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Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd, an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and a provider of worldwide seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, announced today that the Board of Directors has increased the Company's minimum annualized dividend guidance to $1.60 and has set the 2008 minimum annualized dividend guidance to $1.20. This guidance would result in a minimum quarterly dividend of $0.40 per common share beginning with the dividend declared for the second quarter of 2008. Mr. Molaris stated, "We are very pleased with our Board's decision to double distributions to our shareholders.

Ocean Tankers, the company that is ferrying water to Cyprus began filling their vessel in Greece and was due to set sail for Limassol Monday night, the company's chairman Michael Ioannides said. At a news conference in Nicosia, Ioannides said the first tanker should set sail late on Monday with 50,000 cubic metres of water on board. Work to fill up the tanker, which began Sunday was to take around 24 hours The ship will take 41 hours to reach Limassol and is due to dock at 6pm on Monday.

Representatives of major transpacific liner carriers met with U.S. exporters earlier this week to discuss the dilemma many are faced with getting their products to market because of a lack of capacity on containerships.

Russian oil export duty could exceed $495 per ton from August 1, a deputy head of the Finance Ministry customs payment department Alexander Sakovich according to PRIME-TASS.

The six-year West Coast dockworkers contract is set to expire tomorrow, but the unions and shipping organisations insist the ports will not be disrupted.

Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has declined to comment on rumours that it was planning to borrow US$5 billion or more to buy rival shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd.

Crude oil may fall next week because of rising supplies and declining fuel demand in the U.S., the country responsible for almost a quarter of global consumption. Eleven of 24 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, or 46 percent, said prices will decline through July 3.

Development of Vadarevu and Nizampatnam ports and industrial corridor in the coastal area of Prakasam and Guntur districts will boost the industrial growth and create employment opportunities, according to Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Pepsi Bottling Ventures is investing US$25 million to install new equipment in its Raleigh, North Carolina, plant to reduce shipping costs for its bottled water, reported The News & Observer.

The Famous Pacific Shipping group is enhancing its presence in the Czech Republic through the appointment of a general agent to serve the buoyant marketplace.

Samudera Shipping Line received the 1,740-TEU Sinar Sumba from Guangzhou before its maiden deployment from Hong Kong in its new Korea-China-Malaysia service (KMS) this month.

Emirates Shipping Line is participating in the Art Container Project, an international project showcasing Hong Kong's home-grown arts and culture to different parts of the world.

Bayonne Bridge, the world's third longest steel arch bridge that connects Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island, New York, spanning the Kill van Kull, is said to be too low to accommodate large containerships.

OOCL will join the Indamex service by providing it the 4,578-TEU OOCL Kobe that will replace the 4,367-TEU CMA CGM Eiffel, which will soon depart to join the French shipping line's EPIC service, reports AXS Alphaliner News.

Air France-KLM, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, SAS AB and Martinair Holland NV have collectively been fined US$504 million by the US Justice Department for price-fixing air cargo in violation of competition laws.

Logistics firm GreenCarrier Asia, part of the Bjork Eklund Group, has appointed Peter Chu as managing director and will be tasked with developing the company's operations in Greater China.

Member lines of the Oceania Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA), namely Hamburg Sud, Hapag-Lloyd, and Maersk Line, along with ANL-USL plan to restructure their existing services between the west coast of North America and Australia/New Zealand.

During the first five months, southwest China's Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone achieved a trade value of $2.5 billion, surging 83.4 per cent over the same period in the preceding year, Xinhua reported.

Italy's Friuli Venezia Giulia Region held a port promotion conference on June 18 in Shanghai to introduce a full-set of services of Trieste port in the field of container multi-modal transportation.

China's Ministry of Communications has announced regulations compelling individuals who own ships larger than 600 tonnes to incorporate themselves.