Gulf Of Finland News

Russian energy company Novatek said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack.The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets. It processes stable gas condensate - a type of light oil - into light and heavy naphtha, kerosene and diesel to be shipped by sea.It was not clear how long the disruption would last…

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia was acting in its own interests when asked about a probe by the United States into alleged violations of Western oil sanctions on Moscow.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told a daily conference call with reporters that President Vladimir Putin would hold a meeting on the fuel and energy complex later on Tuesday.The U.S.

Damage to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline earlier this month is believed to have been caused by a ship dragging a large anchor along the seabed, but it was too early to tell if this was an accident or a deliberate act, Finnish police said on Tuesday.Investigators said they had now retrieved a lost anchor from the seabed location where the pipeline ruptured on Oct. 8, and were investigating whether it belonged to a Chinese container vessel.Police have previously said damage to the Balticconnector…

An investigation into the damage to the Balticonnector gas pipeline is currently focused on the role of the Chinese NewNew Polar Bear container vessel, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Friday.Early on Oct. 8, a gas pipeline and a telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were broken, in what Finnish investigators said may have been sabotage, though they have yet to conclude whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.On Tuesday, Sweden said a third link…

A Norwegian Navy ship shadowed a Chinese container ship investigated over damage to a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland for about 15 hours as it sailed along the western coast of Norway on Monday, vessel tracking data showed.Finnish investigators on Tuesday said they were looking into the Chinese vessel, the NewNew Polar Bear, and a Russian-flagged ship, the Sevmorput, as well as other vessels, present in the area when a Baltic Sea pipeline was damaged on Oct. 8.They said the incident was due to "outside activity" and could have been deliberate.The NewNew Polar Bear is a container ship travelling between Europe and China via the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic.

Finnish investigators looking into damage to a Finnish-Estonian gas pipeline said on Tuesday they are probing several ships, including one Chinese and one Russia-owned, which were present in the Gulf of Finland at the time.“Investigation measures have been focused on several vessels, such as Newnew Polarbear and Sevmorput, but also on others which according to data have been in the area at the time of the damage,” Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation added in a statement.Related: Finland Can't Rule Out 'State Actor' Involvement in Pipeline Damage(Reuters - Reporting Anne Kauranen, writin

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom has loaded its first cargo from the Portovaya liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant close to the Russia-Finland border, which has a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).“The cargo was onboard the Pskov LNG vessel, which is now broadcasting a destination of Port Said that provides entry to the Suez Canal in Egypt,” said Olumide Ajayi, senior LNG analyst at Refinitiv, citing Eikon data, adding that the vessel could be heading towards Asia.ICIC LNG analyst Alex Froley agreed, noting that although the ship had yet to move, the signal from its automatic identification system (AIS) indicated a possible Asia delivery and suggested India as a destination.The $1.62 billion plant, built on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, is located in the proximity of the Port

Arctia’s icebreaker Otso is set to commence this winter's icebreaking season in Finland as the first icebreaker to depart from the Katajanokka base in Helsinki on December 3.The vessel will provide icebreaking assistance in the waters of Tornio, Kemi and Oulu in the Bay of Bothnia where it is scheduled to arrive on December 5, just in time for a forecasted spell of intense cold weather expected to accelerate ice formation in the northern Bay of Bothnia. Consequently, the icebreaking…

Russia’s first ship designed to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fuel other vessels with LNG has completed its sea trials, energy firm Gazprom Neft reported on Friday.The Dmitry Mendeleev is expected to enter Gazprom Neft’s fleet in the second half of this year, the company said.“The next stage will be the testing of systems for loading, storing and discharging of LNG,” it said.The Dmitry Mendeleev is an Arc4 ice-class vessel which will be able to transport up to 5,800 cubic meters of LNG. It will operate in ports on the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, including St.

Icebreaking operations have commenced in Finland, with two icebreakers presently deployed in the Bay of Bothnia, where ice has begun to form at the head end and along shipping lanes.On December 25, by decision of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, the icebreaker Kontio was deployed, followed by icebreaker Otso on January 8. First assistance restrictions for sea areas entered into force on December 27.“Based on long-term forecasts, we would seem to have a mild winter ahead of us…

Russia’s first cargo and passenger ship-to-ship LNG-bunkering vessel has been set afloat, Gazprom Neft has informed.“Ship-to-ship” bunkering involves ships being refueled directly from the deck of a specialist bunkering vessel. This technology means bunkering can be undertaken when ships are moored or docked at a pier.The company said Wednesday that the shipyard specialists had completed the main stage in the vessel’s construction, including assembling the hull and installing LNG fuel tanks and other auxiliary systems, in record time.

Three years ago, an Ecospeed hull coating was applied on Antarctic, a shallow draft anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel owned by Ark Shipping Company. The success of this application led the vessel's owner to order the same protection for its next two shallow draught AHTS vessels: Polar and Polus. Building of these vessels will start in 2021 and will again take place at the Atlas Shipyard in Kocaeli, Turkey.Ark Shipping is a Russian river and sea shipping company that has been operating in the transport and logistics market since 1992.

A nuclear-powered ice breaker Russia says is the world’s largest and most powerful set off on Tuesday on a two-week journey to the Arctic as part of Moscow’s efforts to tap the region’s commercial potential.Known as Arktika, the nuclear icebreaker left St. Petersburg and headed for the Arctic port of Murmansk, a journey that marks its entry into Russia’s icebreaker fleet.Russian state firm Rosatomflot has called the vessel the world’s largest and most powerful icebreaker.

The good news is that work has commenced on the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the United States Coast Guard in 43 years. The bad news is that when it enters service, projected to occur in FY2024, it will be the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the USCG in 47 years.Meanwhile, Russia has approximately 30 active polar icebreakers, including four that are nuclear powered. Arktika, the first of a new class of three heavy polar icebreakers, has commenced sea trials in the Gulf of Finland, with the other two under construction.

An tanker picked up seven crew embers from a sinking fishing vessel in the Gulf of Finland.While en-route from the Port of Ust-Luga to Copenhagen on February 6, the tanker SСF Angara received a distress signal from the Russian fishing trawler Pongoma, which was sinking on the traverse of Tallinn, 26 nautical miles offshore, SCF Group said on Monday.The tanker and her crew, under the leadership of master Alexey Maksimovsky, responded to the request for help, and following the instructions received from the rescue center in Tallinn, diverted to assist the ship in distress.During a rescue operation, all seven members of Pongoma’s crew were brought aboard the tanker. Two fishermen in need of urgent medical care were then evacuated by helicopter to Helsinki.

Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, the classic Maine boat designer and builder will build to Baltic Workboats design for the domestic workboat market.Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, the classic Maine boat designer and builder will announce at this year’s International WorkBoat Show that it has entered into the domestic workboat market as the Jones Act builder for the Estonian, Baltic Workboats wave piercing pilot boat, currently popular with Danish and Belgian pilots.How do you feel about taking on something as unusual as building a pilot boat designed and built in Estonia…

Estonian energy company Eesti Gaas began providing liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering services to LNG-powered vessels in the port of Hanko, Finland, for the first time in addition to Tallinn and Helsinki.For the port of Hanko, this means scheduled LNG bunkering on its premises, and Eesti Gaas will be providing the service to two new ships in addition to Tallink’s Megastar.The two ships bunkered by Eesti Gaas in the port of Hanko are the largest dual fuel LNG vehicle carriers in the world. Sister ships Auto Energy and Auto Eco transport new vehicles from Europe to Finland and Russia.The ships of ice class 1A Super can accommodate a total of 4000 vehicles on their ten decks.

Trelleborg’s marine and infrastructure operation has been awarded a contract to install its rope-free automated mooring system, AutoMoor, at the Old City Harbor at the Port of Tallinn, which is the biggest harbor in Estonia and one of the busiest passenger harbors in the world.In first quarter of 2020, Trelleborg will install six units of its AutoMoor T40 Twin Arm at the Old City Harbor’s Berth 13 cruise ferry wharf to facilitate faster berthing processes and improve safety levels within the port environment.

Steel cut for first short-sea LNG bunker vessel for Eesti Gaas at Damen Yichang Shipyard, China.On March 18, 2019, a ceremony was held at Damen Yichang Shipyard, China, to mark the start of cutting steel for the first of a planned series of short-sea LNG Bunker vessels to be built for Eesti Gaas of Estonia. The 6,000m³ capacity vessel and its future sister-ships are intended to accelerate the wider adoption of LNG as a cleaner alternative fuel in the north-eastern region of the Baltic Sea by providing a mobile and efficient ship-to-ship distribution service for the first time.Virgo Vinkel…

A new multipurpose 45-meter patrol ship will be used by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Service for a wide range of operations, including firefighting, anti-smuggling and search and rescue missions, but its main use will be in combating pollution threats.The new vessel, Raju, is the largest patrol vessel ever built by Estonia’s Baltic Workboats, and is the first in the firm’s emerging range of battery hybrid patrol ships.From 2021 the Baltic Sea will become an Emission Control Area (ECA)…

Wearing only a bathrobe, Finnish inventor Janne Kapylehto sailed his self-made floating sauna across the Gulf of Finland on Monday, travelling from Helsinki to Tallinn in 16 hours.The floating sauna - which resembles a shed on a raft - is equipped with four engines, solar power panels, a sauna for three, an observation post, sound system, a fridge and a grill.The voyage of 82 kilometers took longer than expected as the raft faced 1.5 meter-high waves and winds of up to 15 meters per second.

A cargo ship that sprung a leak in the Gulf of Finland last week has been towed into the port of Tallinn. The Finnish Boarder Guard said several meters of water had flooded into the engine room and one of the cargo compartments of a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier Glory Hongkong sailing in international waters to the west of Suursaari island en route to St Petersburg. Pumping equipment was used to drain the cargo compartment, and the leak between the engine room and the cargo hold was stopped. No oil leaked from the ship into the sea at any stage.

Following an international tender process, Nord Stream 2 AG have awarded a contract for offshore pipelay of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea to Allseas. The company will undertake offshore pipelay works for both lines in 2018 and 2019. Allseas will use three pipelaying vessels – Pioneering Spirit, Solitaire and Audacia. The utilisation of the dynamically-positioned pipelay vessels, which are able to carry out precise maneuvering without anchors, should ensure additional environmental protection and safety in the congested Baltic Sea. Allseas’ Solitaire previously laid parts of the Nord Stream pipeline in the Gulf of Finland.