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Ports

Ivory Coast: More ships to San Pedro

Economic recovery is on its way in Ivory Coast. Traffic of goods at Ivory Coast’s second-biggest port, San Pedro, doubled by the end of September to 2.4 million metric tons from a year earlier because of increased transshipments, according to the marketing director Guy Manoi. Transshipments already boost in traffic. About 3.5 million tons of goods are

expected to be handled by the year’s end, almost double 2011’s 1.8 million tons. The port has an annual capacity of 5 million tons.Total exports amounted to 740,000 tons through September. San Pedro was built in the western cocoa-producing region and handles shipments of the chocolate ingredient.

Ghana: Takoradi port to get improved

Late October, President John Dramani Mahama announced that government would build two additional berths at the Takoradi Harbour to accommodate more ships as a result of the oil extraction in the area. The government is likely to build a mini-harbour at Domuli in the Western Region to increase the intake of ships and goods. The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) will start expansion works at the Takoradi Port as part of measures to decongest the ports

in the country. Mr Kumi Adjei-Sam, Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager of the GPHA indicated that a contract had being signed with China Harbour Engineering and Jan de Nul for the expansion and dredging works respectively. The Takoradi Port, which currently has four multi-purpose berths and two dedicated berths for manganese and bauxite, will have more space after the expansion. The Tema Port would also undergo expansion after the Takoradi project is completed.

Port Mauritius to become a hub ?

The Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) signed on October 29th a loan agree-ment to the tune of Rs 1.3 billion with the Agence Française de Developpement for the extension and strengthening of the Mauritius Container Terminal. The

European Union has allocated a grant of Rs 20 million through the EU Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund Grant for the financing of the environmental and social aspects of the project. A Sovereign Gua-rantee Agreement has also been signed

NEWSLETTERNOVEMBER 2012

December Bank

holidays:1st : Cameroon, Chad

3rd : Ghana

9th : Tanzania

10th : Namibia

11th : Burkina faso

12th : Kenya

16th : South Africa

18th : Niger

25th : Christmas day

26th : Guinea, kenya,

Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra

Leone, South Africa,

Tanzania,

31th : Ghana

Events November 25-28, Dubaï, The business of shipping 2012

http://www.seatrade-academy.com/index.php/the-business-of-shipping

December 4-5, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Breakbulk South America Congress

http://breakbulkevents.com/index.php?section=breakbulk_south_america2012

January 28th, 2013, Maritime week in Africa

http://petrospot.com/events/2013/201301_MWAfrica/profile.asp

March 12-15, 2013, Breakbulk China 2013, Shanghai, China

http://breakbulkevents.com/index.php?section=bb_china2013

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Ports

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Energy,

Oil & Gas

Industry

Mauritius: A hub.....? (followed)

with the Government of Mauritius, gua-rantor for the loan. The first phase of the extension project at a total cost of around Rs 4.3 billion is in line with Government’s endeavor to establish Port Louis Harbour as a hub in the region. Construction works will start in early 2013 with: the extension of the existing 560 metres quay by 240 metres, strengthening of the existing quay, expansion of the container stacking yard by 6.5 hectares, construc-tion of bunds and shore protection at Fort George and Fort William, dredging of the navigational channel at Mer Rouge to 16.5 metres and 18 metres at the Quay. The project is expected to be completed by end 2015 and will benefit Port Louis Harbour as a transshipment hub in the

region. It will be recalled that regarding transshipment traffic, in 2011, the port handled some 115 584 TEUs and an increase of 45% is expected to reach about 168 000 TEUs by the end of 2012. Container vessels are also expected to increase by 20%.Port-Louis runs as an export-import port for Mauritius (for example, imports from South Africa, and exports to Madagas-car) and as a transshipment port for containers (using feeders on the links between Mauritius and the other Indian Ocean islands). By improving its infras-tructure, Port Louis seeks to continue attracting transshipment traffic resulting from large vessel calls.

More gasoline shipments to Africa

European traders may increase gasoline shipments to West Africa, Brazil and other regions this November, taking advantage of a diversion of U.S. Gulf Coast cargoes from these areas to the Northeast after storm Sandy. A rare waiver allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil products to the U.S.

Northeast, where shortages have caused long lines at the pump, has led several companies to ship fuel there from the Gulf of Mexico. The waiver has been applied to the loading of oil products from the Gulf of Mexico until November 13th and the delivery to ports in the Northeast by November 20th.

Oil & environment in Madagascar

Soon, the world’s fourth-largest island off the southeastern coast of Africa will be known more for heavy oil than it is known.The rising prices of oil on world markets, coupled with new technologies aim to turn the Indian Ocean island into a significant oil producer. Experts estimate that out of the 600,000 square miles that make up Madagascar, half of the island is covered by the heavy oil-rich sedimen-tary basins of Morondava, Majunga and Ambilobe.Tsimiroro, extremely remote, has proven reserves of 1.7bn barrels of heavy oil - buried some 100m to 200m beneath the mountainous region. A few dozens of barrels a day are produced with the objective of reaching 1,000 barrels a day during 2013. But unlike

light crude oil, the hydro carbon in Tsimi-roro is hard to extract. A pilot scheme is due to start in the next months to validate high-tech methods needed to extract it. Oil could play a part in helping the island deal with deforestation. It is estimated that rain forests have shrunk to less than a quarter of their former size. By boosting the economy, electricity could be instal-led and the production of local oil products could halt the use of charcoal. For Madagascar Oil, its next key step is to make what is called a "declaration of commerciality" which will show the project is viable and will help attract bigger investors and partners for future production.

Equatorial Guinea : Projects for Bata

The reconstruction and extension of Bata Port is a project under the coopera-tive framework agreement between the governments of China and Equatorial Guinea. With a full length of 570.5 meters, a width of 163.65 meters, a water depth of -14.5 meters and a coast-line of 500 meters, the terminal, a jetty in

gravity caisson structure, has five berths, including two 50000t berths, two 35000t berths and one 10000t berth. The project is of great significance to improving the throughput of the port in Equatorial Guinea, boosting the moder-nization level of the port and pushing forward local social and economic deve-lopment.

Raw

Material

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Raw

Materials

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Agriculture

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Energy,

Oil & Gas

Industry

Pipeline and gas resources

With rising demand and advances in technology, major gas projects are beco-ming both increasingly attractive and commercially viable and the race to ensure the world’s top gas producing regions can realize the potential of their vast resources is on.Formed in 1957, the Guild's membership comprises those with interests in pipe-lines worldwide, transporting hydrocar-bon products, chemicals, water, wastewater, both on and offshore. All are governed by the industry's twin need to combine quality with safety, while at the same time meeting all the latest environ-mental and legislative requirements. According to Dr Cheryl Burgess, its General Director "..Pipelines are the hidden assets of the industry ... they are a vital part of the infrastructure for the upstream, midstream and downstream elements of the sector..". With open access and attractive leasing terms, Africa’s oil and natural gas resources continue to attract a broad spectrum of investors, according to a new report from Ernst & Young Natural

gas in Africa, The frontiers of the Golden

Age launched at Africa Oil & Gas Week. Recently, the sector’s growth has been concentrated in West Africa, with the huge associated gas resources that accompanied the deepwater oil boom, led by Nigeria and Angola. While the West African gas growth will continue as flaring is reduced and local gas infras-tructure is developed, the big future for African gas lies in the East of Africa with the massive offshore gas discoveries in East Africa, particularly in Mozambique and Tanzania. The ramp-up in E&P (Exploration & Production) activity brings opportunity for the oilfield services (OFS) segment, but also for local and regional companies that can contribute to the supply chains and to the associated upstream support infrastructure. The broader infrastructure build-out could also include massive export facilities, as in the case of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but also smaller projects such as pipelines and gas distribution networks to support local/regional domestic gas demand.

Japan's interests in Mozambique

Japan signed a memorandum of unders-tanding with Mozambique as it ramps up its hunt for new sources of energy. Japan gets over 60 % of its thermal coal and 20 % of its natural gas from Australia. Recently, Japan asked Mozambique to speed up the awarding of a coal mining concession to its Nippon Steel, which plans to begin producing both coking coal for steel and thermal coal to fire power plants back home by 2014. Nippon holds a 33-% stake in the project

mooted for the Moatize basin, one of the largest untapped coal reserves in the world. Japan has also come to rely hea-vily on natural gas imports since the earthquake. It is facing soaring prices as they are index-linked to oil prices.Meantime Japan's Mitsui Corporation has partnered with US-based Anadarko to exploit up to 30-trillion cubic feet of gas discovered in deep water off Mozam-bique's northern coast. The plant is to come on stream by 2018.

Namibia: uranium & diamonds

Approximately 65 km north-east of Swa-kopmund, the Trekkopje mine is expec-ted to become the largest uranium mine in Southern Africa and the 10th largest in the world.The first 250 tonnes of uranium in the form of dried sodium diuranate (SDU), produced in the Erongo Region, are ready for shipment from Walvis Bay to Areva's uranium treatment subsidiary in France. Full-scale production at the mine was initially planned to begin in 2011 but was postponed to this year because of a slump in uranium prices

over the past two years and the com-plexity of the project. Early November, Afri-Can Marine Mine-rals Corporation signed a charter agree-ment for the vessel mv DP The Explorer with International Mining and Dredging Holding Ltd. to carry out a diamond sam-pling program on the Exclusive Prospec-ting Licence 3403 Marine Diamond-Concession. The program is expected to start on or about November 25th, and will last for at least 14 days and extract a minimum of 250 samples. The priorities

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Agriculture

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Namibia (followed)

of the program are to begin delineation of the diamond potential and inferred resources in targeted areas of the diamondiferous features already identi-fied. EPL 3403 covers approximately 800 square kilometres and is adjacent to the north of the Atlantic One Mining Lease (“ML”) 47 owned by Namdeb Diamond

Corporation (Pty) Limited, a partnership between the Government of the Repu-blic of Namibia and De Beers Centenary AG. ML 47 is the largest marine diamond deposit in the world and is currently producing in excess of 1,100,000 carats per year.

Ivory Coast : Cocoa new system

Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast, the world's largest producer with 35% of the world's production, began the 2012-2013 season in October with a minimum price guaranteed by the state. This measure, part of the government's sector-wide reforms, should make farmers less prone to the vagaries of international cocoa prices, giving them more financial stability so they can invest in their cocoa plantations. Some 900,000 farmers grow cocoa and 3.5 million of the country's 22 million inhabitants live directly off the crop. Prices have now been fixed at 725 CFA (US$1.41) per kilogram, a 9 % increase on 2011-2012 average producers' income. The price is equivalent to 60 % of the international price at which cocoa is exported. Producers have widely welcomed the price announcement. The set price should encourage people to invest,

expand their plots, buy new fields, or maintain them using fertilizers and insec-ticides, cocoa farmers in Abengourou in eastern Ivory Coast. The government also hopes the higher price will improve the quality of the beans, which is often eroded because farmers do not dry them sufficiently in the rush to get them to market when prices are higher. Cocoa production hit a record 1.5 million tons in the 2010-2011 season, declining by 2 % in 2011-2012 mainly due to poor wea-ther. The state has also announced it will purchase 70-80 % of the harvest in advance, in a bid to make both its own revenue and that of farmers more predic-table. The CCC announced that 368 CCC officers and 500 agents from the National Agency to Support Rural Deve-lopment (ANADER) have been deployed across the country to ensure buyers and intermediaries are respecting prices.

Kenya: Agriculture in the city

According to the United Nations Environ-ment Programme, headquartered in Nairobi, cities in Africa are growing faster than anywhere else. Cows, goats and chickens are part of that growth, espe-cially in informal settlements on the urban periphery. One in 80 Dagoretti households keeps cattle, with an average of three per household, accor-ding to the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). "The dairy sector is a rapidly growing area with the potential to feed urban populations," declared Dr. Amos Omore, a veterinary epidemiologist with ILRI. "If it is given the necessary support, it can contribute a good share of revenue to a country's GDP." The meat, milk and eggs produced or sold by city households produce revenue and protection from food-price volatility, as well as improved

food-price volatility, as well as improved nutrition and health. Thanks in part to those benefits, the government of Kenya has decided to post veterinary, animal production and crop personnel in major urban centres. Their job is to promote keeping animals and growing food crops in the often densely packed edges of expanding cities - and to do so in ways that protect public health. City residents spend about 40 % of their income on food, and milk is third on their list, after wheat and maize, according to ILRI. Almost 80 % of Kenya's milk is produced by small farmers. The Kenyan government recently joined the international Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and will hold a launch sympo-sium next month.

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Rail & Road

Projects

Industry

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Tanzania to boost its transports

The government has unveiled an ambi-tious plan to expand the existing railway, air and port networks. Some of the projects will include the renovation of 20 airports, including the expansion of the Mugumu Airport to facilitate easy movement of tourists wishing to visit the Serengeti National Park and other parks. Movement of passengers to the city centre will also include ferrying passengers in Baga-moyo District in Coast Region to Dar es Salaam where a ship will be procured for that matter. On the upcountry rail trans-portation, plans are underway to improve

services in the central railway line through procurement and rehabilitation of 300 new coaches, 22 wagons and 13 engines this year, to effect resumption of full services along the line next year. Regarding the ports, the Deputy Minister for Transport Dr Tizeba declared that plans were underway for the construc-tion of five ports within Lake Tanganyika and three ports in Lake Nyasa, while the Tanga Port will be supported by the envi-saged Mwambani Port, currently under construction. And plans are a foot for the construction of Bagamoyo Port to rein-force operations at the Dar es Salaam Port.

Gabon: Funds for infrastructure

Gabon plans to spend 7.15 trillion CFA francs ($14.1 billion) on roads, railways, ports and airports by 2016. According to Henri Ohayon, General Manager of the National Agency for Major Works,“Three trillion CFA francs will be invested in the construction of new roads around the country, where only 900 kilometers (559 miles) of roads existed in 2009". The

agency, known as ANGT, is working with the government to approve a master plan for national infrastructure and to develop appropriate sustainable projects that can be implemented with the available budget. A 300-kilometer railway line will connect the city of Booué to Belinga in the northeast where iron mines will be operated.

Kenya: A highway and railways

The Presidents of Kenya, M.Kibaki, and the African Development Bank, M. Kabe-ruka, have launched "the most ambitious infrastructure project in Kenya's history": the Nairobi-Thika superhighway. This eight-lane ultra-modern superhighway stretching from the city of Nairobi all the way to Thika town some 50 kilometres away will deeply change the lives of millions of people. According to AfDB President, "This road .. is first an impor-tant commercial and transport corridor. It is also part of the Great North Trans-Afri-can Highway (Cape Town to Cairo)". The project cost, totalling US $360 million, has been financed by the African Deve-lopment Bank to the tune of US $180 million; the Government of Kenya contri-buted US $80 million; and the Exim Bank of China financed US $100 million worth

of upgrades.The Nairobi Metropolitan Area accounts for more than 30 % of the National GDP. Then, President Kibaki opened on November 13th the newly built ultra-mo-dern Syokimau train station in Athi River. The station is set to decongest traffic along the busy Mombasa Highway as it provides an alternative means of trans-port for commuters to and from the Nairobi CBD. The new station, 10 miles East of Nairobi, will send five trains a day from new suburban housing estates straight into the city centre in 25 minutes. At least 28 railway stations are to be built under the Nairobi commuter rail service. Transport minister Amos Kimunya decla-red that the stations will transport at least 200,000 commuters daily, create jobs and save hours wasted in traffic jams.

New vessels for Zanzibar

As Tanzanian recover from tragic ferry disasters that rocked the country recently, efforts to improve marine trans-portation lead to the purchase of newly built passenger ship. The ship approved by the Zanzibar Maritime Authority (ZMA), delivered at the end of Septem-

ber, is also able to carryup to 220 vehi-cules. This ship will be, according to General Manager of AZAM Company Limited, Omar Yussuf Mzee, probably the first ever big ship to ply the Zanzibar/Pemba/Dar es-Salaam route. Meanwhile, the Zanzibar government has commissioned the construction of

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Industry

Economics

& Politics

Economics

& Politics

Tankers to sail to West Africa

The supply of the largest crude tankers to haul Middle East oil is contracting as the vessels sail instead to West Africa, where the flow of cargoes is increasing, according to Dynacom Tankers Manage-ment Ltd. It’s the first time since July owners’ returns have been positive for three consecutive days. The earnings are still less than the $10,670 that Moore Stephens LLC estimates the vessels require to cover crew, insurance and other operating costs. Rates for the vessels will average $21,000 this year, according to 14 analyst estimates com-piled by Bloomberg. Some vessels are sailing directly to West Africa and avoi-ding the Persian Gulf once they have delivered cargoes to refineries in Asia, according to Odysseas Valatsas, charte-ring manager for the Athens-based Dynacom, Greece’s second-largest ope-rator of the tankers. Nigeria and Angola will boost their combined shipments by at

least 9 % next month to 3.98 million barrels a day, the largest amount since August, according to loading programs compiled by Bloomberg News.Tanker market rates are affected by newbuildings that enter the markets, increasing the supply of vessels. Scrap-ping activity has increased over the last 6 months. The global tanker fleet grew by a net amount of 14.6 million dead-weight tonnes (mdwt), or 3.1 %, through the first nine months of 2012 compared to growth of 4.9 %, for the same period of 2011.The level of new tanker ordering remains extremely low, with just 8.1 mdwt of new tankers ordered in 2012 to-date. As a result, the tanker order-book has reduced to 13 % of the existing fleet, the lowest level since the first quar-ter of 2003 on an absolute basis and the lowest level since the second quarter of 2000 on an orderbook-to-fleet ratio basis.

Brazil : To be in the place

In 2001 Brazil invested $69 billion in Africa. By 2009, the latest figures avai-lable, that had swelled to $214 billion. At first Brazilian firms focused their efforts on Lusophone countries, Angola and Mozambique in particular. So far a few large firms dominate. Vale’s coal mine in Northern Mozambique is its biggest ope-ration outside Brazil. Vale, is digging up coal at its mine near the village of Moa-tize. The mine can churn out 4,000 tonnes an hour but the railways and ports cannot yet cope. Vale is working to improve a line through Malawi to take the coal for export. Now Brazil firms are spreading across the continent. OAS Construtora has signed a deal with the miner to build part of a new port at Nacala, 1,000km (620 miles) to the north-east, to do the same. Odebrecht has been building things in Africa since the 1980s, involved in construction of the vast Capanda dam in Angola and the country’s first shopping mall in Luanda.

In Ghana, OAS, a contractor of Camargo Corrêa, a big conglomerate, is putting up social housing. Andrade Gutierrez, ano-ther construction firm, works on everything from ports to housing and sanitation projects in Angola, Algeria, Congo and Guinea. Petrobras is in Nige-ria and is looking for more outlet in Benin, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria and Tanza-nia. On a growing market, O Boticário, a Brazilian cosmetics firm, has been ped-dling its products in Angola since 2006. Brazil has also offered its technical expertise. In 2008 Embrapa, a Brazilian agricultural-research institute, set up an office in Ghana. Through Embrapa, Brazil has provided technical assistance to the cotton industry in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. Brazilian compa-nies that produce soya, sugar cane, corn and cotton were looking for new outlets in Tanzania earlier this year. For OAS’s Africa head, Leonardo Calado de Brito, there is no construction in Europe, “Africa is the place to be”.

New vessels for Zanzibar (followed)

another vessel with the capacity to carry 1,200 passengers and 300 tonnes of cargo at a time. This acquisition is part of implementation of the party's 2010 elec-tion manifesto. The construction of the

vessel is expected to be completed in 14 months and experts from South Korea are working in collaboration with their counterparts in Zanzibar.

SAGA cannot guarantee that the information made available on this newsletter is correct, accurate or exhaus-tive. It is therefore recommended that readers check the information by other means.

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7

Sub Saharan African countries rise

In recent years, investors have been piling into Lagos and Nairobi as if they were Frankfurt and Tokyo of old. Foreign direct investment has increased by about 50% since 2005. J.P. Morgan has just added Nigeria to its government-bond index for emerging markets; South Africa had hitherto been the only African country on its list. The American bank, the world’s biggest underwriter of emer-ging-market debt, predicts that adding Nigerian bonds to its benchmark will lure an extra $1.5 billion to the country. Moody’s Investors Service, Global Credit Research Firm, assigned local and foreign currency issuer rating of Ba3 to the Federal Government of Nigeria

(FGN); B1 to Kenyan and Zambian Governments respectively; affirming the outlooks of the ratings as stable.Even the sceptics accept that the latest outlook for Africa is good. The IMF says the continent’s GDP will grow by 5% this year, down from a predicted 5.4% but still much faster than almost anywhere else. In 2013 growth may nudge up to 5.7%. Wolfgang Fengler, one of the two World Bank economists, has identified four explanations of Africa’s economic rise: First, a right kind of population growth. Second, a rapid urbanisation. Third, the bigger effect of technology, and fourfth, governance and economic management by officials have got better.

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/Africas-Pulse-brochure_Vol6.pdf

Cities and development

According to the World Bank, no country has ever reached high income with low urbanization. Urbanization and develop-ment ususally go together. Today, 41 % of Africans live in cities, by 2033, Africa will be a majority continent. But not always. The chart below, drawn from the World Bank's latest World Development Report, shows the processes at work in Asian countries in 1985 to 2010. As the right-hand chart shows, in many African countries an increase in the size of the

urban population has not necessarily been associated with growth. The report examines the role of job creation in deve-lopment, and suggests that while policies to encourage jobs and to encourage growth are similar, they are not identical. Growth policies do not always pay enough attention to female or youth employment, or to the multiple problems that self-employed people have in increa-sing skills or improving their businesses.

Two ways to tackle piracy

Since it allows maximising synergies between civilian and military capabilities, EUCAP NESTOR is an important element in the EU's comprehensive approach to fighting piracy. To accom-plish this mission, the EU has formed strategic partnerships with the Internatio-

nal Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). WatchStander is a new fully integrated anti-pirate system that identifies and attacks the pirates before they get closed

Risks & Piracy

Economics

& Politics

General

News

Sources:www.afp.comwww.allafrica.comwww.bbcnews.comwww.macauhub.comwww.reuters.comwww.economist.comlocal African newspapers The Maritime executiveNewspapers

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Risks & Piracy

Two ways to tackle piracy (followed)

to a vessel. The system is based on a technology developed for the US Navy. and can be installed in all types and size of vessel. Designed to be fully automa-ted, it requires an operator only to turn it on and off.In an interview with Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide, Mr. Alexandros Theo-dosios Kontos, Operations Manager of

LSS- SAPU leading maritime security experts, argues that not a single vessel with armed security on board has even fallen prey to pirates, despite the attempted attacks. LSS, was founded in 2004 where it safeguarded Athens 2004 Olympic Games. LSS focused on the Somali Piracy phenomenon and foun-ded the Special Anti Piracy Unit (SAPU) as a response.

More security in the Indian Ocean

Seychelles Minister Jean-Paul Adam has highlighted the need to strengthen regio-nal maritime connectivity and has stressed the role that IOR-ARC can play in this regard at the 12th Ministerial mee-ting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association

for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC). He informed the meeting that Seychelles is in the process of establishing a Regio-nal Anti-Piracy Intelligence Centre (RAPPIC) to better target the financiers of piracy.

Futur under the ocean

Called the SeaOrbiter, ocean going research vessel set for launch in 2013, is the concept of French architect Jacques Rougerie. Oceanographer Jacques Piccard and astronaut Jean-Loup Chre-tien are also involved in the project. It recently completed its industrial design phase and is set for launch in 2013. The cost is expected to be around $52.7 million. Rougerie's inspiration for SeaOr-biter comes from ocean explorers like Jacques Cousteau and the experimental Tektite underwater capsule laboratory that was used by oceanographer Sylvia Earle in 1969. Designed to drift with ocean currents, the vessel will generate the majority of its power for life-support systems and propulsion to avoid other

ships and storms from renewable energy, including solar, wind and wave power. A side project is underway in conjunction with EADS, the European defense and space systems conglome-rate, to develop a biofuel as the ship's main power source. When built, the ship is expected to go to Monaco, the same place where Jacques Cousteau began his missions.http://seaorbiter.com/?page_id=1092

Vendee Globe, The race

The Vendée Globe is a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed non-stop and without assistance. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. The 2012-2013 edition started Saturday, November 10, 2012. As

the only single-handed non-stop round-the-world race, the race is a serious test of individual endurance, and is regarded by many as the ultimate in ocean racing.http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/presentation.htmlhttp://www.vendeeglobe.org/data/medias/download/parcours_2012.jpg

GlossaryPlease find below the difference between a hurricane and a cyclone :http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/cyclone.html

Bolloré Africa Logistics cannot guarantee that the information made available on this newsletter is correct, accurate or exhaustive. It is therefore recommended that readers check the information by other means.