NYK extends deal with NZSM

NYK extends deal with NZSM    NYK Line and New Zealand Steel Mining Ltd. have agreed to extend their contract for the transport of iron sand from New Zealand to China and Japan, the Tokyo-based carrier said Thursday.
   The extension will stretch for 15 years from 2012 and calls for NYK to deploy a new 175,000-deadweight-ton vessel, to be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., and dedicated to the transport of iron sand slurry.
   Annual volume under the contract is expected to be about 1.2 million tons.
   NYK and NZSM are nearing the end of a contract for the transport of iron sand slurry, using a 150,000-dwt vessel that NYK said is the only vessel in the world designed to load the commodity.