Day: 21 August 2018

The introduction of lower speed limits on French roads has caused an upsurge in vandalism, the French press reports.

A total of 400 speed cameras have been damaged or destroyed sine the start of the year, a four-fold increase on the same period of 2017.

The new 80 kph limit on many mainly rural roads has infuriated a large number of motorists who have responded in various ways, from placing bin bags over the offending machines, through spray painting their lenses, to total destruction.

The French authorities are reported to be considering installing more cameras, in this case surveillance cameras to protect the speed traps.

Offenders have also been warned that they face a fine of 45,000 euros and up to three years in jail for destroying or damaging the machines, with penalties increasing to 75,000 euros and five years behind bars for repeat offenders.

The head of the Italian government has judged “very modest” the sum of 500 million euros proposed by the motorway concessionaire to compensate the victims and rebuild Genoa’s Morandi viaduct which collapsed last week, killing 43 people.

“Given the exorbitant profits that this group has made for years, this envelope could be quadrupled or quintupled,” the Prime Minister told Corriere della Sera.

According to Infrastructure Minister Danilo Toninelli, the Atlantia motorway group, the parent company of Autostrade del Italia, whose Benetton family is the largest shareholder, “has accumulated 10 billion euros in profits (from tolls) over the past 15 years.”

Autostrade claims to be able to build a metal viaduct in eight months in place of the old one, an assertion greeted with skepticism by the government which says it has already received other offers.

Several challenges remain to bring Monaco’s iconic sports stadium up to modern-day standards, and they are all being met with a work programme that will continue for several more years.

One of the factors that must be taken into account as the programme moves forward is that Stade Louis II is used 360 days a year, often for most of each day.

Patrice Cellario, Minister of the Interior, who was technical director of the stadium from 1985 until 1988, told local French-language daily Monaco Matin that the upgrades are long overdue. One problem is to schedule renovation work alongside the continuing daily use of the stadium.

One area undergoing an upgrade is the lighting. In 1985 the strength of the lights on the main field was set at 1,200 lux, but this is no longer bright enough for high-definition television, which demands 2,000.

In addition to being the home of AS Monaco soccer team, the stadium has a basketball hall and 11 specialised rooms that house other sporting associations. The International University of Monaco is also accommodated in the stadium.

As work progresses, one priority is to take the stadium into a greener future, in accordance to the wishes of HSH Prince Albert.

Teenager Willem Geubbels rose to the inevitable questions about Kylian Mbappe by suggesting that he might do even better at AS Monaco than the World Cup winner and teen wonder.

Monaco paid Lyon 20 million euros for the forward in June when he was still 16 years old. Now just turned 17, he said he was not intimidated by comparisons to Mbappe, now at Monaco’s arch rivals Paris Saint Germain.

“When you see what he has done here, it makes you want to do beautiful things, to follow in his footsteps,” said Geubbels. “And why not do even better? I’m not putting myself under pressure over this, it will be done right.”

Mbappe made his debut for Monaco in 2014, just before his 17th birthday, and played 60 games for the club and helped win a Ligue 1 title before joining PSG for a 180-million-euro fee last year.

Geubbels follows in the footsteps of Anthony Martial, who Monaco bought from Lyon at the age of 17 for five million euros in 2013. Monaco sold Martial to Manchester United for 70 million euros just two years later.

Monaco-based GasLog Ltd. has announced the signing of two new charter party agreements, each for a firm period of seven years, with a wholly owned subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, Inc.

To fulfil the Charters, two 174,000 cubic metre LNG carriers (HN 2300 and HN 2301) with low pressure two stroke (“LP-2S”) propulsion have been ordered from Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, with expected delivery in late 2020.

The rate of hire for the Charters is broadly in line with mid-cycle rates and delivers returns in line with GasLog’s financial strategy, the company said on Monday, August 20.

In addition to the Charters, GasLog has agreed with Cheniere an option for the charter of one or two additional newbuild vessels.

GasLog Partners LP has the right to acquire the vessels delivered into the Charters pursuant to the omnibus agreement between GasLog and GasLog Partners. As a result, GasLog Partners’ potential dropdown pipeline will increase to 11 LNG carriers with charter length of five years or longer.

Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer of GasLog, said: “I am delighted to announce a significant expansion of our relationship with Cheniere, a high-quality counterparty and a leader in developing the US LNG export industry. Cheniere’s decision to partner with GasLog is a vote of confidence in our ability to deliver a differentiated service to our customers, founded upon our core principles of operational excellence and an uncompromising approach to safety.

“We continue to expand our fleet with highly competitive vessels backed by long term contracts, while simultaneously diversifying our customer base. We anticipate further incremental shipping capacity will be needed to supply forecast LNG demand growth, and remain confident in our ability to increase our market share at attractive returns.”