State Services News

A fire smoldering for days at Beirut port has revived painful memories of the explosion that devastated the Lebanese capital in 2020, with the government struggling to find a way to extinguish it as the second anniversary of the blast approaches.The fire has been burning slowly in the ruins of the port's grain silos, giving off an orange glow visible at night from neighborhoods that were most badly damaged by the Aug. 4, 2020, chemical explosion that killed more than 215 people.The authorities say it is the result of summer heat igniting fermenting grain left in the silos since the blast…

The head of Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) on Wednesday rejected the prime minister's authority to sack him, raising the prospect of an open struggle for control of the state energy producer.In a furious televised speech, Mustafa Sanalla said Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's mandate to govern had expired and warned him not to touch NOC.An armed force deployed outside the NOC building later in the day, three witnesses said. One of them said the force was aligned with Dbeibah.

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has called on the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) to ensure fairness and balance in its reportage of piracy issues on Nigeria’s territorial waters.Dakuku regretted what he called the exaggeration of reports on incidences on the country’s waterways by the IMB, a specialised department of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) dedicated to fighting maritime crime and malpractice.The DG noted that the Agency had put mechanisms in place to reduce piracy to the barest minimum. These, he said, include investing in the satellite surveillance system…

The leading Port Community System operator in France SOGET appointed Hervé Cornède as the Executive Director of the company. Hervé Cornède was appointed as the Commercial Director of the port of Le Havre in September 2009 and then Commercial and Marketing Director for HAROPA, when the EIG (Economic interest group) was created on January 1st, 2013. He worked for the first-rank positioning of the shipping offering of HAROPA ports, for the development of their terminals and the attractiveness of their logistics zones, thus allowing the ports of the river Seine to pass the historic mark of the 3 million TEU. Hervé Cornède placed its action in the momentum of Le Havre…

While the Casino boat building business has been stagnant for nearly a decade, there maybe emerging opportunities for growth. For naval architects, shipyards, interior designers and marine systems and equipment suppliers the mid 1990's was a heady time. Over 100 casino boats were built during this time. If there are more on the way, it will be a smaller market this time around. The market is not so much for new boats for new jurisdictions, since the last casino boat legislation was passed in Indiana in 1993, almost 12 years ago. What is happening is that those boats are now 12 years old and needing replacement. Over the past couple of years some boats have been replaced.

Public transport in Greece will grind to a halt on Tuesday for the second time in less than a week following calls from Greek union leaders for a strong May Day turnout against government plans for pension changes. Public transport workers have scheduled stoppages throughout the day. Flights and shipping will also be seriously disrupted. A mass walkout last Thursday crippled much of the country, despite a last minute decision by the government to freeze its controversial pension reform plans. The Panhellenic Seamen's Organization said its members would strike from 6 a.m. until midnight, keeping all ships in port. Two routes between northern Greece and northeast Greece and two between the main port city of Piraeus and Kalamata, at the tip of the Peloponnese peninsula, will also run.