Crete News

Offshore drilling contractor Stena Drilling has taken delivery of its 7th generation Stena Evolution ultra-deepwater drillship from Samsung Heavy Industries.After a decade in the making, Stena Evolution drillship has finally been completed and is ready for its first job.The technologically advanced drillship is capable of operating at water depths of up to 12,000ft (around 3,500 meters) and drilling depths up to 40,000ft (over 12,000 meters).The drilling unit utilizes riser storage in hull to offer extensive deck space with a 24…

Greece's shipping minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis has resigned following a controversy over his comments about the death last Tuesday of a 36-year-old man who had fallen into the sea after being pushed back by crew members of a ship he was trying to board.Varvitsiotis announced his resignation on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday. Video footage released on social media after the incident showed crew members appearing to argue with the man on the stern…

A 36-year-old man who tried to board a passenger ship as it sailed from Greece's Piraeus port on Tuesday drowned after being pushed back by crew members off the vessel's stern ramp, the country's shipping minister said on Wednesday.The incident has shocked the country. Video footage released on social media showed crew members arguing with the man on the stern ramp just as the ferry Blue Horizon was leaving Piraeus for the island of Crete.Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said on Wednesday that the man, who had bought a ticket, had boarded the ship before disembarking for unknown reasons and then tried to board again, which was when he was pushed back by crew members and fell into the sea just as the ship departed."I feel shock and horror for what has happened…

Greece launched a major rescue operation off the island of Crete on Tuesday after a boat believed to be carrying as many as 500 migrants issued a distress signal in bad weather, the coast guard said.Near gale force winds in the sea south of the island made the operation difficult, authorities said. Two cargo ships, one navy frigate and one tanker were assisting in the rescue.(Reuters - Reporting by Karolina Tagaris and Lefteris Papadimas / Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

A superyacht linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich docked in the Turkish tourist resort of Bodrum on Monday, after skirting the waters of European Union countries which have sanctioned the oligarch over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Abramovich was among several wealthy Russians added last week to an EU blacklist, and EU governments have acted in recent days to seize yachts and other luxury assets from them.World governments are seeking to isolate President Vladimir Putin and his allies over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a "special military operation".Last week, Abramovich flew into Moscow after leaving Istanbul in his private jet.

Greece mounted a rescue operation on Friday for a cargo ship carrying about 400 migrants after it sent out a distress signal off the island of Crete, the coast guard said.The Greek coast guard quoted passengers as saying the Turkish-flagged vessel had sailed from Turkey, calling it “one of the largest search and rescue operations carried out in the eastern Mediterranean.”Authorities said the ship was being taken to land but gave no further details. The nationalities of the passengers…

Turkey sent a Greek Cypriot research vessel away from what it says is its continental shelf in the Mediterranean on Sunday after it entered the area without permission, Turkey's Defence Ministry said, in a sign of renewed tensions.For decades, Turkey has been at odds with Greece and Cyprus over competing territorial claims in the east Mediterranean, air space, energy, the status of some islands in the Aegean, and the breakaway Turkish state on the divided island of Cyprus.After months of tension last year that sparked fears of direct confrontation between NATO members Turkey and Greece, the two sides agreed in January to resume talks…

Cruise shipping company Norwegian Cruise Line on Sunday officially marked return to business, with its Norwegian Jade ship the first of its 17-ship fleet to welcome guests after 500 days. It was also another first for the Norwegian Jade, as it became Norwegian Cruise Line's first vessel to homeport in Athens (Piraeus)."Until November 2021, guests sailing aboard Norwegian Jade's immersive Greek Isles itinerary will wake up in a new destination every day, able to spend eight-to-nine hours exploring some of Greece's most picturesque islands including luxurious Crete…

Greece was searching for migrants who went missing after their sailing boat sank off the island of Crete, its shipping ministry said on Thursday.A nearby vessel spotted the boat after it sent a distress signal and reported it started sinking some 60 nautical miles southeast off Crete, it said.Some 36 migrants have been rescued so far, while a helicopter, two coast guard vessels and other boats sailing in the area were part of an ongoing search and rescue operation in high winds.The migrants said that a total of 45 people were on board the sailboat…

Greece has linked the island of Crete to the power grid of the Peloponnese peninsula via an undersea cable, a major step in the country's drive to cut its reliance on imported fossil fuel and boost renewables, the country's power grid operator IPTO said.The southern island of Crete, a popular summer holiday destination for foreigners, has relied on polluting oil-fired power plants that will need to cut production or shut down in the coming years, in line with EU climate-change…

Italian oilfield services giant Saipem has chartered a newbuild drillship directly from South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard.Saipem expects the drillship - named Samsung Santorini - to be delivered in November 2021, when the Italian firm will take the 7th generation rig on a two-year charter. No dayrate details have been shared. Recent fixtures for 6th/7gen rigs saw dayrates in the $190.000-$210.000 per day range, according to Bassoe data.While Saipem did not explicitly say it…

Nexans named its new flagship CLV Nexans Aurora. Built at Ulstein Verft in Norway and designed by Skipsteknisk, the ship is designed to operate near shore in shallow waters as well as deepsea cable operations with cable laying equipment delivered from Maats Tech.“The delivery of the CLV Nexans Aurora is an important step to fulfill our purpose “Electrify the Future”; creating a safer, more sustainable, renewable and inclusive global energy system," said Ragnhild Katteland, EEVP, Subsea & Land Systems Business Group, Nexans.

Greece on Monday launched a tender for the sale of a majority stake in a port on the island of Crete, a popular tourist destination in Europe.The conservative government has been keen to attract investment and upgrade its port facilities across the country after years of underspending and a decade-long financial crisis.Investors can submit expressions of interest for a 67% stake in the port of Heraklion, the busiest on Crete, by July 30, the country's privatization agency, which is managing the sale…

Greece will deliver 50 tons of animal feed to the Togo-flagged ElBeik, which has been stuck at sea for nearly three months in the Mediterranean carrying hundreds of cattle rejected by their buyers amid fears of disease, government sources said on Tuesday.The vessel is expected to sail for Spain once the food transfer is completed in the late evening, an agriculture ministry official told Reuters.Spain’s government could not confirm it was expecting the return of the Elbeik, which left the Spanish port of Tarragona in December carrying nearly 1,800 cattle for sale in Turkey.Turkish authorities rejected the animals and another shipment of 800 Spanish cattle aboard the Lebanon-flagged Karim Allah over concerns they had bovine bluetongue virus, turning the vessels into international pariahs.

Twelve crew members of a cruise ship that docked at Piraeus port near Athens on Tuesday tested negative for the novel coronavirus in repeat checks by Greek health authorities, the ship's operator TUI Cruises said.The Mein Shiff 6 cruise ship had departed from Heraklion in Crete on Sunday with all 922 passengers having tested negative before boarding.But sample tests on 150 members out of the ship's total crew of 666, conducted at a land lab, detected 12 COVID-19 infections.Sailing off the island of Milos, the cruise liner made its way back to Piraeus, the country's biggest port, with better access to health services and equipped to deal with any emergency.

A cruise ship carrying about 920 passengers was expected to dock at Piraeus port near Athens, after 12 of its crew members tested positive for the coronavirus, an official at Greece's Civil Protection agency said on Monday.The Mein Shiff 6, operated by TUI Cruises, departed from Heraklion in Crete on Sunday with all passengers having tested negative before boarding.But sample tests on 150 crew members out of a total of 666, detected 12 infections. The ship's operators TUI Cruises said six of the 12 had since tested negative."They are all asymptomatic," the civil protection official said.

A Greek and a Turkish warship were involved in a mini-collision on Wednesday during a standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, a Greek defense source said, describing it as an "accident".Tensions have risen this week after Turkey sent a survey vessel to the region, escorted by warships, to map out sea territory for possible oil and gas drilling - an area where Turkey and Greece both claim jurisdiction. EU foreign ministers were due to discuss the issue on Friday.The Turkish Oruc Reis survey ship has been moving between Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete, shadowed by a number of Greek frigates.

The eastern Mediterranean region where a Turkish ship will carry out a seismic survey is part of Turkey's continental shelf, Ankara said on Wednesday, rejecting Greece's accusation that the ship is encroaching on its own shelf.Long-standing tensions between the NATO allies escalated after Turkey's navy on Tuesday issued an advisory known as a Navtex for seismic surveys in waters between Cyprus and Crete.Athens and Ankara are at odds over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources…

Danish tanker owner and operator Maersk Tankers held a naming ceremony for Maersk Curacao, its eighth MR unit being delivered by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI)."SHA122 becomes Maersk Curacao: Our latest newbuilding received its name during a traditional naming ceremony at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Ningo, China," said a Twitter message from Maersk Tankers."Maersk Curacao is number 18 out of 19 MR newbuildings and will be delivered to our fleet in the near future," it added.Like the sister ship Maersk Crete, which was officially named on July 24, Maersk Curacao flies the Singaporean flag and has a capacity of 52,914 cbm. This is the third Samsung-built MR2 to be delivered to Maersk Tankers this year.The final vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2020.

Iran has sold the oil from a tanker released by Gibraltar after weeks in the custody of British Royal Marines and the vessel's owner will decide on its next destination, IRIB news agency quoted an Iranian government spokesman as saying on Monday.Separately, Tehran - embroiled in a spiralling confrontation with Washington over U.S. sanctions meant to strangle Iranian oil exports - announced that it had deployed a naval destroyer with cruise missiles to help secure Iranian ships.The Iranian government spokesman did not identify the recipient of the oil carried by the Adrian Darya tanker. After Gibraltar freed the vessel on Aug. 18, the United States said it would take every action it could to prevent it delivering oil to Syria in contravention of U.S.

Greece has rescued a 47-year old woman floating in a rubber dinghy in the Aegean Sea for nearly two days, coastguard officials said on Tuesday.The woman, holidaying on a sailboat near the Greek island of Folegandros, boarded an inflatable boat around midday on Nov. 1 to get supplies. A day later, Greek authorities were alerted that she was missing.They found her in the boat on Sunday morning some 40 nautical miles southwest of Folegandros, close to the island of Crete. Seven coastguard vessels, three private boats, a plane, and a helicopter were involved in the search operation."I was blown away, blown away in my dinghy," she said as she disembarked a coastguard vessel at the port of Iraklion…

Libya's internationally recognized government and Turkey have signed an agreement on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea that could complicate Ankara's disputes over energy exploration with other countries.Turkey, which announced the accord and a deal on expanded security and military cooperation on Thursday, gave no details of their memorandum of understanding and did not specify where Turkish and Libyan waters meet.Greece dismissed the announcement as geographically…

American/British-owned German cruise line AIDA Cruises announced that model and TV host Franziska Knuppe christened  AIDAmira in Palma de Mallorca.AIDAmira is the fourth ship in the AIDA Selection program, sailing longer itineraries to exotic locales, similar to her function for Costa.After a debut cruise in the Mediterranean until December 4, 2019,  the cruise line will take the new Selection ship to Sète in the south of France, the Catalan metropolis of Barcelona, and back to Palma de Mallorca.From May to September 2020 the AIDAmira will be sailing from Corfu on cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean.The itinerary takes in Athens, Santorini, Crete and Brindisi in Apulia. A separate itinerary calls in Malta, Sicily, Crotone in Calabria, Olympia and Cephalonia.