Lloyd's of Marine, Non-Marine and Aviation casualties

Aug 4 2006

CasualtyWeekLloyd's Lloyd’s Casualty Week contains information from worldwide sources

of Marine, Non-Marine and Aviation casualties together with other reportsrelevant to the shipping, transport and insurance communities

Indian seafarers strikelikely to go ahead this

month

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SSUUBBSSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONNSS:: Scott MagrowskiTel: +44 (0) 20 7017 4720Fax: +44 (0) 20 7017 5007Email:[email protected]

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Pay deadlock as owners’ counter-offer of 12% is rejected by unions that demand a 27% rise, writes Shirish Nadkarni in Mumbai — Wednesday August 02 2006

Aone-day strike planned by twoIndian seafarer unions is set totake place on August 29, with little

sign of a pay settlement in sight.The National Union of Seafarers of India

and Forward Seamen’s Union of India areseeking a 27% pay increase, a demand whichhas seen Indian shipowners table a counter-offer of a 12%. The owners’ offer has beenrejected and the unions want Indian vesselsworldwide to be disabled for 24 hours onAugust 29.

“The wage negotiations are deadlockedand neither side appears willing to concedeground,” said NUSI general secretaryAbdulgani Y Serang.

“The ratings and petty officers working onoffshore, home trade and foreign-goingIndian flag ships have been suffering formore than six years without a properagreement. Indian shipowners have, in theinterim, been making huge profits, whilerefusing to accede to our demands which aremerely a pittance.”

FSUI secretary Naresh Birwadkar is tovisit South Africa to solicit the support of theInternational Transport Workers’ Federation.

The Indian National Shipowners’Association has offered to move into the

global wage scale prescribed by theInternational Labour Organisation and to giveex-gratia payment which is not prescribed bythe ITO rules.

“Sadly, the unions have rejected thisoffer,” said INSA secretary-general ShashankKulkarni. “All these years, we have followeda standard norm of 9%-10% annual pay hikefor seafarers. This time, we have exceededthat by offering a 12% hike. But the unionsare unwilling to agree.”

According to Mr Kulkarni, seafarers wantan extra slice of the pie in good times, whichwould be acceptable to shipowners if theywere willing to consider pay cuts when timeswere bad for shipping.

“But in bad times for shipping, they willstill want their pay hikes,” he said. “As it is,our manning expenses are very high.

“If they go on a strike and stop Indianships, wherever they may be around theglobe, it would prove disastrous to the entireIndian shipping industry and bring it intodisrepute.”

Shipping industry circles point out thatIndian shipping companies are hampered bythe country’s tax policies. Even though theypay a tonnage tax in lieu of corporate tax,they have been hit by a 12.24% service tax

with retrospective effect from April 1, 2005.“If the seafarers go ahead with the strike,

we will be forced to take the matter to thecourts, since we have on record anundertaking by the unions that they will notgo on strike,” said Mr Kulkarni. “Matters ofthis nature should be resolved at thenegotiating table and not by agitating in amanner that would hurt all the stakeholders.”

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(ii)

Summary of Major Cases in this week’s issue of Lloyd’s Casualty Week

VVeesssseell TTyyppee FFllaagg CCllaassss GGTT DDWWTT BBlltt CCaassuuaallttyy

AFRICAN MOON general NGA — 499 — — Had water ingress into forward part of vessel's cargo hold in lat 04 07N, long 05 20E, Jul 4. Assisted to Brass Terminal by supply vessel and safely anchored. Detained over safety issues.

B.F.C. II product PAN — 4,093 7,069 1972 Struck wreck of dredger Palestine at Khor al tanker Zubair channel, in lat 30 49N, long 47 57E,

Jul 23. Sustained large crack in hull and subsequently sank in channel. Crew rescued.

CHARLOTTE container DIS ABS 91,560 109,400 2002 In collision with container carrier MSC JessicaMAERSK in Singapore waters Jul 27. Damage to vessel

and to empty containers on board. Returned to Singapore Eastern Anchorage.

CMA CGM container ATF BV 91,410 101,530 2005 Struck submerged rock in lat 24 21N, long 118 OTELLO 29E, Jul 14. Arrived Singapore Jul 27 for

repairs.

COUGAR ACE vehicle SGP NK 55,328 18,922 1993 Listing 85 deg to port with water ingress in carrier lat 48 12.7N, long 174 12.5W, Jul 24. Crew

rescued by Coast Guard. Small sheen observed. To be towed to safe port forrecovery in the future. List down to 60 deg Jul 26. Tug due Aug 2.

GALEMAR fishing ARG — 455 — — Reported in tow of fishing Altalena in lat 45 25S, long 63 52W, Jul 22, bound ComodoroRivadavia. Back in service as of Jul 26.

HALTEN general VCT BV 1,999 3,250 1992 Grounded outside Alabodarna between Landskrona & Helsingborg Jul 25. Refloated byown means & anchored outside Raa for diver's inspection. Indents in bottom; no leakage. Procceed Norway to discharge & inspection.

MSC JESSICA container PAN GL 23,291 23,991 1980 In collision with container carrier CharlotteMaersk in Singapore waters Jul 27.

NORDIC fishing USA — 152 — 1985 Had fire on board at New Bedford Jul 20 EXPLORER caused by welding work. Firefighters on scene.

PALESTINE dredger IRQ — 3,606 4,649 1976 Wreck of vessel struck by tanker B.F.C. II in Khor al Zubair channel Jul 23.

RM MARGAUX tug FRA BV 242 132 1983 Contacted No.501 jetty, Bordeaux, Jul 14. Water ingress. Towed from jetty & sankon port side. Salvage awarded.

SYLVE general CYP RS 1,999 3,056 1990 Grounded in lat 55 09.3N, long 14 41.9E, Jul 25. Bottom holed, leak in ballast tank. Bottom to be surveyed by divers Jul 27.

WAPPEN VON passenger DEU — 154 — 1967 Had engine failure in North Sea Jul 19. Towed NORDERNEY to Norderney same day. Passengers

disembarked.

WILD MARY trawler USA — 129 — — Sank 70 miles W of Depoe Bay, Oreg, Jul 25. Crew rescued.

AFRICAN MOON (Nigeria)London, July 25 — A press report,

dated July 23, states: The woes ofgeneral cargo African Moon, 499 gt,rescued in Nigerian territorial waterswere lengthened with the NationalMaritime Authority (NMA) orderingits detention for not meetingstipulated safety standards. NMA hadrescued and assisted the vessel toberth at Brass Terminal when it raninto trouble during its voyage from thePort of Cotonou on July 4. Theoperation was in response to a distresscall by African Moon crew which senta SOS signal to NMA Search andRescue Unit from the Marit imeSuperintendent of Italian oil giant,Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited(NAOC) in Twon Brass. The vesselwhich was flying Nigerian flag withofficial number 377623 GT 499 MTbound Bata, Equatorial Guinea, was inlat 04 07N, long 05 20E, of fPennington oil platform in Brass LocalGovernment Area of Bayelsa Statewhen it developed problems. TheDirector General of NMA, Engr. FestusUgwu in a three page statement, saidthough the initial response came fromPennington oil platform, the combinedefforts of NMA Search and RescueTeam aided with the use of a supplyLamnalco Kite helped the distressedship to Brass Terminal where it safelyanchored. According to the statement,after a general assessment of thecause of the distress by NMA FlagState Surveyors, it was discoveredthat water had entered the forwardpart of the cargo hold of the ship,which was laden with 687 tonnes ofgeneral cargo. Giving further insightinto why the vessel was detained bythe authority, NMA said investigationsrevealed that African Moon has nosafety radio, manning and tonnagecertificates, deck passenger certificateand no crew arrangement amongstother reasons. “The absence of theseitems put the l ives of the 11 crewmembers and six passengers on boardin great r isk and danger. NMAmaintains that the vessel will be heldunti l i t complies with the safetystandards. “At the moment, officials ofthe Nigerian Immigration Service,Customs, Port Health Officials andNaval personnel are providing tightsecurity for the vessel. The owner hassince been contacted and advised toapply for applicable Nigerian TradingCertificates. Temporary repairs shouldalso be carried out after which thevessel would be allowed to sail again,”the statement added.

AKCAKOCA (Turkey)See “Israel-Lebanon” under “Political

& Civil Unrest”.

ALEXA (St. Vincent & Grenadines)

See “Crew of St . Vincent &Grenadines Vessel at Copenhagen,Denmark” under “Labour Disputes.”

ALGOVILLE (Canada)Troy, Mich, Jul 26 — Bulker Algoville

remains laid-up at Hamilton(CAN). —Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping.

ALYSSA M.II (U.K.)Auckland, Jul 24 — Yacht Alyssa

M.II is st i l l laid up at Nelson. —Lloyd’s Agents.

AMBASSADOR (Vanuatu)London, Jul 24 — Bulker

Ambassador was reported in lat 43 0239.54N, long 70 01 07.97W, at 1158,UTC, today, speed 13.1 knots, course267 deg.

ANA B. (Panama)Ymuiden, Jul 21 — SvitzerWijsmuller

Salvage successful ly ref loatedcombined chemical and oil tank Ana B.around 1200, Jul 18, and, followinginspections, it was cleared to continueits passage up the River Amazon. —SvitzerWijsmuller Salvage BV.

ANNA (Georgia)Riga, Jul 25 — Chemical tanker

Anna dischargedJul 24. Entered drydock today. — Lloyd’s Agents.

ANTONELLO DA MESSINA (Italy)London, July 26 — A press report,

dated July 24 , s tates : A suddenbreakdown in the external door of theSiremar passenger ro/ro Antonello daMessina (1555 gt, built 1988) hasprevented hundreds of cars, lorriesand motorbikes from disembarking atVulcano in the Aeolian islands. Thefault was discovered as the ferry wasabout to dock and the crew realisedthat the mechanism was not workingproper ly. The one hundredpassengers were able to disembark onfoot but vehicles had to remain on theboat that has suspended its serviceunt i l the breakdown i s repa ired .Trave l lers on the ir way to o therAeo l ian i s lands boarded S iremarhovercrafts.

APHINE (Russia)See Sormovskiy 32.

APL PANAMA (Antigua & Barbuda)

Manila, Jul 27 — Container CarrierAPL Panama is st i l l undergoingrepairs at Subic Shipyard &Engineering Inc, Zambales Province,Philippines. Subic Shipyard officialssaid that repairs are expected to becompleted towards the end ofSeptember. The vessel is drydockedand undergoing repairs to its bottomhull, propellers and rudder. — Lloyd’sAgents.

ARGENTA (St. Vincent & Grenadines)

St. Petersburg, Jul 24 — Refrigeratedgeneral cargo Argenta: According toinformation provided by St .

1

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CCOONNTTEENNTTSS

Reports appear in alphabeticalorder under the followingheadings and relevant pagenumber:

MMaarriinnee,, iinncclluuddiinngg OOvveerrdduuee&& MMiissssiinngg VVeesssseellss 11

PPoorrtt SSttaattee CCoonnttrrooll 1155

SSeeiizzuurreess && AArrrreessttss 1155

PPiippeelliinnee AAcccciiddeennttss 1166

PPoolllluuttiioonn 1166

WWeeaatthheerr && NNaavviiggaattiioonn 1177

PPoolliittiiccaall && CCiivviill UUnnrreesstt 2222

LLaabboouurr DDiissppuutteess 2288

AAwwaarrddss && SSeettttlleemmeennttss 2299

MMiisscceellllaanneeoouuss 3300

FFiirreess && EExxpplloossiioonnss 3311

AAvviiaattiioonn 3333

SSppaaccee VVeehhiicclleess 3344

PPrroodduucctt RReeccaallllss 3344

PPoorrtt CCoonnddiittiioonnss 3355

PPoorrtt CCoonnddiittiioonnss cchhaarrttss 3355

Receive immediate notice as soon as a Casualty occurs. For further information please contact Andrew Luxton on +44 (0) 20 7017 4625.

© Lloyd’s MIU 2006 These reports maynot be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or byany means electronic, mechanical,photographic, recorded or otherisewithout the prior written permission of thepublisher.

Petersburg Port Authority, vesselsailed for Guayaquil Jul 22. — Lloyd’sAgents.

ARIELLE (Bahamas)London, Jul 24 — Following received

from Kiel, dated today: On Jul 21,passenger (cruise) Arielle (23149 gt,bui lt 1971) suffered some rudderdamage in Stockholm. As a result, itwas not able to reach the nextdestination Lubeck-Travemuende asscheduled, but proceeded with areduced speed of 13 knots towards theTrave. Due to this delay the nextcruise will start one day late, withpassengers on the present cruisehaving one more day on board, beforedeparting from the Arielle today. (Note— According to Lloyd’s MIU AIS, at1205 hrs, today, Arielle was in lat 5357.26N, long 10 52.16E, 1.8 nauticalmiles off Travemunde, speed 0.1 knots,course 15.3 degs.)

ARKLOW REBEL (Republic of Ireland)

London, Jul 20 — General cargoArklow Rebel sailed from Lerwick onJul 16.

ASL SANDERING (Canada)See “Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada”

under “Pollution.”

ASL SANDERLING (Canada)See “Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada”

under “Pollution”.

ATACAMA (Malta)London, July 25 — A press report,

dated today, states: Outgoing bulkerAtacama (24960 gt , bui lt 2004) ,carrying forest products , struckmoored Rol l On Roll Off CapeDomingo (13212 gt, built 1973), usedto carry military equipment, earlySaturday (July 22) on the CooperRiver near the old Navy base,damaging both ships above thewaterline, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. J.G.Beining said. The outbound Atacamalost steering at about 0300 hrs. andstruck Cape Domingo at Pier Uniform,Beining said. Cape Domingo is aReady Reserve Force roll-on, roll-offvessel that transports equipment forthe war effort in Iraq. It did not havemilitary equipment on it at the time,Beining said. Atacama’s bow struckthe forward mid-sect ion of CapeDomingo, he said. “There was a bit ofstructural damage on both vesselshigh above the waterline,” Beiningsaid. “There was no pollution, and noone was hurt.” Both ships remain inport, he said. Beining said the CoastGuard is investigating the incident.(Note — Atacama arrived CharlestonJuly 19, and Cape Domingo was lastreported to have arrived CharlestonAug 19, 2005.)

ATLANTIC III (Uruguay)London, July 24 — A press report,

dated July 22, states: Passenger ro/roAtlantic III (4994 gt, built 1993), ofFerrylineas, struck the wharf whenarriving at Colonia this morning. Anavy spokesman explained that fourpassengers were slightly injured and

were transferred to a local hospital.The spokesman said that a technicalcommission would investigated thereason for the accident.The vesselreturned to Buenos Aires later in theday for repairs

Buenos Aires, July 26 — According toport authorities, a request for berthingat Tanda Nor was submitted today forpassenger ro/ro Atlantic III. Repairswill be carried out there. — Lloyd’sAgents.

ATLANTICA I (Panama)See Maris.

AUTOROUTE (Madeira)Bremen, July 24 — At 1500 today

vehicle carrier Autoroute (7114 gt,built 1979) entered one of the twolocks at Bremerhaven and struck oneof the gates. Divers have been calledin. — Lloyd’s Agents. (Note — AutoRoute sailed Bremerhaven 1430, July24 for Oslo, and according to Lloyd’sMIU AIS was in lat 55 54 25N, long 0730 22E, at 0528 today, speed 11.4knots, course 1.6 degrees.)

London, July 26 — Informationreceived from Kiel, dated today, states:Vehicle carrier Autoroute struck theKaiserschleuse, in Bremerhaven, atapproximately 1500 July 24. Theroadway of the western side of theinner lock was damaged, metal partsin a length of several metres torn offand thrown into the water. Autoroutewas sl ightly damaged. Afterinspections it was allowed to resumeits voyage to Oslo. The lock was closedfor car traffic due to the damage.

B.F.C. II (Panama)Umm Qasr, Jul 24 — Product tanker

B.F.C. II (4093 gt, built 1972), loadedwith about 7,000 tonnes of fuel oilfrom Berth 9, Khor al Zubair port,struck wreck of trailing suction hopperdredge Palestine (3606 gt, built 1976)in lat 30 49N, long 47 57E, at 2210,local t ime, Jul 23. The B.F.C. IIsustained a large crack in its engine-room and subsequently sank in thechannel. The cargo is owned by IraqiTankers Company. Navigation to Khoral Zubair port is now available. —Lloyd’s Agents. (Note — Palestinesank in Khor al Zubair area duringthe Iraq-Kuwait conflict in February1991.)

London, Jul 24 — Understand allcrew from product tanker B.F.C. IIwere safely rescued when it sank atKhor al Zubair.

BANGLAR SHOURABH(Bangladesh)

London, Jul 21 — A press report,dated today, states: BangladeshShipping Corporation’s (BSC) crude oiltanker Banglar Shourabh, that wasdamaged by a fire on Jun 24, will berepaired at the state-run dry-dock atPatenga to keep the cost ‘ to aminimum’. State Minister for ShippingQuamrul Is lam announced thedecision to make the state-run oiltanker operational again yesterdayafternoon. At a press briefing, he saidthey decided to repair the damagedBSC oi l tanker at the state-run

Patenga dry-dock while the work orderfor repair would be given after floatingshort tender that would help minimisethe cost. The minister, however, didnot clearly say whether the repairwould be possible within theearmarked cost of Tk 25 crore. BSCManaging Director (MD) Zulf iqarHaider Chowdhury said surveyorsbrought from Singapore by theconcerned insurance company of BSCestimated the cost for the repair atUS$ 5.1 million (around Tk 35 crore)but repairing the tanker locally wouldcost less than that. Meanwhile, theftof valuable equipment was reported tohave taken place on the damaged shipduring its stay in the outer anchorageand after its beaching near ParkyBeach. Both the minister and the BSCMD, however, said the price of thestolen equipment would not be ‘somuch’. Besides, all the equipment thatappear as missing were not stolen, theBSC MD said, adding, “We boughtsome of the equipment to our storefearing further theft.” Departmentalaction is being taken against thepeople held responsible for theaccident at Banglar Shourabh, thestate minister for shipping said. Allthe probe committees formed in thisconnection blamed violation ofinternational maritime regulations,operation by ineligible officers andconsequent operational faults as thecause of fire on Banglar Shourabhthat also left three people dead. Theprobe reports blamed the BSC officialsconcerned including General Manager(ship repair), DPA, General ManagerSPD for negligence and fai lure todischarge duties as per theinternational shipping manual thatled to the accident. The reportsfurther revealed that the personneldepartment gave contractualappointment to a second officer and athird engineer in the tanker withouthaving approval from the higherauthorities. The personnel departmentalso gave contractual appointment to aretired officer of Bangladesh Navy asan electrical engineer for it. None ofthe three persons had any experienceof working at a tanker vessel neitherdid any of them have any certificaterequired for their respective job, saidsources quoting the report.

Chittagong, Jul 25 — Crude oi ltanker Banglar Shourabh is presentlylying at Parkichar, Anowara, a bit offside from Chittagong outer anchorageawait ing for salvage. — Lloyd’sAgents.

BELICIA (Panama)See Tirta Niaga I.

BILLY STAR (Philippines)See “Typhoon “Chanchu” ’ under

“Weather & Navigation”.

BINA (Indonesia)Chittagong, Jul 25 — Local agents of

product tanker Bina report that thevessel is still lying in Maynmar Port,but i t is expected to arrive atChittagong during the first week ofAugust. — Lloyd’s Agents.

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MMaarriinnee

BOCAUE (Philippines)Manila, Jul 26 — Product tanker

Bocaue wil l remain dry-docked atHerma Shipyard in Bataan provincelonger than expected, after c lasssurveyors from the American Bureauof Shipping recommended reinforcingthe hull with additional steel plating.Bocaue entered Herma Shipyard onJul 18 to have a hole in its bottom hullrepaired. Repairs were expected totake only a week, but with theadditional repairs, Bocaue will remainat the shipyard until the first week ofAugust, officials of Herma Shippingand Transport Co. said. — Lloyd’s ListCorrespondent.

BRILLIANCE (Hong Kong)London, July 24 — Following

received from Cape Town MRCC,timed 0855, UTC: It has been reportedbulker Bri l l iance (75801 gt , bui lt1990) is proceeding to St.Francis Bayto carry out repairs to an engineproblem,. ETA not known. (Note —Brilliance sailed Shanghai June 28,arrived Singapore July 5 and sailedJuly 6 for Tubarao.)

London, July 25 — Followingreceived from Cape Town MRCC,timed 0635, UTC: Bulker Brilliancereported at 1947, UTC, yesterday thatvessel’s main engine was started andvessel proceeding en route Brazil .

London, July 26 — A press report,dated today, states: Bulker Brilliance,which reported engine problems whileoff the south eastern Cape coast onMonday night, is continuing itsinterrupted journey to Brazil and isexpected to pass Cape Town sometimelater today or tomorrow. The vesselcaused a minor stir among residents ofthe area between Krom River andCape St Francis when the shipapproached close inshore, althoughaccording to the South AfricanMaritime Safety Authority (SAMSA)in Port Elizabeth at no time was itc loser than six miles . The ship ’smaster reported having engineproblems and asked to go to anchorbut this was refused and he was toldto instead proceed back to Algoa Bay,where a tug (Smit Amandla would beplaced on standby while Brilliancecompleted its repairs . The ship ’smaster responded that he wasawaiting instructions from the vessel’sowners in Hong Kong. Later headvised that the ship was continuingits journey, the crew havingpresumably completed repairs.

BSLE ENDURANCE (Cyprus)Balboa, July 18 — General cargo

BSLE Endurance remains anchoredCristobal. — Lloyd’s Agents.

Balboa, July 20 — General cargoBSLE Endurance is still anchored butit appears nothing in progress andowners exploring al l options. —Lloyd’s Agents.

BULOU NI CEVA (Fiji)Suva, Jul 25 — According to the local

newspaper the “Fiji Sun” on Jul 22,residents of Rotuma have beenassured that there will not be any fuelspillage from the stranded passenger

(cruise) Bulou Ni Ceva. The owners ofthe vessel said yesterday that therewas no cause for concern as the fuelhad been removed from the fuel tankto the upper deck. As far as thesalvage operation is concerned, theinsurance brokers have assured that adecision will be forthcoming by nextweek. — Lloyd’s Agents.

CAPE DOMINGO (U.S.A.)See Atacama.

CHARLOTTE MAERSK (DIS)London, Jul 27 — Following received

from the managers of ContainerCarrier Charlotte Maersk (91560 gt,built 2002), dated today: CharlotteMaersk, Singapore for Kaohsiung, wasin collision with Container CarrierMSC Jessica (23291 gt, built 1980)inside Singapore waters at 0805, localtime, today. There was some damageto the Charlotte Maersk and to someempty containers on board. TheCharlotte Maersk returned toSingapore Eastern Anchorage and hasbeen declared fit to proceed to berth.There were no injuries and nopol lution. Once the damagedcontainers are taken off, a damageassessment will be carried out to thevessel to ascertain necessary repairs.

Singapore, Jul 27 — ContainerCarrier MSC Jessica arrived PasirPanjang Holding Anchorage today. —Lloyd’s Agents.

CMA CGM OTELLO (FrenchSouthern Territories)

London, July 21 — Followingreceived from the owners of containercarrier CMA CGM Otello (91410 gt,built 2005), dated today: CMA CGMOtello struck a submerged rock offChina July 14. The vessel is now enroute from Xiamen to Singapore whererepairs will be carried out. (Note —Understand CMA CGM Otellosustained bottom damage when itstruck an uncharted rock in lat 2421.97N, long 118 29 13E, on July 14.According to Lloyd’s MIU AIS CMACGM Otello was in lat 23 18 22N, long117 40 10E, at 1846, July 20, speed11.7 knots, course 209.4 degrees.)

Singapore, Jul 27 — ContainerCarrier CMA CGM Otello arrivedSingapore at 1250, local time, todayand is currently berthed at JurongPort Berth 19. — Lloyd’s Agents.

COUGAR ACE (Singapore)London, Jul 24 — Following received

from Coast Guard Juneau, timed 1535,UTC: Vehicle carrier Cougar Ace(55328 gt , bui lt 1993) , Japan forVancouver, cargo vehicles, is listing 85deg to port with water ingress in lat 4812.7N, long 174 12.5W, as of 1452,UTC, today. Crew of 23 persons arecurrently on starboard bridge wing.Two vessels are proceeding and aCoast Guard C-130 aircraft is flyingoverhead and wil l be able to dropliferafts if the crew needs to abandon.

London, Jul 24 — A press report,dated today, states: Vehicle carrierCougar Ace, with 23 people on board,was listing severely, today, and takingon water south of the Aleutian Islands,

Coast Guard officials said. A CoastGuard plane was circling over CougarAce, which sent out an SOS lateSunday night ( local t ime) , PettyOfficer Stephen Harrison said. It wasnot immediately clear why the shipwas listing. Harrison said one crewmember had a broken leg, but therewere no other reported injuries. ACoast Guard cutter was on its way tothe area, 230 miles south of the islandof Adak, in the western Aleutians, butit would take several hours to reachthe vessel. A merchant vessel wascloser and headed to the site thismorning, Harrison said. He said theCoast Guard C-130 aircraft had apallet packed with survival rafts andsuits ready if the vessel began sinkingbefore other help arrived.

London, Jul 24 — Following receivedfrom Coast Guard Juneau, timed 1805,UTC: At 1755, UTC, vehicle carrierCougar Ace in position lat 48 12N,long 174 03W, with a list between 80and 90 deg. Twentytwo crew on board,al l on the bridge. Two vesselspresently standing of f , containercarrier Bauhinia Bridge and bulkerIkan Juara. Attempts to get a line onboard to remove crew have failed.Weather in area not favourable, with30 knot winds and seas of eight to 10feet. Incident started at 0709, UTC,this morning, when master reportedballast shifted. Vessels standing offreport that the condition of Cougar Aceappears to be stable.

London, Jul 24 — Following receivedfrom Coast Guard Juneau, timed 2100,UTC: Vehicle carrier Cougar Ace isdrifting at about three knots. The creware still awaiting rescue from the sideof the bridge. Helicopters from Kodiakand Anchorage are en route for therescue. A two-mile sheen of oil hasbeen reported trailing from the vessel.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated Jul 24, states: The US CoastGuard and the Alaska National Guarddispatched helicopters today to a car-carrier crippled and stalled in theBering Sea. Vehicle carrier CougarAce, a 654-foot-long vessel owned byMitsui O.S.K. Lines, began taking onwater Sunday about 230 miles fromthe Aleutian Islands and by Mondaywas listing 90 degrees, Alaska Reportsaid. The vessel was en route fromJapan to Vancouver, Canada, carryingmore than 6,000 cars. The ship’s homeport is Singapore. The ship has a crewof 22. One has a broken leg, the reportsaid. Aircraft being sent to thestricken ship included a Coast Guardhelicopter, two Black Hawk helicoptersfrom Elmendorf Air Force Baseaccompanied by two HC-130 airplanescarrying rescue teams from Elmendorf.The Coast Guard has also dispatched avessel from Hawaii. Another cargovessel remained in the vicinity. EarlierMonday, a Coast Guard plane droppeda pal let of l i fe rafts . The ship iscarrying more than 500 tons of fuel.The Coast Guard said that an oil slickwas visible on the water ’s surfacespreading more than two miles fromthe vessel, the report said.

London Jul 25 — A press report,dated today, states: The crew of a

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cargo vessel listing virtually “on itsside” of f the coast of Alaska arepreparing to abandon ship, CoastGuard off icials have said. Vehiclecarrier Cougar Ace is listing at an 80-degree angle. The US Coast Guard issending helicopters to pick up the 22crew. The vessel is carrying 4,813 carsfrom Japan to Vancouver, Canada. Amerchant ship has been trying to rig aline to the vessel. The cause of theship’s listing is not yet clear. “Fortheir safety, it’s best for them to comeoff the ship,” said Coast Guard Lt.Mara Booth-Miller. Three helicoptersare expected to pluck the crew fromthe vessel ’s superstructure, wherethey have gathered since it beganlisting. All 22 members of the crew arewearing survival suits, officials said.Ocean conditions are choppy, with 8-to-10ft seas. A Coast Guard aircrafthad dropped three life rafts for thecrew, but these had been pushedbeneath the listing vessel by the roughseas. One crew member has suffered abroken leg, the Coast Guard said. Theship is now some 240 miles south ofthe Aleutian Islands. “It’s sitting onits side, basically,” US Coast GuardPetty Officer Stephen Harrison said.The ship is reported to be carryingbetween 400 and 500 metric tons offuel oil and 112 tons of diesel fuel.Coast Guard officials said they hadseen a two-mile oil slick near the ship.Petty Officer Harrison said the shiphad made an SOS cal l on Sundaynight but the crew did not know fromwhere the ship was taking on water.

London, July 25 — A Coast GuardJuneau press release, dated July 24,states: Vehicle carrier Cougar Acereported they were taking on waterand l ist ing 80 degrees at 2309yesterday. Cougar Ace left Japan July22 with 22 people on board. Onecrewmember has a broken leg, butthere are no other reported injuries atthis t ime. Al l crewmembers arewearing survival suits at this time. ACoast Guard C-130 aircraft out ofKodiak is on scene and has radiocontact with Cougar Ace. The C-130has dropped a l i feraft as a safetymeasure for the possibi l ity of thevessel capsizing. The cause of thedamage and the source of incomingwater are unknown at this time. Thereare two merchant vessels standing byon scene to assist . Cougar Ace iscarrying 430 tonnes of fuel oil and 112tonnes of diesel . There is a sheenextending two miles from the vessel.Cougar Ace is carrying 4,813 vehicles,en-route to Vancouver B.C. The CoastGuard cutter Rush, based out ofHawaii, is en route to assist and isexpected to arrive on scene inapproximately 20 hours.

London, July 25 — A Coast GuardKodiak press release, dated July 24,states: Vehicle carrier Cougar Aceremains disabled and listing at 90degrees 230 miles south of theAleutian Islands. A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft from Air Station KodiakAlaska deployed several life rafts toCougar Ace and returned to Kodiak forfuel. A Coast Guard rescue helicopterfrom Air Station Kodiak has been

deployed to the vessel. The Alaska AirNational Guard have deployed twoPavehawk helicopters accompanied bya C-130, and two HC-130 aircraft within-flight refuelling capabilities, allcarrying parachute deployable rescueteams, from Kulis Air Force Base toassist in the rescue operation. BulkerIkan Juara remains on scene. Thecause of the vessel damage isunknown at this time.

London, July 25 — A Mitsui O.S.K.Lines press release, dated Tokyo today,states: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.(MOL, President: Akimitsu Ashida)reports that the MOL-operated vehiclecarrier Cougar Ace was heavily listingsouth of the Aleutian Islands July 24,as follows: At about 1700, JST, July 24(JST), MOL received a report fromCougar Ace laden with completed cars,which was on the voyage from Japanto the west coast of North America.According to the report, the vessel waslisting heavily to port and became notunder command. The position wasapproximately lat 48 14N, long 17426W. All 23 crewmembers areconfirmed safe, and they have put onimmersion suits and are waiting at asafe location onboard for rescue by theUS Coast Guard (USCG). Apart fromone crewmember who injured a leg, allare in good condition. According to theUSCG, the vessel is stable thoughlisted, and besides a small quantity ofsheen, no loss of cargo or other itemshave been observed. The vesselimmediately requested USCG torescue its crew. USCG helicopter is onits way to the scene, and is scheduledto arrive afternoon, July 25 (JST) torescue those seafarers. At 1830, July24, MOL formed a task force headedby President Ashida for an emergencyresponse. The cause of the incident iscurrently under investigation. Of the23 crew, two are Singaporeans, eightMyanmars, 13 Filipinos.

London, July 25 — A Coast GuardJuneau press release, dated July 24,states: A Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawkrescue helicopter and crew from AirStation Kodiak, working with two AirNational Guard Pavehawk helicopterswith rescue crews from Kulis AirNational Guard Base, have sucessfullyhoisted the 23 crewmembers of vehiclecarrier Cougar Ace to safety. Theoperation began at 2105 hrs. By 2130hrs, the first seven crewmembers hadbeen hoisted from the vessel by aPavehawk helicopter. At 2143 hrs, theCoast Guard helicopter and crew hadhoisted the next eight, departing forAdak at 2151 hrs. After completing amid-air refuelling from a nearby AirNational Guard C-130 tanker, thesecond Pavehawk helicopter hoisted theremaining crewmembers at 2209 hrs.Weather conditions during the operationwere overcast skies with 8 knot winds.Aside from one crewmember with abroken leg who will be taken toAnchorage for medical attention, therewere no reported injuries. Theremaining crewmembers will be takento Adak and then transported to Kodiak,where they will spend the night.Tomorrow they will be taken to alocation as yet to be determined.

London, Jul 25 — Following receivedfrom Coast Guard Juneau, timed 1950,UTC: Coast Guard high endurancecutter Rush is standing by vehiclecarrier Cougar Ace and will continueto do so unti l a salvage plan isformulated by her owners. No furtherreports of any oil pollution.

London, Jul 26 — Another huge billis looming for insurers if the 4,813vehicles on board vehicle carrierCougar Ace are lost or badly damaged.The casualty hit the market as it isstill coming to terms with the scale ofcargo claims emerging from the fire oncontainer carrier Hyundai Fortune inMarch. Claims from the boxship blazecould reach $100m and there are fearsthat the Cougar Ace figure could be atleast $75m i f the vehicles on theJapanese-controlled ship are of highvalue. In insurance terms, the incidentrecalled the sinking of the car carrierTricolor in the English Channel inDecember 2002 after a collision. Itscargo of 2,870 luxury cars worth atotal of around £80m ($100.5m) had tobe scrapped to avoid the possibility oftheir re-use by criminals, while thecost of wreck removal exceeded thethen $30m pool ing l imit of theInternational Group of P&I Clubs.Cougar Ace is reportedly entered inJapan P&I Club, which could have amoderate exposure only unless thereis any pollution. It is thought likelythat the hull insurance is placedwholly or in great majority in theJapanese market. Many insurers arecautious of covering car carriers due toan enhanced total loss risk. They saythe hull design and nature of the cargomake it hard to compartmentaliseproblems or control a list.

London, July 26 — A Mitsui O.S.K.Lines press release, dated Tokyo today,states: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.(MOL, President: Akimitsu Ashida)announced that all the crew of theMOL-operated vehicle carrier CougarAce has been safely evacuated fromthe ship. At 1400, JST, yesterdayhelicopters from the U.S. CoastalGuard (USCG) and U.S. Air Force(USAF) began l i f t ing the crew tosafety. An hour later, all officers andcrew had been removed from the ship.The 23 seafarers on board were takento Adak Island in the Aleutians. Thehull of Cougar Ace is floating stablyalthough the vessel is listing. Thevessel will be towed to a safe port forrecovery in the future, and at thesame time, the company will start full-fledged cause-unfolding at the sametime.

London, July 26 — A Coast GuardJuneau press release, dated July 25,states: Vehicle carrier Cougar Acemaintains its position 240 miles southof Adak. As of 1200 yesterday, the shipis listing 60 degrees to port. The keeland the propeller are out of the water.It is stable, and does not appear to besinking. After accomplishing theprimary mission of safely evacuatingthe stranded crewmembers, the CoastGuard continues to monitor the vesselfor possible environmental threats andhazards to navigation. For thispurpose, the Coast Guard cutter Rush

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is on scene with Cougar Ace. A smallboat crew, deployed from Rush to moreeffect ively observe Cougar Ace,described the oil sheen around thevessel as “very light”. No one will bepermitted to board Cougar Ace at thist ime. The Alaska Department ofEnvironmental Conservation ismonitoring the situation, and hasoffered their help i f i t becomesnecessary. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, thevessel ’s owners, have contracted acommercial salvage company. Thesalvage company is expected to arriveon scene within a week. Mitsui O.S.K.will also be responsible for furthertransportation of the rescued crewmembers. The Coast Guard is activelyengaged with state, local and tribalofficials in making preparations incase the salvage company requests totow the vessel into Alaskan waters.

Londson, Jul 26 — A press report,dated today, states: The crew ofvehicle carrier Cougar Ace wasscrambling to adjust the ballast water,but something went wrong. CougarAce flipped onto its side. “Everythingwent to hell in a hand basket in 10minutes,” said Michael Terry, a nursepractitioner at the health clinic inAdak who talked to the vessel’s masterand crew about what happened whentheir vessel and its cargo suddenlyrolled late Sunday night. The master,identified by Terry as Nyi Nyi Tun,had just enough time to get off an SOSbefore the vessel went sideways inchoppy seas. Most of the crew wasfrom the Philippines and Myanmar,with a few from Singapore. Theytumbled and slid in those chaotic firstminutes, suffering bruises, bumps andcuts, straining muscles as theygrabbed to hold on or pulledthemselves onto the open deck, Terrysaid. One man was in the shower whenthe vessel tilted and broke his lowerleg, said one of the pararescuemen. Asof last night, Cougar Ace appearedstable, on its side in the sea, itsengines, keel and rudder all out of thewater. The crew of Coast Guard cutterRush measured the l ist at 60degrees.The Coast Guard plans noinvestigation of the incident, because itwas in international waters. Themaster said the crew was changing outthe ballast; a crewman on board said itoccurred as the vessel was leavinginternational waters, to meet U.S.requirements, according to Terry.Before the rescue, the master relayedto the Coast Guard that a ballastchange was involved, Harrison said. Asalvage crew is expected to reach thevessel in about a week, and Rush willstay until then, the Coast Guard said.While there’s an oil sheen aroundCougar Ace, it appears to be very light,according to observations from thecutter. The salvors will assess whatactivities can be taken to right thevessel and maybe take it to port.

London, Jul 26 — Following receivedfrom Coast Guard Juneau, timed 1630,UTC: Vehicle carrier Cougar Ace:Situation unchanged, with list stillabout 60 deg. Coast Guard cutterremains on site and commercialsalvors are due to arrive Jul 31.

Seatt le , Jul 26 — The 23 crewmembers rescued from vehicle carrierCougar Ace are being treated inAnchorage. They are suffering fromcuts, bruises, thirst and hunger, withmuscles deeply strained from hours ofclinging to the severely listing vessel.Less than 10 minutes passed betweenthe initial listing of the vessel and itsnearly laying on its side in the water,a crew member stated. Very little timewas available to send out distresssignals. The crew members also notedthe rough sea conditions. The masterstated that the vessel began to list asthe bal last was being adjusted toconform to US codes as the vessel wasleaving International waters. At thesame time it was hit by a large wave.With the crew safe, salvage attemptsare under consideration, said a CoastGuard spokesman. A salvageagreement was being finalised withcommercial salvors at this time. It isbel ieved/hoped that the vehicles(4,813) are still secured below deckswith chains, fears being that theyhave broken loose. A two-mile oi lsheen described as “ l ight” wasreported around the vessel lateMonday (Jul 24) by a Coast Guardcutter.

London, Jul 27 — Vehicle carrierCougar Ace remained adrift 240 milessouth of Adak in the North Pacificyesterday with only a small US CoastGuard cutter crew on hand to monitorits fate . Petty Off icer ThomasMcKenzie of the Coast Guard saidthere was a “slight drift” in the areawith the stricken car carrier movingeast by south-east “very slowly” butthe situation was not considereddramatic just yet. Mitsui OSK Lines,the vessel’s part owner, is said to havehired a salvor, expected to reach thesite “within a week”. However, thecompany has not informed the USCGof this salvor ’s identity or of theestimated date of arrival of the savagevessel, Petty Officer McKenzie said.Late on Tuesday night (Jul 25) thevessel was reported listing at 60 degwith the keel and propeller out of thewater. It was “stable and did notappear to be s inking” , the CoastGuard said. A small boat crewdeployed from the USCG cutter Rush,the only craft at present on site ,described the oi l sheen round thevessel as “very slight.” There was verylittle the Rushcould do other than“wait and watch,” Petty Off icerMcKenzie said. There is no one onboard Cougar Ace to help in efforts tosecure the vessel and the USCG hasenforced a blanket ban on anyoneboarding the ship at this time. “Theship is far enough out that we feelconfident it would not be near land foranother week,” Petty Officer McKenziesaid, stressing that any suchestimates must necessarily be takenas speculation.

London, July 27 — A Mitsui O.S.K.Lines press release, dated Tokyo today,states: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.(MOL, President: Akimitsu Ashida)reported that the MOL-operatedvehicle carrier Cougar Ace is floatingstably though the vessel remains

listed. The company’s investigationinto the incident has just started.Yesterday evening the company hadits first contact with the master, whowas rescued on July 25. He confirmedthat the vessel started listing duringwork to adjust the ballast water .MOL consider that possible cause ofthe listing is instability developedduring the ballast water adjustmentprocess.

Londfon, July 27 — A press report,dated July 26, states: Vehicle carrierCougar Ace foundered in rough seasoff Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and thecrew was evacuated, leaving 4,700Mazda Motor Corp vehicles onboardthe listing vessel. Mazda said the carswere being shipped from its homecountry for sale in the U.S. andCanada. ``A salvage ship is on theway, but we won’t know the status ofthe vehicles for about a week,’’ JayAmestoy, Mazda’s vice president forU.S. government affairs, said today.About 60% of the vehicles are Mazda3small cars and 25% are CX-7 sport-utility wagons, said Amestoy, whodidn’t know the shipment’s value orMazda’s insurer for the cargo. Theship was scheduled for stops inVancouver; Tacoma, Washington; andPort Hueneme, north of Los Angeles,Mazda said.

London, July 27 — A press report,dated today, states: Mitsui O.S.K.Lines, said yesterday it had hiredCrowley Maritime Corp, and Crowleyis enlisting its salvage subsidiaryTitan Maritime LLC to right vehiclecarrier Cougar Ace and tow it to aport. Crowley tug Sea Victory leftSeattle on Tuesday night and wasexpected to reach Cougar Ace on Aug2, Greg Beuerman, a spokesman forMitsui O.S.K. Lines, said.

CP VALOUR (Bermuda)Ponta Delgada, July 27 — Container

Carrier CP Valour: The removaloperation of the cargo, containers, iscontinuing and expected to becompleted beginning next week. In themeantime preparations to refloat thevessel are underway. The work on thevessel are being made with the help oftug Battle Axe and barge MEB-JB1. Itwas reported that a small fire brokeout during the welding works beingcarried out on board CP Valour wasbeen promptly extinguished by BattleAxe. — Lloyd’s Agents.

CROWN PRINCESS (Bermuda)London, Jul 21 — A team from the

US National Transportation SafetyBoard is to examine the data recorderof Princess Cruises’ passenger (cruise)Crown Princess to establish the causeof Tuesday’s (Jul 18) steering incident.A spokesman for the NTSB said itwould concentrate on both theautomechanical and operationalaspects of the vessel. He said it wastoo soon to comment on reports that amalfunction of the auto-pilot systemcaused the ship to list suddenly tostarboard, 11 miles south-east of PortCanaveral. Princess Cruises said itexpected the vessel to leave Canaveralyesterday although this was

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dependent on whether the NTSB hadcompleted its investigation. The causeof the accident has yet to bedetermined and a spokeswoman forthe vessel could not confirm reports ofa 15 degree l ist . The NTSB isconducting its investigation inconjunction with the US Coast Guard.

London, Jul 21 — A press report,dated today, states: Passenger (cruise)Crown Princess that tilted suddenly atsea, injuring 240, left Port Canaveralyesterday for New York, where thisweekend it wil l attempt a newpassenger voyage despite continuedmystery over what caused the earlierincident. Investigators from the CoastGuard and National TransportationSafety Board were on board to monitorthe trip, officials said. The federalreview might not be concluded forsome time, Coast Guard Petty OfficerJennifer Johnson said. “Aninvestigation ’s an extremely longprocess. It doesn’t mean the cruiseship can’t continue to operate,”Johnson said. Crown Princess wasscheduled to arrive in Brooklyntomorrow morning, pick upapproximately 3,000 passengers anddepart later that afternoon. The tripto New York will determine whetherthe ship could depart again withpassengers. Although the ship doesn’tneed additional Coast Guard clearancefor another voyage, the port could holdthe ship if the investigators on boarddetermine it was unsafe, Coast GuardPetty Officer James Judge said.

London, Jul 22 — A press report,dated today, states: New reports sayhuman error, not mechanical failure,caused passenger (cruise) CrownPrincess to dangerously tilt to one sideTuesday (Jul 18). A high-level sourcesaid a mistake by a junior officer onthe vessel caused the incident. Thesource said the officer turned off theautomatic pi lot system when hethought a gauge was pointing too farto the left but instead of turning thevessel back to the right, he kept it inan even sharper left-hand turn.

London, Jul 23 — A press report,dated today, states: Passenger (cruise)Crown Princess, which unexpectedlyheeled to one side during a tr ipthrough calm Atlantic waters, pickedup a new load of passengers en routeto the Caribbean yesterday for its firstvoyage since the incident. The vesselarrived in Brooklyn from Florida for aquick stop before sailing later in theevening for the Turks and CaicosIslands. Investigators yesterday hadstill not finished investigating why itsuddenly listed 15 deg Tuesday (Jul18) while travelling about 11.5 milesoff Port Canaveral. The unexpectedlurch threw passengers andunfastened objects against the deckand walls before the vessel correctedthe list in about 40 seconds, accordingto passenger estimates. Inspectors,however, found that the CrownPrincess was mechanically safe andcleared it to return to service ,according to a Coast Guardspokesman. Only a few vacationersappeared to be deterred by theincident. After some cancellations, the

vessel is sailing at about 15% below itscapacity of 3 ,000 passengers, aPrincess Cruises spokeswoman said.The vessel is due to be at sea for aweek, stopping at Grand Turk andBermuda before returning to NewYork. The cruise was init ial lyscheduled to start Thursday but wasdelayed two days to allow time for it tobe inspected before returning to NewYork. Passengers sai l ing on theshortened trip would get a 50% refundof their fare, the cruise l ine said.Investigators from the Coast Guardand National Transportation SafetyBoard travel led on board thepassenger vessel to monitor it while itcruised without passengers fromFlorida. Before the accident, the crewhad reported a steering problem onboard. The vessel was sailing throughcalm seas and there was no indicationthat a rogue wave or foul playcontributed to the roll, officials said.At the time of the accident, the CrownPrincess was on autopi lot and itsmaster was away from the bridge. TheCoast Guard has now ordered the crewto manually steer the vessel while it isin water less than 50 metres deep.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated Jul 24, states: Passenger(cruise) Crown Princess arrived inBrooklyn from Florida Saturday (Jul22) for a quick stop before sailing forthe Turks and Caicos Islands, with anew set of passengers. Investigatorsstill haven’t finished investigatingwhy the vessel suddenly l isted 15degrees on Tuesday (Jul 18) whiletravell ing about 11 miles off PortCanaveral . The Coast Guard saidinspectors have found that the vesselis mechanically safe and cleared toreturn to service. Meanwhile, on Jul21, attorneys at law, Parker &Waichman, LLP, announced that it hasbeen retained by five passengers onthe Crown Princess who were injuredafter the vessel listed.The firm intendsto file suit against Carnival Corp. andthe relevant componentmanufacturers, including themanufacturers of the ship’s autopilotand steering systems, by the end ofthe current month.

London, July 26 — A Crown Princessletter to the passengers regardingpassenger (cruise) Crown Princess,dated July 24, states: We at PrincessCruises would l ike to take theopportunity to comment about theincident of last week, when CrownPrincess experienced a strong l istfol lowing its departure from PortCanaveral. We express our sincerestapologies for this regrettable event,and fully understand that this was adistressing experience for all who wereon board. We especially extend ourapologies to those passengers andcrew who were injured. We aregrateful that the injuries were not life-threatening, and also that thosetransferred to hospitals for evaluationand treatment have now been releasedwith the exception of one passenger,for whom we wish a speedy and fullrecovery. Following the incident, weimmediately cooperated withrepresentatives from the U.S. Coast

Guard, the National TransportationSafety Board (NTSB), and theBermuda flag authorities. Followingan extensive assessment, CrownPrincess departed New York July 22on a seven-day voyage, havingreceived clearance to sail by the U.S.Coast Guard and the Bermuda flagauthorities. We can appreciate theremay be concern as to the cause of thisincident, and questions about whetherit could happen again. As you may beaware, there is an investigation intothe incident being carried out by theU.S. authorities which has not yetbeen ful ly completed. It wouldtherefore be inappropriate for us tocomment in any detail before thatinvestigation is complete and theresults published. However, we canconfirm that the incident was due tohuman error and the appropriatepersonnel changes have been made.

DA LI (Georgia)See “South Korea” under “Port State

Control”.

DA YUAN YU 309 (China)Maputo, Jul 27 — Fishing (general)

Da Yuan Yu 309 sailed from Maputoon Jul 11. — Lloyd’s Agents.

DALIANA (Greece)London, Jul 27 — Lloyd’s Casualty

representatives in Piraeus report:Passenger ro/ro Dal iana (5815 gt,built 1970), Brindisi for Igoumenitsawith 194 passengers and 72 vehicleson board, grounded on sand in shallowwaters off Igoumenitsa this morning.There were no injuries to passengersor crew, and no pollution occurred. Thevessel refloated under its own powerand berthed safely at Igoumenitsaport. The port authority prohibited thevessel from departing, pendingissuance of a Class maintaincertificate. The passengers and theirvehicles were forwarded to theirdestinations on board passenger ro/roOuranos.

DOLLART GAS (Cyprus)Piraeus, Jul 21 — Liquid Petroleum

Gas Carrier Dol lart Gas has nowcompleted repairs at Kaohsiung.Vessel carried out bunkeringyesterday was reportedly due to sail.— Tsavliris Salvage (International)Ltd. (Note — According to LMIU AIS,Dollart Gas was off Kaohsiung, in lat22 36 12.9N, long 120 17 45.36E, at1228, UTC, today, course 129 deg,speed 1.2 knots.)

DS MONTROSE (Bahamas)London, Jul 25 — Bulker D S

Montrose sailed from Piraeus on Jul22, bound for Eleusis.

EASLINE TIANJIN (Singapore)See “Typhoon ‘Ewiniar ’ ” under


ECE (Marshall Islands)London, July 27 — French

environmental organisation Robin desBois has attacked plans to release the10,000 tonne phosphoric acid cargo ofsunken acid tanker Ece into the

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English Channel as “del iberatepollution.” Following discussions withEce’s Turkish owner, Aksay Denizcilik,and the owner of i ts cargo, theMoroccan Off ice Cheri f ien desPhosphates, the French and Britishauthorities have adopted an actionplan that involves removing anestimated 40 tonnes of heavy fuel fromthe wreck of Ece by pumping andreleasing its cargo of phosphoric acidinto the sea. The French maritimeprefecture in Cherbourg said anunmanned submarine would be usedto open the vessel’s six cargo tanks toallow a controlled release of the acid.It added that French and Brit ishexperts had agreed the impact of sucha release would be limited initially toan area of a few hundred metresaround the wreck and that, after afew days , there would be nomeasurable trace of the acid. Theauthorit ies ’ c la im that theenvironmental impact of the release ofthe phosphoric acid would be minimalhas been chal lenged, however, byRobin des Bois, which claims the acidcontains numerous toxic heavy metalsthat would remain in the sea,poisoning marine life and contributingto the proliferation of toxic greenseaweed and plankton on the Frenchcoast. It said Moroccan data on thecomposition of the acid indicated thecargo of Ece contained 5 kg ofmercury, 20 kg of lead, 130 kg ofarsenic, 400 kg of cadmium, 800 kg ofchrome and 1,000 kg of vanadium, aswel l as 800 kg of uranium “Theorganised dumping of the phosphoricacid remaining in the wreck of the Eceis v iewed by Robin des Bois asdel iberate pol lut ion,” said theenvironmental organisat ion in acommuniquÈ. The release of the acidran counter to the objectives of the1992 Ospar Convention, which soughtto prevent pollution in the North EastAtlantic and had been signed by theUK and France, it said.

EILTANK 31 (Germany)London, July 27 — Information

received, dated Kiel today, states:After part cargo of the Inlandwaterways tanker Eiltank 31, whichwas destined for Ludwigshafen, waspumped into Dutch tanker Ellen theship was towed to a temporary berthbetween Bingen and Ruedesheim.Here it was completely unloaded andtowed to a yard in Duisburg forinspection for possible damage. Aftercompletition of investigations the shipwhich had sustained no furtherdamage was soon put back intoservice.

EL MORRO (U.S.A.)Santo Domingo, Jul 20 — Repairs to

tug El Morro were initiated on Jul 18,but due to the extension of thedamages, it cannot yet be anticipatedwhen the repairs will be completed. —Lloyd’s Agents.

Santo Domingo, July 21 —Understand repairs to tug El Morroare estimated to be completed withinsome 10 days as from today. — Lloyd’sAgents.

ENSCO 107 (Liberia)Singapore, Jul 24 — Drill platform

Ensco 107 is currently at Keppel FELSQuay 3, Singapore. — Lloyd’s Agents.

FOLEGANDROS (Greece)London, Jul 20 — A report from

Athens, dated today, states: EletsonCorporation, owners and managers ofproduct tanker Folegandros, reportthat the vessel departed the inneranchorage of the Port of Maracaibo, at1045 today. The tanker was cleared tosail by Port Authority afternoon of Jul19, but waited for the daylight hightide of today, to ensure safe transitthrough the Maracaibo Channel as perport regulations. Refloating of thetanker was achieved at 0645, Jul 15and she arrived in the inneranchorage at 0940 same day.Underwater inspection completed at1200, Jul 15, and class inspectionscompleted later same day, when therelevant certificate/clearance received.Reloading commenced at noon, Jul 15,and was completed at 1500, Jul 17.Owners and managers confirm thatfol lowing two divers ’ inspectionsreports and class inspection, thetanker has suffered no damage as aresult of this grounding and nopol lution or injuries has beenreported. Owners and managers wouldlike to thank all those who have beeninstrumental in the successfulresolution of this grounding incident.

FRISIAN SPRING (Netherlands)London, Jul 20 — General cargo

Frisian Spring was reported arrivingat Montreal on/about Jul 18 andsailing on/about Jul 19.

GALEMAR (Argentina)London, Jul 23 — Following

Argentinian Navigation Warningissued Jul 22: Fishing (general)Galemar (455 gt), in tow of fishingAltalena, reported in lat 45 25S, long63 52W, course 255 deg, speed 5.5knots , length of tow 500 metres.Vessels are bound for ComodoroRivadavia.

Buenos Aires, July 27 — Understandfishing (general) Galemar was seen bythe Argentine Coast Guard fishingyesterday and does not seem to haveany problems. — Lloyd’s Agents.

GAZ HORIZON (Panama)London, Jul 25 — Following received

from the managers of LiquidPetroleum Gas Carrier Gaz Horizon(39932 gt, built 1982), dated today:Gaz Horizon, bound Mexico with LPGon board, had auxil iary engineblackout after cooling water was lostdue to damage to a pipe in theauxiliary engine while transittingPanama Canal Jul 23. Vessel anchoredat Gamboa, near Balboa, and has nowsuccessfully carried out all necessaryrepairs. (Note — According to Lloyd’sMIU AIS, Gaz Horizon was anchoredin lat 09 06 44.88N, long 79 42 08.4W,at 1106, UTC, today.)

Balboa, Jul 25 — Liquid PetroleumGas Carrier Gaz Horizon arrivedCristobal at 0835, local time, Jul 18in laden condition (cargo propane) for

southbound transit and commencedtransit at 0717 Jul 22. During transitthe vessel reportedly sustainedcomplete blackout due failure four (?)generators and was moved to GamboaMoorings with assistance of canal tugs.Due generator outage, refrigerationmachinery inoperable and cargotemperature started to increase. Localwork-shop placed portable generatoron board to provide some power torefrigeration equipment/maintaintemperature of cargo. Understandrepairs in hand by ships personnelwith local assistance and at least onegenerator back in operation. Repairsmay be completed tomorrow. Vesselremains at Gamboa moorings andreportedly Canal Authorities will notpermit her to resume transit until allgenerators are back in service andfound to be operating in a satisfactorymanner. Even though the incidentapparently resulted in no damage tothe canal installations or the vessel(other than the actual generatordamage, an official investigation washeld by the Board of Local Inspectors,to inquire into the circumstancessurrounding the blackout. Reportsalso indicate that five ships scheduledfor transit that day had to berescheduled, resulting in significantdelays. — Lloyd’ Agents.

London, July 27 — According toLloyd’s MIU AIS Liquid PetroleumGas Carrier Gaz Horizon was still inlat 09 06 44N, long 79 42 08W, at 0803today.

GLORY MOON (Panama)London, Jul 26 — Bulk cement

carrier Glory Moon sailed from offSingapore, in tow of tug De Da on Jul20, arriving at Bataan on Jul 21.

HALTEN (St. Vincent & Grenadines)

Malmo, Jul 26 — General cargoHalten (1999 gt, built 1992), Liepajafor Bergnaset with 2,359 tonnes wheatand 500 tonnes soya meal, groundedoutside Alabodarna in The Sound,between Landskrona and Helsingborg,at 0658, local t ime, Jul 25. TheSwedish Coast Guard, the police andthe Swedish maritime authoritiesboarded the vessel and carried out analcohol test on the master. The testwas found to be posit ive, and themaster was arrested and taken ashore.The vessel refloated by its own meansand anchored outside Raa for a diver’sinspection. Indents were found in thebottom plating but no leakage wasfound. A Class surveyor boarded thevessel, and a joint decision was takenwith the Swedish maritime authoritiesto al low the vessel to proceed toNorway in order to discharge andcarry out a further bottom inspection.— Lloyd’s Agents.

HOHEBANK (U.K.)Liverpool, Jul 25 — General cargo

Hohebank is still in Cammell Lairds,undergoing repairs. — Lloyd’s Agents.

HORIZON DISCOVERY (U.S.A.)London, July 26 — Coast Guard

Jacksonville press releases, dated July

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25, state: Coast Guard assessmentteams are assessing the damagecaused by Container Carrier HorizonDiscovery (18888 gt, built 1968) thathas ran aground in the St. John’sRiver near Litt le Jett ies Park inMayport , Fla . Horizon Discoverycontacted with the jetties at LittleJetties Park while transiting the St.John’s River at approximately 1930hrs. There were no reported injuries.

(Later): Horizon Discovery that ranaground in the St. John’s River nearthe Little Jetties Park today was freedat 2315 hrs. by tugs and is on its wayto Blount Island, Fla. HorizonDiscovery was refloated by tugs fromMoran Towing. Coast Guardassessment teams did not observe anyoil or fuel leaking from the vessel aftertheir initial assessment. The St. JohnsRiver from Coast Guard SectorJacksonville in Mayport, to BlountIsland, is now open to all commercialtraffic. Coast Guard inspectors fromSector Jacksonville are investigatingthe incident. The Coast Guard willcontinue to monitor the vessel toensure that it is not leaking any oil orfuel.

London, July 27 — According Lloyd’sMIU AIS Container Carrier HorizonDiscovery was in lat 30 03 33N, lat 8046 58W, at 2249, July 26, speed 20knots, course 121 degrees.

INFINITY (Bahamas)See “Outbreak of Virus on Bahamas

Vessel” under “Miscellaneous.”

KOZIOROZEC (Poland)London, Jul 27 — Following received

from Kiel, dated: On Jul 20 the Polish“train barge” Koziorozec, homeportOpole, owned by Odratrans inWroclaw, with a crew of three, ranaground on the river Oder close toLebus. It was carrying a cargo of 320tons steel products for a power stationin H¸rth, close to Cologne. The waterdepth at the grounding site is only 0.7m. The vessel, however, has a draughtof 1,15 m. At the beginning of theweek the ship succeeded in geetingfree, under its own power, only to runaground again on the next sand bar.The Koziorozec has now beendisconnected from the barge which isstuck fast in the middle of the river.Without a rise in the river levels,through rain, it is impossible to reachthe nearest port of Kostrzyn(Kuestrin), which is only 15 km away.It is therefore possible that the “trainbarge” will remain “in situ” for someweeks.

KURT R.LUEDTKE (U.S.A.)Troy, Mich, Jul 22 — Tug Kurt

R.Luedtke (95 gt, built 1956) was backin the water and rafted to No 16derrick barge at the Cargill ElevatorPier, Ontario, yesterday morning.They were taking on fuel from a Nocotanker truck and seemed to be makingpreparations to get under way aroundnoon. Reportedly the tug had propellerdamage repaired there this week. —“Great Lakes and Seaway ShippingNews.”

LASS URANUS (Germany)London, Jul 25 — General cargo Lass

Uranus arrived at Tees at 1950 hrs,Jul 24.

LAVADARA (Greece)London, Jul 22 — Bulker Lavadara

left San Lorenzo on Jul 5.

LUCKY STAR (Bolivia)Taipei, July 24 — According to the

Notice to Mariners issued by theChinese Naval Meteorologic &Oceanographic Office, tanker LuckyStar grounded again on June 30 in lat22 36 14.4N, long 120 15 50.4E. —Lloyd’s Agents.

Taipei, Jul 25 — Understand tankerLucky Star is still grounded in lat: 2236.14.4N, long. 120 15.50.4E.Operations to prepare the vessel fortowage and repairs are underway. —Lloyd’s Agents.

MAGDALENA GREEN(Netherlands)

Montreal, Jul 25 — Understand asmall fire broke out in the hold ofgeneral cargo Magdalena Green(11894 gt, built 2001) while it wasloading in Grande Anse, Qc. Thereappears to be no damage to the vesseland only limited damage to the cargo.— Lloyd’s Agents.

Montreal, Jul 26 — There was nodamage to general cargo MagdalenaGreen and only limited damage to thecargo, the f ire was extinguishedwithin 10 minutes by the crew. Vesseldeparted Grande Anse atapproximately 1800, Jul 24, bound forIceland. — Lloyd’s Agents.

MAJESTIC UNITY (Marshall Islands)

Dalian, Jul 27 — Crude oil tankerMajestic Unity reberthed at Pier No.0at Dalian Port Oil Terminal at 2218hrs, Jul 23. The tanker ceased cargooperations and shifted from jetty tothe anchorage at 0025 hrs, today, afterthe sea conditions deteriorated. Thereis currently no news on when thevessel will re-berth. — Lloyd’s Agents.

MARIS (Honduras)Chittagong, Jul 25 — The discharge

of the water affected cargo from holdNo.1 of bulker Maris was completedon Jul 23. Discharge of the unaffectedcargo from other holds is expected tocompleted on Jul 26 or 27. Producttanker Atlantica I is still lying underattachment. The claim settlementnegotiation between both ship ownersis still in progress. — Lloyd’s Agents.

MARRAKECH EXPRESS (Panama)Genoa, Jul 24 — Passenger ro/ro

Marrakech Express (14015 gt, built1972) reported engine damage in port,at Genoa, Jul 22, and is presentlyundergoing turbo-blower repairs atSan Giorgio shipyard. No ETS ispresently available. — Lloyd’s Agents.

MAUNAKEA (Liberia)Port Klang, Jul 27 — Refrigerated

general cargo Maunakea departedfrom off Port Klang, under tow, on Jul16. — Lloyd’s Agents.

MB 54 (U.S.A.)Miami, Jul 20 — Barge MB 54 did not

sustain any damage in incident withthe Howard Franklin Bridge. Only theconstruction equipment on the bargewhich came into contact with thebridge was damaged. — Lloyd’sAgents.

MED TAIPEI (Liberia)London, July 26 — A press release,

dated Washington July 25, states: Theowners and operators of ContainerCarrier Med Taipei ( 40436 gt, built1988, since renamed YM Prosperity)have agreed to pay $3.25 million to theUnited States to resolve allegationsthat the 15 containers lost overboardin 2004 resulted in long-term damageto the Monterey Bay National MarineSanctuary (MBNMS), the Departmentof Justice and the Department ofCommerce announced today. Thesettlement between MBNMS, locatedoff the coast of California, and theowners of the vessel - All OceansTransportation Inc, Italia MarritemaSpA and Yang Ming TransportCorporation - represents the largestdamages awarded to date regarding anational marine sanctuary. InFebruary 2004, 15 containers fel loverboard from Med Taipei when thevessel was travelling on rough seasfrom San Francisco to Los Angeles.The 40 ft containers contained avariety of cargo - furniture, thousandsof tyres, several hundred thousandplastic items, miles of cyclone fencing,hospital beds, wheel chairs, recycledcardboard and clothing items. A U.S.Coast Guard report revealed thecontainers were inappropriately loadedon board the vessel - there were faultywelds on anchor points for thecontainers, as well as missing d-ringsfrom the deck of the vessel. “The fundsprovided as a result of today’ssettlement will be used to restorehabitats within the national marinesanctuary, an area of high biologicalproductivity and diversity,” said SueEllen Wooldridge, Assistant AttorneyGeneral for the Justice Department’sEnvironment and Natural ResourcesDivision. “These alternativerestoration projects will help mitigatesome of the anticipated resourceinjuries.” In June 2004, the MontereyBay Aquarium Research Institute(MBARI) recovered one containercarrying car tyres during a researchproject. The container was discoveredby a remotely operated vehicle in 4,000feet of water, approximately 17 milesnorthwest of Pinos Point in outerMonterey Bay, Calif . MBARI tookphotographs of the container itdiscovered, and the serial number waseasily identified and traced back to theship. MBNMS has elected to use thesettlement monies to undertakerestoration projects in identified areasrather than to remove the remainingcontainers, whose locations are notknown. The proposed consent decreeoutlining the settlement was lodged inU.S. District Court for the NorthernDistrict of California today. It issubject to a 30-day public commentperiod and final court approval.

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MEKHANIK KRASOTNIK (Russia)See Sormovskiy 32.

MELBOURNE HIGHWAY (Panama)See “Delaware Bay, United States”

under “Pollution”.

MERWEGAS (Netherlands Antilles)

Belfast, July 24 - Liquid PetroleumGas Carrier Merwegas sailed fromanchorage outside Londonderry at0845, July 22 after completing repairs.— Lloyd’s Agents.

MIDNIGHT RIDER (U.S.A.)London, July 21 — A press report,

dated July 20, states: After severalfailed attempts early this week fishing(general) Midnight Rider wassuccessfully towed offshore Tuesday(July 18) afternoon. Near the 1500 hrshigh tide, a tug finally eased MidnightRider from its spot on the barrierbeach that connects ChappaquiddickIsland with Katama. Conrad Roy ofTucker-Roy Marine Towing andSalvage, the Mattapoisett companythat managed the tow job, explainedthat an excavator also helped in therefloating process. On Tuesday, beforethe actual towing began, an excavatorfurnished by WatercourseConstruction removed piles of sandthat had built up around and underthe boat, allowing water beneath thevessel. “The boat was high and dry onthe beach,” he said. “So we had to putwater underneath it. Once we hadwater, it was easy to tug.” According toMr. Roy, Midnight Rider was safelytowed to New Bedford.

MIRABELLE (Malta)London, Jul 25 — General cargo

Mirabelle sailed from Piraeus on Jul24, bound for Sardinia.

MONTE STELLO (New Zealand)Auckland, Jul 24 — Passenger ro/ro

Monte Stello sailed from Auckland onthe morning of Jun 10 and arrived inWellington early in the morning of Jun12. She made a trial sailing empty ofcargo from Wellington to Picton on theevening of Jun 14 and arrived backnext morning. She made her f irstcommercial sailing with freight onlyfrom Wellington on the evening of Jun17 and returned from Picton on theearly morning of Jun 18. However, bythat time she had sustained someproblems with engines and on returnto Wellington she laid up at GlasgowWharf for engine inspection. Repairwork was likely to take some time, soon Jun 21 she was moved fromGlasgow Wharf to Inter Island Wharf,where she was berthed stern-in sothat her stern-ramp could be loweredfor ease of access. Understand thatengine repairs are planned to becompleted by mid-September. —Lloyd’s Agents.

MSC JESSICA (Panama)See Charlotte Maersk.

NAN HAI 6 (China)London, July 24 — A press report,

dated today, states: Two workers have

been taken to Royal Darwin Hospitalsuffering serious burns after a fire ondrill platform Nan Hai 6 (10424 gt,bui lt 1982) in the Timor Sea.Employed by the Maersk company, thetwo men were working on the drillingrig when the f ire broke out in astoreroom about 0130, CST, yesterday.The rig was doing exploratory drillingfor Woodside Petroleum in the EastTimor Joint Petroleum DevelopmentArea, about 575km north-west ofDarwin. A hospital spokeswoman saida 54-year-old from Scotland was in aserious but stable condition in theintensive care unit with burns to hishead and neck. A 30-year-oldAustralian has been admitted to asurgical ward and is in a stablecondition with burns to his hands. AWoodside Petroleum spokesman said ajoint Maersk-Woodside investigationteam was on its way to the rig toinvestigate the incident.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated today, states: Two oi l r igworkers are in a stable condition inRoyal Darwin Hospital after sufferingserious burns at sea. A fire broke outin a store-room of drill platform NanHai 6, stationed in the Timor Sea,about 0130, ACST, Sunday (Jul 23).The Maersk employees were treatedby a medic on the rig before beingflown to Darwin by hel icopter.Woodside Austral ia business unitcorporate af fairs manager TonyJohnson said the cause of the fire wasnot known. “At the t ime of theincident the dri l l r ig had not yetstarted its drilling operation,” he said.“We can’t say what caused the fire, notat this stage.”

NANTI (Greece)London, Jul 24 — Lloyd’s Casualty

representatives in Piraeus report:During the morning of Jul 21,passenger ro/ro Nanti (997 gt, built1973) contacted the breakwater at theentrance to Mantoukiou port, with herport side. The vessel sustained somedamage but there were no injuries ordamages to the vehicles on board.Neither was there any pollution. Atthe time of the incident vessel wasarriving from Igoumenitsa with 66passengers and 31 vehicles onboard.The Kerkyra port authority prohibiteddeparture pending repair of thedamage and issuance of a c lassmaintain certificate.

NAPOCOR POWER BARGE 105(Philippines)

Manila, Jul 27 — Barge NapocorPower Barge 105 is now drydocked atKeppel Batangas Shipyard in Bauantown, Batangas Province. The vesselentered the shipyard on Jul 17 and isundergoing bottom hull repairs .Keppel Batangas Shipyard officialssaid repairs are expected to becompleted in the first week of August.— Lloyd’s List Correspondent.

NICOBAR (India)Kolkata, Jul 24 — Passenger (cruise)

Nicobar sailed for Andaman on Jul 22,on completion of repair work. —Lloyd’s Agents.

NOBLE VENTURE (Canada)London, Jul 26 — Fishing (general)

Noble Venture (70 gt, built 2000), threepersons on board, was disabled duefire in engine-room 21 nautical milessouth-east of Gull Island, NF, in lat 4943N, long 55 01W, at 1312, UTC,today. Vessel presently tied alongsidethe CCGS Cape Roger.

NORDEUROPA (DIS)London, Jul 21 — Following received

from Coast Guard Boston, timed 1215,UTC: Combined chemical and oil tankNordeuropa: Investigations are stillunder way to ensure the fire at MotivaTerminal is completely out and thatthe dock is safe for normal operations.In addition to this, the vessel is beinginspected to check for possible damagewhich may necessitate repairs.

London, Jul 24 — A press report,dated Jul 23, states: MotivaEnterprises today continued to pumpfuel out of damaged transmission linesat its petroleum plant in Providence.Gasoline offloaded from Combinedchemical and oil tank Nordeuropa onTuesday night during a massivethunderstorm ignited an inferno thattorched Motiva’s pier and damagedfour fuel pipel ines. As the piercontinues to smolder, Motiva has beenworking to remove the fuel from thefour pipel ines that run down the1,000-foot pier. The company hadhoped to have the four transmissionlines cleared of residual fuel today, butfuel was still being removed from thethird and largest pipeline, said BrianDelaney, a spokesman for Motiva. “Wewere only able to put in a smallsuction (device),” said Delaney, addingthat several thousand gallons of fuelremain in the third pipel ine. Thecompany hopes to empty and flush thefourth pipeline tomorrow. As the fuelis being removed, the Providence FireDepartment is working to keep thesmoldering under control by sprayingthe end of the pier with water,Delaney said. The pier is built of woodpilings covered with concrete. Some ofthe pilings, which can be 16 inches by16 inches thick, are harboring firesthat safety workers can’t see, he said.The Fire Department is using thermalimaging equipment to determine ifhotspots are smoldering, Delaney said.Once the fuel is removed from thepipel ines and the hot spotsextinguished, Motiva will be able toassess the damage to the pier, thepipelines and the plant. A barge witha crane was expected to take upresidence near the pier today andbecome a base of operations for thesalvage work, said Delaney. It can’t bemoved into place, however, until thefuel lines are purged, said Delaney. Heexpects the barge to be brought intoday. As the work at the damagedpier continues, Delaney said there hasbeen no disruption of fuel deliveries tothe region. Motiva supplies gas to 102Shell stations in the state. Thecompany has been using alternativedistribution networks and storagefacilities, said Delaney.

London, Jul 24 — Following receivedfrom the managers of combined

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chemical and oil tank Nordeuropa,dated today: DS Norden AS, asmanagers and operators of theNordeuropa, report that the vesselcompleted inspections by itsClassification Society, Det NorskeVeritas, and the US Coast Guard andreceived full approvals to sail. Thevessel departed for New Haven Jul 23having sustained only minor damage,which was largely cosmetic to externalcoatings on the starboard side. Anysmall repairs and paintwork will becompleted over the next month. Thefinal detail prior to sailing was receipton board the vessel of fire-fightingfoam to replenish the vessel’s stock.The managers again express theirappreciation for the actions of thelocal f ire- f ighting departments,community response personnel, USCoast Guard, terminal staf f andofficers and crew of the Nordeuropa.

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: The pier that washeavily damaged by a fire possiblyignited by lightning will be sufficientlyrepaired to receive del iveries ofpetroleum by barge in six to eightweeks, the pier owner announcedyesterday. Motiva Enterprises LLC,owner of one of Rhode Island’s majorfuel depots, said it will be able tobring in as much petroleum at the pieras it did before the fire. The fire lastweek prompted Motiva to close its fuelterminal on the Providence River forsafety ’s sake, interrupting truckdeliveries to Shell and independentgasoline service stations in RhodeIsland and South-easternMassachusetts. That interruptioninitially caused some gasoline stationsto briefly run out of gasoline or to runout of certain grades of gasol ine.Governor Carcieri , who met withMotiva officials for about 25 minutesyesterday afternoon, said Motiva ismeeting all delivery needs, generallyspeaking. Motiva spokesman BrianDelaney said the company isdelivering fuel from its terminals inConnecticut and from other sourcesand that supply is not a problem.Yesterday morning, Delaney said, thecompany received calls from only threestations saying that they were out ofone or two grades of gasoline. Motivaalso stores home heating oil in one ofits 19 tanks at the 85-acre terminal,and Carcieri said he has been assuredthat that tank wil l be ful l at thebeginning of the oil heating season.The crisis at the pier began late Jul 18as Combined chemical and oil tankNordeuropa was of f loading 3.15million gallons of gasoline just beforeor during a severe thunderstorm. Oneof the transfer hoses parted, gasolineleaked and the fuel erupted in afireball and a large blaze. The cause ofthe fire is being investigated by thefederal, state and city governments,but of f ic ials have suggested twopossibilities: A lightning strike orstatic electricity. Until three yearsago, when the south side of the pierwas dredged to accommodate tankers,all the shipments were by barge. Thepier consists of three parts: A 25-foot-wide center span covered by a steel-

reinforced concrete deck andsupported by thick wooden cross-beams and creosote-soaked pilings,and two outboard structures on eachside separated from the center span bywater. The outboard structures, 8 to10 feet wide, carry the fuel pipes. Theyhave a metal support framework andrest on wooden pilings. According toDelaney, this was the damage on thesouth side of the pier: The fire causedthe collapse of a 60-foot-tall metalgantry that was used to support fuel-transfer l ines from tankers anddestroyed or damaged nine 3-foot-hightransfer manifolds that serve as thetransfer point for the fuel to run froma tanker into the pipes at the pier.When the gantry collapsed, it crackedor bent parts of five major fuel pipesthat run the length of the south side.A wooden control shack on the centerspan was destroyed, the pier supportsfor the center span and the southoutboard structure were damaged byfire and heat, and the concrete deckwas buckled. On the north, or bargeside, however, there was much lessdamage, according to Delaney: Thewooden support structures werecharred, and the three major fuelpipes on that side appear to be onlylightly damaged. He said he is notsure of the condit ion of the fourtransfer manifolds on the north side.Part of the north side likely will haveto be rebuilt, he said, but repairs havenot begun. Because the overal ldamage has not been closely assessed,there is no estimate of the financialloss, he said. Motiva announced thatits storage tanks, associated off-pierpiping and truck-loading facilitieshave been inspected and found to beunaffected by the f ire . But thecompany has not decided when it willreopen the terminal to al low theloading of delivery trucks. There is atleast five days’ supply of gasoline forthe Motiva customer network stillbottled up there. When operations areresumed on the north side of the pier,double-hulled barges with cargocapacities of 1.3 million to 1.5 milliongallons will be able to offload. Mostwill be brought in from the Port ofNew York, according to Delaney. Bargeshipments are expected to ful lycompensate for the loss of the largertanker shipments.

NORDIC EXPLORER (U.S.A.)London, July 21 — A press report,

dated July 20, states: A fire belowdeck created a frantic scrambleonboard f ishing (general) NordicExplorer (152 gt, built 1985) in NewBedford today. It was reported that aspark from a welding job on the deckof Nordic Explorer apparently madeits way below and ignited somehydraulic fluid. Crewmembers sawsmoke, followed it to the fire and triedto put it out, but they could not. Firetrucks scrambled to Fish Island,located between New Bedford andFairhaven. Firefighters had a hardtime getting to the f ire. The heatcaused problems, too. Firefighters intheir heavy gear and masks could onlywork below deck a few minutes at a

time before others relieved them. NewBedford Deputy Fire Chief Brian Fariareported no serious injuries , butemergency medical technicians workedon a couple of firefighters who wereovercome by the heat. Estepa reportedthat firefighters had to work quicklyto keep the small fire from spreadingforward to an area of the fishing boatfull of foam insulation, which wouldhave set off a more dangerous fire.

NORTH SEA (Liberia)London, July 25 — Following

received from Coastguard AberdeenMRCC, timed 1055, UTC: ContainerCarrier North Sea (37071 gt, built1992) has been at anchor off Aberdeenwith engine problems since July 22.Understand from Aberdeen VTS thatthere are four technicians on boardthe vessel. (Note — North Sea sailedHamburg 1950, July 20 for New Yorkand according to Lloyd’s MIU AIS wasin lat 57 10 08N, long 02 01 45W, at1147 today.)

London, Jul 26 — Following receivedfrom Coastguard Aberdeen MRCC,timed 0936, UTC: Container CarrierNorth Sea is stil l lying at anchor.Understand the vessel is due to sailJul 27.

NYK KAI (Panama)Balboa, Jul 18 — Container Carrier

NYK Kai (50606 gt, built 1993)arrivedCristobal 0733, Jul 16. While onvoyage to Cristobal, from Savannah,vessel reportedly experienced engine-room fire, which extinguished by crew,and vessel was able continue passageto Cristobal without assistance.Understand local repair shopattending for repairs . — Lloyd’sAgents. (Note — According to Lloyd’sMIU AIS NYK Kai was in lat 08 1248N, long 79 40W, at 0359, Jul 20,speed 21.8 knots, course 199 degrees.)

Balboa, Jul 20 — Container CarrierNYK Kai proceeded southboundthrough the Panama Canal yesterdayand sai led Balboa 1959, todayreportedly bound for Far East. It isnot known if any repairs effected priortransit. — Lloyd’s Agents.

OCEAN D. (Malta)Colombo, July 24 — Bulker Ocean D.

arrived Colombo July 14, from Dubai,and sailed July 15. — Lloyd’s Agents.

OLUJA (Croatia)Bremen, Jul 23 — Bulker Olu ja

(24610 gt, built 1996): River pilot onboard vessel, which was proceedingdownriver from Brake, reportedmachinery problems at 2120, Jul 22.At that time the vessel was in the areaof Nordenham. The r iver pi lotrequested the attendance of two tugsand berthed the vessel atColumbuskaje, Bremerhaven, at 2315same day. — Lloyd’s Agents.

London, Jul 24 — Bulker Olu jasailed Bremerhaven at 1105, Jul 23,for Casablanca.

OOCL SHENZHEN (Hong Kong)London, July 27 — Understand

Container Carrier OOCL Shenzhen(89097 gt, built 2003) grounded on a

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sand bank at Km 83, Suez Canal, atapproximately 0630, local time, today.Vessel was refloated by Suez CanalAuthority tugs an hour later. Alsounderstand vessel sustained noapparent damage. (Note — OOCLShenzhen sailed Rotterdam July 20 forPort Klang and passed Gibraltar July23.)

London, July 27 — Container CarrierOOCL Shenzhen touched bottom in theSuez Canal in dense fog at 0620, localt ime. OOCL Shenzhen sustainedminor scratching, according to thecompany after it touched a sandbankbetween marker 83 and 84. Theincident occurred at 0620, local time,Inchape Shipping Services operationsmanager Abdel Aziz Nabil said. Hesaid the vessel was freed by SuezCanal Authority tugs at 0730, localt ime. OOCL investor relationsmanager Stanley Shen said the shiptouched bottom rather than grounded.He said there was no damage and noleaks. He added that the vessel was atanchorage awaiting a southboundconvoy and was due to sail about 15hours after the incident. The vessel,which operates a Grand Alliance Asia-Europe service, was transiting thecanal after calling at Port Said. Thenext port call after Port Said is PortKlang.

PACIFIC ADVENTURER (Hong Kong)

London, July 25 — General cargoPacific Adventurer sailed Hong Kong1257, July 18 and arrived Singapore1825, July 21.

London, Jul 26 — China Navigation’sgeneral cargo Pacific Adventurer issailing to Australia to enter servicewith New Guinea Pacific Line afterbeing released by the Chineseauthorities following a collision with afast attack missile vessel on Jun 22.The detai ls of how the accidentoccurred, however, are still not clear.The 1991-built , 25,561 dwt multi-purpose ship and 26 crew werereleased on Jul 15, more than threeweeks after the coll ision with theChinese naval vessel. Up to 17 navypersonnel are believed to have beenkilled in the incident although no-oneon board Pacif ic Adventurer wasreported hurt. Pacific Adventurer wasreleased after a Chinese insurancecompany, backed by ChinaNavigation’s P&I club, Standard Club,issued a guarantee. The Chineseinsurance company was stipulated bythe Chinese authorities. Swire Pacific,an associate of China Navigation’sLondon-based parent John Swire &Sons, could not comment on the size ofthe guarantee because of a court order.But the f irm denied industryspeculation that it topped US$1bn.Swire Pacific spokeswoman MaisieShun Wah said: “Afraid [we] cannotdisclose the exact amount but let’s sayit is def initely not as much asUS$1bn.” Details of the collision arestill sketchy because of the militarysensitivity of the accident. But HongKong’s Marine Department said theforward section of the missile attackcraft sheared off and sank following

the collision, which occurred nearZhuhai in southern China’s PearlRiver estuary, at 0351 hrs local time.A Chinese salvage team recentlyrecovered the bow and forward sectionof the naval craft. Swire Pacific saidthe release of Pacific Adventurer wasnot linked to the recovery operation.Ms Shun also denied industryspeculation that an ex-gratia paymenthad been made. “We haven’t paid anycompensation,” she told Lloyd’s List.Industry insiders identified the navalship as a Houjian-class fast attackcraft built by the Huangpu Shipyardin Guangzhou, southern China. Thearmed forces newspaper, the People’sLiberation Army Daily, said Houjian-class vessels have a hull incorporatinga radar reducing design and asophisticated, computerised combatsystem. Other sources said the vesselwas testing new stealth-like radarcloaking technology at the time of thecollision. At least five of the navalvessels, which have a crew of 75 and amaximum speed of 33.5 knots, havebeen built, with several deployed tothe navy’s Hong Kong garrison. At65.4 m long, the naval vessel, with adisplacement of 520 tonnes, is lessthan half the length of the 184 m longPacific Adventurer. After release theship sailed to Hong Kong where thecrew, comprising an Austral ianmaster, Brit ish chief engineer, aTuvaluan second engineer and 23Chinese seafarers, was changed. Thevessel then “went to Singapore forvery minor repairs”, arriving on Jul21. The ship is due to arrive inTownsvil le , Australia on Aug 3 toenter service on New Guinea PacificLine’s service linking Australia andSoutheast Asia. The Hong Kong-flagged vessel is classed by Lloyd’sRegister. Hong Kong’s MarineDepartment and the GuangdongMaritime Safety Administration arecarrying out separate investigationsinto the accident. Department marineaccident investigation chief LeungHou-kin said it was “too early to giveany probable cause” for the collision.He added that there had been anexchange of information between thedepartment and the safetyadministration. But getting precisedetai ls , including the number ofmilitary personnel killed, injured ormissing, of the incident was hamperedby the military’s reluctance to assist.Mr Leung believed an accident reportwould be completed in two months. Hesaid the investigator ’s report wouldhave to be approved by MarineDepartment director Roger Tupperand the government ’s economicdevelopment and labour bureau beforeit was published.

PALESTINE (Iraq)See B.F.C. II.

PANCHITO (U.S.A.)London, Jul 23 — A press report,

dated today, states: Coast Guard crewsand sport f ishers rescued threef ishermen from f ishing (general)Panchito (69 gt, built 1957) caught fireearly Friday (Jul 21) about 20 miles

north-east of Port Aransas. CorpusChristi Coast Guard officials receiveda report about 0910 hrs that thefishing vessel was engulfed in flames.A hel icopter, jet and two boatsresponded to the distress cal l . Apassing recreational boat picked upthe crew of the Panchito and the menwere later transferred to a CoastGuard vessel. Another nearby fishingvessel worked to contain the fire untilthe Coast Guard crew were able toextinguish the flames. There were noinjuries.

PENELOPE A. (Greece)London, Jul 24 — Lloyd’s Casualty

representatives in Piraeus report:Passenger ro/ro Penelope A. (5590 gt,built 1972), Mykonos and Tinos forAndros and Rafina, struck the quay atthe port of Gavrion, Andros, duringthe afternoon of Jul 22 duringberthing manoeuvres. There were noinjuries to the passengers or damagesto their vehicles. Winds at the timewere force 7 (near gale) . The portauthority prohibited departurepending inspection of the repairs andthe 681 passengers and their vehicleswere forwarded to their destinationson other vessels.

PETER II (Germany)London, Jul 26 — Information

received from Kiel , dated Jul 25,states: Passenger (cruise) Peter II wasback in service after repair of therather slight damage. It was a smallcause which was followed by a greatmishap. The technical investigationsshowed that i t was only a brokenscrew which caused the ship to beunable to stop as the handle could notbe pushed in the necessary position.The long term conclusions are still tobe taken. Also the lock was back inservice after some test ings. Thecaptain of Peter II was found to be notguilty in any reason. He had noalcohol and no chance to react afterthe incident as he was hurt himself.

PIONEER BAY (Panama)Sydney, Jul 21 — Vessel problems

and stringent Indian qualityassurance requirements have held upsome Austral ian primary produceexports over the past two weeks. InAdelaide, engine problems aboardSeatrade’s refrigerated general cargoPioneer Bay (7748 gt , bui lt 1982)caused exporter Riversun’s c itrusexports to be delayed by two weeks.The vessel stopped in Port Adelaidefor 12 days after three head bolts onthe engine broke on the voyage toSouth Austral ia and had to bereplaced in port. Vessel is now sailingto San Diego. There is now a loomingshortage of Australian citrus in USsupermarkets. Riversun spokesmanSteve Allen told the ABC it would bethe first time demand could not bemet. “Unfortunately, we will run out offruit for probably a week or less ,which means that some supermarketsmay go to South Africa but, look, thereis a shortage of fruit in the UnitedStates,” he said. “The South Africansare down on volume and, naturally,

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we’re down on volume with frost so wedon’t see it as being crucial but we’renot happy about i t . ” Meanwhile ,monopoly wheat exporter AWB’s latestshipment to India, where stringentimport requirements were last monthrelaxed for future internationalimports, has fallen temporary victimto contractual requirements.Quarantine concerns have held up twoprevious shipments to India this year.— Lloyd’s List Daily CommercialNews. (Note — Pioneer Bay arrivedAdelaide Jul 11 and sailed Jul 18 forSan Diego.)

POLARIS S. (Panama)London, Jul 22 — Bulker with

container capacity Polaris S. arrivedKoper Jul 21.

PONTONOSTOS (Cyprus)Singapore, July 22 — Bulker

Pontonostos arrived Singapore 2020,July 21 and subsequently departed. —Lloyd’s Agents.

PROBO ELK (Marshall Islands)London, Jul 22 — Combined bulk and

oil carrier Probo Elk left Long Beachat 1030, Jul 20.

RM MARGAUX (France)Bordeaux, Jul 25 — Tug RM

Margaux (242 gt, built 1983) contactedNo.501 jetty, Bordeaux, about 0815,Jul 14. She had an important wateringress and the crew left the tugthrough the jetty. RMMargauximmediately towed from thejetty by the tug Pauillac and sank onport side in the north, about 100 mand at 60 m from the riverside. After acall for tenders, the offer of the firmMammoet Salvage has been awardedfor the refloating of the RM Margaux.Another call for tenders has beenmade for the repairs . — Lloyd’sAgents.

SAFMARINE AGULHAS (Liberia)London, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated Jul 20, states: Only 150containers remained on board thestranded container carrier SafmarineAgulhas the national ports authority(NPA) said today. NPA spokespersonTerry Taylor said: “There are only 150containers left in holds two and three.”Those already removed from the shipwere being kept at a separate holdingfacility at East London harbour. Theywere not being emptied “because it’s acustom-controlled issue”, said Taylor.“Arrangements with variousrepresentatives will have to madebefore any cargo is moved.” He saidthe steady deterioration of the vessel’sstructural integrity remained a causefor concern and was being assessedand monitored by the onboard salvageteam.

London, July 24 — A press report,dated today, states: Salvors suspendedoperations to remove more containersfrom Container Carrier SafmarineAgulhas on Saturday (July 22), whenrough seas hindered the process, saidthe National Ports Authority (NPA).“We stopped removing containers onSaturday, due to rough seas, but

continued on Sunday,” said TerryTaylor, the NPA spokesperson, today.He said there were “about 100containers” left on board the vesseland the removal progress was steady.

London, July 25 — A press report,dated today, states: A wreck removalmeeting wil l be held on Thursday(July 27) by the Joint OperationsCommittee which is overseeingsalvage operations at the site of thefirmly grounded Container CarrierSafmarine Agulhas. Confirmation ofthe wreck removal meeting cameyesterday from South AfricanMaritime Safety Association (Samsa)principal officer Captain Peter Kroon,leaving little doubt the ship was likelyto be declared a write-off”. In anotherdevelopment yesterday morning thesalvage tug Smit Amandla, left EastLondon harbour for the Cape StFrancis area to assist Bri l l iance(which see) . It is understood thatBri l l iance intends cal l ing in PortElizabeth for repairs and that Samsahad as a precautionary measure calledfor the salvage tug to standby as itapproached Algoa Bay. According toSmit Salvage spokesperson, ClareGomes, Smit Amandla would mostlikely return to East London as soonas possible to resume its standbyposition close to Safmarine Agulhas.

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated Jul 25 states: A decision on thefate of container carrier SafmarineAgulhas will be taken later this week,the salvage company said today. Cargoremoval operations came to a 48-hourstandstill yesterday and today, whenbad weather endangered salvors. “Adecision will be made at the end ofthis week as to the future of thevessel , ” said Smit Salvagespokesperson Clare Gomes. She saidthe cargo removal operations had beentemporarily halted because of adverseweather. “The cargo removal wassuspended because the vessel becamelively, or moved a lot, which made itunstable for salvors to continue,” shesaid. Salvors are removing the vessel’scargo containers. The containers werecovered in oil and water when holdstwo and three were flooded. The vesselbegan to spill diesel oil last Monday(Jul 17). The spillage was quicklycontained with the use of vesselKuswag 4. Salvors were steam-cleaning containers to wash off oilbefore storing them at the harbour.Salvors attempted to re- f loat thevessel two weeks ago, but no moreattempts have been made.Spokesperson for the Department ofEnvironmental Affairs, Carol Moses,said: “In terms of the report wereceived, there is no official decisionon whether it will be taken out to seaand stripped.” She said the bulk of theoi l on board the vessel had beenremoved and there were only about 20ton left on board. “At this point thereis no spill threat. We have officials onsite and will act if any environmentalthreat does arise,” said Moses.

London, July 27 — A SMIT Salvagereport, timed Cape Town 1400, July26, states: Adverse weather and swellconditions since Monday have resulted

in a temporary suspension of theContainer Carrier Safmarine Agulhascargo removal operation. With thelightened vessel becoming lively inthe high swell, it was deemed unsafefor salvage divers to enter the floodedcargo holds where the last o f thecontainer ised cargo is s t i l l to beremoved. As and when condit ionsallow, the final phase of the cargoremoval operation will resume. It isestimated that 100 containers arestill to be removed from the groundedship . Despi te the h igh swel lconditions of the past few days, thesalvage team have been able tocontinue skimming oil in the engine-room and cargo holds and the last ofthe heavy fuel oil is in the process ofbeing located, skimmed and removedfrom the vessel. Seven hundred andforty-seven tonnes of heavy fuel oilwas onboard the vessel when it ranaground and the last few tonnes arein the process of being removed Adecision will be made by the end ofthe week as to the future plans forthe vessel . No pol lution has beenreported to be emanating from thegrounded vessel and the Departmentof Environmental Affairs & Tourisms(DEAT) patrol aircraft Kuswag VIIIremains stationed in East Londonand continues to overfly the casualtydaily to monitor the situation in thisregard.

London, July 27 — A press report,dated July 27, states: Furtherindication that the groundedContainer Carrier Safmarine Agulhasis nothing less than an undeclaredconstructive total loss comes withphotographic evidence of a crackextending all the way around the ship,practically breaking the ship in two. Apicture taken on July 25 shows a crackin the port side hull which runs rightaround the ship. On the deck plates ahand can be placed within the gap leftby this crack. Expert opinion suggeststhat were it not for the strong hatchcoamings the ship would have surelysplit in two by now.

SAINT RAPHAEL IV (Greece)London, Jul 24 — Lloyd’s Casualty

represenatives in Pireaus report :Water tanker Saint Raphael IV (249gt, built 1977) had fire break out inaccommodation while anchoredoutside Perama during the morning ofJul 23. At the time of the incident thevessel was inactive and there was nocrew on board. The f ire wasextinguished by the fire brigade andthere was no pollution or damage toother vessels.

London, Jul 26 — Fire broke out atthe accommodation of water tankerSaint Raphael IV on Jul 23. The vesselwas laid up at Perama port, Piraeus.Fire was extinguished by the local firebrigade. No injuries were reported.Preliminary investigation is effectedby Perama port authorities.

SASSSee “Belgium” under “Port State

Control”.

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SEA TAXI (Cambodia)Miami, Jul 20 — General cargo Sea

Taxi was sitting out in front of the USCoast Guards office for a few daysafter the incident, until it sailed onand the Coast Guard have not seen itsince. — Lloyd’s Agents.

SIEGFRIED LEHMANN (Myanmar)London, Jul 21 — Following received

from Kiel, dated today: During theevening of Jul 19, general cargoSiegfried Lehmann (2225 gt, built1980) was observed steering a strangeand dangerous course on the RiverElbe. Ships which were lying on theMeedem Anchorage, close to Cuxhavenand taking bunker oil, had to raiseanchor to avoid being struck. The policerequested the rescue boat HermannHelms from Cuxhaven for assistance toboard the vessel. Then SiegfriedLehmann collided with a buoy and forsome time became entangled with it offCuxhaven, but finally managed to getfree again. When the police boarded thevessel, they found the captain, fromEstonia, clearly drunk. He violentlyattempted to resist the police and wasfinally arrested. His blood testedpositive for alcohol. (Note — SiegfriedLehmann was reported arrivingHamburg at 2020 hrs, Jul 20.)

SORMOVSKIY 32 (Russia)London, Jul 23 — A press report,

dated today, states: Russian tugMekhanik Krasotkin, with bargeAphine, Kerch for Togliatti , RiverVolga, in ballast, was in collision withgeneral cargo Sormovskiy 32 (2478 gt,built 1974), Rostov for Italy, cargograin, on Jul 20. Barge’s bow wasdamaged and port anchor jammed, noleakage reported. All vessels haveanchored in Azov Roads await inginvestigation.

SPEEDRUNNER I (U.K.)Piraeus, Jul 26 — Passenger ro/ro

Speedrunner I is expected to return toservice in the beginning of August. —Lloyd’s Agents.

STEN MOSTER (Gibraltar)London, Jul 22 — Combined chemical

and oi l tank Sten Moster arrivedBremerhaven at 0845, Jul 20.

STRAND (Norway)London, Jul 22 — Information

received from Sandnes, dated today,states: When arriving Tau at 2220,local t ime, Jul 22, rol l on rol l o f fStrand (1479 gt , bui lt 1982)experienced blackout, made hardcontact to quay and then hit somerocks in the area. No injuries to the136 passengers or crew. The ferry isnow underway to Stavanger by ownmeans for inspections. Ferry Frafjordreplaced the vessel.

London, Jul 23 — Informationreceived fron Sandnes, dated today,states: Roll On Roll Off Strand is nowback in normally service betweenStavanger and Tau.

SUPERSEACAT TWO (U.K.)London,. July 25 — A Steam Packet

Company press release, dated July 24,

states: The Steam Packet Companypassenger ro/ro Superseacat Two (4662gt, bui lt 1997) has experienced atechnical malfunction to one of its fourmain engine gearboxes. To facilitatethe commencement of repairs as soonas possible it has been necessary tocancel the crafts schedules as detailedfollows: Liverpool/IOM The 1830, July25, IOM/Belfast at 2145, July 25,Belfast /IOM at 0115, July 26 andIOM/Liverpool at 0730, July 26. Onresumption of services the craft willoperate on a reduced speed unti lrepairs have been fully completed.Company engineers and specialistcontractors are working as expedientlyas possible to restore the craft to fullpower. Twice daily schedules of BenMy Chree to Heysham continue onwhich passengers booked on thecancelled Liverpool sailings will beaccommodated while Belfast bookedpassengers will be transferred to thescheduled Dublin sailings on July 26.(Note — According to Lloyd’s MIU AISSuperseacat Two was in lat 54 06 15N,long 04 22 06W, at 0728 today, speed27.1 knots, course 130 degrees.)

SUSAN DIANE (U.S.A.)London, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated yesterday, states: Fishing(general) Susan Diane (71 gt, built1978) sank today in Morro Bay, after ithad been taking on water for severalweeks, spilling a few hundred gallonsof fuel into the bay. State and localofficials stood beside a mass of tangledrigging a few feet from the south pier,attempting to secure and separate thesunken 75-foot fishing vessel fromanother boat that was captured in itsrigging. A bright yellow floating tube,or boom, encircled the tangled boats tocontain about 300 gallons of dieselleaking from the sunken troller, saidFirst Class Petty Off icer DustinWidman of the U.S. Coast Guard inSanta Barbara. EnvironmentalSpecialist Melissa Boggs with thestate Department of Fish and Gamesaid officials are watching wildlife inthe area for signs of exposure to thefuel, but had not yet seen any andmight not for several days. “ObviouslyMorro Bay is an extremely sensitivesite because of endangered animalssuch as sea otters and the CaliforniaBrown Pelican,” Boggs said, notingthat Snowy Plovers are also a concernbecause they are consideredthreatened birds. The cause of thesunken vessel is unknown, but theshrimp vessel had been taking onwater for about three weeks, accordingto Chief Harbor Patrol Officer EricEndersby. Officials were pumpingwater from the wood boat that is oldand has not been used to fish for aboutfour months, Endersby said. Theowner, James Wylie, is in Texas andwas notified of the problem, Endersbysaid.

SYLVE (Cyprus)London, July 26 — Following

received from Danish Marit imeAssistance Service, timed 1015, UTC:At 0445, UTC, yesterday general cargoSylve (1999 gt, built 1990), Rotterdam

for Liepaja, cargo 2,500 tons soya, wasreported aground in lat 55 09.3N, long14 41.9E. Understand vessel hadgrounded at approximately 0215,UTC, that day. Vessel is still agroundand holed in bottom one metre from afuel tank. At the moment Danishauthorities are awaiting a salvageplan from the vessel ’s operator. Abottom survey by divers is planned forlater today. (Note — Sylve sai ledRotterdam 0320, July 23 and passedBrunsbuttel 0407, July 24. )

London, July 27 — Followingreceived from Danish Marit imeAssistance Service, timed 0800, UTC:General cargo Sylve is still agroundover i ts entire length on a rockybottom. Vessel has a leak in a ballasttank. A salvage plan has been drawnup and transfer of part cargo isexpected to begin this evening and itis hoped to have the vessel afloat bytomorrow evening.

TAI HUA HAI (China)London, Jul 24 — Bulker Tai Hua

Hai, now renamed Heng Chao 8, hasleft the port of Rizhao. According toLMIU AIS, vessel was located in HongKong waters, in lat 22 17 38.69N, long114 11 21.68E, at 0727, UTC, Jul 23,course 70.5 deg, speed 7.5 knots.

THE CALYPSO (Cyprus)London, Jul 24 — Passenger (cruise)

The Calypso remains at Southampton,not yet back in service.

TINIAN EXPRESS (Panama)Honolulu, Jul 21 — Ferry Tinian

Express is anticipated to be drydockedJul 25, at the South Sea Plane Ramp,Saipan for repairs. — Lloyd’s Agents.

Honolulu, Jul 26 — There has been adelay of a few days for the drydockingof ferry Tinian Express. Once she isdocked, it is expected that repairs willtake approximately two months tocomplete. — Lloyd’s Agents.

TIRTA NIAGA I (Indonesia)Kolkata, Jul 24 — Product tanker

Tirta Niaga I is still under arrest andthe matter wil l be taken up forhearing in the High Court of KolkataAug 4. Meanwhile, product tankerBelicia (2362 gt, built 1980), whichcarried cargo from the Tirta Niaga Ifrom Paradip, is also detained atKolkata since Jun 26 due to the cargobeing contaminated with seawater andthe consignees are refusing to acceptthe cargo. The Tirta Niaga I declaredGeneral Average and the High Courtof Kolkata appointed a receiver for thecargo. The matter is now pendingbefore the High Court for the purposeof discharge of cargo from the Belicia.Unless the High Court passes an orderto discharge the cargo, the Belicia willbe detained in Kolkata port. — Lloyd’sAgents.

TUGEN (Luxembourg)Durban, July 27 — According to local

agents, product tanker Tugen is stillundergoing repairs . Understandrepairs should be complete by the endof August and is due to sail shortlyafter. — Lloyd’s Agents.

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TWOFOLD BAY (New Zealand)Auckland. Jul 24 — Trawler (All

types) Twofold Bay was stranded for aperiod on sand at Mahia. The vesselwas able to refloat with tug assistanceand understand sustained only minordamage below the deductible . —Lloyd’s Agents.

UAL TEXAS (Netherlands)Hull, Jul 27 — General cargo UAL

Texas is still at the port of Tyne and ispresently berthed at the Factory QuayTyne Dock. The Harbour Masteradvises that the vessels’ current ETDis Aug 31. — Lloyd’s Agents.

UMFOLOZI (Cyprus)London, July 21 — A press report,

dated July 20, states: The PortCaptain at Walvis Bay, VladimirGusev, has been suspended in thewake of Container Carrier Umfolozivanishing from the harbour. BothGusev himself and a Namibian PortsAuthority (NamPort) official, speakingon condition of anonymity, confirmedyesterday that the suspension waslinked to the container ship beingstolen from the harbour on Saturday(July 15). The ship, which was beingdetained on the basis of a High Courtorder, has not been seen since.Indications late yesterday were thatthe retired captain Mike van der Meer,a former General Manager of theNamibian Ports Authority, wouldserve as Acting Port Captain in themeantime. Meanwhile a rel iablesource said that the search forUmfolozi had not yielded any results.The vessel is presumed to have sailedin a northern direct ion towardsAngola. Members of NamPol and theNamibian Defence Force, who havebeen conducting an aerial search sinceMonday, have returned home withoutspotting the ship. According to ActingDeputy Sheriff Andre Visser it is beingassumed that the vessel had alreadyreached Angolan waters by Monday.However, no success has been reportedeither by the Angolan authorities orInterpol, which have joined in thesearch.

London, Jul 24 — A press report,dated Jul 19, statesd: Containercarrier Umfolozi , which madeheadlines in September last year whenit sank in the Walvis Bay harbour,disappeared from the port on Saturdayafternoon, allegedly spirited away byits new owner, Alexander Saleh. Theship, which was being detained on thebasis of a High Court order, has notbeen seen since then. Two securityguards on board the vessel wereapparently locked up for hours beforethey were thrown overboard. Umfoloziwas rechristened Michael S after itwas refloated, repaired and sold toSaleh, a Greek ship owner. The shipwas detained at the Walvis Bayharbour in June by Deputy SheriffAttie Barnard after the South AfricanPorts Authority won a High Courtorder against its new agents, SeagateShipping, for the damage done to theSouth African dredger Ingwenyaduring the col l is ion last year. OnSaturday (Jul 15) afternoon, the crew

boarded the ship, lying just outsideport borders, under the pretence ofhaving to offload some equipment. Itwas reported in local media that Salehboarded a plane at Hosea KutakoAirport outside Windhoek and left thecountry on Saturday. According toActing Deputy Sheriff Andre Visser,the Namibian Defence Force and theirAngolan counterparts are co-operatingin the search for the stolen vessel. Byyesterday afternoon no sighting hadbeen reported. “This is now a criminalcase,” said Visser, “which we aretaking very seriously. The operationwas clearly planned. We suspect thatthe vessel has already enteredAngolan waters on Monday. TheAngolan Army and Navy are on fullalert and if they should spot the ship,they wil l force i t to turn back toNamibia. The Namibian patrol boatOryx is currently in that area and cantake over from there.” Both NamPort’smanaging director and of f ic ialspokesperson were in meetingsyesterday and could not be reached forcomment.

London, July 24 — A press report,dated today, states: Namibian securityforces have abandoned the search forContainer Carrier Umfolozi, whichwas reported stolen a week ago. It isbel ieved that the ship is headednorthwards, possibly to Russia.

VERDI (Antigua & Barbuda)London, Jul 24 — During the evening

of Jul 21, policemen observed a fire onboard the combined chemical and oiltank Verdi (2195 gt, built 1999) in theport of Bremerhaven and immediatelyalerted the fire bridgade. However,before the fire brigade could arrive onscene, the quick response of thevessel’s Polish and Philippine crewand the Belgian captain, whoobviously were well trained, succeededin extinguishing the fire. It appears anold oil pipe on the main deck, whichwas out of use, had caught fire. Thefire spread rapidly over the deckinstallations. However, it the quickactions of the crew prevented the firefrom spreading over the ship. TheVerdi has been berthed in theLabrador-Harbour of Bremerhavensince Jul 16, without cargo, forrepairs . The pol ice investigatorssuspect that welding works on theship caused the f ire . Theextent/amount of damage has not yetbeen assessed and investigationscontinue.

WAN HAI 213 (Singapore)See “Typhoon ‘Ewiniar ’ ” under


WAPPEN VON NORDERNEY(Germany)

London, Jul 21 — Following receivedfrom Kiel, dated today: Passenger(cruise) Wappen von Norderney (154gt, built 1967) experienced enginefailure during an evening cruise in theNorth Sea during the evening of Jul19. The 31 metre long vessel, with 28persons onboard, drifted off the islandof Norderney and was in danger ofrunning aground in the shallow water.

It radioed for help and was taken intow by the Deutsche Gesellschaft zurRettung Schiffbruechiger (DGzRS)rescue vessel Bernhard Gruben at2110 hrs. The Bernhard Gruben towedthe ship into Norderney harbour,where the passengers safelydisemarked at 2300 hrs.

WILD MARY (U.S.A.)London, July 27 — A Coast Guard

Seattle press release, dated July 26,states: The Coast Guard saved threemen after their 68-foot rawler (Alltypes) Wild Mary (129 gt, built 1978)sank 70 miles west of Depoe Bay, Ore,last night. The Coast Guard received acal l on VHF channel 16 from theoperator of Wild Mary at 2318yesterday, reporting his vessel wastaking on water. An HH-65 helicopterfrom Coast Guard Air Station NorthBend, Ore, an HH-65 helicopter fromCoast Guard Air Facility Newport,Ore, and a lifeboat from Coast GuardStation Depoe Bay, Ore. , werelaunched minutes later to assist .Coast Guard crews located the men ina l i feraft and hoisted them to ahelicopter at 0025 today. The menwere then safely transported to shore.The cause of the sinking is underinvestigation.

YU BAO NO.1 (Taiwan)Suva, Jul 25 — According to a press

release today, pol ice are yet toinvestigate fishing (general) Yu BaoNo.1, which grounded at the entranceto Suva harbour on Jun 15 2004. —Lloyd’s Agents.

ZENOVIA (Malta)London, Jul 20 — Bulker Zenovia

sailed from Houston at 1730 hrs, Jul16.

ZHI QIANG (Hong Kong)London, July 27 — A press report,

dated today, states: Tonnes ofQueensland sugar had to be pumpedoverboard after bulker Zhi Qiang ranaground on a coral reef in Papua NewGuinea, but authorities are unsurewhat damage it might do to marinelife. Salvors dumped the spoiled sugarinto the ocean in order to refloat thevessel on July 13 after it hit LongReef, between Samarai and MisimaIslands, 12 days earlier. The listingship was towed to Port Moresby forrepairs. Virgil Poanchina, a safetymanager with PNG’s Maritime SafetyAuthority, said today no fuel hadspil led from the ship when it washoled but seawater had spoiled sugarin two holds and it was pumped off togain buoyancy. “It was necessary to dothis to save the vessel, to save biggerimpacts to the reef.” The authoritywas investigating whether the sugarmight damage marine life, he said.The authority would reserve its rightsto penalise the ship’s operators if itwas found the sugar caused significantenvironmental damage, Mr Poanchinasaid. The ship, managed by CoscoHong Kong Shipping, was bound forSouth Korea. It was refloated with theaid of two tugs, one sent fromBrisbane by Austral ian salvage

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company Adsteam Marine and onefrom the PNG firm Pacific Towing. AnAdsteam Marine spokeswoman saidtemporary repairs were being made tothe ship and arrangements made tosecure the remaining cargo of sugarbefore the vessel was handed back toits owners, perhaps next week.

ZIM JAPAN (Malta)See “Typhoon “Ewiniar” under


BELGIUMZeebrugge, Jul 25 — General cargo

Sass is not longer under Port StateControl detention, as the vessel is“seaworthy again”. — Lloyd’s Sub-agents.

SOUTH KOREALondon, Jul 25 — A Port State

Control inspection of general cargo DaLi (841 gt, built 1982), after its arrivalat Pyeongtaek on Jul 1, revealed ahigh number of serious port statecontrol violations. In an attempt toconceal it’s true identity the vesselpresented a fradulant IMO Numberand name to inspectors and as aresult, it was recommended to themaritime affairs ministry that thevessel be banned from entring al lSouth Korean ports, in the future. Thevessel was however, grantedpermission to proceed, once the repairsto correct the deficiances had beencompleted/approved. The vessel sailedfrom Pyeongtaek on Jul 18, reportedlybound for Dalian, China.

ALTAIR SS (Panama)See “COSCO Vessels Arrested at

Chittagong, Bangladesh.”

BRIGHT QUEEN (South Korea)Port Klang, Jul 24 — Bulker Bright

Queen is still under arrest of a (SouthKorean) Bank and is now waiting to besold at public auction. — Lloyd’sAgents.

CONTAZ TRADER (Ukraine)Zeebrugge, Jul 25 — Container

carrier Contaz Trader (9548 gt, built1983) is currently under arrest (atAntwerp). — Lloyd’s Sub-agents. (Note— Contaz Trader arrived at Antwerpat 2027 hrs, Jul 19.)

COSCO VESSELS ARRESTED ATCHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH

London, July 26 — A press report,dated July 24, states: General cargoXuan Cheng (10150 gt, built 1977) andgeneral cargo Altair SS (10020 gt,

built 1978), operated by China OceanShipping Co (COSCO), have beenarrested at Chittagong at the order ofthe local admiralty court. The vesselshad discharged fertilizer and werepreparing to depart on Friday lastweek when the arrest orders weredel ivered. The Chittagong PortAuthority said legal action had beentaken by the importer, Akhter Group,on the grounds that the products weredamaged. Altair SS had carried 10,672tons of gypsum and anchored atChittagong outer anchorage on June19, berthing July 6. Xuan Cheng, with14,055 tons of TSP fert i l izer andgypsum, had arrived at the outeranchorage on June 17 and berthedJune 28. The importer has requestedcompensation of about US$500,000,claiming that 3,000 tons of TSP andgypsum were found damaged. Thevessels Bangladesh agent said theimporters had delayed the discharge ofthe cargo for undisclosed reasons,which may be related to the complaint.COSCO officials said the ships hasalready incurred serious losses fordelayed discharge. (Note — Accordingto Lloyd’s MIU reports Xuan Chengarrived Chittagong June 28 and sailedJuly 15 for China, and IAltair SSarrived Chittagong July 6.)

EDCO (Egypt)London, July 27 — A press report,

dated July 26, states: Bulker Edcodocked yesterday for a brief stay at theCharleston waterfront to take on foodand water as it marked one month ofdetention in Charleston harbour. Theship was expected to be tied up at theState Ports Authority’s Union Pier forabout 24 hours. Some of the 29crewmen had sick cal l . They alsoremoved 30 days of accumulated trash.None of the crew was allowed off. Thevessel was ordered to stay in theharbour by a federal court while alawsuit plays out. The legal case couldtake weeks to resolve.

JOANA (Togo)London, Jul 24 — Fish factory Joana

(1379 gt, built 1966, ex Kabou) is nowback in the Barents sea Loophole,where they were arrested forenvironmental crime Jul 1. On board,the crew had not updated the fishingjournal , and mesh size was notaccording to regulations.The trawlerwas brought up to Vadso by Norwegiancoastguard and was given a 350.000NOK fine. Catch in the value of threemil l ion NOK was confiscated.Representing the shipping company,Cecar Vieira said to NRK that ´Kabouªis now looking for new places to fish,but the Barents sea Loophole is stillon their route for futher fisheries. “Wewill continue fishing in the loophole,Vieira said, before the trawler leftVadso Thursday (Jul 20). He confirmedthat the sale of the catch will happenby loading on a cargo vessel ininternational waters. This is becausethe trawler has no legal r ights tocontribute fishing within controlledwaters. Norwegian coastguardconfirms that the trawler is backfishing in the Loophole. Commander in

charge, Oystein Smaberg, said thecoastguard does not have any legalright to bring the trawler back toshore again. However, they will keepan eye on the trawler in the nearestfuture.

KINDRED (Bahamas)London, Jul 24 — Following received

from the Admiralty Marshal, datedtoday: General cargo Kindred (2206 gt,built 1976) was arrested at Sharpnesson Jul 19, in respect of unpaidbunkers. (Note — Kindred arrived atSharpness on Jul 19.)

ORIENT ALLIANCE (Hong Kong)London, Jul 24 — Following received

from the Admiralty Marshal, datedtoday: bulker Orient Alliance (77655gt, built 1990) was arrested at PortTalbot on Jul 18, in respect of a breachof an agreement, but was released onJul 19. (Note — Orient All iancearrived at Port talbot on Jul 13 andsailed on Jul 21, bound for Sepetiba.)

OTAPAN (Mexico)London, Jul 24 — Tank barge

Otapan, berthed in the port ofAmsterdam since 1999, is to begin itsfinal journey tomorrow for scrappingin Turkey. Otapan found itself in thespotlight when its crew started rippingbagloads of lethal brown asbestos outof the ship in 2001. The outside of thevessel was c leaned up, with thegovernment footing the bill. Since thattime Otapan has been sealed off. Shewas berthed in the heart of the city atthe former Amsterdam Ship Repairyard, which later went bankrupt.Amsterdam has always been keen tosee the vessel’s departure. After herowners, Navimin, ran into financialdifficulties, the Dutch state founditself the owner of the vessel. Lastyear investigations showed that thevessel was incapable of sailing underits own steam and therefore it wasdecided to scrap it. The governmentstated that given the exorbitant cost ofscrapping the vessel in theNetherlands an alternative solutionhad been found. Otapan is due to startits journey to Turkey, under tow,tomorrow, and will be scrapped at theSimsekler yard in Aliaga. The Dutchgovernment has had to foot the bill forthe clean-up of the vessel.

Maassluis, Jul 26 — Understood thattank barge Otapan is expected to sail(from Amsterdam) to Turkey latertoday or tomorrow, Jul 27. The vesselwill be demolished there. — Lloyd’sSub-agents.

POLANA (Georgia)London, Jul 25 — A report, dated

today, states: Fishing Polana,registered in the Black Sea port ofBatumi, under Georgian flag, has beendetained for illegal crab fishing in theSea of Okhotsk. She was discoveredyesterday by the crew of a KA- 27hel icopter, which is based on theborder service patrol vessel Orel, thepress service of the north-easternborder directorate of the FederalSecurity Service, FSB, coastguarddepartment told Interfax today. A

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check of the fishing boat revealed thatthe 14-member Russian crew hadcaught around 4.3 tonnes of crab(around 3,000 specimens) without anyauthorization. The whole catch wasstored in a hold that was speciallyequipped for transporting live crab.After the total catch was checked, thecrabs were released into the sea. Thetechnical control system on board theship was switched of f , the pressservice said. The boat was detained forbreaching fishing regulations and wasescorted back to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy to face furtherproceedings.

ROSITA (Antigua & Barbuda)London, Jul 24 — Following received

from the Admiralty Marshal, datedtoday: General cargo Rosita (2316 gt,built 1977) was arrested at Sharpnesson Jul 23, in respect of “loss or damageand salvage costs incurred in respectof equipment carried onboard thevessel”. (Note — Rosita arrived atSharpness on Jul 22 from Ravenna.)

London, Jul 25 — General cargoRosita was released Jul 25.

SEA PRINCE (North Korea)Limassol, Jul 21 — General cargo

Sea Prince (2426 gt, built 1969), whicharrived Limassol Jul 19 from Lattakia,is currently under arrest. — Lloyd’sAgents.

Limassol, Jul 24 — General cargoSea Prince, which under arrest, hasbeen released and sailed on Jul 22 forTekirdag. — Lloyd’s Agents.

SEA STAR II (Panama)Freeport, Jul 24 — General cargo Sea

Star II was sold to a local divecompany and was deliberately sunk tomake a dive site in about 100 feet ofwater of f Freeport /Lucaya, GrandBahama. — Lloyd’s Agents.

SKY 75 (South Korea)Wellington, Jul 26 — Trawler (All

types) Sky 75 is laid up at Bluffawaiting drydocking at Lyttelton. Itwas detained by MNZ at Timaru priorto coming to Bluff but assumedeficiencies were corrected prior tovessel being allowed to leave Timaru.— Lloyd’s Agents.

SOPHIE (DIS)Balboa, July 18 — Container Carrier

Sophie (1551 gt, built 1992), anchoredoff Manzanil lo , was reportedlyarrested July 16 behalf local interests.— Lloyd’s Agents.

SUN RAYS (Georgia)Limassol, Jul 25 — General cargo

Sun Rays (1811 gt, built 1978), whicharrived Limassol Jul 23, is underarrest. — Lloyd’s Agents.

Limassol, Jul 27 — General cargoSun Rays released and sailed Jul 27for Thessaloniki. — Lloyd’s Agents.(See issue of Jul 27.)

SZAP 5 (Cook Islands)Wellington, Jul 24 — Trawler (All

types) Szap 5 is still lying laid up atNelson. No changes in situation. —Lloyd’s Agents.

XUAN CHENG (China)See “COSCO vessels arrested at

Chittagong, Bangladesh.”

NIGER DELTA REGION, NIGERIALondon, Jul 26 — A pres sreport,

dated Jul 25, states: Royal Dutch Shellsaid today that a leak in an oi lpipeline in southern Nigeria on Friday(Jul 21) has cut its output there by 180000 barrels a day. A Shel lspokesperson said: “A total of 180 000barrels a day has been temporally shutin and we don’t know when it will beback.” Shel l had so far fai led touncover the cause of the leak to theSambarth-Karkrama pipeline in theoil-rich Niger Delta region. News ofthe leak came as Nigeria was alreadyexperiencing a cut of about 20% in itsoil exports owing to militant unrest inthe Niger Delta.

DELAWARE BAY, UNITED STATESLondon, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated yesterday, states: Up to 2,500gallons of oily “bilge” waste escapedfrom vehicle carrier MelbourneHighway (43259 gt, built 1983) in theDelaware Bay late yesterday,Department of Natural Resources andEnvironmental Control of f ic ialsreported. State environmentalenforcement off icers already haveboarded the vessel , owned byKawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd, toinvestigate, DNREC Deputy SecretaryDavid Small said. The vessel wasdeparting the Delaware River portcomplex at the time. “With the surfaceof the water being stirred up as it isbecause of the winds we’re getting outof the north and the tropical stormthat is passing us, there may not be awhole lot that can be done,” Smallsaid. Bilge liquids often contain amixture that may include fuel oil ,water, hydraulic f luids and otherpetroleum products. The spill wastraced to a broken valve on the vessel.Small said that investigators hope tosurvey the area by helicopter latertoday, although winds and waves wereexpected to quickly disperse thewastes.

London, Jul 21 — Vehicle carrierMelbourne Highway sailed DelawareBay 2216, Jul 20, for Davisville.

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADALondon, July 24 — A press report,

dated today, states: It could takeanother four or five days to clean upwhat a Canadian Coast Guard official

termed “a relatively minor” spill ofbunker C oil into Halifax Harbour onSaturday (July 22) . Joe LeClair,superintendent of environmentalresponse for the Maritimes, said abouthalf a tonne of the oil leaked from asettling tank on Roll On Roll Off ASLSanderl ing (21849 gt , bui lt 1977)while the vessel was at anchor in theharbour, riding out the remnants oftropical storm “Beryl”. Mr. LeClairsaid crew members were able tocontain the leak shortly after it wasnoticed at about 0530 hrs. He said allvessels entering the harbour arerequired to have an arrangement witha certified response organization toclean up any spills. Mr. LeClair saidthe coast guard was advised of thespill and the vessel activated its oil-spill emergency plan by contactingEastern Canada Response Corp tobegin c leanup operations. ASLSanderling was moved to Pier 36 onthe Halifax side of the harbour, whereit had attempted to tie up the nightbefore but was stopped by high winds.Cleanup crews have put a boomaround the ship as a precautionagainst further seepage. The crewsspent much of Saturday cleaning upan oily slick on the Dartmouth side,extending from just north of the ferryterminal to the Nova Scotia Hospitaland stretching about halfway into theharbour. “It’s a fluid thing. It’s movingwith the tide,” said Mr. LeClair, who ismonitoring the cleanup. Mr. LeClairsaid high temperatures will help withevaporation, but because of low windsand sea conditions there is a lingeringsmell of oil in the area of the ferryterminal. “Right now the harbour isfairly calm,” he added. Harbour andferry operations were not affected bythe spill and are continuing as normal,he said. But he said there ’s anexclusion zone for harbour traff icbetween the ferry track on the harbourand the Nova Scotia Hospital on theDartmouth side “to permit us to carryon cleanup operations without havingother boats in the area.” Mr. LeClairsaid contractors for the vessel havemore than 1,200 metres of protectiveboom in place and more than 20 peoplein four boats working on the spill.More boats and workers are expectedto take part in the operation, which islikely to continue into next week. Mr.LeClair said Transport Canadaoff ic ials spent much of Saturdayonboard ASL Sandling to investigatewhether there had been any violationsof Canadian regulations. EnvironmentCanada will determine whether therewas any environmental harm to theharbour and to makerecommendations on the best methodof cleaning the spill.

London, July 24 — A press report,dated today, states: A final sweep ofthe Halifax Harbour area affected bythe spill of an estimated half-tonne ofoil will be made today, the CanadianCoast Guard said. But the cleanup ofthe bunker C oil spilled by Roll OnRoll Off ASL Sanderl ing wascompleted yesterday, said Joe LeClair,the coast guard’s superintendent ofenvironmental response for the

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SSeeiizzuurreess && AArrrreessttss//PPiippeelliinnee AAcccciiddeennttss//PPoolllluuttiioonn

Maritimes. The oil stretched from theDartmouth ferry terminal to near thecoast guard headquarters, LeClairsaid. ASL Sanderl ing berthed inDartmouth on Friday night to ride outthe remnants of tropical storm“Beryl” . That ’s where the spi l lhappened, which was caused bycorrosion, LeClair said. The oil leakedonto the ship’s deck and then into theharbour, which actually helped lessenthe impact of the spill, he said. ASLSanderling moved to Pier 36 at theHalterm Ltd. container terminal onthe Halifax side, where it cleaned upits deck. Officials from EnvironmentCanada and Transport Canada werealso on scene to investigate the causeand the impact, LeClair said. Thatinvestigation will be key, said Butler.

Halifax, Jul 25 — Tank repairs toRoll On Roll Off ASL Sanderling wereeffected during the weekend (Jul 22-23). Harbour cleanup as necessarywas undertaken by the CanadianCoast Guard. Vessel departed Halifaxam yesterday to resume trade. —Lloyd’s Agents.

HURRICANE “DANIEL”London, Jul 21 — Following received

from the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: At 0900, UTC, today, the centreof tropical storm “Daniel” was locatednear lat 13.2N, long 125.3W. Theposit ion is accurate to within 10nautical miles. The present movementis toward the west-northwest, or 285degs, at nine knots. The estimatedminimum central pressure is 948 mb.The maximum sustained winds are115 knots with gusts to 140 knots. Theradius of 64 knot winds: 45 nauticalmiles in the north-east and north-westquadrants and 35 nautical miles inthe south-east and south-westquadrants. The radius of 34 knotwinds: 120 nautical miles in thenorth-east and north-west quadrantsand 100 nautical miles in the south-east and south-west quadrants. At0600, UTC, Jul 22, the centre ispredicted to be near lat 14.5N, long130.3W, with maximum winds of 90knots and gusts to 110 knots.

London, Jul 22 — Following receivedfrom the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: At 0900, UTC, today, the centreof tropical storm “Daniel” was locatednear lat 13.8N, long 129.7W. Theposit ion is accurate to within 10nautical miles. The present movementis toward the west-northwest, or 285degs, at 10 knots . The est imatedminimum central pressure is 933 mb.The maximum sustained winds are130 knots with gusts to 160 knots. Theradius of 64 knot winds: 50 nauticalmiles in north semi-circle and 40nautical miles elsewhere. The radiusof 50 knot winds: 80 nautical milesnorth semi-circle and 70 nauticalmiles elsewhere. The radius of 34 knot

winds: 120 nautical miles north semi-circle and 100 nautical mileselsewhere. Forecast for 0600, UTC,Jul 23: The centre is predicted to benear lat 14.5N, long 133.2W, withmaximum winds of 120 knots, gustingto 160 knots.The radius of 64 knotwinds: 50 nautical miles in northsemi-circle and 40 nautical mileselsewhere. The radius of 50 knotwinds: 80 nautical miles north semi-circle and 70 nautical miles elsewhere.The radius of 34 knot winds: 120nautical miles north semi-circle and100 nautical miles elsewhere.

London, Jul 24 — Following receivedfrom the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: At 0900, UTC, today, the centreof tropical storm “Daniel” was locatednear lat 16.1N, long 139.8W. Theposit ion is accurate to within 20nautical miles. The present movementis toward the west-northwest, or 285degs, at 13 knots . The maximumsustained winds are 85 knots withgusts to 105 knots. Forecast for 0600,UTC, Jul 25: The centre is predictedto be near lat 16.9N, long 142.8W,with maximum winds of 75 knots,gusting to 90 knots.

London, JulY 25 — Followingreceived from the MeteorologicalOffice, dated today: At 0600, UTC,today, the centre of tropical storm“Daniel” was located near lat 16.2N,long 142.7W. The position is accurateto within 45 nautical miles . Themovement past six hours 270 degs, atsix knots. The maximum sustainedwinds are 55 knots with gusts to 655knots. Forecast for 0600, UTC, Jul 26:The centre is predicted to be near lat16.6N, long 145.3W, with maximumwinds of 45 knots, gusting to 55 knots.

JAPANTokyo, Jul 23 — At least four people

died and one is missing aftertorrential rain triggered floods andlandslides on Japan’s southern mainisland of Kyushu, local officials saidtoday. The rain was heaviest inKagoshima on the southern tip ofKyushu, 1,000 km south-west of Tokyo,where more than 120 cm of rain hadfallen since last Tuesday (Jul 18).Weathermen warned that more rain ofup to 25 cm was expected over thesame area in the next 24 hours. An 86-year-old woman died after beingwashed away by a flooded river and a45-year-old man died after being sweptup by a mudslide, officials said. Theysaid about 60,000 local residents wereurged to evacuate. Local governmentscalled on the military to help withrescue operations. Last week, at least18 people died and several were leftmissing across Japan after severaldays of heavy rain touched off floodsand landslides. — Reuters.

NEW ZEALANDLondon, Jul 21 — Storms continued

to lash the lower North Island today,while an icy blast moved up the SouthIsland bringing heavy snow and ice.Widespread flooding again hit theWairarapa and landsl ips causedevacuations in Wellington. While the

rain was forecast to ease later in theday, the cold southerly was expected tobring gale force winds in exposedcoastal areas south of Hawkes Bayand snow down to sea-level in theSouth Island and to 300m in the lowerNorth Island. In the South Island, theWakatipu Basin received about 10cmof snow by mid-morning, QueenstownLakes District Counci lcommunications manager MeaghanMiller said. “It’s the heaviest snowfallthis winter — al l the schools areclosed, and we’ve had to close access tosome of the steeper roads,” she said.Queenstown airport was also closed.Snow was falling on some areas ofPort Hills and Banks Peninsula inChristchurch and forced some roadclosures. The Automobile Associationwas advising extreme caution, withOtago-Southland roads among thehardest hit by snow and ice. Hutt CityCounci l emergency managementcontroller Paul Nickalls said around30 people were evacuated in the hillyWell ington seaside suburb ofEastbourne around 2100, yesterdayafter a landsl ip. The house wasreported to have moved up to 3m fromits foundations and would have to bedemolished. Several minor roads wereclosed in Well ington, and surfacef looding disrupted parts of StateHighway 2. River levels However,river levels in the area had droppedand did not pose any further threat.State Highway 4 between Raetihi andWanganui is closed due to landslipsand flooding, with alternate routes viaState Highway 3 still open. The badweather has also c losed StateHighway 56 at Tokomaru at i tsintersection with the Manawatu RiverBridge. Transit New Zealand issued aswathe of road warnings for black ice,snow and sleet. Light snow was fallingin Dunedin and chains were requiredin many parts of Otago andSouthland, particularly betweenAlexandra and Roxburgh. StateHighway 85 between Palmerston andKyeburn was closed due to snow andice. Christchurch City Counci lcommunications adviser Terry Seftonsaid Summit Road from Gebbies Passto Dyers Pass Road has been closed,and was open only to four-wheel-drives from Mt Pleasant to EvansPass. A slip on Reynolds Valley Roadin Banks Peninsula temporari lyblocked the road about 1km from thebottom, isolating a couple of farmproperties. State Highway 87 betweenOutram and Middlemarch was closeddue to heavy snow, while a lowavalanche hazard warning is in effectfor State Highway 94 between TeAnau and Milford. Chains were alsorequired on SH94 between Lumsdenand Te Anau. The extreme weatheraffected interisland ferry sailingsacross the Cook Strait . Tol l NewZealand communications manager SueFoley said overnight delays betweentwo and three hours were experienced,but no sailings had been cancelled.

NORTH KOREALondon, Jul 27 — A press report,

dated Jul 26, states: The Red Cross in

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Beijing says floods and landslides fromrecent heavy rains have killed at least121 people in North Korea and leftanother 127 missing. “The death tollin five counties, three of which are inPyongyang, is 121 people,” said HopeWeiner, an of f ic ial with theInternational Federation of Red Crossand Red Crescent Societies based inBei j ing. “The number of peoplemissing in those counties is 127. Thatis as of today. Those are the latestfigures.” The information is based ongovernment statistics provided byNorth Korea ’s Red Cross to theInternational Red Cross, Ms Weinersaid. The casualties occurred after atyphoon struck North Korea in mid-July, causing extensive flooding andlandsl ides in four provinces, theInternational Red Cross said later in astatement. Nearly 17,000 familieshave been left homeless in theprovinces of South Pyongan, NorthHwanghae, Kangwon and SouthHamgyong, it said. The rain totally orpartially destroyed 23,400 houses andcaused extensive damage to crops andinfrastructure.

TROPICAL STORM “BERYL”Miami, Jul 20 — Tropical Storm

“Beryl” weakened today as it headedtoward Cape Cod and other popularnortheastern U.S. vacation areas.“Beryl”’s sustained winds dropped to50 mph as it moved across the Atlanticon a path expected to take it near orover Nantucket Is land andsoutheastern Cape Cod later today orearly on tomorrow. The storm’s mostl ikely path, according to the U.S.National Hurricane Centre in Miami,would take it over the Canadianprovince of Nova Scotia tomorrow, butit was expected to weaken further andlose its tropical characteristics. At2300 hrs (0300, UTC, Jul 21), “Beryl”’scentre was about 100 miles south-westof Nantucket, Massachusetts, and thesystem was moving northeast at about13 mph, the hurricane centre said. Atropical storm warning, meaningresidents could see storm conditionswithin 24 hours, was in effect fromPlymouth to Woods Hole,Massachusetts, including the summervacation destinations of Cape Cod,Nantucket Is land and Martha’sVineyard. A tropical storm watch,meaning storm condit ions werepossible within 36 hours, was alsoimposed from west of Woods Hole toNew Haven, Connecticut, and easternLong Island. Rainfall from “Beryl” wasalready affecting Long Island and theNew England coast, the hurricanecentre said. — Reuters.

London, Jul 21 — A press report,dated today, states: Tropical Storm“Beryl” made landfall on Nantucketearly today, bringing a steady, drivingrain to coastal Massachusetts. Thestorm’s centre hit around 0300 hrs,said Jack Beven, hurricane specialistwith the National Hurricane Centre inMiami. Officials said the region wasfaring well. The Coast Guard said theyhadn’t heard of problems, and nopower outages were reported.Forecasters extended a tropical storm

warning extended from Plymouthsouth and west to Woods Hole,including Cape Cod, Nantucket andMartha’s Vineyard, according to theNational Hurricane Centre in Miami.Forecasters said the storm may bringin tides of one to three feet abovenormal. At 0200 hrs, the storm hadmaximum sustained winds of about 50mph. The storm was expected toweaken over the next 24 hours andlose tropical characterist ics bytomorrow morning. The Coast Guardwas monitoring about 50 commercialf ishing vessels st i l l on the NewEngland waters near the storm’s pathlate yesterday night, but had noreports of vessels in trouble, saidChief Petty Officer Scott Carr. Seaswere expected to bui ld to 15 feetsoutheast of Cape Cod and Nantucketovernight. Blake said forecastersexpect heavy rainfall of about twoinches on the south-eastMassachusetts coast and is landsthrough midday today, with tropicalstorm force winds over 40 mph. Atropical storm watch was issued foreastern Long Island and parts ofConnecticut, but was discontinuedearly today as the storm moved north-east.

London, Jul 21 — Following receivedfrom the Meteorologiccal Office, datedtoday: Tropical storm “Beryl”: Thetropical storm warning is discontinuedfor the coast of Massachusetts ,including Cape Cod, Martha’sVineyard and Nantucket. At 0900,UTC, today, the centre was locatednear lat 41.7N, long 69.7W. Theposit ion is accurate to within 20nautical miles. The present movementis toward the north-east or 40 degs at18 knots. The estimated minimumcentral pressure is 1001 mb. Themaximum sustained winds are: 45knots with gusts to 55 knots. Theradius of 34 knot winds: 75 nauticalmiles in the north-east, south-east andsouth-west quadrants and zeronautical miles in the north-westquadrant. At 0600, UTC, Jul 22, thecentre is predicted to be near lat46.7N, long 61.5W, with maximumwinds of 35 knots and gusts to 45knots.

TROPICAL STORM “BILIS”London, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated today, states: The Bei j ing-Guangzhou railway has to be closedagain due to the sinking of groundsill.All trains heading south have beenforced to stop. Those heading northare ordered to slow down. The railwayreopened only the day beforeyesterday after being closed for threedays due to the damage done byTyphoon “Bil is” , but the f loodcontinues to erode the ground wood,leading to the s inking of thegroundsi l l . A spokesman fromGuangzhou Rail says only trainsheading south are ef fected, thoseheading north can still travel at lowerspeeds.

TROPICAL STORM “DANIEL”London, Jul 26 — A press report,

dated Jul 25, states: A tropical storm

that formed in the Pacific Ocean lastweek could pass through Hawaii bythe weekend, but forecasters say it islosing speed and strength. TropicalStorm “Daniel” is on course to crossthe Big Island and then pass justsouth of the rest of the state. It hadsustained winds today of 50 mph withgusts to 65 mph. By the t ime itreaches Hawaii as the state’s firststorm of the season, it likely will havewinds of about 40 mph, gusting to 50mph, forecasters said. As much as 10inches of rain could fall in some partsof the state starting early Friday (Jul28), said National Weather Serviceforecaster Norman Hiu. If a rain bandcrosses Oahu, Honolulu could getbetween four and six inches.

London, Jul 26 — Following receivedfrom the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: At 0900, UTC, today, the centreof tropical storm “Daniel” was locatednear lat 16.3N, long 142.9W. Theposit ion is accurate to within 30nautical miles. The present movementis toward the west, or 270 degs, at twoknots. The maximum sustained windsare 30 knots with gusts to 40 knots.Forecast for 0600, UTC, Jul 27: Thecentre is predicted to be near lat16.7N, long 145.3W, dissipating withmaximum winds of 25 knots, gustingto 35 knots.

TROPICAL STORM “EMILIA”London, July 24 — Following

received from the MeteorologicalOffice, dated today: At 0900, UTC,today, the centre of tropical storm“Emilia” was located near lat 18.4N,long 109.7W. The position is accurateto within 25 nautical miles . Thepresent movement is toward the west-northwest, or 285 degs, at eight knots.The maximum sustained winds are 60knots with gusts to 75 knots. Forecastfor 0600, UTC, July 25: The centre ispredicted to be near lat 19.8N, long112.3W, with maximum winds of 80knots, gusting to 100 knots.

London, July 25 — Followingreceived from the MeteorologicalOffice, dated today: At 0900, UTC,today, the centre of tropical storm“Emilia” was located near lat 20.2N,long 111W. The position is accurate towithin 25 nautical miles. The presentmovement is toward the northwest, or320 degs, at six knots. The maximumsustained winds are 45 knots withgusts to 55 knots. Forecast for 0600,UTC, July 26: The centre is predictedto be near lat 22.9N, long 113.3W, withmaximum winds of 45 knots, gustingto 55 knots.

London, Jul 26 — Following receivedfrom the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: The National Hurricane Center,Miami, Florida, reported today: At0900, UTC, the Government of Mexicohas extended the tropical stormwarning along the west coast of BajaCalifornia to Punta Eugenia and hasdiscontinued the tropical stormwarning east of Caboi San Lucas. At0900, UTC, today, the centre oftropical storm “Emilia” was locatednear lat 24.0N, long 112.5W. Theposit ion is accurate to within 20nautical miles. The present movement

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WWeeaatthheerr && NNaavviiggaattiioonn

is toward the north-west or 325 degs,at 10 knots. The maximum sustainedwinds are 60 knots with gusts to 75knots. Forecast for 0600, UTC, Jul 27:The centre is predicted to be near lat26.3N, long 115.0W, with maximumwinds of 40 knots, gusting to 50 knots.

London, Jul 27 — Following receivedfrom the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: At 0900, UTC, today, the centreof tropical depression “Emilia” waslocated near lat 26.4N, long 116.7W.The position is accurate to within 25nautical miles. The present movementis toward the west-northwest or 300degs, at 11 knots . The est imatedcentral pressure is 1003 mb. Themaximum sustained winds are 30knots with gusts to 40 knots. At 0600,UTC, Jul 28, the centre is predicted tobe near lat 27.5N, long 120.5W, withmaximum winds of 20 knots, gustingto 25 knots.

TYPHOON “CHANCHU”Manila, Jul 21 — Test results of

acidity levels inside the storage tanksof the sunken tank barge Billy Starrevealed that the sulphuric acid cargohas been diluted to the extent that itis no longer a threat to theenvironment. Salvage diversinspecting the wreck discovered thatthe four stainless steel storage tankscontaining the sulphuric acid werefil led with seawater. Acidity testsconducted on the seawater inside thestorage tanks revealed a near normalreading of 5.6 ph. Normal acidity levelis between between six and nine ph.Acidity tests in the surroundingwaters also revealed the same results.There was likewise no sign of fish killand discolouration of surroundingwaters al laying fears that watersaround Keppel Batangas yard hadbeen contaminated. Experts theorisedthat seawater seeped into the seams ofthe storage tanks. Over t ime, theincreasing seawater volume displacedthe sulphuric acid and had aneutralising effect on the remainingacid. The sulphuric acid escaping intothe surrounding waters was likewiseneutralised by seawater. “Nature, ineffect, did the job for us,” said HideyaWaste Management vice-presidentDanny David. Hideya was originallycontracted to perform the on-sitetreatment of the sulphuric acid.Salvors will now try to refloat theBilly Star once a 200 ton capacitysheerleg crane is contracted. —Lloyd’sList Correspondent.

Manila, Jul 26 — Harbor StarShipping Services reported that it hasfound a local floating crane with thecapacity to lift the sunken tank bargeBil ly Star. øWe are currentlynegotiating lease rates for the crane,øHarbor Star president Rodrigo Bellasaid. The salvage company needs acrane with a lifting capacity of between170 and 200 tons to raise Billy Star.Refloating of Bil ly Star cannot beundertaken until the arrival of thecrane. — Lloyd’s List Correspondent.

TYPHOON “EWINIAR”Busan, Jul 21 — A total of 28

containers stowed on deck of container

carrier Z im Japan fel l overboard.Thirteen containers have beeenrecovered by local salvors todate andefforts to locate/recover the remaining15 containers are ongoing. Zim Japansailed from Busan on Jul 12, bound forVancouver, after completion of cargooperations. A total of 171 containersstowed on deck of container carrierEasline Tianjin fell overboard. Twentycontainers have beeen recovered bylocal salvors todate and efforts tolocate/recover the remaining 151containers are ongoing. EaslineTianj in is st i l l at Busan, with nodeparture schedule fixed. A total of 11containers stowed on deck of containercarrier Wan Hai 213 fell overboard.None have beeen recovered todate andefforts to locate/recover them areongoing. Wan Hai 213 sailed fromKwangyang on Jul 11, bound forBusan, after completion of cargooperations. — Lloyd’s Sub-agents.

TYPHOON “KAEMI”London, Jul 21 — Following received

from the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: Tropical storm “Kaemi” hasbeen upgraded to a typhoon. At 0600,UTC, today, the centre as located nearlat 15.8N, long 132.8E and is movingwest-northwest at 13 knots . Themaximum sustained winds are 70knots near the centre. At 0600, UTC,Jul 22, the centre is predicted to benear lat 18.1N, long 129.2E, withmaximum sustained winds of 75 knotsnear the centre.

London, Jul 22 — Following receivedfrom the Meteorological Office, datedtoday: At 0600, UTC, today, the centreof typhoon “Kaemi” was located nearLat 16.8N, long 128.9E. Movementover past six hour 290 deg, at eightknots. Position accurate to within 40nautical miles, based on location bysatellite. Maximum sustained winds90 knots, gusting to 110 knots. Radiusof 64-knot winds 40 nautical milesnorth semi-circle, 30 nautical mileselsewhere. Radius of 50-knot winds 60nautical miles north semi-circle, 50nautical miles elsewhere. Radius of34-knot winds 130 nautical milesnorth-east quadrant, 110 nauticalmiles south-east quadrant, 100nautical miles south-west quadrantand 120 nautical miles north-westquadrant. Forecast for 0600, UTC, Jul23: Position Lat 18.8N, long 125.7E.Maximum sustained winds 90 knots,gusting to 110 knots. Radius of 64-knot winds 40 nautical miles northsemi-circle , 30 nautical mileselsewhere. Radius of 50-knot winds 60nautical miles north semi-circle, 55nautical miles elsewhere. Radius of34-knot winds 130 nautical milesnorth-east quadrant, 110 nauticalmiles south-east quadrant, 100nautical miles south-west quadrantand 120 nautical miles north-westquadrant.

Taipei , Jul 24 — Intermittentdownpours soaked Taiwan’s capitaltoday as typhoon “Kaemi” headedtowards the island after the stormshut down financial markets, officesand schools in the Philippines. As of0700, UTC, the centre of the storm

was about 190 km southeast of Taiwanand moving northwest at 16 kph, withsustained winds of up to 137 kph andmaximum gusts of 173 kph, Taiwan’sCentral Weather Bureau said. Thetyphoon is expected to hit China’ssoutheastern coastal province ofFujian on Wednesday (Jul 26), Xinhuanews agency said, adding that “Kaemi”could cause more problems in alreadyflood-affected areas of the country. InTaiwan’s capital Taipei , thegovernment urged people to move carsfrom parking areas along the mainrivers running through the city in caseof f looding and television footageshowed people stocking up on food.Central and southeastern coastalareas were likely to see intensifyingrain and wind from this afternoon,said the bureau, with the typhoonexpected to make landfall tomorrow.Key ports of Kaohsiung in the southand Keelung in the north were stilloperating normally, but airlines hadbegun cancelling domestic flights. Thestorm closed Phil ippine f inancialmarkets in Manila today as it movedacross waters off the northern Batanesprovince, bringing heavy rain. Schoolsin five provinces on the main island ofLuzon and in the capital were alsoforced to shut. In China, authoritiesordered ships to return to port andwarned people to be on alert forflooding. — Reuters.

Taipei, Jul 25 — A typhoon triggeredfloods and knocked out power in someareas of Taiwan today, forcing schoolsand offices to close, and then movedtowards China, where hundreds ofthousands were evacuated. As of 0700,UTC, the centre of typhoon “Kaemi”was just off China’s eastern coastmoving northwest at 17 kph towardsthe city of Xiamen, officials said. Thestorm had sustained winds as high as108 kph and maximum gusts of 137kph, according to Taiwan’s CentralWeather Bureau. About 435,000 peoplewere evacuated in China as rain andwinds built up along the coast, China’sofficial Xinhua news agency said. Itsaid 3,000 armed police were ready tobegin rescue and rel ief work.Authorities have prepared 130 vans,80 rescue speedboats, 3,500 life vestsand 2,000 life buoys, Xinhua reported.In Taiwan, six people, including aseven-year-old gir l , were injured,mostly on roads in the eastern part ofthe island, while about 475 people hadbeen evacuated, government officialssaid. “Kaemi” c losed schools andoffices in five cities and counties insoutheastern Taiwan and the outlyingisland of Penghu. Some schools werealso closed in central Taiwan. Morethan 40 domestic f l ights werecancelled in southeastern Taiwan andin Kaohsiung, some internationalf l ights were suspended, airportofficials said. Transport officials saidKaohsiung harbour, Taiwan’s largest,was closed, although the Keelung portin the north remained open. Thetyphoon also knocked out power toabout 30,000 customers, mostly in theeast coast county of Hualien, saidTaiwan Power Co. spokesman ClintChou. In China, authorities in coastal

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Fujian and Guangdong provincesordered ships to return to port andwarned local officials to monitor majorrivers, reservoirs and dams alreadyswollen from heavy rains in the wakeof tropical storm “Bilis”. Xinhua said“Kaemi” could cause more problems inalready flood-affected areas of thecountry. Chinese authorities expectthe storm to reach Fujian andZhejiang provinces tomorrow, and anemergency alert took effect there thismorning, Xinhua reported. — Reuters.

London, July 25 — Followingreceived from the MeteorologicalOffice, dated today: At 0600, UTC,today, the centre of typhoon “Kaemi”was located near lat 24.1N, long118.7E. Movement over past six hour305 deg, at 10 knots. Position accurateto within 60 nautical miles, based onlocation by satel l i te . Maximumsustained winds 50 knots, gusting to65 knots, dissipating as a significanttropical cyclone over water. Forecastfor 0600, UTC, July 26: Position lat26.7N, long 115.5E. Maximumsustained winds 30 knots, gusting to40 knots, dissipated as a significanttropical cyclone over land.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated today, states: Typhoon “Kaemi”has reached China’s south-easterncoast, bringing with it heavy rain andhigh winds. It made landfal l atJinjiang in Fujian province, and is setto cross a region still recovering fromthe effects of an earlier storm. TheChinese authorities have evacuatedpeople ahead of the new typhoon. Morethan 430,000 people have been movedfrom their homes in Fujian, whileanother 80,000 have been evacuated inZhejiang province. Around 44,000fishing boats were ordered to seekshelter and 3,000 police were on handto assist with rescue operations,Xinhua news agency reported.

Beijing, Jul 26 — Typhoon “Kaemi”weakened into a tropical depressiontoday as it lashed south China withheavy rains and strong winds andforced the evacuation of over half amillion people. Two people were killedin the southern Guangdong province,the state television said. More than600,000 residents in the southeasternprovince of Fujian were evacuated as“Kaemi” made landfall at typhoonstrength yesterday, after injuring sixpeople, causing floods and cutting offpower in parts of Taiwan. In Fujianand neighbouring Guangdong, boatswere moored in ports as fishermensought shelter from the storm, Xinhuanews agency said. Dozens of flights inFujian’s capital Fuzhou and main portcity Xiamen were cancelled yesterday.Today, downpours brought by “Kaemi”soaked large parts of Fuj ian,Guangdong and another four provincesin China’s south and east , whichwould continue to see rainfall in thenext three days, the country’s CentralMeteorological Office said. Authoritieshave warned of possible landslides andare closely watching already swollendams and overflowing rivers in thewake of tropical storm “Bilis”, urgingthe relocation of those living nearrocky mountain slopes and in valleys,

Xinhua said. “Kaemi” had beenexpected to move northwest to hit theprovinces of Zhej iang, Anhui andfinancial hub Shanghai, which hasordered the reinforcing of billboards,electric ity poles and scaffolding.Shanghai was overcast today and rainand wind is expected in the evening,but “Kaemi” ’s brunt seemed to bemoving westward to bring heavy rainto Jiangxi province, northernGuangdong and the southern part ofHunan province, the MeteorologicalOffice said. In the Philippines, where“Kaemi” originated on the Pacific,nearly 31,000 people were still unableto return to their homes in Manila andnorthern areas of the country due toflooding from “Kaemi”. — Reuters.

London, July 26 — Followingreceived from the MeteorologicalOffice, dated today: At 0600, UTC,today, the centre of typhoon “Kaemi”was located near lat 24.6N, long117.5E. Movement over past six hours295 deg, at 12 knots. Position accurateto within 60 nautical miles, based onlocation by satel l i te . Maximumsustained winds 45 knots, gusting to55 knots, dissipating as a significanttropical cyclone over land. Forecast for0001, UTC, July 27: Posit ion lat25.8N, long 115.7E. Maximumsustained winds 30 knots, gusting to40 knots, dissipated as a significanttropical cyclone over land.

Bei j ing, Jul 27 — Floods andlandsl ides tr iggered by Typhoon“Kaemi” have killed at least 18 peopleand left more than 60 missing insouthern China, state media saidtoday. “Kaemi” weakened into atropical depression after sweepingacross China’s southeastern coast onTuesday (Jul 25), but the downpours itbrought soaked at least four provinces,all of which were damaged by tropicalstorm “Bilis”. Six people were killedwhen f lash f loods along amountainside hit a military barracksin the eastern province of Jiangxi,Xinhua news agency said. PresidentHu Jintao has ordered that “theutmost effort” be made to search for 38officers, soldiers and family memberswho are still missing, it added. Twogirls — aged nine and six — died insouthern Guangdong province aftertheir house col lapsed under alandslide. Both incidents occurred inthe early hours of yesterday when thevict ims were probably s leeping,Xinhua said. Ten people were killed,mostly by flood waters, in Jiangxi’smountainous south, Xinhua said.About 20 were missing and roads andcommunications have been disruptedin some areas. “The deaths weremainly reported in Shangyou county,which has also suffered many housecollapses. Rivers and dams there areoverflowing at alarming levels,” anofficial at the provincial flood controloffice told Reuters. Relief workershave been distributing blankets ,clothing and instant noodles to thetens of thousands of villagers affectedin the county, Xinhua said. Inneighbouring Hunan province,hundreds of thousands of people wererelocated as streets in the city of

Chenzhou, where “Bilis” killed almost200 this month, were flooded and atleast three were missing, Xinhua said.A sect ion of the Bei j ing-Zhuhaihighway in southern Hunan, cut fordays by “Bilis”, was submerged bywater again. In Fujian province,where “Kaemi” made landfall aftersweeping through Taiwan, a leveecollapsed, threatening the lives ofmore than 20,000 people in s ixvillages, Xinhua said, adding thatemergency repair work was underway.Rain was likely to continue in theprovinces until Friday, China’s CentralMeteorological Office said on its Website. The Meteorological Office said“Kaemi” carried less rain and wouldmove away faster than “Bilis”, whichkilled 612 people and left 208 missingin southern China since it stuck thecountry on July 14, mostly in theprovinces of Hunan, Guangdong andFujian. — Reuters.

TYPHOON “KAEMI” London, July 24 — Following

received from the MeteorologicalOffice, dated today: At 0600, UTC,today, the centre of typhoon “Kaemi”was located near lat 21.8N, long122.9E. Movement over past six hour300 deg, at 10 knots. Position accurateto within 40 nautical miles, based onlocation by satel l i te . Maximumsustained winds 75 knots, gusting to90 knots. Forecast for 0600, UTC, July25: Position lat 23.6N, long 119.3E.Maximum sustained winds 65 knots,gusting to 80 knots.

UNITED STATESLondon, Jul 24 — A press report,

dated today, states: Hundreds ofthousands of people in different partsof America continue to be affected bypower outages as temperatures soar torecord highs. In California, wheretemperatures reached 50C (122F) inplaces, the heat was blamed for atleast four deaths. The power grid wasunable to cope with the increaseddemand for electric ity, leading towidespread cuts. In Missouri and NewYork, thousands are st i l l withoutpower after high temperatures andstorms last week. Yesterday, powerwas restored to thousands of homes inthe borough of Queens, but more than5,000 customers (an estimated 20,000people) remained without electricityfor a seventh day. It is not clear whenpower will be fully restored there.Meanwhile , uti l i ty workers in StLouis, Missouri, struggled to resumeservices to hundreds of thousands ofhomes left without electricity afterviolent storms last week. Ameren, theowner of the local power company, said250,000 homes and businesses werestill without electricity yesterday.More than 20 heat-related deaths werereported last week across the UnitedStates. While temperatures have sincecooled in some parts of the country,California is bracing itself for morehot weather this week. The “LATimes” reports that the Los Angelesarea is experiencing one of its worstheatwaves on record. Forecasters sayhigh temperatures will continue until

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at least mid-week, prompting fearsthat there may be more power outagesas people return to work after theweekend. Yesterday evening, morethan 100,000 homes remained withoutelectricity in the state.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated Jul 24, states: Scorching heatpushed California’s electricity supplyto the brink today as authorit iesinvestigated at least 29 possible heat-related deaths, most in the CentralValley, where temperatures reached115 degrees over the weekend. Aneighth day of intense heat pushedelectricity usage to a peak of 50,270megawatts - a record for Californiabut still short of the 52,000 megawattsexperts had predicted for the day.Meanwhile, utilities in the St. Louisarea and New York City laboured torestore power to hundreds ofthousands whose electric ity wasknocked out by storms and equipmentfailures. Hoping to avoid involuntaryrolling blackouts in California, theCali fornia Independent SystemOperator (ISO) declared a “Stage 2”emergency, which calls for businessesto reduce their power usage inexchange for lower rates. Gov. ArnoldSchwarzenegger also directed stateagencies to reduce electricity use by 25percent by turning off unnecessaryequipment; he urged local andmunicipal governments anduniversit ies to do the same. Thereductions appeared to work. By 1700hrs, ISO officials said the threat ofrolling blackouts had passed. Tens ofthousands of homes and businesseslost power in California yesterdaybecause of heavy electricity use andhigh temperatures that causedtransformers and other equipment tooverheat. Some 50,000 customers innorthern California still were withoutelectricity, including 35,000 in SanJose and the East Bay, according toPacific Gas & Electric. About 20,000Los Angeles customers also remainedwithout electric ity. In Arizona,authorit ies said heat may havecontributed to the deaths of as manyas four other men in the Phoenix areaover the weekend. The deaths cameduring a three-day streak of record-breaking temperatures in Phoenix.The temperature soared to 114 degreesyesterday, breaking the record of 112set in 1906. The temperature hit 114again today. Meanwhile, in St. Louis,more than 200,000 homes andbusinesses were st i l l withoutelectricity today, down from the morethan a half-million that were left “inthe dark” last week after strongstorms knocked down power lines.Four deaths in the region wereattributed to the storms or the heat.Ameren Corp. Vice President RichardMark said today that 90 percent ofthose without power could have thelights back on by tomorrow, with therest expected to be back up byWednesday (Jul 26) . The powercompany has been running TVcommercials asking people to bepatient. Some 4,000 utility workersfrom as far away as Arizona arerestoring power around the clock, but

many customers expressed frustration.In New York, thousands of residents inthe borough of Queens were facingtheir second week without powerbecause of a blackout that at one pointaffected 25,000 customers. By thisevening, electricity had been restoredto all but about 2,000, ConsolidatedEdison said. The blackout hasdevastated the inventories of icecream parlors, bodegas, groceries,butcher shops, f ish mongers andrestaurants. City officials estimatedthat at least 750 businesses wereaffected and said the losses couldreach into the millions of dollars.

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated today, states: Cali forniaexperienced a 10th straight day of100-degree heat today, with thenumber of suspected heat-relateddeaths climbing to at least 56. Somecommunities faced their third daywithout electric ity as the record-breaking temperatures strainedtransmission equipment. “We’reasking people for one more day ofconservation,” said Gregg Fishman,the California Independent SystemOperator, which manages the state’spower grid. In the Central Valley,where most of the deaths haveoccurred, temperatures hoveredbetween 100 and 105 degrees today,down from 110 to 115 in previous days.Cooler weather was not expected untiltomorrow, when the system wasforecast to move east into Nevada andUtah. Coroners in 14 counties wereinvestigating deaths that appearedheat-related. Most of the victims wereelderly. The heat has been hard onlivestock as well, causing thousands ofdeaths and a dip in milk production inCalifornia, the country’s No.1 dairystate, according to agricultureofficials. In the San Joaquin Valley, acombination of the searing heat ,bigger dairies and fewer plants toproperly dispose of dead animalscreated a backlog of rotting carcasses.Tens of thousands of customers inNorthern and Southern California hadno electricity. About 1,700 San Josecustomers faced their third daywithout power. Pacific Gas & Electricspokesman Brian Swanson said mostoutages were caused by equipmentfai lures and not a shortage ofelectric ity. In Los Angeles , about26,000 people were in the dark thisyevening as crews worked to f ixhundreds of blown transformers, saida spokeswoman for the c ityDepartment of Water and Power. Thestate’s power consumption peaked thisafternoon at 49,762 megawatts, shortof the record 50,270 megawatts setyesterday. In St. Louis, about 145,000homes and businesses still withoutpower after two storms last weekknocked out electric ity to nearly600,000 customers. A utility workerwas electrocuted today and anotherwas injured while trying to restorepower. Many grew frustrated withAmeren Corp.’s handling of the crisis.The Rev. Al Sharpton led a protestTuesday in front of Amerenheadquarters, saying the company wasnot doing enough to help poor and

working-class people. The civil rightsactivist also called for a 10 percentrate cut to help the communityrecover. In New York City, a blackoutthat left about 100,000 people withoutelectricity during some of the hottestdays of the year all but ended today,allowing residents who endured ninedays of rotting food and swelteringhomes to begin getting back to normal.Consolidated Edison said fewer than500 people remained withoutelectricity in the borough of Queens asof this evening. Meanwhile, the firstlawsuit against the utility over theblackout emerged tosday, and the CityCouncil said it would hold its firsthearing on the outages Thursday (Jul27). Utility spokesman Chris Olertdeclined to comment on the suit. Inthe suit, Sandra Boyle said her two-year-old chi ld became i l l and shecouldn’t get in touch with a doctor forhours because she had no power. Sheis seeking unspecified damages foremotional and physical distress.

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated Jul 26, states: Temperaturesmade a barely noticeable dip on the11th day of 100-degree heat today, butthe stress on California’s electric grideased slightly, as did the possibility ofrol l ing blackouts. The number ofdeaths believed to be caused by theheat rose sharply, reaching 83. Theheat and the increased power use blewout thousands of transformers, andfarmers reported animals dying in thefields, and fruit and nuts scorched onthe vine. Hundreds of thousands ofhomes and businesses lost power atthe peak, but just a few thousandremained without power today.However, the widespread failures haveleft l i tt le opportunity for routinemaintenance. The coroner ’s office inFresno County, which has reported 20deaths as l ikely heat-caused, hadbodies stacked two to a gurneybecause there were so many. CoronerLoralee Cervantes said that her staffwas doing autopsies non-stop and thatdecomposition of some bodies madethe cause of death di f f icult todetermine. Nineteen deaths werereported in neighbouring StanislausCounty, and seven in SacramentoCounty. In all, 18 counties reportedheat-related deaths. Other states alsoattributed deaths to heat - Oklahomasaid two people whose homes lackedair condit ioners were the latestvict ims there, bringing to 10 thenumber of heat-related deaths sinceJuly 13. An achingly slow coolingtrend will cause highs to drop a fewdegrees by the weekend in California,according to National Weather Serviceforecaster Jim Dudley. “We’re seeingsome relief coming, if you can call 105relief,” he said. Power grid managersare waiting for the cooler weather tobegin assessing the damage and domaintenance, said Gregg Fishman, aspokesman for the grid manager,Independent System Operator. “Wehave some balancing to do to allow asmuch maintenance as we can whilewe’re in a cooling spell,” he said. Thecompany is now focusing on restoringpower to those still without it. More

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than 1,100 Pacific Gas and ElectricCo. transformers were damaged by theheat, leading to about 6,000 outagesaffecting over 1.2 million customerssince Friday (Jul 21) , companyspokesman Brian Swanson said. TheSt. Louis area and the New York Cityborough of Queens slowly werereturning to normal more than a weekafter weather-related power blackouts.About 51,000 customers around St.Louis still were without electricity,according to Ameren Corp. Twostorms, on July 19 and July 21, hadknocked out power to more than ahalf-million customers. A sixth deathwas blamed on the storms andblackout; the man died yesterday in afire that started while he was workingon a power generator in East St .Louis, Ill. In Queens, the last of the100,000 people affected by a 10-dayoutage had their power restored, butthe Consolidated Edison utility stillwarned of lower voltage and occasionaloutages. California’s inland valleyshave registered some of the highesttemperatures during the heat wave,with highs of around 115 and lows ofabout 90 degrees. Experts estimate asmuch as two percent of California’sdairy herd may die. The survivingcattle are producing less milk, farmerssaid. Dairy production in the state -No. 1 in the nation - was down asmuch as 15 percent in the past fewdays, according to the California FarmBureau. Though this is peak harvestt ime for fruits l ike peaches andnectarines, the heat stops the ripeningprocess. Tomatoes being grown forsalsa, ketchup and pasta sauces werefound split in the fields, which willmake them hard to sell . However,farmers say it is too early to say whatpercentage of crops may be lost. Theheat might mean a slightly smallerharvest of wine grapes, said KarenRoss, president of the Cali forniaAssociation of Winegrape Growers.When temperatures rise, vines stopgrowing to conserve water.

VIETNAMLondon, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated today, states: Twelve peoplewere killed or missing feared deadafter heavy rains triggered flash floodsand mudslides that destroyed 400houses in mountainous northernVietnam. Four people died in Bac Kanprovince and five had been missingsince early Tuesday and were feareddrowned, said provincial flood controlofficial Ha Kim Oanh, who warnedmore f loods were expected in thecoming weeks. Two more people werekilled in Vinh Phuc province, and onein Lang Son province bordering China,said an official of the National Floodand Storm Control Committee in thecapital Hanoi. Hundreds of villagershad been evacuated in remote Bac Kanwhere heavy rains have swollen riversand cut roads, said an official in BacKan town, 125km north of Hanoi. Thenational government has warned 16northern provinces to prepare for moresevere storms ahead after weatherservices predicted higher than usualrainfall in coming months.

AFGHANISTANKandahar, Afghanistan, Jul 23 —

Eight people were killed, includingtwo Canadian soldiers, and dozenswounded in a double suicide attack inthe southern Afghan city of Kandaharyesterday, authorit ies said. Theattacks came just over a week before aNATO-led mission takes over securityin the south at a time of the bloodiestphase of an insurgency since coalitionforces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.Maj. Scott Lundy, a spokesman for theUS-led force, said a suicide car bomberrammed a coalition convoy in the city,a Taliban stronghold, just beforesunset. Canada said two of its soldierswere killed and eight others woundedas their convoy made its way back toKandahar Airf ie ld. “Five of thewounded soldiers have already beenreleased from the hospital while theother three are in good condition withnon life-threatening injuries,” thedepartment said in a release. AsAfghan authorities tried to push backonlookers and deal with casualtiesfrom the blast, police said a secondsuicide bomber blew himself up,killing five Afghans. Police said atleast one civilian was also killed in thefirst attack. Kandahar ’s governor,Assadullah Khalid, said the bodies oftwo Afghans and at least 30 woundedlocals were taken to the city’s mainhospital. Both suicide bombers werealso killed in the attacks. The Talibanclaimed responsibility for the firstattack. — Reuters.

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated today, states: US-led forces inAfghanistan say they have ki l ledseven suspected insurgents insouthern Helmand province. Theseven insurgents were killed in twoseparate incidents in Garmser districtyesterday after attacking coalitionsoldiers, the US-led force said. Itsstatement added that there had beenno coalition casualties.

Kandahar, Afghanistan, Jul 26 —Twenty-five militants were killed byUS-led forces in Afghanistan, officialssaid today, as the US mil itaryprepares to hand over securityresponsibilities in the violent south.Fifteen Taliban insurgents were killedduring heavy bombing in threevillages in Musa Qala of southernHelmand province last night,Helmand’s pol ice chief NabiMullahkhail said. “The bombing lastedfor several hours,” he said. “As aresult 15 Taliban were killed and 20others wounded.” Several people whosaid they were from Musa Qala saidthat most of those killed in the attackwere civilians. A Taliban spokesman,Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said only onemilitant was killed in the raid and therest were civilians. In Zabul province,police said a civil ian construction

worker was killed and three otherswounded today in a Taliban ambush.— Reuters.

COLOMBIALondon, Jul 26 — A press report,

dated Jul 25, states: The Colombianarmy today searched for 13 doctorskidnapped by rebels as they conducteda medical mission in a southernprovince near the Ecuador border,authorities said. The doctors had beenon a 10-day mission to remotecommunities and Indian tribes inPutumayo province when they wereabducted yesterday by theRevolutionary Armed Forces ofColombia, or FARC, authorities said.“This group is breaking the protocol ofthe Geneva Convention which forbids... targeting doctors and paramedics,”the Ministry of Social Protection saidin a statement. The doctors had beenscheduled to return to their hospital inthe Putumayo capital of Mocoa today.

Bogota, Jul 26 — Marxist rebelstoday killed two Colombian soldiersand two workers trying to repair thecountry ’s second-biggest pipeline,which was shut down earlier this weekafter guerrilla attacks, army sourcestold Reuters. The 780 km Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline stopped pumping oilon Sunday (Jul 23) after a series ofattacks by leftist rebels, army sourcessaid. The pipeline pumps oil extractedfrom the Cano Limon field that isoperated by U.S.-based OccidentalPetroleum. The oilfield’s output, whichis around 60,000 barrels of oil per day,is also shared with Colombia’s state oilcompany Ecopetrol and Spain’s RepsolYPF. An Ecopetrol official said oilproduction and exports were notaffected by the shutdown and thepipeline will be fully repaired in acouple of days. — Reuters.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OFCONGO

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: One of the lastobstacles to peaceful elections in theDemocratic Republic of Congo onSunday (Jul 30) has been removed.The three main militia groups in thetroubled eastern province of Ituri haveagreed to lay down arms. In return foran amnesty from prosecution forcrimes against the state, the coalitionof three rebel groups known as theMRC, has agreed to facilitate the freemovement of people on polling day andeventually become part of theCongolese army. The deal betweenrebels and the government, i t ishoped, will allow tens of thousands ofpeople to vote. However, EuropeanUnion observers are warning oflogistical problems ahead of the firstfully democratic polls for 40 years. Ina statement yesterday, the EUobserver mission urged the ElectoralCommission to publish the full list of50,000 polling stations. Some of thelocations are not on a clear list and ifvoters and observers do not knowwhere they are it makes fraud mucheasier, the EU mission says. Themission is also worried about thedeployment at polling stations of other

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security forces in addition to police,and has expressed concerns about howthe vote count will work. In addition,it is not yet known exactly how routeswill be secured to enable people tovote. Many of the main presidentialcandidates are due back in the capital,Kinshasa, today as their campaignsdraw to a close. Incumbent PresidentJoseph Kabila is the favourite to winthe presidential vote in elect ionsdescribed by EU envoy Aldo Ajello ascrucial for the continent. “Congo is not(just) a country, it’s almost a continent- it has borders with nine Africancountries. And peace in Congo meanspeace in all central Africa. So I thinkthe importance of these elections isevident to everybody,” he said.

EGYPTCairo, Jul 26 — Egyptian leftists

clashed in Cairo today withplainclothes security men whothwarted attempts to hold a big anti-Israeli demonstration in solidaritywith Lebanese and Palestinians. A fewhundred people were able to reachcentral Tahrir Square with Lebaneseand Palestinian f lags and posterssupporting Sayyid Hassan Nasrallahof the guerrilla group Hizbollah, whichis f ighting Israeli troops in southLebanon. However, a mass deploymentof thousands of riot police preventedmany others from attending, witnessessaid. On the front lines protestersskirmished with security men armedwith short truncheons and severalpeople were injured. — Reuters.

GEORGIATbilisi, Jul 26 — Georgian forces

captured most of a strategic gorgetoday, despite Russian fears theassault on the rebellious strongholdcould re- ignite confl ict in theneighbouring breakaway region ofAbkhazia. The clashes in Kodori gorge— a gateway to the Black Sea provinceof Abkhazia which has enjoyed defacto independence since 1993 —alarmed Abkhaz separatists ,suspicious of any government militarybuild-up in the area. At least twoservicemen were slightly wounded,said President Mikhail Saakashvili’schief of staff. Russia, its peacekeepersin the area on high alert, warned itsex-Soviet neighbour against violatingthe ceasefire that ended the conflict inwhich Abkhazia broke away. Part ofthe gorge is controlled by Abkhazseparatists, while the northern parthad been under government controlthrough the local Monadire (Hunter)mil it ia leader Emzar Kvitsiani .However, on Sunday (Jul 23) ,Kvitsiani declared he would no longerobey Tbilisi. Troops now face up to 70heavily armed Kvitsiani supporters,Chief of Staff Georgy Arveladze said.“The anti-criminal operation is goingon with great success,” said Arveladze,adding that almost all villages in thegorge had been taken. “Kvitsiani hasgone into hiding, but police units haveblocked all roads and are trying not tolet him escape into Abkhazia.” TheKodori f ighting comes days afterRussia and Georgia traded accusations

over a second rebel region of SouthOssetia, where a number of bombingincidents prompted Moscow to warnTbilisi against any attempt to regaincontrol. — Reuters.

HAITILondon, Jun 21 — A press report,

dated Jun 20, states: Fierce clasheshave broken out between UN troopsand gunmen in the Haitian capital,Port-au-Prince, reports say. Accordingto witnesses, between two and sixpeople were killed in the clashes in thenorth of the city. UN officials wereunable to confirm the deaths. Reportsdescribe gangs going on the rampageand kidnappings taking place. Anelection in February brought somestability to Haiti but correspondentssay there are s igns the securitysituation could be deteriorating again.UN spokesman David Wimhurst saidpeacekeepers had come under attackand returned fire. The unrest follows agang massacre in the Martissantneighbourhood of Port-au-Princeearlier this month, in which about 20people died.

INDIALondon, Jul 24 — A press report,

dated today, states: Indian police saythey have killed eight Maoist rebels,including a top leader, during a clashin the southern state of AndhraPradesh. Police said senior leaderBurra Chinnaiah, also known asMadhav, was among those killed in theshootout. The clash broke out afterpol ice raided a rebel meeting inPrakasham district. Maoist rebels areactive in about a third of India ’sstates. In some parts of the country,they run a virtual paral leladministration. Andhra Pradesh policechief Swaranjit Sen said the incidenthappened in Yerragantapalem areawhen the police raided a meeting ofsome 80 rebels that was being held ina forested area. Five women wereamong those killed. Chinnaiah hadtaken over as state secretary of theCPI Maoist rebel group in AndhraPradesh last October. The police saidthe rebel leader was a key planner inthe murder of former state interiorminister A Madhav Reddy in 2000.They say he was also responsible foran attempt on the life of former chiefminister N Chandrababu Naidu in2003. The police recovered some armsfrom the scene of the incident.

IRAQBaghdad, Jul 21 — Iraqi authorities

extended a daytime curfew onBaghdad today in an apparent effortto prevent violence after one of thebloodiest weeks this year. Statetelevision announced that a four-hour1100-1500 hrs traffic ban currently inforce every Friday to curb car bombattacks on mosques during weeklyprayers would be extended to 1900hrs. An overnight curfew operatesdaily from 2100 to 0600 hrs. U.S. datashowed attacks on security forces inBaghdad has averaged 34 a day overseveral days, compared to an averageof 24 in recent months. Baghdad

morgue alone has taken in 1,000bodies this month. — Reuters.

Basra, Jul 21 — British forces in theIraqi c ity of Basra seized two“signif icant” suspects wanted forkillings, kidnappings and guerrillaattacks in separate overnight raids, amilitary spokesman said today. Noshots were fired in the operations thatwere part of a campaign of arreststhat would continue in the mainlyShi’ite southern city, Major CharlieBurbridge said. He declined to identifythose arrested but described them asless senior than a militant seized onSunday (Jul 16) in a raid in which aBritish soldier was killed. That manwas identi f ied by Shi ’ i te mil itantsources as Sajad Abu Aya, thecommander of the Mehdi Army Shi’itemilitia in Basra province, where muchof Iraq’s oil wealth is concentrated.Brit ish commanders say they aretargeting elements of the Mehdi Armythat they believe are out of the controlof their nominal leader, radical clericMoqtada al-Sadr, whose movement isa significant part of the national unitygovernment. Sadr has made no protestover the arrest of several seniorf igures described by comrades asMehdi Army commanders, lendingcredence to the view that some are notfollowing his orders. — Reuters.

Baghdad, Jul 23 — A car bomb killed36 civi l ians and wounded 72 in aShi’ite district of east Baghdad today,a day after an inaugural meeting tostart reconciling Iraq’s rival factionsproduced l i tt le tangible result .Another car bomb exploded in thenorthern city of Kirkuk, killing atleast 15 people near a court house,pol ice and witnesses said. TheBaghdad bomb, near a police stationand open-air market, was in the SadrCity neighbourhood, a poor area thatis a stronghold of Shi ’ ite militias.Three weeks ago, a car bomb at amarket in the same area killed about60 people, one of a number of verybloody incidents this month that haveraised fears of c ivi l war. Somewitnesses spoke of a suicide bomberdriving a minivan but police said thecause was unclear. There were alsoheavy clashes in the district overnightbetween the Mehdi Army of radicalShi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and US-led forces, residents and police said.The US military said in a statementthat Iraqi troops raided a s ite inmainly Shi ’ i te eastern Baghdadtargeting two people believed to beinvolved in “death squads” — a termusually applied to Shi ’ i te mil it iaactivity. It said eight people weredetained after a batt le involvingmachine-guns and grenades and thattwo Iraqi hostages were freed. Twoother people were arrested in a similarraid in north-western Baghdad, themilitary said. The US military said itstroops, backed by Iraqi troops andpolice, killed 15 fighters in a three-hour gunbattle near a Shi’ite mosqueat Mussayab, south of Baghdad. TwoUS soldiers were also killed aroundBaghdad yesterday. — Reuters.

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated Jul 25, states: U.S. and Iraqi

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soldiers captured six members of analleged “death squad” in Baghdadtoday. Attacks elsewhere in Iraq left atleast 34 people dead - including anAmerican soldier. U.S. troops killed alocal al -Qaida in Iraq leader andcaptured three of his followers duringa raid near Beiji in northern Iraq, theU.S. military said. In Washington,President Bush met Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki at the White House todiscuss the deteriorating securitysituation. Representatives of Iraq’sethnic and sectarian groups met inCairo, Egypt, to discuss ways toreconci le . Some 30 delegatesrepresenting Shiites, Sunnis, Kurdsand other smaller minorit iesparticipated in discussions sponsoredby the Cairo-based Arab League. Thetalks are intended to prepare for anational reconciliation conference inBaghdad next month. In Baghdad, theU.S. command said a soldier assignedto the 43rd Military Police Brigadewas killed in action today north ofBaghdad - the 34th death this monthamong U.S. service members in Iraq.A U.S. military statement said sixsuspected members of an al leged“death squad,” including a cell leader,were detained during a pre-dawn raidon four buildings in Baghdad. It wasnot clear whether they are Sunnis orShiites . In the raid near Bei j i innorthern Iraq, a U.S. statement saidthe al-Qaida in Iraq suspect fled whenhe saw the U.S. soldiers coming butthe troops fired and killed him. Thethree other suspects were detainedwithout incident and weapons andammunition were found, thestatement said. In the town of Dujail,about 50 miles north of Baghdad,gunmen attacked a police checkpoint.In north Baghdad, a sport uti l i tyvehicle belonging to a private securitycompany was ambushed, killing eightpeople. In other violence, the head ofSaddam Hussein’s “tribe” was killedyesterday when gunmen attacked ameeting in the office of a prominentsheik in Tikrit. Mahmoud Ali Husseinal-Nida, head of the Baijat “tribe”,died following the attack at about1930 hrs, yesterday. The gunmen alsokilled a lawyer and wounded sheikMizahim al-Mustafa, police Lt. AhmedAsaad said. Two other civilians caughtin the crossfire also were killed, Asaadsaid. In northeastern Baghdad, asuicide car bomber attacked a jointIraqi-U.S. checkpoint, killing three. Atleast 11 bullet-riddled bodies werefound dumped in two Baghdadneighborhoods, police said. A policelieutenant colonel and a police majorwere slain in separate drive-byshootings in the northern city ofMosul, police there reported. Gunmenalso shot dead an employee of theIraqi customs service in Mosul. Fivebodies were found in the streets ofMuqdadiyah, about 60 miles north ofBaghdad, in Diyala province.

Baghdad, Jul 27 — A car bomb andseveral mortars r ipped throughcentral Baghdad today, killing at least25 people and wounding 45 others,police sources said. The car bomb, inthe shopping district of Karrada,

heavily damaged a building, raisingfears the death toll could rise, saidMinistry of Interior sources. Themortars landed nearby. The U.S.military may boost its force in Iraq bydelaying the scheduled departure ofsome troops involved in routinerotations, officials said in Washingtonyesterday. As has been doneperiodically during the three-year-oldwar, the military would temporarilyincrease the size of the force byextending the overlap betweenarriving units and those leaving. Onedefence official said the idea would beto create “a momentary overlap of atleast a brigade” — meaning roughly3,500 troops. Another official said theincrease might be “from the low 3,000sto the high 4,000s.” — Reuters.

ISRAEL-LEBANONLondon, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated today, states: Israel iscontinuing its Lebanon mil itaryoffensive, with war planes bombingmore than 40 targets , mainly insouthern parts of Beirut, today. Troopsare also fighting Hezbollah insidesouthern Lebanon, and Israel has toldpeople to leave the area, warning of apossible large-scale incursion.Lebanese Prime Minister FouadSiniora said the number of Lebanesekilled in the 10 days of violence is nowmore than 330. In an interview withCNN he said that more than 55bridges had been destroyed, and thatIsrael i forces had also targetedambulances and medical convoys.Bombed-out roads and bridges arehampering aid efforts and yesterdaythe UN warned that the humanitariancrisis was worsening by the hour.About 500,000 people are believed tohave been internally displaced by theconflict. Thirty-four Israelis have beenkilled in the fighting, including 15civilians killed by rockets fired byHezbollah into Israel. At least threerockets hit Israel’s third largest city,Haifa, today, the first in nearly 24-hours. On the ground Israeli forces arepushing further into Lebanon in anattempt apparently to flush out well-camouflaged Hezbollah positions. TheIsraeli army continues to describethese operations as “pin-point” ,involving fewer than a thousandtroops. However, Israel i DefenceMinister Amir Peretz has warned thatIsrael is prepared to launch a full-scale ground operation if necessary,saying “we have no intention ofconquering Lebanon but... we will do itwithout thinking twice.” And todaythe Israeli military ordered severalbattalions - each comprising up 1,000troops - of reservists to report for duty.In an interview with Arabic TVnetwork al -Jazeera, Hezbol lah ’sSheikh Nasrallah said his group wouldgive up the captured Israeli soldiersonly in a prisoner exchange. “Even thewhole universe would not be able tosecure the release of the two Israelisoldiers unless there are indirectnegotiations and an exchange ofprisoners,” he said. Sheikh Nasrallahalso said that the Israeli attacks hadnot dented Hezbollah’s capabilities,

saying: “Hezbol lah has so farremained steadfast.” Israel says it hasbombed a bunker used by MrNasrallah and has destroyed much ofthe mil it ia ’s missi le stocks.Meanwhile, the evacuation of foreignnationals from Lebanon continues,with thousands more expected toarrive in Cyprus today. About 1,300Brit ish nationals have arrived inCyprus after being evacuated on aRoyal Navy ship, HMS Bulwark. Andabout 1,000 US citizens have alsodisembarked there from the USSNashville after being rescued by USmarines yesterday.

Beirut, Jul 23 — Israel unleashedmore air str ikes on Lebanon andHizbollah fired rockets at Haifa todayas a senior UN official demanded ahalt to the violence to allow aid toreach civi l ians. Israeli warplanesbombed targets in Beirut and east andsouth Lebanon, killing at least threecivilians. Half a dozen blasts echoedacross the Lebanese capital as jetsroared over the Shi ’ i te southernsuburbs in the early hours. Air strikesalso destroyed a Shi ’ i te rel igiouscentre in the southern port city ofSidon, wounding four people. A dozenIsrael i air str ikes in the easternBekaa Valley destroyed threefactories, a house and several bridges,ki l l ing at least one c ivi l ian andwounding seven. Two other civiliansdied in a raid on a southern village,security sources said. Two people werekilled and 14 wounded when Hizbollahrockets slammed into apartments andvehicles in Haifa, Israel’s third largestcity, which lies 35 km south of theborder. Jan Egeland, the UNemergency rel ief co-ordinator,appealed for a halt to the bloodshed.“We are sett ing up a major rel iefoperation but the violence has to stopand the enormous bombardment thatwe have seen here with one block afteranother being levelled has to stop,” hesaid as he toured Beirut’s shatteredHaret Hreik district. UN and otherrelief agencies have been asking forhumanitarian aid corridors to beopened up. “We need safe access. Sofar Israel is not giving us access,”Egeland said. Israel ’s 12-day-oldonslaught against Hizbol lah inLebanon has claimed 359 lives, mostlycivilians, and forced half a millionpeople to flee their homes. Others aretrapped by f ighting, especial ly insouthern border villages. More than1,000 Hizbollah rockets have killed 17Israeli civilians, prompting between athird to a half of al l residents innorthern Israel to move to escape thebombardment, officials said. TwentyIsraeli soldiers have also been killedin the confl ict , launched whenHizbol lah guerri l las seized twosoldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on Jul 12. An Israel igeneral said soldiers yesterday tookcontrol of Maroun al-Ras, a hilltopborder vi l lage, where s ix Israel icommandos were ki l led in heavyfighting last week. Israel’s Army Radiosaid more troops were expected tomove into southern Lebanon today towiden the army’s ground operations

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against Hizbollah close to the frontier.Cyprus was braced to take in nearly10,000 more foreign evacuees fromLebanon and the United Nationsurged donors to send aid swiftly to thefar greater numbers of people leftbehind. About 14 crowded vessels wereexpected at the Cypriot ports ofLarnaca and Limassol over the nextday or so , part of an evacuationinvolving dozens of countries .—Reuters.

Ashdod, Jul 18 — Israel i navyblockade on Lebanon: The Israeli Navyis conducting Naval blockade onLebanon. The area between lat 34 38Nto lat 33 06N and between long 34 00Eand the Lebanese coast was declared“Closed Area” as of 0400, UTC, Jul 13.Israel i Navy vessels are notpermitting entry or exit from thisarea. As a result of the damage causedby a missile that was fired from theLebanese coast towards general cargoMoon Light near the coast of Lebanon,al l vessels sai l ing in the eastMediterranean Sea are warned not togo within the range of 50 miles fromthe coast of Lebanon. This message isvalid from 0500, UTC, Jul 15. Due to arocket barrage that hit the city ofHaifa and the port of Haifa, the HomeFront Command ordered the Haifaport authority on Sunday (Jul 16) toevacuate all cargo vessels from theport until further notice. Due to thesituation and the fear that Hezbollahwill continue targeting Haifa, theHome Front Command orderedIsraelis in the Haifa region to stay inbomb shelters and secured areas.Customs offices were ordered to close,along with other governmentoffices.Local customs brokers as wellas freight forwarders are unable tooperate due to staf fshortage.Following the evacuation ofHaifa, vessels have been routed to theport of Ashdod. Ashdod port hasstarted preparing for large-scaleabsorption of cargo and passengervessels. The management has madesure to reinforce manpower andrecruit additional employees in orderto enable continuous work on thedocks. The Israeli National Federationof International Freight Forwarders &Customs Clearing Agents declaredyesterday that for the time being, thecustoms brokerage industry, as well asthe freight forwarding sector in Haifa,will be unable to provide its regulardaily service . The federationmanagement said that together withthe Israeli Customs Authority, theydoing their best to find ways to easethe situation and release as manyshipments as possible. South of Haifa,normal l i fe is not substantial lyaffected. — Lloyd’s Agents.

London, Jul 24 — A press report,dated today, states: US Secretary ofState Condoleezza Rice has arrived inthe Lebanese capital, Beirut, at thestart of a Middle East tour to discussthe regional crisis. She is expected tomeet Lebanese leaders, including PMFouad Siniora. Ms Rice will later headto Israel to meet Prime Minister EhudOlmert. Heavy fighting is reported insouthern Lebanon, amid further

Israel i air str ikes and Hezbol lahrocket attacks into northern Israel. Atleast 372 Lebanese, the great majoritycivilians, have been killed during theconflict, which is now into its 13th day.Thirty-seven Israelis have been killed,about half of them civi l ians. In apolicy shift, Mr Olmert has said Israelwill be prepared to accept a Europeanpeacekeeping force in southernLebanon providing it is robust and hasa strong mandate. In Brussels, EUforeign policy chief Javier Solana saidseveral European countries werewilling to contribute to such a force,which he said could be deployed underthe umbrel la of the UN SecurityCouncil. Overnight, there were some40 Israeli air strikes on targets inLebanon, while about 90 Hezbollahrockets have landed in Israel over thepast 24 hours, according to the IsraeliDefence Forces (IDF). An estimated600,000 Lebanese have now beenforced out of their homes. Fightingbetween Israeli soldiers and Lebanesefighters continues on the ground.Having captured the village of Marounal-Ras in the very south of Lebanon,Israeli forces appear to be pushingnorthwards, and fierce clashes arereported around the nearby town ofBint Jbei l . An Israel i hel icoptercrashed in northern Israel today. Anarmy spokeswoman blamed technicalproblems, but Hezbollah reportedlyclaimed it had been shot down. Arabicnews channel al-Jazeera has reportedthat an Israeli soldier has been killedin f ighting, but there is noconfirmation by the Israelis. Despitethe diplomatic moves, Israeli Brig GenAlon Friedman told Israel Army Radiothe ground operation would probablygo on for another 10 days.Correspondents say the US is unlikelyto push for an immediate end to theIsraeli assault, and one aim of MsRice’s trip is to assess how much timeis needed for Israel to make asignif icant impact on Hezbol lahcapability.

Beirut, Jul 25 — Vessels are notallowed to enter the territorial waterswithout the special permission fromthe Israeli Navy. Beirut port is emptyexcept for the laid-up vessels. Onevessel, container carrier Kormoran,Panama f lag, is in the territorialwaters waiting for instructions andpermission to sail. Naval vessels andhelicopters are allowed to evacuateforeigners holding American,Austral ian, French and Brit ishpassports. Passenger vessels OrientQueen, Princesa Mariza and Serenadeare plying between Larnaca andBeirut under the American Embassycover evacuating their own people. Allthe ports radars from South to Northhave been hit by Israel. They are nowtotally dead. Only one vessel, roll on,roll off Ierapetra l. is plying betweenLarnaca and Beirut bringing RedCross donations for refugees. Thesituation is the same in the otherLebanese ports. — Lloyd’s Agents.

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated Jul 25, states: Israeli warshipsfired shots across the bows of ferryAkcakoca (517 gt, built 1994), which

was being used to evacuate Australiannationals from Lebanon and delayedthe vessel for several hours, it wasrevealed by Turkish TransportMinister Binali Yildirim today. Therewere no passengers on board thevessel when the shots were fired latelast night, Yildirim said. “The vesselwas stopped by Israeli gunboats lastnight while en route from Beirut toFamagusta,” he said. “It was heldunti l morning. The problem wasresolved through diplomatic channelsby the Australian embassy and theTurkish foreign and transportministries .” According to Turkishdiplomatic sources, the incident mayhave resulted from a lack of co-ordination between Israeli, Turkishand Australian authorities over theroutes to be used for the evacuation offoreigners from Lebanon.

Londson, Jul 26 — A press report,dated today, states: At least ninepeople have been killed in Israeli airraids in the east of Gaza City,including a three-year old gir l ,according to medical sources. Severalmembers of the governing Hamasorganisation were also amongst thosekilled, said a Hamas spokesman. Theraids come amid Israeli efforts torelease a soldier captured byPalestinian mil itants last month.More than 120 Palestinians and oneIsraeli soldier have been killed sinceIsrael began rescue ef forts . Theattacks on Gaza have beenovershadowed by f ierce c lashesbetween Israel and Hezbol lah inLebanon. In one strike, offices used byHamas in Gaza City were alsotargeted. About 30 Israel i tanksmoved back into northern Gaza earlytoday, backed by the air strikes. Localsources reported that the tanksstopped short of Gaza City and therefugee camp of Jabaliya. Palestinianwitnesses said one person was killedand 10 wounded after a tank shellexploded near a group of people .Thirty-seven people were hurt in theair raids, including 16 in crit icalcondition, AP news agency quoted DrJoma Saka, a spokesman for GazaCity’s Shifa Hospital, as saying.

Gaza, Jul 26 — Israeli forces killed23 Palestinians in fighting across theGaza Strip today, including at least 11militants, medics and witnesses said.Today’s death toll in Gaza was thehighest in two weeks. Among thosekil led were eight loyal ists of thegoverning Hamas militant group andone gunman from the kindred IslamicJihad faction, which is also dedicatedto destroying Israel . Another twogunmen were killed later, one from themilitant group Popular ResistanceCommittees. The other gunman’saffiliation was not clear. Medics saidtwo girls, one an infant, died when atank shel l struck a house nearJabalya, a Hamas stronghold. A three-year-old girl was killed earlier in theday. Nearly 75 people were wounded.Six were in a critical condition. Oneperson was hurt in a rocket strikeagainst an Israeli border village, thearmy said. At least 30 Israeli tanksand other armoured vehicles pushed

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more than 2 km into the northernGaza Strip overnight. The troopsclashed with militants on the edge ofthe northern Gaza town of Jabalyathrough the day. Buzzing overhead,unmanned drone aircraft f iredmissiles at militants on the streets,witnesses said. Israeli sniper f ireaccounted for at least one of the deadmilitants. Israel also bombed officesused by a Hamas-led force in GazaCity. — Reuters.

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: Israel has shownno signs of easing its mil itarycampaign against Lebanon with airstrikes on a Lebanese army base and aradio relay station, north of Beirut.Fighting is continuing around thetown of Bint Jbail, in south Lebanon,where nine Israel soldiers diedyesterday. Reports from Tyre say morebombing of nearby areas, combinedwith last night’s raid on apartmentsright inside the city, has sparked anexodus. An Israeli military official haswarned he expects “several weeks” offighting. The Israeli Cabinet is due tomeet today to decide whether toexpand the military operation further.“I assume it will continue for severalmore weeks, and in a number of weekswe will be able to [declare] a victory,”Maj Gen Udi Adam, the chief ofIsrael’s northern command, said. Ttheprogress of Israeli ground troops hasnot been as fast as expected as theybattle through the difficult terrain ofsouthern Lebanon. They still have notmanaged to capture the Hezbollahstronghold of Bint Jbeil, where theyhave suffered their worst losses andHezbollah’s ability to inflict damageappears undiminished - yesterday theyfired some 150 rockets into Israel,more than on any other day of theconflict. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’splan is to push Hezbollah back fromborder areas, in order to prevent themcontinuing to fire rockets into Israeliterritory, and establishing a “securityzone” in the south will take manyweeks. Meanwhile, Australia has saidit will withdraw a contingent of 12 UNpeacekeepers, following the death offour UN observers in an Israeli airstrike, whom the UN SecretaryGeneral , Kofi Annan, says were“apparently deliberately targeted”.Austral ia ’s Foreign MinisterAlexander Downer, speaking at theAsean conference in Malaysia, saidsending an international peacekeepingforce into southern Lebanon while theconflict continues would amount to a“suicide mission”. Foreign ministersattending crisis talks on the violencein Rome yesterday agreed on the needfor an international peacekeepingforce in southern Lebanon, but not onwhen and how such a force should bedeployed. The talks also fai led toproduce the immediate cal l for aceasefire that many had hoped for.Israel’s Justice Minister Haim said thefailure to call for a ceasefire has ineffect given Israel the green light tocontinue its campaign: “Yesterday inRome we have in effect obtained theauthorisation to continue ouroperations until Hezbollah is no longer

present in southern Lebanon,” MrRamon told Israeli army radio. Themeeting was overshadowed by outcryover the deaths of the UN observers,whom UN off ic ials say had askedIsrael repeatedly to stop attackingthem before they were killed by anIsrael i war plane. At least 405Lebanese and 51 Israelis have died inviolence since Hezbollah captured twoIsraeli soldiers in a cross-border raidon July 12. Despite the escalatingdeath toll public opinion in Israelremains sol idly behind thegovernment. A pol l published byIsrael’s Maariv daily newspaper today,has 82% saying they back thecontinuing offensive and the numbersaying “Israel’s reaction to Hezbollahattacks is justi f ied” remainedunchanged at 95%. The pol l wasconducted before the death of nineIsraeli soldiers in southern Lebanonyesterday - the biggest loss of Israelilife in a single incident so far duringthe conflict.

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: Israel poundedsuspected Hezbollah positions acrossLebanon today, extending its aircampaign a day after suffering itshighest one-day casualty toll since itsmilitary offensive began. An IsraeliCabinet minister said lack ofagreement on a cease-fire gave Israelpermission to press deeper to wipe outthe Islamic mil itant group. Theairstrikes also hit a Lebanese armybase and a radio relay station anddestroyed several roads. The series ofraids in northern, eastern andsouthern Lebanon, which killed atleast one person and wounded others,came as the Israeli government was tomeet today to decide whether tobroaden the offensive, now in its thirdweek, against Hezbollah guerrillas. Ahigh-level Mideast conference in Romeyesterday ended in disagreement, withmost European leaders urging animmediate cease-f ire , but the USwilling to give Israel more time topunish the guerrilla group. JusticeMinister Haim Ramon, who is close toIsraeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,said Israel interprets this as a greenlight to continue its offensive. “Wereceived yesterday at the Romeconference permission from the worldto continue the operation, this war,until Hezbollah won’t be located inLebanon and until it is disarmed,” hetold Israel Army Radio. “Everyoneunderstands that a victory forHezbol lah is a victory for worldterror.” The call for greater firepowercame after Israel suffered its heaviestcasualty toll in a single battle in the16-day campaign, with nine soldierskilled and 25 wounded in house-to-house f ighting in Hezbol lahstrongholds in Lebanon yesterday.Israeli army commanders have saidtroops would seize additional townsand villages in south Lebanon to forceout Hezbollah gunmen. In the firstapparent ramification of the killing offour UN observers by an Israel iairstrike earlier this week, Australiadecided to withdraw 12 unarmedlogistics specialists who had been sent

to southern Lebanon to help withevacuation ef forts . It also said i twould not support a new internationalforce in southern Lebanon unless ithad the strength and will to disarmHezbol lah, Prime Minister JohnHoward said today. Meanwhile, Israeliwarplanes struck a road in Rayak, afew miles from the Lebanese-Syrianborder early today, wounding twosoldiers and a c ivi l ian, Lebaneseofficials said. Israeli fighter jets alsocarried out more than 30 bombingruns in Iqlim al Tuffah, a highlandregion where Hezbollah is believed tohave offices and bases, the officialsand witnesses said. The airstrikes,which targeted mostly deserted housesal legedly belonging to Hezbol lahactivists and roads linking villages inthe region, caused a number ofcasualt ies , the of f ic ials said.Ambulances and civil defence crewswere unable to reach the targetedareas because of intensebombardment, witnesses said. ALebanese policeman was killed whenan Israeli missile struck his car as hedrove in the eastern city of Zahle,security officials said. At least 423other people have been ki l led inLebanon since the offensive began,including 376 civilians reported by theHealth Ministry and security officials.The deaths of the soldiers yesterdaybrought to 51 the number of Israeliskilled in the campaign, according tothe mil itary. Israel i aircraft alsoattacked targets near the southernmarket town of Nabatiyeh, woundingat least three people. A missile hit afour-story building belonging to theShiite Muslim Amal Movement in thesouthern port city of Tyre, a day aftera strike in the city devastated anempty seven-story building whereHezbollah’s top commander in thesouth has offices. That strike wounded13 people, including six chi ldren,nearby. However, a Hezbollah officialin Tyre denied Israeli reports that thegroup’s commander in south Lebanon,Sheik Nabil Kaouk, was killed. Theprivately owned LebaneseBroadcasting Corp. TV station saidIsraeli jets struck the army base atAamchit , 30 miles north of theLebanese capital near the coast, andknocked down a relay tower in anadjacent field of antennas belonging toRadio Liban. Israeli military officialssaid the target of the airstrike was aradar station used by Hezbollah forattacks l ike the one on an Israelimissile boat on Jul 14 that killed fourIsraeli soldiers. Israel said yesterdaythat it intended to damage Hezbollahand establish a “security zone” thatwould be free of the guerrillas andextend more than a mile into Lebanonfrom the Israeli border. Such a zonewould prevent Hezbol lah fromcarrying out more cross-border raids.Israel said it would maintain such azone, with firepower or other means,until the arrival of an internationalforce with muscle to be deployed in awider swath of southern Lebanon —as opposed to the UN force alreadythere that has failed to prevent theviolence.

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London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: Tourism industriesin the north of Israel have lost NIS 65mil l ion (approximately US$14.7mil l ion) , according to the Gali leeTourism Forum. Hotels, guesthousesand tourist attractions in the northemptied almost entirely of visitorswith the onset of the currentconfrontation on the Lebanese border.According to forum statistics, thetourism industry in the north lost NIS36 million (US$8.14 million) in thefirst week of the crisis, and anotherNIS 27 million (US$6.11 million), inweek two, as a result of cancelations.The slight drop in losses derives fromthe fact that, in the first week of thecrisis, hotels and guesthouses hadalready invested in the expectedarrival of guests. In the second week,most anticipated the cancellations andlimited their preparations, with manyof them even stopping operationsentirely. The forum estimates that, inthis third week, the industry will losean additional NIS 26 million (US$5.87million), and, if the fighting continues,will lose the same sum in week four.In total , tourist businesses areexpecting a monthly loss of NIS 123mil l ion (US$27.8 mil l ion) for themonth of July. “The Ministry ofFinance is waging a war of attritionagainst residents of the north,” saidMeir Levy, chairman of the GalileeTourism Forum, in reference topolitical foot-dragging on the decisionto compensate northern businessmenfor damages accrued as a result of theconflict. “The government is avoiding adeclaration of an emergency situationin order to avoid its responsibility topay salaries , cover damages andprovide advance payments tobusinesses. Government clerks areexecuting an exhausting negotiationprocess in order to prevent decentcompensation to businesses harmed bythe explosions in the north. It is notpossible for the north to absorb thecost of the entire war,” he said. Theministry of f inance is conductingdialogues with various trade unionsregarding compensation of businesshurt by the conf l ict because,currently, the government has notdeclared an emergency situation inthe north and, as such, is not requiredto cover damages. Up to now, clerksfrom the ministry have promised thatworkers will receive full salaries, butit is still unclear if the governmentwill subsidise this completely or willpass on the burden to businesses andworkers (through reduced holidays,for example). Likewise, it has not yetbeen decided whether business ownerswill receive compensation on otherexpenses, such as a rent and propertytax. The government torpedoed,yesterday, a bill drafted by MK AmiAyalon that would obl igate thegovernment to compensatebusinesses. Concurrently, the Knessetpostponed by a week the approval of abill drafted by Minister of Industry,Trade and Labor Eli Yishai, whichwould forbid firing workers in thenorth for as long as the conf l ictcontinues.

IVORY COASTAbidjan, Jul 26 — Militiamen in war-

divided Ivory Coast gave up their gunstoday, start ing a long-delayeddisarmament process and marking arare advance in a faltering peaceprocess aimed at holding elections bythe end of October. The first 150 of2,000 armed f ighters who foughtalongside government troops in a brief2002-03 civil war against rebels whoseized the West African state ’snorthern half turned over machine-guns and cannons to UN troops whoenforce a ceasefire. It was the firstformal mass disarmament since thewar. “It has started. They broughtarms in a pick-up truck and gave themto the UN,” said an official from thereconci l iat ion government ’sdisarmament programme who watchedthe handover in Guiglo , a mil it iastronghold town near the Liberianborder. — Reuters.

NEPALKathmandu, Jul 27 — Nepal’s Maoist

rebels say they will extend a three-month-old ceasef ire with thegovernment that is due to end thisweek, but accused the ruling coalitionof failing to push the pace of peacetalks. “The extension of the ceasefirewill be announced before it expires,”said Krishna Bahadur Mahara, whohas led the rebels in talks with themulti-party government which came topower after King Gyanendra gave uphis absolute rule in April. The truce isdue to end at midnight (1815, UTC)tomorrow. The comments by Maharacame as a United Nations mission wasdue to arrive in the Nepali capitallater today to assess ways of helpingthe peace process. The Maoists, whobacked violent street protests thatforced the monarch to cede power, aredemanding an immediate dissolutionof the reinstated parliament and theformation of an interim governmentthat would include them. The interimgovernment would then superviseelect ions next year for a specialassembly to decide the future politicalset up of the Himalayan nation —including the fate of the monarchy.But Mahara said the government wasdragging its feet on implementing thepolitical roadmap agreed in Novemberlast year between the rebels and theseven-party alliance. “Political partiesin the government are dividedbetween those who want progressivechanges in the country and those whowant the status quo,” Mahara said.“Real democracy has not come toNepal yet as political parties made acompromise with the king,” he added,referring to government leaders whofavour a ceremonial role for the king.The government wants the rebels togive up arms first before an interimgovernment is formed and has askedthe United Nations to “decommission”the 36,000-strong rebel fighters. “Wecan’t accept this,” Mahara said, addingthe rebels would not disarm unless thestate army did so. “Our army and thegovernment army must be dissolvedand a new national army createddrawing forces from both sides

according to a decision by the(planned) constituent assembly.” Untilthen, the rebels have said they areprepared to keep their arms andfighters in camps under U.N.supervision. — Reuters.

PHILIPPINESManila, Jul 23 — Maoist rebels

attacked the Philippine Coast Guardstation at the Matnog ferry port inSorsogon province in the southernportion of Luzon island yesterdaymorning, ki l l ing the stationcommander and wounding a pettyoff icer. The assault on the CoastGuard station was part of asimultaneous attack by 200 rebels onthe coastal town located on the tip ofBicol peninsula. At around 0400 hrs,one group of rebels on board twomotorboats attacked the Coast Guardstation. Another group, r idingcommandeered buses, struck theMatnog Police Station located besidethe Coast Guard office. Petty Officer 1Armando Pinol io , Coast Guardcommander in Matnog, and PettyOfficer 3 Nelson Diazo were the onlyones manning the station whenattacked. The rest of the detachmentwas doing a safety inspection ofvessels moored at the pier. Despitebeing outnumbered, the two officersrepulsed the f irst assault . “Theyfought back bravely,” Philippine CoastGuard spokesperson Lt Cdr Coymesaid, referring to Petty Off icer 1Pinolio, who was killed, and PettyOfficer 3 Diazo, who was wounded.The station was close to being overrunwhen a platoon of Army soldierswaiting for a ride at the ferry terminalreinforced the two officers. The fiercefirefight continued until 0700 hrswhen the rebels withdrew. Threerebels were killed in the encounter.Normal operations at the ferryterminal resumed at noon, the CoastGuard said. Matnog is a key domesticpassenger ferry port being thesouthernmost harbour in the mainisland of Luzon. Military officials saidthat the rebels did not intend tooccupy Matnog but to inflict heavycasualties on the military and to showthat it still had the ability to attackmajor towns and facilities. — Lloyd’sList Correspondent.

Manila, Jul 25 — Six Muslim rebelswere killed and five others, includingan eight-year-old boy, were woundedwhen two rival factions fought a seriesof skirmishes in the southernPhilippines, a senior police officialsaid today. Superintendent LumalaGunting, police chief of Maguindanaoprovince on the southern island ofMindanao, said fierce fighting betweentwo rival groups of the Moro IslamicLiberation Front (MILF) broke outduring the weekend. “The military andlocal police forces were not involved inthe violence,” Gunting told reporters,adding the fighting was caused by along-standing grudge between leadersof two local groups of MILF rebels.“Based on our investigation, thefighting began on July 19 when thegroup of Commander Talio Macalpanambushed the forces of Commander

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Kayob Pual . The c lashes endedlateyesterday after a boy was hit by astray bullet . ” Eid Kabalu, aspokesman of the MILF, said the twosides had agreed to a truce lateyesterday after Malaysia-led peacemonitors promised to act as a go-between to end their differences. TheMILF, with the help of Malaysia, hasbeen negotiating with Manila since1997 to halt a conflict that has killedmore than 120,000 and held backdevelopment of the south. Hopes of apeace deal by the end of the year havefaded after talks between the rebelsand the government of the mainlyCatholic Philippines stalled in Mayover the size of a proposed homelandfor Muslims in the south. The rebels’chief peace negotiator told Reuters onSaturday (Jul 22) the MILF wasawaiting a new proposal from Manilato widen the area designated asMuslim ancestral lands and did notexpect to resume talks in the nextthree months. — Reuters.

SOMALIABaidoa, Jul 25 — Somalia’s interim

government has agreed to new talkswith the country’s powerful Islamists,a senior official said today, revivingsome hope of a negotiated end to thecris is in country. “We wil l go toKhartoum without any preconditions,”said Abdirizak Adam, interimPresident Abdullahi Yusuf ’s chief ofstaff . He was speaking after U.N.special envoy Francois Lonseny Fallmet Yusuf in his base in the provincialtown of Baidoa and asked thegovernment to attend talks in theSudanese capital on August 1-2. Itwas not immediately known if theIslamists would also agree to attend.Talks to prevent a standoff betweenthe two sides from spiralling into warbroke down on July 22, when theIslamists pulled out because of areported incursion into Somalia byEthiopian troops to defend the fragileinterim government. Fall’s visit camea day after the African Union (AU)urged the U.N. Security Council tospeed up plans to ease an armsembargo on Somalia to allow foreignpeacekeepers to deploy. The appealfollowed an agreement by the AU andthe east African regional body IGADto send troops to help secure peace inSomalia. The plan has been repeatedlyrejected by the Islamists, who controlMogadishu and a large swathe ofsouthern Somalia after defeating U.S.-backed secular warlords early in June.— Reuters.

SRI LANKAColombo, Jul 27 — Sri Lanka’s air

force bombed Tamil Tiger rebelterritory in the island’s east for asecond day today amid a “spat” overwater supplies, a military source said,but there were no detai ls oncasualties. The government accusesthe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) of blocking water supplies tofarmland in Trincomalee, where thegovernment and rebels both controlterritory. The LTTE blames themilitary. The government said it had

launched the air strikes in an effort tohelp irrigation engineers reach thearea. “The military is attacking selecttargets to clear access to a water tank(reservoir),” a military source toldReuters. The aerial bombardmentcomes as United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees AntonioGuterres is vis it ing the is land toassess the pl ight of hundreds ofthousands of Sri Lankans displaced bya two-decade civil war. The UNHCRestimates there are about 315,000long-term internally displaced peoplein Sri Lanka due to the protractedconflict, 67,000 of whom live in campsand around 247,000 of whom live withrelatives and fr iends. There areanother 125,000 Sri Lankan refugeesabroad, 68,000 of them inneighbouring India. — Reuters.

CANADALondon, Jul 20 — A press report,

dated today, states: Striking trackworkers on a portion of CanadianNational Railway Co.’s U.S. networkreturned to work today after agreeingwith the company to resume contracttalks. The about 250 workers on theformer Grand Trunk Western, DetroitToledo & Ironton, and Detroit Toledo& Shore Lines walked of f the jobyesterday to protest what they saidwas CN’s refusal to bargain in goodfaith. The two sides said today theyhave also agreed to end legal actionsfiled this week against each other, andhave invited a federal mediator to jointhe negotiations. The company and theworkers, who are represented by aunit of the Teamsters union, are atodds over issues such as employeeseniority rights, health care paymentsand the railroad’s contracting out ofwork. A Teamsters spokesman said thepicket lines, which were being honoredby other unions, were withdrawn earlythis morning. CN had been trying tomaintain freight service usingmanagement crews. The af fectedtracks were in Michigan, northernIndiana and northwest Ohio. Thestrike did not involve CanadianNational ’s other operations in theUnited States or in Canada.

CREW OF ST. VINCENT &GRENADINES VESSEL ATCOPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Copenhagen, Jul 21 — Refrigeratedgeneral cargo Alexa is st i l l inCopenhagen Roads. Vessel has now gota crew but has not yet found anelectrician so it will not be sailinguntil either the weekend or next week.— Lloyd’s Agents.

NORWAYLondon, Jul 25 — A press report,

dated today, states: A more than one-month-long strike in the Norwegian

oilfield service sector ended when awage deal was reached late yesterdaywith the help of a state labourmediator. The Norwegian Oil IndustryAssociation (OLF), which representedthe employers, said in a statementthat the two-year wage deal coveringabout 2,650 workers was costly, butthat it was glad the strike ended. Thestrike, by 87 members of the NOPEFoil workers’ union, began on Jun 21after wage talks failed. It halted twooffshore drilling rigs and includedoi l f ie ld service workers at BakerHughes unit Baker Oil Tools ,Schlumberger, Weatherford,Halliburton, Oceaneering and M-ISwaco. At the end of June, the OLFestimated that the strike was costingit 37,000 barrels of oil equivalent perday in delayed or lost production.NOPEF called the pay deal, whichgave workers a raise of about NOK60,000 including seniority and otherextras for the 2006-2007 contractperiod, the best wage deal on theNorwegian continental shelf . Theunion had also sought work-t imearrangements involving two weeks ofwork followed by four weeks off, asmany other offshore oil workers offNorway already have, but thesettlement stipulated that such work-t ime arrangements should beconcluded locally between companiesand their employees, the union andOLF said separately on their websites.

SOUTH KOREALondon, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated today, states: Unionised workersat POSCO, the world’s fifth-largeststeelmaker, voluntarily ended theirstrike today. Police said the strikedisintegrated after the unionleadership lost sway over the strikingworkers. Some 1,500 constructionworkers hired by POSCO’ssubcontractors had been occupying thecompany’s headquarters since lastThursday (Jul 13), demanding higherwages and better working conditions.The nine-day sit-in came to an endafter the government warned of sternmeasures against organisers of thedemonstration. Yesterday, riot policeraided the building and arrested morethan 120 union workers, suspected ofstaging the illegal strike. POSCO saidthere has been no disruptions to steelproduction or shipments to customersbut had estimated the sit-in cost thecompany US$10.5 million each daydue to delays in construction projects.The overall damage is expected toreach $200 million. POSCO held anemergency board meeting today toassess the scope of damage done bythe strike and to draw up measures tocope with the situation.

London, Jul 21 — A press report,dated today, states: Hyundai Motor isclose to settling a 19-day strike thathas crippled its operations in Ulsan.Labour Minister Lee Sang-soo at ameeting of economy-related ministersat Cheong Wa Dae today said heexpects industrial action to end bytomorrow morning. The carmaker and

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labour resumed negotiations todayand are c lose to a compromise onwages and incentives. Unionists aredemanding a 9.1% basic salary raiseand incentives amounting to 30% ofnet prof its , while management isof fering a 4.4% salary hike andperformance-based incentives rangingfrom 50 to 150%. Hyundai Motor saidthe union became more wil l ing topartic ipate in negotiations aftergrowing public criticism of the strikelast night and the end to theoccupation of POSCO headquarters bystriking construction workers.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated Jul 24, states: Hyundai MotorCo. of South Korea and its union failedtoday to reach a str ike-endingagreement over a pay raise. Thatmeans that the month-old, part-timestrike, which has already cost theautomaker more than $1 billion, willmost l ikely extend into August ,MarketWatch reported.

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: Hyundai MotorCo. reached a tentative agreementwith its workers to end the second-worst strike in the company’s history,which cost it about 1.3 trillion won($1.3 billion) in lost production. Thecompany offered a raise of 5.1% inbase pay and workers wil l votetomorrow on the proposal , theautomaker said in a statement. Theyreturned to work today after going onstrike for several hours a day sinceJun 26. Hyundai Motor ’s ChairmanChung Mong Koo has been on trial forbribery and embezzlement since Jun 1,delaying labour talks, productdevelopment and overseas investment.The partial str ike caused theautomaker to lose production of 93,882of its Sonata sedans, Santa Fe sport-util ity vehicles and other models.Hyundai Motor shares rose as much as1.6 percent to 75,400 won, the highestintraday price in two weeks. Theytraded at 74,400 won as of 1044 hrs inSeoul.

SRI LANKALondon, Jul 20 — A press report,

dated today, states: Trade union actionat Colombo harbour entered its 10thday today, despite a court ruling torestrain striking workers. Thegovernment urged striking unionworkers belonging to Sri Lanka PortsAuthority to resume work despiteunion allegations that the ColomboDistrict court order issued yesterdayis yet to reach them. Officials alsodismissed union demands for highersalaries, saying port workers are someof the better paid employees in thepublic sector. “It is unfair for theworkers to ask for bigger salarieswhen a driver at the port earnedaround 100,000 rupees last month,”cabinet spokesman AnuraPriyadharshana Yapa told reporters.“We urge the workers to resume workat the Colombo port and continue thedialogue with relevant governmentofficials for a salary increment,” Yapa

said. Sri Lanka Shippers Counci lPresident Dayanath Perera saysimport and export trade have come toa standstill while around 30 shipsberthed outside the harbour pose asecurity risk to the Colombo port.There is also a complete stoppage ofwork on extended shifts, together witha go-slow that is affecting both exportsand imports, with some vessels by-passing the port. “Around ten shipshave already bypassed the port,” saysPerera said, estimating the loss ofrevenue to be in the region of 20million rupees each day. Port delaysare also not covered by insurancepol ic ies , the vessel operators ’lamented. Tea stocks are piling up inColombo and exporters are facingsevere cashlow problems, which hashad an adverse impact on tea auctionprices s ince Jul 18, the CeylonChamber of Commerce said.

London, jul 24 — A press report,dated today, states: Ships usingColombo port have raised cargo tariffsto compensate for losses incurred byan 11-day go-slow by dockers whichhas held up over 30 vessels, officialssaid. A “recovery charge” of $40 will belevied on every 20-foot container(TEU) that goes through Colombo fromtomorrow, a statement by shippingline operators said. “Feeder operatorsin Colombo have experienced severeberth delays and low productivity,with prolonged port stays of around 4-5 days,” the shipping line operatorssaid in announcing the surcharge,which will remain effective until theport returns to normal.

Karachi , Jul 22 —Sri Lanka’sColombo Port workers called off theirgo-slow, on Jul 21, fo l lowing anassurance by Mangala Samaraweera,Minister for Ports and Aviation, thatthe salary issue of the Sri Lanka PortsAuthority (SLPA) workers would besolved within three months. TheMinister informed the unions thatemployees from 7 to 23 pay scale willbe given an allowance of Rs.1, 500 anda Rs. 750 allowance will be given tothose in scales 1 to 6 from July, untilthe recommendations of the NationalCouncil for Administration on SLPAworkers’ salaries are implemented inthree months. He will also request theCouncil to increase the basic salariesof port workers by Rs. 1,500, ministeradded. Under the present salarystructure the minimum salaryincrease of an SLPA employee will byRs.3, 250 and the maximum increase,Rs. 9,000. Chandrasiri Mahagamage,the General Secretary of SamastaLanka Podu Sevaka Sangamaya,affiliated to the Janatha VimukthiPeramuna, told local media the JointTrade Union Front of the SLPA issatisfied with the agreement theycame to with the authorities, but theywill resort to trade union action againif the matter is not settled withinthree months. The go-slow campaignbegan on July 13 and caused heavylosses to Colombo Port. — Lloyd’s ListCorrespondent.

ANTI-TRUST SETTLEMENT,UNITED STATES

London, Jul 27 — A press release,dated today, states: Visa InternationalInc. , MasterCard Inc. and banksincluding Citigroup Inc. have agreedto pay $336 million to their customersto sett le antitrust lawsuits overcurrency conversion fees charged onforeign transactions. MasterCard willpay $72.5 million as its share of thesettlement, it said in a filing with theSecurities and Exchange Commission.Bank of America Corp., JPMorganChase & Co’s Bank One Corp. andChase Manhattan Bank, andWashington Mutual Inc. are alsodefendants in the case. “Settlementwas reached fol lowing years oflitigation, after extensive negotiationsand with the assistance of a mediator,”the consumers’ lawyers, Philadelphia’sBerger & Montague and San Diego-based Lerach Coughlin Stoia GellerRudman & Robbins, said in astatement. The suits involved claimsthat the credit card companies failedto disclose fees of up to three percenton purchases made in foreigncurrencies, said Merrill Davidoff, alawyer for the consumers. The accordis subject to approval by a federaljudge in New York. Visa andMasterCard face separate probes byCongress and European antitrustregulators . The defendants denywrongdoing, MasterCard said.

FRAUDULENT USE OF FUNDS,UNITED STATES

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated Jul 25, states: A judge hasapproved a settlement that requires achurch-affiliated investment group topay at least $4 million to investorswho lost money in risky real estatedeals . The f inancial arm of theAnderson-based Church of God (inIndiana) lost millions of dollars frominvestors who thought the cash wouldbe used to bui ld churches. TheIntegrity Advisors Group says they’llfirst repay investors hit hardest by theloss. The settlement approved by afederal judge follows four years duringwhich the Anderson-based Board ofChurch Extension was under courtsupervision. A federal jury in 2004found that two top officials at theBoard of Church Extension defraudedinvestors of $85 million. They wereboth ordered to pay fines.

INFECTION BY BLOOD SUPPLIES,CANADA

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated Jul 25, states: Canada’sgovernment today announced anexpanded $875 million compensationpackage for thousands of peopleinfected with hepatitis C by taintedblood in the 1980s and 1990s. Canada

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has paid about $1 bi l l ion incompensation to people infected withthe disease between 1986 and 1990,outraging the estimated 5,500 peoplewho were infected through taintedblood supplies outside those dates.Prime Minister Stephen Harper saidthe expanded package was for thepeople not compensated in Canada’sinitial response to the blood scandal.Up to 20,000 people were infectedduring the 1980s and 1990s whenblood-screening techniques used in theUnited States could have beenemployed but were not. Another 1,000Canadians became infected with HIVand were awarded a compensationpackage of $150 million. “Finally, afederal government stood up and saidwe are going to do something,” saidDavid Plater of the CanadianHaemophilia Society. “It was aboutreaching out to people that had beeninjured by a system that let themdown.” Harper said the amount ofmoney each person wil l get wil ldepend on the severity of their illness.He hoped the money would begin to bepaid in early 2007.

PATENT LITIGATION, UNITED STATES

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated Jul 26, states: Biosite Inc. todaysaid it reached a deal with RocheHolding AG to resolve patent litigationin which Biosite will pay Roche a one-time payment of $8.5 million. Biosite,which also reported second-quarterresults, said under the settlementboth companies will request dismissalof complaints in federal courts inIndianapolis and San Diego. Biositereported a drop in profit to $8 millionor 43 cents per share, compared with$14 million or 76 cents per share inthe prior quarter. Results include $2.9million or 10 cents per share related tothe Roche licensing payment.

PATENT RIGHTS, JAPANLondon, Jul 27 — A press report,

dated today, states: Fujio Masuoka,the inventor of flash memory, a type ofmemory used in cell phones, digitalcameras and other devices, reached asettlement with Toshiba Corp. in theTokyo District Court today, agreeing toreceive 87 million yen in exchange forhanding the company patent rights.Masuoka, a professor in TohokuUniversity ’s Research Institute ofElectrical Communication, had filedthree lawsuits demanding 1.1 billionyen in compensation for hisinventions. According to the suits,Masuoka invented two types of flashmemory semiconductors while he wasworking for Toshiba in 1980 and 1987:the NOR memory type used incomputers and the NAND memorytype used in portable memory storagedevices such as Compact Flash.Toshiba, which received the patentrights for the inventions, acquired 41patents based on the inventions inJapan alone. Masuoka claimed thatToshiba had made profits of at least 20billion yen through sales of patentusage rights to other firms and otherrelated business act ivit ies , and

claimed that the value of the inventionwas 8 billion yen. He had been seekingpart of that amount. Toshiba hadfought the c laims, arguing thatMasuoka’s invention was merely an“improvement invention,” adding thatno profits had been made from thepatents in question. Flash memoryretains the memory it stores evenwhen the power is turned of f . Itfeatures a semiconductor integratedcircuit allowing writing and deletion ofdata in a single transistor. In additionto being used in personal computers,digital cameras and cell phones, it hasa wide range of uses in cars, airconditioners, washing machines andother equipment.

ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT,UNITED STATES

London, Jul 21 — A state appealscourt approved $82 million in damagestoday for the family of a woman whowas paralyzed when her Ford Explorerrolled over and the roof caved in. Thecourt cut a previous award nearly inhalf but said large damages werejustified by Ford Motor Co.’s recklessconduct in marketing an unsafeproduct. Benita Buell-Wilson, 46, wasinjured in January 2002 when sheswerved to avoid an obstacle on afreeway near Alpine (San DiegoCounty) and her 1997 sport utilityvehicle went out of control and rolledover. The pi l lars holding up theExplorer ’s roof crumpled, crushingBuell-Wilson as she hung upside downfrom her seat belt. An athletic womanwho was then completing a master ’sdegree in education, she was left aparaplegic and remains in constantpain, cared for by her husband andchildren, the Court of Appeal in SanDiego said. The court said there wasevidence that Ford had known thatthe Explorer was unstable and proneto rollovers, but that the company haddecided not to make changes becausethat would have cut into profits. Therewas also evidence that the roof of thevehicle was weak and that Ford couldhave strengthened the Explorer forabout $20 per vehicle, the court said.A jury awarded Buell-Wilson and herhusband $122 million in compensationand $246 million in punitive damages.The trial judge found the amountsexcessive and reduced the total awardto $150 million. In today’s ruling, theappeals court said the reduced awardfor Buell-Wilson’s pain and sufferingand lost quality of life was still toolarge and reflected the original jury’s“passion and prejudice.’’ The courtreduced the damages to $18 million,an amount that Buell-Wilson’s lawyerhad described as fair and reasonableduring the tr ial . Other damagesawarded to the couple left their totalcompensation at $27.6 million. Thecourt said punitive damages of abouttwice that amount, $55 million, wereappropriate in l ight of the“catastrophic nature’’ of Buell-Wilson’sinjuries and Ford’s “reckless disregardfor the safety of others’’ in its design ofthe vehicle.

WRONGFUL DEATH, UNITED STATES

London, Jul 21 — A press report,dated yesterday, states: The family ofan unarmed African art trader whowas fatally shot in a chance run-inwith police during a warehouse raidwil l receive $3 mil l ion to sett le awrongful death lawsuit, attorneys saidtoday. The family’s federal lawsuitclaimed that a police officer violatedOusmane Zongo ’s c ivi l r ights byshooting and kil l ing him in 2003.Police had targeted the Manhattanstorage facility, where Zongo repairedart and musical instruments, afterdetermining that it was being used ina CD and DVD pirating operation.Zongo was never linked to the piratingscheme. The lawsuit had sought $150million in damages for pain, sufferingand loss of income for the 43-year-oldimmigrant ’s wife and two smallchildren in the west African nation ofBurkina Faso. The shooter, formerofficer Bryan Conroy, was convictedlast year of cr iminally negl igenthomicide and sentenced to five years’probation. Conroy testified in 2003that he was guarding a bin of knockoffCDs when Zongo appeared in acorridor to turn on a light. Conroy,disguised in a postal worker’s uniform,pointed his 9mm semiautomatic pistolat Zongo and ordered him to freeze.The officer testified he opened fireonly after Zongo charged him andtried to wrestle away his weapon. Thevictim was hit four times, twice in theback.

OUTBREAK OF “BIRD FLU”Bangkok, Jul 25 — Thailand has

been struck by its first outbreak of theH5N1 avian influenza virus in eightmonths, the government said today.“Laboratory test results haveconfirmed that 31 chicken samplescollected from Pichit province had theH5N1 virus,” government spokesmanSurapon Suebwonglee told a newsconference. The northern province isone of seven “red zone” provinceswhere surveillance was stepped upthis month. Al l chickens in theaffected area had been culled andthere were no reports of humansinfected by the virus, which has killedat least 132 people since late 2003, 14of them in Thailand. — Reuters.

Bangkok, Jul 26 — A 17-year-oldThai has died of the H5N1 bird fluvirus, the country’s first death thisyear as it battles fresh outbreaks ofthe disease, a senior health officialsaid today. The young man died onMonday (Jul 24) in the northernprovince of Pichit, where authoritieshave slaughtered hundreds of birdsand restricted poultry movement in abid to stamp out Thailand’s f irstoutbreak in eight months. “The finallab test confirmed that he died of bird

Miscellaneous

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flu,” Kamnuan Ungchusak, head of theHealth Ministry ’s epidemiologybureau, said from the hospital wherethe youth died. He is believed to havecaught the virus while helping hisfather bury dead chickens last week.Including this latest death, bird fluhas killed 134 people worldwide sincethe virus re-emerged in Asia in 2003,the World Health Organisation says.— Reuters.

OUTBREAK OF VIRUS ONBAHAMAS VESSEL

London, Jul 22 — Passenger (cruise)Infinity arrived Juneau on Jul 20, hassince left and, at 0841, UTC, Jul 22,was in lat 55 0 9.48N, long 131 748.9W, course 171.4 deg, speed 20.1knots.

CHEMICAL FACTORY, LAVRIO,GREECE

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: A major fire thatbroke out yesterday morning atChyma SA, a solvents and chemicalsfactory in Lavrio, has been contained.Fire Service personnel remain at thescene, preventing the fire re-igniting.Around 180 f iref ighters, using 51vehicles and two special EmergencyTask Force Unit (EMAK) vehicles,fought the blaze. Fire Service ChiefAndreas Kois advised that fromreadings taken there was no healthrisk from air pollution. Todate, thecause of the fire, which broke out inone of the factory’s tanks, is unknownand investigations are in progress.The factory was completely destroyed,and the majority of its tanks wereburned down.

CHURCH, ODESSA, TEXAS,UNITED STATES

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated Jul 25, states: The Ector CountySherifføs Office is awaiting reportsfrom various state and federalagencies before ruling what caused adevastating church fire last week inOdessa. The Odessa Fire Department,federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives, as well asthe state fire marshaløs office, havereports pending on the Friday (Jul 21)fire at the Highway Temple Assemblyof Odessa, 3414 Santa Rosa Drive.Estimated damage for youth hall ,parsonage and apartment of thechurch is currently at about $1million, according to a news releasefrom the sherif føs of f ice. The f irehappened about 0415 hrs, Friday. Noinjuries were reported.

FOREST, CANADALondon, Jul 25 — A press report,

dated today, states: While fire crewscontinue to batt le a forest f irethreatening homes on Galiano Island,BC, it looks as if Mother Nature will

decide when the fire will be broughtunder control. About 120 people havebeen evacuated from their homes onthe south end of the island. There are40 firefighters, three water bombersand four helicopters working on theblaze. In addition, three area firedepartments have contributedresources. There are fears the 61-hectare fire could move north up theisland, “and obviously there’s someintense ef forts to make sure thatdoesn’t happen,” said CTV’s ToddBattis told Newsnet yesterday. Battissaid the island is home to about 1,000permanent residents. The island’sferry service has been restricted toemergency use only. Some of thehomes at risk from the flames areworth $1 million, although none havebeen lost yet . Radha Fisher, aprovincial fire information officer, toldThe Canadian Press that the Galianofire is the highest-priority blaze in theprovince. Eighty new fires began inB.C. on the weekend, a time that sawtemperatures reach the 40 degreeCelsius range in the southern interior.About 60 of those fires were started bylightning. Most have been restricted toabout 4 hectares in size.

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated today, states: A handful offamilies displaced by a forest f ireraging across a large swath of BC’sGaliano Island were allowed back intotheir homes yesterday evening afterfire crews were able to contain most ofthe blaze. “There is going to be apartial lifting of the evacuation orderarea,” Bob Lapham, general managerof planning and protective services forthe Capital Region, said to about 100members of the Gulf Is landcommunity yesterday evening.Lapham said the order had been liftedfor about 20 of the 75 propertiesevacuated Sunday (Jul 23) evening,and that the rest of the residentswould have to remain away from theirhomes at least until this afternoon. BCForest Service incident commanderTim Ewart said some people wereallowed back to their homes becausecrews were able to build a fire breakaround about 70% of the 61-hectareblaze.

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated Jul 26, states: The remaininghomeowners forced to evacuate due toa forest fire on BC’s Galiano Islandcan now return home. While 30 peoplewere allowed back yesterday, officialsremoved the evacuation order thisafternoon, permitting the final 100people to return. The 61-hectare firehasn’t yet been extinguished, and theresidents remain on alert in case itflares up again. The fire is burning inthe southern end of the 30-km longGaliano Island. Four helicopters, threeair tankers and 46 BC Forest Servicefirefighters are fighting the blaze,along with firefighters from threenearby fire departments that havebeen sent in to help.

FOREST, INDONESIALondon, Jul 21 — A press report,

dated Jul 19, states: More than 1,500firef ighters are battl ing scores of

forest f ires raging on IndonesianBorneo and Sumatra island as a hazeenvelops neighboring Malaysia andThailand, forestry officials said today.Satellite images showed some 567 “hotspots” from fires and undergroundheat centres in Riau province onSumatra as well as Kalimantan inBorneo, a spokesman from Indonesia’sforestry ministry Masyud said. Hesaid not all the spots were necessarilystill burning as many would have beenextinguished already. Riau province onSumatra is land had the highestnumber of hot spots with 359, he toldAFP. As many as 1,560 localfirefighters were battling the firesarmed with backpack water pumps,shovels and rakes, said HaryantoWahyu Sukotyo, another forestryminister of f ic ial . He said mostappeared to have been started to clearland in commercial timber or palm oilplantations. Five provinces inThailand, including the holiday isle ofPhuket, have been hit by haze fromthe f ires as has neighbouringMalaysia.

OIL REFINERY, VENEZUELALondon, Jul 26 — A press report,

dated Jul 25, states: Fire-damagerepairs at Venezuela ’s largest oi lref inery would not af fect i ts o i lexports, an official from the state-owned oi l company Petroleos deVenezuela SA (PDVSA) announcedtoday. Alejandro Granado, the head ofref ining at PDVSA, said in astatement that repairs to a crudedist i l lat ion unit at the Amuayrefinery, which could produce 635,000barrels per day, were in progress andwere expected to be finished within 60days. He noted that most parts of thecrude unit were still functioning andthe refinery would continue producingfuel for al l o f i ts domestic andinternational clients during the repairperiod. The damage to the distillationunit was caused by a fire on July, 17.

WILDFIRES, UNITED STATESLondon, Jul 22 — A press report,

dated today, states: The wildfire thatstruck near Valentine earlier thisweek caused almost $1.3 million indamage to homes and property,prel iminary est imates show. Tenhomes, valued at nearly $1.1 million,were destroyed in the fire that startedlate Sunday afternoon (Jul 16) in acanyon about half-mile north of thecity in northern Nebraska. There wasanother $80,300 damage to ten homesthat were affected by the fire but notdestroyed. A total of 21 outbuildingssustained $84,565 in damages,according to Jim Bunstock of theNebraska Emergency ManagementAgency. The figures were drawn fromcounty assessor ’s records and arebased on the assessed valuation ofproperties . Damage est imates topublic infrastructure or governmentproperty is still being collected. Overthe following 24 hours, the wildfireraged through the canyon and a citypark, igniting houses on the northedge of Valentine before beingcontained. The temperature at the

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time was a record 113 degrees withonly 9% relative humidity. OnThursday (Jul 20) f iref ightersdetermined that the f ire , whichburned about four square miles, wascontained, Bunstock said. There arestill potential hotspots, so officialsprobably will not determine that thefire is controlled until next week, hesaid yesterday afternoon. Nationalguard, called to help with the fire,went home on Thursday along withthe two helicopters used to pour wateron the fire from the air.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated Jul 24, states: A 6,600-acrewildfire forced the evacuation of morethan a hundred homes in rural SanDiego County, Cali fornia, andauthorities warned today that twoother communities with a total of1,350 homes could be next. The fire,burning across more than 10 squaremiles in Cleveland National Forest,was the latest in a series of blazesaround California that have put firecrews to work in temperatures of 100degrees or more. It prompted deputiesto order 125 homes evacuated in thetown of Alpine starting yesterday.Residents throughout parts of PineValley and Lake Morena, where thereare about 1,350 homes combined, weretold to remain on standby, saidsheriff ’s spokeswoman Susan Plese.Today’s high in the Cleveland foresthad been expected to be 105 degrees,officials said. This fire season is oncourse to be the worst year forwildfires this decade, the NationalInteragency Fire Centre reportedtoday. As of tonday, wildfires hadblackened more than 4.9 million acres,over 7,700 square miles, since the firstof this year, the centre reported. Thatsurpassed the 4.8 mil l ion acrescharred in 2004 and the 10-yearaverage of 2.7 million acres. Off theCalifornia coast, a blaze charred 700acres of brush on Santa Catal inaIsland, the 76-square-mile recreationspot southwest of Los Angeles withseveral hotels and homes. It was 40percent contained, officials said. In themountains of central Idaho, hightemperatures combined with wind todrive three forest f ires. Managersworried that one of the fires couldthreaten federally protected chinooksalmon. Crews in central Arizona kepta 3,900-acre wildfire in the TontoNational Forest from reaching twopower lines that carry electricity toPhoenix. Unlike California, calmerwind and higher humidity helpedcrews battling a three-square-mileblaze in western Nevada that hadbrief ly threatened homes east ofCarson City and the historic miningtown of Virginia City during theweekend. It was 60 percent containedtoday, and ful l containment wasexpected by the end of the day, saidfire information officer Dave Olson.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated today, states: Four firefightershave been injured in the 993-acreWhispering Pines fire. The blaze isnow 87% contained, said DennisCross, an information officer with theincident management team. And full

containment is expected tomorrow.About 367 firefighters are fighting theblaze, believed to have started about1900 Saturday (Jul 22) just outsidethe Joshua Tree National Parkentrance and the Black Rock Canyoncamping area.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated today, states: Fire officials todaypleaded for additional manpower tobattle a 7,000-acre wildfire near theCalifornia-Mexico border as stiflingheat continued to bake the state intriple-digit temperatures. The blazehad burned nearly 11 square miles ofbrush and chaparral in the ClevelandNational Forest in southern San DiegoCounty. About 500 firefighters on thescene had contained only about 5% ofthe fire late yesterday in its third dayof burning in the largely unpopulatedarea. Several l ightning-sparkedwildfires have scorched the state inrecent weeks, straining firefightingresources. Firef ighters trying tocontain the forest wildf ire wereawaiting relief from firefighters andequipment tied up elsewhere. “We’rereally strapped right now,” said USForest Service spokesman JakeRodriguez. “We’re putting in orders formore men and more air support, andwe’re just wait ing for them to bereleased.” The blaze promptedsheriff ’s deputies to order 125 homesevacuated in the town of Alpinestarting on Sunday (Jul 23). Residentsthroughout parts of Pine Valley andLake Morena, where there are about1,350 homes combined, were told toremain on standby, said sheri f f ’sspokeswoman Susan Plese. More than1,500 homes and 100 commercialproperties could be threatened by thefire, but the threat was not immediate,officials said. Fire crews have had towork through 10 straight days of aheat wave that has sent temperaturessoaring above 100 degrees throughmuch of the state. At least f ivefirefighters around the state havesuffered heat-related i l lnesses inrecent days, officials said. In JoshuaTree National Park, where anotherblaze had consumed about 1.5 squaremiles of dense, desert vegetation,temperatures reached 103 degFahrenheit yesterday. Farther north,more than 800 firefighters worked tocut lines around an 8,200-acre blazeon ranch land east of San Ardo insouth-eastern Monterey County. Alightning strike late Saturday sparkedthe fire and erratic winds generatedby thunderstorms caused it to spread,of f ic ials said. Off the coast , al ightning-sparked f ire on SantaCatalina Island was 75% contained at1,094 acres late yesterday, f ireInspector Edward Osorio said. Osoriosaid firefighters were kept on the linein case the smoulders flare up andburn out of control . “We’d l ike torelease some of the crews to San Diegoto help them out, but if we let them go,it won’t be easy to get them back tothe island,” Osorio said. Fire crews inneighbouring Arizona virtual lycontained a wildf ire that hadthreatened to reach two power linesthat feed electricity to the Phoenix

area. By yesterday afternoon, officialsdeclared the fire 95% contained, withful l containment expected thismorning. Milder temperatures andincreasing humidity were helping firecrews beat back three blazes burningin timber stands along the ruggedslopes of the central Idaho mountains.

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated today, states: Firefighters todaytried to make progress against a 25-square-mile wildfire creeping towardrural communities east of San Diego,while a blaze threatening expensivecanyon homes in Los Angeles wascontained. Firefighters hoped coolerweather today would help themcombat the blaze, which has burned16,400 acres over four days throughCleveland National Forest east of SanDiego. The blaze was about 15%contained, of f ic ials said. The f iretriggered an evacuation of the smallcommunity of Carveacre, and half adozen other little clusters of homeswere on notice they might be next.Officials said homes in and aroundLake Morena Dam, Pine Valley,Potrero and Guatay remainthreatened. The National WeatherService predicted high temperaturesin southern California would dip belowtriple digits today for the first time in10 days. Highs were forecast to be inthe low 90s Fahrenheit near the SanDiego County fire lines. “We’re not outof the woods yet, but some of thesecommunities are in a lot better shapethan yesterday,” US Forest Servicespokesman Stanton Florea said. In LosAngeles, a small blaze caused tensemoments at midday Tuesday as itraced among expensive homes inBenedict Canyon above Bel AirEstates and Beverly Hills. One homewas damaged. Firefighters on pooldecks and patios hosed down smokingslopes as hel icopters made waterdrops. With little to no wind to fan it,the blaze was fully contained afterscorching about 15 acres. At least fivefirefighters around the state havesuffered heat-related illnesses duringthe 10-day heat wave, officials said.Elsewhere in Cali fornia, a blazeignited by lightning on ranch land eastof San Ardo in south-eastern MontereyCounty grew to 13,000 acres and was66% contained. In counties northwestof Los Angeles , f iref ighters werebattling two major lightning wildfireclusters in Los Padres NationalForest. The 2,200-acre San Rafaelcomplex was burning in rugged terrainnear Cuyama. On the southern end ofthe forest, the 2,203-acre Mount Pinoscomplex was 52% contained. InMontana, a fire that flared yesterdaynear Florence threatened a cluster ofhomes and destroyed one. Residentswere asked to evacuate as the blazegrew to 250 acres, officials said.

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated Jul 26, states: Cali forniafirefighters aided by cooler weathertoday reported steady progress on afire that has burned for nearly fourdays through the Cleveland NationalForest east of San Diego. The blazehad burned 16,455 acres, or more than25 square miles . It tr iggered

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FFiirreess && EExxpplloossiioonnss

evacuation of the small community ofCarveacre, and a half-dozen otherlittle clusters of homes were on noticethey might be next. In remote north-central Nevada, a wildfire swept oversix firefighters, burning two of themover 50 percent of their bodies, fireof f ic ials said today. The six weremembers of the Eldorado NationalForest Hotshot crew based nearPlacervi l le , Cali f . Prel iminaryindications blamed wind - possibly adust devil - for yesterday’s incident. Innortheastern Oregon, firefighters said20 buildings were at risk today from arangeland fire that had covered about10,000 acres, or 15 square miles, onthe southern edge of the WallowaMountains. In Oregon’s largest blaze,60,000 acres, or 94 square miles, ofrangeland had burned east of SteensMountain in the southeastern part ofthe state. Firefighters said they weretrying to protect features in awilderness study area and sixthreatened structures, and they didn’texpect containment until the end ofthe week. In western Montana, a 500-acre blaze east of Florence haddestroyed one mobile home and led tothe evacuation of about a dozen otherhomes, fire officials said Wednesday.Residents of a dozen other homes werewarned that they, too, might need toevacuate.

AP-BALKarachi, Jul 23 — Pakistan’s Civil

Aviation Authority (CAA) is expectedto complete an inquiry into the crashof PIA Fokker aircraft F-27 (AP-BAL)within two-and-a-half months. CAADeputy Director General Air ViceMarshal Muhammad Safdar Khan at apress briefing yesterday disclosed thatthe cause of the destruction of theaircraft is yet to be determined. All 41passengers and four crew memberswere killed in the crash. The InquiryBoard, headed by CAA’s AirCommodore Javed Amin, includes aPakistan Army expert , a PIArepresentative, two representativesfrom Rolls Royce and one from theFokker company. — Lloyd’s ListCorrespondent.

C-FSHELondon, Jul 20 — Luscombe 8F C-

FSHE was about 150 ft short of therunway on final for landing at Butler-Howroyd field, BC,when the enginelost power at 1532, PDT, Jul 18.Aircraft landed short , struck anembankment and flipped over. Aircraftsustained substantial damage.

C-GHCXLondon, Jul 20 — Beech 35 C-GHCS

departed Victoria Inernational, BC, forSpringbank, Calgary, and shortly aftertake off GPS stopped working. Tenminutes later other electrical

components stopped working.Returned to Victoria but on landingnose gear began to collapse and pilotelected to go to ground.Nose gearcollapsed, damaging propeller andengine cowl at 1122,PDT, Jul 17.

CRASH INTO CARIBBEAN SEA,U.S VIRGIN ISLANDS

See N782T.

CRASH INTO NORTH ATLANTICOCEAN

See EC-FJJ.

CRASH INTO SEA OFF SAVONA,ITALY

Genoa, Jul 21 — At approximately1540 hrs, Jul 21, “AS 355 F1 EqureuilFrench helicopter”, on a flight fromRapallo to Nice, crashed into the seaabout two miles off Savona. The threeoccupants were rescued by the SavonaCoast Guard and the local fire brigadehelicopter. The wreck of the helicopterwas recovered and towed ashore toSavona Sparano shipyard’s shelteredwarehouse, where it will undergo aninspection by the Authorit ies . —Lloyd’s Agents.

CRASH, BOURNEMOUTH,DORSET, UNITED KINGDOM

London, Jul 24 — A press report,dated Jul 22, states: Two people werekilled when a light aircraft crashed atan airfield, police have said. The planecrashed close to the runway atBournemouth Airport at about 1930BST, today. A Dorset Police spokesmansaid no buildings or any other peoplewere involved in the incident.

CRASH, CRESPO, IOWA, UNITED STATES

London, Jul 21 — A press report,dated today, states: Two men remainedin critical condition this morning, oneday after their Cessna 560 CitationEncore overran a runway and crashedinto a north-east Iowa cornfield. Theaircraft was en route from Oxford,Miss., to Rochester, Minn. The FederalAviation Administration isinvestigating the cause of the crash.

CRASH, GRONBERG MOUNTAIN,SOUTH AFRICA

London, Jul 24 — A press report,dated today, states: The pilot of asingle-seater l ight aircraft thatcrashed into the Groenberg mountainrange near Grabouw, in the WesternCape late yesterday has been founddead in the wreckage of the plane. Arescue team has reached the crash siteon foot and has found the pilot’s body.A police spokesperson says the front ofthe plane appears to have caught fireafter the crash. Metro emergencyservice’s Dr Wayne Smith said thewreckage was found about 300m fromthe summit of Groenberg. The lightaircraft went missing yesterday on aflight from Worcester to Grabouw. Thewreck was spotted from a searchaircraft this morning on a mountain.The pilot had apparently been headingfor one of two airstrips onneighbouring farms in the area.

London, Jul 25 — A press report,dated today, states: The cause of anaircraft crash in Grabouw outsideCape Town will be investigated by theCivi l Aviation Authority. MartinKruger, a businessman, was killedwhen his microlite smashed into theGroenland mountains late on Sunday(Jul 23). No one can explain why theexperienced pilot decided to fly fromWorcester to Grabouw in such badweather conditions. The microlite wasdiscovered in the mountains yesterday.

CRASH, KARATAS DISTRICT,ADANA, TURKEY

London, Jul 24 — A press report,dated today, states: A plane used forspraying agricultural insecticides hascrashed in the southern Turkishprovince of Adana. A non-commercialplane crashed in a field in the Karatasdistrict of Adana. Ruhi Nadir, thepilot, was seriously injured in theaccident. The pi lot was taken toCukurova University Hospital fortreatment. On May 26, the TurkishMinistry of Agriculture and RuralAffairs had banned the use of planesfor spraying insectic ides on al lproducts except ol ives. Aninvestigation is underway todetermine if the plane was workingillegally at the time of the crash.

CRASH, KHOST AREA,AFGHANISTAN

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: A hel icoptercrashed in bad weather in themountains of eastern Afghanistan,ki l l ing al l 16 people on board,including at least two Americancivilians, officials said today. Afghanarmy and US-led coalition troops haverecovered 12 bodies and were searchingfor four more in the diff icult,mountainous terrain where the civilianMil Mi-8 helicopter crashed yesterday,Col Tom Collins, a coalition spokesman,said. Collins said there were Afghansand foreigners on board, including atleast two Americans. The Dutchmilitary has said two of its personnelwere also on board, the first fatalitiesamong Dutch forces in Afghanistan.“There are no survivors,” Collins said.“The terrain in this area is extremelydifficult and we are now working hardto recover the remaining crew andpassengers.” The Russian-made civilianhelicopter crashed about 25 milesnorth-east of Khost city. Collins saidthere was no indication yet of whatcaused the crash. The helicopter wasoperated by a logistics firm, Tryco. ATryco official in Kabul said thehelicopter was rented by Fluor, a US-based company doing constructionwork in Khost province, about 90 milessouth of the capital, Kabul. The 16people on board reportedly included atleast three crew. The Dutch militarysaid two of its personnel, a lieutenantcolonel from the air force and an armysergeant, were on board the helicopter.Maj Luke Knittig, a spokesman for aNATO-led security force inAfghanistan, said the helicopter hadbeen flying to a so-called provincialreconstruction team base in Khost.

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EC-FJJLondon, July 26 — Sikorsky S-61N

helicopter, EC-FJJ, operated byHelicsa, crashed into the sea in thevicinity of Tenerife, Canary Islands, atapproximately 0800, UTC, July 8. Thehelicopter was on a VFR positioningflight from Santa Cruz de la Palma, toGran Canaria. The three crew andthree passengers were fatally injured.The cockpit voice recorder has beenrecovered, but the majority of thewreckage is under water atapproximately the 2,300 foot level.

EMERGENCY LANDING, LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Karachi , Jul 25 — A PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA) airbus A-310, bound for Karachi from Lahore,made an emergency landing at Lahoreinternational airport yesterdaymorning, after a bird hit its engine.Twenty minutes into Flight No: PK315, which had 95 passengers onboard, the captain requested the CivilAviation Authority (CAA) to beallowed to return to Lahore reportingthat a bird had hit its one of enginesand it could not continue the flight.Permission was granted and the planereturned safely to Lahore. A PIAofficial said the aircraft was repairedand returned to Karachi in evening.The passengers, however, were flownto Karachi on another aircraft. —Lloyd’s List Correspondent.

EMERGENCY LANDING, NEW DEHLI, INDIA

London, Jul 26 — A press report,dated Jul 25, states: An Air Deccanflight from Delhi to Hyderabad with100 passengers on board developed amajor engine problem soon after takeoff and returned to the Delhi airportunder ful l emergency condit ionstonight. The pi lot of the aircraftinformed the air traffic control aboutthe “serious engine trouble” andsought permission to return to Delhiairport, the airport sources said. Theaircraft had to dispose off fuel in theair before landing, they said. Theaircraft landed safely at about 2200hrs, the sources said.

EMERGENCY LANDING, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated Jul 26, states: A Los Angeles toLondon flight was interrupted andforced to make an emergency landingat John F. Kennedy Airport in NewYork this morning when the planeexperienced engine failure. The flightwas American Airlines Flight 134.American Airlines spokesman BillySanez says the Boeing 777 planelanded at Kennedy Airport less than ahalf hour after one of its two enginesfailed. Sanez said “It’s not a commonincident, but the pilots are trained todeal with these s ituations. ’ ’ Theaircraft, en route from Los Angeles toLondon’s Heathrow Airport , wascarrying 239 passengers and 14 crewmembers. All passengers were put onanother plane.

EMERGENCY LANDING,SHANNON AIRPORT, EIRE

London, Jul 21 — A press report,dated yesterday, states: A corporate jethas made an emergency landing atShannon Airport. The twin-engine jetwas carrying six people. It had leftShannon for Bangor in the UnitedStates when a flashing light in thecockpit indicated there was a fire inone engine. The pilot shut it down andreturned safely to Shannon. No firewas discovered on board - engineersare inspecting the aircraft beforeallowing it to continue its journey.

F-GOHCLondon, Jul 21 — While taxiing a

Thai Airways Boeing 747-400, HS-TGY, struck Embraer 135, F-GHOC,operated by RÈgional CompagnieAÈrienne EuropÈenne, with the righthand wing tip, at Madrid-BarajasAirport, Jul 15. The wing cut throughthe tail of the Embraer, ripping off theentire tail section.

HS-TGYSee F-GOHC.

INCIDENT AT MADRIDINTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, SPAIN

See F-GOHC.

N241JLLondon, Jul 24 — Raytheon G36,

N241JL, operated by Apartments O CInc, with three persons on board,crashed on take-off at Eagle Airpark,Bullhead City, Arizona, at 2309, UTC,Jul 23. The aircraft was destroyed,two passengers were killed and thepilot was seriously injured.

N720CSLondon, Jul 20 — Cessna 180H

N720CS took of f from CordingleyLake, Ont, but during climb out thefloats struck trees at the end of thelake and aircraft nosed over andstruck the ground in an invertedposit ion at 1305, UTC, Jun 19.Aircraft sustained substaintialdamage.

N782TLondon, Jul 21 — Douglas DC-3,

N782T, operated by Tol-Air, ditchedinto the sea shortly after departure fora flight to Puerto Rico, Jul 19. Oneengine had failed on departure. Allfour persons on board were rescued.

N8829ULondon, Jul 26 — A press report,

dated Jul 25, states: A single-engineaircraft (Cessna 172F, N8829U)crashed in the woods near BrookvilleLake, in eastern Indiana, killing thepilot, police said. The pilot, whosename was not released, radioed forhelp around 1730 hrs, Monday evening(Jul 24) , complaining of engineproblems. Pilots flying near Kokomoand near Cincinnati, which is about 35miles south-east, heard the mayday.Authorities found the wreckage of theprivate aircraft, traveling north fromMilan, this afternoon, and said theydid not know its destination.

Authorities said they were waiting tonoti fy family members beforereleasing the pilot’s name.

London, Jul 29 — Cessna 172F,N8829U, operated by Gabe C.Hensley,with one person on board, crashednear Brookeville Lake, Indiana, at2130, UTC, Jul 24. The aircraft wasdestroyed and the pilot was killed.

CRASH OF ROCKET AFTER LIFT-OFF, KAZAKHSTAN

London, Jul 27 — A press report,dated today, states: A Russian rocketthat was to put 18 satellites in orbitcrashed shortly after l i f tof f earlytoday, the Interfax news agencyreported. The Dnepr rocket crashedabout 15 miles south of the BaikonurCosmodrome in Kazakhstan butcaused no injuries or damage on theground, Interfax quoted Russian spaceagency deputy chief Yuri Nosenko assaying. The rocket was carrying aRussian satellite and 17 from othercountries, including the United Statesand Italy, Russian news agenciesreported. Interfax, c it ing anunidentified Mission Control official,reported prel iminary informationindicated a problem occurred when therocket’s third stage detached. RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass, also citingunnamed officials, said the engineshut off 86 seconds into the flight.

ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES, UNITED STATES

London, Jul 25 — A press release,issued by the U.S. Consumer ProductSafety Commission, dated Jul 24,states: Approximately 300 Suzuki2006 Model Year Eiger all-terrainvehicles (ATVs) are being voluntarilyrecalled by American Suzuki MotorCorp., of Brea, Calif., in co-operationwith the Consumer Product SafetyCommission. The mounting bracketsused to secure the left - frontsuspension arm to the ATV frame maynot have been welded completely andcould break off during riding. If thisoccurs the rider could lose control ofthe ATV and crash, posing a risk ofserious injury or death. Noincidents/injuries have been reported.Only Suzuki 2006 model year LT-A400K6, LT-A400FK6 and LT-F400FK6 model ATVs with certainvehicle identification numbers areincluded in this recall. The vehicleidentification number is located on theleft rear side of the ATV frame. Eiger,printed in white letters , and

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AAvv iiaatt iioonn//SSppaaccee VVeehh iicc lleess//PPrroodduucctt RReeccaa ll llss

QuadRunner and Suzuki are writtenon the side of the ATV. These ATVswere sold in red, black and green.Manufactured in the United States,the ATVs were sold at Suzuki ATVdealers nationwide from May 2006through to July 2006 for about $4,500for the LT-A400K6, $5,300 for the LT-A400FK6 and $5,200 for the LT-F400FK6.

BANGLADESHSydney, Jul 21 — Evergreen Marine

Australia has advised that severe portcongestion was still being experiencedat Chittagong, and that was affectingall lines. As a result, all Evergreen’sChittagong import and exportshipments were incurring a portcongestion surcharge of US$130 perteu, for loadings from Jul 17. —Lloyd’s List Daily Commerial News.

ITALYGenoa, Jul 25 — Port

situation/berthing delays: Genoa: One

general cargo vessel and one containervessel are waiting for berths. Averagedelay in berthing 0.5-one day. Savona:No vessels awaiting normal or specialberths. La Spezia: No vessels awaitingberths. — Lloyd’s Agents.

PANAMA CANALLondon, Jul 25 — A press report,

dated today, states: Panamax vesselswishing to transit the Panama Canalcurrently face delays of three-fourdays in both direct ions, whileregulars/unrestricted vessels canexpect to wait one to three days. Eventhough ful l traf f ic capacity wasresumed after the completion of theMiraflores Locks lane outage, fewerthan 40 ships are being scheduled.

SYRIAAleppo, Jul 22 — Waiting t ime

presently 24 hours at Lattakia andtwo days at Tartous. — Lloyd’s Agents.

UNITED KINGDOMLondon, Jul 26 — After 14 grounding

and contact incidents involving theferry Dieppe in the Sussex port ofNewhaven since 2001, a MarineAccident Investigation Branch inquiryinto the latest grounding off the portlast December has pinpointed anumber of deficiencies in the port

safety regime. The channel port, whichhas a history of s i l t ing after badweather, was the subject of anotherMAIB report after the grounding ofthe Transmanche Ferries SardiniaVera in January last year. In theearl ier report a range ofrecommendations were made focusingon the port’s safety management andthe system for closing the port to largeships when keel c learance wasreduced. The latest report, into thegrounding last December of the ferryDieppe when the master elected toattempt an entrance with less thanthe specified 1m clearance, took theopportunity to revisit therecommendations made to discoverwhether the port had implementedthem. While the report criticised themaster of the ferry for attempting toenter the port when there was lesswater than was safe , theharbourmaster and VTS operator tookno action to require the master todelay his entrance. The report alsonoted that the Newhavenharbourmaster was unqualified andthe VTS operator was untrained. Theport, owned by a French companywhich had purchased it from SeaContainers, had also undertakeninsufficient dredging to maintain thechannel for the larger ships using it.

t

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PPrroodduucctt RReeccaa ll llss//PPoorrtt CCoonndd iitt iioonnss

Port Delays

(Information received from BIMCO, Denmark and Indian Ports Association, New Delhi)

Country/Port Date of report No. of vessels waiting and/or days delay

Australia Abbot Point 31-Jul-2006 Coal: 1 vessel berthed and loading; 11 vessels due by 22/8; there will be a maintenance shutdown from

07.00 15/8 to 07.00 21/8; no vessels will be loaded during this period.Brisbane 02-Aug-2006 Grain: 1 vessel due 28/7 to load wheat; up to 5 days delay expected due to berth congestion and cargo

availability. Dalrymple Bay 02-Aug-2006 Coal: DBCT berth 1: 1 vessel berthed and loading, 4 waiting; DBCT berth 2: 1 vessel berthed and

loading, 2 waiting; DBCT berth 3: 3 vessels waiting; other vessels not scheduled: 7 vessels waiting; 23 vessels due by 11/8.

Dampier 02-Aug-2006 Iron ore: Parker Point A berth: 1 vessel due by 4/8; maintenance shutdown from 29/7 to 12/8; Parker Point berth 2: 1 vessel berthed and loading, 3 waiting; 5 vessels due by 28/8; Parker Point berth 3: 1 vessel waiting; East Intercourse Island: 1 vessel berthed and loading, 4 waiting; 6 vessels due by 13/8.

Esperance 02-Aug-2006 Grain: 4 vessels due by 18/8, 1 to load wheat, 3 grain pool; 1-5 days delay expected due to berth congestion and cargo availability.

Geraldton 02-Aug-2006 Grain: 1 vessel anchored to load wheat; 1 vessel due 8/8 to load wheat; 7-8 days delay expected due to berth congestion and cargo availability.

Gladstone 02-Aug-2006 Jul 31: Coal: R.G. Tanna coal terminal: 3 vessels berthed, 11 waiting; 33 vessels due by 1/9; Barney Point: 11 vessels due by 4/10.Aug 2: Grain: 1 vessel due 15/8 to load wheat; no delays expected.

Hay Point 02-Aug-2006 Coal: Berth 1: 1 vessel berthed and loading, 1 waiting; 6 vessels due by 9/8; Berth 2: 5 vessels due by 8/8; a maintenance shutdown is underway from 24/7 to 2/8: 2 vessels due by 14/8, not yet scheduled for berthing.

Newcastle 02-Aug-2006 Five vessels due by 12/8, of which 4 to load wheat, 1 sorghum; up to 4 days delay expected due to berthcongestion and cargo availability.

Port Hedland 02-Aug-2006 Iron ore: BHP Iron Ore Pty. Ltd., Mt. Newman (Nelson Point), “A” berth: 1 vessel berthed and completed loading, 4 waiting; 5 vessels due by 7/8; “B” berth: 2 vessels waiting; 6 vessels due by 9/8; 7 other vessels due by 23/8, no e.t.a. received; BHP Iron Ore Pty. Ltd., Goldsworthy (Finucane Island) “C” berth: 1 vessel waiting; 1 vessel due 4/8; “D” berth: 3 vessels waiting; 4 vessels due by 7/8; Cockatoo Island: 1 vessel berthed and loading.

Port Walcott 02-Aug-2006 Iron ore: 1 vessel berthed and completed loading, 7 waiting; 13 vessels due by 11/8; shippers currently experiencing shortage of product, which will affect berthing schedules.

Azerbaijan Apsheron 31-Jul-2006 Oil products: Dubendi terminal: 2 vessels due by 1/8, both to discharge, of which 1 crude oil, 1

kerosene.Baku 31-Jul-2006 Oil products: Bay of Baku: no vessels; Azerneftyag terminal: no vessels; Azer

Trans terminal - Nobel avenue: 2 vessels due by 1/8, both to discharge crude oil; Sangachal district: no vessels.

Bulgaria Bourgas 31-Jul-2006 Sixteen vessels in port operating, of which 8 loading (1 profiled iron, 1 sulphur, 4 coils, 1 copper anodes,

1 wheat), 8 discharging (1 scrap, 1 reinforced concrete, 2 billets, 2 zinc concentrate, 1 containers, 1 copper concentrate); 1 vessel in roads to discharge copper concentrate; 8 vessels due, of which 2 to load(1 coils, 1 wheat), 6 to discharge (1 metals, 1 lead concentrate, 1 clinker, 1 coal, 2 iron ore).

Varna 31-Jul-2006 Varna East, Varna West, Electrical Power Station, Balchik: Conditions 24-30 July: Forty-five vessels in port operating of which 25 loading (7 bulk wheat, 1 packed hardboard, 2 scrap, 1 equipment in packing cases, 1 bulk sulphuric acid, 1 bulk clinker, 7 soda, 1 bulk cement, 1 calcium carbonate/dolomite/ soda/silica sand, 1 chamotte/kaolin, 1 technical salt, 1 kaolin/soda), 11 discharging (1 metal in packets, 1cement on pallets, 1 bulk slag, 4 bulk coal, 1 raw phosphate, 1 clay, 1 feldspar, 1 containers), 9 discharging/loading (84 containers, 1 equipment in packing cases); no vessels waiting in roads.

Cyprus Laranaca 01-Aug-2006 Three conventional vessels discharging at berth; 1 conventional vessel due 2/8; no delays expected. Limassol 01-Aug-2006 Five container vessels discharging/loading at berth, 3 conventional vessels discharging at berth; 4

container vessels, 2 container vessels, 2 passenger vessels due 2/8; no delays expected

Egypt Jul 31Adabiya 31-Jul-2006 Four vessels berthed (loading/discharging), all general cargo.

Alexandria 31-Jul-2006 Thirty-three vessels berthed (loading/discharging), of which 24 general cargo, 4 bulk carriers, 2 tankers,

3 containers; 5 vessels at inner anchorage, 7 at outer anchorage.

Damietta 31-Jul-2006 Twenty-two vessels berthed (loading/discharging), of which 14 general cargo, 3 bulk carriers, 1 tanker,

4 container vessels; 22 vessel at outer anchorage, none at inner anchorage.

Dekheila 31-Jul-2006 Four vessels berthed (loading/discharging), all general cargo.

Port Said 31-Jul-2006 Four vessels berthed (loading/discharging), of which 1 general cargo, 3 container vessels.

Suez 31-Jul-2006 Six vessels berthed (loading/discharging), of which 3 general cargo, 3 passenger vessels; 3 tugs, 1

vessel dry-docked.

Suez Canal 31-Jul-2006 Twenty-one vessels transiting Northbound, 29 Southbound.

Estonia Tallinn 31-Jul-2006 Paljassaare (formerly Kopli): One coal vessel loading at berth, 1 fertiliser vessel discharging at berth; no

vessels waiting at anchorage; 2 vessels due, with no berthing delays expected.

Georgia Jul 31Batumi 31-Jul-2006 Oil products: 1 vessel berthed at CBM loading crude oil; 1 vessel in roads loading crude oil; 3 vessels

due by 2/8, all to load, of which 2 crude oil, 1 gasoil.

Poti 31-Jul-2006 Oil products: 1 vessel due 1/8 to load gasoil.

Kazakhstan Aktau 31-Jul-2006 Oil products: 2 vessels berthed, both loading unknown cargoes; 3 vessels in roads, all to load unknown

cargoes; 6 vessels due by 1/8, all to load unknown cargo.

Pakistan Karachi 31-Jul-2006 Three vessels loading at berth (1 MOL, 1 ethanol, 1 cement), 10 discharging at berth (1 HSD, 1 crude

oil, 2 urea, 3 general cargo, 2 sugar, 1 phosphate); 1 ethanol vessel waiting at anchorage to load, 1 SMB

vessel waiting at anchorage to discharge; 1 vessel under repairs/dry-docked; 6 vessels due (2 containers,

1 general cargo, 1 chemicals, 1 crude oil, 1 base oil), with no berthing delays expected.

Port Qasim 31-Jul-2006 One cement vessel loading at berth, 2 sugar vessels discharging at berth, 2 container vessels loading/

discharging at QICT berth; 2 container vessels waiting at anchorage to load, 4 vessels waiting at

anchorage to discharge (2 containers, 2 sugar).

Poland Gdansk 31-Jul-2006 Five vessels loading at berth (2 bulkers, 3 tankers), 2 discharging at berth (1 general cargo, 1 tanker);

13 vessels under repairs/dry-docked; no vessels waiting at anchorage, none waiting in roads; 19 vessels

due.

36


PPoorrtt CCoonndd iitt iioonnss

Gdynia 31-Jul-2006 Three vessels loading at berth (2 coal, 1 general cargo), 5 discharging at berth (1 grain, 2 general cargo,

1 bulker, 1 tanker); 23 vessels under repairs/dry-docked; no vessels waiting at anchorage, none waiting

in roads; 43 vessels due.

Russia Novorossiysk 31-Jul-2006 Eighteen vessels in port operating, of which 15 loading (1 bulk cement, 1 bulk NPK, 1 scrap, 2 steel

billets, 2 wheat, 1 steel billets/steel sheets, 1 soda ash, 1 H-beams/tin plate/steel sheets/pipes/vehicles, 1

slabs, 1 coils/slabs, 1 aluminium, 1 UAN solution, 1 diesel oil), 1 discharging bulk sugar, 2 loading/

discharging containers; 6 vessels waiting in roads, all to load, of which 3 steel billets, 1 steel blooms/

vehicles, 1 steel sheets, 1 bulk cement; 67 vessels due, of which 65 to load (4 slabs, 2 barley, 2 HBI, 6

DRI, 8 wheat, 3 bulk ammonium nitrate, 6 steel billets, 1 steel billets/lead/pipes, 7 aluminium, 1

WRIC/steel billets, 8 copper, 2 steel sheets, 1 cellulose, 1 cars, 1 pipes, 1 bulk cement, 2 coils/steel

sheets, 1 tin plates/coils, 1 soda ash, 1 bulk urea, 2 vegetable oil, 1 steel sheets/tin plate, 1 H-beams, 2

diesel oil), 2 to discharge (1 maize, 1 vegetable oil); Oil terminal: 2 tankers berthed, both loading, of

which 1 crude oil, 1 diesel oil; 3 tankers in roads, all to load crude oil; 6 tankers due, all to load, of

which 3 crude oil, 3 fuel oil.

Slovenia Koper 01-Aug-2006 Port working normally. Nine vessels berthed of which 1 car carrier discharging/loading vehicles, 1 car

carrier discharging vehicles, 2 vessels discharging/loading containers, 3 discharging bulk cargo, 2

loading sawn timber/general cargo; 24 vessels due over the next 2 days of which 5 to discharge/load

containers, 5 car carriers to discharge/load vehicles, 1 car carrier to discharge vehicles, 2 tankers to

discharge liquid cargo, 3 vessels to load sawn timber/general cargo, 3 to load bulk cargo, 4 to discharge

bulk cargo, 1 Ro/Ro to load general cargo.

Spain Bilbao 01-Aug-2006 Thirty-four vessels operating (9 tankers, 25 other vessels), of which 5 loading, 18 discharging, 11

loading/discharging.

Sagunto 01-Aug-2006 Fourteen vessels in port operating, of which 3 loading (1 steel products, 2 cement), 10 discharging (7

steel products, 2 gas, 1 machinery), 1 loading/discharging containers; no vessels outside commercial

wharf; no berthing delays at present.

Sri Lanka Colombo 31-Jul-2006 Cargo operations at Sri Lanka Ports Authority operated berths are at present experiencing a “work to

rule” by port workers which started 13/7. Delays are affecting all port users. Berthing/unberthing

(pilotage) delays being experienced on breakbulk/conventional vessels. Delays to conventional vessels

are due to the fact that container/feeder vessels are given priority at breakbulk berths if there is

container congestion. Conventional cargo vessels at BQ 1 and 2 are facing navigation delays. Seven

vessels loading at berth (6 containers/feeders, 1 bulk naphtha), 16 discharging at berth (9 containers/

feeders, 1 general cargo, 1 steel cargo, 1 bulk palm oil, 1 bagged fertiliser, 1 bulk fertiliser, 1 Ro/Ro, 1

bulk cement); 3 container/feeder vessels waiting at anchorage to discharge; 4 vessels dry-docked; 7

container/feeder vessels due, with no delays expected.

Turkmenistan Aladja 31-Jul-2006 Oil products: 1 vessel berthed loading crude oil.

Turkmenbashi 31-Jul-2006 Oil products: 4 vessels berthed, all completed loading, of which 1 fuel oil, 1 jet fuel, 1 kerosene, 1

gasoil; 1 vessel in roads to load gasoline; 1 vessel due 31/7 to load fuel oil.

Ukraine Illichevsk 31-Jul-2006 Nine vessels in port operating, of which 5 loading (1 ore, 1 sunflower oil, 2 sulphur, 1 steel products), 2

discharging containers, 2 loading/discharging containers; 1 vessel in roads to load/discharge containers;

15 vessels due, of which 6 to load (4 steel products, 1 sunflower oil, 1 ore), 1 to discharge tropical

oil, 8 to load/discharge containers.

Mariupol 31-Jul-2006 Nine vessels in port operating, of which 8 loading (5 steel, 2 fire-clay, 1 coke), 1 discharging/loading

containers; 13 vessels in roads, of which 11 to load (9 steel, equipment, 1 fire-clay), 2 to discharge (1

heavy lift cargo, 1 equipment); 53 vessels due, of which 50 to load (31 steel, 7 coal, 7 fire-clay, 1

kaolin, 1 barley, 1 pitch, 1 bran, 1 wheat), 1 to discharge heavy lift cargo, 2 to discharge/load (1

containers/steel/fire-clay/containers, 1 ferrous metals/equipment).

Odessa 31-Jul-2006 Eighteen vessels in port operating, of which 11 loading (1 ore, 8 metal, 1 scrap, 1 wheat), 4 discharging

(3 luggage, 1 meat), 1 discharging/loading containers, 2 passenger vessels; 5 vessels in roads, of which

4 to load (2 metal, 1 pig-iron, 1 oil), 1 to load/discharge containers; 72 vessels due, of which 35 to load

(27 metal, 4 pig-iron, 2 scrap, 1 ore, 1 coal), 6 to discharge (1 metal, 1 citrus, 1 bananas, 1 fertiliser, 1

oil, 1 ore), 31 to discharge/load containers.

37



United States Beaumont 01-Aug-2006 No new restrictions in draft (normal 40 ft. 0 ins. f.w. max. deep draft enforced). Louis Dreyfus terminal:

no delays.Columbia River 01-Aug-2006 Columbia River draft advisory: Maximum permissible deep draft is 40 ft. 0 ins. Corpus Christi 01-Aug-2006 New restrictions in draft (max. 42 ft. 0 ins. b.w. draft enforced). Channel open under normal traffic;

Interstate grain terminal: no delays; ADM terminal: 2-3 days delay..Galveston 01-Aug-2006 No new restriction in draft (normal 39 ft. 6 ins. b.w. max. deep draft enforced - 40 ft. with ideal

conditions). Channel open under normal traffic; ADM-Farmland terminal: 2-3 days delay. Houston 01-Aug-2006 Shoaling to 42 ft. confirmed in inner bar channel. Vessels drawing over 42 ft. are advised to give due

regard to the state of the tide. Vessels drawing over 40 ft. are advised to avoid meeting like vessels between lighted buoys 9/10 and 11/12. Pilots report normal 45 ft. 0 ins. max. draft up to Shell terminal, 40 ft. 0 ins. max. draft above Shell terminal to 610 bridge area; Cargill terminal: 2-3 days delay; LDC Dreyfus terminal: no delays.

New Orleans 01-Aug-2006 Mississippi River terminal berthing delays: Cenex-Harstates/Myrtle Grove: no delays; Cargill-Westwego: 2 days delay expected; ADM/Ama: 3-4 days delay expected; Bunge/Destrehan: 4 days delay expected;ADM/Destrehan: 3-4 days delay expected;ADM/Reserve: 3-4 days delay expected; Cargill/Reserve: 2 days delay expected; ADM/Paulina: 3-4 days delay expected; Zen-Noh/Convent: undergoing maintenance until 12/8; Cargill/Baton Rouge: no delays; Mississippi River mid-stream buoys - estimated berthing delays based on new vessel presented as load-ready and weather permitting: Mile 121.5 ADM (Gemini) - Destrehan: relocated for several weeks; Mile 158.0 Myrtle Grove midstream terminal: 7 days delay; Mile 180.0 Cooper (America) - Darrow: 3 days delay. Nine-day forecast for Carrolton Gauge/New Orleans: expected to decrease to 1.9 ft. by 10/8. Mississippi River recommended draft restrictions: SW Pass to Pilottown - 47 ft. for all vessels (24 hours); Pilottown to Nola - 47 ft. for all vessels (24 hours); New Orleans to Mile 180 - 45 ft. (24 hours) and up to 47 feet on a case-by-case basis; Mile 180 to Baton Rouge - 45 ft. for all vessels (24 hours); Mississippi River Gulf outlet: 23 ft. as per last report of the Bar Pilots.

Portland, Oreg 01-Aug-2006 Columbia Grain terminal: 3 days delay; CLD Irving terminal: 2 days delay; CLD, O Dock terminals: nodelays..

Seattle 01-Aug-2006 Louis Dreyfus (Pier 86) terminal: 3 days delay. Tacoma 01-Aug-2006 Temco terminal: no delays. Vancouver, Wash 01-Aug-2006 United Harvest terminal: no delays.

38



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