KEVIN MAYHEW THE ZAMBIAN government has reduced duty on imported fuel in the hope that this will help to ease the fuel crisis caused by the closure of its main refinery for repairs that are behind schedule. Sources within Zambia however are somewhat mystified about how this will ease the shortage except to make available limited amounts of refined fuel that can hurriedly be imported mainly from South Africa. There are still reports of long queues for fuel, a situation that does not seem to be easing, they report. Zambian President, Levy Mwanawasa, has apparently told relevant government departments to get cracking to obtain refined fuel in the short term and the necessary materials to resolve the breakdown. He also wants them to find ways to prevent a similar situation occurring again. The shortages began after technical problems forced the closure of Zambia’s Indeni Oil Refinery in the Copperbelt 300 kms north of Lusaka. World container fleet set to grow by 12.9% ALAN PEAT THE LATEST figures from BRS Alphaliner forecast that the capacity of the world fleet of container ships will grow by 12.9% this year, with 8.2-million TEUs being added to the 2004 capacity. As of January 1, 2006, 3 646 ships with 8 241 000-TEU capacity will give annual growth of 12.9%. January 1, 2007, 4 008 ships, 9 525 000TEU, +15.6%. January 1, 2008, 4 437 ships, 10 932 000-TEU, +14.8%. January 1, 2009, 4 730 ships, 12 189 000-TEU, +11.5%. However, the 2008 and 2009 figures, the publication added, might actually be higher – as medium-sized tonnage can still be ordered for delivery in 2007, and similarly for 2008. There could also be further slippage in delivery times, with orders due for 2005 already postponed till next year – and this delivery delay could be experienced for each of the years under review. The best means of measuring the growth of the international fleet, the report added, might be to take the average growth figure for the period 2005 to 2008 – which is 14.4%. The report also stressed that fleet growth was much more prevalent in big container ships (over 4 000-TEU capacity), with 21.1% growth per annum, compared to only 8.8% for the smaller ships of under 4 000-TEU.
