GERMANY’S northwestern ports are seeking more investments in cargo handling, berth and warehousing capacity for offshore wind farms, a port management company said today.

THE SHANGHAI Containerised Freight Index's first post-Lunar New Year figures have shown that freight rates have softened slightly.

BHP BILLITON and its partners have approved $917M in pre-commitment funding to build an outer-harbour facility in Port Hedland in Western Australia.

ADANI Ports & Special Economic Zone today reported a 36% jump in net profits over the October-December quarter.

DEPUTY Prime Minister Igor Sechin has recommended that the state shareholdings in Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NMTP) be sold to Rosneft, the state oil company.

RESALE prices of bulkers have continued their downward trend, as the Baltic Dry Index dived to a 25-year low.

MEDIUM-range products carriers and chemical tankers continue to lure investors in the sale-and-purchase market.

TEN CREW members have been rescued from the Captain Ivan Vikulov dry cargo ship in Crimea, in the Sea of Azov, after a fire broke out early yesterday morning.

SOVCOMFLOT, the 100% state-owned Russian tanker fleet operator, might try to sell 25% less one share in the second quarter of this year, down from the 50% originally planned.

PRECIOUS Shipping, Thailand’s biggest drybulk carrier owner, today posted net profits of $23.64M for 2011, a fall of 33.4%.

SOUTH Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard said today 2011 net profits dived 48.5% y/y to 227,864,445 won ($203.25M).

HYUNDAI Merchant Marine (HMM), South Korea's second-largest shipper, today reported operating losses of 367Bn won ($327M) for 2011.

CHINA, India Japan have reportedly formed a patrol alliance co-ordinating warships in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy.

CANADA’S National Energy Board has approved a second LNG export license in British Columbia, IHS World Markets Energy reported today.

THREE ships carrying a total of 40 mariners today are spending their third day trapped in ice in the Sea of Azov, Ukraine’s emergencies ministry said.

FLORIDA officials have approved a 30-year lease for a $72M container transfer facility at Port Everglades.

SANCTIONS legislation against Iran is moving swiftly and co-operatively through a US Congress more typically mired in partisan rancour.

DUTCH marine services group Van Oord today renewed its order for a 6,500dwt wind turbine installation vessel at Hamburg’s Sietas yard.

THE RESTIS family has injected $10M into NASDAQ-listed Seanergy, and the drybulk company has finalised loan amendments from Marfin Egnatia Bank.

CONTAINER service reliability reportedly reached a new high in the final quarter of 2011, with an on-time average of 69% across all trades.