The coast guard vessel (Kustbevakningen Vessel) KBV 034 was handed over to the Swedish Coast Guard today (April 26), with a reflagging ceremony at dock 3 of the Peene shipyard in Wolgast. A special day for P+S WERFTEN, currently under insolvency administration: Initially the Swedish Coast Guard placed an order for a total of four newly built KBVs in 2008; but in the context of insolvency proceedings, the Peene shipyard could not fulfil the order completely without a new agreement. Two of the coast guard vessels were already delivered in June and July of 2012.

The port authority and the owner of a tug boat that capsized killing three people on the River Clyde are facing criminal charges over the incident. Three of four crew members died when the Flying Phantom sank during a routine operation on the water on December 19, 2007. On Monday, the Crown Office confirmed port authority Clydeport and boat owner Svitzer Marine are to be indicted for a trial at the High Court. Both companies face charges under health and safety legislation after the deaths of three men on the Greenock-based tug boat. A Marine Accident Investigation Board investigation criticised boat owner Svitzer and river authority Clydeport over the deaths. It found the boat capsized during thick fog and "port risk assessment was poor" as to the dangers The Flying Phantom faced while towing bulk carrier Red Jasmine up the Clyde. A Crown Office spokesman said: "Crown Counsel have instructed that two companies be indicted for trial in the High Court. Source : STV Glasgow

Reference is made to the press release of 20 March 2013, whereby it was announced that Boskalis Holding B.V. (the Offeror), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis), had initiated a compulsory acquisition of shares under Section 103 of the Bermuda Companies Act to acquire all remaining shares in Dockwise Ltd (Dockwise) not already held by the Offeror. By the expiry of the statutory deadline of 22 April 2013, none of the remaining shareholders had made any application to the Supreme Court in Bermuda to appraise the value of the shares to be acquired by the Offeror. Accordingly, all remaining shares in Dockwise will be acquired by the Offeror on or about 26 April 2013 against payment of EUR 18.50 / NOK 137.65 in cash per Dockwise share. Following such acquisition, the Offeror will hold 100% of the shares in Dockwise.

German container shippers Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburg Sud are under pressure to restart merger talks within the next two months in a last-ditch attempt to revive a plan to create the world's fourth-largest container company in terms of capacity, according to several people with direct knowledge of the matter. "There is pressure from many sides for the talks to resume, so there is a good chance that the two parties will give it another go in the next couple of months," one of those people said Monday. Representatives from the City of Hamburg as well as logistics magnate Klaus-Michael Kühne--both large Hapag-Lloyd shareholders--have approached Hamburg Sud owners, the Oetker family, to resume talks, another person said. This person also said the "the prospects for another round of talks look good," but added that if it doesn't happen by the middle of the year "then the deal is probably dead for a longer time."

The lift gate of ship assembly hall 290 at the Volkswerft shipyard in Stralsund (Germany) opened for the roll-out of the first of two RoRo special ships for the Danish shipping company DFDS. The construction phase “ship hull assembly” of the new vessel with the shipyard job number 500 has now been completed. The special transporter left the hall on the shipyard’s rail-based transport system towards the ship lift and will over the coming days for example undergo leakage tests as well as tests of the vehicle ramps before being lowered into the water of the lift basin and being taken to the shipyard fitting wharf. Delivery to DFDS, one of northern Europe’s leading shipping companies, is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013. The “Roll on – Roll off Cargo”-type special transporter has a length of 195 metres, a container capacity of 342 TEUs and a load capacity of 3,000 track metres, on which up to 185 HGVs can be transported. Press release

Falling costs in Europe and a shift toward a more consumption-driven economy in China are increasing trade on the Europe-Asia route, Nils Andersen, CEO of A.P. Moeller-Maersk (Maersk) told CNBC television show "Squawk on the Street." "You see the Chinese government steering away from being an export and investment-led economy to being an import, domestic consumption and local wealth driven economy," he said. Andersen said Maersk's ships return from Europe to Asia with much of their capacity unused after delivering Chinese exports, but that allows for lower rates for goods moving from Europe. shipandbunker.com...

Cosco Shipyard in Guangdong, China, has held recently a launching ceremony for Galloway Express, first livestock carrier being built for Vroon B.V, the Dutch company news release said. The launching took place in two stages. On 6 April the vessel was pulled from the slipway to the floating dock, a process that took six hours. The second stage, on 9 April, was to lower the ship into the water by filling the floating dock. Galloway Express is the first of four livestock carriers being built for Vroon at the Shipyard. We look forward to her delivery this summer.

Carnival Cruise Lines will spend more than $300 million dollars to upgrade its ships to prevent a repeat of what happened on the Carnival Triumph. The fleet-wide overhaul at the world's largest cruise operator will include a significant enhancement of emergency power capabilities on all 24 Carnival vessels as well as changes that will add more redundancy to operating systems, the line announced on April 17. Carnival says the improvement plan is a result of an operational review begun immediately after the Feb. 10 fire and overseen by its parent company, Carnival Corp. The parent company also will be making changes to some ships at its other brands, which include Princess, Holland America, Seabourn and Cunard, according to today's announcement. In all, the price tag for improvements company-wide could approach $700 million.

APRIL 16, 2013 — The Finnish Transport Agency has signed a contract with Aker Arctic Technology Oy for the design of a new icebreaker. The icebreaking capacity of the new icebreaker will meet the same parameters as the Urho-class icebreaker. Its diesel-electric machinery will enable it to move continuously through about 1.6 m thick level ice, to break a 25 meter wide channel in 1.2 meter thick ice at speed of 6 knots, as well as to reach 9 to 11 knots of average assistance speed in the Baltic Sea. The draft of the vessel with full fuel tanks should be a maximum 8 m, which enables it operate and supportvessels on all major sea routes. The cruising speed of the vessel in open water should be a minimum 16 knots. Press Release Aker: www.akerarctic.fi...

Taipei: In partnership with Wan Hai Line (WHL), PIL and Cosco, Evergreen Line is further improving its service network in South America. In early May the new Asia - West Coast of South America (WSA2) Service will be launched, linking Taiwan and China with five countries along the west coasts of Central America and South America. Employing nine vessels of 3,500-3,900 teu, the start of the weekly service will be marked by the inaugural sailing from Kaohsiung on the 4 May. Evergreen Line will provide one of the ships, WHL four, PIL three and COSCO the remaining one. [17/04/13]