Shipping Industry

It was a calm and unremarkable night, but three Fridays ago the Queen Elizabeth II gently ran aground. No one was hurt, but 1,850 itineraries were thrown into limbo. And in the wee hours of a weekend night, the top officials of the Cunard Line, operator of the ship, had to confront a recurrent riddle that tests every cruise line now and again: What price do you put on a customer's discomfort?

Joined by a chorus of California and local officials, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer accused federal air regulators Thursday of stalling on rules for highly polluting ocean vessels and said Congress must act instead.

California industries on Monday painted a grim picture of what would happen under the Clinton Administration's far-reaching plan to clean up the Los Angeles region's smog, saying it would force airlines, truckers, railroads and ships to severely reduce transport of cargo and passengers. The assessment came as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency kicked off a week of hearings to gauge reaction to its sweeping anti-smog strategy. The proposal marks the first time the federal government has stepped into the decades-long fray over how to clean up the region's air pollution.

It's a cruise vacation, promising lots of fine dining and drinking, new adventures and relaxation. What could go wrong? As the 4,200 people aboard the cruise ship Costa Concordia found, just about everything. The Jan. 13 capsizing of the Concordia off the coast of Italy, in which at least 11 people died, caught the world - including the cruise ship industry and its passengers - off guard and is shining a spotlight on cruise ship safety concerns. Is it possible for today's megaships - some hold as many as 6,000 passengers - to deal effectively with emergencies?

Attacks on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf during 1987 increased by more than 50% over the previous year, with devastating effects on the shipping industry, Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar said in a report published today. Based largely on information obtained from the London-based International Maritime Organization, the report listed 167 attacks between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 1987.

A 24-hour strike by Australian dock workers left the country's major ports idle Friday, a shipping industry official said. The strike by an estimated 10,000 waterfront workers, which started at midnight Thursday, would cost shipping companies about $1 million, the official said. About 60 ships in 11 ports were affected by the stoppage, said Assn. of Employers of Waterside Labor official Gerry Johnstone. Passenger vessels, perishable cargoes and livestock were exempted from the dispute.

Todd Shipyards Corp., the nation's biggest independent shipbuilder, today filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. Todd said the bankruptcy petition also applied to its subsidiary, Todd Pacific Shipyards, but not to its Aro Corp. unit, which manufactures air-powered tools and has not been affected by the troubles in the shipping industry.

APL Ltd. said its $825-million acquisition by Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. has been completed, creating one of the world's largest shipping and container companies. APL will maintain its headquarters in Oakland and will become a Neptune subsidiary. The move comes amid a wave of consolidation in the shipping industry, as competition toughens and rates fall. Neptune Orient and APL said the combined company will have a broader reach and greater flexibility to cut costs.