Russian warships leave for the Caribbean

Moscow: A squadron of Russian warships set sail to the Caribbean from their base near Murmansk in the first foray into the backyard of U.S. since the Cold War.

The nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great, anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support ships will take part in war games with Venezuela’s Navy in November. Russian anti-submarine aircraft will also join the manoeuvres. The Peter the Great is one of the largest warships of its kind and carries Su-33 jet fighters and helicopters, as well as a variety of weapons systems including Granit long-range cruise missiles that can be armed with nuclear warheads. Earlier this month Russia sent Tu-160 strategic bombers to Venezuela in the first projection of Russian air power close to the U.S. coast since the breakup of the Soviet Union 17 years ago. The Caribbean manoeuvres come as Russian-American relations have dipped to their lowest point since the Cold War over Russia’s trouncing of Georgia, Washington’s closest ally in the former Soviet Union. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who will visit Moscow this week, said Latin America needed a strong friendship with Russia to help reduce Washington’s influence in the region. The Russian warships may visit the strategically located Syrian port of Tartus.

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S.Korean shipyard builds supertanker for Russia’s Primorsk

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries has started building an ice-class tanker with deadweight of 104,000 metric tons for the Primorsk Shipping Corporation, the Russian company said.

The vessel is the last of a group of six giant tankers to be built for PRISCO by the Korean firm, the world’s largest shipbuilder. The Russian firm is based in the Far East port city of Vladivostok. The tanker will be ready for use in June 2009 alongside two previously manufactured ships of the series, now in service delivering crude oil and oil products to Pacific Rim countries. PRISCO currently has 19 tankers with aggregate deadweight of around 1.3 mln tons. By 2010, the company plans to double the figure.

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SMM breaking records

SMM 2008 will once more break all records of previous years.

1,965 exhibitors from 56 nations will be presenting their products and services in Hamburg. That is 300 more exhibitors than in 2006. For comparison: In 2006 there were 1,669 exhibitors, and in 2004 there were 1,452 exhibitors. The increase in the number of exhibitors was possible thanks to the accelerated completion of the new halls of the Hamburg Fair. The last of the new halls, that is B7, was completed in time for the event, bringing the total gross space available in the halls to 87,000 square metres (versus 75,000 sqm in 2006), that is more than ever before. The B-site is now arranged for a round tour again, from the Central Entrance near the Television Tower to Entrance East, continuing to Entrance South and back again to the Central Entrance. A site map is provided in your press folders and in the SMM catalogue. The fourth and last entrance to Hamburg Messe, that is Entrance West, gives a direct link to the S-Bahn and U-Bahn rapid transit networks at Sternschanze station. World shipbuilding continues to be in good shape, maintaining a high level of activity. SMM is always a mirror of economic developments in the global shipbuilding markets, so the demand for space at this SMM was simply enormous. This year there are more countries represented at SMM than ever before. For the first time, there are companies from Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico and Serbia in Hamburg.

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