Baoshan News

Thyssenkrupp on Monday said it was looking for partners for its steel and warship divisions, singling out just three lines of businesses that will stay within the struggling German industrial icon.Hoping to stop the bleeding of cash and restore investor confidence, the group also pooled businesses worth 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) of sales and employing 20,000, about 13% of total staff, that are either to be sold or shut down."With this reassessment of the portfolio, we have taken some difficult decisions that were long overdue and will now implement them systematically…

The cruise shipbuilder Fincantieri has signed contracts with  the Shanghai City’s District of Baoshan to set up a cruise hub."At the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Economic development and Labor Luigi Di Maio and the Chairman of Cassa depositi e prestiti Massimo Tononi, the Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono and the District Mayor of Baoshan Fan Shaojun, within the development of the shipbuilding segments, set out by China, have signed the contracts aimed at creating a cruise hub, mainly dedicated to  activities in this sector, as well as in shipbuilding and maritime," said a press release from the  Italian shipbuilding company.As part of the agreements between Fincantieri…

Shipbuilding giants Fincantieri and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) have agreed to extend an existing cooperation spanning all fields of commercial shipbuilding.The firms signed a Memorandum of Understanding during a ceremony in Beijing, at the presence of the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giovanni Tria, the CEO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Fabrizio Palermo, the CEO of Fincantieri Giuseppe Bono, and the Chairman of CSSC Lei Fanpei.Under the deal, Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri and China’s CSSC will discuss the possibility to extend their current collaboration…

A Shanghai district government plans to spend about 5 billion yuan ($739.97 million) to develop a cruise ship industrial park to house foreign firms that it hopes will help build China's first luxury passenger vessels, a local official said. China's government has earmarked cruise shipbuilding as a major objective in its "Made in China 2025" programme to upgrade its manufacturing and support jobs at its shipyards, as domestic demand for cruise trips increases 30 percent a year. Firms who set up shop in the new zone could expect financing support from banks and recently established government funds, Lei Shuguang, director on the administrative committee of Shanghai Baoshan Industrial Zone, told Reuters on Wednesday.

With an average age of 23.8 years, the fleet of very large ore carriers (VLOC) converted from very large crude carriers (VLCC) is vintage compared to the average age of 5.7 years for non-converted ore carriers above 200,000 DWT, according to BIMCO. But despite the huge 18.1 years age gap between converted VLOCs and normal VLOCs, the age itself is not the all-important explanatory factor behind a demolition decision. Naturally safety is a paramount issue, but also the fact that the vessels are still employed on a contract.

Royal Caribbean International took delivery today of the newest addition to the cruise line’s fleet, Quantum of the Seas, from Meyer Werft Yard, at an official signing ceremony in Bremerhaven, Germany attended by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s Chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain and Meyer Werft Yard’s Managing Partner Bernard Meyer. With Captain Srecko “Felix” Ban at the helm, the ship will begin her journey today to Southampton, U.K., where she will welcome her first guests on November 2, for a trans-Atlantic voyage to her home port of Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne, New Jersey.

The steel cutting for 'Ovation of the Seas', scheduled to be delivered in the autumn of 2016, took place at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, where 'Quantum of the Seas', 'Anthem of the Seas' and now 'Ovation of the Seas' are being built, say owners Royal Caribbean International (RCi). RCI add that the groundbreaking Quantum-class ships will debut new unprecedented features, such as dancing Roboscreens in the unique Two70 entertainment venue; robotic bartenders in Bionic Bar; RipCord by iFLY, the first skydiving experience at sea; the North Star, an engineering marvel that transports guests more than 300 feet above the ocean…

Tech-savvy modern travelers will be wowed by Royal Caribbean International's newest ship, 'Quantum of the Seas', which incorporates unprecedented levels of technology to amp up the vacation experience, say owners Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. A brand new venue onboard Quantum of the Seas, 'Bionic Bar', is set to make waves with robots at center stage. Guests place orders via tablets and then have fun watching robotic bartenders hard at work mixing cocktails. Boatloads of bandwidth keep guests connected says the cruise line; easy-to-use systems expand guest choices and simplify schedules; and RFID technology speeds the boarding process and allows guests to keep track of their luggage every step of the way.

It all began with a pre-World War II contract between China's then "ship king" and a Japanese company to lease two Chinese freighters. When the one-year lease was up in 1937, the ships were nowhere to be found. That year also marked the start of a full-scale war between China and Japan. And so began a protracted legal case which came to a head last weekend, when a Chinese court ordered the seizure of an iron ore carrier owned by the successor to the original Japanese company in compensation for the loss of the two Chinese vessels. The impoundment has created unease in Japan's government, which warns that the action could affect Japanese businesses in China. It remains unclear whether the sudden ruling by the Shanghai Maritime Court would herald the seizure of more Japanese assets.

It all began with a pre-World War Two contract between China's then "ship king" and a Japanese company to lease two Chinese freighters. When the one-year lease was up in 1937, the ships were nowhere to be found. That year also marked the start of a full-scale war between China and Japan. And so began a protracted legal case which came to a head last weekend, when a Chinese court ordered the seizure of an iron ore carrier owned by the successor to the original Japanese company in compensation for the loss of the two Chinese vessels. The impoundment has created unease in Japan's government, which warns that the action could affect Japanese businesses in China. It remains unclear whether the sudden ruling by the Shanghai Maritime Court would herald the seizure of more Japanese assets.

Royal Caribbean International says that its latest cruise ship, 'Quantum of the Seas', will make its home port in Shanghai (Baoshan), China The ship will reposition to China in May 2015, following her inaugural winter season sailing out of New York Harbor to the Caribbean. In China, Quantum of the Seas will join Mariner of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas in Asia, increasing the company's capacity in the region by 66 percent. "Consumers in China have grown to expect the best the world has to offer…

If Australian miners are worried about the dramatic decline in iron ore prices, it doesn't show. At an annual gathering of many of the world's biggest and smallest iron ore producers here the mood is upbeat - as if the heftiest one-day fall in ore prices since the global financial crisis never happened. "Iron ore mining isn't tennis, it's a contact sport," said David Flanagan, chairman of Atlas Iron Ltd. "Sometimes it hurts a bit, like you copped it in the stomach. Iron ore for immediate delivery to China slumped 8 percent on Monday after data showed China's trade balance swung into deficit, amplifying concerns about a slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy and the biggest importer of the steel-making ingredient.

Shangai's Baoshan District Committee aims to see the Wusongkou Interational Cruise Terminal become the flagship cruise terminal in China and even in Asia, by proactively connecting to the new Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Ultimately, the developers of the Wusongkou Interational Cruise Terminal, Baoshan District, say they intend to expand the definition of what is meant by 'cruise industry', by making the terminal the pioneer of the cruise industry in China. The Wusongkou Interational Cruise Terminal was approved for trial operation on March 1, 2012.

The largest cruise liner in Asia, 'Mariner of the Seas' docks in new homeport, the Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal in Baoshan District, Shangai. After two months of renovation costing US$20 million, the Mariner of the Seas sailed in April from the United States to Shanghai., informs Shanghai Daily. From June to October, Mariner of the Seas and other cruise ships will  set sail from Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, with South Korea as the main destination.
 The Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal terminal has became Asia's busiest cruise liner terminal, according to Shanghai Daily. Source: Shanghai Daily

It appears the battle over steel continues. In the wake of the U.S. lifting its own 20-month tarriff on steel imports late last year, China, the world's top steel importer, has reportedly placed a hefty import duties on high-grade metal used by the shipbuilding sectors, according to a Reuters report. The U.S. lifted its tarriff in the face of a potential trade war over the matter. China reportedly implemented the new tariffs after it concluded that there was dumping of cold-rolled steel by Russia, South Korea, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Taiwan. South Korea's POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steel maker, will be exempted as Chinese authorities concluded it was not selling its cold-rolled products below market prices, Reuters reported.

According to reports, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. to import wide and heavy plates for shipbuilding. Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to import 180,000 tons of steel plates from Baosteel yearly. Hyundai Heavy Industries said that the price was lower than that offered by Japanese steelmarkers and a South Korean report said that South Korea would gradually enlarge imports of China- made steel plates for shipbuilding. South Korean shipbuilders mainly bought wide and heavy plates from Japan besides the local supply. But the two sides have had different opinions on pricing since the second half of 2005.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. disclosed that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. to import wide and heavy plates for shipbuilding. Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to import 180,000 tons of steel plates from Baosteel yearly. Both declined to disclose the price of the deal to keep trade secret. Hyundai Heavy Industries said that the price was lower than that offered by Japanese steelmarkers and a South Korean report said that South Korea would gradually enlarge imports of China- made steel plates for shipbuilding. South Korean shipbuilders mainly bought wide and heavy plates from Japan besides the local supply. But the two sides have had different opinions on pricing since the second half of 2005.

Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal will be the home port for Costa Victoria, which will provide 33 itineraries a year, making Costa Cruises the biggest international operator at the terminal. With the explicit support and encouragement from the Chinese government Costa Cruises has been running cruises from Shanghai since 2006. At the end of this year it’s estimated that Costa will have operated more than 300 cruises and holidayed over 300,000 people from China. The growth of the market means that the Asia Pacific region is one of the most important for Costa Cruises…

Royal Caribbean International's cruise ship 'Voyager of the Seas' docked at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal for the first time to launch its summer cruise itineraries in China. “China’s cruise market is young and vibrant. Royal Caribbean International is optimistic about the development of the cruise industry here and will continue the investment in this market,” said Lisa Bauer, RCI’s senior vice-president of global sales and marketing. Bauer said that RCI’s business has been growing significantly since it entered the Chinese market in 2008. The company plans to introduce the Mariner of the Seas – a sister ship of the Voyager of the Seas – to Shanghai next year to meet surging demand. The Voyager of the Seas will mainly make trips to Japan and South Korea.