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Eastern Mediterranean News

24 Mar 2024

Esgian Week 12 Report: New Finds in Guyana, China and Norway

© bomboman / Adobe Stock

Esgian reports fresh finds confirmed in Guyana, China and Norway in its Week 12 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDolphin Drilling has announced the award of a $154 million drilling contract from India's exploration and production company, Oil India Limited (Oil India), to the 6,000-ft semisub Blackford Dolphin.Malaysian offshore drilling firm Velesto confirmed Friday it had recently secured long-term contract extensions for three of its jackup rigs with Petronas Carigali…

12 Mar 2024

First Aid Ship to Gaza Leaves Cyprus Port in Pilot Project

First aid ship to Gaza sets sail (Credit: World Central Kitchen)

A ship transporting almost 200 tons of food to Gaza left a port in Cyprus early on Tuesday in a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population on the brink of famine.The charity ship Open Arms sailed out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein.The 200-mile (320 km) voyage across the eastern Mediterranean to Gaza with a heavy tow barge could take up to 2 days, Cypriot officials have said.The mission, funded mostly by the United Arab Emirates, is organised by U.S.

12 Oct 2023

Britain Sends Auxiliary Ships, Spy Planes to Support Israel

© penofoto.de / Adobe Stock

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is deploying two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel and reinforce regional stability, his Downing Street office said on Thursday.The military package, which includes P8 surveillance planes, other surveillance assets, two auxiliary ships, three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines, will be on standby in the region to provide "practical support to Israel ...

28 Jun 2023

UECC Trials Biofuels

Source: GoodFuels

Ship operator United European Car Carriers (UECC) has bunkered sustainable biofuel for the first time in collaboration with GoodFuels and vessel owner NYK.GoodFuels delivered the B30 blend, 470 tonnes of VLSFO and sustainable biofuel, to time-chartered Emerald Leader in the port of Vlissingen in May. NYK, joint owner of UECC, is working closely with UECC to monitor the biofuel's performance.The use of sustainable biofuel on the Emerald Leader, which operates on UECC's North South Trade connecting the Eastern Mediterranean with Northern Europe…

29 May 2023

Cyprus Wants Shipping Corridor to Export Mediterranean Gas to Europe

Illustration only - Credit: aerial-drone
/AdobeStock

Cyprus wants to establish itself as a gateway from east Mediterranean gas resources to Europe via a shipping corridor of LNG carriers, its president said on Monday. Cyprus's new centrist government, which came to power in February, has cooled to the idea championed by its predecessors of an "EastMed" pipeline transferring gas to Europe.Instead, authorities now want to transport, via pipeline, natural gas from fields in the eastern Mediterranean to the island for use in domestic conventional power generation…

06 Apr 2023

Western Restrictions on Russian Oil Reshuffle Global Shipping Patterns

©Happyphotons/AdobeStock

Global fuel suppliers are turning to longer and costlier routes that produce more carbon emissions to move their diesel and other products as Western restrictions on Russian cargoes have reshuffled global energy shipping patterns.As a result of the European Union ban on Russian fuel that started on Feb. 5, tankers carrying clean oil products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha are traveling between 16 and 18 days to bring Russian supplies to Brazil or U.S. cargoes to Europe…

23 Mar 2023

Oil Spills and Near Misses: More Ghost Tankers Ship Sanctioned Fuel

© komi$ar / Adobe Stock

An oil tanker runs aground off eastern China, leaking fuel into the water. Another is caught in a collision near Cuba. A third is seized in Spain for drifting out of control.These vessels were part of a "shadow" fleet of tankers carrying oil last year from countries hit by Western sanctions, according to a Reuters analysis of ship tracking and accident data and interviews with more than a dozen industry specialists.Hundreds of extra ships have joined this opaque parallel trade…

27 Oct 2022

Israel, Lebanon Finalize Maritime Demarcation Deal without Mutual Recognition

Prime Minister Yair Lapid has signed the agreement on a maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon, alongside Israel’s negotiating team.

Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO - Credit: Israel Government

Israeli and Lebanese leaders finalised a U.S-brokered maritime demarcation on Thursday, bringing a measure of accommodation between the enemy states as they eye offshore energy exploration.Leaders from Lebanon, Israel and the United States have all hailed the deal as "historic" but the possibility of a wider diplomatic breakthrough remains slim. As a result, there was no joint signing ceremony: Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a letter approving the deal at his palace in Baabda in the presence of the U.S.

14 Oct 2022

Shipping Industry Working to Reduce Harm to Whales

© Jeremy Francis / Adobe Stock

The shipping industry has been taking steps to reduce its impact on endangered whale populations globally."This is an issue that the shipping industry takes seriously, and has resulted in the implementation of measures that aim to prevent collisions between whales and ships, from reducing vessel speed and rerouting to engaging stakeholders to raise further awareness," trade association the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said in a statement encouraging the industry to take action.Among steps already taken…

22 Sep 2022

Holy Land Shipwreck Reveals Tenacity of Ancient Traders as Empires Shifted

© Eli Majewski / Adobe Stock

An ancient shipwreck found off the shore of Israel and loaded with cargo from all over the Mediterranean shows that traders from the West still came to port even after the Islamic conquest of the Holy Land, researchers say.A surprise storm? An inexperienced captain? Whatever the reason, the merchant ship made from fir and walnut trees and carrying containers with delights from far-off lands sank in the shallow waters off what is today the Israeli coastal community of Ma'agan Michael more than 1…

10 Jun 2022

Lebanon's Hezbollah Says Could Disrupt Start-up of Energean's Karish Gas Field Over Maritime Dispute with Israel

Energean Power FPSO - Credit: Energean (via Israel's Energy Ministry)

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that his group could stop Israel from extracting gas from a maritime field that Beirut says lies in disputed waters, adding Hezbollah is "not afraid of war."Lebanon warned Israel on Sunday against any "aggressive action" in disputed waters where both states hope to develop offshore energy, after a vessel operated by London-based Energean arrived off the coast to produce gas for Israel.Hezbollah "has the capacity to prevent the enemy from beginning to extract from Karish…

07 Jun 2022

Israel-Lebanon Sea Boundary Row Obstructs Energy Development

Credit: wavemovies/AdobeStock

A dispute between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime boundary has obstructed energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and risks exacerbating tensions between two foes.After months of deadlock in U.S.-mediated talks, Beirut on Sunday warned against any activity in the disputed area, responding to the arrival of a vessel to develop a field for Israel. Lebanon has said the field in question, Karish, is in disputed waters. Israel denies this.Here's what you need to know about the standoff:WHAT'S AT STAKE?Gas - potentially a lot of it.Lebanon and Israel are located in the Levant Basin…

03 May 2022

PGS Wins Wide Azimuth 3D Survey Contract Offshore Cyprus

Credit: PGS

Norwegian marine seismic survey company PGS has won a Wide Azimuth 3D acquisition contract offshore Cyprus. PGS, which owns a fleet of seismic survey vessels, said that mobilization was scheduled to start in mid-June. The acquisition is expected to complete in mid-August.President & CEO of PGS, Rune Olav Pedersen said: "We are very pleased with this contract award, which is an importantcontribution to our vessel utilization during the summer season. The Eastern Mediterranean is a prolific gas region and a well-known area to PGS.

13 Apr 2022

Eni Inks Deal for Egyptian LNG Exports to Europe

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

Italy's Eni has signed a framework agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to provide shipments of Egyptian liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Italy and Europe, the Egyptian government said on Wednesday."The agreement also aims to exploit the great potential in the field of research and exploration in Egypt, especially in the Nile Delta, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Western Desert," a cabinet statement added.(Reuters - Reporting by Momen Said Atallah; Writing by Ahmad Elhamy; Editing by Jan Harvey)

03 Mar 2022

Ukraine Invasion: What Can Be Done at Sea?

© muhor / Adobe Stock

The closure of the Turkish straits to all warships has drawn attention to the maritime dimension of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.From a tactical and operational perspective, Russian naval forces have already contributed, albeit in a limited way, to the current invasion of Ukraine, notably with missile strikes and amphibious assaults. But from a strategic and political perspective, there are other important maritime elements to the conflict, for both Russia and Nato.Russia is not…

17 Feb 2022

Lebanon Gives CMA CGM Contract to Revamp Beirut Container Terminal

© Björn Wylezich / Adobe Stock

Lebanon has awarded France's CMA CGM CMACG.UL a contract to develop and operate the container terminal in Beirut port for 10 years, including plans to rebuild and expand infrastructure damaged in a massive chemical explosion in 2020.CMA CGM said it would invest $33 million, including $19 million over the first two years to upgrade infrastructure at the terminal and digitalize operations, and that it would target capacity of 1.4 million 20ft equivalent units (TEUs), up from 650,000 currently.The deal expands CMA CMG's presence in the eastern Mediterranean.

29 Oct 2021

Greece Rescues Cargo Ship with 400 Migrants in Distress

(Photo: Hellenic Coast Guard)

Greece mounted a rescue operation on Friday for a cargo ship carrying about 400 migrants after it sent out a distress signal off the island of Crete, the coast guard said.The Greek coast guard quoted passengers as saying the Turkish-flagged vessel had sailed from Turkey, calling it “one of the largest search and rescue operations carried out in the eastern Mediterranean.”Authorities said the ship was being taken to land but gave no further details. The nationalities of the passengers…

01 Sep 2021

Turkey and Cyprus Monitor Oil Sheen After Syria Leak

Authorities in Turkey and Cyprus are on alert for any potential pollution from a 'sheen' of fuel floating across the Mediterranean from a spill in Syria, officials said.Fuel which seeped into the sea from a thermal station off the coast of Syria on August 23 has been snaking across the Eastern Mediterranean, but any potential impact on Cyprus will depend on currents.The latest satellite images of the region provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency showed the oil sheen east of Cyprus breaking down and dissolving, the Cyprus Fisheries and Marine Research Department said.The eastern Cyprus coastline, largely unspoilt, falls within two opposing jurisdictions; an area controlled by the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government and a Turkish Cypriot breakaway state recognized on

25 Feb 2021

Livestock Carrier Returns to Spain After Months Stuck at Sea

A shipload of Spanish cattle that had been drifting for months due to concerns over the bovine bluetongue disease docked in Spain on Thursday, the government said, but the fate of the animals remains unclear.The Karim Allah left the Mediterranean port of Cartagena on December 17 carrying 895 cattle destined for sale in Turkey. A second ship, the ElBeik, set sail the next day from Tarragona with a cargo of nearly 1,800 cows.Even though the cattle had clean veterinary certificates, according to Spain’s government, Turkish authorities rejected both vessels and suspended live animal imports from Spain after an outbreak of the insect-borne…

06 Jul 2021

Egypt Opens Naval Base Near Border with Libya

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated a large naval base on Saturday 135 km from the border with Libya, flanked by close ally Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Libya's unity president,Egypt says the July 3 base will help it protect strategic and economic interests as well as helping guard against irregular migration as it boosts its naval presence on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.At the inauguration, two Mistral helicopter carriers…

03 Mar 2021

Israel Says It Tracked Down the Ship Linked to Recent Oil Spill

Israel accused Iran on Wednesday of being linked to a recent oil spill off its shores that caused major ecological damage, calling the incident environmental terrorism.The spill was caused by an oil tanker that was carrying pirated cargo from Iran to Syria last month, Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said.The vessel sailed through the Gulf and the Red Sea without radio contact, switching its tracking devices back on before passing through Egypt's Suez Canal, Gamliel told reporters.It turned the devices off again before entering Israeli waters in the eastern Mediterranean, and dropped oil into the sea between Feb.

03 Mar 2021

Cavusoglu: Turkey, Egypt Could Sign Maritime Demarcation Deal

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu / Credit: Turkish Foreign Ministry

Turkey and Egypt could negotiate and sign a maritime demarcation deal in the eastern Mediterranean if their ties, which have been strained, allow for such a move, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.Ties between them have been frosty since Egypt’s army ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Mursi, an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan, in 2013. They have also been at odds over maritime jurisdiction and offshore resources, as well as differences in Libya…

15 Apr 2021

U.S. Ready to Facilitate Maritime Border Dispute Talks Between Israel and Lebanon

Flags of Lebanon and Israel (Credit:luzitanija /AdobeStock)

The United States stands ready to facilitate maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel that will have benefits for the crisis-hit Lebanese economy, a U.S. envoy said on Thursday.On a visit to Beirut, Under Secretary of State David Hale blamed Lebanese leaders for failing to end a deadlock in cabinet talks to tackle the collapse, which has crashed the currency. He warned that "those who continue to obstruct" progress open themselves up to punitive actions, without naming individuals.As part of its pressure campaign on Tehran…