¡¡¡¡Shipbuilding and repair firm COSCO Corp (Singapore) said its full-year 2007 profit rose 64% due to robust business at its shipyards.
¡¡¡¡Singapore-listed COSCO, majority-owned by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, said its 2007 net profit rose to S$336.6 million (US$239 million), from S$205.4 million a year ago.
¡¡¡¡The 2007 attributable profit was higher than a forecast average of S$308.5 million made by 10 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
¡¡¡¡Including minority interest the company earned S$478.6 million, up 71% from 2006.
¡¡¡¡COSCO shares were down 2.9% in the Oct-Dec quarter but ended 2007 at three times the value at the end of the previous year, as investors welcomed the company¡¯s growing order book for offshore oil rigs and vessels at its China shipyards.

¡¡¡¡¡ôK-Line says it will join the central China/Red Sea (CRS) container shipping service operated by Hapag-Lloyd and Wan Hai Lines.The overall capacity and port rotation of CRS service would remain the same, with a total of six 1,200-TEU vessels being deployed on the service.

¡¡¡¡¡ôSTX Pan Ocean is looking to move into the ship finance and derivatives sector. It said it wanted to secure “future growth engines  by moving into financial services. The amount of capital investment is estimated at up to KRW 300 billion (US$585 million), and will be financed by internal resources.

¡¡¡¡¡ôThe MS Beluga SkySails - the vessel that is piloting a wind-propulsion system - recently arrived in the port of Guanta, in Pueto La Cruz, Venezuela, to discharge, among other things, a 10,000 ton shipment for DHL. There were no reported incidents, and SkySails says that the kite was put into operation successfully. SkySails  engineers on board the Beluga SkySails gained much valuable experience in terms of the use of the system during regular shipping operations throughout the journey. The results of the maiden voyage will be published after the ship has returned to Europe.