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DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230Baltic sea index falls further on lowervessel ratesThe Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index tracking rates for ships carrying dry commodities fell on Wednesday onsluggish activity and lower rates across vessel segments. The main index, which factors in the average daily earningsof capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, fell 22 points or 2.93 percent to 728 points,lows not seen since late February. The Baltic's capesize index dipped 27 points or 2.35 percent to 1,120 points.Earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, have fallen 89percent this year. "Capesize rates have collapsed post a small uptick in mid-July and continued to edge downwards.Ample tonnage supply and weak demand continues to weigh on spot rates," RS Platou Markets analyst Herman Hildansaid in a note. The Baltic's panamax index slipped 2 points to 801 points, with average daily earnings for panamaxesfalling 17 to 6,378 on Wednesday. Panamaxes usually transport 60,000 to 70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grains.Average daily earnings for handysize ships were down 99 to 7,317, while those for supramax ships were down 90to 8,956. "The smaller segments have seen a marginal pick up in fixture activity but not enough to stem the declinein rates," analyst Hildan said. Growing ship supply has been outpacing commodity demand for quite sometime nowand is widely expected to cap dry bulk freight rate gains in the coming months. The overall index, which gauges thecost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertilizer has fallen about 58 percent this year.Source: ReutersThe 2009-built 28,381dwt Hong Kong-flagged, geared bulker KOOMBANA BAY passing Zeebrugge inbound forTerneuzen on August 12. Photo : Graeme Ewens US must stop countries reflagging Iranships-lawmakersU.S. lawmakers urged the U.S. government to take action against Tuvalu and Tanzania, countries accused of floutingU.S. sanctions by putting their flags on Iranian tankers. Reflagging ships masks their ownership, which could make itDistribution : daily to 22675 active addresses17-08-2012Page 6

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230easier for Iran to obtain insurance and financing for the cargoes, as well as find buyers for the shipments withoutattracting attention from the United States and European Union. Howard Berman, the top Democrat on the HouseForeign Affairs Committee, said the South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu has helped Iran by "reflagging" 22 Iranian oiltankers, despite warnings that it could face U.S. sanctions. "I recommend that you . take aggressive action to changeTuvalu's policy of abetting Iran in evading U.S. sanctions," Berman said in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clintonand Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Berman said a U.S. bill signed into law this month authorized sanctionsagainst anyone who re-registers Iranian oil tankers. He did not specify what action should be taken, but noted that thelaw authorizes penalties. The United States has a longstanding ban on imports of Iranian oil and has imposed neweconomic sanctions that have curbed Iranian oil imports by most other major nations.The European Union banned Iranian oil imports as well as providing insurance for vessels carrying Iranian oil on July 1,part of international efforts to pressure Tehran to end a nuclear program the West believes is aimed at producingatomic bombs. While Berman focused on Tuvalu, in a separate letter Senators Robert Menendez and Mark Kirk calledfor sanctions against both Tuvalu and Tanzania for reflagging ships. "The actions of the Tanzanian and Tuvaluan shipregistries directly undermine the international community's ongoing diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from obtainingnuclear and ballistic missile technology, and appear to be in violation of the legislation you just signed into law,"Menendez and Kirk said in a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. The Tanzanian government said this week it wasin the process of de-registering 36 Iranian oil tankers that had been reflagged under the Tanzanian flag without thecountry's knowledge and approval. Berman warned the Tuvalu government against reflagging ships last month. Inresponse to the letter, Tuvalu confirmed it had registered National Iranian Tanker Company vessels, but said it wouldmonitor the vessels and take "appropriate action" against any Tuvalu flagged vessel that violated U.N. sanctions.Earlier this summer, Berman also called for Tanzania to stop reflagging Iranian ships. Ship registries provide income tothe countries. Tuvalu said in its response to Berman's initial letter that its ship registry is an "essential part" of itsincome. Source: ReutersColor Superspeed avoids collisionPhoto : Oskar OsmundsenOne of the COLOR SUPERSPEED ferries made a rather sharp turn to avoid collision - impressive pictures of it 1.8282468Source : NRK / Ferries Of NorthernEuropePersian Gulf-Japan LPG freight rates near10-month high on demand, congestionFreight for Very Large Gas Carriers plying the major Persian Gulf-Japan route with refrigerated LPG cargoes hasclimbed almost 9% in the past two weeks to 77/mt on rising demand for vessels in a contango market for LPG andcongestion at Indian and Thai ports, trade and shipping sources said. The rate on Tuesday was up from 71/mt onAugust 3 and the strongest in almost 10 months. The level was last higher on October 19 last year, when it touched 79/mt, and near a record peak of 81.50/mt on July 23, 2008, Platts data showed. "Yes, ships are being booked outquickly," one shipping source said. "The product market is in contango, so traders don't mind paying a dollar or two, Isuppose, to get a firm ship. There is positive sentiment from that." The front-month propane CP swaps structure hasbeen in contango since June 27, prompting traders to take ships to move FOB cargoes from the Persian Gulf in Julyand August - the ships take two to three weeks to reach Japan, so their LPG cargoes would be priced higher.Distribution : daily to 22675 active addresses17-08-2012Page 7

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230"Tasweeq has lots of FOB cargoes in August, but come September, they may ship out less due to maintenance,"another shipping source said. A 40-day turnaround planned at the Qatargas LNG train 5 is expected to limit spotavailability ex-Qatar for September, which traders said could curb the uptrend seen in freight rates. However, SaudiArabia could provide balance by restoring volumes next month to term lifters after limiting exports to just threecargoes for August during the fasting month of Ramadan. In the short term, the freight rate is expected to continuerising this week to 80/mt, shipping sources added. Traders also said the slow pace of loading in India, where shipshave to load at more than one port, is leading to longer demurrage periods. "Freight has long demurrage of aboutthree weeks in India," one trader said.Another source said forecast a number of ships would be delayed over August to September in India. "In Thailand,there is also a big delay, due to congestion, for about two weeks," the source added. Traders said despite rising freightcosts, sellers were able to make a healthy profit on shipments, as cash premiums to Saudi Aramco's Contract Price forpropane are currently hovering around 80/mt. Qatar's state-owned Tasweeq last week sold 22,000 mt of propane ata premium of 85/mt to Saudi Aramco's September CP for propane on a CFR basis to a Japanese trader, sources said.The CFR premium to the front-month propane Contract Price swap for propane cargoes deliverable along theSingapore-Japan route 30-45 days forward hit a 19-week high of 88/mt on July 26. Source: PlattsThe 2008-built TSHD ARTEVELDE working off Zeebrugge in August – Photo : Graeme Ewens China ‘Golden Years’ Are Gone asGrowth Slows, Vale SaysDistribution : daily to 22675 active addresses17-08-2012Page 8

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230China’s “golden years” are gone as economic growth at the world’s second-biggest economy slows, said an official atVale SA (VALE5), the top iron-ore producer. Vale, which shipped about 44 percent of its iron ore and pellets toChinese steelmakers in the second quarter, expects the country to start to recover by the end of the year, saidRoberto Castello Branco, the Rio de Janeiro-based company’s director of investor relations. Vale sees some “earlysignals” of recovery, which are still “very weak,” he said.“We are not going to see the spectacular growth rates of 10, 12 percent per year,” Castello Branco said at theBloomberg Brazil Economic Summit in Rio today. “The golden years are gone.” Iron-ore prices dropped to the lowestsince Dec. 2009 yesterday on slower growth in China, the biggest user of the steelmaking ingredient, and a weakeroutlook for the global economy. Vale said on July 25 that second-quarter profit plummeted 59 percent, missinganalysts’ estimates for the fourth time in the past five quarters, after prices for minerals and metals declined.Chinese policy makers cut their expansion target to 7.5 percent from the 8 percent goal in place since 2005, PremierWen Jiabao said on March 5. Wen, 69, is trying to reduce China’s reliance on exports and boost consumption as hehands power to a younger generation of leaders this year. The economy grew 7.6 percent in the second quarter, theslowest pace since 2009. “We are not pessimistic about China, but we are not over- bullish,” Castello Branco said.“We are just realistic.”Ore RisesThe price of ore with 62 percent iron content for immediate delivery to the Chinese port of Tianjin rose 0.4 percent to 113.30 a ton today, according to a price index compiled by The Steel Index Ltd. The price, which rose to as much as 191.90 per ton last year, lost 18 percent during 2012. Vale is “very negative” about the prospects for growth inEurope, Castello Branco said. Europe bought about 20 percent of Vale’s iron ore and pellets shipments in the secondquarter. Vale will remain the “undisputed” global iron-ore leader as it develops projects including its 8.04 billion SerraSul expansion at the Carajas mine, in northern Brazil, Castello Branco said. Serra Sul, which will add 90 million metrictons of capacity starting in the second half of 2016, will allow Brazil to recover iron-ore market share lost to Australiain recent years, he said. Vale shares dropped 3.8 percent to 36.24 reais at the close of trading in Sao Paulo today, thebiggest fall since July 24. The stock declined 7.5 percent in the past 12 months. Source: BloombergKustwachtvaartuig ‘Visarend’ treftbultrug walvisAfgelopen dinsdag spotte het Kustwachtvaartuig ‘VISAREND’ in de nabijheid van de Eurogeul, de vaargeul naarRotterdam, een bultrug walvis, die met een grote sprong uit het water kwam. Aangezien het beest de scheepvaart vanen naar Rotterdam zou kunnen hinderen, heeft de ‘VISAREND’ de walvis met succes zuidwaarts geleid.Photo : ‘Kustwachtvaartuig ‘Visarend’ - Ton van IJperen ALSO INTERESTED IN THIS FREE MARITIME NEWSCLIPPINGS ?PLEASE VISIT THE WEBSITE :WWW.MAASMONDMARITIME.COMAND REGISTER FOR FREE !Distribution : daily to 22675 active addresses17-08-2012Page 9

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230The Bahama’s flagged DISNEY MAGIC departing from St John, New Brunswick.Photo : René Serrao , Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia (c)The MSC OPERA in Flam (Norway) – Photo : F. Caspers (c)Ship diverts to Australia, fearing asylumseekersThe captain of a merchant ship bound for Singapore changed course for Australia for fear that desperate asylumseekers he had rescued in Indonesian waters would attack his crew, an official said Thursday. Home Affairs MinisterJason Clare said the 67 would-be refugees could be deported to tent camps on the Pacific states of Nauru or PapuaDistribution : daily to 22675 active addresses17-08-2012Page 10

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230New Guinea under new laws due to passed by the Senate on Thursday aimed at deterring growing numbers of asylumseekers from attempting to make the dangerous journey to Australia by boat. The asylum seekers were still near themain Indonesian island of Java in a crowded fishing boat headed for the Australian territory of Christmas Island, 400kilometers (250 miles) to the south, when they made a distress call to Australian rescue authorities early Mondaymorning, Clare said.The Australian authorities alerted all merchant shipping in the area, and Norwegian car carrier MV Parsifal was thefirst to respond. Having fulfilled his obligation under maritime law to rescue the asylum seekers, the captain orderedhis crew to continue to Singapore, the ship's intended destination. "When the asylum seekers on the boat found outabout this, they became very aggressive and the master of the ship made the decision to turn the vessel around andhead to Christmas Island," Clare told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. The captain, who has not been named,radioed the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to explain his decision."He made the point that he was concerned for his crew's safety and therefore decided to take the ship to ChristmasIsland," Clare said. Clare said he did not have details of the behavior of the asylum seekers, reported by The WestAustralian newspaper to be Middle Eastern men. But he was concerned that a ship's crew could feel threatened afterrescuing seafarers in distress. "It shows you just how dangerous it can be out on the high seas when you've gotdesperate people doing dangerous things," Clare said.The asylum seekers were delivered to the immigration detention center on Christmas Island late Tuesday, hours afterthe government warned that any new boat arrivals could be sent to Nauru, a tiny atoll, or an island off Papua NewGuinea, Australia's nearest neighbor, to have their refugee claims assessed. The minor Greens party has condemnedthe plan as cruel.Clare said military reconnaissance teams would fly to Papua New Guinea on Thursday and Nauru on Friday to plan thenew detention camps. He expects the first asylum seekers to be sent to Nauru within a month, although an agreementhas yet to be finalized with that country's government. More than 7,600 asylum seekers — many from war-torncountries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka — have reached Christmas Island in more than 100 boats so farthis year. A surge in boat arrivals and the deaths of more than 600 asylum seekers at sea in the past three years hasprompted a tougher government stance. Source : mysanantonio.comCASUALTY REPORTINGVessel runs aground, blocks shippingThe largest freighter in the Great Lakes is hard aground in the downbound channel of the St. Marys River. The 1,013foot Paul R. Tregurtha initially grounded at the ship’s bow early Wednesday on the west side of Neebish Island inthe vicinity of what is commonly known as the “Rock Cut.” The ship pivoted and the stern also became grounded,according to Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, who wasnotified at 3:10 a.m.Initial reports provided by the Coast Guard indicated no pollutionor injuries reported s a result of the grounding, but there issome damage to the ship. The freighter’s stability is currentlyunaffected, the Coast Guard said. The Paul R. Tregurtha, ownedby Interlake Shipping Company of Cleveland, Ohio, is carryingapproximately 62,000 tons of coal. As of Wednesday afternoon,the vessel was reportedly hard aground at its bow and stern andthe ship spans the width of the shipping channel.Coast Guard Station Sault Ste. Marie transported respondingpersonnel to the grounded freighter at approximately 6 a.m.Wednesday to assess the situation and determine the extent ofany structural damage to the vessel. Coordinators at the SectorSault Ste. Marie Command Center say they are in constant communication with the vessel’s crew and with respondersaboard the ship. The Sector Sault Ste. Marie Vessel Traffic Service has limited vessel traffic to portions of the St. MarysRiver as a result of the grounding. Sector personnel are working with the vessel’s owner representatives and the CoastGuard Marine Safety Center, and the Salvage Engineering Response Team to determine the safest approach to refloating the vessel. Source : Cheboygan NewsDistribution : daily to 22675 active addresses17-08-2012Page 11

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230NAVY NEWS36 YEARS SERVICE OF THE WESTLAND LYNXThe Royal Netherlands Navy SH-14D Lynx283 aboard the De Zeven Provincien ClassFrigate Hr.Ms. EVERTSEN F805 whilst on ashort visit to the Grand Harbour, Malta onSaturday 11th August, 2012 of which willretire soon after 36 years of service.Photo’s : Capt. Lawrence Dalli - www.maltashipphotos.com Russia to send navy ships to KurilsRussia has announced that it will send two navy vessels to the disputed Kuril islands in the Pacific, which are known asthe Northern Territories by Japan. The Russian Defence Ministry said the Pacific fleet ships are scheduled to travelbetween August 25 and September 17. The ships will visit three of the four islands to take part in ceremonieshonouring Soviet sailors who died there at the end of World War Two. The dispute has strained relations between theRussia and Japan and prevented them from signing a formal peace treaty. Japan says the islands are part of itsterritory and wants Moscow to hand them over but Russia has rejected those demands. Dmitry Medvedev made thefirst visit to the islands as a Russian president in 2010 and went there again last month, this time as prime minister.Source : XinhuatnetRussian Nuclear Sub Sailed off U.S.Coast Undetected for WeeksA Russian nuclear attack submarine sailed undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for weeks, a report said Tuesday, its travelin strategic U.S. waters discovered only after it left. The Washington Free Beacon, citing unnamed sources, said thevoyage was only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack sub has ventured so close to U.S. shores."The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursionsinto restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertivenessby Moscow," the publication reported on its Web site. The Russian patrol managed to expose deficiencies in U.S. antisubmarine warfare capabilities, American officials said, according to the report. Some of those forces responsible foranti-submarine warfare and detection are targeted for cuts over the Obama administration's plan to slice nearly 500Distribution : daily to 22675 active addresses17-08-2012Page 12

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 230billion from the Pentagon's budget over the next 10 years. The Navy is responsible for detecting and tracking foreignsubmarines. The service uses undersea sensors and satellites to locate and track them, the Beacon reported. Thereport said the Russian submarine was an Akula class, a nuclear-powered attack vessel initially developed by theformer Soviet Union in the 1980s to counter the U.S. Navy's Los Angeles class subs."The Akula class is the follow on to the Victor III and remains the most capable Russian attack submarine until thenewer Yasen class is commissioned," said a description from the Web site WeaponSystems.net. According to theBeacon, one U.S. official said the Russian submarine operated off the U.S. coast for a month. "The Akula was built forone reason and one reason only: To kill U.S

Above photo can also be seen in high resolution in the Maasmond Maritime Flickr photo album , just click . here . DAILY COLLECTION OF MAR ITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 - 230 Distribution : daily to 22675 active addresses 17-08-2012 Page 2 Your feedback is important to me so please drop me an email if you have any photos or .