Seven Ukrainian crew of a general cargo vessel Nemo declared themselves on a hunger strike in prison  in Turkish town Derince, Marmara sea, demanding repatriation to Ukraine, says Ukrainian national newspaper Kyiv Post.

Two tugs stationed at UK Shetland’s oil port of Sullom Voe claimed to be two of the most powerful harbor tugs in the world with a bollard pull of 90 tones, have been taken out of service.

Brazil’s navy on Dec 29, 2011, called off an operation to unload fuel oil from the "Vale Beijing" due to unfavorable ocean conditions.

SteelOrbis reported that according to a statement released by the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association, in November this year Turkey's crude steel production rose by 12.8 % YoY to 2.85 million tonnes, but down by 7.6% MoM.

 Freight rail ferry "Avangard" (owner "Anship") with nuclear wastes on board will arrive soon from Bulgaria at the port of Kavkaz, Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus reports.

The world’s second and third-largest container shipping companies have announced the signature of a major agreement. The two family-owned companies, the Swiss- Italian MSC and France’s CMA CGM, today agreed to form a broad-based operating partnership spanning several trades, including Asia-Northern Europe, Asia-Southern Africa and all of the South American markets.

WORLD economic trends, particularly in the Europe, point to a recessionary slide in coming months, according a survey of 1,119 economic specialists from business and academic institutions in 119 countries conducted by the International Chamber of Commerce and Munich's Institute for Economic Research.