Mali News

Shani Ben-David, 39, was appointed to the position of Captain, significant as she is the first woman to be appointed captain in the Israeli Merchant Marine. In a traditional ceremony held at the company's headquarters in Haifa, ZIM President & CEO, Eli Glickman, granted her the official appointment. She will take command of the container ship ZIM Shekou at the beginning of May 2022."The historic appointment of Shani Ben-David, as the first woman Captain in our fleet, is exciting and inspiring," said Glickman.

German NGO Sea-Watch said on Friday it had rescued nearly 100 migrants in the Mediterranean overnight, many of whom were injured, some with severe "fuel burns" - chemical burns caused by exposure to gasoline mixed with seawater.Migrant boat departures from Libya and Tunisia to Italy and other parts of Europe have increased in recent months with better weather.According to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1,100 people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East have perished this year in the Mediterranean.Late on Thursday…

French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Monday an MSF vessel that rescued hundreds of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean last month has been detained in Italy, suggesting the seizure was politically motivated.Thousands of migrants embark each year on the crossing, often departing in small, inflatable boats from Libya with hopes of reaching Europe.So far this year, 866 migrant deaths have been recorded in the Mediterranean, according to the U.N. migration agency. Most of them, 723, died on the central Mediterranean route where the MSF vessel was operating.MSF’s research ship, the Geo Barents, was seized on July 2 in Augusta…

Chevron Marine Lubricants announced a plan to boost its presence in African ports, extending its joint venture with Akwa Group. Chevron is now an equal partner in Afriquia Lubrifiants, with plans to extend the blending, distribution, and marketing business beyond Morocco to markets in sub-Saharan Africa.The agreement enables theJV to manufacture Chevron’s premium products locally for the first time, including Chevron Marine Lubricants’ product portfolio. The new roadmap includes the export of lubricant products to 14 countries in North and West Africa: Algeria…

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…

Global ports operator DP World has struggled to borrow from banks to finance new investments since a port it partially owns in Djibouti was seized by the government there in 2018, its chairman said on Monday."We are investing but it is costing us more. That’s the damage," DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told Reuters in Rwanda's capital Kigali, where the company opened a $35 million logistics platform on Monday."Fewer banks will lend us money today," he said, without giving further details.

DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, said on Tuesday it had acquired 100 percent of Unifeeder Group, a Danish logistics company, for 660 million euros ($762.6 million).The acquisition from Nordic Capital Fund VIII and certain minority shareholders will boost DP World's presence in the global supply chain and broaden its product offering to its customers, shipping lines and cargo owners, DP World said.Based in Aarhus, Denmark, Unifeeder operates a container feeder and a shortsea network in Europe, serving both deep-sea container hubs and the intra-Europe container freight market

International Maritime Organization (IMO) is continuing its ongoing efforts to ensure women can reach top ranks in the maritime sector, through its Women in Maritime programme. The latest event was a two-week training course for female officials from maritime and port authorities of developing countries, in Le Havre, France (11-22 June). At the Institut Portuaire d'Enseignement et de Recherche (IPER), 23 female officials from 14 developing countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Senegal, Seychelles, Togo and Tunisia) had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of port management and operational efficiency.

Port of Antwerp International (PAI), the consultancy and investment subsidiary of Antwerp Port Authority, has been appointed by the Council of Ministers of the West African country of Benin to modernise the port of Cotonou. This port is the economic heart of Benin, handling an annual freight volume of around 12 million tonnes. In the longer term, the port authority wants the port to grow further, but both the infrastructure and the organization are outdated. The government therefore decided to temporarily outsource the management of the port. “We are delighted that the Benin government has opted for the expertise and knowhow of Antwerp,” says port alderman Marc Van Peel, who is also chairman of PAI.

DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, met with the President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, last week to discuss a trade and logistics master plan to unlock the resource rich country’s economic potential. The plan includes a transportation and logistics strategy with electronic customs processes, replicating DP World’s successful model with Dubai Trade at its flagship Jebel Ali Port and Freezone in Dubai. Regional trade in West Africa connects through ports such as DP World Dakar in Senegal to international markets. DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said: “Mali has a long history of trade in gold and agricultural products and though landlocked…

The effective implementation of IMO garbage regulations (MARPOL Annex V) on ships and in port reception facilities was the main focus of an IMO regional workshop on marine litter for the East Asian seas region, held in Jeju, Republic of Korea (5-8 December). (The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), at its 55th session in October 2006, established an intersessional correspondence group to develop a framework for a comprehensive review of MARPOL Annex V). Garbage from ships can be just as deadly to marine life as oil or chemicals. Participants shared experiences of implementing marine litter requirements. Site visits included the waste oil disposal facility and clean-up vessel operated by the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation (KOEM), which hosted the workshop.

A recent visit to Cabo Verde November 30 to December 6 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) provided an opportunity to meet various government agencies involved with maritime security and discuss the country’s future role in regional maritime security activities. Cabo Verde announced its intention to host the MultiNational Centre of Coordination (for Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal) under the proposed operational framework to support the wider region’s maritime security Code of Conduct, which was signed by governments, including Cabo Verde, in 2013, to enhance cooperation to counter piracy and armed robbery at sea and other illicit maritime activity.

Every day migrants and refugees are at risk of drowning as they make the perilous journey to Europe, a voyage which will only become riskier as winter approaches. But thanks to the work of the charity, Save the Children, together with ship owner Vroon and RINA Services, a specifically dedicated rescue ship has been classified to rescue those that run into difficulty when crossing the Mediterranean. In 2016 Save the Children started a project aiming to use a vessel from the Dutch ship owner Vroon to save the lives of men…

The port of Antwerp and the port of San Pedro in Côte d’Ivoire are to collaborate over the next few years to manage further expansion of this West African entrepot. San Pedro, the leading cacao port in the world, aims to develop at regional level so as to become a logistics hotspot for handling commodities such as fertilisers, cashew nuts and cacao, among other things. Part of the capital cost will be financed by Port of Antwerp International (PAI), the consultancy and investment subsidiary of Antwerp Port Authority. While PAI has already been active in West Africa for many years now, this will be the first time it has made a financial investment in the region. Already in 2011 the ports of San Pedro and Antwerp signed an agreement for collaboration between them.

APM Terminals Cotonou, operating as Coman SA at Benin’s primary port, adds two new cranes, the largest mobile cranes in the Benin port. Cotonou, Benin- Coman SA, operated by APM Terminals Cotonou in Benin’s primary port, has commissioned two new Mobile Harbor Cranes (MHC) at a ceremony presided over by the Benin Minister of Transport, Hervé Hehomey. The new cranes will bring the terminal’s operating total to five, after the decommissioning of an older crane. The cranes have a lifting capacity of 144 tons, making them the largest in the port area. Coman SA Managing Director Koen De Backker said “These new cranes reflect our ongoing investment in improving Benin’s port infrastructure, productivity and competitiveness for our customers.

Due to operational constraints, CMA CGM informs its customers that the rail service from Dakar (Senegal) to Bamako (Mali) is suspended until further notice.   In order to ensure service continuity, CMA CGM reminds that road service remains available from Dakar to Bamako in 13 days.   Please note that road transport is subject to a governmental fee, "Fonds de Garantie Routier" which is payable by the shipper.   "We will not fail to inform you as soon as rail service resumes," assures a note from CMA CGM.

China said on Sunday it will continue to build military and civilian facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea and the United States was testing it by sending warships through the area. "Building and maintaining necessary military facilities, this is what is required for China's national defence and for the protection of those islands and reefs," Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur. China planned to "expand and upgrade" the civilian facilities on the islands "to better serve commercial ships, fishermen, to help distressed vessels and provide more public services", Liu said, adding that China rejects the notion that it is militarising the South China Sea. He said China has mostly built civilian facilities.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday that countries should stop building artificial islands and militarising their claims in the disputed South China Sea. "For the sake of regional stability the claimants should halt reclamation, construction and militarisation of disputed areas," Obama told a meeting between the United States and leaders of the 10 Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). China insists it has undisputed sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, a claim that overlaps with four ASEAN countries. China has been transforming reefs in the Spratly archipelago into artificial islands and has built airfields and other facililties on them.

Up to 40 African migrants were feared drowned after their inflatable boat sank near the Libyan coast, survivors told the United Nations refugee agency on Thursday after reaching Italy. "They said between 35 and 40 people died on Wednesday morning," said Carlotta Sami, the UNHCR spokeswoman for southern Europe. All the dead came from sub-Saharan countries such as Senegal, Mali and Benin. A team from the Save the Children charity that interviewed some of the survivors said up to 7 children, aged about 15 or 16, were also believed to have died in the incident. Sami said the boat they were travelling in started to disintegrate shortly after it put to sea from the Tripoli area.

Italian politicians based in the north vowed not to shelter any more migrants saved at sea, even as thousands more were being rescued in the Mediterranean from smugglers' boats in distress, reports AP. All of those rescued will be deposited at ports on Sicily or elsewhere in southern Italy in the coming days, lifting this year's total of new arrivals on Italian soil to more than 50,000. Lombardy president Roberto Maroni said he would be writing to local mayors and prefects in his region on Monday to warn them not to accept any more "illegal immigrants" allocated by the government. Municipalities that did not toe the line would have their funding from the region cut, he said.

Libya's coast guard detained on Wednesday almost 600 illegal African migrants, among them pregnant women and 18 children, who had tried to sail to Europe on a fishing boat, a security official said. The North African country, gripped by violence and a breakdown of state authority four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, has turned into a major hub for human traffickers smuggling African migrants by boat to Italy. As many as 900 people may have died last month off Libya's coast when their packed boat capsized as they were trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa. Many thousands more have managed to make the crossing in an almost daily exodus of boats.

At least 50 Malians from the impoverished region of Kayes were among up to 900 migrants who drowned trying to cross from Libya to Europe this weekend, the government said on Friday. The deaths triggered worldwide outrage and prompted the European Union to agree to triple the size of its naval search mission in the Mediterranean at a hastily convened summit. "There were 24 survivors amongst which there were 12 Malians. Around 50 Malians drowned but that number could increase," said Kany Keita, spokesman for the Ministry for Malians Abroad. Nearly 2,000 people have died this year out of nearly 40,000 people recorded making the crossing. The Kayes region of western Mali, which borders Senegal, Guinea and Mauritania, has seen high levels of emigration for years.

Italian police arrested 15 African men suspected of throwing about a dozen Christians from a migrant boat in the Mediterranean on Thursday, as the crisis off southern Italy intensified. Forty-one more deaths were reported in a separate incident. Police in the Sicilian capital Palermo said they had arrested the men, from Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal, after survivors reported they had thrown 12 people from Nigeria and Ghana to their deaths and threatened other Christians. The 15 were arrested on charges of multiple homicide motivated by religious hatred. "The motive for the resentment was traced to their faiths," police said. The survivors' account underscores the rising chaos in the Mediterranean…