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Macedonia News

18 Dec 2023

Gastrade’s FSRU Alexandroupolis Reaches Greece

FSRU Alexandroupolis (Credit: Gastrade)

Gastrade’s new floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) has arrived to Greece after completing an almost 10-month conversion at the Seatrium shipyard in Singapore.The FSRU, dubbed Alexandroupolis, sailed away from Singapore on November 26, and has now entered the waters of the Thracian Sea. In the following days, the FSRU will be anchored through a spread 12-point mooring system, ahead of connection to the high-pressure subsea and onshore gas transmission pipeline.The pipeline…

05 Jun 2023

Greek Police Seize 161 Kilos of Cocaine Hidden in Banana Containers

Credit: Greek Police

Police in northern Greece have seized dozens of packages of cocaine stashed in containers laden with bananas that had been shipped from Latin America, they said on Saturday. Police seized two suspect containers at the port of Piraeus and, after taking them to the port of Thessaloniki, found 100 "bricks" of concealed cocaine, weighing 161 kilos. The drugs, which would have been distributed across Greece and other European countries, are estimated to be worth about 3.2 million euros, police said.

30 Nov 2022

Greek LNG Terminals in the Pipeline

(Photo: Gastrade)

As demand grows for liquefied natural gas in Europe in the wake of the war in Ukraine, Greece has relied heavily on its sole LNG terminal off Athens to replace Russian gas imports.Now it is looking to build new floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) that could be operational by 2024.Here is information on the Revithoussa terminal and other planned projects:REVITHOUSSAGreece's sole operational LNG regasification and storage terminal on the Revithoussa islet off Athens…

03 May 2022

Kick-off Ceremony Held for Realization of Alexandroupolis FSRU in Greece

Founding Shareholder and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Gastrade, Ms. Elmina Copelouzou, US Ambassador, Geoffrey Pyatt & the Representatives of Gastrade's Shareholders - Credit: Gastrade

The kick-off ceremony for the realization of Gastrade SA's LNG FSRU facility in Alexandroupolis, Greece, was held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in the old Storage House of the Alexandroupolis Port Customs.Once delivered, the FSRU, with a capacity of 153,500 c.m. of LNG, will be moored in the offshore area 17.6 km southwest of the port of Alexandroupolis. It will be connected to the National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGΤS) of Greece with a 28 km long pipeline, through which the gasified LNG will be transmitted to the markets of Greece…

10 Jun 2021

If EURO2020 was Decided by Shipping-related Factors, Who Would Win?

© Romolo Tavani/AdobeStock

The European Football Championship is on the verge –and kicking off on Friday June 11. Therefore, BIMCO’s shipping number of the week had to be football-infused today. Adding extra topping to this sporting feast is the fact that the 2021 Copa America starts at the same time.If the result was decided by COVID-19, anything can happenSeveral national football teams have already seen the supply of their top footballers disrupted by the pandemic, much like what has hit many shippers ordering containerised goods produced in the Far East for shipments to any destination…

28 Jan 2021

Bulgartransgaz Takes 20% Stake in Greece's Gastrade

Credit; Gastrade - Photo from the signing ceremony in August 2020

Bulgartransgaz, the operator of the national natural gas transmission network of Bulgaria, has officially taken a 20% share in Greek company Gastrade that is developing an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) offshore Alexandroupolis. The agreement for Bulgartransgaz to take a 20 percent stake in Gastrade was signed back in August 2020. Following the approval granted by the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition, the transaction became effective on Thursday, January 28.

22 Apr 2020

Ruby Princess Crew Begins Debarking in Australia

(File photo: Princess Cruises)

The first group of Ruby Princess crew members has debarked the coronavirus-hit cruise ship in Sydney, Australia and began the process of repatriation to their home countries Tuesday, authorities said.At least 49 crew members from six countries disembarked the Carnival Corp owned cruise ship on Tuesday, and a further 115 crew members from nine countries disembarked on Wednesday.So far, 22 of the disembarked crew members have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been transported…

14 Nov 2019

Cosco Acquires Stake in Greek Intermodal Firm

OceanRail Logistics, part of the Cosco Shipping Group, acquired 60% of the Greek railway company Piraeus Europe Asia Rail Logistics (PEARL) as part of its plan to develop its intermodal transport services network.OceanRail specializes in sea-rail intermodal transport with the Piraeus Port as the hub and related logistics business, while PEARL is a Greece-based company engaged in railway operations.The China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line, which starts from the Piraeus Port in Greece and expands to the hinterland of Central and Eastern Europe, covering North Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia, is the third new trade corridor from the Far East to Europe and effectively connects the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt.In 2019…

28 Nov 2016

Majo Appointed President of Civitavecchia, Gaeta and Fiumicino Port Authority

International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW“) is delighted to announce that Rome corporate Counsel Francesco Maria di Majo has been appointed president of the prestigious Port Authority of Civitavecchia, Gaeta and Fiumicino (Lazio Region, Italy). The appointment was confirmed today by Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Mr Graziano Delrio, following approval from the Italian Chamber of Deputies’ Transport Commission on 15 November 2016. The Port Authority of Civitavecchia, Gaeta and Fiumicino is a key maritime hub for Rome and the central Italian regions of Campania, Umbria, Tuscany and Marche, linking them to the rest of the Mediterranean and beyond, as well as offering access to some of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations and captivating cruise routes.

05 Aug 2016

Turkey Sets Import Tax on Thermal Coal

Turkey imposed a tax this week on imports of thermal coal from Colombia, Russia and other major exporters, for use in power generation, to support domestic coal production. The Turkish cabinet decided to impose the tax of $15/tonne on imports from the United States, Colombia, Russia and South Africa on July 18 and announced it in the Official Gazette this week. The tax hits the biggest exporters of thermal coal but does not apply to imports from the European Union, Israel, Macedonia, Bosnia, Morocco, West Bank, Tunisia, Egypt, Georgia, Albania, Jordan, Chile, Serbia, Kosovo, South Korea, Mauritius and Malaysia, the government said. The levy is equal to around a quarter of the current month's physical South African coal price of around $63.65 a tonne.

13 Jul 2016

Cosco Bypasses Railway Strike by Sea Route

Cosco has decided to transfer its containers to the port of Koper in Slovenia from Piraeus in order to deal with the Greek railway strikes. Cosco has got around the problem created for its freight forwarding network by Greek railway workers’ ongoing strike action by sending its containers by sea from Piraeus to Koper in Slovenia, from where they are loaded onto trains for the next part of their journey, reports Kathimerini. Since the tariffs for small feeder ships are currently at very low levels, the Chinese company will be able to bypass the central Greek railway axis without major losses in competitiveness. This alternative route is part of a plan created by Cosco’s subsidiary in Greece Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) SA…

11 Feb 2016

Greeks at Frontline of Migrant Crisis Angry at EU Critics

ABOARD THE AGIOS EFSTRATIOS, Aegean Sea, Feb 11: Greek Captain Argyris Frangoulis lifts his binoculars and with eyes fixed on the Aegean Sea horizon, steers his patrol boat out near the Turkish border to a dinghy full of stranded refugees. He zeroes in on the target and gasps - "My God!" - another grey rubber motor boat packed with about four times as many people as it can hold, many of them young children and babies. "Everybody safe, OK?" he yells at the passengers, mainly Syrians and Afghans, approaching the coast guard vessel bewildered and in near-silence. About 50 people are pulled aboard one by one, smiling but too exhausted to speak. By the time they stagger wearily to the boat's rear, a dinghy is spotted in the distance.

07 Oct 2015

Refugees Give Greek Tour Operators an Extended Season

Placards in hand, travel agent Iakovos Bouchoris and his team scout for customers at Greece's busy Piraeus port, near Athens, where some 5,000 people arrived on Tuesday in a single day on ships from outlying islands close to Turkey. Instead of the usual groups of German, Italian and Korean tourists, the tour operators were waiting for Syrian refugees; and rather than touring the ancient ruins of the Greek capital, they were heading north to the Greek-Macedonian border. Greece's peak holiday season may have ended in August, but for many travel agents, business is booming in October. "We've been filling 20 to 25 buses a day, about 1,250 people a day," Bouchoris said, recalling a peak in early September.

22 Aug 2015

Greece Moves Refugees to Mainland, Crush Builds on Border

Greece ferried hundreds of refugees to its mainland on Friday to relieve the pressure on outlying islands that have been overwhelmed by thousands of people arriving by boat to flee Syria's civil war. At the same time, crowds of migrants massed on the Greek border with Macedonia, preparing to travel north across a continent that is struggling to cope with the influx of desperate people escaping from conflict and poverty. Just under 2,200 refugees arrived at the port city of Piraeus on Friday night on a car ferry chartered by the Greek government. It was the second shuttle in as many days as authorities attempted to ease overcrowded conditions on islands bordering Turkey. "I will go to Europe, I don't want any war.

20 Aug 2015

Syrian Refugee Arrives on Greek Mainland

Syrians want to get to northern Europe. A car ferry carrying just over 2,400 Syrian refugees arrived on the Greek mainland on Thursday as a wave of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty continued unabated, straining a country which is already in economic crisis. Many of the Syrians made 'V' for victory signs as they disembarked in the port city of Piraeus from the ship, chartered by the Greek government to ease conditions on islands in the eastern Aegean, where migrants are arriving on inflatable dinghies and small boats from nearby Turkey. Greece has been found largely unprepared to deal with the migrant crisis in recent weeks, prompting criticism from aid agencies. Arrivals in July totalled 50,000, far outstripping the figure for the whole of 2014.

19 Aug 2015

Refugee Ship Headed for Greek Mainland

Authorities struggling to cope with arrivals; 21,000 people landed on Greek shores last week. A passenger ship that is housing Syrian refugees set sail from the Greek island of Kos on Wednesday, heading for the mainland as authorities struggle to cope with a wave of arrivals. The ship, which has acted as a floating accommodation and registration centre since Sunday, was heading for the northern port of Thessaloniki, Greece's second biggest city, where it was expected to arrive on Thursday morning. It will stop at the islands of Leros, Kalymnos and Lesbos to collect more migrants, the coast guard's office said. But confusion reigned over where they will be accommodated after arriving at the port, or whether they would disembark at all.

10 Jul 2015

UN Urges EU to Help With Med Migrants

Island communities unable to cope with migrant flow, UN says. The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that Greece urgently needed help to cope with 1,000 migrants arriving each day and called on the European Union (EU) to step in before the humanitarian situation deteriorates further. More than 77,000 people have arrived by sea to Greece so far this year, more than 60 percent of them Syrians, with others fleeing Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia, it said. "The volatile economic situation, combined with the increasing numbers of new arrivals, is putting severe strain on small island communities," William Spindler of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a briefing.

24 Apr 2015

Rescue Ships Head for Libya, as Migrants Die Also in Balkans

British and German warships made ready to sail for waters off Libya as Europe ramped up rescue operations in the Mediterranean after up to 900 desperate migrants drowned last weekend on a boat heading for Italy. Yet hours after European Union leaders agreed in Brussels on Thursday to treble funding for EU maritime missions and pledged more ships and aircraft, 14 clandestine migrants were killed when a train ploughed into dozens of Somalis and Afghans making their way in darkness along a rail track in a Macedonian gorge. The incident highlighted the variety of routes that growing numbers are taking to escape war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and chance their luck in a wealthy region that offers, at best, a chilly welcome.

04 Nov 2014

Croatia Resurrects LNG terminal Plans

Croatia prepares financial plan for LNG terminal; EU sees the Krk terminal helping Europe's energy independence. Croatia has reopened a feasibility study for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the northern Adriatic which should help diversify energy supplies for central Europe, economy minister Ivan Vrdoljak said on Tuesday. The idea is to make the terminal on the island of Krk the southern end of a gas pipeline corridor connecting Croatia and Poland's Baltic port of Swinoujscie to help diversify gas supply routes for central Europe and cut dependence on Russian imports. "The potential LNG terminal on Krk has been recognised by the European Commission as an important project for the European Union's energy independence.

15 Sep 2014

MN 100: Tradesmen International

CEO/President: Joseph O. Tradesmen International provides custom staffing solutions that allow its shipbuilder clients to sustain a profitable balance of work to workers thereby optimizing workforce productivity. Tradesmen is recognized across North America as the industry’s premier source for high-caliber, safety-minded craftsmen. The company employs thousands of First Class and Second Class trade professionals ready to serve shipyards of all sizes out of nearly 100 local offices including 37 in port cities.

02 Sep 2014

Rickmers-Linie Appoints Interliner Agencies

Photo courtesy of Rickmers-Linie

Hamburg based Rickmers-Linie has appointed Interliner Agencies as its new agent in South Central Europe. The agency contract covers Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro. On September 1, 2014, Interliner Agencies took over all sales and agency activities in the above mentioned countries for and on behalf of Rickmers-Linie. Gerhard Janssen, Director Marketing and Sales Europe at Rickmers-Linie commented on the appointment of Interliner Agencies…

17 Jul 2012

Thuraya Partners with T-Mobile to Launch Roaming Service in USA

Thuraya Telecommunications Company has launched its roaming service in the United States of America in partnership with the American mobile operator, T-Mobile. The service, which commenced on July 12, allows Thuraya subscribers to roam seamlessly with their Thuraya mobile numbers into the T-Mobile network that reaches 96 percent of Americans. Thuraya customers in the region can now make and receive calls, and also send and receive text messages (SMS). The Company’s GmPRS roaming service will be enabled afterwards on the T-Mobile network. Mr. Tarek Shqairat, Director of Inter-Carrier Relations, Thuraya Telecommunications Company, said: “With more than 350 roaming partners worldwide, Thuraya is the only satellite operator offering roaming services over GSM networks.

26 Apr 2014

Russia, Consumer States Discuss Gas Supply Via Ukraine

Russia's Energy Minister and the head of Gazprom discussed gas supplies via Ukraine with representatives of consumer countries Bosnia, Macedonia and Moldova on Saturday, Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying. Participants in the Moscow talks, including Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom chief Alexei Miller, expressed concern that payment problems could result in a fall in the amount of gas crossing Ukraine to countries in south-eastern Europe. President Vladimir Putin wrote earlier this month to 18 European leaders thatRussia would cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine if it did not pay its bills and that this could lead to a reduction of onward deliveries to Europe. (Reporting by Nigel Stephenson; Editing by Steve Gutterman)