Tag: China

Due to tensions with Beijing mount over the disputed area Philippine President Benigno Aquino's office said on Monday it was renaming the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea", as tensions with Beijing mount over the disputed area.The Philippines and China, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims to areas of the South China Sea, most importantly the Spratly Islands that are believed to sit on vast oil and gas resources.Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the foreign affairs and defence departments recently began using the term West Philippine Sea instead of the South China Sea, and the president's office had decided to follow suit."It is incumbent on us to take the cue from them and to refer to South China Sea as West Philippine Sea," he said.Lacierda pointed out other countries had similar practices."All the other nations call the South China Sea based on how they perceive it. Vietnam calls it East Sea so it is but natural for us to call it West Philippine Sea," he said.The area of water to the east of the island nation is already known as the Philippine Sea, so that the new name threatens possible confusion over the western ...

20% of all Chinese ship construction and 50% of offshore units built in China are classified by DNV Explaining what his company, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), does is a routine part of Tore Hoifodt's work. That doesn't mean to say it's easy. The Norway-based multinational's business covers a wide range of sectors and is continuously adding more.As senior vice-president and communications director of DNV's Asia-Pacific and Middle East division, Hoifodt has his hands full. He says risk management summarizes DNV's role and categorizes the company's businesses into traditional and emerging segments.More specifically, the company establishes and applies technical standards for industries, offers technology, management, environmental and competency-related services for customers, and provides certifications and classifications to them - all designed to reduce business risk.Although traditional sectors such as shipping, maritime and oil and gas are the pillars of the business, emerging sectors in emerging markets are expected to be the new engine for the international company, which has been around for 147 years. Emerging industries The company, established in 1864 as a classifier of ships, has more recently tapped into carbon capture and storage, emission trading, clean energy and corporate social responsibility. DNV says it will maintain an interest in ...

Ore imports dropped last year for the first time about 9 million tonnes Indications are growing that throughput at China's ports is slowing down and that imports of iron ore could weaken, a senior executive with China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd said on Tuesday.Simon Young, chief executive of COSCO UK, a unit of China's top shipping conglomerate, said China's iron ore imports dropped last year for the first time. "It was only a 9 million tonne reduction, but that could be a very strong signal," he told a Navigate shipping conference."Throughput at the ports also show signs of slowing down." Young said overall throughput at Chinese ports saw growth of 14.3 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with almost 20 percent for the same period last year. Economic data from China, the main contributor to world demand growth for the past two years, has raised investor worries of a "hard landing", or sharp slowing. But many leading banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, say such fears are exaggerated.Recent output data suggested China's gross domestic product was still growing at a 9 percent clip, while waning inflation could give Beijing room to prop up growth if needed. Ship ...

China moved to the top in 2010 with 40,8% percent of global coal consumption A new report says that China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest consumer of energy.Oil company BP said Wednesday that China moved to the top in 2010 with 20.3% of global demand, ahead of the United States at 19%.The report says China's consumption rose by 11.2% last year compared with 3.7% in the United States. China's surge led a 5.6% increase in global energy demand, the biggest one-year jump since 1973.China was by far the world's largest consumer of coal, taking 48%. The United States remained the largest consumer of oil with 21% of global demand, double China's consumption.Source: Associated Press

It went aground off Xiamen last week CMA CGM is working with Chinese authorities in a bid to save a post panamax containership that went aground off Xiamen last week.The 11,400-teu CMA CGM Libra (built 2009) ran aground on a hard sandy bottom on 19 May shortly after departing Xiamen Port.The ship is said to have around 6,000 containers onboard and was headed for Hong Kong before scheduled calls at various ports in Europe.Unconfirmed reports say the Hyundai Heavy Industries-built ship is running in the FAL1 service between China and Western Europe.Reports say the casualty is hard-a-ground, has developed a 10 degree list and is substantially out of her free floating draught.Hull interests have agreed a Lloyds Form Contract (LOF 2000) with Shanghai Salvage, reports marine insurance and admiralty solicitors Waltons & Morse.On the insistence of the local authorities, bunkers will have to be removed before any containers are lightened to aid refloatation, the London-based firm says.Latest reports are that Shanghai Salvage has now discharged around 75% of the bunkers aboard the Maltese-flagged containership.Although the ship owners have yet to formally declare General Average, such a declaration is expected imminently, Waltons & Morse said.Albatross Adjusters Limited in Cyprus are on ...

An emerging opportunity in China's port infrastructure sector Inner water ports are emerging as the next big business opportunity in China's port infrastructure sector, according to Ms. Luo Ping from Institute of Comprehensive Transport of China's National Development and Reform Commission, who will be providing more details at the Port Planning & Design China 2011 conference in Shanghai, Business China reports.For China's port marine sector, the largest projects were planned in the four years from 2006 to 2010, and while China will continue to be the world's largest port developer the pace of development will be slowing down a little. With the port infrastructure sector set to slow down, what does this mean for business opportunities in the market?Luo Ping, Director of the China Research Institute Of Comprehensive Transportation National Development and Reform Commission believes inner water ports will be the next big business opportunity in China's port infrastructure sector."The best year was 2006-2010. The largest projects were planned during that time. In 2011-2015, China will still be the largest port infrastructure market but the pace of development will be slowing down.Although the development of port infrastructure is slowing down, there is a good opportunity in inner port infrastructure because ...

Mutual understanding between the Chinese Forces and EUNAVFOR On 22nd to 25th March, Chinese warship FFG-525 MAANSHAN (CTF-526) escorted the World Food Programme (WFP) vessel AMINA from Berbera to Bosasso.After the meeting between COMEUNAVFOR and the Commander of the Chinese Force (CTF-529), which took place on board the Spanish Flagship CANARIAS on 15th February, a daily exchange of information and coordination for escorting merchant vessels carrying WFP aid has been carried out. The results of this mutual understanding between the Chinese Forces and EUNAVFOR have resulted in the first historical WFP escort by a Chinese Naval warship. This is evidence of good coordination and co-operation with one of the many partners in the fight against piracy.After the arrival of MV AMINA in Bosasso, the WFP highlighted the high level of professionalism shown by the Chinese warship belonging to CTF-526.Coordination between the different actors operating in the Horn of Africa is of paramount importance in order to increase the overall effectiveness of the deployed naval forces.Source: EU NAVFOR

Cooperation in harbor construction, shipping and marine technology China and Greece on Wednesday vowed to enhance cooperation in harbor construction, shipping and marine technology.The pledge was made during a meeting between Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang and Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Ioannis Diamantidis.Zhang said the two countries have carried out good cooperation in these areas, which is in their common interest. He hoped the two sides would strengthen exchanges and deepen cooperation in these areas.Diamantidis said Greece attached high importance to its relationship with China. The Greek government and the shipping sector want to maintain close cooperation with the Chinese side, and consolidate their substantial cooperation in harbor construction and marine technology, he said.Source: Xinhua

Optimizes action and facilitates information sharing The meeting took place on board the Spanish Flagship CANARIAS, sailing in the Gulf of Aden. Rear Admiral Zhang was accompanied by his Chief of Staff and six more officers.During the next months, Chinese ships will remain in Indian Ocean with the main aim to escort merchant vessels transiting between Red Sea and Horn of Africa, thereby contributing to the safety of those mariners transiting the area.This was a good opportunity for EU NAVFOR to exchange information and maintain mutual understanding and knowledge with one of partners in the fight against piracy.Coordination between the different actors operating in the Horn of Africa is of paramount importance in order to optimize their action and facilitate information sharing. This is especially important given the size of the operational area and the coordination of a large number of ships from many different countries.Source: EU NAVFOR

The ship is now sailing safely China denied an early report that a Chinese-flagged commercial ship was hijacked by Somali pirates off Yemeni coast.A China Maritime Search and Rescue Center (MSA) told "Xinhua" news agency Sunday that the ship has never been hijacked, and is now sailing safely with escort of the Chinese anti-piracy navy fleet.Both the "Tien Hau" ship, which was registered in Hong Kong, China, and its 22-member crew, are safe, a MSA official confirmed to Xinhua over the phone. The center contacted the ship to make sure it was safe, he added. The ship had been followed by a suspicious boat for a while, but it was never attacked or hijacked, the official said.Earlier, Yemeni Interior Ministry had said the ship was hijacked by pirates some 20 kilometers off the Yemeni island of Al-Tair off the city port of al-Hudaida, and was heading to Somali coast. The Gulf of Aden is considered as one of the world's most dangerous waters because of rampant piracy.Source: QNA