DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 247 Number 247 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Monday 03-09-2012 News reports received from readers and Internet News articles copied from various news sites. * EPIC DIVISION *OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION SUPPORT *24 HOURS EMERGENCY RESPONSE *DEEPWATER SERVICES www.poshsemco.com.sg *HARBOUR SERVICES [email protected] The TSHD LELYSTAD operating in Buenaventura (Colombia). Photo : Pilot Origamy © Distribution : daily to 22800+ active addresses 03-09-2012 Page 1 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 247 Your feedback is important to me so please drop me an email if you have any photos or articles that may be of interest to the maritime interested people at sea and ashore PLEASE SEND ALL PHOTOS / ARTICLES TO : [email protected] If you don't like to receive this bulletin anymore : To unsubscribe click here (English version) or visit the subscription page on our website. http://www.maasmondmaritime.com/uitschrijven.aspx?lan=en-US EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS The SERKEBORG approaching Delfzijl. Photo : Paul O'Reilly © Distribution : daily to 22800+ active addresses 03-09-2012 Page 2 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 247 Baltic index down on weak panamax rates The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Friday as weakness in the panamax segment outweighed a small rise in capesize rates. The overall index, which reflects daily freight market prices for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, fell 0.57 percent to 703 points. The index has fallen about 2 percent this week. The panamax index fell 3.03 percent to 735 points, with average daily earnings for panamaxes, which typically transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grains, down $184 at $5,840. "Slow and difficult trading conditions prevail (for panamaxes) with little improvement in the volume of trans-Atlantic cargoes. Conditions are being exacerbated by the steady stream of tonnage ballasting into the U.S. Gulf," Braemar Seascope said in its research note. "Mineral prices continue to fall, eating away at profit margins for mining companies and encouraging buyers to test the resolve of counterparties regarding their contract obligations." The capesize index was up 0.26 percent at 1,172 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $58 at $3,308. Iron ore was set to hit nearly three-year lows on Friday, with monthly performance in August its worst in 10 months, as Chinese steel producers shun fresh cargoes in the face of waning demand. Iron ore shipments account for around a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes, and brokers said price developments remained a key factor for dry freight. Average daily earnings for handysize ships were down $52 at $6,672, while that of supramax ships were down $22 at $8,960. Source: Reuters The PALLADIUM made a stop-over in Gibraltar for bunkers – Photo : Francis Ferro © Vale to sell vessels Vale S.A. (Vale) informs that it has signed an agreement to sell for US$ 600 million and further charter 10 large ore carriers with Polaris Shipping Co. Ltd. (Polaris). Those vessels were acquired in 2009/2010 and converted from oil tankers into ore carriers, each with a capacity of approximately 300,000 DWT, for Vale to have at its disposal a fleet of vessels dedicated to transport iron ore to its customers. The vessels sold will be chartered back by Vale from Polaris under long-term charter contracts. In addition to unlocking capital, the transaction preserves Vale's capacity of maritime transportation of iron ore, since the vessels will be available but without the ownership and operational risks. This transaction is part of our continuous effort to optimize the asset portfolio, improving capital allocation and further strengthening of the balance sheet. Source: Vale Distribution : daily to 22800+ active addresses 03-09-2012 Page 3 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 247 The small container ship FUSION loading at Halterm in Halifax Nova Scotia, She operates on a regular service between Halifax and St. Pierre and Miquelon. Photo : John Attersley © Evergreen Marine Reports First Profit in a Year as Sales Rise Evergreen Marine Corp., operator of Asia’s No. 2 container-shipping line, had its first quarterly profit in a year as sales increased on higher freight rates. Net income rose to NT$858 million ($29 million) in the three months through June from NT$81 million a year earlier, based on calculations using six-month results announced by the Taipei-based company today. The average of seven analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a second-quarter profit of NT$804 million. The EVER SAFETY outbound from Rotterdam – Photo : Ria Maat © Evergreen Marine joins APL Ltd. in reporting improved earnings after industry-wide losses last year prompted carriers to boost cooperation and raise rates. The company’s second- quarter consolidated sales jumped 32 percent from a year earlier, based on monthly filings to the Taiwan stock exchange. Evergreen fell 1.8 percent to close at NT$16 in Distribution : daily to 22800+ active addresses 03-09-2012 Page 4 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 247 Taipei trading today, before the announcement. The stock has risen 4.6 percent this year, matching the gain in the benchmark Taiex stock index. Before today, the company had posted three straight quarterly losses. The first-half net loss was NT$2.4 billion, compared with a profit of NT$1.39 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange today. Evergreen Line operates 180 vessels with a combined capacity of 694,415 containers, according to Alphaliner data. China Cosco Holdings Co. (1919)’s container-shipping unit is Asia’s biggest with a capacity for 716,331 containers. Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. (NOL) said Aug. 8 that APL, its container-shipping arm, had its first quarterly profit since 2010 because of higher freight rates and cost-savings. Source: Bloomberg Also the AMARYLLIS took bunkers in Gibraltar – Photo : Francis Ferro © Shipping firms to gain from ‘slot chartering’ ruling A recent directive on tax treatment of ‘slot chartering’ income of shipping companies has implications for similar cases pending in the State. This ruling will bring some relief for the shipping industry as a whole, says Sherry Samuel Oommen, founder and senior partner, GyanMagnus Associates, Kochi. TAX RELIEF The Bombay High Court ruled in the case of Balaji Shipping UK Ltd that income derived from slot chartering would form part of the income from operation of ships. Consequently, it is exempt from tax in India under Article 9 of the India-UK Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). The assessee, an entity incorporated in the UK, was engaged in the business of international transportation of goods by sea. Cargo was transported from Indian ports to hub ports outside India under slot hire arrangements (SHA) with third-party owners. The hub ports would later ship it to destination ports outside India on owned/chartered vessel. DTAA PROVISIONS Distribution : daily to 22800+ active addresses 03-09-2012 Page 5 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 247 In certain cases, the assessee also transported cargo from Indian ports to final destination ports outside India, under a SHA. Under the Indian Income-Tax Act, 1961, income earned by a non-resident from the operation of ships is taxed on a presumptive basis. However, under Article 9 of the DTAA, income earned by a UK-based enterprise from operation of ships in international traffic is taxable only in that country. While applying the beneficial provisions of the DTAA, the assessee claimed that the income was not chargeable to tax in India. However, revenue authorities here were of the view that income from SHAs could not be regarded as income from ‘operation of ships.’ WITHIN AMBIT This should be restricted only to ships owned by the taxpayer and, accordingly, the benefits of the DTAA were not available. But the court held that the provision of Article 9 does not mandate that the ship should be owned by the tax payer. It merely requires the income to be ‘from the operation of ships in international traffic’. Accordingly, Article 9 of the DTAA includes within its ambit income from operation of ships ‘chartered’ or otherwise ‘controlled and managed’ by taxpayers. `Nexus to main business' The Bombay High Court held that the provisions of Article 9 of the India-UK Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) should not be construed in narrow sense to cover taxpayers, who own vessels. The court noted that slot hire agreements have a nexus to the main business of operation of ships and they are ancillary and compliment the main operations. The ruling lays down key guidelines regarding taxability of incomes from SHA, subject matter of prolonged litigation in India, Sherry Samuel Oommen of Kochi-based GyanMagnus Associates, said. “But it may be noted that the principles laid down here would apply only in a situation where incomes from SHA are ancillary to the business of operation of ships in international traffic,” Oommen said. They will not apply in a scenario of shipping companies operating primarily through such arrangements, he added. Source: The Hindu Business Line The TSHD ARTEVELDE entering the port of Zeebrugge - Photo : Dirk Neyts © PLEASE MAINTAIN YOUR MAILBOX, DUE TO NEW POLICY OF THE PROVIDER, YOUR ADDRESS WILL BE “DEACTIVATED” AUTOMATICALLY IF THE MAIL IS BOUNCED BACK TO OUR SERVER If this happens to you please send me a mail at [email protected] to reactivate your address again, please do not write this in the guestbook because I am not checking this guest book daily.