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Legal Action News

01 Feb 2024

European Ethanol Producers Challenge EU Maritime Legislation

© Grecaud Paul / Adobe Stock

European renewable ethanol producers have launched a legal challenge to the EU’s FuelEU Maritime Regulation on the grounds that it fails to properly recognise the proven benefits of sustainable crop-based biofuels and has therefore violated several key EU legislative procedures.Companies representing nearly all of the EU’s production of renewable ethanol are seeking to annul a section of the legislation that considers crop-based biofuels to have the same emission factors as the least favourable fossil fuel pathway.

02 Jan 2024

AMSA Warns of Counterfeit Pilot Ladders

© Matvejs / Adobe Stock

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued as Pilot Advisory Note advising coastal pilots and pilotage providers about the existence of counterfeit pilot ladders and associated certification.In March 2019, one of AMSA’s Port Marine Surveyors identified a pilot ladder onboard a vessel which appeared to be non-compliant with the pilot transfer requirements. The associated inspection certificate presented at the time of the AMSA inspection, suggested that the ladder…

29 Dec 2023

Esgian: New Contracts, Drilling Activities and Rig Moves Across the World

Borgland Dolphin drilling rig (Credit: Dolphin Drilling)

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

06 Nov 2023

In Brazil's Amazon, Cargill Grains Ports Meet Local Resistance

© JR Slompo / Adobe Stock

For centuries, riverside communities, including the "quilombola" descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped from plantations and ranches, have shared Xingu Island in Brazil's Amazon Basin.Its inhabitants live in brightly painted wooden houses overlooking rivers where small boats crisscross between islands and Abaetetuba city on the mainland to trade fish, seeds and fruits gathered from the Amazon forest in their backyard.In 2016, however, strangers docked on Xingu Island, in Para state…

22 Sep 2023

U.S. Judge Orders Expansion of Gulf of Mexico Oil Lease Auction

Credit: Mike Mareen/AdobeStock

A federal judge in Louisiana has ordered an expansion of next week's sale of oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico, saying the Biden administration must include additional acreage, according to a court ruling issued late on Thursday.The oil and gas industry, which had sued the administration,  welcomed the decision to restore 6 million acres to the auction after the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management earlier reduced the area available for lease in an effort to protect an endangered whale.U.S.

18 Sep 2023

California Sues Oil Giants

Source: California Office of Governor

The state of California has sued major oil companies including Exxon Mobil, Shell PLC, and Chevron, accusing them of playing down the risks posed by fossil fuels, according to a court filing on Friday.The lawsuit, which also targets BP and ConocoPhillips, alleges the energy giants' actions have caused tens of billions of dollars in damages and accuses them of deceiving the public, the filing in a superior court in San Francisco showed.The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group…

26 Apr 2023

Bumi Armada Sells Armada Claire FPSO

Malaysian FPSO leasing company Bumi Armada said Tuesday it had completed the sale of the Armada Claire floating production storage and offloading vessel. The FPSO was sold by Bumi Armada's subsidiary, Armada Balnaves."The Armada Claire sale was on an “as is where is” basis, at a sale price of US$20 million. The sale proceeds were received by [Armada Balnaves] on April 19, 2023," Bumi Armada said,Bumi Armada said it would recognize a gain on sale of the Armada Claire FPSO of approximately US$12 million in its second quarter financial results. Proceeds from the FPSO sale, net of transaction fees, will be used to reduce Bumi Armada Group’s corporate debt.

08 Feb 2023

Greenpeace Says Shell Threatens Protestors Occupying FPSO with "Jail Time, Fines"

More Greenpeace activists board Shell FPSO ©Greenpece

Shell has reportedly threatened legal action against Greenpeace activists who last week boarded a heavy load carrier carrying Shell's Penguins FPSO, destined for deployment in the UK North Sea.Last Tuesday, four activists climbed aboard the Boskalis' White Marlin vessel carrying the cylindrical FPSO, in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Canary Islands, calling for Shell to "Stop Drilling. Start Paying." Read more here.According to Greenpeace, Shell, late on Friday, Feb 3, hit the…

12 Jan 2023

Lobsters Versus Right Whales

© karenfoleyphoto / Adobe Stock

Lobsters versus right whales: The latest chapter in a long quest to make fishing more sustainableMaine lobster fishermen received a Christmas gift from Congress at the end of 2022: A six-year delay on new federal regulations designed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.The rules would have required lobstermen to create new seasonal nonfishing zones and further reduce their use of vertical ropes to retrieve lobster traps from the seafloor. Entanglement…

11 Jan 2023

Belgian Oil Tanker Firm Euronav Disputes Frontline's Right to Break up Merger

©Euronav (File image)

Belgian oil tanker and storage company Euronav said on Wednesday it disputed Frontline's right to end a merger agreement between the two firms and was considering options, including arbitration and legal action. Oslo-listed oil transporter Frontline said on Monday it was canceling the $4.2 billion merger deal. "Euronav has determined that Frontline's unilateral action in pursuing the termination of the combination agreement has no basis under (its) terms (...), and that Frontline failed to provide a satisfactory reason for its decision," the Antwerp-based group said in a statement.

22 Jul 2022

Contract Workers at Daewoo Shipyard Reach Deal to End Strike

(File photo: DSME)

South Korean contract workers at the country's No.3 shipbuilder agreed on Friday to end their strike after accepting a much smaller wage hike than demanded as well as job guarantees, union officials and subcontractors said.Since late last month, about 100 sub-contractors pressing for an increase of 30% have occupied the main dock at the shipyard run by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in the southern city of Geoje.The shipyard is one of the world's biggest and the strike has led to delivery delays of eight vessels by as much as five weeks…

05 Jul 2022

Seized Iranian-flagged Tanker Taken to Piraeus Port

© milangonda / Adobe Stock

An Iranian-flagged tanker seized by Greece in April, part of whose cargo was confiscated by the United States, was being towed to the port of Piraeus on Saturday, Greek coast guard officials said, after Greek authorities approved its release.For over two months the Iranian-flagged Lana has been anchored off the Greek island of Evia in a diplomatic impasse which strained Athens' relations with Tehran amid growing tensions between Iran and the United States."It left Karystos at 06:30 am (0330 GMT) and is expected to reach Piraeus around 10:00 pm…

28 Mar 2022

UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency Detains P&O Ferry Unready to Sail

European Causeway - Credit: Wolfgang Fricke / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 3.0

Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) on Friday detained a ferry operated by P&O in Northern Ireland because it was not ready to sail, the agency and P&O said.The British government has already said it will take legal action over P&O Ferries' decision to fire 800 staff earlier this month with immediate effect.The ferry European Causeway, which operates between Cairnryan in Scotland and Larne in Northern Ireland, will be detained until the company resolves all the issues, a spokesperson for the MCA said, citing "crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training"."Following m

23 Mar 2022

UK PM Johnson Says It Looks Like P&O Broke the Law

© VanderWolf Images / Adobe Stock

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he believed that P&O Ferries had broken the law by sacking 800 staff with immediate effect via video message and that the government would take legal action.P&O, which is owned by Dubai ports firm DP World, said last week it had lost 100 million pounds ($131 million) in the last year and that without changes its business was not sustainable."It looks to me ... as though the company concerned has broken the law, and we will be taking action ...

01 Nov 2021

Fishing Row: UK Tells France to Back Down in 48 Hours or 'We Get Tough'

Britain gave France 48 hours on Monday to back down in a fishing row that threatens to spiral into a wider trade dispute between two of Europe's biggest economies or face tortuous legal action under the Brexit trade deal.Post-Brexit bickering over fish culminated last Wednesday in the French seizure of a British scallop dredger, the Cornelis Gert Jan, in French waters near Le Havre. Paris has threatened sanctions from Nov. 2 that could snarl cross-Channel trade.The measures could include increased border and sanitary checks on goods from Britain and banning British vessels from some French ports."The French have made completely unreasonable threats…

02 Jun 2021

Lawsuit Challenges ExxonMobil's Exploration and Production Activities in Guyana

A landmark lawsuit filed against Guyana's government, arguing that oil production fuels climate change, could bolster legal action as court cases involving energy companies and state authorities surge, according to lawyers and environmentalists.The constitutional claim - the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean - asserts that oil exploration and production led by U.S. oil major ExxonMobil off the South American country's coast is unconstitutional, said the case's lead lawyer Melinda Janki.Filed by two Guyanese citizens in late May before the tiny nation's constitutional court, the lawsuit centers on the duty of the state to protect the environment for present and future generations…

15 Mar 2021

Iranian Investigator Says Israel Likely Behind Containership Attack

© Vladimir Knyaz / Adobe Stock

Israel is highly likely to have been behind an attack in the Mediterranean this week that damaged an Iranian container ship, an Iranian investigator said on Saturday, Iran’s media reported.The Shahr e Kord vessel was hit by an explosive object which caused a small fire, but no one on board was hurt, Iran said on Friday. Two maritime security sources said initial indications suggested the ship was intentionally targeted by an unknown source.“Considering the geographical location and the way the ship was targeted…

12 Mar 2021

Iranian Containership Attacked in the Mediterranean

© Vladimir Knyaz / Adobe Stock

An Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, the state-run shipping company said on Friday, adding it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of what it called terrorism and naval piracy.The ship, Shahr e Kord, was slightly damaged in Wednesday’s incident by an explosive object which caused a small fire, but no one on board was hurt, the spokesman, Ali Ghiasian, said, according to state media.“Such terrorist acts amount to naval piracy…

22 Feb 2021

Israel's Beaches Drenched in Oil. Authorities Looking for Ship Responsible

Illustration only - Credit:wildarun/AdobeStock

Israel is trying to find the ship responsible for an oil spill that drenched much of its Mediterranean shoreline with tar, an environmental blow that will take months or years to clean up, officials said.Thousands of volunteers gathered on Sunday to remove the clumps of sticky black refuse from the pale beaches. Israel's military said it was deploying thousands of soldiers to help with the effort. Authorities warned everyone else to keep their distance until further notice.Environmental groups called it a disaster.

09 Sep 2020

Sri Lanka Pursues Legal Action Against Tanker's Owner After Fire

(Credit: Sri Lanka Navy)

Sri Lanka will take legal action against the owner of the oil supertanker that caught fire on Thursday as there is a large leakage of bunker oil from the stricken vessel, an official at the Marine Environment Protection Authority said.“We are deciding whether to claim criminal liability or civil liability or both,” Jagath Gunesekara, Deputy General Manager of the Authority said. He said action will be filed under Sri Lankan laws protecting the marine ecosystem.Greece-based Porto…

21 Apr 2020

Head of Oil Trader Hin Leong Didn't Disclose $800 Mln Losses

© mrnai / Adobe Stock

The founder and director of Singapore oil-trading company Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (HLT) directed the firm not to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over several years, he said in a court filing reviewed by Reuters.The affidavit signed by Lim Oon Kuin, a Singaporean in his 70s widely known as O.K. Lim, is part of a Friday filing to the Singapore High Court by HLT and subsidiary Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, seeking a six-month moratorium on debts of $3.85 billion to 23 banks.The filing cites a collapse in the oil price and the coronavirus pandemic…

20 Mar 2020

UAE Bans Ship Over Fuel Breach

© beketoff / Adobe Stock

The world's number two container line MSC is in talks with the United Arab Emirates after the Gulf country banned one of their vessels from entering its waters over what authorities said was a breach of tough new sulphur emissions rules for ships.This is one of the first punitive actions taken by a jurisdiction since regulations came into effect in January which make it mandatory for ships to use fuel with a sulphur content of 0.5%, down from 3.5% previously, or install devices that strip out the toxic pollutant - known as scrubbers.Ships were no longer able to even carry high sulphur fuel fro

05 Feb 2020

Coronavirus Paralyzes Oil, Gas Sales into China

© Riekelt / Adobe Stock

Short-term sales of crude oil and liquefied natural gas into China almost ground to a halt this week as the coronavirus slows economic activity and cuts demand and buyers ponder legal action to avoid having to honor purchase agreements, trade sources said.Typically, trade would have revived after the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January, but China has extended the break into February to try to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, which has claimed nearly 500 lives.As a result…

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