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Thursday, April 25, 2024
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Sea Coast News

24 Mar 2024

German Wind Sector Welcomes Offshore Terminal Funding

© Fokke Baarssen / Adobe Stock

The German Offshore Wind Energy Foundation said the government's decision to help fund the expansion of an offshore terminal is important to achieve expansion goals for wind energy at sea.In a statement late Friday, the foundation said it welcomed a government move to contribute to the costs of expanding the terminal at the port of Cuxhaven, on the North Sea coast.The government has agreed to finance the 30-hectare (74 acres) expansion of the offshore terminal, together with the state of Lower Saxony and the private port industry…

06 Mar 2024

Rubymar Sinking Puts Coral Reefs At Risk

(Photo: U.S. Central Command)

When the Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after a Houthi attack, the ship went down carrying 21,000-tonnes of fertiliser which could trigger massive algal blooms that could create "dead zones" for marine life and starve coral reefs of light.Alongside a slick of leaking fuel, the ammonium phosphate sulphate fertilisers could deliver an extreme pulse of nutrients into waters harbouring rare corals, marine mammals and reef fish, creating a spread of foamy scum on the water.According to a maritime warning circulated to ships in the area…

24 Feb 2024

First LNG Carrier Arrives at New German Mukran Terminal

LNG terminal at Lubmin. Image copyright Deutche ReGas

The first vessel carrying LNG for Germany's Baltic Sea terminal of Mukran arrived on Saturday for a test operation as the country steps up its quest to replace Russian pipeline gas.Private company Deutsche ReGas said that Energos Power, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), had moored at the terminal on Ruegen Island, having received approval from local authorities.Germany has intensified its quest to increase LNG capacity for regasification on its shores, as European countries seek to reduce their heavy reliance on Russian gas following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.The tests will

26 Jan 2024

China Presses Iran to Rein in Houthi Attacks in Red Sea

© icholakov / Adobe Stock

Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.The discussions about the attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said, declining to provide details about when they took place or who attended."Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran.

26 Jan 2024

Carnival Flags Impact to Operations Amid Red Sea Tensions

© icholakov / Adobe Stock

Cruise operator Carnival on Friday joined the growing list of companies flagging a potential hit to their operations following attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis."We believe that the instability in the Red Sea region currently impacting shipping could have an impact on our results of operations," Carnival said in a regulatory filing.The company's U.S.-listed shares fell nearly 2% in morning trade.The attacks, which the Houthis say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza…

24 Jan 2024

Ukraine's Black Sea Grain Export Success Tested by Red Sea Crisis

© wifesun / Adobe Stock

Ukraine has managed to boost its Black Sea grain exports to a level not seen since before Russia's invasion, although the Red Sea shipping crisis poses a new challenge to its crucial agricultural trade.Kyiv's success in replacing a UN-backed Black Sea export deal with its own shipping scheme has brought relief for Ukrainian farmers and importing countries while representing a naval breakthrough for Ukraine's military as a land counteroffensive has stalled.The export turnaround…

15 Jan 2024

Houthis Hit US-owned Dry Bulk Ship, No Injuries

(Image: United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations)

Houthi forces in Yemen struck the U.S.-owned and operated dry bulk ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship ballistic missile, U.S Central Command said on Monday, although there were no reports of injuries or significant damage.The vessel's U.S.-based operator Eagle Bulk Shipping said that it was hit by an "unidentified projectile" while sailing 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden and suffered limited damage to its cargo hold, and no seafarers were injured."As a result of the impact…

26 Dec 2023

Ukraine Strikes Russian Naval Landing Warship

(Photo: George Chernilevsky, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.The Russian defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack the Crimean port of Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged.Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had briefed President Vladimir Putin in detail about the attack, the Kremlin said.

11 Dec 2023

Yemen's Houthis Warn They Will Target All Ships Headed to Israel

© allegro60 / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.The Iran-aligned group is escalating the risks of a regional conflict amid a brutal war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.The Houthis have attacked and seized several Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and its Bab al-Mandab strait, a sea lane through which much of the world's oil is shipped…

03 Dec 2023

Houthis Attack Commercial Ships, US Warship in the Red Sea

RED SEA (Oct. 19, 2023) Sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) stand watch in the ship's combat information center during an operation to defeat a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19, 2023. (Source: US Navy)

The Pentagon said it was aware of reports regarding attacks on an American warship and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on Sunday, as Yemen's Houthi group claimed drone and missile attacks on two Israeli vessels in the area."We're aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available," the Pentagon said.Yemen's Houthi movement said its navy had attacked two Israeli ships, Unity Explorer and Number 9…

19 Nov 2023

Turkish Ship with 12 Crew Missing in Black Sea

© Dolores Harvey / Adobe Stock

A Turkish cargo ship with 12 crew members on board went missing off the country's Black Sea coast amid a storm on Sunday and authorities have been unable to make contact with them since, local authorities said.The captain of the Turkish flagged Kafkametler had reported during the morning that the ship was drifting towards a breakwater off Eregli, in northwest Turkey's Zonguldak province, the provincial governor's office said.The region was hit by powerful storms on Sunday and the statement said the adverse weather prevented air and sea vessels from carrying out searches.Search and rescue teams

17 Nov 2023

Ukraine Says 151 Ships Have Used Black Sea Corridor

© wifesun / Adobe Stock

Some 151 ships have used Ukraine's new Black Sea shipping corridor since it was set up in August, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Friday, citing a senior government official.A total of 4.4 million metric tons of cargo, including 3.2 million tons of grain, has been shipped via the corridor, Yuriy Vaskov, deputy minister for renovation and infrastructure, was quoted as saying.A U.N.-backed deal that had allowed safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea collapsed in July after Russia withdrew.In response…

10 Nov 2023

Ukraine: Alternative Black Sea Export Corridor is Working Despite Attack

Credit: glebzter/AdobeStock

Ukraine's alternative Black Sea export corridor is working despite a recent Russian attack on a civilian vessel, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Thursday.Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday a Russian missile damaged a Liberia-flagged civilian ship entering a Black Sea port in the Odesa region, killing one person and injuring four others. The vessel was supposed to transport iron ore to China."#Ukrainian_Corridor: vessel traffic continues both to and from the ports of Big Odesa (region)…

20 Sep 2023

Cargo Vessel Leaves Ukraine's Chornomorsk after Loading Grain - Deputy PM

A cargo vessel carrying grain has left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk for the first time since a grain deal collapsed, a top government official said on Tuesday, in a test of Ukraine's ability to unblock its seaports for grain export."The vessel RESILIENT AFRICA, carrying 3,000 tons of wheat, has left the port of Chornomorsk and is heading towards the Bosphorus," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook."This is the first of two vessels that entered Chornomorsk last week through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels established by the Ukrainian Navy."Kubrakov posted a photo of the ship on the open sea.Ukraine…

28 Aug 2023

Second Vessel Leaves Odesa Through Temporary Black Sea Corridor

A vessel carrying steel products to Africa has left Ukraine's Odesa port through a temporary Black Sea corridor, the second ship to do so since Russia withdrew last month from a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be safely exported, a senior Ukrainian government official said on Sunday.Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Liberian-flagged ship Primus had begun sailing through a temporary corridor set up for civilian vessels, confirming a report on Saturday by a Ukrainian lawmaker."The second vessel blocked due to the war has left the port of Odesa and is now sailing through a temporary corridor," Kubrakov posted on the social media platform X, formerly called Twitter.Kubrakov said the ship had been at the port since Feb.

22 Aug 2023

Russia Says It Destroyed Ukrainian Vessel Near Black Sea Gas Facilities

© Peter Hermes Furian / Adobe Stock

A Russian warplane destroyed a Ukrainian reconnaissance vessel in an area in the Black Sea where Russian gas extraction facilities are located, the Russian Defence Ministry said early on Tuesday.The ministry said in a short statement that the Ukrainian vessel had been destroyed by an SU-30 aircraft from Russia's Black Sea Fleet.There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which rarely comments publicly on its operations inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory but which…

14 Aug 2023

Romania Deploys Vessel, Helicopter to Find Stray Black Sea Mines

© Grispb / Adobe Stock

Romania's navy said it deployed a ship and a helicopter on Monday to scout for stray mines on the country's Black Sea coast, after a pier in the seaside resort of Costinesti was damaged in an explosion.Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and mines have since then been laid in the Black Sea by the combatants. Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish military diving teams have been defusing those that have drifted into their waters.The sea is crucial for shipments of grain, oil and oil products and is shared by Bulgaria…

12 Aug 2023

UN Removes Oil from Decaying Tanker Off Yemen

Credit: United Nations

The United Nations said on Friday it had completed the removal of more than 1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast, averting a potential environmental disaster.U.N. officials and activists have been warning for years that the entire Red Sea coastline was at risk, as the rusting Safer tanker could have ruptured or exploded, spilling four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.The war in Yemen caused the suspension of maintenance operations on the Safer in 2015.

02 May 2023

Germany's LNG Import Terminals Tackle Challenges

Germany's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project at Stade said it would in the coming weeks begin testing market appetite for ammonia as a way to transport hydrogen, as the country's efforts to end reliance on Russian pipeline gas gather pace.The quest for alternatives has included focusing on hydrogen, which when produced using renewable energy can help the transition to a lower carbon economy.Germany, however, would need to import much of its hydrogen needs and the low density of the gas makes transportation over long distances complicated unless a carrier…

25 Jul 2023

UN Starts Removing Oil from Decaying FSO in Red Sea

(Photo: Boskalis)

The United Nations said on Tuesday it had started the removal of more than 1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast in a complex operation it hopes will ward off a regional disaster.U.N. officials have been warning for years that the Red Sea and Yemen's coastline was at risk as the Safer tanker could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.A U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday a spill could cost $20 billion to clean up.The war in Yemen caused the suspension in 2015 of maintenance operations on the Safer…

16 May 2023

Germany's LNG Import Terminals Tackle Challenges

A German government-backed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project at Mukran on Ruegen island in the Baltic Sea, near existing LNG reception facilities delivering into the mainland port of Lubmin, will be downsized.The quest for alternative imports intensified as the country sought to end reliance on Russian pipeline gas after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.Apart from gas, industry and the government are anticipating increased use of hydrogen, which when produced using renewable energy can help the transition to a lower carbon economy.Germany would need to import much of its hydrogen needs and the low density of the gas makes transportation over long distances complicated unless a carrier…

23 May 2023

Germany Cannot be Relaxed about Baltic LNG Capacity, Senior Official Says

Illustration only - Credit: Karel/AdobeStock

Germany cannot be relaxed about the need for liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Baltic Sea, a high-ranking economy ministry official said on Monday, a week after plans emerged to scale down the region's Mukran project after local resistance. "We should not be relaxed about supply security in the next winter," said Stefan Wenzel, a parliamentary state secretary in the ministry led by Robert Habeck of the Green Party. "We cannot afford to be unprotected and we also have…

12 Jun 2023

Three Missing After Tourist Boat Fire in the Red Sea

© eshma / Adobe Stock

Three British tourists were missing and 12 had been rescued after a motor boat caught fire on Sunday off the Egyptian Red Sea coast, Egyptian officials and security sources said.The survivors were brought to safety in the nearby diving resort of Marsa Shagra, about 21km (13 miles) north of the town of Marsa Alam, along with 12 Egyptian crew and guides, according to a statement from the Red Sea State governor's office and two security sources.The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit on the boat…