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News
SCI
board to have 4 more independent directors
Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), has decided to increase the
strength of its board of directors from 12 to 16 by inducting
four independent directors. The move to expand the board is based
on the requirement of Section 49 (a) of the Companies Act, 1956,
which clearly states that about half the directors on a listed
company's board should be independent directors. At
present, the board comprises of 12 directors, six from the Corporation,
two government nominees and four are independent directors. The
company is seeking shareholders' approval for expansion of the
board at an extraordinary general meeting scheduled on March 21
2002.
GE
Shipping raises Rs 75 crore through preference shares Great
Eastern Shipping has raised Rs. 75 crore through a preference
share issue, privately placed with Unit Trust of India (UTI),
HDFC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. Of the total issue, the
Unit Trust of India (UTI) has subscribed Rs 30 crore, while Standard
Chartered Bank and HDFC Bank has subscribed to Rs 20 crore of
shares each. These shares have tenure of four years and carry
a dividend of 10.5 per cent. The issue has a 'call' option at
the end of three years. The company is believed to be currently
working on a long-term plan of restructuring the company's balance
sheet by reducing its equity capital and creating a mezzanine
capital by way of preferential issue of shares. The shareholders
of GE Shipping had cleared the resolution for issue of preference
shares of Rs 10 each at its extraordinary general meeting held
in December last year.
Shanghai
to build $ 12 billion mega deepwater port A new
$ 12 billion deep-water port is being developed at a small offshore
island location, which is expected make Shanghai a pre-eminent
hub port in the region. In the first phase, construction of a
32-kilometer six to eight-lane bridge to the island location will
commence by end of March 2002. The plan for the mega port would
involve construction of 50 container berths connected to the mainland
by the bridge. The first phase of the project, including construction
of the bridge and five terminal berths is estimated to cost $
1.6 billion. The mega project has aroused the interest among the
world’s shipping and container companies, looking for share
in the project pie. However, Chinese authorities are not too keen
on foreign financial participation in the first phase of the project.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai port over the last two years has risen
from the world’s 10th biggest container port in 1998 to fifth
largest position in 2001, overtaking Rotterdam port. The new mega
port project, when implemented will catapult Shanghai to the position
of third largest port in the world, next perhaps only to Singapore
and Hong Kong.
Goa
Shipyard launches indigenously designed patrol vessel
The Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) has recently launched an indigenously
designed coastguard patrol vessel, with a speed of 35 knot. The
48-meter long vessel with a displacement of 260-T designed for
conducting anti-smuggling, anti-terrorist operations, fisheries
protection, searches and rescue mission has a minimum endurance
of 1,500 nautical miles. The patrol vessel can also support Navy
during wartime as a coastal convoy escort and a communication
link. The vessel is the fastest in its category and completely
designed and manufactured by Goa Shipyard. The vessel is fitted
with 30 mm gun forward, machine guns on port, starboard and state-of-the-art
navigation and communication equipment. The high-speed vessel
is powered by three 2720 KW MTU diesel engines driving independent
Kamewa water jets. Fully air conditioned accommodation is provided
for 35 men on board. GSL has also commissioned a new slipway at
its Yard and can now take up major repair jobs of ships in the
dry dock area.
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