Houlder, Blue Sea Power Developing Floating LNG-to-power Barges for Greek Islands
Houlder, the design and engineering consultancy, is collaborating with Blue Sea Power, an integrated energy solution provider as a gas-to-power company based in Athens, to develop three innovative floating LNG-to-power barges (FSRPs).According to the partners, the FSRP barges, which are set to be operational by 2025, will efficiently provide greener, lower emission baseload and peak power to the non-interconnected islands of Kos, Chios, and Lesvos. This power will be used when existing renewable solar and wind energy utilization reaches its technical limits.
Lifeboat Donated to Hellenic Rescue Team
A new lifeboat has been donated to the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT) by fellow International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) members the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (RS), and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ‘Norway II’ is the second lifeboat to be donated to HRT and follows ‘Norway I’ that has operated since September last year in the Aegean Sea around Kos. In her speech on Lesvos, the ‘godmother’ of the boat, Mrs. Marit Nybakk, Vice President of the Parliament…
New Lifeboat Station Aids Greek SAR Services
A new lifeboat station has been opened on the Greek island of Chios – with the cooperation of International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) members – to help support the rescue of migrants in the Aegean. The Lifeboat station was made possible through a partnership between Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij (KNRM), the maritime search and rescue service from the Netherlands, and the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT), and with the support of the Maria Tsakos Foundation along with community leaders and local volunteers. At an event to celebrate the opening of the centre – which was completed in only three months – two lifeboat vessels donated by the KNRM, Athena and Arina to be deployed on the surrounding waters, were also christened.
Migrant Rescue: IMRF To Support Aegean Services
The International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) is to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT), an IMRF member organization which is constantly rescuing migrants in the Aegean Sea. The IMRF will do this with the support of European maritime search and rescue (SAR) organizations who are also IMRF members. Following a temporary drop in the number of people trying to reach the Greek islands by sea in November, figures from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) are showing an increase again.
GAC Facilitates Swedish Boats Delivery for Sea Rescue
Two high-speed boats from Sweden have joined the sea rescue effort in the Eastern Aegean, and it was GAC that coordinated their delivery to Greece. The craft were sent by the not-for-profit NGO, the Swedish Sea Rescue Society (SSRS), in response to the growing humanitarian crisis that has seen thousands of refugees attempting to cross the sea to enter Europe through the islands of Eastern Greece. According to figures from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, in July 2015 alone 50,000 new arrivals were reported, mainly to the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Kos, Samos and Leros. 2014 was the deadliest year on record, with over 3…
Migrant Crisis Promts Call to IMRF for Help
Mediterranean Rescue Services are in urgent need of support because they are struggling to keep up with the replacement of equipment being used to rescue the increasing numbers of migrants in their waters and have contacted the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) for help. In response, the IMRF is relaunching its ‘Members Assisting Members’ webpage to help identify the need and enable connection to the 2,500 contacts on the database that may be able to help. The three…
UN Urges EU to Help With Med Migrants
Island communities unable to cope with migrant flow, UN says. The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that Greece urgently needed help to cope with 1,000 migrants arriving each day and called on the European Union (EU) to step in before the humanitarian situation deteriorates further. More than 77,000 people have arrived by sea to Greece so far this year, more than 60 percent of them Syrians, with others fleeing Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia, it said. "The volatile economic situation, combined with the increasing numbers of new arrivals, is putting severe strain on small island communities," William Spindler of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a briefing.
Greek Ferries Chartered Out to Ease Cash Flow
Several Greek coastal shipping firms have resorted to chartering their ferries on foreign routes in order to secure some liquidity and continue operating. Companies believe that their smooth operation is being threatened by the negative course of the domestic maritime transport market as losses over the last three years have reached up to 1 billion euros, reports Greece insiders 'Kathimerini'. Sources say that at least three ferry companies have chartered their vessels on routes outside Greece in the last few years. They are ANEK, Hellenic Seaways (HSW) and Maritime Company of Lesvos (NEL).
GE Marine Engines Extends MSS Agreement with MTU
GE Marine Engines announced it has extended its Marine System Supplier (MSS) agreement with MTU Friedrichshafen (MTU), covering MTU's packaging and distribution of GE LM marine aeroderivative gas turbines. "Our successful MSS agreement with MTU dates back to the 1970s," said Karl Matson, general manager of GE Marine Engines. "This relationship has made it possible for our LM1600, LM2500 and LM2500+ gas turbines to be used alone or in combination with MTU diesel engines from their full line of diesel engines. GE LM gas turbines cover the power range from 4,500 kilowatts (kW) to 42,700 kW. To date, MTU has packaged several GE LM gas turbines for commercial fast ferries and military vessels.
GE Marine Engines To Supply For Corsaire
GE Marine Engines is set to supply Motoren- und Turbinen-Union (MTU), Friedrichshafen, Germany with a pair of GE LM2500+ aeroderivative gas turbines. The units will be utilized to power the Corsaire 14000-class monohull fast ferry being constructed for Maritime Company of Lesvos (NEL), Piraeus, Greece. France-based Alstom Leroux Naval Shipyard is building this innovative new vessel class of fast ferry for NEL. The yard also constructed the Corsaire 13000, which is scheduled to enter service this June for Societe Nationale Maritime Corse Mediterranee (SNCM). LM2500+ gas turbines will be used in a Combined Diesel And Gas turbine (CODAG) configuration with two diesel engines. With a total propulsion of 66 megawatts, the 460 ft.
Greek Authorities Issue 32 New Operating Licenses
Greek Merchant Marine Minister Christos Papoutsis has signed 32 new operating licenses to passenger shipping firms in a bid to improve competition in the industry. "Until deregulation of sea travel in 2002, new applications submitted for licences will be examined immediately," the ministry said. "The criteria the applications will be examined upon will the public's interest, unimpeeded access to the islands and healthy competition." Greece has said it will liberalize island shipping by 2002, two years ahead of schedule, as a result of a recent ferry sinking that killed about 80 people. Company No. Licenses Strintzis Lines 4 Anek Lines 3 Lesvos Maritime 3 Attica Enterprises 2 Minoan Lines 2 Minoan Flying Dolphins 1 Other companies 17
