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STORIES |
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| Kenya: KPA to Auction Piled-Up Cargo to Clear Port
The Kenya Ports
Authori-ty wants cargo that has overstayed to be auctioned to ease a pile-up
of undocumented containers at the Port of Mombasa. KPA chief executive
Abdallah Hemed Mwaruwa said last week that nearly 12,000 such containers are
currently lying at the gateway facility.
details..... |
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| Sudan: SDV Transami to Sink Sh2 Billion in Port
SDV Transami,
one of the leading logistics companies globally, is investing more than Sh2
billion to construct an inland port terminal in Juba. Regional
commercial manager Giancarlo Bonanno said the Sh100 million initial investment
would be used to purchase land, pave the area in concrete, erecting buildings,
acquire machinery such as container lifting equipment and the requisite
technical skills.
details..... |
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| Nigeria: Presidency Probes Missing Containers
A three-man
Committee drawn from the Police, State Security Service (SSS) and the Navy has
been set up by the Presidency to investigate the actual number of containers
moved from Lagos ports to Ikorodu Lighter Terminal by the Presidential Task
Force on Port Decongestion.
details..... |
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| Kenya: Ships Bring in 20,000 Tons of Duty-Free Sugar
Some 20,000 tons of duty-free sugar are being off-loaded from ships at the
Mombasa port. A Kenya Ports Authority official yesterday said the sugar
was part of the 89,000 tons to be imported from Comesa countries this year.
details..... |
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| Somalia: Use Armies to Fight Piracy, UN Tells Member States
In the
latest statement on the situation in Somalia, the council "encourages member
states whose naval vessels and military aircraft operate in international
waters and airspace adjacent to the coast of Somalia to be vigilant to any
incident of piracy and to take appropriate action to protect merchant
shipping, in particular the transportation of humanitarian aid, against any
such act, in line with relevant international law."
details..... |
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| Kenya: Dock Workers Go to Polls Amid Outcry
Members of the Dock Workers Union yesterday went to the polls to elect new
officials amid complaints of irregularities and threats of formation of a
parallel union. Candidates for the post of secretary general complained
of among other things, participation of Kenya Ports Authority employees
holding managerial positions.
details..... |
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| Nigeria: Country Ranks High On Ship Piracy
Piracy attacks
worldwide rose slightly in the first three months of 2006, with the waters
around Somalia, Nigeria and Indonesia especially vulnerable, an ocean crime
watchdog said yesterday.
details..... |
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| South Africa: Huge Rescue Operation After Cargo Ship Sinks
off SA Coast
A sea rescue is
currently underway in South Africa's Eastern Cape Coast waters after a 299m
long bulk carrier sank. The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said that the
Alexandros T sank in heavy seas and that all 33 crew members had abandoned the
ship on Wednesday.
details..... |
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| East Africa: Pirate Attacks Off Somalia's Coast Increase
At
least 28 people were feared dead yesterday after a ferry capsized in Lake
Victoria. Pirate attacks on the East African coast are still increasing
despite the presence of British and US naval forces in the Indian Ocean.
New statistics from the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre
show that there were 41 piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia in the past
year, making the region off the East African coast probably the most dangerous
for shipping world-wide.
details...... |
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| Kenya: 28 Feared Dead After Ferry Capsizes in Lake Victoria
At least 28 people were feared dead yesterday after a ferry capsized in Lake
Victoria. The ferry christened Mv Nyamageni left the Port of Bukoba on
Tuesday for Mwanza. Mwanza deputy regional commissioner Peter Toima told
The Saturday Standard on telephone that the accident occurred after the ferry
encountered bad weather in Kagera.
details...... |
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| Mozambique: Borders to Be Equipped With Scanners
Mozambique's commercial borders are to be equipped with scanners, to enable
customs officers to control merchandise in containers. The director of the
customs services, Barros dos Santos, told AIM that this equipment is estimated
to cost about 20 million US dollars.
details...... |
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| Côte d'Ivoire: First Convoy Could Mark Reopening of
North-South Trade Route The arrival of a convoy of 29
trucks in Cote d'Ivoire's port city of Abidjan from northern landlocked
neighbour Burkina Faso may lead to a resumption of transit trade between the
two countries after a nearly four-year war-imposed blockage, an official said
on Tuesday. details...... |
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| Nigeria: NPA Shuts Training School, May Convert to Maritime
Academy THE ongoing port concessioning programme of the
Federal Government has claimed another casualty as the training school of the
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) at the Dockyard road end of Apapa port has been
shut down.
details..... |
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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| A problem too jumbo-sized for
Bill Gates to solve?
It will not have
escaped your attention that Microsoft is labouring to finish the next version
of its Windows operating system, Vista. A version aimed at the corporate
market is supposed to be ready for Christmas, with the consumer edition
following some time later (missing the Christmas market, which has irritated
computer manufacturers and retailers more than somewhat). Last week, Gartner,
a leading IT consultancy, predicted that Microsoft would miss those shipping
dates.
details..... |
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| Panama plans huge canal
expansion
Panama has
announced an ambitious $5.3bn (£2.9bn) plan to widen its famous canal to
handle a new generation of giant container ships. President Martin Torrijos
described the project as a "formidable challenge" but necessary if the canal
is to retain its place as a key route for global cargo.
details..... |
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| Weather hampers search for
missing fisherman
Rough weather has
prompted the Queensland Police to scale back the search for a 49-year-old
fisherman missing after a trawler sank off Queensland's Sunshine Coast early
this morning.
details..... |
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| PPA to modernize Danao, Limasawa
ports for ro-ro
THE
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will modernize ports in Visayas and Mindanao
to improve cargo handling productivity and address the growing demand for
roll-on roll-off transport system.
details..... |
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Japan on brink of controlling
world whaling
Japan is poised
to seize control of the International Whaling Commission and so hasten the
return of commercial whale hunting, which has been officially banned worldwide
for the past 20 years.
details..... |
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France's new port
targets Asian containers
France's
biggest container port has got even bigger with the launch of a major
extension that will help Le Havre compete with Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg
in attracting cargo from Asia.
details..... |
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| Jobs boost for offshore oil and gas
There has been a
seven per cent increase in the number of jobs created during 2005 in the
offshore UK oil and gas industry, according to a new report. Economic
consultancy Experian found a total of 365,000 jobs had been created as a
consequence of the £1 billion increase in capital investment last year by
firms active on the continental shelf.
details..... |
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| ‘Maersk Qatar’ tanker set for debut sail to Taiwan
RasGas’
seventh LNG carrier “Maersk Qatar” will soon depart Ras Laffan with its first
LNG cargo to Yung An, Taiwan, to deliver a spot cargo to Chinese Petroleum
Corporation (CPC).
details..... |
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| 24 RP sailors on board ill-fated
Greek ship identified THE
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR and employment yesterday identified the 24 Filipino
crewmen of the Greek-owned ship that sank off South Africa last week,
including the 18 who remained missing, and assured their families of "all-out"
government assistance.
details..... |
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Transport
Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy leaves for China today to seek
opportunities in the rapidly expanding aviation, shipping and maritime
industries there. The nine-day trip will see Chan promoting the Port Klang
free zone area, getting students to train as pilots in Malaysia, getting more
Chinese airlines to fly here and, possibly, discussing an open sky policy with
China. details..... |
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