Civil Society News

This week at Singapore Maritime Week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is advancing ambitious decarbonization targets for the maritime transportation sector, both domestically and internationally.DOE is teaming with over 15 government and industry partners in Singapore to foster partnerships and collaborate on clean energy solutions aimed at achieving net zero-emissions in the maritime sector by 2050. Domestically, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is joining with ABS to create opportunities for data and information sharing to strengthen U.S. shipping. The U.S.

The Biden administration said it would not renew a license set to expire early on Thursday that had broadly eased Venezuela oil sanctions, moving to reimpose punitive measures in response to President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to meet his election commitments.Just hours before the deadline, the U.S. Treasury Department announced on its website that it had issued a replacement license giving companies 45 days to “wind down” their business and transactions in the OPEC country's oil…

The Philippines and China traded accusations on Sunday over a collision of their vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate.The Philippine coast guard accused China of firing water cannons and ramming resupply vessels and a coast guard ship, causing "serious engine damage" to one, while China's coast guard said the Philippine vessel intentionally rammed its ship.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce…

Search teams in Gabon have recovered the dead bodies of 15 passengers of a ferry that sank off the West African country's coast last week, bringing the provisional death toll up to 21, the coordinator of rescue operations said on Tuesday.The Esther Miracle ferry was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil when it sank close to the coastal village of Nyonie on March 9.Authorities confirmed six deaths on Monday and were still searching for 31 missing people. Air force…

The oceans are inextricably connected to the health of the planet, and of humans: they absorb up to 30% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 90% of excess heat, and over 3 billion people — almost half the global population — depend directly on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.Healthy coastal ecosystems are also critical to the world’s ability to withstand the impact of climate change. Not only do mangrove forests, for example, hold four times the amount of carbon per hectare as tropical forests…

Ports have long been integral to Africa’s connectivity with the rest of the world. Yet over the last 15 years, a new stage in maritime infrastructure planning and development has begun. Between 2004 and 2019, over US$50 billion was spent on this infrastructure – roughly 13 times more than was spent between 1990 and 2004.Ports reflect more than simple economic imperatives. They are crucial in creating and reinforcing social, political, and cultural systems. Infrastructure can be…

The shipping industry has been taking steps to reduce its impact on endangered whale populations globally."This is an issue that the shipping industry takes seriously, and has resulted in the implementation of measures that aim to prevent collisions between whales and ships, from reducing vessel speed and rerouting to engaging stakeholders to raise further awareness," trade association the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said in a statement encouraging the industry to take action.Among steps already taken…

An area of the Indian Ocean near Somalia—once known as a piracy hotbed—has been removed from the shipping industry's list of high-risk areas following more than a decade of military, political, civil society and the industry measures to secure the waters. No piracy attacks against merchant ships have occurred off Somalia since 2018.On Monday, shipping industry groups International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), BIMCO, International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), INTERCARGO…

A fully-electric ferry in Denmark has set a new world record for the longest voyage on a single battery charge.The vessel, Ellen, which usually connects the islands of Ærø and Als in Southern Denmark, broke the distance record on June 9 in Sønderborg, Denmark, where leaders from industry, government, and civil society joined the International Energy Agency (IEA) for the 7th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency. On her return from the conference, where participants explored how international ambition on energy efficiency can be translated into faster and stronger real-world progress…

Norwegian/Swedish RoRo shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen's new president and CEO, Lasse Kristoffersen, took up his new position June 1.Named to the role in November, Kristoffersen joins Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA from Torvald Klaveness, where he has worked for the past 15 years, serving as president and CEO since 2011. “I have been looking forward to this day for a while now. I have spent the last few weeks building my knowledge about the company and will now focus on getting to know our clients and our people.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi on Monday launched the construction of the country's first deep-water port, a $1.2 billion project that has drawn criticism for being built on the edge of a protected wetlands.Banana Port, to be built by Dubai's port giant DP World, will border Congo's Mangrove Marine Park, a nature reserve that contains a variety of vulnerable or endangered plant and animal species.The port at Banana, a sandy spit of land at the mouth of Congo River, will process 322,000 containers per year, Congolese Minister of Industry Julien Paluku said on Twitter, p

The stranding of the MV Wakashio is one of the biggest environmental disasters in the history of the western Indian Ocean. While the full scale of the disaster is not yet known, the 1,000 tons of oil and diesel that leaked close to one of the greatest marine treasures of Mauritius threatens to destroy this precious habitat. Recovery will be long and the disaster will occupy Mauritius for years to come.Questions now arise: could the accident and the spill have been prevented? Was the country prepared?

Mauritian volunteers fished dead eels from oily waters on Tuesday as they tried to clean up damage to the Indian Ocean island's most pristine beaches after a Japanese bulk carrier leaked an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil.The ship, MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on Mauritius' southeast coast on July 25 and began leaking oil last week, raising fears of a major ecological crisis.Activists told Reuters that dead eels were floating in the water and dead starfish were marked by the sticky black liquid.

Beating climate change and achieving the targets set in the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda are the two defining challenges of our time, according to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who warned against rising unilateralism."In times of increasing discord, I believe that achieving the UN SDGS and meeting the Paris Climate Change Agreement are two efforts that should unite all nations, all industry and all civil society," Ban said, addressing an audience of representatives of International Maritime Organization (IMO) Member States, NGOs and IMO staff at IMO Headquarters in London (28 October). Ban lauded IMO's work on climate change…

The European Union (EU) has provided EUR40 million (USD 45 million) to boost sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP).An initiative by ACP-EU-Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is to invest in value chains that stimulate inclusive growth, bolster food security and minimize impacts on the marine environment."ACP-EU-FAO initiative signed a €40 million, five-year program (FISH4ACP) to boost the development of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific," said a press release from the UN body.FISH4ACP is an innovative EU-funded program, devised with ACP and to be implemented by FAO.

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform said that there were a total of 193 ships broken in the second quarter of 2019 and the 146 of these were sold to South Asian scrapping beaches. South Asian working conditions are known to be dire and breaking practices cause irreparable damage to the coastal environment, it added.Between April and June, Platform sources recorded three accidents that killed at least five workers on the beach of Chittagong, Bangladesh, bringing the total death-toll of the shipbreaking industry this year to at least eight workers.In the early morning of 15 May, a loud blast shook the Chittagong shipbreaking area. A fire broke out on board the vessel BUNGA KELANA 4 (IMO 9178343)…

Germany has agreed to take in about a dozen of the 41 migrants who arrived in Italy last month on board German charity rescue ship Sea-Watch, an Italian government source said on Tuesday.The compromise to diffuse tensions with the Italian government, which had ordered the ship not to enter Italian waters, also includes France, Portugal, Finland, and Luxemburg, which have agreed to share the burden of hosting the migrants.There was no immediate official reaction from Germany or Italy about the accord which was first reported by Spiegel magazine.The German captain of the ship, Carola Rackete, appeared before a court in Sicily on Monday…

"Get on board with gender equality," is the theme of this year's International Day of the Seafarer, which is celebrated each year on 25 June.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is calling on everyone in the maritime world and beyond to get on board with this year's theme of gender equality and declare their support. "# I Am On Board" can be used by anyone engaging in the campaign, male or female, to show their solidarity for gender equality in seafaring."To everyone in shipping – you are missing out on a huge talent pool if you don't recognise and empower women in the workplace. Join our Day of the Seafarer campaign and get on board with gender equality at sea…

Russia has increased its naval activity in international waters close to Norway and its military capabilities are a growing concern, Norway's navy chief said on Thursday. Norway has an Arctic border with Russia and its economy is highly reliant on its free access to the seas. Rear Admiral Nils Andreas Stensoenes, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, told Reuters it was Russia's legal right to operate in international waters. "We are worried about the increase in activity and the increasing capability because that might be used to their advantage and to our disadvantage later," he said on the sidelines of a Royal United Services Institute conference in London.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Kitack Lim attended the inauguration of the new maritime and ocean policy research institute at the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden (8 May). Lim, who is also Chancellor of WMU, said that the establishment of the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute was of great strategic importance for IMO and, indeed, for all those who seek to advance the global ocean agenda. “The Global Ocean Institute will further WMU’s distinguished legacy of educating maritime and oceans leaders who have the knowledge and responsibility to affect change in their home countries and who will contribute to the global conservation and sustainable use of the ocean,” Lim said.

Weak governance at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is delaying the shipping sector’s action on climate change, according to Transparency International. IMO is at risk of unresolved conflicts of interest due to shortcomings in its governance, according to preliminary key findings of a new study by Transparency International. Private shipping-industry concerns could have undue influence over the policymaking process at the IMO, concluded the anti-corruption organisation. This could undermine the UN agency’s ability to effectively regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from maritime trade. According to a report by the European Parliament, the shipping industry could contribute up to 17% of global CO2 emissions by 2050 if left unregulated.

Solutions to address human-induced “Ocean Change” are needed to save life in the ocean and reverse the cycle of decline in which it is caught, according to Fiji's Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Ocean. Peter Thomson, who was visiting the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, said that as a Fijian, he had personally witnessed the degradation of the marine environment in his lifetime, citing marine litter and coral bleaching as just two examples. “As a grandfather I find these changes tragic. It is time for us to implement the solutions to ocean's many problems,” he said. Special Envoy Thomson told a briefing of IMO senior staff that the UN Ocean Conference…

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Peter Thomson of Fiji as his Special Envoy for the Ocean, aiming at galvanizing concerted efforts to follow up on the outcomes of the United Nations Ocean Conference in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, maintaining the momentum for action to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Thomson will lead the United Nations advocacy and public outreach efforts inside and outside of the United Nations system, ensuring that the many positive outcomes of the Ocean Conference, including the close to 1,400 voluntary commitments, are fully analysed and implemented.