In about ten days, the Santos Port is expected to be able to allow vessels with draft greater than the actual accepted limit, enabling them to to carry more cargo per voyage and reducing logistic costs for cargo handled in the region. The current depth is 13.5 metres. By the beginning of June, this is expected to be confirmed as 14.8 metres. The new restriction of the navigation channel will allow the ships to operate with a draft of 13.2 metres. This reduction is due to the fact that the Brazilian Navy requires a safety space between the keel of the vessel and the bottom of the channel.

New shipping service from Barcelona and Valencia to Algiers According to sources of Intramediterráneo, commercial agents of Unifeeder in Spain, the Danish shipping company currently operates in the Mediterranean with a fleet of 13 container ships. The new regular service from Barcelona and Valencia to Algiers' Old Port offers a two day transit time from the Catalan capital. The new route's first shipment took place last Saturday, 18 May, when the ship "Pioneer Lake" left Barcelona bound to Algiers. The "Pioneer Lake" is a container ship with a capacity for approximately 1,000 TEU, and in addition to transporting local goods from both Spain and Algeria, it will also accept cargo from transoceanic lines for their later redistribution in Northern Africa.

Hapag-Lloyd is able to offer a feeder connection to and from Takoradi, the import gateway for mining equipment and export of timber, rubber, cashew nuts and cocoa beans, via Tema with weekly departures, said in the company's press release.

Kiel Canal Old North (small) lock will be closed from May 30 until end of August 2013 due to maintenance works. Old south (small) lock will be reopended End of June 2013. In this time only both new locks will be opended to the traffic. This also means that all pleasure boats will have to use the new locks together with the merchant ship traffic.

Kiel Canal New South lock will be closed from May 28 07.00 hrs until May 29 15.00 hrs due to maintenance works. New North lock and one small old lock remain open.

Haugesund, situated between Stavanger and Bergen in the heart of Norway’s south-western cruise region, on May 22, 2013 received its first cruise ship with a visit by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Balmoral. In 2013, the port is expecting five calls in total, three more by Fred Olsen’s Balmoral in June, August and September and a June visit by Swan Hellenic’s Minerva.

Chongqing is planning to invest around RMB2bn to build two new cruise homeports by 2020, according to the latest information from Chongqing Municipal Tourism Bureau. The city is the starting point for many spectacular Yangtze tours downstream. According to the planning, Chongqing will build two cruise homeports at Guangyangdao and Xiayaogou, with the Guangyangdao project expected to launch this year. Meanwhile, the city will also upgrade eight tour terminals along the Yangtze river. [23/05/13]

An Asian partnership comprising Evergreen Line, Pacific International Lines, Sinotrans and Yang Ming have announced cooperation in the China, Taiwan, and Australia trade commencing from Ningbo on June 7. The China-Australia-Taiwan (CAT) service will be operated with six vessels of 4,250 teu. Evergreen Line and Yang Ming will be contributing two vessels each with Pacific International Lines and Sinotrans providing one vessel each. [22/05/13]

To improve the competitiveness of Kaohsiung port amid intense competition, the Taiwan International Ports Corporation has decided to expand the No.4 container terminal of Kaohsiung port. The project is expected to start construction in 2015 and be completed in 2018. The total project cost is NT$14.311bn, including NT$3.8bn from the government and NT$10.511bn from local private investment. When the expansion is completed, the expected annual container handling volume will add a further 611,000 teu. [23/05/13]

Hapag-Lloyds set to open a new Thyrrenian - Levant service organised around Cagliari Full story: linervision.wordp...