Bangladesh's Supreme Court agreed on Monday to allow ship breaking yards more time to meet tougher safety and environmental rules, allowing them to operate until at least mid-October. Judges backed a lower court's ruling two weeks ago that extended the deadline for the $1.5 billion ship scrap industry to implement strict government rules aimed at protecting workers and reducing the level of pollution. ''The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court and we will be able to import and dismantle old ships until the extended date,'' Salah Uddin, an advisor of the Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association, told Reuters. The deadline is Oct. 12. More www.mb.com.ph/art...

London's marine insurance market has added Benin to a list of areas deemed high risk due to an escalation of pirate attacks in the area, a senior official said, Reuters Africa reports. Pirates attacked two Panamanian-flagged tankers carrying oil off the coast of Benin last week but were driven off by the Benin navy before they could steal the cargoes. More at af.reuters.com/ar...

A former Clyde steamer left rusting in London for two years could get a new lease of life. Scotish Evening Times reports. The 78-year-old Queen Mary II was abandoned in a dock on the River Thames after ferrying families used for more than 40 years. But now one of the grand old ladies of the Clyde could be re-born as she goes to auction later this month.

CMA CGM is investing US$100 million in the refurbishing and expansion of a section of the south terminal of the Port of Kingston to accommodate its mega vessels, Jamaica Information Service reports. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the three-year project, which includes the procurement of operational equipment, was signed on August 3 at the Ministry of Transport and Works in Kingston. The upgrading work will prepare the Kingston terminal to accommodate CMA CGM's new generation of large ships and the expected increase in port calls from the expansion of the Panama Canal, which is scheduled to be completed by 2015.

The Sri Lankan and Maldivian governments are making arrangements to commence a passenger ferry service between Colombo-Malé, as part of a joint campaign to boost economic cooperation and tourism amongst both countries, Daily Mirror Colombo reports. Currently, negotiations are ongoing between the Sri Lankan, Maldivian governments and the passenger shipping companies, in order to commence the Colombo-Malé passenger ferry service. www.dailymirror.l...

Container cargo handled at South Korea's seaports rose 13.2 percent on-year in July amid the country's increasing trade, the government said Monday, Yonhap reports. The amount of cargo handled at the country's seaports reached a new monthly high of 1.89 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), compared with 1.67 million units a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. The July tally also marked the fifth consecutive month the amount of container cargo shipped in and out of the country's ports exceeded 1.8 million TEUs, the ministry said. "Export-import cargo was earlier feared to decline due to fears of a double-dip recession in the United States and the spread of a financial crisis in Europe," the ministry said. "But it is now expected to continue growing in the second half as shipments to and from newly emerging markets, such as China and Russia, are increasing."

Yacht owners who are planning a trip across the pond might consider skipping Germany this summer or risk being fined for the color of your yacht’s diesel fuel. Apparently, two megayachts with red-dyed fuel in the tanks have been fined by German custom officials in port of Kiel in northern Germany. This is news that will make Captains think twice before planning any stops in Germany or any European country that plays this game on boats from America. All diesel fuel sold to boaters in America is dyed red to show the fuel is for off-road uses such as boating, off-road vehicles, and farm equipment. The red-dyed fuel is not subject to federal road or highway taxes, and in some places not to state tax, either. Therefore boaters do not have a choice to fuel with non-dyed diesel, and here in is the game that Germany is playing. Red-dyed fuel in Germany is reserved only for commercial vessels and is duty-free. So, any recreational boat or yacht traveling from Newport Harbor that has fueled in the US will show traces of the red dye, and as such, the Captain or boat owner will be in violation and subject to a fine. This type of customs enforcement is completely ludicrous, and yachtsmen should delete German as a waypoint. newportindy.com/2...

The Sudanese government on Friday confirmed that authorities in Port Sudan have refused to allow an oil shipment to leave because of unpaid fees. "Sudan has blocked the ship in Port Sudan, because the government of South Sudan didn’t accept the fees for using the pipeline, the refinery and the port," foreign ministry spokesman Al-Obaid Marawih told Agence France Presse (AFP). Garang Deng, South Sudan’s oil minister, said yesterday that the oil tanker contained 600,000 barrels and warned that the holdup could lead to penalties assessed on Juba because of late delivery to buyer whose identity was not revealed.

Cargo shipped through Nigerian ports increased 10 percent in the first half of this year to 40.7 million metric tons, compared with 36.9 million tons a year earlier, the Nigerian Ports Authority said today in an e-mailed statement. Nigeria shipped 10.4 million tons of liquefied natural gas in the six months through June, a 21 percent jump on 8.6 million tons shipped a year earlier, according to the statement. General cargo shipments rose to 6.7 million tons from 6.3 million tons, while dry bulk cargo climbed to 6.6 million tons from 5.8 million tons, it said. By Emele Onu (Bloomberg)

Powerful typhoon Muifa was likely to land in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday night or in the daytime of Sunday, local meteorological authorities said Friday. Muifa, the ninth typhoon to hit China this year, was located about 790 km southeast of Zhejiang's Zhoushan City at 5 a.m. Friday, according to the latest report from the Zhejiang Provincial Meteorological Station. Packing winds of up to 162 km per hour near its center, Muifa was heading northwest at a speed of 10 km to 15 km per hour, the report said. It would bring strong winds and torrential rains to parts of Zhejiang it said. Muifa is expected to be one of the most powerful storms to hit China in recent years.