Ministers News

Global industry leaders from North America, Asia and Europe have announced the formation of the North Pacific Green Corridor Consortium (NPGCC) whose members and partners will work together to decarbonize the value chain for commodities between North America and Asia.The NPGCC will apply its collective expertise to develop a corridor for the decarbonized transportation of multiple commodities, including agricultural products, metal concentrates and steelmaking coal.The members of the NPGCC are committed to establishing the consortium as a catalyst for decarbonization efforts…

African Heads of State have agreed a landmark moratorium on the donkey skin trade. The agreement was reached on February 18 during the 37th African Union Summit in Ethiopia.Over the last decade, Africa has seen its donkey population decimated due to Chinese demand for ejiao, a gelatine used in traditional Chinese medicine that is made from boiling down donkey skins. Believed to have unsubstantiated health benefits, demand for ejiao has obliterated China’s own donkey population…

Sanmar rounded off 2023 with delivery of two new heavy-duty tugs to the Directorate General of Coastal Safety at a ceremony attended by leading politicians and maritime industry executives.Built at Sanmar’s Altinova Shipyard in the heart of the Turkish maritime sector, KURTARMA 17 and KURTARMA 18 are both 29.4m long, 13.3m wide and have a maximum draft of 5.75m. They are each powered by two high-speed Caterpillar 3516C main engines enabling them to achieve an impressive towing force of 82 tons.Known as BIGAÇAY Xlll and BIGAÇAY X before being renamed by their new owner…

Italy would like a political decision made to create an EU maritime security mission for the Red Sea by next week so that it can become operational as soon as possible, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.European Union member states gave initial backing on Tuesday to the mission to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia in the Red Sea on concern that disruption in one of the world's top trading arteries could hit the global economy.A U.S.-led mission is already operating in the region.The objective of EU states was to establish their mission by Feb.

Germany is expected to participate in a European Union naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea that EU foreign ministers will approve this month, the head of the German parliamentary defence committee said.Speaking at her party's reception for the new year on Sunday, Maria-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said the aim of the mission would be for EU frigates to protect commercial vessels passing through the strait.The approaches to the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping lanes…

Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria signed an agreement on Thursday on a joint plan to clear mines floating in the Black Sea as a result of the war in Ukraine, following months of talks between the NATO allies.Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler, his Romanian counterpart Angel Tilvar and Bulgaria's Deputy Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov signed a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul to form a trilateral initiative to clear the explosives."With the start of the war, a threat of floating mines in the Black Sea has arisen. To combat it ...

Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, introduced Canada’s draft framework to cap pollution from the oil and gas sector on December 7. The aim is to reduce emissions and remain competitive in a shifting global market. “No sector of the economy should be allowed to emit unlimited pollution, not when we are all driving toward the same goal of net zero by 2050 to ward off the worst impacts of the climate crisis,” said the ministers in a statement.

AUKUS defense ministers have reaffirmed their resolve to bolster security and stability and ensure that the Indo-Pacific remains a region free from coercion and aggression.A statement was released after Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III hosted Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Australia, and Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom, at the Defense Innovation Unit Headquarters in California on December 1.AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership for the Indo-Pacific region between Australia…

A Royal Navy task force of seven ships will deploy with allies early next month to jointly patrol areas with vulnerable undersea critical infrastructure, following an unprecedented agreement by ministers of the 10 Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) nations.The UK contribution to the deployment will include two Royal Navy frigates, two offshore patrol vessels and mine countermeasures vessels, as well as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship – supported by a Royal Air Force P-8 Poseidon…

The King's Speech on November 7 set out the UK Government's agenda for the coming political year, and the animal welfare charity RSPCA is pleased that a live export ban - via an Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill - was amongst the issues raised in the supplementary notes.The RSPCA has campaigned to outlaw live exports for more than 50 years. Today, around 1.6 million farm animals – cattle, sheep, pigs and horses – are transported huge distances across Europe annually, some for slaughter…

Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria will work together against the threat of floating mines in the Black Sea due to war between Russia and Ukraine, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.The ministry gave no details of how it would address the floating mine problem. It said on social media platform X that the three countries had discussed the issue at the NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels.Last week, the British government said Russia may use sea mines to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, including by laying them on the approach to Ukrainian ports.

The Turkish and Ukrainian foreign ministers said on Friday that other solutions to the export of Ukrainian grain than the Black Sea grain deal, which ended after Russia quit last month, were less optimal.The deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations last year had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain. Ankara has been trying to persuade Moscow to return to the agreement.Ukraine announced earlier this month a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in its ports since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb.

Ukrainian officials on Thursday asked Lebanon to bar a Syrian state-owned cargo ship carrying allegedly stolen Ukrainian grain from docking in Lebanon's Tripoli port, according to the Ukrainian embassy and a diplomatic note seen by Reuters.The Ukrainian mission said in comments to Reuters that the Finikia was transporting 6,000 metric tons of corn, which it considered stolen, from the Black Sea port of Sevastopol.In the note to Lebanon's ministries of transport, finance and economy, as well as the customs directorate, the embassy said the corn had been "stolen from storage units in the Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions".It said…

Britain has removed migrants from a residential barge less than a week after they moved in after Legionella bacteria was found in the water supply, the government said on Friday.Britain had begun moving some migrants on to the large Bibby Stockholm barge on its southern coast at the beginning of the week as part of its high-profile strategy to deter asylum seekers from arriving in the country. The policy had divided opinion, with ministers saying they wanted to offer basic and not luxurious accommodation to help save costs, while human rights campaigners said the offer was inhumane. "Environmental samples from the water system on the Bibby Stockholm (barge) have shown levels of legionella bacteria which require further investigation…

China will ban vessels from an area near Taiwan on Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris, its maritime safety agency said on Thursday, as Japan sought details from Beijing on a reported no-fly zone in the same location. China has not commented on the no-fly zone, but South Korea, which was also briefed on the plans, said it was due to a falling object related to a launch vehicle. The disruption comes during tension in the region over Chinese military exercises around Taiwan…

Romania and Poland are in talks with the European Commission over export tracing mechanisms for Ukrainian grains to ensure local farmers are not hurt by a flood of cheap imports, the Polish and Romanian prime ministers said on Tuesday.Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, has seen its Black Sea ports blocked since Russia invaded more than a year ago and has been forced to find alternative shipping routes through European Union states Poland and Romania.But logistical bottlenecks mean that large quantities of Ukrainian grains…

Organized crime in the fisheries industry that endangers stocks, exploits labor and robs states of billions of dollars must be fought with cross-border surveillance and stronger law enforcement, officials meeting in Copenhagen heard on Thursday.Some 600 million people worldwide depend on the sector for their livelihoods, working in a value chain affected by illegal fishing, slave labour, corruption and tax evasion, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).Government ministers and delegates attended a conference by the Blue Justice Initiative…

EU countries on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime sector by increasing the use of renewable fuels on ships.The deal aims to put maritime transport on the path towards meeting the EU's climate goals in 2030 and 2050, by increasing reduction targets for emissions from energy used on ships and introducing measures to encourage the use of so-called renewable fuels of non-biological origin."The agreement will make sure that fuel suppliers, ships and maritime operators will have sufficient time to adapt for the new conditions so the maritime

Germany may allow China's Cosco to take a smaller stake than originally planned in a Hamburg port terminal, in what an economy ministry source on Tuesday described as an "emergency solution" to approve the deal but mitigate the impact.Shipping giant Cosco made a bid last year to take a 35% stake in one of logistics firm HHLA's three terminals in Germany's largest port, but the German coalition has been divided over whether to let the deal go ahead.The compromise would see Berlin approving a sale of 24.9% of the terminal to Cosco, several government sources said.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance announced its newest decarbonization effort as part of the Green Shipping Challenge at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), the marine cargo partnership between the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle, announced its partnership with the Republic of Korea, the Busan Port Authority, and the United…

The Sailors’ Snug Harbor (SSH) is a charity based out of New York that provides assistance to retired merchant mariners. In 2022, SSH helped more than 400 mariners in 33 states and Puerto Rico. SSH helps mariners live more comfortably by assisting them with their living expenses such as rent, mortgages, and utilities. SSH also helps them find other assistance and local services. In recent years, SSH has expanded its eligibility criteria to include inland mariners as well as deep sea mariners.SSH was incorporated in 1806 as the result of a bequest made by Captain Robert Richard Randall.

The Canadian government said on Thursday it would not allow mining in its domestic ocean seabeds without a "rigorous regulatory structure" and that the need for natural resources does not override Ottawa's environmental commitments.Sea floor nodules contain critical minerals used in batteries that are needed to fuel the world's transition to clean energy, but trawling the sea floor for them could disrupt ecosystems."Canada does not presently have a domestic legal framework that would permit seabed mining and, in the absence of a rigorous regulatory structure, will not authorize seabed mining i

The European Commission warned the German government last spring not to approve an investment by China's Cosco into Hamburg's port, German daily Handelsblatt reported on Friday, citing sources.Shipping giant Cosco last year made a bid to take a 35% stake in one of three terminals in Germany's largest port in the northern city of Hamburg.Germany's ruling coalition is divided over whether to approve the investment, government sources say, even as Beijing urges Berlin not to politicize the bid and the port authority warns this could hurt the economy.According to Handelsblatt…