Administrative Court News

German utility RWE on Jan. 1 handed over floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure at Brunsbuettel on the North Sea to state-owned Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET) as agreed when first imports arrived 10 months ago, it said.DET is now the sole operational manager and markets the capacity of the Brunsbuettel Elbehafen LNG project.Germany's quest to increase LNG capacity for regasification on its shores has intensified as it seeks to end reliance on Russian pipeline gas…

A new floating reception terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) off the German Baltic Coast should be operational from the first quarter of 2024, gas pipeline operator Gascade, which is building its onshore connection, said on Wednesday.Located off Mukran on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, the terminal will host two floating storage and reception units (FSRUs) for LNG deliveries into the German mainland and for exports to eastern European neighbours, as the region ends reliance on Russian pipeline gas."All things going well…

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel moored in the Tuscan port of Piombino will be moved off the coast of Vado Ligure and Savona in Italy's northwestern region of Liguria, the president of Liguria said on Tuesday.Italian gas grid operator Snam bought the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) last year as part of the Italian government's plan to reduce dependence on Russian gas, but the infrastructure was opposed by the local administration in Piombino.The decision on the proposed site was made after Liguria President Giovanni Toti met Snam's chief executive, a spokesperson for the Liguria president said. The decision on the…

The Italian trade union USB filed a legal complaint against a plan by gas grid operator Snam to set up a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Tuscan port of Piombino, it said in a press release on Friday.USB alleged Snam had committed serious "environmental crimes" while performing works to build the terminal.USB criticised in the statement the choice to set up the terminal in an area already polluted by an old steel plant, saying regasification processes would increase…

Italy plans to boost its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity to 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) from nearly 17 bcm currently as it seeks to completely replace Russian gas supplies following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.In 2021, Moscow provided Rome with 29 bcm of gas via pipelines, equal to around 40% of Italy's total imports but Russian supplies have fallen in recent months to around 10% of total imports. Italy, which can now count on three LNG terminals, has mandated gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI to buy and set up two additional floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) near the cities of Piombino and Ravenna.A timely start for the Piombino FSRU is crucial to allow Italy to fill gas storage facilities in time for winter 2023…

Itay's Snam will choose the offshore site for its new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the next 100 days, Italy's special commissioner for the project said on Friday, with its initial location already facing a legal challenge.Under the government's plan to diversify energy supply away from Russian gas, Italy's gas grid operator plans to moor the newly-bought FSRU in the port of Piombino, on Italy's west coast, for the next three years. After this period, it has…

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It was a beautiful mid-summer afternoon in the nation’s heartland. The skies were clear, the sun was shining and the variable southwest breeze barely caused a ripple on the muddy water of the winding river. Optimistic fishermen lined the riverbanks and a few recreational boaters were cruising close to the floating docks lining both shores.This tranquil scene on this busy waterway was about to change…and quickly.A parting of the waysAbout a half mile upriver, a 95-foot tug was proceeding southbound on a slow bell with two barges made up end-to-end along her starboard side.

Vessel collisions on America’s busy inland waterways have been a fact of life for a very long time. With towboats, barges, ferries, oceangoing ships and recreational vessels all jockeying for position in limited space, collisions (and even more near misses) are inevitable.Most of these incidents involving professional mariners do not lead to suspension and revocation (S&R) proceedings against the involved USCG licensed mariners, but, depending on the human and/or financial costs associated with the collision…

In late Spring at about 0300 local time, an aging towboat (#1) was pushing two loaded barges upbound on a swollen and fast-moving northwestern U.S. river. It was a moonless night and, while certainly not unusual conditions for the veteran captain and his longtime deckhand, it didn’t diminish the added challenges of the short but tricky nocturnal run. And, as towboat pilots know, activities and hazards that are literally clear in daytime hours, take on a decidedly different complexion after the sun sets and inky darkness envelops the river and shrouds its banks.

The twists and turns of any marine casualty investigation can be unpredictable, but what is predictable is the potentially crushing cost to defend your license, livelihood and professional reputation.It was early afternoon on a late summer day in a busy commercial and fishing port in coastal New England. The captain of an offshore supply vessel was returning to his company’s dock and was lining up to transit past the harbor’s fixed storm mitigation gate when he decided to ‘bail out’ on his approach because the tide was ebbing and the outbound current of approximately two knots was offsetting his vessel to the east. No stranger to these waters…

A charity rescue ship carrying 134 migrants, mostly Africans, was stranded off the coast of Italy on Friday as a political battle in Rome stopped it from docking and even the medical conditions of those on board were disputed.The migrants, picked up off Libya over the last two weeks, are waiting to disembark on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, but far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has ordered his officials not to let them do so.Salvini, who has built his popularity on a vigorous campaign against illegal immigration, is acting in defiance of his own prime minister and despite six European Union nations agreeing to take…

Environmental campaign group ClientEarth has filed a complaint with a court in Sweden to block the construction through Swedish waters of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline intended to transport Russian gas to Germany, it said on Wednesday.Sweden approved the pipeline in June, but ClientEarth's complaint argues that the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation failed to consider the impact the project would have on wildlife in the Baltic Sea.The work involves detonating World…

The Port of Hamburg will soon be able to welcome 20,000+ TEU containerships as the plan to dredge the river Elbe has finally received the approval from German authorities.A third supplementary planning procedure requested by the Federal Administrative Court has been conducted by the planning agencies responsible for the major project. The legal preliminaries are therefore in place that will enable construction to start.“This is very good news for our trading and shipping customers worldwide and for the whole Hamburg Metropolitan Region,” said Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing.“We have waited a long time for today and are now hoping for rapid implementation,” added Ingo Egloff, his Executive Board colleague.

“The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig has expressly underlined the necessity for the adjustment of the navigation channel with its decision today,” says Jens Meier CEO of Hamburg Port Authority commenting on the judgement of the Federal Administrative Court for the fairway adjustment of the Lower and Outer Elbe. “The navigation adjustments will come, now it is a question of extending the process. We will concentrate on the questions of possible fluctuations of the salinity of the Elbe and habitat protection impact assessment. According to the port, a project team will be working at full power, but the timeframe required remains in question.

Plans to dredge the river Elbe in Hamburg must be improved before a stop order on the work is lifted, a German court ruled on Thursday, raising the risk of more delay to work to deepen Germany's biggest port and open it up to new container ships. Green pressure groups had lodged a legal complaint against the original plan, arguing the environmental impact of dumping mud and sand on fragile coastal wetlands would be devastating. Following the ruling from Germany's top administrative court that authorities must do more to protect the river's maritime environment, shares in Hamburg port terminal operator HHLA were down 11.5 percent at 1215 GMT. The Hamburg city government said it was pleased the court had in principle accepted that dredging can take place.

The adjustment of the navigation channel on the Lower and Outer Elbe is the most important strategic expansion project for the Port of Hamburg. In view of the rapidly growing ships, Hamburg is dependent on adapting its seaward access to this technical development in the long term. This is the only way to ensure that Hamburg can be called at economically viable conditions and that its port remains competitive. During the oral proceedings of the last three days, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig intensively discussed legal and technical questions related to the adjustment of the navigation channel for containerships with a depth of 14.5 meters.

The Greek privatization fund TAIPED formally accepted the binding bid submitted by Cosco Pacific for the majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), while the port company’s stock posted a significant increase on the Athens bourse in response to the Council of State’s rejection of various objections to OLP’s privatization. The renewed and better offer by Cosco for the 67% of OLP has reached 368.5 million euros. TAIPED announced that the sell-off agreement will now be forwarded for approval to the State Audit Council, after which the contract for the sale of the 67 percent stake in OLP to the Hong Kong-listed company will be signed.

The National Privatization Fund (TAIPED) sources said that Greece's Court of Audit has approved the sale of a 67 percent in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) to Chinese Cosco, according to Kathimerini. Greek national news agency AMNA also reported, citing credible judicial sources that Greek Court of Audit, Greece's supreme administrative court, approved  the sale of the majority stake. On February 17 Greece's privatization fund had declared COSCO Preferred Investor for the sale of the controlling stake in Greece's largest port for 368.5 million euros. Under the concession deal which expires in 2052, COSCO will invest an extra 350 million euros over the next decade in infrastructure works at Piraeus.

The Port of Hamburg handled total throughput of 35.6 million tons (up by 0.1 percent) in the first quarter of 2015. Bulk cargoes at 11.7 million tons (up by 12.3 percent) and container transport between the port and its hinterland at 602,000 TEU (up by 11.1 percent) were the strongest contributors to throughput growth. “We can be satisfied overall with the first-quarter trend in seaborne cargo throughput. Even if a slight 4.9 percent downturn in general cargo throughput at 23.9 million tons slightly dampens our satisfaction…

"We respect the decision announced today by the Federal Administrative Court (FAC) in Leipzig on the deepening and widening of the navigation channel on the Lower and Outer Elbe. A final decision can only be taken when the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has clarified questions still outstanding on the so-called prohibition of deterioration and desirability of improvement embodied in the European Water Framework Directive. These questions will be resolved by spring 2015 in connection with complaints against a deepening of the River Weser. "The FAC also emphasized, however, that while the environmental compatibility assessments in respect of the fauna/flora done for the planning approval for the deepening of the navigation channel of the Lower and Outer Elbe exhibit various shortcomings…