‘Earthrace’ eco-boat smashes round-the-world speed

‘Earthrace’, the world’s fastest eco-boat, has smashed the world speed record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe, completing the 24,000km journey in 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes.

The boat crossed the finish line in Sagunto on Friday 27 June and completed the journey using 10 per cent biofuel to demonstrate and draw global attention to the potential for alternative fuel sources. ‘Earthrace’ is a 24-metre tri-hull wavepiercer built in New Zealand, and the record attempt, run by a team of international volunteers from New Zealand, UK, Sweden, Guyana and Hungary, has been completed as a carbon neutral project. The vessel set off from Spain on April 27 in an attempt to challenge the world record that has remained unbroken since 1998, when it was set by the British boat, ‘Cable and Wireless Adventurer’.   The finish in Spain by Earthrace was monitored by D Jaime Pérez López, Presidente de la Federación Territorial Motonaútica de la Comunidad Valenciana. ‘Earthrace’, a not for profit enterprise, has overcome many obstacles during its journey, the most challenging of which were the replacement of the boat’s driveshaft and propeller after hitting sea debris in Palau, encountering monsoon conditions in the India Ocean, and bypassing a massive backlog of ships waiting to transit the Panama Canal.’Earthrace’’s success has proved that any form of transport, including marine, can be non-damaging to the environment as well as being high performance.

Read More

First of two 1,740-TEU vessels delivered to Samudera

Samudera Shipping Line received the 1,740-TEU Sinar Sumba from Guangzhou before its maiden deployment from Hong Kong in its new Korea-China-Malaysia service (KMS).

The US$83 million Sinar Sumba was put into service with another vessel and will help the shipping group to attain its long term strategy of providing flexibility in fleet deployment and stability in overall vessel operating costs, said a company statement.

Read More

Fair Weather for Overseas Shipping Companies

The U.S. economy might be slumping, but the global transport of oil, liquefied natural gas, coal, iron ore, steel, grains and other high-value cargoes continues to surge.

In the first quarter of 2008, the volume of goods on containerships traveling from Asia to Europe increased 12 percent. This is good news for Seaspan, which owns a fleet of 29 containerships, with 39 more on order over the next three years. Seaspan has long-term contracts for moving freight on all its ships, including those still under construction. Chief executive Gerry Wang says the company should have no trouble raising dividends 5 to 6 percent over the next two years and possibly at a faster rate afterward. The stock, which at $27 yielded 6.9 percent in mid-May, has delivered double-digit total returns each year since Seaspan went public in 2005. Seaspan is among 20 shipping companies that rely on long-term, fixed-price contracts with shippers to ensure steady cash flow, and they distribute a high percentage of that cash flow to shareholders. The stocks generally yield 8 percent or better, although a few companies are using their excess cash to expand or retire debt rather than raise dividends.

Read More