Tag: Australia

The country will host an international conference next year to help tackle piracy Australia called on Friday for tougher action against piracy in the Indian Ocean and announced it would host an international conference next year to help tackle the growing problem.Pirates attacked a record number of ships worldwide in the first nine months of 2011, but are making off with fewer vessels due to better policing by international naval forces."Piracy off the Horn of Africa has seen murders and hundreds of seafarers taken hostage," Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd told an Indian Ocean Piracy Forum on the sidelines of a Commonwealth summit in the west Australian city of Perth."Piracy has also increased the costs of international trade, and done enormous harm to regional countries' fishing and tourist industries. More must be done to prosecute, convict and imprison pirates," he said.Cooperation between Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants and pirate gangs is growing as they become more desperate for funding, said the head of the U.N.'s counter-piracy unit, John Steed.Rudd said next year's conference in Perth would seek to assist Somalia and other states tackle the drivers of piracy and compare counter-piracy cooperation in other regions, such as Southeast Asia ...

Incidences of pirates have been an ongoing concern Australia's home affairs minister raised concerns about the rising threats of piracy that is affecting key shipping lanes in various parts of the world.Piracy challenges the "maritime and port security arrangements as legitimate shipping lines seek to defend their crews and cargo," said Brendan O'Connor at a port and maritime security conference held in Melbourne.He added that the approval of the use of private armed guards on merchant vessels "raises a range of regulatory challenges for our government agencies and for our port and maritime operators should such vessels seek to enter Australian waters and ports."Incidences of pirates attacking vessels in Somalia waters and other north Africa countries have been an ongoing concern. The concern is amplified as pirate boats are travelling further east out into the Indian Ocean.Source: Seatrade Asia

Australia to increase penalties for shipping companies involved in oil spills in that area The Australian Government says it wants to increase penalties for shipping companies involved in oil spills in the Great Barrier Reef.The Bill introduced into Parliament seeks to increase the $1 million fine that's already in place, to $11 million.The Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, says there's been an average of 250 reported oil spills a year in Australian waters over the past decade."While the majority of these oil spills are relatively minor the potential impact of these spills on the maritime industry, the environment, the tourist and fishing industries and the broader economy needs to be recognised," he said.Source: Radio Australia News

More than 85% of all containers shipped to Australia's biggest ports were discharged More than 85% of all containers shipped to Australia's biggest ports were discharged within their respective states, a newest of figures compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows.About 90% of all containers imported to Sydney Ports in 2009-10 were distributed to suburbs in New South Wales or ACT.88% of all containers arriving in Melbourne were delivered to areas within Victoria and 90% of Adelaide's containers were sent to postcodes in South Australia.92% percent of all containers shipped to Fremantle Port and Brisbane Port were distributed within their respective states.Sydney suburbs of Smithfield, Wetherill Park and Woodpark were among the top destinations (20%) for all containers arriving in Sydney, the postcodes of 3175 (which include Dandenong, and Duneran) received a fifth of all Melbourne's containers while 18% of Brisbane's volumes were delivered to postcodes including Wynnum and Lytton.About 30% of all containers at Adelaide's port were delivered to postcode 5013, which includes the suburbs of Rosewater and Ottaway and 19% of all Fremantle's load were distributed to suburbs including Cloverdale and Kewdale.Source: MUA

Anti-terrorism and anti-piracy training exercises The NYK Group conducts accident-response training exercises regularly and, to prepare for unforeseeable circumstances, the group cooperates with anti-terrorism and anti-piracy training exercises conducted in various countries to enhance the crisis-response capability of group employees. NYK Venus1. Anti-terrorism training exercise with the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF)On July 26, NYK conducted a joint anti-terrorism exercise with the HKPF based on a scenario in which an NYK-owned containership, NYK Venus, is taken over by a terrorist group. From 2005, a similar joint-exercise has been conducted regularly for years by NYK and the HKPF.The exercise scenario called for the Special Duties Unit of the HKPF to dispatch high-speed boats and helicopters to the vessel, and to search for, find, and subdue the terrorists. Through the exercise, employees at NYK's head office in Tokyo, NYK Line (Hong Kong) Ltd., and NYK Shipmanagement Pte. Ltd. were able to reconfirm their roles for rapid response in dealing with acts of terrorism, including information exchanges with the HKPF and other related organizations. ACX Diamond2. Anti-piracy training exercise with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) On August 15, an NYK-owned containership, ACX Diamond, participated in an escort training exercise with a RAN frigate ...

Part Two

Australia's oil production will reach 620,000 b/d in 2012 The Aframax market in Southeast Asia and in the Fast East can expect some support as Australia's crude and natural gas liquids output makes modest gains, shipbroker Poten & Partners said in a report published over the weekend."It is estimated that Australia's oil production will increase to reach 620,000 b/d over the course of 2012 . Some of this gain will come from incremental output at Australia's existing fields and developments planned to come on stream in the next two years," the shipbroker said."Additionally, the continued development of Australia's LNG sector is anticipated to produce steady increases in condensate production from wet gas fields." According to Poten, Australia's condensate production is expected to add over 250,000 b/d by 2015."Australian oil production steadily decreased over the past decade, and new crude oil production has not been able to compensate fully for the natural decline in volumes from the country's maturing fields," the report said. "However, the past few years have seen significant increases in reported spot fixture volumes for Australian oil along with modest gains in production."Meanwhile, if all new condensate production from Australia is exported, the report said, this could create ...

Part One

The new contract includes additional proforma 190,000 containers per annum Australian Ascianos ports division, Patrick has signed a new five-year container terminals contract with Maersk Line, Cargonewsasia reports. The new contract encompasses the movement of existing volume (about 503,000 containers) combined with an additional proforma 190,000 containers per annum.Asciano chief executive officer, John Mullen said, The successful execution of this contract with Maersk Line is a significant achievement for our business and is testament to the strength of Patricks Container Terminal operations. The agreement celebrates a new stage of a long-standing national partnership between Maersk Line and Patrick.Our renewed partnership will see Maersk Line Boomerang Service vessels delivering an additional estimated 190,000 containers at our Fremantle, Melbourne, and Brisbane terminals ensuring that Patrick retains its strong position within the Australian market.To assist in improving service for all Patrick customers, the company has ordered a total of five new cranes for its container terminals to be delivered over the next 18 months.Source: Portnews

Aims to keep pace with growth in Australia's trade STATE governments should curb profit raids on their cargo ports so funds can instead be invested in expansion to capitalise on growing demand for commodities, new research finds.A paper by ANZ Research says governments should consider privatising ports or minimising political intervention in them as they "urgently" need reform after struggling to keep pace with growth in Australia's trade.Several bulk cargo ports, such as those in the mining states of Western Australia and Queensland, are not generating enough return on their assets to cover the cost of their capital, meaning they need to borrow to fund expansion, the report says.WA's parliament has been told that miners were paying just 7c a tonne to use Port Hedland, compared with 25c at nearby Port Dampier. "Moreover, even with these balance-sheet pressures, many ports continue to pay government a dividend," the report says."This capital would be better used within the business to either invest or pay back debt."The bulk ports are used to ship iron ore and coal, with exports of these forecast to more than double over the next 25 years.On top of that, the bulk cargo ports had shown "exceptionally strong growth" ...