Ship Carrying Steel News

Houston Ship Channel reopened Friday after shutdown due to fog   The Houston Ship Channel reopened to all inbound and outbound vessel traffic on Friday after shutting on Thursday afternoon due to heavy fog, according to the Houston Pilots.   The largest U.S. petrochemical port was partially shut from midday Monday to early Thursday after a collision between a tanker carrying a gasoline additive and a bulk ship carrying steel. Fog forced another shutdown hours later.     (Reporting By Kristen Hays; Editing by Alden Bentley)

OPEC President and Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez dismissed another increase in crude oil output in July, quelling speculation that a recent price spike could pressure exporters to crank out more oil. Mexico's Energy Minister Luis Tellez, meanwhile, said the Wednesday summit of the oil trio -- the three engineers of a March 1999 producers' pact to restrict output and lift sagging prices -- would not produce any firm action. South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction has won a $510 million order to build a container terminal in Hong Kong. Hyundai said it had been awarded the deal by a group of Hong Kong companies, including Modern Terminals Ltd. Work is to begin on May 12 for completion by October 2004.

A Cambodian ship carrying steel sank after colliding with a Panamanian cargo-free ship in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, officials said on Friday. No injuries or casualties were reported, it said. The Conan, flying the Cambodian flag, was bound for the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing from Mokpo of South Korea, carrying 10,000 tons of rolled steel, collided with a Panamanian ship, Robin Forest on Wednesday in the waters of Nantong, between Nanjing and Shanghai. It was reported that the captain of the Conan ordered his crew to abandon the sinking ship that night and by early Thursday morning the deck was almost fully submerged. Officials said China has sent its largest water rescue crane to salvage the ship.