Bounce Back

A.P. Moeller Shares Bounce Back

Danish A.P. Moeller shares rebounded on Friday after news of its purchase of Dutch tug and salvage company Wijsmuller Group Holding on Thursday, brokers said. The two A P Moeller stocks, D/S 1912 and D/S Svendborg, traded at 69,500 crowns ($7,898) and 91,500 crowns respectively, 2.2 percent and 1.7 percent up from Thursday's close. The Copenhagen bourse's top 20 index KFX was down 0.4 percent at 316.15. Moeller shares have underperformed the KFX index by more than three percent the past 10 days, dented by news that Morgan Stanley within a year would cut the conglomerate's weight in its Denmark index. "The shares are rebounding on the Dutch news and it seems foreign sale pressure in the shares has faded," a trader said. Moeller's tug and salvage unit Svitzer said on Thursday it would buy Dutch Wijsmuller for around one billion crowns, a source said. The acquisition was seen increasing Svitzer's fleet to more than 220 vessels from the present 70.

Millennium Fever Should Drive Panamax Market Up

Fixing to cover the millennium holiday period is expected to kick-start the Panamax market in the fourth quarter, shipping broker Simpson Spence & Young (SSY) said. "The belief is that the fourth quarter will see a major improvement as people look to fix for the holiday period," SSY said in its latest monthly report. Capesize supply/demand fundamentals were also looking strong for the period, the broker said. However

E&P Spending 2000: Boom or Bust?

While the theoretical jury deciding which direction the offshore drilling market will take is still out, recent data suggests that the level of spending internationally will disappoint. Calling a 10.2 percent gain in spending may seem a bit harsh, particularly given the depths to which the market has sunken in the previous two years. But considering that the price per barrel has catapulted from the $10 level early in 1999 to the mid-20's by the beginning of 2000

Kirby Corp. Records Solid Results

Kirby Corp. has apparently had success incorporating Hollywood Marine, a move which effectively created the largest inland barge operator in the country. In February, the company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38, versus $0.31 a year ago. While the company appears strong, poised for further growth, there are some concerns as noted in a research report from Lazard Freres & Co. LLC. Management expects the slowing U.S

Carib Tanker Rates Tank In New Year

Caribbean dirty tanker trades have sustained a massive hit, tumbling from W255 at the end of last week to W202.5, New York brokers said. "The holiday doldrums have left a lot of spare tonnage and that has affected rates. With both Christmas and New Year's Day falling on Mondays this year, we've had two short weeks in a row and the market simply couldn't take that," said one dirty tanker broker. He pointed to Exxon's fixture of the 70,000 tonr Lucky Lady from Covenas to the U.S

ABB Wins $26m Marine Repeat Order

ABB won a $26m order to supply electrical power and propulsion systems for two next generation ‘Ramform’ vessels, capable of three-dimensional (3D) seismic data acquisition for deep sea resource exploration. The ships will be constructed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and delivered in 2015 to Norway’s Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS), a leading company in marine seismic and reservoir data acquisition, processing and analysis/interpretation services

Where Everyone is A Celebrity

That is the basic business principle that has sustained Dietmar Wertanzl, senior VP of Fleet operations for Celebrity Cruises, since he began his career with the industry in the late 1970's. Not even 30-years old, Wertanzl began on what was then known as Norwegian America Line's Vistafjord as a dining room steward, so swept up by the magic of sea travel. Wertanzl's philosophy is simple. Treat your employees and customers the way that you would want to be treated

Wales Reflects on Sea Empress Oil Spill

On the night of Thursday, February 15, 1996, shortly after 8pm the 147,000-ton supertanker Sea Empress had begun the final stages of its three-day voyage from Grangemouth, at the mouth of the River Forth, to Milford Haven docks and the Texaco refinery. As it was being piloted into port, the tanker, carrying a full cargo of North Sea light crude, ran aground on rocks in Mill Bay, just off St Ann’s Head, rupturing its oil tanks

Wall Street Worries About Cruise Fleet Pricing

The big cruise lines have been steadily filling their rapidly expanding fleets with passengers looking to escape an especially harsh North American winter, but as they get ready to release quarterly results, Wall Street is worried that ticket prices may not be high enough. Analysts are expecting profit declines for the winter quarter from the top three cruise lines, starting with industry leader Carnival Corp., which plans to release its fiscal first-quarter results on Wednesday (March 21

MHI Contracted for 3D Seismic Survey Vessels

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) gets additional order to build 2 seismic vessels for Norway's Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS). The order for the two vessels was placed upon exercise by PGS of the option right that was provided when two same type vessels were ordered to MHI in April 2011. The two newly ordered vessels are scheduled for delivery in the first and second half, respectively, of 2015. With this latest order