Ghana is now ready to combat illegal activities on the country’s territorial waters with the arrival of four new ships, Defence Minister Lieutenant Joseph Henry Smith said yesterday. Lt. General Smith made this pronouncement at the reception ceremony of four new fast patrol ships for the Ghana Navy at the Takoradi Port in the Western Region. The ships, manufactured by Poly Technologies Incorporated in China were purchased by the Government for the enforcement of the Fisheries Regulations and Laws as well as for all military roles and other tasks that will be assigned. The four ships namely GNS BLIKA, GNS GARINGA, CHEMLE and GNS EHWOR are categorised as the “Snake Class Ships” to portray the lethal nature of the platform to deal with anticipated threats.

A Nicaraguan naval vessel that went missing in the Caribbean during Hurricane Rina has been found after two days adrift and all 27 people on board are "safe and sound," officials said Tuesday, cited by AFP. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had ordered the ship to remove people from flood-prone coastal areas but contact was lost on Sunday after the four crew had picked up 23 fishermen. Civil defense chief Lieutenant Colonel Freddy Herrera told AFP that a shrimping boat was trawling when it chanced upon the missing navy boat and notified the authorities, who had been hunting for it for two days. The naval vessel was one of three ships dispatched on Sunday by Ortega to help evacuate indigenous Miskito residents from Sandy Bay, a coastal town north of the provincial capital Bilwi.

China will invest 45 billion yuan ($7.1 billion) over the next five years to expand Dandong port, a key trade link to isolated North Korea, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday, Reuters reports. Dandong, which lies on the North Korean border, will be able to handle more than 100 million tonnes of freight annually once the expansion is complete, compared with 60 million tonnes at present, the report said, citing a government statement. The Dadong expansion project will "cement its role as a transport hub in Northeast Asia that connects the Korean Peninsula with Eurasia", Xinhua said.

The offshore vessel queue for Port Waratah Coal Services' coal terminals at Newcastle port in Australia is expected to exceed 50 ships by the end of November, its highest level since June 2010, the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator said in its latest report, published Monday on its website. In a report issued one week earlier, HVCCC said it was expecting 48 ships would be queuing to load coal exports from the PWCS coal terminals at the end of November. Planned railway maintenance requiring the closure of an extensive section of the Hunter Valley coal chain for three days from November 22 is forecast to trim PWCS coal exports to 7.8 million mt in the month of November, said the HVCCC. The actual number of ships in the PWCS shipping queue at midnight Australian Eastern Daylight Time (1:00 GMT) October 24 was 38 vessels, according to the HVCCC's website.

During the first nine months of this year the Port of Antwerp handled a total of 142 million tonnes of freight (142,074,576 tonnes). This represents an increase of 7.5 percent compared with the first nine months of 2010, when the volume came to 132 million tonnes. The first half of the year proved to be fairly strong, but this was followed by a slowdown in growth during the third quarter. Container volumes were up by 2.7 percent in comparison with the period January-September 2010, from 77.1 to 79.2 million tonnes. The volume amounted to 6.5 million TEU, representing an increase of 3.1 percent.

China's fifth liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, in the northeast city of Dalian and operated by PetroChina , will start receiving its first LNG shipment around mid-November, an industry official told Reuters on Monday. The start-up comes about four months later than previously scheduled. The Dalian terminal will start pumping gas via pipelines to local consumers before the end of the year, the official said.

Stolt-Nielsen Limited announced today that it has reached a provisional agreement to acquire a bulk-liquid storage terminal in the Port of Moerdijk, The Netherlands, from Den Hartogh Holdings B.V. The completion of the acquisition is subject to agreement on final contract, and the transaction is expected to close on December 31st, 2011, Eyefortransport reports. The terminal consists of 30 stainless steel tanks with a total capacity of 17,720 cbm. The facility includes a drumming operation, three warehouses, a jetty with a draft of 8.4 meters and a tank container storage depot. The terminal is located on 10 hectares of land, approximately half of which is currently in use.

On Oct 21 high-speed catamaran ferry slammed into a mooring pier on the island of Cheung Chau while leaving Island for Hong Kong, with 140 passengers on board. More than 70 people injured, mostly they suffered light injures like bruises, but one old woman is reported to be in critical condition. Name of the ferry and other details are yet unknown. Maritime Bulletin www.odin.tc

The 3,837 pounds of marijuana was discovered during a routine search of a ship originating in Australia and bound for Colombia, Customs spokeswoman Norma Morfa said. The marijuana is valued at $7.6 million. The ship stopped in Kingston, where officials say the container holding the marijuana was loaded onto the ship. The marijuana was packed between magnetite, an iron oxide. An investigation is ongoing. No arrests have been made. That time, the crew was supposedly carrying containers of wine, but federal officers noticed something unusual during an X-ray. A drug-sniffing dog led them to the marijuana, stuffed in 82 burlap sacks. Read more: www.miamiherald.c...

Almost five times as many visitors will cruise into Wellington this summer season compared to five years ago, along with an estimated NZD $32 million injection into the city’s economy. More than 190,000 passengers and crew are expected to visit Wellington on 83 ships over the 2011/12 season with Positively Wellington Tourism (PWT) and CentrePort working together to maximise the opportunities presented. “PWT and CentrePort work very closely with Cruise New Zealand and cruise operators so that we can understand exactly what the sector needs and sell them on what our city offers,” PWT chief executive David Perks said. “We then use this insight to help Wellington’s tourism businesses adapt their services and products to suit the tight timelines, logistics and specialised needs of the sector.” Shuttles have been provided by PWT for cruise lines not operating their own services this season, whilst visitors who choose to walk into the city will experience the NZD $4 million Waterloo Quay upgrade completed by Wellington City Council.