Security upgrades set to make India�s ports even more costly
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Bangalore: India’s relatively high-cost ports are likely to charge even more as the government takes steps to beef up security following the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
The government is planning to install equipment to scan cargo containers, set up a marine commando force, increase the number of security personnel and buy speedboats to help in search operations.
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Shipping firms face unhappy new year
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As 2008 draws to a sorry close, the boom momentum that the shipping industry was enjoying at the start of the year is now a distant memory with demand falling in direct proportion to the economic slowdown.
Charter rates continue to plummet with the scenario of idle tonnage becoming a certainty for the near future, especially [...]
Terror on high seas, now a major worry for ship owners
Plummeting freight rates and shrinking cargo as a result of the global financial meltdown are not the only issues presently gnawing at shipping companies. The recent flare-up of terror on high seas, off the coast of Somalia, has become a sharper concern for ship owners.
Even after the Indian seafarers aboard Stolt Valor, which was hijacked [...]
Piracy scourge affecting India’s merchandise trade
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Twenty seven-year-old Jasmeet Singh, third officer with a Norwegian merchant vessel cruising along the Horn of Africa en route to the Mediterranean sea, is a worried man. Satellite phone usage on-board is limited to senior officers like the captain and chief engineer.
But these are exceptional times. Besides his family, Singh has repeatedly called four of [...]
Maritime body issues S. China Sea piracy warning
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Ships have been told to keep a lookout to guard against pirate attacks in the South China Sea off eastern Malaysia following an attack on a vessel last week, the International Maritime Bureau said on Sunday.
The warning came after pirates attacked a coal ship 10 nautical miles off the coast of the eastern Malaysian island [...]
2008 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea presented to Brazilian seafarer
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The 2008 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea has been presented to a Brazilian seafarer who saved fellow crew members from a dangerous fire on a ship.
Mr. Rodolpho Fonseca da Silva Rigueira, of the drill ship Noble Roger Eason, nominated by the Government of Brazil, for his decisive, selfless action to rescue six fellow [...]
Legal Hurdles in West Slow Pursuit of Pirates
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Somali pirates firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades hijacked yet another ship in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, this time seizing a chemical tanker. A German military helicopter from a nearby warship arrived in time to pull three security guards out of the water, but not soon enough to prevent the hijacking of the [...]
Ship recycling industry poised for boom in times of recession
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The Ship-breaking industry in Gujarat foresees sunny days ahead, provided banks fund ship-breakers to acquire the large number of old ships that are being offered for demolition worldwide, a member of the industry said here. Such a move during the current recessionary trends would open an enormous opportunity for India to boost output of steel [...]
Shoppers won’t notice ship piracy insurance rise
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By Stefano Ambrogi
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Insurance costs have risen for merchant ships to transit the piracy-prone Gulf of Aden, but not hugely, and still represent only a fraction of the overall cost of the asset and cargo, marine hull insurers said on Monday.
They said extra transport costs feeding through to consumers [...]
Shipping industry calls for blockade of Somalian coast
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A shipping body and tanker owners from around the world on Monday called for a military blockade along the coast of Somalia to intercept pirate vessels heading out to sea. Peter Swift, managing director of the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, said stronger naval action - including aerial and aviation support - is necessary [...]
