Asian shipping slows [source: Inquirer]: The ports and shipping lanes of Asia, the arteries of world trade through which goods and commodities surged in the boom times, are starting to seize up as the financial crisis strangles demand. The Baltic Dry Index, a signpost of economic trends which tracks the cost of moving goods across the oceans, has set off alarm bells by plummeting 85 percent from its peak in May to a six-year low. continue reading Royal BAM halts Van Oord stake sale due to crisis [source: Reuters]: The credit crisis has forced Dutch builder Royal BAM Groep to put on hold its plan to sell its 21.5 percent stake in Dutch dredger Van Oord, BAM said on Friday. "The parties conclude that the current situation in financial markets makes it impossible to successfully finalise our discussions," BAM said in a statement. continue reading UK overtakes Denmark as world's biggest offshore wind generator [source: Guardian]: The UK now leads the world in generating electricity from offshore wind farms, the government said today as it completed the construction of a farm near the coast off Skegness, Lincolnshire. The new farm, built by the energy company Centrica, will produce enough power for 130,000 homes, raising the total electricity generated from offshore wind in the UK to 590 megawatts (MW), enough for 300,000 UK homes. The completion of 194MW of turbines at Lynn and Inner Dowsing means that the UK has overtaken Denmark, which has 423MW of offshore wind turbines. continue reading Technorati tags: dredging Van Oord Centrica Royal BAM shipping