Ionian Sea News

The Italian coast guard is carrying out operations to rescue two boats carrying a total of 1,200 people, it said on Monday, after a surge in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend. One of the boats, which is carrying 400 people and is in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Calabria, southern Italy, had previously been sighted in Maltese waters. Earlier on Monday, German NGO Sea-Watch International, which had located the fishing boat with one of its planes…

The Italian coastguard is carrying out operations to rescue two boats carrying a total of 1,200 people, it said on Monday, after a surge in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend.One of the boats, which is carrying 400 people and is in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Calabria, southern Italy, had previously been sighted in Maltese waters.Earlier on Monday, German NGO Sea-Watch International, which had located the fishing boat with one of its planes, said one merchant ship in the area had supplied fuel and water to the boat in distress, but Maltese

Firefighters battling for a third day a blaze on a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy recovered on Sunday the body of a passenger listed as missing, Greek authorities said.It is the first reported fatality after rescuers managed to take at least 281 out of 292 passengers and crew to safety from a blaze which broke out on the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia early on Friday.The ferry had been on its way to the Italian port of Brindisi from Igoumenitsa in Greece when it was engulfed…

Two people are trapped on a ferry that was engulfed in a blaze as it sailed from Greece to Italy early on Friday, the coastguard said, after scores of others passengers and crew members were rescued.A total of 239 passengers and 51 crew were onboard the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia when the fire broke out and rescue vessels had taken most of them to the island of Corfu where ambulances were waiting, the Greek coastguard added."We were woken up around 4:20 a.m. Within an hour we had left the ship ...

Greece plans to extend the western limit of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 miles, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.Italy and Albania, who also have Ionian coasts, have been officially informed about Greece’s plans and a bill on the matter will be submitted to parliament soon, Mitsotakis said.“Greece will extend its western territorial waters to 12 nautical miles from six,” Mitsotakis told lawmakers during a debate on whether to approve an accord…

Turkey's Yilport Holding signed a concession agreement with Port Network Authority of the Ionian Sea (PNAIS), the managing institution of the Port of Taranto in Italy for the multipurpose terminal.The deal was signed on 30 July 2019, at Castello Aragonese in Taranto, Italy by Robert Yuksel Yildirim, Yilport Holding Chairman, and Sergio Prete, the President of Taranto Port Authority.The agreement appoints Yilport to undertake all operations at the multipurpose terminal of Taranto Port for 49 years.This is the 22nd marine port in Yilport Holding’s portfolio, and its first terminal in Italy. The company, ranked 12th among international container terminal operators by Drewry…

Turkey warned Greece on Tuesday it would not tolerate a shift in Greece's maritime border, drawing a sharp rebuke from Athens that it would decide when and how it exercises its sovereign rights.The statements from both sides came a few days after Greece's former foreign minister said Greece planned to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles to the west of the country.Territorial waters are a sensitive issue between the two neighbors and NATO allies, who are separated by the Aegean Sea and have been at odds over airspace, ethnically split Cyprus and offshore mineral rights for decades.Turkey has previously warned it could not preclude military action to defend its interests.Former Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias…

Yilport Holding has submitted its offer for Taranto Container Terminal concession in Italy. Ionian Sea Port Authority (AdSP), the managing institution of Port of Taranto has officially received the request of Yilport Holding to operate the entire set of multi-purpose port facilities in the Port of Taranto. These terminals in Southern Italy handle container traffic, bulk cargo and serve ro-ro traffic. Well located as a relay hub for the Mediterranean Sea, the terminals are integrated to intermodal networks, connecting Southern Italy to Northern Italy and finally to the center of Europe. Yilport’s proposal covers developing and revamping the terminal facilities to attract and grow container volume…

Greece will conclude the evaluation of deep-sea oil and gas exploration bids in the coming weeks and will name the preferred bidders soon after, its energy minister said on Friday, as the country seeks to tap into its limited oil reserves. Plunging crude oil prices have cut spending on oil projects around the world but cash-strapped Greece is pushing ahead with investment in the industry in a bid to reduce dependence on oil imports and boost public finances. "We are evaluating three bids made by oil companies whose financial strength, experience and infrastructure ensure they are in a position to successfully perform gas and oil exploration and production," Energy Minister Panos Skourletis said.

Greece said on Tuesday it had received three bids for deep sea oil and gas drilling in western Greece and south of the island of Crete.   The bidders were not disclosed. The names of the bidders, and areas over which they had expressed an interest would be released after tender documents are unsealed, the Energy Ministry said.   Greece last year invited investors to bid for test drilling in 20 offshore blocks stretching over more than 200,000 square kilometers in the Ionian Sea and South of Crete.   The new left-wing government in March extended the deadline for the submission of bids by two months to July 14 in an effort to attract more interest in the tender.     (Reporting By Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Michele Kambas)

Greece is planning to cut tax rates for oil and gas companies as it wants to attract them to help exploit its untapped offshore hydrocarbon resources, its energy minister said on Tuesday. Under the plan, oil and gas explorers will pay 25 percent tax, down from 40 percent currently, and 5 percent of the tax will go to local communities. "We have done this in order to incentivize our investors to invest in the future of Greece," Ioannis Maniatis, Greece's Energy Minister, said at a conference in London. He did not say when the new tax rates would come into effect.

Greece will invite major oil companies next month to conduct offshore test drillings, the government said on Wednesday, launching the debt-laden country's most ambitious attempt so far to develop its untapped hydrocarbon potential. Athens has made several fruitless attempts over the past decades to find big reserves of oil or natural gas. Exploration interest revived during its debt crisis, with the cash-strapped country keen to reduce its big fuel import bill. Several blocks covering a combined area of more than 200,000 square kilometres in the Ionian Sea and south of the island of Crete are expected to go under the hammer. Greece has been encouraged in its quest by big offshore natural gas finds in Israel and Cyprus, nearby in the Eastern Mediterranean.

ABB wins a contract worth about US$40-million to extend the export terminal of the eni (Energy Rifinery Co.) refinery in Taranto. The eni refinery is located in the “Mar Grande” bay on the Ionian Sea in southern Italy. The contract is part of eni’s plan to improve the refinery infrastructure and to ensure a reliable connection with the onshore Tempa Rossa oil plant. The refinery is located at the export terminal and is connected to the oil field through an underground pipeline. The plan includes the extension of an existing pier. “This new project will help to improve the local oil transportation infrastructure for eni,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. The pier will have five loading arms, with a transfer capacity of 3,000 cubic meters per hour.

For the first time in the 18-year history of Silversea Cruises, three of the ultra-luxury line's ships -- Silver Cloud, Silver Wind and Silver Spirit -- called in the same port on the same day. The historic convergence of the three ships took place today in beautiful Corfu, a Greek island renowned for its lush green hills and pure white beaches. Surrounded by the sparkling turquoise waters of the Ionian Sea, Silver Cloud, Silver Wind and Silver Spirit greeted each other by sounding their whistles as they sailed into this charming and sophisticated port.