Houston Port Commission has approved amending a USD100,000 professional services contract with Texas Transportation Institute to evaluate the indirect economic impacts of inadequate dredging of the Houston Ship Channel.

Peter Davie, Chief Executive at Lyttelton Port of Christchurch has sent us the following update: "Following further inspections from our engineers and civil maintenance staff we can advise fuel and essential supplies are expected to start flowing through the port from Saturday 26 February."

Contracts totaling more than USD2 million to upgrade software at Port Authority terminals and to expand network connectivity are among several matters that were approved by the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority. In his monthly report, Chief Executive Officer Alec G. Dreyer noted that January continued the relatively strong performance of December across all sectors of Port Authority business.

American Science and Engineering, Inc (AS&E) has been awarded a USD16.3 million order for multiple Z Backscatter vans (ZBV) for three agencies in a Latin American country, including existing ZBVT system users in law enforcement and customs, and the first AS&E purchase for the Latin American military organisation.

ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd (ABPmer) has developed a free tool for those marine conservation planners that are running Marxan software in parallel with ESRI ArcGIS 10, the latest upgrade of the popular GIS software suite. 

A maritime security alert has been issued for Somalia following a development in the relationship between pirate syndicates and radical Islamist organisation al-Shebaab. Pirates in the harbour town of Xaraardheere have agreed to pay 20% of their ransom money to al-Shebaab in exchange for being allowed to use the town as a base for their activity.

Peter Davie, Chief Executive at Lyttelton Port of Christchurch has sent us the following update. Following further inspections from our engineers and civil maintenance staff we can advise fuel and essential supplies are expected to start flowing through the port from Saturday 26 February.

The Australian port of Bundaberg is still closed following the flooding in January which caused siltation of the shipping channels and berth pockets and damage to navigational aids. The dredge "Brisbane" has arrived at the port and is expected to complete dredging operations this Friday. 

Hong Kong-based arl-shipping.com Limited and Dutch headquartered Esoware BV today announced they have teamed up to complement the two companies' offerings. Under the terms of the partnership the companies will work together to provide customers with more comprehensive container terminal solutions including both standard systems deployment and custom systems design and development.