Long Beach and Busan sign "sister port" pact 
Representatives of the Californian port of Long Beach (USA) and South Korea's Busan Port Authority met this week in South Korea to sign a sister-port agreement to establish a mutually-beneficial exchange of technology, ideas and culture. Both ports face the challenge of... more
Good things come to those who wait 
The vision of connecting the Greek port of Thessaloniki to the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway axis has been on the drawing board since the end of the 19th century. Serbia recently came a step closer to the realisation of this long-term project, thanks to Chinese support for the... more
Rickmers bond increases by EUR 50 million
Rickmers Holding GmbH & Cie, parent of the Rickmers Group of shipping companies based in Hamburg (Germany), increased its corporate bond placed in June 2013 by EUR 50 million to EUR 225 million in a private placement to institutional investors. The notes have a maturity... more
Rotterdam records decline in container volumes
The port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest seaport, handled around 92.2 million t of containers during the first nine months of this year, a 2.7% decrease in tonnage compared to the first nine months of 2012. In terms of teu, the port lifted 8.84 million teu, a drop of 1% compared... more
PSA gets active in Lianyungang
A subsidiary of PSA International (PSA) has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a stake in a new container terminal company in Lianyungang port in Jiangsu Province (China). The joint venture between PSA and Lianyungang Port Group will take over the container terminal... more
ICS opposes France's new CO2 reporting demands
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the global trade association for shipowners, has written to the French government to raise concerns about a new requirement for foreign shipowners to provide information to their French customers about CO2 emissions, using a detailed... more
Port of Bremen invests in equipment
The German service provider BLG has bought a new Liebherr LHM 550 port mobile crane for its activities in the port of Bremen (Germany). The crane, costing over EUR 3 million, was transported on SAL's "Anne Sofie" to the company's Neustädter Hafen terminal, the largest... more
EU member states agree to ratify Hong Kong convention
Following the European Parliament's adoption of a legislative resolution on a new ship recycling regulation (ITJ Daily from 24 October 2013), the permanent representatives committee (COREPER I) has agreed on a compromise text for a council decision supporting the ratification of... more
Carriers still reluctant to lay up ships
According to Drewry, more sailing cancellations are on the way on the Asia-Europe trade as carriers remain loath to risk losing market share by taking more radical capacity reduction measures in the interim. Drewry expects ocean carriers will go for another round of serious... more
Vessel operating costs expected to rise
Vessel operating costs are expected to rise by more than 3% in both 2013 and 2014 according to a new survey by the international accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens. The three factors identified by respondents to be most likely to influence the level of vessel... more