cooperation on this transatlantic loop and CMA CGM has instead teamed up with Hapag-Lloyd to operate the service together – in a slightly revised form. The Amerigo […]
Industrial demand for US natural gas may grow by 400 MMcf/d this year compared with the last year, with risks to this estimate skewed to the upside, stated London based Barclays in its recent market analysis.
Gas prices hovered near the $4 per MMBtu …
LNG prices have fallen on weak demand and high stocks Spot LNG prices in Asia have retreated sharply to $14/MMBtu after reaching a 4-year high of almost $20 in February. Tightness in global LNG markets evaporated as gas demand in North East Asia eased …
By P.J. Huffstutter Sat May 18, 2013 4:19pm EDT May 18 (Reuters) – Texas has joined the crowd of Gulf of Mexico states to file suit against BP Plc, Halliburton Co and others for their role in one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history. The complaint, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Beaumont, Texas, alleges that the companies and others “engaged in willful and wanton misconduct” for their role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.The state has accused the firms – as well as Transocean , Anadarko and BP America in its suit – of violating Texas’ environmental regulations. Texas is seeking money from “lost” tourism revenues due to the spill, as well as monies that would have been generated from state park entrance and concession fees by visitors to the coastal communities.In addition, the state is seeking civil penalties for each day the oil spilled into the Gulf, and each barrel spilled into the water, as compensation for natural resources that were “injured, destroyed or lost.”An estimated 4.9 million barrels were spilled, but BP has argued that 800,000 barrels that were recovered should be excluded from calculations for the purposes of any legal settlement.Texas joins four other states that have sued BP and other companies in connection to the spill: Florida and Mississippi filed complaints last month, while Alabama and Louisiana did in 2010.In April of 2010, a surge of methane gas known to rig hands as a “kick” sparked an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 people. The vessel sank two days later. London-based BP was the majority owner and operator of the Macondo well and Swiss-based Transocean Ltd owned the rig, which was drilling the mile(1.6 km)-deep well in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana’s coast.BP also is fighting a court battle in New Orleans over fines and other potential spill liabilities, but it struck a deal last year with a wide range of compensation claimants, including businesses.The total amount was not set, and BP has set aside over $8 billion to make the payments, but it now sees those business economic loss (BEL) payments escalating, and is challenging the way they are being calculated – calling some of the claims “fictitious” and “absurd.”It has already lost one appeal to have the payments stopped and now plans to go to a higher court.Texas’ lawsuit is State of Texas v. BP Exploration & Production Inc., 13-cv-00315, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas.
By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG | Sun May 19, 2013 6:42am EDT May 19 (Reuters) – South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers said on Sunday it would seek pay hikes of up to 60 percent from the country’s gold and coal producers in upcoming wage talks which are expected to be among the toughest ever. NUM said it was seeking an entry-level minimum monthly wage of 7,000 rand ($750) for surface workers and 8,000 rand for those underground in a submission to the country’s Chamber of Mines, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.Elize Strydom, the industrial relations adviser at the Chamber of Mines, said the minimum wage for surface workers is currently 4,700 rand and for underground miners it is 5,000 rand, so the demands for the latter are 60 percent.NUM also said it wanted 15 percent hikes for “all other wage categories”, which would refer to more experienced and skilled workers.($1 = 9.2816 South African rand) (Additional reporting by Agnieszka Flak; editing by Keiron Henderson)
Sat May 18, 2013 12:13pm EDT * Chinese, Korean and Spanish firms to bid by early 2014 * Plant would provide 4,800 MW, S.Africa to buy over half* Congo needs more electricity to power mining operationsBy John IrishPARIS, May 18 (Reuters) – Chinese, South Korean and Spanish firms are vying to develop a hydropower project likely to cost between $9 billion and $14 billion on the Congo River, Congolese officials said on Saturday.The planned Inga 3 scheme, which aims to overcome power shortages that have curtailed economic growth in Africa, would produce some 4,800 megawatts (MW) of electricity and is one of the largest proposed power projects in Africa.It would be sited about 230 km southwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) capital Kinshasa.Yet the project has been dogged by problems since the 1980s, ranging from political instability including a recent civil war to local objections and, not least, the massive costs.Speaking after three days of meetings in Paris that brought together the World Bank, African Development Bank, technical, financial advisers and potential developers, Congo’s Electricity Minister said there was a commitment to the project because of rising demand for electricity in the region.”We need to do Inga 3 because if we don’t we’ll be putting our country up for mortgage,” Bruno Kapandji Kalala said.Congo holds rich deposits of copper, tin, cobalt and gold.Inga 3 project is the first of seven phases of a proposed $80 billion hydropower complex that would produce 40,000 MW of electricity, becoming the world’s largest power plant, almost double the size of China’s Three Gorges.The development was given a boost in March after South Africa agreed to buy 2,500 MW of the electricity from Inga 3, securing the commercial viability of the scheme. The two nations also agreed a treaty to move ahead with the larger project.Officials said that by 2020/21 – when the project is due to be completed – there would be a power shortage of some 5,000 MW in DRC. South Africa is expecting an electricity shortfall of 40,000 MW by 2030. Mines and smelters were hit by severe power shortages in the continent’s largest economy in 2008.FEASIBILITY STUDIESKalala, whose advisers include French utilities firm EDF , said feasibility studies were finished. The project will be carried out as a public-private partnership with three consortiums preparing financial and technical bids.A decision is due in early 2014 with the objective of beginning construction towards the end of 2015.Three consortiums are in the running, including one led by China Three Gorges Corp and Sinohydro ; a Korean/Canadian group comprising Posco, Daewoo Corp and SNC-Lavalin ; and a Spanish group led by ACS.Existing hydro plants Inga I, commissioned in 1972, and Inga II which followed a decade later, have fallen into disrepair and only produce about a quarter of their joint capacity of 1,700 MW.Despite a vast network of rivers, Congo exploits only a fraction of its hydroelectric potential and the government expects power shortages to worsen in coming years.Less than 10 percent of Congo’s 70 million people have access to power and mining companies are scaling back production and expansion because of shortages.The last attempt to get Inga 3 off the ground with a consortium called Westcorp fell apart because of concerns over the business climate in Congo.”Our government will do everything to ensure transparency. There is no possibility of corruption as we are being helped by the African Development Bank and World Bank,” Kalala told Reuters.
Effective end of May, the China – Middle East Gulf ‘CMI’/’WAX’ service jointly operated by MOL and APL (#195) will drop one of its two Bahrain calls and add an additional call at the UAE hub of Jebel Ali. So far, the loop included an unusual double call in the order of Bahrain, Dammam, Bahrain. […]
2013, Week 20 – from May 12 to May 18 Network news Zim takes slots on ‘IFX’ Evergreen takes slots on ‘NHX’ ANL joins Coscon on China – Australia ‘SAS’ - update MOL and PIL team-up in Indian Ocean – update TS Line’s new Australian set-up K-Line adds China – Korea shuttles ANL joins Coscon on […]
The port of Piraeus will be equipped with five of the most modern cranes in the world, significantly upgrading the port’s facilities and boosting its productivity, a Cosco representative said Friday.
Tasos Vamvakidis, commercial manager of Cosco, told the Athens News Agency that the the installation of the new cranes will allow Cosco to begin operating Pier III of the port sooner than expected. The first five cranes of the super-post panamax type arrived on Friday with the “Zhenhua 24″ vessel from Shanghai, while another two similar cranes are expected soon. The port will be able to service vessels up to 360 metres in length and around 4,000 container boxes in 24 hours. The lifting ability of the new cranes is 65-85 tons, while each crane weighs around 2,000 tons.
We want to raise our productivity, Vamvakidis said, adding that with the operation of piers 2 and 3, the port will be able to manage around 4.3 million container boxes by the end of 2013.
Cosco handled around 3,911,674 container boxes in 4,191 ships in the period 2010-2012, while in the first quarter of 2013 it handled 535,000 containers. Cosco estimates that in the next two years the handling of container boxes will total 4.7 millon TEU from 2,108,087 in 2012.
The Chinese company employs around 1,000 Greek workers and operates four terminals in Pier II.