Colima News

Leading Mexican maritime operator, Grupo TMM, has signed a Protocol of Delivery and Acceptance with Damen Shipyards Group for a 70 tonne bollard pull ASD Tug 3212 named TMM COLIMA. The tug will operate in the Mexican port of Manzanillo on the Pacific Coast. Ongoing port modifications and changes in port authority requirements were the driving force behind the deal. Founded in 1958, Grupo TMM has become one of the largest integrated logistics and transportation companies in Mexico. The group provides a dynamic combination of specialized maritime services, port and terminal management and integrated logistics services to an extensive Mexican and international client base.

Tropical Storm Javier formed off of Mexico's Pacific coast on Sunday, unleashing intense winds amid expectations it will churn north toward Baja California and the beach resort of Los Cabos, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Javier was producing maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour (72 km per hour), and was located some 110 miles (177 km) west of the port of Manzanillo. "The center of (Javier) should pass offshore of the southwest coast of Mexico today, and approach the southern portion of the Baja California peninsula on Monday," the Miami-based center said in a statement. Javier is expected to produce total rainfall of between 4 inches to 8 inches (10-20 cm) over costal portions of Mexico's Colima…

Hurricane Patricia strengthened into one of the most powerful storms in history on Friday as it barreled toward Mexico's Pacific Coast, forcing resort hotels to evacuate tourists and residents to stockpile supplies. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the Category 5 storm was the strongest ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, and the World Meteorological Organization compared it to 2013's Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands in the Philippines. It was expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon or early evening, the NHC added.

Tropical storm Carlos threatened Mexico's Pacific coast with heavy rain on Monday as it churned west near the port of Lazaro Cardenas, and it is forecast to become a hurricane again by early Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Early on Monday, Carlos was 75 miles (121 km) south of Lazaro Cardenas, blowing maximum sustained winds of about 70 miles per hour (113 kph) with higher gusts, and moving west-northwest at around 6 mph (10 kph), the Miami-based NHC said. Carlos was a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday, but was later downgraded to a tropical storm after weakening. NHC projections showed Carlos could end up near the tourist resort of Puerto Vallarta by Wednesday, though by then it is predicted to be just a tropical depression.

Mexican state power utility CFE has declared 'force majeure' on imports into the Manzanillo liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal after Hurricane Manuel damaged a pipeline, reports Reuters, citing a source with knowledge of the incident. The line in question, the Guadalajara Pipeline, is owned by pipeline company TransCanada Corp and transports natural gas in a gaseous state to the terminal at Manzanillo. The damaged section of the TransCanada pipeline is located near the town of El Bordo, about 125 km (80 miles) inland from the port of Manzanillo, in Colima state. The Manzanillo LNG terminal, with a capacity of 3.8 million tons a year, started operations last year, and is a owned jointly by Samsung C&T, Mitsui Trading, and Korea Gas Corp, the world's biggest LNG buyer.

Mexico is talking to half a dozen companies ahead of opening tenders next month to build and supply a liquefied natural gas terminal at the Pacific port of Manzanillo. The Federal Electricity Commission will open the tenders in the first half of April, after spending time discussing details of the LNG project with potential bidders. Analysts expect to see interest in the building tender from global LNG players like Chevron, Repsol-YPF, Sempra Energy and Royal Dutch Shell. For a parallel tender to select suppliers of LNG for the $430 million, 500 million cubic feet per day plant, the CFE is talking to companies in gas-rich nations like Australia, Bolivia and Peru. Analysts see Peru's Camisea gas field well placed to win.

TMM Lines has taken delivery of the 3,200teu TMM Guanajuato. It was built by China Shipbuilding Corporation in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.The TMM Guanajuato is a sister ship of the TMM Colima which was delivered to the line in October. A third sister ship, the TMM Yucatan, is due for delivery in January 2003.The new ships are all part of the TMM Lines strategy to constantly upgrade its equipment, especially its container and ship fleets. "These new ships are larger, faster and even more efficient and reliable," says Juan Manuel Gonzalez, Senior Vice President. "We have also expanded our routes and upgraded other services, especially those available through the website."The TMM Guanajuato will begin operations on the Mexico-Asia Express service…

The deployment of the 4,050teu Aguascalientes on the Mexico-Asia Premier service completes TMM's newbuild program on the transpacific. The ship, on long-term charter, joins the TMM Monterrey and four other sister ships on the weekly Mexico-Asia Premier service. It is the last of the series of newbuilds, both owned and chartered, which we have taken delivery of in the last 18 months. The 3,200 teu TMM Yucatan, TMM Colima and TMM Guanajuato, all owned ships, were built at the China Shipbuilding Corp in Kaohsiung, and are now deployed on the Gulf-Mexico-Americas service, also operating weekly. Senior Vice President Juan Manuel Gonzalez says the new ships are an integral part of our plans to improve services. The ships are named after Mexican states, reflecting the birthplace of TMM Lines.

CP Ships Limited has taken delivery of the 3200 teu TMM Colima. It was delivered on schedule by China Shipbuilding Corporation in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. TMM Colima is the third new containership to be delivered under CP Ships' four-year $800 million ship replacement program. It was preceded by sister ship Lykes Ranger delivered in June 2002 and Contship Aurora delivered in September 2002. It is being deployed in the Asia-Americas trade lane. CP Ships is more than halfway through its overall ship replacement program. By the middle of 2003, ten new, 13 used and six long-term charters will have replaced ships on short to medium-term charter. This will increase the owned and long-term committed fleet to more than 70% of total capacity from about 30% when the program started in 2000.