EMPRESA INGLESA BG INVESTIRÁ US$ 4 BILHÕES NO PRÉ-SAL – LOBÃO CONFIRMA INVESTIMENTO DA BG DE US$ 4 BILHÕES NO PRÉ-SAL (Brazil)

13/01/2009 19:00

FolhaNews

PUBLISHED BY ‘CORREIO BRAZILIENSE’

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DELUGE OF BAD NEWS A FESTIVE TRADITION (New Zealand)

4:00AM Saturday Dec 27, 2008

by Alanah May Eriksen

PUBLISHED BY ‘THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD’

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QUIP S/A ESTÁ À FRENTE DA LICITAÇÃO DA P-63 (Brazil)

Rio Grande, 25 de Dezembro de 2008, Quinta-Feira

por Carmem Ziebell

PUBLISHED BY ‘JORNAL AGORA’ (Brazil)

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CONSELHO DO FGTS APROVA R$ 5 BILHÕES PARA INVESTIMENTOS EM INFRA-ESTRUTURA – Terminal no Porto de Santos e hidrelétrica de Santo Antônio estão entre projetos beneficiados (Brazil)

20/12/2008 | 00h02min

CLIC RBS

PUBLISHED BY ‘ZERO HORA’ (Brazil)

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CHINA SIGNS GREEK PORT DEAL

Nov 26, 2008 6:38 AM

Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed to increase maritime investment in Greece after the signing of a 3.4 billion euro deal to run the country’s largest port, despite protests from dockers.

Hu and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis witnessed the signing of the contract by state-controlled China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) to operate the container port of Piraeus (OLP) for 35 years, part of Greece’s privatisation agenda.

“Our priorities are to widen our economic cooperation … to strengthen maritime cooperation and investments,” the Chinese leader told journalists, during a three-day state visit.

Greece controls one fifth of the world’s merchant fleet. Its ship owners have profited from a huge boom in demand for iron ore, oil and grain from China in recent years, and they are the largest clients for Chinese shipbuilding yards.

Until a collapse in freight rates earlier this year, the boom helped Greece’s economy grow by 4% a year for a decade.

“The agreement between OLP and Cosco signals a new important chapter,” said Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. “Greek ports can become transit points for Chinese goods to the EU and southeast Europe, as well as the Mediterranean.”

Several hundred dockworkers, carrying a banner reading “Cosco Go Home” and waving black flags, marched past the Greek parliament before the signing, saying the deal would mean job losses and tougher labour conditions.

“They must not sell the ports. OLP is a profitable business … it doesn’t make sense,” said Manolis Gemeliaris, 54, an engineer at the port. “When Cosco comes, we will lose our jobs.”

The Chinese company has insisted that it will create 1,000 new jobs at the port for Greek workers and more than double its capacity by 2015.

Hu, who toured the ancient temples of the Acropolis in central Athens with his wife, has insisted during his visit that China’s economy is still experiencing “significant growth” and he would cooperate with international efforts to tackle the global economic downturn.

However, the World Bank said in a report published Tuesday that China’s economic growth would slow to 7.5% next year, its lowest rate since 1990, despite a 4 trillion yuan ($US586 billion) stimulus package.

Despite the opposition of Greece’s restive unions, the conservative government is pressing ahead with privatisations and has put loss-making Olympic Airlines on the block.

The ruling New Democracy party, whose parliamentary majority was cut to one seat this month by the expulsion of a rebel deputy, has fallen behind in opinion polls for the first time since winning power in 2004 amid discontent at its economic policies. Many analysts expect an early election next year, ahead of a 2011 deadline.

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PUBLISHED BY ‘TVNZ’ (New Zealand)

SHIPPING’S PREMIER LEAGUE DEBATE THE IMPACT OF THE CREDIT CRUNCH (South Korea)

Posted: 11.11.2008

Organised by the Korean Register of Shipping attended by around 150 leading industry representatives from the owning, building and classification sectors, this event proved an ideal forum to debate the current issues facing the industry.

The impact of the current financial crisis topped the agenda at last week’s inaugural Seoul International Maritime and Shipbuilding conference.

Conference keynoter, Lee Jae-Gyoon, vice minister at the ministry of land, transport and maritime affairs, admitted that the current economic downturn had hit harder than forecast but that Korea was well prepared to weather the storm. Mr Lee outlined a number of upcoming government initiatives and activities for shipping that included plans to further advance the technical and design standards for ships, strengthening safety management systems, an enhanced focus on environmental issues, heightened collision damage compensation and actions to help reduce global piracy.

The impact of falling freight rates was a theme taken up by many of the conference speakers. Some thought that oil and commodity prices would stabilise in 2010 but that the growth of the world fleet would necessarily slow down as ship recycling started up again. The financial squeeze might, some said, make older ships more economic due to lesser financing requirements which could lead to a general shift in the age profile of the fleet. Others thought that it would be the older vessels that were more likely to be scrapped as global demand diminished.

The recent boom years had driven vessels and crews to work much harder but recently, according to some speakers, there had been a reduction in collisions, groundings and other human element induced incidents leading many to believe that these would continue to fall as the pressure eased. It was also argued that human error was the root cause of 80% of insurance claims and that these were also likely to reduce as less than scrupulous owners would no longer need to send ships to sea with ill-trained, inexperienced or undermanned crews. At the same time, more focus could be given to improving the working life of the seafarers including better on-board accommodation, improved shore access and measures to reduce crew fatigue.

Some owners, it was argued, had been guilty of overworking their vessels and had been less than diligent in sticking to maintenance schedules causing an increase in machinery and other failures. A lack of repair and dry-dock facilities were also thought to have been a contributory factor. But low freight rates would cause additional problems for the insurance sector as owners filed more claims in an attempt to cover maintenance and running costs.

Shipyards were facing similar issues. Plummeting freight rates and vessel values had reduced shipyard liquidity but those building high quality vessels would continue to prosper, particularly in the current environment of ever increasing regulation. Specific issues facing the Korean builders – and echoed in many yards across Asia – were highlighted. They were concerned with the 255% increase in the price of steel plate (since 2002) and a shortage of skilled workers. More than 119,000 skilled workers were employed in the main Korean yards and the requirement was growing year-on-year. Many yards were now relying on subcontractors, it was said.

Speakers at the conference included: Peter Swift – Intertanko, Roberto Cazzulo – RINA, Simon Stonehouse – Brit Insurance Holdings, Kwon Oh-Yoon – Korean Shipbuilders’ Association, Lee Jin-Bang – Korea Shipowners’ Association, Clifford Proctor – OCIMF, Roger Holt – Intercargo, Michael Grey – Lloyd’s List, Peter Hinchliffe – International Chamber of Shipping and Lim Chin-Soo – KMI,

Commenting on the event, KR chairman Mr Oh Kong-Gyun said “Korea remains the world’s premier shipbuilding nation and one of the top global ship-operating countries. The core role of the Korean Register is to ensure the safety of vessels at sea and the protection of the maritime environment and this important conference has provided a forum to advance those aims. It has allowed us to give a much stronger voice to the Asian shipping community and to bring together leading representatives from shipping companies, yards and class from both Asia and Europe. Such has been the success of this conference that I am pleased to announce that it will become an annual fixture in KR’s calendar”

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PUBLISHED BY ‘MARINE NORWAY’