All the way, every other day

Every other day our container vessels sail from Rotterdam, Antwerp, Southampton, Felixstowe, and Le Havre to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco and vice versa. Our Iberian destinations are Lisbon, Leixoes and Vigo. The Morocco destination is Casablanca.

Our experience and up-to-date fleet guarantee a fast and reliable shipping of your 20 ft and 40 ft containers. We take care of your cargo and you can count on the utmost care and attention.

Task 30: Read the advertisement again and answer the following questions.

1. What services does the company offer?

2. Where do they carry goods?

3. How often do their vessels sail?

Task 31: Read the texts given below and say whether they are:

1. advertisements

2. passages from a textbook

3. encyclopedia articles

4. newspaper articles

Russia warns shipowners

The Russian government has warned its smaller shipowners that they will not be able to send their vessels to Western sea ports when new international sea safety rules are introduced later this year.

“Small lines must spend between US $3 m and US $5 m (£1 .9 m -£3.1 m) to certify each ship and its crew in accordance with the new rules. It is big money for them”, a Russian Transport Ministry official said.

Another ministry official said that about 70 Russian shipping lines have a very weak financial position. “In total these companies own a fleet of 100 vessels, but they have little chance of survival”, he said.

Sergei Plekhanov, head of the ministry's maritime department, said that most of these lines would go bust.

Big lines are planning to certify their vessels and crews. “Private lines Novoship and Sovkomflot have already gone through the procedures”, he said, adding that others were preparing to do it by July 1.

Russia set to build three ports in gulf

by Vikenti Rom in Moscow

Russia is to develop three sea ports in the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a US $210 m (£124 m) loan from the World Bank. A government official said these ports would begin to handle cargo in 2012 and that construction was already under way. Ust-Luga port, being developed at the total cost of US $ 1.1 bn (£650 m) will have capacity to handle around 35m tons of coal, general cargo, timber and containers annually. Primorsk port will cost US $604 m (£355 m) and will handle 45 m tons of petroleum, oil products and natural gas per year. The third port, Batareyny, will handle petroleum exports. According to Russia's Transport Ministry, of the country's total annual import/export freight of 160 m tons, 70 m tons goes through the ports of the Baltic Sea and the Ukraine. The experts said that the turnover may increase by 50 per cent by 2010, with most of the growth at the Baltic Sea ports.

Task 32: Read the texts again and answer the questions:

1. What safety rules did the Russian government introduce?

2. Why could most small shipowners go bankrupt?

3. How many ports are going to be built in the north of Russia?

4. Which of them will handle oil exports?

5. Is it necessary to build new ports in Russia?

Task 33: Say what you remember from the articles about:

a) new safety rules introduced by the Russian government;

b) the construction of new ports.

D eveloping Interpretation Skills

Task 34: Read and translate the text Speak on the problems touched upon in the text