OFFSHORE support vessel charter rates in the North Sea have doubled since the start of last week, with the largest anchor handlers securing 160,000 ($272,500) per day in an extremely tight market.

PANIC-fuelled traders have sent dry freight paper rates into freefall, amid growing fears that worsening conditions will see some counterparties default when October?s monthly settlements come.

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Liquidity problems hit oil

SUEZMAX tanker owners and oil companies are eagerly waiting for the November stems to emerge so fixture activity can increase, writes Martyn Wingrove.

WITH capesize rates continuing to plunge, brokers believe there is no obvious bottom to the abyss, writes Keith Wallis in Hong Kong.

CHINA?S falling demand for coal is expected to dampen domestic bulk shipping volumes, writes Sandra Tsui in Hong Kong.

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Price of litre of petrol tops 1 for first time in UK as oil surges on a North Sea storm. By Graeme Wearden.

The pound climbed to $2.10 for the first time since 1981 today, boosted by speculation that China was preparing to shift its foreign reserves out of dollars. By Graeme Wearden.

Market report: London shares resumed their downward trek today, knocked by volatile oil prices, a tumbling dollar, jitters around banks and more anxieties on Wall Street. By Katie Allen.

Virgin Media signals that era of upheaval marked by public rows with BSkyB is behind it as the cable TV company posts strongest customer growth in more than a year. By Katie Allen and Chris Tryhorn.

Henkel, the maker of Schwarzkopf hair products, plans to cut thousands of jobs when it completes its 2.7bn acquisition of ICI’s National Starch adhesives business early next year. By David Gow.

British bus and rail operator says soaring oil price forcing motorists out of their cars and on to public transport. By Dan Milmo.

Outlook at fashion chain Next ‘uncertain’ in run-up to Christmas, company warns. By Julia Finch.

Cable group Virgin Media added 13,000 new customers in the third quarter of the year. By Chris Tryhorn.

King: ‘No disagreement with chancellor’ Authorities knew savers had insufficient protection

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Top finance ministers promise to take “decisive action and use all available tools” to tackle the world economic crisis.

Struggling US car giants General Motors and Chrysler are in talks about a possible merger, US media say.

Venezuela shuts all branches of restaurant chain McDonald’s for 48 hours, citing tax irregularities, officials say.

News, explainers and analysis see full coverage of the global turmoil

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for falls in the price of oil to be passed on to consumers ‘as quickly as possible’.

President George W Bush vows to work “aggressively” to restore economic stability, as world stock markets tumble.

Bank-to-bank lending rates rise despite aggressive measures from governments worldwide to tackle the credit freeze.

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SOUTH Tyneside College has launched a new course to hammer home the hazards of entering an enclosed space at sea, writes Felicity Landon.

SHIPPING faces an upsurge in port and onshore labour disputes amid the worst global financial crisis since 1929, according to niche marine mutual the Strike Club.

NEXT week?s critical stockholders? meeting at Oceanaut, the blank cheque company sponsored by Excel Maritime Carriers, has been cancelled ?in light of market conditions? which threaten to undermine its transformational deal for a fleet of bulk carriers.

LONDON insurers should be as concerned about the impact from a catastrophic event in the Gulf of Aden as they are from spiralling ransom demands, a leading London market underwriter has said.

ONE of the five propeller blades of the German-owned CSCL Kelang was found to be missing when it drydocked at MWB shipyard in Bremerhaven. The Antiguan-flagged, 36,003 dwt, 2001-built container vessel was towed from Paranagu to Germany by the tug Sumatras on a six-week voyage after it suffered damage in a grounding off the Brazilian coast. Ralf Witthohn

GULF Marine, headed by the former Asian boss of Total Lubmarine, has entered the marine lubricants market to challenge the traditional dominance of existing firms such as Shell, Mobil and Chevron, writes Keith Wallis.

SOUTH Korea?s Busan Port Authority will break ground on it most ambitious project yet when it starts to convert cargo piers into an international cruise and passenger terminal and a business and tourist centre in November.

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Goliath task Ro-ro joins NYK
NYK?s 57,692 gt vehicle carrier newbuilding Goliath Leader lowers its 150- tonne SWL stern ramp to load German export cars destined for the Middle East while in Bremerhaven last week. The 4,950-car PCTC built by Stocznia Gdynia for Ray Group, and managed by Stamco, follows its sister vessels Graceful Leader und Glorious Leader. The vessels are part of a 45-ro-ro newbuilding programme, of which 17 will join the NYK fleet in 2008. By 2011 the total ro-ro fleet of the Japanese operator will have increased to 140 units. Ralf Witthohn

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Panama Canal services fees expected to surge
THE Panama Canal Authority will introduce a 7%-8% increase in the charges it levies for towage and line handlingservices in the waterway to compensate for the steep rise in fuel costs, writesRainbow Nelson.

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Chancellor Alistair Darling announces the details of a 50bn ($88bn) rescue plan for the UK banking system.

European stock markets open lower after steep falls in Asia amid fears of a prolonged global economic downturn.

The global economic downturn is likely to worsen as the financial crisis continues, says the International Monetary Fund.

India’s Tata Motors is to build the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, in Gujarat state following a row over land for its original site.

A subsidiary of UK defence giant BAE Systems has agreed to pay millions of dollars to the US government over defective body armour.

Icesave internet bank customers are warned they will probably have to claim compensation for money held in their accounts.

Shares on the main Arab stock markets fall sharply amid concern the financial crisis in the US and Europe is spreading to the Middle East.

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CONFUSION over where piracy risk should lie in marine insurance policies is a factor of the market?s evolution rather than any lack of appropriate wording, the Lloyd?s Market Association has said.

THE Grimaldi Group has launched a mandatory public offering for Crete-based Minoan Lines after amassing a 33% share in the company.

NEW York seems to have shut up shop in terms of extending new credit to shipowners, while European shipping banks are being a great deal more cautious about lending, according to financial markets sources.

UNILATERAL control of shipping is the last thing the industry needs and harmonisation is the only acceptable way forward.

COSCO Container Lines, K Line, Yang Ming Marine Transport and Hanjin Shipping ? the CKYH Alliance ? will be suspending their weekly Asia-East Mediterranean Express (EMX) service from mid-October due to slower demand on the trade, writes Sandra Tsui in Hong Kong.

KOREA Development Bank, the lead creditor in Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, is attempting to play hardball with bidders ahead of the proposed sale of the third largest shipbuilder, writes Mike Grinter.

CYPRUS Stock Exchange-listed Ocean Tankers has increased its fleet size to 15 vessels after taking delivery of the new double-hull, 15,500 dwt tanker Stavrodromi.

IN harsh economic times, it is perhaps only natural that a shipowner?s thoughts should turn to Darwin and questions of natural selection, writes John McLaughlin.

IN A dramatic turn of events the Fortis Group has been split up and sold off and will quit banking, writes Helen Hill.

INTERNATIONAL Maritime Organization secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos has opened the 58th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee with a call for delegates to adopt the amendments to Marpol Annex VI without delay, writes Neville Smith.

GERMAN KG financing house Conti has added its voice to the growing chorus of concern over the availability of bank loans for shipping, despite being broadly optimistic over the future of the shipping industry, writes Patrick Hagen in Cologne.

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