Suharto News

A successful Maritime Resource Management (MRM) Facilitator training event concluded today in Makati City, Manila, Philippines as 22 participants from China, Germany, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore had gathered for the two-day event held at the European Training & Competence Center (ETCC) Inc. to be trained and certified as MRM Facilitators. Martin Hernqvist of ALL Academy, trainer at the event, said the event was a success thanks to the active participation from the attendees.

Osprey Maritime Ltd., in the middle of being taken over by Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, reported a sharp earnings turnaround on Wednesday, suggesting to analysts that Fredriksen had got a good bargain. The Singaporean energy transportation firm, which used to be controlled by a group of Indonesians including Bambang Trihatmodjo, son of former President Suharto, said it expected to report group attributable net profit for the whole year of at least $ 37 million. Last year it lost $191 million, mainly due to a hefty write-down in the value of its fleet of vessels at the bottom of the tanker cycle. Analysts said the profit forecast beat their expectations and showed that Osprey was enjoying a strong turnaround on the back of a rapid rise in tanker rates this year.

Shipping magnate John Fredriksen is Norway's richest man, his tanker company Frontline is the world's biggest, and now his week-old gas transport venture Golar LNG has already dwarfed all competitors. Golar LNG raised $280 million in a private placement last week to fund the acquistion of six highly-prized Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers from another Fredriksen company Osprey Maritime. But the acquisitions are not yet over, said Tor Olav Troim, Fredriksen's right-hand-man both at Frontline and Golar. Troim said the money raised last week would also go towards a down-payment on two more LNG tankers to be built at both Daewoo and Hyundai in South Korea, and possibly more at other yards.

Pirate attacks worldwide surged 40 percent in 1999 as economic and political troubles in Indonesia spurred a dramatic increase in incidents in Southeast Asia, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). The number of actual and attempted pirate raids increased to 285 last year from 202 in 1998, agency officials said. Indonesia accounted for 113 of the attacks, almost double its 1998 total of 60. The increase is probably due to the economic situation and political instability following the resignation of former President Suharto in 1998, officials said.

Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) transport company Golar LNG said on Friday it raised $280 million in a private placement and planned to list in Oslo and later this year in New York. The company, which will become the first pure LNG transport company to be listed, said it had issued 56 million shares at $5 each in the placement and that Fredriksen had taken a 50 percent stake in the firm. "We sold 140 (million dollars worth) externally and John took 140 (million dollars worth)," Golar LNG director Tor Olav Troim said. Oslo investment banks Fearnleys and Orkla managed the placement of the 28 million shares with private investors.

Pirate attacks worldwide surged 40 percent in 1999 as economic and political troubles in Indonesia spurred a dramatic increase in incidents in Southeast Asia. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in its annual report that the number of actual and attempted pirate raids increased to 285 last year from 202 in 1998. However, the number of seafarers killed fell to three last year from 78 in 1998. "This could be due to greater efforts by governments to combat piracy," the report said, citing the recent sentencing to death of 13 pirates in China. Indonesia accounted for 113 of the attacks, almost double its 1998 total of 60. "We believe it was due to the economic situation and political instability…