Kuna News

The restored flagship of former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito is being converted into a hotel and a museum devoted to its turbulent history, from banana boat to meeting place for world statesmen.Berthed in Croatia’s Adriatic port of Rijeka, the Galeb (Seagull) will open to the public in its new role next year.The ship was built in 1938 in Italy to transport bananas from Africa. During World War Two, it was used first by the Italian navy and then by the Germans and it was sunk by Allied planes at the end of the war.In communist Yugoslavia, it was retrieved and converted into a yacht used by Tito for his many journeys across the globe.During that time…

Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) said that it received the giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, Umm Ruwaisat, as part of a major fleet overhaul.Accoding to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), KOTC has entered the fourth phase of its fleet overhaul, which entails the delivery of eight carriers, three of which are gas tankers built by South Korean ship building firm Hyundai MIPO.The fourth phase of the fleet development includes the delivery of eight tankers of which three are giant LNG tankers built by Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, in addition to four medium-term oil products tankers and a huge crude oil tanker currently being built in a Chinese firm.

The Croatian government said on Thursday it would guarantee loans of up to 150 million kuna ($23 million) to keep one of the country's biggest shipyards afloat and give it time to find a strategic long-term partner.The 3.Maj shipyard in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka is owned by Croatia's biggest shipbuilding group Uljanik whose other shipyard in the port of Pula has already been placed into bankruptcy procedure.Under EU state aid rules, the government cannot provide financial…

The Kuwait Ports Authority manager said on Wednesday that there is coordination between Gulf and Arab countries to secure the safety of maritime traffic in Gulf waters, state news agency KUNA reported.Sheikh Yousef Abdullah al-Nasser al-Sabah also said the impact of the latest developments in the Gulf region, after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker, was "slight on Kuwaiti ports traffic". He added that there are "alternative plans for any developments in the region," KUNA quoted him as saying.Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Omar Fahmy

Croatia's ailing shipyard in the northern Adriatic city of Pula was placed into bankruptcy by a commercial court on Monday after an almost year-long effort to keep it afloat.The shipyard belongs to Uljanik, Croatia's largest shipbuilding group, which also owns another troubled dock in the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka. A decision on the shipyard in Rijeka is scheduled for June 5.The Pula shipyard has an outstanding debt of 164.8 million kuna ($25 million). Local media reported that it has 1…

A court in Croatia on Wednesday postponed a bankruptcy ruling for the country's biggest shipbuilding group Uljanik until May 13, as the government tried to delay activation of state guarantees to a customer for late delivery of a vessel.The commercial court in the northwestern town of Pazin had already delayed its ruling from March and the decision in May should be final. Bankruptcy would threaten the jobs of around 3,000 workers.Uljanik, which owns two shipyards in the northern Adriatic cities of Pula and Rijeka and is 25 percent owned by the state, has been working to stave off bankruptcy due to liquidity problems that began in 2017.The…

The Croatian government said on Thursday it would not back a restructuring plan for the country's biggest shipbuilding group Uljanik due to the financial burden on the state and doubts the proposal could turn the company's fortunes around.If no other restructuring plan emerges soon, a local commercial court will deliver a ruling on bankruptcy within weeks, threatening the jobs of almost 3000 workers.Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told a cabinet session that the proposed restructuring…

Twelve people were arrested in Croatia on Tuesday on suspicion of causing over one billion kuna ($152.16 million) in financial damage to the country's biggest shipbuilding group Uljanik and the state budget, the interior minister said.Uljanik, which is 25 percent state-owned and operates two shipyards in the northern Adriatic cities of Pula and Rijeka, has been battling to stave off bankruptcy due to liquidity problems that began in 2017. Workers are currently on strike, seeking unpaid wages."This morning the police began action during which 12 people were arrested…

Croatia's troubled shipbuilder Uljanik said on Thursday it had chosen local rival Brodosplit as a strategic partner to restructure its operations.Uljanik, 25 percent owned by the state and with 3,500 employees, has been working to stave off bankruptcy due to liquidity problems that began in 2017. Workers staged strikes twice last year over unpaid wages."Uljanik has chosen Brodosplit as its strategic partner which will have an obligation to devise, in cooperation with Uljanik, a feasible restructuring plan…

Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. (KOTC), a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, has ordered three giant liquefied petroleum gas tankers (LPG) from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the South Korean shipbuilding giant.According to the government's media outlet Kuwait New Agency (KUNA), the order for very large gas carrier (VLGC) is worth KD 64.8 million (around USD 213.3 million).KUNA quoted CEO of KOTC Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah as saying that the VLGC-LPG gas tankers are part of a tanker-building contract signed with HHI, which includes the building and delivery of three giant gas carriers.Each tanker can carry around 84,000 cubic meters…

Workers at Croatia's largest shipbuilding group Uljanik on Monday held their second strike in less than two months, this time over unpaid salary for September.In late August, the workers downed tools because of uncertainty over payments for July and August. Those two months' salaries were secured after the government reached a deal with a local bank.Uljanik owns two docks, with some 4,000 workers, located in the northern Adriatic cities of Pula and Rijeka. Some 1,500 started a…

Croatia may have to pay 4.2 billion kuna ($651.57 million) for the costs of state guarantees extended to an ailing Adriatic shipyard that has been struggling to survive in recent months, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Thursday.The figure is close to 1.2 percent of Croatia's gross domestic product."This year we will have to pay 2.5 billion kuna on the basis of state guarantees for Uljanik," Maric told an economic conference in the northern Adriatic town of Rovinj.Several…

Some 4,500 workers at Croatia's largest shipbuilding group Uljanik went on strike on Wednesday and called for management to step down in protest over late payment."The management has lost credibility in our eyes, the workers and suppliers have lost confidence," one union leader, Marina Cvitic, said.Uljanik controls two docks in the northern Adriatic, in the cities of Pula and Rijeka.The workers control less than 50 percent of the company, with the state also a minority shareholder.

Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) said on Thursday it had signed a 140 million dinar ($467 million) financing deal with three local banks for eight oil tankers, state news agency KUNA reported. The 10-year financing was obtained from Warba, Ahli United and Kuwait International banks, KUNA said. Earlier, KOTC and South Korean construction firm Hyundai Heavy Industries have co-signed a contract worth USD 213.36 million to build three immense gas tankers, as part of a major KOTC fleet overhaul. The deal entails the construction of three liquefied gas tankers at a cost of USD 71.12 million per tanker, the marine transport company said in a statement to KUNA.

Kuwait Oil Tanker Company said on Thursday it had signed a 140 million dinar ($467 million) financing deal with three local banks for eight oil tankers, state news agency KUNA reported.   The 10-year financing was obtained from Warba, Ahli United and Kuwait International banks, KUNA said.   Reporting by Ali Abdelati

Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) has signed a contract with South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for three very large gas carries (VLGC). The three 84,000 cbm LPG carriers are expected to start delivery in 2019. The contract worth USD 213.36 million to build three immense gas tankers is part of a major KOTC fleet overhaul. The deal entails the construction of three liquefied gas tankers at a cost of USD 71.12 million per tanker, the marine transport company said in a statement to KUNA. Meanwhile, KOTC CEO Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah and Sam-hyun Ka, who serves as President and Inside Director of Hyundai Heavy Industries, put their names on the dotted line in a ceremony that brought together officials from both companies.

Kuwait said on Wednesday it would ship around two million barrels of crude oil in early October to Egypt, giving it priority as a buyer ahead of sales from storage into the Mediterranean market. The deal for two million barrels a month of Kuwaiti crude was signed this week with the Arab Petroleum Pipeline Co., known as SUMED. SUMED, which owns and operates Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, is half owned by state run oil company Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) while a group of four other Gulf Arab countries - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar - own the other half. "The storage contract with SUMED aims at streamlining crude oil exports to Europe across the Mediterranean"…

Kuwait plans to increase the volume of crude oil exports to China to 500,000 barrels a day (bpd) in three years, an executive at the state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said Saturday. On Monday, Kuwait concluded a new 10-year deal with a China's Sinopec Corp to nearly double its supplies by offering to ship the oil and sell it on a more competitive cost-and-freight basis. "With new and mutual cooperation between the two parties, there is a good sign of increasing the volume of our crude oil exports to China up to 500,000 bpd in the next three years," Nasser Al-Mudhaf, KPC's Managing Director of International Marketing told Kuwait's News Agency (KUNA).

Kuwait has signed a contract to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from fellow Gulf state Qatar to help meet its energy needs to the end of 2014, state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday. The first shipment of LNG will arrive in Kuwait on Monday under the contract between Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and state-owned Qatargas, KUNA said. There were no further details on the terms of the deal with Qatar, which is the world's largest LNG exporter. Rising air conditioning demand in the hot Middle Eastern summer and a lack of domestic supply means OPEC member Kuwait needs to import more gas each year to run its power plants. The contract paves the way for greater cooperation between the two companies, KUNA quoted a KPC official as saying.

The Asia-Pacific crude market held steady on Tuesday as traders sought clarity on the supply of June-loading cargoes amid potentially higher Libyan exports. "We are still not quite sure whether it's for real," said a trader with an Asian refiner, referring to the reopening of Libyan oil ports. Still, maintenance personnel at Libya's Zueitina oil port were preparing to receive the first oil tanker after rebels had agreed to gradually end their eight-month blockade of four oil ports in the country. ConocoPhillips sold a cargo of Bayu Undan condensate loading at the end of May at $4-$5 per barrel below dated Brent, traders said. The cargo had sold later than usual due to weak appetite from refiners shut for maintenance…

KOTC received its fourth giant oil tanker of a capacity of around 2.1 million barrels, from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Al-Rigga, the last of a total of four tankers ordered from the South Korean firm carries 320,000 tons, and comes amid KOTC's (Kuwait Oil Tankers Company) second phase of plans to renew its fleet according to an agreement signed with the South Koreans in August 2008. The signing ceremony of the tanker delivery was conducted in Kuwait by KOTC's Deputy Chairman and Deputy Managing Director for Administrative Affairs and Projects Sheikh Ali Al-Humoud Al-Sabah and Daewoo's representative for the Middle East and India P. K. Park.

According to a report from the Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. (KOTC) said it received a giant tanker from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. The tanker, named Al-Salmi, can carry up to 1.2 million barrels of oil.   Source: KUNA

Kuwait seized an Iraqi oil tanker for reportedly trying to smuggle 650 tons of fuel to the United Arab Emirates in violation of international sanctions. The official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) quoted an Interior Ministry statement as saying that Kuwaiti patrol boats intercepted the tanker at dawn on Saturday (June 24) inside Kuwaiti territorial waters while sailing from Iraq's Umm Qasr port to the UAE. It said that 11 crew members were on board the tanker, which it said was carrying diesel fuel. The agency gave no details on what further action was being taken against the tanker. Ships caught smuggling Iraqi oil are usually auctioned off and proceeds are deposited with the United Nations, which supervises the purchase of humanitarian supplies by Iraq.