IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos has welcomed the adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution authorizing a series of decisive measures to combat acts of piracy and armed robbery against vessels off the coast of Somalia.

The Pha Rung Shipbuilding Industrial Company, a member of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industrial Economic Group (VINASHIN), on January 27 launched the construction of three shipbuilding and repair factories which are considered to be the biggest in Vietnam so far. The launching ceremony was organised in Dong Bai Industrial Complex in Yen Hung district, Quang Ninh province These include the Yen Hung Shipbuilding Factory, the Sea Ship Repairing Factory in Yen Hung Supporting Industry Complex and the Pha Rung VINASHIN-MAN Engine Manufacturing Factory.