#FlagshipIreland – Flagship Management, a US Maritime Consultancy and Recruitment firm has announced that it is locating its European, Middle East and African (EMEA) Headquarters to Kinvara, Co Galway, creating 15 new jobs over the next three years.

The EMEA HQ is being established to provide a formal structure around Flagship Management's growing European business, and to offer a solid platform for future growth. The Florida HQ will continue to serve and grow their American markets.

This is another successful project secured under the Succeed-in-Ireland Initiative which is part of the Government's Action Plan for Job. The initiative is implemented by ConnectIreland under the management of IDA Ireland with the support of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovati. For further details of this story, the Maritime Executive has a report.

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Freight Forwarders: Growth in global freight- forwarding market in 2012 was entirely down to the strong performance of seafreight as airfreight volumes continue to decline, Lloyd's List revealed last week. A report from consultancy Transport Intelligence shows that in 2012, the overall freight forwarding market increased by 3.1% year on year to $125.8bn. The seafreight segment drove the growth, increasing by an "impressive" 11.5% to $63.2bn.

Tanker Market: Surplus supply - Daily earnings for very large crude carriers [VLCCs] shipping Middle East crude to Asia dropped $10,000 in a week as the July loading programme came to an end, and are forecast to fall even further, Lloyd's List noted last week. VLCCs on the Middle East to Asia trade are now being fixed at around $16,000 per day, down from $26,000 per day a week ago, according to data from the Baltic Exchange.

Bulker Market: Hiring improves - The Drewry Hire Index improved by 6% in June compared to May as an influx of Chinese ore imports boosted the dry bulk market. The largest improvement was seen in the capesize vessel segment, resulting in the Drewry Capesize Demand Index increasing by over 80%.

For more of the above and other stories visit the IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 29) and also on Afloat.ie's dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.

#PortTraining – UNCTAD's TrainForTrade Port Training Programme have agreed to implement a third cycle of the course following a conference held in Belfast earlier this month.

Forty-three representatives from UNCTAD, the Irish Government, and the Irish port partners - Dublin Port Company, Port of Cork and Belfast Harbour Commissioners - as well as from port communities in Bangladesh, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania, attended the 2013 International Coordination Meeting for the English-speaking network of the TrainForTrade Port Training Programme.

Participants assessed the results of the second cycle (2011-2013), and evaluated the scope for strengthening and expanding the programme. The review session was staged in cooperation with Belfast Harbour Commissioners.
For more on this story visit the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD website.

#PortsConference - The 2013 The Irish Ports Association Conference is to be hosted by Dublin Port Company and is to take place on 27 September in the Gibson Hotel in Dublin.

This year saw the launching of the new National Ports Policy, the conclusion by the Irish Competition Authority of a review of the ports sector and the publication by the EU Commission of a proposed ports Regulation. All of these create challenges for Irish ports whose efficiency and capacity is crucial to support international trade in goods.

The core themes of the IPA conference are ports policy, practice and planning. An elite panel of national and international speakers will not only examine recent policy developments but also to present examples from around the world (UK, Denmark, Greece and Chile) as to how ports elsewhere have adapted and responded to changing regulatory environments. For further information of the conference visit: ipadublin2013.com

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Irish Ecomomy: Exports Decline -There was a 4% drop in exports last month according to preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office. Seasonally adjusted exports were just above €7.05 billion in May, according to the figures, €314 million lower than the previous month.

Bunker Market: High price risk - Civil unrest in Egypt will push up the price of bunker fuel, easily the biggest expense for ship-owners, Lloyd's List warned last week. A senior executive from a ship-owning company who asked to remain anonymous told the shipping journal that bunkers could rise on the back of the climbing oil price.

Piracy: Developments-In 2012, pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea surpassed those in the Gulf of Aden and the Western Indian Ocean for the first time in recent times, according to a joint study released by the International Maritime Bureau, Oceans Beyond Piracy and Maritime Piracy-Humanitarian Response.

For more of the above and other stories visit the IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 28) and also on Afloat.ie's dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.

#RenamedBULKER– The former detained 19,354 tonnes bulk-carrier Clipper Faith which was sold last month for €4.5m as previously reported on Afloat.ie has been renamed Island Mariner, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Under the directions of the Admiralty Marshall of the High Court the former Greek operated 181m bulk-carrier completed in 2008 at a Chinese shipyard was sold at public auction. Afloat.ie can reveal the buyer of the Clipper Faith was to another Greek interest, Lynx Shipping Company.

Clipper Faith easily became the largest vessel ever to be sold in an Irish port following the arrest of the vessel in Dublin Port. The plight of her 19-strong Ukrainian crew who had not been paid wages dating back to late last year drew the attention of the authorities.

The 29,501dwt tonnes Clipper Faith had docked in early March after discharging a cargo of animal feed products loaded in New Orleans. Ever since her arrival of more than four months ago, the vessel has had to shift berths on several occasions so to free up quay space for other commercial traffic.

Currently the Island Mariner is moored alongside the Coal Quay on the south quays and in readiness for her departure under her new owners.

#ShippingReview: Over the last fortnight Jehan Ashmore has reported from the shipping scene where container market rates are unlikely to drop any further following average global rates falling to a 17-month low last month.

Port of Cork Company are to invest €3 million in new mobile crane plant equipment for the Ringaskiddy Deep-water Berth.

Rising prices for second-hand dry bulk vessels point to a turnaround in the industry.

The European Commission launched the 'Blue Belt' communication, which contains two concrete proposals that will contribute to establishing an internal market for maritime transport.

#BlueBelt - The European Commission launched recently the 'Blue Belt' communication, which contains two concrete proposals that will contribute to establishing an internal market for maritime transport.

The first proposal contains an improvement to the already existing Regular Shipping Services (RSS), which provide lighter customs procedures for shipping companies using a regular route within the EU and transporting mainly EU goods. New provisions, submitted by the Commission last June, will upgrade RSS to make the procedures shorter and more flexible.

The consultation period for Member States will be shortened from 45 to 15 days. And companies will be able to apply in advance for an authorisation for Member States where they may want to do business. This would save time if that business opportunity arises. These provisions are expected to make the scheme much more attractive to short sea operators.

RSS is however limited to vessels that call exclusively at EU ports. Almost 90% of ships carry both EU and non-EU goods and stop frequently at EU and non-EU ports, for example in Norway, Northern Africa and Russia. For these ships, the Commission is proposing to significantly improve customs procedures by putting in place a system which can distinguish between EU and non-EU goods on board.

For this purpose, the Commission will bring forward, before the end of 2013, a proposal to create a harmonised electronic cargo declaration. This 'e-Manifest' would allow a shipping company to provide in all manifests (intra-EU and extra-EU) information on the status of goods to customs officials.

"We welcome these proposals as a step in the right direction", said European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven, "We especially look forward to contributing to the definition and implementation of the e-Manifest. Its data elements, functionalities and procedures should be carefully analysed to ensure smooth integration in port operations and processes."

The two proposals are expected to make the 'Blue Belt' in which ships can operate freely within the internal market, with a minimum of administrative burden, a reality by 2015. Currently, a ship moving between Antwerp and Rotterdam is still treated as though it came from China. This is because once ships leave Member States' territorial waters they are considered to pass the EU's external borders.

So ships travelling between ports in two different Member States are deemed to have left the EU Customs Territory and customs formalities are required when the vessel leaves the port of departure and again when the vessel arrives at the port of destination, even if both are EU ports.

#ShipSulphur - The European Union's Sulphur Directive represents the biggest challenge for the short-sea shipping sector in the coming years.

New rules on sulphur emissions to be introduced in 2015 will reduce ship's competitiveness against the truck transportation and so industry and governments must act quickly.

The Shortsea Promotion Centre of Norway which recently held a mini-conference entitled "Sulphur Directive in 2015 and Norwegian short sea shipping" was attended by delegates from nearly all ship owners operating liner services to Norway.

The main focus of the event was how participants can meet the challenges of the Sulfur Directive and turn it to their advantage. To read more on the impacts of the directive facing the industry visit this link.

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Irish Economy: Manufacturing rises - Manufacturing activity grew slightly for the first time in four months in June, according to the Investec Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index. However, the survey showed that new export orders fell faster in June. The sub-index measuring orders from abroad fell to 48 in June from 49.3 in May, the second-lowest reading since 2009.

Short Sea Market: The short sea European bulk market was steady last week, according to H.C Shipping & Chartering's latest report. After the preceding flurry of activity, it was inevitable that momentum would not be sustained, leading this week to be noticeably more subdued. This was evident both from spot demand and to lesser extent spot supply.

Container Market: Rate turnaround - Container shipping costs are unlikely to drop any further, having sunk to the level they were at the last freight rate trough, and may be about to rise as carriers seek to restore profitability with a rates hike in July, according to Drewry. Average global freight rates fell to a 17-month low last month, according to the shipping consultant's new online Container Freight Rate Insight.

For more of the above visit the IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 26) and also on Afloat.ie's dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.