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Regional Government News

21 Jun 2022

Germany's Scholz Hopes for Baltic Sea LNG Terminal within Months

© NPershaj / Adobe Stock

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was confident liquefied natural gas (LNG) could start flowing into the country via the Baltic Sea port of Lubmin within a matter of months, as Germany rushes to phase out Russian energy imports."Our goal is to get as much as possible there by the turn of the year, or a little bit later, so we can get gas quickly from wherever," Scholz said on Tuesday in Berlin after a meeting with the regional government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.State premier Manuela Schwesig said the federal economy ministry and local energy ministry were conducting joint audits.

11 Jan 2022

German Court to Rule in Row Over Funding for Shipbuilder MV Werften

(Photo: MV Werften)

A German court will rule next week in a case brought by Genting Group against a German regional government after a row over funding for cruise shipbuilder MV Werften, which filed for insolvency on Monday.Genting, led by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, bought MV Werften in 2016. The pandemic has hit the global travel industry, including cruise operators and led to production stops at shipyards that build cruise ships.Genting's subsidiary Genting Hong Kong said on Tuesday…

04 Sep 2019

Marseille Fos to be 1st Electric Port in Med

The the main trade seaport of France, the Port of Marseille Fos has unveiled a new eco-friendly initiative that supports the port's goal of becoming the Mediterranean's first fully electric port by 2025.Marseille Fos CEO Hervé Martel said: “We are convinced that ecological transition is the springboard to economic growth. That’s why we are investing heavily to become the Mediterranean’s first 100% electric port by 2025."Among a string of new eco-friendly initiatives, the Marseille Fos port authority is to spend EUR 20 million over the next six years to extend shore-side electrical connections for berthed vessels to every ferry, cruiseship and repair quay within the Marseille eastern harbour.Already available on the Corsica ferry quays…

24 Jul 2019

Marseille Fos Accelerates Air Emissions Cuts

File image / AdobeStock / © dbvirago

Among a string of new eco-friendly initiatives, the Marseille Fos port authority is to spend $22 million over the next six years to extend shoreside electrical connections for berthed vessels to every ferry, cruiseship and repair quay within the Marseille eastern harbor.Already available on the Corsica ferry quays, the network will be expanded in two phases to cover North Africa ferry quays and the shiprepair hub by 2022 and the cruise terminal between 2022 and 2025. The zero…

15 Jul 2019

BV Joins the Int'l Windship Association

Photo: Bureau Veritas

The decarbonization drive is gearing up to be the defining issue faced by the shipping sector in the coming decades and the industry is searching for low carbon and zero emissions technologies that will deliver on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) initial strategy of reducing emissions by at least 50% by 2050. One family of technologies that is seeing an upsurge of interest in the industry is wind-assist and primary wind propulsion solutions. Today the Paris headquartered…

20 Jun 2019

International Workshop on Piracy in India

ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) and Indian Coast Guard (ISG) are co-hosting an international workshop in New Delhi, India to deepen knowledge on issues related to piracy and armed robbery.Having 20 countries as its members, ReCAAP is the first regional Government-to-Government agreement that deals with the issues of piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia.Designating ICG as the point of focus for ReCAAP within India, the nation has played an active role in establishment and functioning of ReCAAPISC along with Japan and Singapore.This year’s Capacity Building Workshop emphasises on knowledge of the role and functions of ReCAAP Focal Points in combating piracy and armed robbery against ships…

27 Mar 2019

Iraq Orders ex-Governor Arrested after Ferry Sinking

Iraq has issued a warrant for the arrest of the former governor of Nineveh on corruption charges after at least 90 people were killed in a ferry accident in the provincial capital Mosul, two court officials said on Wednesday.The warrant also included the arrest of some local officials after a court investigation concluded they colluded with the former governor in misusing their powers and committed financial violations, a Mosul court judge said.A member of parliament has tweeted a copy of the arrest warrant.Responding to a formal request by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq's parliament voted on Sunday to sack Governor Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan after the overloaded ferry capsized in the Tigris river last week.Abdul Mahdi's letter to parliament accused Sultan of negligence…

17 Aug 2018

ReCAAP ISC, Philippine Coast Guard Meet on Maritime Safety

ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) and Philippine Coast Guard this week co-organised a meeting between government agencies and the shipping industry to enhance maritime safety and security in the Sulu-Celebes seas and waters off eastern Sabah.The meeting brought together key littoral stakeholders including relevant government agencies in the Philippines, the Philippine shipping industry, the Indonesia Coast Guard (BAKAMLA), as well as members of the diplomatic community in Manila to review the current situation in the Sulu-Celebes Seas, take stock of past and current efforts to improve maritime safety and security, and explore ways…

14 Jun 2018

HSH Nordbank Aims to Buy Shipping Loans from Other Banks

© Kalyakan / Adobe Stock

Germany's HSH Nordbank, once the world's biggest ship financier, aims to buy shipping loans from other banks and make new investments in the industry as it emerges from years of turmoil, a top bank official said.The bank's regional government owners are selling the lender to buyout groups Cerberus Capital Management and J.C. Flowers, with investors GoldenTree, Centaurus Capital and Austrian bank BAWAG also taking stakes."HSH, at the end of this process of privatization, will for the first time since 2008 be restored.

26 Jul 2017

ReCAAP, OCIMF Sign Asian Anti-Piracy MoU

The safety of navigation is vital to the safety, security and economic activities of all stakeholders traversing sea routes in Asia—the region with some of the busiest seas in the world. Recognising this shared interest, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre and Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on July 24, 2017 in London to boost the fight against piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia. The MOU will see the Information Sharing Centre of ReCAAP, the first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia…

21 Jul 2017

Tanker with Disputed Kurdish Oil Reappears off Malta

The Neverland tanker has reappeared off the coast of Malta after going off radar near Canada on June 30, when it was chartered by oil trader Vitol carrying Iraqi Kurdish crude oil, Reuters ship-tracking showed on Friday. The tanker had been heading to eastern Canada to discharge the cargo at the end of June when the Federal Court of Canada issued a seizure order for the cargo at the request of Iraq's oil ministry. Iraq alleges the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and sold to Vitol. Along with the seizure request made to Canada, the ministry filed a separate claim against Vitol and two subsidiaries for $32.5 million. The tanker appears empty, according to the draft on the ship tracking system.

05 Jul 2017

Canada Orders Seizure of Oil Tanker

The Federal Court of Canada has ordered the seizure of a 721,915-barrel cargo of crude from Kurdistan aboard the "Neverland" oil tanker on the request of the Iraq Oil Ministry, court documents show. The Iraq Oil Ministry has also filed a claim against commodity trading house Vitol S.A. and subsidiaries including Mansel Ltd, the charterer of the ship, and affiliate Finaval SpA di Navigazione, the owner of the ship, for $32.5 million. Iraq claims the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government and sold to Vitol to be loaded onto the "Neverland." Vitol declined to comment. The court action, dated June 29, is…

07 Apr 2017

About 20 Dead after Boat Hits Cargo Ship

Some 20 people died and about a dozen were missing on Friday after a wooden boat carrying about 60 wedding guests hit a cargo ship and sank in southwestern Myanmar, local officials said, in the third big marine accident in the country in as many years. The boat was unlit and hit a cargo ship on the river in the city of Pathein at about 7:20 p.m. (1250 GMT), they said. Twenty bodies have been found and 27 people have been rescued, Kyaw Myint, a local government official, told Reuters from a hospital in Pathein. Rescuers were still looking for survivors, witnesses said. "The authorities at the port are looking into the cause of the crash," Kyaw Myint told Reuters by telephone. The regional government will help arrange funerals, he said.

08 Nov 2016

The US Election: Ramifications for Maritime

Clinton vs. Trump. Perhaps one of the most important presidential elections in U.S. history, the 2016 Election Day results with have impacts felt far and wide – and all throughout maritime industry. A proverb common to both Greek and Turkish cultures states that a wolf may change its fur, but does not change its nature (Ο λύκος την τρίχα αλλάζει, το χούι δεν τ`αλλάζει /Kurt tüyünü değiştirir, huyunu değiştirmez). In English, we might render this “a leopard cannot change its spots.” If we are to believe the proverb…

30 Jun 2016

MAST, AMSA Partner for Risk Management Services

Phil Cable (Photo: MAST)

Maritime security company Maritime Asset Security Training (MAST) has announced their partnership with Astbury Marine Services & Associates (AMSA), a specialist shipping and insurance response business. The combination of front-line experience and industry knowledge place MAST and AMSA as leaders in their field. The two companies will work together to provide an increased portfolio of risk management services to clients trading in difficult or complex environments. These include support following an insurance incident…

15 Mar 2016

Aragon, Yiwu Sign for the "Train of Silk"

The regional government of the northern Spanish region of Aragon and the Chinese city of Yiwu signed an agreement to maximize the benefits of the Yixinou freight train, which links the Chinese city and Madrid, the capital of Spain, reports Xinhua. The "train of silk" goods "Yixinou", unites over 13,052 kilometers Yiwu city with Madrid, has a stop in Zaragoza. An 8,000 mile crossing from China to Spain, passing through eight countries and taking 20 days, has raised hopes of a new "Silk Train" transport route. The President of the Government of Aragon, Javier Lamban, and the chief of Yiwu, Sheng Qiuping, have signed this agreement to strengthen economic relations between the two countries.

24 Dec 2015

GloMEEP Energy Efficiency Project Gets Underway

The first national workshop under the Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships GloMEEP), Project, which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping, has been held in Georgia. Georgia is one of the Lead Pilot Countries for the project, which aims to build understanding and knowledge of technical and operational energy-efficiency measures to lead maritime transport into a low-carbon future. The national workshop in Batumi, Georgia (15-17 December), focused on raising awareness of Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), in particular the energy-efficiency regulations in chapter 4.

28 Sep 2015

IMO Launches Low-carbon Project: GloMEEP

Representatives from IMO, the lead pilot countries and Singapore at the GloMEEP launch (Photo: IMO)

The Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships Project (GloMEEP), which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping, was formally launched on Monday, September 28, in Singapore, at the IMO-Singapore Future-Ready Shipping 2015 conference. This Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Program (UNDP)/IMO project, formally designated “Transforming the Global Maritime Transport Industry towards a Low Carbon Future through Improved Energy Efficiency”…

22 Sep 2015

Iraqi Kurds Reassert Right to Export Oil to US Despite Court Ruling

Kurdistan reasserted its right to export oil independently to the United States and other countries on Tuesday despite a court ruling in favour of the Iraqi federal government, which has sought to block crude sales from the autonomous region. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans on Monday dismissed the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s bid to overturn an earlier ruling against a planned sale of oil to an unidentified buyer in the U.S. Iraq's federal government filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court last year to thwart the sale of the one million barrel cargo from the Kurdistan region in an ongoing dispute over the right to export oil. The tanker was stuck off U.S.

28 Jul 2015

IMO Signs Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships Project

International Maritime Organization (IMO) the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement to allocate US$2.0 million to a two-year global maritime energy efficiency partnership project, which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping. The so-called GloMEEP project, formally designated “Transforming the Global Maritime Transport Industry towards a Low Carbon Future through Improved Energy Efficiency”, will focus in particular on building capacity to implement technical and operational measures in developing countries, where shipping is increasingly concentrated.

24 Feb 2015

Hijacked Tanker Found Aground in the Philippines

A chemical tanker captured by pirates nearly a month ago was found grounded in the Philippines today, the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre announced in an incident update. The MT Rehobot, an Indonesian flagged tanker carrying 1,100 tons of diesel when it was hijacked by eight masked individuals  near Lembeh Island, Indonesia, was identified today by Philippine authorities investigating reports of a ship run aground near Mati City in the southern Philippines. All 14 members of the crew were found floating in life rafts by Indonesian authorities three days after the ship was boarded by Indonesian authorities. The vessel itself had been missing since January 28.

27 Jan 2015

Tanker with Kurdish Crude Leaving U.S. After 6-month Dispute

After being stuck in legal limbo for six months, a tanker loaded with 1 million barrels of Kurdish crude headed east on Tuesday to leave U.S. waters after Baghdad and the Kurds reached a deal to share oil revenue. The United Kalavrvta tanker, which had been anchored in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico since July, was headed across the Atlantic to Gibraltar, said the vessel's operator, Marine Management Services, based in Greece. It added that is has not received any orders to discharge the cargo. Last week, motions filed in a Houston court by lawyers for Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government showed the vessel would soon have to move to another destination in order to pass special surveys designed to maintain its class certification.

31 Oct 2014

Somali Pirates free Indian Sailors after 4 Years

Somali pirates have freed seven Indian sailors detained for close to four years in exchange for an undisclosed ransom, Somali officials and a maritime monitoring group said on Friday. At one time the pirates made millions of dollars in ransoms from seizing ships sailing the Horn of Africa nation's waters, but increased patrols by international navies on the Indian Ocean have reduced incidences of piracy. The sailors, held since the pirates hijacked the Panama-flagged ship MT Asphalt Venture in September 2010, were freed on Thursday. Eight of their colleagues were freed by the pirates along with the ship in April 2011 for a ransom. Their captors said at the time that they would only release the seven sailors when their fellow Somali pirates held by Indian authorities were freed.