Wine Down Under
Brad Adams, co-founder of Subsea Estate in Western Australia, has just retrieved vats of his latest wine from the seabed just off the coast of Augusta.Partnered with wife and co-founder Jodee Adams and chief wine maker Emmanuel Poirmeur, he is creating a product unique in the southern hemisphere.For the last two years, Subsea Estate has produced Semillon and Shiraz that has undergone its secondary fermentation 15 meters deep in the Southern Ocean.The idea was originally inspired…
Finnish Patrol Vessel to Assist Oil Tanker Following Engine Failure
The Finnish coast guard said on Monday it was deploying one of its patrol vessels and a tugboat to assist an oil tanker that suffered engine failure in the Gulf of Finland, seeking to prevent environmental damage.The 183-metre (600 feet) Panama-flagged M/T Jazz oil tanker had been drifting south of Finland's Hanko Peninsula before anchoring in the area, the coast guard said in a statement.The incident was not believed to be related to the recent damage to undersea power and telecoms cables in the area, and seabed infrastructure was not at risk when the ship anchored, the coast guard said.The J
Vessel Targeted for Subsea Cable Damage Moved Closer to Finnish Port
Finnish authorities are moving an impounded tanker closer to port after boarding the vessel carrying Russian oil earlier this week on suspicion it had damaged an undersea power line and four telecoms cables.Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and NATO said on Friday it would boost its presence in the region.The Cook Islands-registered ship, named by authorities as the Eagle S…
Finland Boards Vessel Suspected of Cutting Subsea Cables
Finnish authorities said they boarded and took control of an oil tanker travelling from Russia on December 26, 2024, on suspicion it caused the outage of an undersea power cable and three internet lines connecting Finland and Estonia a day earlier.The Cook Islands-registered ship, named by authorities as the Eagle S, was boarded by a Finnish coast guard crew which took command in the Baltic Sea and sailed the vessel to Finnish waters, a coast guard official told a press conference."From our side we are investigating grave sabotage…
ABB to Power Finland's Two New Patrol Vessels
ABB announced it has secured a contract with Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku to supply an integrated power and propulsion package comprising two Azipod propulsion units and the Onboard DC Grid power system for two new, advanced multi-purpose patrol vessels of the Finnish Border Guard.Due for delivery in 2025 and 2026, the 98-meter ships will replace the outgoing Tursas and Uisko patrol vessels. Alongside the existing Turva, they will guard Finland’s borders, performing maritime rescue operations and helping mitigate environmental impacts.
Greenpeace Activists Divert Helsinki-bound Coal Ship
The environmental activist group Greenpeace managed to board and get a coal-carrying freighter on its way from St. Petersburg to change its course before arriving to Helsinki harbour. A Greenpeace activist has scaled the 155m long bulk carrier, Alppila, transporting coal to one of Finland’s most polluting power plants in central Helsinki. The coal ship and its climate-damaging cargo have now aborted its entry to the Port of Helsinki and now steam away from Helsinki accompanied by a Finnish coast guard vessel. One activist made the climb up the side of the Alppila and was immediately detained by the crew onboard. Later, however, the activist managed to climb a crane onboard the coal ship and get to the grab.
Gulf of Finland Collision Related Spill Risk to Quadruple in the Future
A single oil spill can release 30,000 tonnes of oil into the ocean if two vessels collide. In grounding the high weight can lead to oil disaster, in the Baltic Sea up to 120,000 tonnes. This estimate does not include the new giant tankers, says a press release from Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki). The Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea is the riskiest of waterways in the world's oceans due to the high frequency of crossing vessels between Helsinki and Tallinn. Oil tanker traffic to Russia in particular has continued to increase despite a bleak financial outlook. The Gulf of Finland is famously difficult for maritime traffic as it is shallow and narrow and requires navigation around the many islands along the Finnish coast.
New Blyth Workcat for Baltic Survey Work
Finnish survey company FCG (Finnish Consulting Group) Ltd. has placed an order for a new GRP survey boat from Blyth Workcats Ltd of Canvey Island, U.K. The 14-meter catamaran will be known as the Nordic Sonar and it is now being built to meet the specialized needs of the FCG survey teams. It will be based in Turku, Finland and is being fitted with comprehensive heating system and insulation suitable for its use in the demanding conditions around the Finnish coast and the northern Baltic.
Five Years After Ferry Disaster, Victims' Relatives Still Seek Answers
Five years after the sinking of the Estonia ferry, in which 852 people were killed, relatives of the victims are still seeking the full facts, and some believe that the ship was sabotaged. The Estonia sank in rough seas off the Finnish coast early on Sept. 28, 1994, in an accident investigators blame on a design flaw that allowed heavy waves to knock the ferry's bow door ajar and flood the car deck. However, family members have long been skeptical of this conclusion, made by a three-nation commission after an extensive probe, and have asked for new light to be shed on the disaster. Conspiracy theories have surrounded the accident since the first news of the sinking broke. A new theory, which claimed explosives were sighted in ship's wreckage, emerged this year in the Swedish media.
