Sana News

Crowley announced it will pilot carbon capture technology on board one of its containerships under the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance (META) program.The Jacksonville, Fla. based shipping company said it has reached an agreement with Sana Monica, Calif. based Carbon Ridge and MARAD to operate, measure and optimize the technology’s effectiveness in actual maritime environments at port and ultimately at sea. The collaboration includes the engineering…

Syria's oil ministry said firefighters on Saturday put out a fire on an oil tanker off the Baniyas refinery after a suspected attack by a drone coming from the direction of Lebanese waters.The identity of the vessel was unclear, with Iran's al-Alam TV saying it was one of three Iranian oil tankers that had recently arrived at the Syrian oil terminal, while the semi-official news agency Tasnim denied it was Iranian.TankerTrackers said in a tweet that "the tanker seen burning today off the coast of Baniyas is not an Iranian vessel", but Beirut-registered.Syria's coastal town of Baniyas houses a refinery, which along with another in Homs…

An overnight fire in the main silo at Syria's Mediterranean Tartous port was extinguished on Sunday, and workers were transferring its entire wheat stockpile to other locations across the country, state media said.The 35,000 tonnes of stores wheat was undamaged in the fire, caused by an electric circuit, which lasted several hours and caused major cracks in the structure. Five workers who were offloading a vessel carrying wheat were injured, according to officials quoted by the state news agency SANA.Wheat shortages have in recent months hit the war-ravaged country…

Syria needs wheat and fuel to alleviate shortages and suffering caused by its civil war and wants to expand trade ties with Russia, the Syrian government told a high-level Russian delegation on Tuesday. An ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia launched air strikes to support his forces against anti-government rebels last September. The conflict, which is in its sixth year, has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and caused food and fuel shortages in many areas. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told the economic and defence delegation to Damascus that Syria needed economic support in the form of wheat and fuel to ease shortages caused by the conflict and to "alleviate Syrians' suffering", state news agency SANA reported.

The Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeida was seriously damaged and closed after the airstrikes of the Arab Coalition against Houthi, reports Reuters. Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition hit Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The raids destroyed cranes and warehouses in the main entry point for aid supplies to the north of the country. Hodeida, controlled by Iranian-allied Houthi forces, has become a focal point of efforts to resupply the impoverished Arab state, battered by five months of war that has killed over 4,300 people. The port is main import hub for aid supplies to the country’s north, but most of the warehouses with humanitarian aid delivered by the United Nations were also completely damaged and burning.

Costa Cruises set to return to Trieste in 2012 with 28 calls and an estimated 65,000 passenger movements. Trieste – April 8, 2011 – Trieste will be hosting the naming ceremony on July 2 for the Costa Favolosa, the new flagship of Costa Cruises, which is the largest Italian travel group, Europe’s no.1 cruise company and also the only cruise operator whose fleet flies the Italian flag. The Costa Favolosa, weighing in at 114,500 gross tonnage and with accommodation for up to 3,800 total Guests…

On October 28, 2010, Turku Shipyard delivered the Allure of the Seas to Royal Caribbean International. The Allure of the Seas and its sistership Oasis of the Seas are the culmination of more than 40 years of product development cooperation between the cruise line, the shipyard and the maritime cluster. The 225,000-ton Oasis class vessels are 361m in length. The Allure of the Seas can accommodate 6,360 passengers at maximum. In comparison, the Song of Norway delivered to the same customer in 1970 was 168m long with a gross tonnage of 18…

Syria's oil minister announced the launch of tenders for oil and gas exploration in four blocs off the country's coast, state news agency Sana reported, AFX reported. The minister, speaking at a press conference, added that tenders were launched over two months ago for exploration in seven onshore blocs and that there was still time to submit bids. Source: AFX

SeaBird Exploration Limited (BVI) (SBX) has acquired the remaining 50 percent ownership in the Joint Venture entity Sana Navigation Company Limited (Sana) which charters the M/V Northern Explorer from Russian owners on a long term bareboat charter. The purchase price is $25.5m. The Joint Venture is now terminated in all respects. The acquisition of the 50% interest in Sana includes the long term bareboat contract, the liquid cash, other current assets, and fixed assets including the seismic equipment, and all future earnings. After the acquisition, SeaBird owns and controls 100% of Sana and its present and future cash flows. Sana has…