Environment Ministry News

A Liberian-flagged natural gas tanker that was stranded in the Gulf of Aqaba on Friday has been moved away, said two Egyptian sources at the southern Sinai nature reserves.One of the sources said the ship was moved to Sharm el-Sheikh port, with both sources saying the tanker had been empty and had suffered an engine malfunction.The Egyptian environment ministry said on Sunday that a state of environmental emergency had been imposed in the southern Sinai area in case of any pollution or leaks from the stranded ship.

An offshore oil spill near Ecuador's coast reached a popular beach on Wednesday, authorities said, while also showing up in nearby waters as one local official blamed "human error" following a preliminary investigation into the incident. State oil company Petroecuador, which runs the Balao maritime terminal where the spill originated, said in a statement it had mobilized workers to contain it but did not disclose how much crude was unleashed into the ocean. The company added it had launched clean up efforts.

A leaking fuel tanker that sank off the central Philippines three weeks ago has been found using an underwater robot from Japan, a provincial governor said on Tuesday, as authorities sought more foreign help to address the oil spill.The discovery of MT Princess Empress, which was carrying about 800,000 liters (211,338 gallons) of industrial fuel oil when it capsized on Feb. 28 and eventually sank, was deemed crucial in stopping the spill, which reached shorelines in three provinces.

Philippine authorities have increased efforts to contain an oil spill from a sunken fuel tanker that has affected coastal towns and was still spreading, the environment ministry said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with cleanup challenges.Improvised spill booms made from cogon grass and coconut materials were helping to restrict oil leaking from MT Princess Empress, the Philippine-flagged tanker that encountered engine trouble in rough seas on Feb.

Philippine authorities believe they have found the location of a tanker that sank off a central province last week, the environment ministry said on Monday, amid a race to assess the extent of an oil spill and contain further environmental damage.The tanker, the MT Princess Empress, is thought to be lying at about 1,200 feet (366 meters) below sea level, off Oriental Mindoro province, though the information still needed to be verified, the ministry said in a statement.A remotely operated vehicle would be deployed to help determine the exact location of the tanker…

Environment and disaster authorities in the Philippines rushed to contain an oil spill on Friday from a sunken fuel tanker that has reached coastal towns on a large central island, warning of dangers to marine ecosystems if more oil leaks. The tanker, MT Princess Empress, was still missing on Friday after sinking en route to Iloilo province carrying about 800,000 litres (211,338 gallons) of industrial fuel oil.The vessel encountered engine trouble on Tuesday due to overheating and drifted due to rough sea conditions, according to the coast guard.

Tunisia will work with other countries that have offered to help it to prevent environmental damage after a merchant ship carrying up to one thousand tonnes of oil sank in Tunisian waters, the defense ministry said on Sunday.The [Xelo] ship was heading from Equatorial Guinea to Malta when it sank seven miles off the coast of the southern city of Gabes on Friday. The Tunisian navy rescued all seven crew members following a distress call.

Tunisian authorities intensified efforts on Saturday to avoid an environmental disaster after a merchant fuel ship carrying one thousand tons of fuel sank off the coast of Gabes on Friday, two security sources told Reuters.The Tunisian navy had rescued all seven crew members from the ship, which was heading from Equatorial Guinea to Malta, and sent a distress call seven miles away from southern city of Gabes, the sources added.The cause of the incident was bad weather, the environment ministry said, adding that water had seeped into the ship, reaching a height of two meters.Authorities were wo

A British scallop dredger seized by France is still being held at the port of Le Havre, the owner of the ship said on Tuesday, after a British minister said the vessel had been released by French authorities.Post-Brexit bickering over fish culminated last Wednesday in the French seizure of the British dredger, the Cornelis Gert Jan, in French waters near Le Havre."As far as we are aware, the vessel remains held at the port of Le Havre at least until the hearing tomorrow," Andrew Brown, a director of Macduff Shellfish which owns the Cornelis Gert Jan, told Reuters.Earlier, British Environment Secretary George Eustice said he understood the vessel had been freed by France.Asked if the impounded vessel had been released, Eustice told Sky: "Yes.

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index eased on Friday and posted its biggest monthly fall since January 2020, hurt by a decline in rates across all vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize vessels, fell 111 points, or 3.1%, to 3,519, its lowest since Aug. 12.The index fell more than 30% this month and was down 20.2% this week.Concerns over the health of the Chinese economy have led to a sharp decline in the dry bulk sector…

Spain plans to install floating wind turbines on the deep waters off its coasts with capacity to generate between 1 and 3 gigawatts of power by 2030, its Energy and Environment Ministry said on Wednesday.As part of a global shift away from carbon-emitting fossil fuels, governments and companies are seeking new ways to harness power generation from renewable energies like wind and solar.Spain has one of the world's largest onshore wind fleets, but its coastal waters are too deep to allow the installation of turbines that have allowed greater wind speeds and extra space to be exploited offshore

Israel on Sunday broadened its search for the ship behind an oil spill that blackened its beaches with tar after investigators ruled out one of the suspected tankers.An Israeli team, in coordination with Greek authorities, carried out a surprise inspection of the Minerva Helen while it was docked at Athens’ Piraeus port. The ship is no longer suspected of being responsible for the spill, said Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.Minerva Helen’s operator had denied any…

The port of Senegal's capital Dakar on Thursday said it had requested the removal of around 2,700 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored in its complex—the same volume of the chemical that caused Beirut's devastating port blast this month.The unidentified owner of the stockpile has found a warehouse to store the industrial chemical outside the city, according to the general directorate of the port, which sits next to Dakar's densely populated downtown."He is currently working with the environment ministry to obtain approval to urgently remove this cargo…

Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Saturday Tokyo planned to send a team of environment ministry officials and specialists to Mauritius soon to respond to the oil spill.A Japanese bulk carrier struck a coral reef off Mauritius on July 25, spilling about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil and triggering a state of “environmental emergency” in what some scientists call the country’s worst ecological disaster.The ship, MV Wakashio, is owned by Japan’s Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines.(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)Related: Grounded Bulk Ca

Indonesian authorities are considering two companies’ requests to dispose mining waste into the ocean, a senior government official said on Sunday, at a time of heightened sensitivity about the environmental impact of mining.The requests come as mining waste management is increasingly scrutinized after a nickel plant in neighboring Papua New Guinea spilled red mud into the sea last year due to an operational failure.Indonesia was a major nickel ore exporter until last year, before…

Underwater hull cleaning specialist HullWiper Ltd is joining forces with GAC Qatar in preparation to launch its hull cleaning solution at the Qatari port of Ras Laffan in early 2020 to meet growing demand for eco-friendly hull cleaning solutions.GAC Qatar is the only company to have been granted a license by the country’s Environment Ministry to operate hull cleaning equipment in its waters.HullWiper’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) complies with Qatar’s regulations, which include collection of 100% of biofouling removed during cleaning for safe disposal at the Qatar Petroleum (QP) facility after a QP test, and the maintain proper cleaning records for monthly submissions to QP Environment office…

The Croatian government proposed a special law on Thursday to facilitate the construction of an EU-backed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the northern Adriatic.The floating terminal is expected to start operations in 2020.The European Union wants the facility to help diversify sources of supply and reduce dependence on Russian gas, most notably for countries in central Europe.Brussels will invest 101.4 million euros ($121 million), or 28 percent of the project's assessed value.The law…

Turkey announced on Monday the route for a planned canal that would reduce shipping traffic on the busy Bosphorus Strait and transform the European half of Istanbul into an island. Work on the 45-km (28-mile) Kanal Istanbul, linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara west of the Bosphorus, will begin this year, Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said, adding it formed part of Turkey's most expensive construction project. The Bosphorus is one of the world's busiest waterways with 42,000 vessels passing through in 2016 - compared with 16,800 that transited the Suez Canal in the same year.

Japan sees little chance of the oil spill from a stricken Iranian tanker that sank on Sunday in the East China Sea reaching its shores, an official at the nation’s environment ministry said on Tuesday. The large tanker Sanchi (IMO:9356608) sank in the worst oil ship disaster in decades and produced a large oil slick, Chinese media and Japanese authorities said on Monday, as worries grew over damage to the marine ecosystem. The vessel’s crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis are all believed to have perished in the incident.

An Iranian oil tanker that sank in the East China Sea has left two oil slicks covering a combined 109 square km (42 square miles), the Chinese government said, as maritime police scoured for damage and prepared to explore the wreck. Satellite imaging showed a slick of 69 square km (26.6 square miles) and a second 40 square km (15.4 square miles) slick, which is less thick and not as concentrated, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said in a statement late on Tuesday. The large tanker Sanchi (IMO:9356608) sank in the worst oil ship disaster in decades on Sunday, raising worries about damage to the marine ecosystem. The bodies of two sailors were recovered from the ship while a third body was pulled from the sea near the vessel. The remaining 29 crew of the ship are presumed dead.

Clumps of oil have washed up on the shores of southern Japan and there are fears they may be leaking from an Iranian crude tanker than sank in the world's worst such disaster in decades, the Japanese Coast Guard said on Friday. Black clumps have reached the shores of the island of Amami-Oshima, a coast guard official told Reuters by phone. Authorities are checking to see if it is from the Sanchi (IMO:9356608) tanker that sank in the East China Sea last month, after being alerted to its presence by the public. The government had set up a special unit within Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office to coordinate Japan's response to the latest development, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Oil that reached islands in southern Japan earlier this month is highly likely to have come from the sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi, the Japan Coast Guard said on Thursday. Samples of oily matter that washed up on Feb. 8 on the shores of the Okinoerabu and Yoron islands in the Amami chain were found to be linked to the Sanchi's sinking, the Coast Guard said. The Sanchi sank on Jan. 14 after colliding with a freighter on Jan. 6 in the world's worst oil tanker disaster in decades.

A coal ship that dropped anchor off the coast of the Indonesian port city of Balikpapan on Borneo island was likely to blame for an oil spill, after dragging a pipeline more than 100 metres and causing it to crack, an energy ministry official said. Indonesia declared a state of emergency this week after the spill and fire killed five fishermen. The environment ministry said the oil covered an area of nearly 13,000 hectares and had polluted 60 km of coastal ecosystems, including mangrove wetlands and marine mammal habitats. "We suspect the pipe was dragged by the ship that caught fire," Oil and Gas Director General Djoko Siswanto told reporters on Thursday.