Southern Spain News

Four migrants died after being thrown from a speedboat yards from a beach in Cadiz in southern Spain, Guardia Civil police and rescue service said on Wednesday.The boat was carrying a total of 27 immigrants, 23 of whom arrived alive.Images published on social media and carried by local media, whose authenticity has not yet been confirmed by Reuters, show a black inflatable speedboat circling in heavy tides off the beach and people onboard pushing others off the side, who start to swim in the swell."We saw a drug trafficking boat arriving but they weren't trafficking drugs but with migrants.

Killer whales severely damaged a sailing boat off the coast of southern Spain, the local maritime rescue service said on Thursday, adding to dozens of orca attacks on vessels recorded so far this year on Spanish and Portuguese coasts.In the early hours of Thursday, a group of orcas broke the rudder and pierced the hull after ramming into the Mustique on its way to Gibraltar, prompting its crew of four to contact Spanish authorities for help, a spokesman for the maritime rescue…

Dozens of ships carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) are circling off the coasts of Spain and other European countries unable to secure slots to unload because plants that convert the seaborne fuel back to gas are full.Europe is facing an energy supply squeeze as Russia has progressively cut gas flows after the West imposed sanctions in response to the Ukraine war.The region has had to find alternative supplies, including LNG, but the arrival of multiple cargoes of the superchilled…

A Maltese-flagged ship carrying Russian coal and petroleum coke has docked in the northern Spanish port of Gijon, port authorities said on Monday.Another Maltese-flagged ship, loaded with Russian crude, docked in Cartagena, southern Spain, on Friday, authorities confirmed.The European Union approved sanctions against imports of coal, wood, chemicals and other products such as vodka from Russia on April 8 in a bid to cut trade after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, although the sanctions are not yet fully enforced.On April 27, another Maltese-flagged vessel tried to enter the Port of Barcelona but

German-based cargo container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd AG is launching a new liner service offering a direct connection between Turkey and the US East Coast.The Turkey North America East Coast (TNE) service will operate every nine days between the Turkish seaport of Marmara (Izmit, Istanbul and Gemlik) and the US ports of New York, Norfolk and Savannah, said a press release from the world's fifth largest container carrier in terms of vessel capacity.In addition, the service will also offer an excellent connection between Turkey and the US East Coast and the Egyptian port of Alexandria.The port of Algeciras in southern Spain will serve as the transshipment hub for cargo.

The RB Eden vessel carrying 70,000 tonnes of U.S. sorghum is heading to the Spanish port of Cartagena, Thomson Reuters Eikon ship-tracking data showed, in what will be a fifth cargo of U.S. sorghum to be diverted from China to Spain.The ship had sailed towards the Spanish Canary Islands after turning around in the Indian Ocean. Having circled off the coast of Tenerife, it changed destination late on Monday to Cartagena in southern Spain, a regular import terminal for livestock feed grain, Eikon data showed.Traders had been expecting the RB Eden to go on to mainland Spain, like four other U.S. sorghum cargoes bound for Tarragona in northeast Spain, but the final destination had not yet been confirmed.The RB Eden's cargo would bring the volume of U.S.

French gas grid operator GRTgaz said a force majeure in Algeria and tensions in the global gas market were reducing deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to southern France, just as winter demand for heating intensifies. Deliveries to the Fos-sur-Mer terminal were at about 40 gigawatt-hour (GWh) per day, compared with the 70 GWh per day needed to meet increased winter demand for power and heating, GRTgaz chief executive Thierry Trouve told journalists on Tuesday. The low deliveries at Fos and congestion on the pipeline linking France's northern and southern gas hubs has led to the widening of the spread between prices in the two regions as prices in the south hit new highs.

Algeciras Bay Port Authority in southern Spain has put up a tender for its third container terminal, and China's Cosco Shipping Ports is already being mentioned as a fore runner candidate, says a report by Caixin. According to port authority, Algeciras is Spain's biggest container port and oil importing dock, and handled 2.3 million 20-foot containers in the first half the year – a 13 percent year on year increase. Cosco Shipping Ports  Ltd., the port operating arm of state-owned China COSCO Shipping Corp., is the world's fourth-largest container operator by capacity. Its recent overseas shopping spree includes buying two-thirds of Piraeus…

According to a weekly update from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), an oversupply of European distillates is raising the amount of product being held in floating storage, and also causing changes to shipping routes to slow delivery to the continent. Europe is experiencing a relatively warm winter resulting in weaker demand, and also high refinery runs in Europe and increased imports have kept distillate inventories in the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp (ARA) area far above normal.

The automotive industry developed during the 20th century in Barcelona, Spain's principal industrial city and the center of one of Europe's four key development driving regions. The Port of Barcelona claims a leading role in the development of this sector throughout its history, and today it is one of its main factors of competitiveness, both for finished vehicles and containerized part traffic. When the industry began to develop in Catalonia, with manufacturers like Hispano Suiza and Elizalde…

An American cargo ship, the 'Cape Ray' converted into a mobile chemical weapons destroyer is expected to take charge of some of Syria's most dangerous materials next week, a U.S. defense official said. Syria on Monday handed over the remaining 8 percent of a total 1,300 tonnes that Syria declared to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The handover had faced repeated delays, leaving the Cape Ray docked in southern Spain awaiting a green light to proceed. Its mission now is to transform toxic agents into a much less poisonous soup of chemicals, ready for disposal back on land. The Cape Ray's crew were given word on Monday that they needed to be ready to depart Spain in the coming days for southern Italy's Gioia Tauro port…

Experts on board a cargo ship transformed into a multimillion dollar chemical weapons destroyer said on Thursday they were ready to start working on Syria's stock of toxic arms in the middle of the Mediterranean as early as May. Now they just have to hope the weather holds and Damascus delivers on time. Former container vessel Cape Ray, docked in southern Spain, has been fitted out with at least $10 million of gear to let it take on about 560 metric tonnes of Syria's most dangerous chemical agents and sail them out to sea, said officials.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has gained an order to supply two shuttle carriers to a long-standing customer, Total Terminal International (TTI) Algeciras SAU. The order has been booked into Cargotec's second quarter 2013 order intake. TTI Algeciras, the first semi-automatic terminal in Southern Europe, will take delivery of these additional shuttle carriers in the fourth quarter of 2013. The new machines will add to the customer's existing fleet of 20 Kalmar shuttle carriers and will handle containers from 20' to 40'. Kalmar's latest generation shuttle carriers feature a modular design for excellent versatility. The SCH250H has been fitted with twin extendable spreaders and has the capability of lifting up to 50 tonnes.

Several years ago I found myself on a tourist boat that carries out whale watching tours in Península de Valdés, Patagonia, Argentina. This location became famous over the last 30 years, due to the massive yearly encounter of the southern right whales (Eubalena australis) during their mating and birth period from May to December. The southern right whale got its name due to the friendly behavior and the fact that they float when the animal is dead. This was the ‘right’ whale to chase.

Austal announced an expansion of its European service presence with the establishment of a maintenance hub on the Strait of Gibraltar. Based in Southern Spain and Northern Morocco, the new operations will support the extensive fleet of Austal and non-Austal high speed craft currently operating on the Strait of Gibraltar. The new operations will support the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa in Spain, and Tanger Ville and Tanger Med in Morocco, and will be staffed by members of Austal’s existing maintenance team as well as local personnel.

Hatteland Display's Naval Multi Display (NMD), has been chosen for the US Navy Freedom Class LCS by Navantia, Spanish military ship building contractor. The Navantia system is an Electro-Optical (E-O) solution for the fire control system of the Freedom Class. It is a high-tech solution that is also selected by the American company Lockheed Martin. "We have worked closely with the Navantia R&D team in southern Spain, which has led to participation in various ship and submarine programs for local and export contracts," said Mehdi Bounoua, Manager Region South Europe, Hatteland Display. The new NMD meets the requirements of MIL-S-901D, Grade A, Class I shock, eliminating the need for shock isolation in the rack or console, as well as Mil-Std-167-1, Mil-Std-461E, and Mil-Std-810F.

Mediterranean areas. normally trading between the UK and Ireland. will provide a pool of two vessels which operate in southern Spain. a vessel based in southern Greece. vessels by mid-2008. Ruiter. Baltic, Atlantic and Mediterranean areas. completion. the Black Sea.

The world's largest diesel powered fast catamaran ferry has entered service for Spanish operator Euroferrys and is now working on a route between Algeciras in southern Spain and Ceuta the Spanish principality on the north African coast, across the strait of Gibraltar. Euroferrys Pacifica is a 331 ft. (101 m) car ferry, which is the largest of Austal's flagship Auto Express type vessel and the largest high-speed catamaran in the world with diesel propulsion. With an immersed hull length of 291 ft. (88.7 m), molded beam of 87 ft. (26.6 m) and hull draft of 14 ft. (4.2 m), Euroferrys Pacifica has a passenger capacity of 951 passengers and 251 cars. The propulsion package comprises 4 x Caterpillar 3618 engines, 4 x Reintjes VLJ6831 gearboxes and 4 x Kamewa 125 SII waterjets.

Bureau Veritas says the 9,981 dwt chemical carrier Balu, which sank about 120 miles North of La Corunna off northern Spain in heavy weather today, was fully in class and had no requirements outstanding. The Balu was on passage from Denmark to southern Spain with a cargo of about 8,000 tons of sulfuric acid. The vessel was built in Frederikstad, Norway in 1977 to DNV class. The Balu was registered in Malta, owned by Dundee Shipping & Trading and managed by Monaco-based Traschimar. Bernard Anne, managing director of BV's marine division, says, "We have offered full co-operation to and are in close contact with the Maltese and French authorities. All the information we have on the history of the vessel is being made available." This vessel was transferred to BV class in 1980.

Astilleros Españoles was chosen as the builder of a new RoRo cargo and passenger fast ferry, by Transmediterranea, Spain's largest shipowner. Intended for deployment by Transmediterranea on the routes running between mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands, the vessel will be the epitome of the latest safety conditions. Technical solutions applied onboard will enable the ferry to operate at high speeds with a large capacity, while instilling passenger comfort. Top travel speeds of 23.5 knots on the engines' continuous service rating, allow the vessel to hold the title of the fastest and the most powerful in Transmediterranea's fleet.

operated in offshore block C137, 100 km offshore Libya, was launched at IZAR’s Fene yard, according to schedule, on October 7. Partners in the development of the offshore block C137, known as the B structure, are TotalFinaElf, Germany’s Wintershall, and Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) with the balance. TotalFinaElf affiliate Compagnie des Petroles Total Libya (CPTL) is operating the project, which is based in 272 to 285 ft. water depth, 62 miles offshore western Libya. in mid-2001 Antwerp-based Exmar Offshore was contracted to supply the FPSO on a leased basis to CPTL and to manage production operations. The yard – formerly operating under the Astano brand – has a solid track record in offshore hull construction and outfitting.