Shanghai Daily News

Eleven container liner transportation companies have promised to cut or standardize the Terminal Handling Charges (THC) in order to lower nearly 3.5 billion yuan burden of export enterprises each year, according to National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). According to a report in Shanghai Daily, the shipping companies include  China COSCO Shipping Cooperation, Maersk line, Mediterranean shipping, Hapag-Lloyd AG, Evergreen Marine, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK Lines, Sinotrans Shipping. These companies have written to the NDRC and Ministry of Transport promising in standardize THC by adjusting cost standard. Chinese trading companies "reported" the excessively high and non-transparent surcharges to the NDRC.

Shanghai’s Pudong New Area has made progress in building an international shipping center last year and the opening-up reforms in the city’s free trade zone (FTZ) have lured another six global ship management firms to dock there, reports Shanghai Daily. So far, six overseas ship management companies have been set up in the zone after China for the first time allowed wholly foreign-funded companies to operate in the sector in the FTZ. There are six more firms from Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong in the process of establishing subsidiaries in the zone. Ma Hongqi, head of the service office of Pudong’s shipping department, said that ship management was the core sector of the shipping industry that drives the development of the upstream and downstream sectors.

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

China's mainland and Taiwan sign an agreement to open up their service sectors, including transportation. The signing in Shanghai followed two years of negotiations, reports Shanghai Daily, and will take effect later this year. Under the agreement signed by the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and the Taiwan-based Strait Exchange Foundation, the mainland will open 80 service sectors to Taiwan, while Taiwan will open 64 sectors to the mainland.They include those related to commerce, telecommunications, construction, distribution, environment, health, tourism, entertainment, culture, sports, transportation and finance.

As a special to Piracy Daily, Andrew Moulder discusses the international importance of the United Arab Emirates as a vital gateway for emerging markets and the importance of sophisticated counter-piracy efforts. The role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the far most important regional hub for East- West ship transport offers a critical demonstration of both the scope and the need for sophistication of counter-piracy enforcement in the Gulfs of Aden and Oman. At least half of the global trading fleet of tankers passes UAE shores twice annually.

Total SA said it had signed an agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corp for the sale of liquefied natural gas to China. Under a heads of agreement, up to 1 million tons of LNG will be delivered to CNOOC annually starting in 2010, Total said. The gas will be sourced from Total's global LNG portfolio, based on its participation in over 10 liquefaction projects worldwide, and on its trading activities. A heads of agreement (HoA) is a non-binding document which provides the basis for further discussion and the drawing up of a fully-termed deal. CNOOC, which leads China's fast-growing LNG market, had in 2006 signed several framework contracts to buy spot LNG from foreign firms including Total and Suez SA in a bid to stabilize imports, which are mainly arranged under long-term contracts.

Chinese shipyards have been urged to tap an opportunity thrown up by a project to widen the Panama Canal to design new vessels which use the waterway, according to an industry executive. Work on the $5.25b expansion started in September, and is expected to be completed in August 2014, in time for the centenary of the opening of the world's most famous waterway. The expansion will create a third set of larger locks of 55 meters wide against 33.5 meters now, and once completed is expected to result in the most cost-effective way to move freight in and out of the United States Midwest. Shipyards in China, which is the largest exporter of sea-borne goods to the United States and a rising shipbuilding power…

A Chinese shipbuilding company has broken ground on what it says will be the world's biggest shipyard, a high-tech facility capable of producing cruise ships and natural gas tankers, sources inside China and wire services reported Monday. The yard, being built on an island at the mouth of the Yangtze river, will reportedly eature seven construction docks along a five-mile stretch of coastline, the Shanghai Daily reported. Due for completion in 2015, the yard will be designed to produce a total of 12 million dwt of ships per year. The new yard is being built by the China State Shipbuilding Corp., which incorporates 25 large- and medium-sized shipyards. The group currently produces tankers and container ships, as well as warships and submarines for China's navy, according to its Web site.

China State Shipbuilding Co. said it has completed a private offer of $1.6b worth of new shares to strategic investors to fund expansion. The company sold 400 million new shares to eight investors including its state-owned parent at $3.99 a piece, less than one-eighth of its current share price, according to a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The share placement was initially announced in January by Hudong Heavy Machinery Co, which in August changed its name to China State Shipbuilding. In January, its shares were quoted around $3.99. But the stock has since rocketed, becoming the most expensive on the mainland market, amid fund buying and an injection of assets by its parent. The company has said it will acquire more assets from its parent.

According to Shanghai Daily, the delivery of China's first self-made 8530-TEU containership over the weekend officially makes China the fourth nation capable of building super large container ships. The ship was designed and built over six years by the Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) with full independent Chinese intellectual property rights. The ship measures is 335 x 42.8 x 24.8 m, able to carry 101,000 tons and sail at 25 knots. Previously, the largest container ship China built was the 5688TEU. (Source: www.shanghaidaily.com)

A 15,000-ton cargo ship reportedly sank on Saturday while trying to berth in the Huangpu River near Nanpu Bridge in Shanghai, according to a report on www.shanghaidaily.com. Attempts will be made to salvage the Yin Chu this week but it will be a complicated operation, according to maritime officials. "No one was injured in the accident and no oil polluted the river," said Zhou Zhengbao of the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration. All holes in the ship were blocked soon after the accident to prevent pollution, Zhou said. Two tugboats berthed beside the 150-meter former roll-on-roll-off Yin Chu to prevent it from floating to the middle of the river. It had been turned into a dredge ship by Ruike Shipping Company and was being tested in the river when the accident occurred about 12:30pm.

According to reports, Shanghai Shipyard & Chengxi Shipyard Company Ltd built a 3,500 TEU container vessel in only 54 days, breaking China's record of 60 days for a mid-sized container vessel. The team has already signed orders till the end of 2009. The state-owned Shanghai Shipyard & Chengxi Shipyard Co. updated their traditional shipbuilding skills when they moved to Chongmong Island from Lujiazui area in Pudong. The original technique took more than 140 days to build a 3,500 TEU container vessel. Shanghai Daily News

CHINA will build three shipyards at Bohai Bay, the mouths of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River over the next five years, according to the national shipbuilding authority. The country will enhance management in the shipbuilding industry from this year to 2010 by speeding up the construction of three major shipyards, and by enhancing the development of new ship types, establishing modern shipbuilding models and developing the building technology for ship accessories, according to China's medium and long-term shipping development plans. It is time for China to further develop its shipbuilding industry, said an official from the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense.

Wartsila Qiyao Diesel Co Ltd (Shanghai), a joint-venture between Finland-based Wartsila and the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), was inaugurated on June 29. With paid-up capital of 250 million yuan, the company is located in Shanghai's Lingang Industrial Park, Nanhui District, and will mainly manufacture Wartsila's Auxpac generating sets. Source: Shanghai Daily News

According to reports China Shipbuilding Industry Corp plans to triple its turnover by 2015 when it expands its building capacity to meet rising global demand. The Beijing-based group said yesterday it expects to achieve a turnover of $18.75b in 2015. The shipbuilder plans to expand its annual output to 14 million deadweight tons in 2015, and 11 million in 2010, against last year's 4 million dwts, he said. The company said the global trade and shipping industry is fueling demand for more and larger ships and the company's production schedule is full until after 2010, adding that CSIC currently has an order book of 15 million dwts. The…

CNOOC Ltd. signed a production sharing contract to explore for crude oil and natural gas and develop an area offshore of Equatorial Guinea. The contract area covers 2,287 square kilometers with a water depth between 30 meters and 1,500 meters. The contract was signed between CNOOC Africa Ltd, the National Oil Company of Equatorial Guinea and the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy. The exploration period was set at five years, and CNOOC will act as the project's technical operator. Under the terms of the contract, CNOOC will conduct seismic data interpretation and drill exploratory wells. (Source: Shanghai Daily)

77 people were saved and three were missing after a fishing boat carrying 80 people caught fire early yesterday in the Yellow Sea off east China's Shandong Province. According to www.ShanghaiDaily.com, the boat from Liaoning Province was found in flames at 2 a.m. about 30 nautical miles off Chengshantou, Rongcheng city. Shortly after 3 a.m.the fire had destroyed the entire cabin. The fire was brought under control by 4:50 a.m. Three sailors apparently jumped or fell into the water when all the 80 people on board were on the deck, waiting for help. A fourth sailor was missing. By midday, only one of the four sailors had been rescued. The survivors were taken to the coastal city of Weihai, where medical workers were ready to treat the injured. (SOURCE: Shanghai Daily.com)

A new, bigger shipbuilder was unveiled in Dalian recently, as part of the restructuring of the city's shipbuilding industry, ShanghaiDaily.com reported. Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co was formed by the merger of Dalian Shipyard Co and Dalian New Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co. Dalian Shipyard, with more than a 100-year history, used to be one of China's big military shipbuilders. Dalian New Shipbuilding, established 15 years ago, was one of the country's biggest shipbuilders. Both the companies were subsidiaries of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. The new shipyard expects to output vessels of 2 million tons next year and more than 2.6 million tons in 2007, according to Xinhua. (Source: ShanghaiDaily.com)

CNOOC Ltd. has signed production-sharing contracts for six blocks in Kenya, marking the company's first exploration foray into East Africa. The agreement was signed by CNOOC Africa Ltd, a subsidiary of CNOOC. However, no financial details were released. The six blocks, covering 115,343 square kilometers, are located in three basins in Kenya and the exploration will be divided into three phases. (Source: Shanghai Daily)

The Shanghai Daily has reported that a second LNG vessel constructed by a Chinese shipbuilder left the drydock for an interior fitting. Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd is the builder of the LNG carriers,. The ship cost $160m, is 292 meters long and 43.35 meters wide. It can store 65,000 tons of liquefied natural gas at 163 degrees Celsius below zero. Source: Shanghai Daily

The collapse of a giant, brand new gantry crane which killed 36 people in a Shanghai shipyard may have been caused by loose steel ropes, state media and an engineer at the crane's designer said. Chinese authorities are investigating the accident, the latest in a series of deadly fires, explosions and building collapses that highlight China's lax safety standards and have roused public anger. The collapsed crane is one of the largest gantry cranes to be built and designed in China, capable of carrying 600 tons, engineers and shipbuilding executives say. It was only inaugurated on Monday. The H-shaped structure weighed a total of 4,900 tons and consisted of two legs and a 3,000-ton crossbeam, an engineer at a Chinese company which designed the crane said.