Singapore is fast becoming the biggest center for shipping and financing in the world:
Singapore watch dog is holding up acquisition of Drew Chemicalâs Marine Services by Wilhelmsen Maritime Services:
Wilhelmsen already took over Unitor some years back.
A well known, respected and liked person in Marine and Offshore circles in Singapore is moving on to do what he has always liked, writing. He will also share his many years of experience with others in the business and beyond:
I have had the honour of knowing him for many years and join the many that wish him the best for his future ventures.
We used to get loading instructions by light from the signal office at the top of the Fullerton Building, no VHF then. Where we anchored is now reclaimed. It was a great run ashore. I remember as second mate being told to get rid of a sounding machine by the master as we had just been fitted with an echo sounder.
On discovering it was bronze I sold it to a passing bum boat and throughly enjoyed myself on the proceeds.
You go back a long time. Maybe longer than me?
My first visit to Singapore was in 1959 (at the tender age of 15)
I started to regard Singapore as home in 1967, when I was 1st Officer on a small cargo ship trading from Singapore to Rumbai Base for PT Caltex Indonesia. (Near Pekanbaru, 90 miles up Siak River on Sumatra)
Singaporeâs first Container Terminal at Tanjong Pagar will be redeveloped soon.
A ceremony, involving the creation of the worldâs biggest image created by using shipping containers, was held a few days ago to celebrate itâs contribution to Singaporeâs economy over itâs 45 year history:
http://www.portfinanceinternational.com/categories/item/2839-psa-commemorates-southeast-asiaâs-first-container-terminal-at-tanjong-pagar-with-a-guinness-world-recordsâ˘
Here is a video showing how the âLion headâ image was put together:
The other day at yet another begging session in the courts or in front of bond holders, it was concluded that Ezra has about $35mil of realisable assets and $2bill in debt
Sembcorp and DNV-GL to cooperate on several innovative projects:
One of which may result in spare parts being printed on board, rather than carried in stock.
Sembcorp Marine in the news again. This time being fined for safety laps in a 2012 incident:
But also good news for Sembcorp. They won the contract to build the John Castberg FPSO for Statoil:
CARGOTEC, a traditionally Nordic company, has opened itâs HQ in Singapore after three years of having a âvirtualâ HQ there:
https://www.cargotec.com/en/nasdaq/trade-press-release-macgregor/2017/macgregor-celebrates-opening-of-its-head-office-in-singapore-/
Thome Group, one of the oldest Ship Management companies in Singapore is going modern, with a new Operation Hub in their Singapore HQ:
http://www.thome.com.sg/thome-opens-fleet-operations-hub/
From here they can follow every one of the 220-odd ships under their care 24/7-365.
The Singapore government have been and continue to bet big on container terminals:
Further to this discussion last year.
Could Durian come to a shop near you soon??:
I believe there are already a bit of Durian being traded from Thailand to US, specifically California?
My minders in Singapore in '85 gave me durian ice cream. They told me no European had ever liked the stuff and I wouldnât be the first. They were correct.
Your minders were just being polite to make you feel comfortable in a strange land.
There are lots of Europeans living in S.E.Asia that love the âKing of Fruitsâ, but it may be an acquired taste that take some time in Asia to acquire.
They were young, in their early twenties. I told them I didnât mind eating things I hadnât eaten before and they took that as a challenge of sorts.
They took me to the Happy Valley noodle soup restaurant, but not the Happy Valley shark fin soup restaurant. They fell over themselves laughing about this.
Are you sure you are talking about Singapore, not Hong Kong??
Happy Valley is where the famous Race Course in HK is situated, but there are some noodle restaurants and probably some that serve sharkâs fin soup as well.
Some of the more âexoticâ and expensive Chinese ingredients, like shark fins, birdâs nest, sea cucumbers and abalones are fairly tasteless by themselves. The taste comes from the condiments that goes in the soup.
In my young and tender days in the 1960âs the best sharkâs fin soup in Singapore could be had in a restaurant at Changi Beach called âSouth China Sea Beach Restaurantâ. (Now somewhere under runway 2 of Changi Airport)
But you had to know which cook was working, since the one that made the place famouse was off one day a week, usually on Thursdays.
We would drive out to Tuas Village for Ikan Bakar, then to Punggol Point for âlive prawnsâ and âlalaâ (clams) and to Bedok for Chilli Crabs, all in one evening. Ending up in Bugis Street for whatever Johnny was recommending that night/morning.
Sundays was either at Seaside Hotel in Katong for their famouse Curries, or Seaview Hotel in Pasir Panjang for their Chilli Crabs, after a boat trip for snorkeling in the Southern Island.
The boat would be put on by one of the Ship chandlers for the small Norwegian colony (all in Shipping) and came with a cooler box full of Anchor Beer and some soft drinks for the kids.
Those were the days when Singapore was an overgrown village and entrepot port, still dependent on the British former colonial master for jobs at their bases and shipyards, not the metropolis of today.
You may be able to smell it before you could see it though.
Never been to Hong Kong. The joke was that one of them was fabulously expensive and the other was extremely cheap.
This was in May of '85. There was still a remnant of the old city left, but it was a remnant.