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...

Port workers in Argentina's main grains hub of Rosario went on strike over wages, a local union spokesman said, slowing exports from the world's No. 1 soymeal and soyoil supplier. Wage strikes are common in Argentina, where private economists clock annual consumer price inflation at about 25 percent. Most of the work stoppages are short-lived, but those that go on for days can impact the global flow of grains. Argentina is also a major wheat supplier and the world's No. 3 source of corn and soybeans. Workers whose job it is to secure ships at dock in the main Rosario ports San Martin and San Lorenzo are participating in the strike. "Cargo ships cannot reach dock," said Edgardo Quiroga, spokesman for Argentina's General Workers Confederation (CGT). More at www.hellenicshipp...

Workers at Port Waratah Coal Services will strike again this Friday (May 24) as part of an ongoing industrial dispute. The Maritime Union of Australia said the stop-work action would take place from 6:30am to 2:30pm this Friday. More than 200 Port Waratah Coal Services workers voted to take action after failing to agree with conditions in new enterprise agreements. Talks between the union and PWCS yesterday again failed to resolve the eight-month dispute. Last Wednesday (May 15) they engaged in a four hour work stoppage. More at www.miningaustral...

In winter navigation of 2012-13, icebreaking service provided in Russian ports and within water area of the Gulf of Finland covered 3,846 vessels, IAA PortNews learnt from FSUE Rosmorport press center. Nuclear icebreaker Rossija made 342 escorts with the rest icebreaking assistance provided by diesel-electric icebreaker of Rosmorport.

Dubai is reinforcing its position as a destination of choice for cruise tourism by welcoming newly renovated luxury liner, Mariner of the Seas on its maiden call to the emirate. The liner, a member of Royal Caribbean International’s cruise line fleet, arrived at Port Rashid on Tuesday to a traditional welcome ceremony, organised by Dubai Cruise Tourism, a department of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). “Dubai is increasingly consolidating its position as a destination of choice for cruise tourism,” said Ahmad Belhoul, CEO of strategy and tourism sector development at DTCM. “In 2012 we received 105 ship calls carrying almost 408,000 visitors and expect this figure to increase to more than 420,000 from 110 ship calls this year. This will continue to increase in 2014 and 2015 with an annual growth rate that is in line with the projected global cruise tourist growth of 3 per cent and we are looking forward to receiving over 450,000 passengers in 2015.”

Following dredging work and adjustments to its pier, the Port of Tubarão is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, May 22, its first operation to fully load the Valemax ship 'Vale Espírito Santo', the world's largest iron ore carrier, with total capacity of 400,000 metric tons. It will be the biggest loading operation in the 47-year history of the Port of Tubarão, beating its previous record, set in 2002 when the ship Berge Stahl was loaded with 335,088 metric tons of iron ore. Following the dredging work, the depth of the port's shipping channel has increased from 22.5 to 25.3 metres, making it possible to load ships with a draft (the vertical distance between the water surface and the lowest part of the ship) of up to 23 metres. The dredging work lasted 22 months and did not require any interruptions to the port's activities.