Nemea News

Griffin Global Group, a marine and offshore travel specialist, announced the appointment of Wenche Eeg as General Manager based in Bergen. Wenche has more than 30 years of experience in the travel industry most recently with Cruise Norway AS where she held the position for seven years. Prior to which Wenche held a number of senior management positions in both sales and operations with American Express. Wenche is well respected in the travel and tourism industry. "We are delighted to welcome Wenche to the Griffin team.

The panamax market is clouded by the prospect of Far Eastern holidays in less than two weeks, shipbrokers said on Wednesday. Brokers are unwilling to give forecasts beyond April 29 - the start of Golden Week. "We made it through Easter unscathed, but Golden Week is a different matter. Every year we're shocked at the slack trade, it's like we forget how important the Far Eastern market is," a broker said. Inquiry for Pacific basin panamaxes remained slow with modern tonnage hoping for $11,000 per day for North Pacific - Australia round voyages. Special positions, such as West Coast India, could get a premium for short trips, brokers said, citing the booking for the 1989 built Nemea. The Piraeus-based Goulandris Bros-controlled ship won $14,500 per day from Japanese charterers.

Freight rates for forward positions in the panamax sector continue to remain soft despite higher levels attracted by the prompt and spot markets, shipbrokers said on Tuesday. While charterers have to pay a premium for panamaxes available for spot and prompt loading dates due to a squeeze on the supply of ships, the high levels of panamax tonnage available for September loading started to put pressure on owners and force them to accept rate discounts. The negative vibes in the forward physical panamax market also affected the panamax over-the-counter markets, shipbrokers also said. They cited among the best August fixtures the charter, by grain house Cargill, of the newly built Danae, of 75,106 dwt.