Vancouver: Containership owner and manager Seaspan Corp reported strong profits for 2012 as utilisation rates held high along with a rise in ownership days.

Jakarta: Bulker casualties involving nickel ore cargo liquefaction have resulted in insurance claims of over $200m according a broker involved in one of the cases.  

Paris: Lars Lange, the Secretary General of the International Union of Maritime Insurance (IUMI), has written a letter calling for greater availability of port state inspection data from the Paris MoU to underwriters.

Singapore: South Korea's STX Pan Ocean will downgrade its listing status on the Singapore Exchange from 8 March 2013.

Bangkok: Thai box carrier Regional Container Lines (RCL) reported increased losses in 2012 along with a drop in liftings and significant vessel impairments.

Hong Kong: Financially-strapped Titan Petrochemicals rescue plans were overwhelmingly rejected by shareholders last week.

Rome: Product tanker company d'Amico International Shipping S.A. reported a net loss of $106m for 2012 after $85m of asset write downs hit its books.

New York: Ever-expanding Scorpio Tankers Inc. has exercised options for six product carriers at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. (HMD) in a deal worth around $195m.

Shanghai: Nanjing Tanker Corporation, through its subsidiary Nanjing Yangyang Chemical Transport, has entered into a sale and leaseback deal with CMB Financial Leasing regarding four chemical tankers.

Singapore: Sembmarine's rigbuilding PPL Shipyard has secured a repeat order for a jack-up rig from Malaysian upstream service provider Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd (Perisai).