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North Africa News

18 Mar 2024

IMO to Open Regional Office in Fiji

Source: IMO

The IMO will open its seventh Regional Presence Office (RPO), in Suva, Fiji, after IMO Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, and Fiji Minister for Transport, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 18.The Regional Presence Office will support the maritime needs and priorities of countries in the Pacific Islands region, aligning IMO actions with national and regional development policies, while providing advice on key maritime issues such as training, safety and security, legislation and marine environment.

05 Mar 2024

Italy Impounds Charity Ship Involved in Dispute with Libya

(Photo: Maria Giulia Trombini / SOS Humanity)

A German charity vessel was on Tuesday impounded by Italian authorities after it ran into a dispute with the Libyan coast guard over the rescue of as many as 100 migrants in international waters.Italy often temporarily blocks the operations of charity-operated rescue vessels on the basis of a migration decree introduced last year by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's rightist government.The Humanity 1, operated by the SOS Humanity organization, was blocked for 20 days in the southern port of Crotone…

18 Feb 2024

Two Dead in Migrant Rescues off Libya

Source: MSF

More than 80 migrants were saved, but two died and three were missing following two sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said on Sunday.MSF's vessel Geo Barents picked up over 60 people late on Saturday from a rubber dinghy in distress in international waters off Libya. It also recovered one body, and one of the migrants taken on board died shortly after the rescue.Another 19 people were picked up from a nearby abandoned Tunisian offshore oil platform, MSF said.

19 Jan 2024

CMA CGM Reroutes More Ships to Avoid Red Sea Attacks

© Björn Wylezich / Adobe Stock

One of the world's largest container shipping groups CMA CGM on Friday said it would reroute a weekly service between Europe and Australia to avoid attacks in the Red Sea, and that the company expected months of disruption.Attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia on commercial vessels, in response to Israel's war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, have slowed trade between Asia and Europe, and U.S. strikes against the Houthis have not resolved the crisis.French-based CMA CGM said its weekly NEMO service connecting Europe…

29 Nov 2023

Boeckmans to Build Four Hydrogen-Powered General Cargo Vessels

Source: CMB.TECH

CMB.TECH and Antwerp-based shipowner Boeckmans have announced plans to build four hydrogen-powered 5,000dwt general cargo vessels.The first vessel is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2025. The vessels will be built at the Dung Quat shipyard in Vietnam and will be deployed on major sea routes, including northern Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa and West Africa.The general cargo vessel, designed jointly with Handelskade, will contain diesel-electric engines placed under the ship's forward accommodation.

29 Nov 2023

CMB.TECH, Boeckmans to Build Four Hdrogen-Powered Cargo Ships

Image courtesy CMB.TECH-Boeckmans

CMB.TECH and Boeckmans will build four hydrogen-powered 5.000-dwt general cargo vessels with reduced greenhouse emissions.The first vessel is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2025. The vessels will be built at the Dung Quat shipyard in Vietnam and will be deployed on major sea routes, including northern Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa and West Africa.The general cargo vessel, designed jointly with Handelskade, will contain diesel-electric engines placed under the ship's forward accommodation.

07 Aug 2023

Four Dead, 51 Missing after Migrant Ship Sinks off Tunisian Coast

Credit: davide bonaldo/AdobeStock

At least four migrants died and 51 were missing after a migrant ship sank off Tunisia's Kerkennah island, a judicial official told Reuters on Sunday, adding that all the migrants onboard were from sub-Saharan Africa.The Tunisian coast guard recovered 901 bodies of drowned migrants off its coast from Jan. 1 to July 20 this year, the country's interior minister said in July, marking an unprecedented number of victims off the country's coasts. The North Africa country is facing a…

30 Jun 2023

Survivors of Greece Boat Disaster Say Coastguard Rope Toppled Boat

(Photo: Hellenic Coast Guard)

Survivors of a boat disaster that likely killed hundreds of migrants near Greece have given accounts of traffickers in North Africa cramming them into a clapped-out fishing trawler. They recounted hellish conditions above and below deck, with no food or water.Some also said the tragic end, when it came, was precipitated by the actions of the Greek coastguard. They have told judicial authorities of a doomed attempt to tow the overloaded trawler that caused the vessel to capsize…

11 Apr 2023

Italy's Coast Guard Works to Rescue 1,200 Migrants Drifting at Sea

Credit: Italian Coastguard

The Italian coast guard is carrying out operations to rescue two boats carrying a total of 1,200 people, it said on Monday, after a surge in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend. One of the boats, which is carrying 400 people and is in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Calabria, southern Italy, had previously been sighted in Maltese waters. Earlier on Monday, German NGO Sea-Watch International, which had located the fishing boat with one of its planes…

10 Apr 2023

Italy's Coastguard Works to Rescue 1,200 Migrants Drifting at Sea

© ernestos / Adobe Stock

The Italian coastguard is carrying out operations to rescue two boats carrying a total of 1,200 people, it said on Monday, after a surge in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend.One of the boats, which is carrying 400 people and is in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Calabria, southern Italy, had previously been sighted in Maltese waters.Earlier on Monday, German NGO Sea-Watch International, which had located the fishing boat with one of its planes, said one merchant ship in the area had supplied fuel and water to the boat in distress, but Maltese

10 Apr 2023

Rare Shipments of North Sea Forties Crude Head to East Coast Refiners

U.S. and Canadian refiners have turned to North Sea "Forties" crude oil for the first time in seven years in the latest sign of changing global oil flows from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nearly 2.6 million barrels of the crude are set to arrive at U.S. East Coast ports since February, according to Customs data on Refinitiv Eikon. Some of the oil is likely headed to Canada via pipeline. The light, low-sulfur Forties crudes are blended with others to replace Russian crudes that have been barred from the U.S. and Canada. Prior to the ban, about 50% of all crude from Russian ports that landed in the U.S. went to East Coast refineries, the customs data showed. The tanker Sea Turtle in February discharged 770,000 barrels of Forties and Forties blend crudes in Maine, destined for Suncor Energy.

05 Apr 2023

Helsinki Shipyard Delivers Third Expedition Cruise Ship to Swan Hellenic

(Photo: Helsinki Shipyard)

Swan Hellenic has taken delivery of SH Diana, its third expedition cruse ship built by Helsinki Shipyard.The 125-meter-long, 12,100 GRT newbuild is the largest ship in the Swan Hellenic fleet. Accommodating 192 passengers, SH Diana is slightly larger than 152-passenger SH Minerva and SH Vega launched from Helsink Shipyard in in December 2021 and July 2022 respectively.The Finnish shipbuilder in December sold the ship to Swan Hellenic at auction after the original buyer, Russian-owned GTLK Europe…

27 Mar 2023

At Least 29 Migrants Die When Two Boats Sink off Tunisia

Map of Tunisia in red © harvepino/AdobeStock

At least 29 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died when their two boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the Tunisian coast guard said on Sunday. Separately, in the last four days, five migrant boats have sunk off the coast of the southern city of Sfax, leaving 67 missing and nine dead, after a significant increase in boats heading towards Italy.Tunisia has taken over from Libya as a main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe.Houssem Jebabli…

27 Feb 2023

Italy Urges 'Stop' to Migrant Boats as Shipwreck Death Toll Hits 63

(Photo: Italian Coast Guard)

Rescuers recovered four more bodies on Monday, a day after a wooden sailboat carrying migrants to Europe smashed onto rocks in stormy weather off southern Italy, bringing the death toll to 63, including at least 14 children.Rescuers said most of the migrants came from Afghanistan, as well as from Iran, Somalia, Syria and elsewhere. Pakistan's foreign ministry said 20 Pakistani citizens were on the boat, with four missing and 16 survivors of the nighttime shipwreck.Many of the victims washed ashore close to where the vessel sank near Steccato di Cutro…

03 Feb 2023

Italy: Eight Migrants Found Dead, Two missing on Ship off Lampedusa Coast

©Carlo Toffolo/AdobeStock

Eight migrants were found dead, and around 40 were rescued by the Italian coast guard overnight on a ship off the coast of the island of Lampedusa, Italian media reported on Friday. The rescuers took the survivors to the main port on Lampedusa, which lies to the south of Sicily, news agency ANSA said. Italian authorities escorted another three stricken vessels carrying 156 people to Lampedusa, one of the main entry points for people trying to reach Europe. Italy is facing a surge in arrivals from North Africa.

25 Jan 2023

Grimaldi Orders More Ammonia Ready Car Carriers

(Image: Grimaldi Group)

The Grimaldi Group announced it has exercised its option for the construction of five additional ammonia-ready 9,000 CEU car carriers from China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu, part of China Merchant Industry Holdings (CMI).Grimaldi announced its initial order for five new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessels from CMI in October. The 10 vessels are scheduled to be delivered between 2025 and 2027 and will be deployed on voyages between Europe, North Africa, and the Near and Far East.Grimaldi said it developed the vessel concept in collaboration with naval architecture firm Knud E.

17 Jan 2023

Italy's Migrant Rescue Ship Decree Should be Scrapped, Catholic Bishop Says

© OSORIOartist / Adobe Stock

Italy's new anti-immigration decree that aims to curtail NGO rescue ships should be scrapped as it violates international law, a top Catholic bishop said, in an unusually blunt attack against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government.The decree, which was introduced in December, forces charity-run ships to request a port and sail to it "without delay" after a rescue, rather than remain at sea looking for other migrant boats in distress, as generally used to occur."The fate of the decree should only be its repeal…

28 Sep 2022

Capital of the Oceans

The City of Brest, on France’s Atlantic coast, calls itself the Capital of the Oceans and it is surely living up to that moniker this week as the city hosts the international Sea Tech Week, held every two years, with a programmatic focus on “Maritime Transport: Towards Smarter & Greener Solutions.”New Wave Media was honored to join a small international press group invited to attend Sea Tech as well as a chance to participate in expanded activities at some of the related and extensive maritime resources within and around Brest.

19 Jul 2022

US Grain, Coke Exports Drive Great Lakes-Seaway Shipping Activity in June

(Photo: Nick Corbin / courtesy Chamber of Marine Commerce)

U.S. grain and coke exports boosted overall shipping volumes through the St. Lawrence Seaway in June.Total cargo tonnage shipments (from March 22 to June 30) via the St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 11.9 million metric tons, down 8.3% compared to 2021 but gaining ground in comparison to April, when it was down 18% at the start of the season. Other system-wide highlights include an increase in project cargo such as wind energy components and a 55% increase in coke shipments, including exports to Europe for cement production. U.S.

22 Jun 2022

US Grain Shipments Through Great Lakes-Seaway Up 39%

(Photo: Nick Corbin, courtesy Chamber of Marine Commerce)

U.S. grain shipments via the Great Lakes-Seaway system totaled 312,000 metric tons from March 22 to May 31, up 39% compared to the same period in 2021. Much of the increase is due to exports of corn and soybeans out of the Port of Toledo and some new trade starting at the port of Oswego this shipping season. The rise in shipments, which are predominantly heading to Europe and North Africa, are in part due to shifting global grain trading patterns as the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine — both major grain exporters — continues.“The Great Lakes-St.

26 May 2022

Black Sea Ports Still the Best Way to Get Ukraine's Grain Moving Fast

© bergamont / Adobe Stock

Ukraine is desperately trying to export its vast stores of grain by road, river and rail to help avert a global food crisis but has no chance of hitting its targets unless Russia's blockade of its Black Sea ports is lifted, a government official said.Before Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, the country had the capacity to export up to 6 million tonnes of wheat, barley and maize a month but exports collapsed to just 300,000 tonnes in March and 1.1 million in April.While the government wants to lift that to 2 million…

21 Apr 2022

USCG Commissions Sentinel-class Cutter Clarence Sutphin Jr.

(Photo: Ryan Schultz / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned its 47th Sentinel-class cutter, USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1147), into service on ThursdayBuilt by Bollinger Shipyards and officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on January 6 in Key West, Fla., Clarence Sutphin Jr. is Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's (PATFORSWA) sixth 154-foot Sentinel-class cutter.Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander, presided over the commissioning ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.

17 Apr 2022

Ukraine Says Grain on Ships in Blocked Black Sea Ports May Deteriorate

© toxicoz / Adobe Stock

Around 1.25 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds are still on commercial vessels blocked in Ukrainian seaports due to Russia's invasion and part of the cargo may deteriorate in the near future, Ukraine's farm minister was quoted as saying on Friday.Ukraine used to export almost all its grain and oilseeds via seaports and now is forced to find new routes as its ports are blocked.Before the war, Ukraine exported up to 6 million tonnes of grain and oilseed a month, while in March the exports fell to 200…