Big Ship Iron Ore Freight Rates Fall
Capesize iron ore freight rates in the Pacific and Atlantic fell further Tuesday, driven by lower-priced fixtures out of South Africa in the absence of Brazilian and West Australian charterers, reports Platts. Platts say they assessed the Capesize iron ore freight rate at $15.50/wmt on the Saldanha Bay to Qingdao route Tuesday, down $1.50/wmt from the previous day. A Japanese shipowner estimated there were presently about 30 Capesize vessels chasing cargoes in the Pacific. Brazilian miner Vale confirmed it was lifting the [West Australian ports] force majeure on its iron ore shipments…
Qingdao and CNOOC Sign Contract
The Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have recently signed a contract on the building of a 100,000-ton FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading) vessel in Haixi Bay of Qingdao. Qingdao will thus become China's third FPSO vessel building base after Dalian and Shanghai. FPSO, used for offshore oil exploitation and production, has a high technology content and is difficult to build. In China, only the Dalian New Shipbuilding Heavy Industries and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. can build such special vessels at present. The cooperation between CNOOC and Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industries seeks to transform Haixi Bay of Qingdao into the country's most powerful FPSO vessel building base.
