France News

Isabelle Kocher, Engie CEO, announced that EUR 800 million would be mobilized in the next five years to develop green gases, a new French sector of excellence that will create value and jobs in France.François de Rugy, French Minister of State, Minister of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition was present during the announcement. This plan will support the objective of at least 10% green gas injected into the networks by 2030, as enshrined in the French Energy Transition Law…

Contship Italia Group has been pulling all the stops to increase its intermodal offering during the past months.Italy’s leading service provider for integrated global supply chains said that its Rail Hub Milano (RHM) and its gateway ports La Spezia and Ravenna serve as backbone of the Group’s growing intermodal network.La Spezia is geographically located within a range of 320 km from the key economic regions in Italy, accounting for over 47% of the total Italian GDP. RHM is located in Melzo, just outside the city of Milan at the heart of consumer and industrial regions.

UniSea AS, a software developer and consultancy specializing in solutions for the shipping industry, has been selected by Tidewater Inc. as its partner in the digitalizing and standardizing of Tidewater’s business processes related to health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ) and operations. The UniSea software suite will be implemented on all Tidewater vessels and in all offices in one of the largest contract’s in UniSea’s 21-year history.Tidewater Inc., headquartered in Houston…

Norwegian seismic surveyor SeaBird Exploration said it had taken delivery of the Geowave Voyager from France's CGG, and the vessel has been renamed Eagle Explorer.The vessel was acquired fully rigged with 40km streamer and dual source, for $17 million and a NOK 120 million private placement.As part of the purchase agreement, SeaBird will have a preferred supplier status with CGG when using the Eagle Explorer.SeaBird and CGG have entered into a 160-day contract for the vessel, operating as a source vessel…

Wallem Ship Management in Hong Kong and Zeaborn Ship Management in Hamburg have chosen  Verifavia Shipping for European Union (EU) Reporting and Verification (MRV) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Data Collection System (DCS), as well as certification of associated IT systems.The emissions verification company for the transport sector said in a press release that trough their agreement with Zeaborn Ship Management, Verifavia Shipping will provide EUV verification…

The developer of tidal energy projects SIMEC Atlantis Energy announced the formation of a joint venture company with Development Agency for Normandy (AD Normandy) for the purpose of developing a large-scale project in Raz Blanchard, Normandie.The joint venture company, Normandie Hydrolienne, will establish an operational presence in Normandy and Atlantis will hold a majority stake, said a press release. AD Normandy is the regional agency for economic development in Normandy and…

Italian police discovered 270 kg (600 lb) of heroin hidden in a container that arrived aboard a ship from Iran, the biggest such haul for at least 20 years in Italy, police said on Thursday.The freighter had set sail from the Iranian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas and stopped off in Hamburg, Germany and Valencia, Spain before reaching the Italian port of Genoa on Oct. 17, where police discovered the heroin stashed away in a consignment of Bentonite clay.A police spokesman said investigators were not sure when or where the drugs were brought onto the ship.Police allowed a small portion of the illicit cargo to continue its planned journey by truck to the Netherlands.They tracked the vehicle as it crossed Switzerland…

The sole prime contractor for the entire mid-life refit of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, Naval Group, said it has returned the vessel to the French Navy. The vessel will now start ramping up its systems before returning to its operational cycle.Designed and built by Naval Group and entering service in 2001, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, further to its modernization, has now entered the technological era of the 21st century. This mid-life refit included unprecedented renovations and a density of work that gave the project a level of complexity unseen until now.

Wärtsilä’s 31DF dual-fuel engine, which emphasizes outstanding efficiency, extremely economical fuel consumption and minimal emissions, has been selected to power a new polar ice-class luxury cruise vessel is being built for the France-based operator Ponant at Vard Søviknes, a part of VARD shipbuilding group in Norway.Because the 150-meter-long ship will operate in environmentally sensitive Arctic and Antarctic waters, it will operate primarily on LNG. Wärtsilä’s advanced technologies…

Geneva headquartered MSC Cruises announced plans to enter the ultra-luxury cruise segment with a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the construction of four new vessels from Italian builder Fincantieri. The four cruise ships have a total value in excess of €2 billion and bring the number of MSC Cruises ships to be built by Fincantieri to eight.The first ultra-luxury ship is scheduled for delivery in Spring 2023, followed by one vessel per year thereafter.Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman…

French shipping company Brittany Ferries has published passenger and freight figures covering quarter-three 2018.The results point to an encouraging summer season and mark the first in a series of statements highlighting quarter-by-quarter performance. However the company, which operates from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth and has recently announced a EUR450m investment in three new ships, has also raised the alarm.Noting a fall in demand for family holidays next summer, it has…

Some of France's spectacular Riviera beaches have been shut as volunteers with shovels and sacks try to rid the coastline of a thick oily residue that washed ashore after two ships collided off Corsica earlier in October.The clean-up operation is taking place on beaches in the glitzy resort of Saint-Tropez and nearby Ramatuelle, where pristine waters and mountainous backdrops draw tycoons and A-list celebrities."Last year it was forest fires, now the pollution is coming from the sea," said Roland Bruno, mayor of Ramatuelle.

French engineering company GTT said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Korean thermal insulation specialist Dongsung Finetec to commercialize GTT's LNG Brick technology for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel applications.LNG Brick will eventually be built by Dongsung Finetec and will be outfitted on a large range of commercial vessels such as container vessels, bulk carriers and pure car and truck carriers (PCTC).With the entry into force of the International Maritime Organization's global sulphur cap regulations in January 2020, limiting sulphur emissions to 0.5 percent throughout the whole world seas, and considering the economics of LNG…

Longtime business and civic leader Yui Hay Lee has joined the Port of Oakland’s Board of Port Commissioners. Lee was sworn in yesterday to a seat on the seven-member Board.Lee, President and CEO of Oakland-based YHLA Architects, was nominated by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and appointed by the City Council. He replaces eight-year Board veteran Alan Yee, whose latest term expired.“We’re delighted to welcome Yui Hay Lee to our Board,” said President Ces Butner. “He brings a strong business background…

Protecting navigation data from digital attacks is vital in the military marine segment when conducting navy operations. To provide navy vessels with secure and reliable navigation data, Danish supplier of nautical charts Weilbach has developed their digital solutions to offer a complete service.“When navigation software integrations come from different suppliers, the risk of hacking, cyber-attacks and errors can increase. We can ensure navy vessels are able to get up-to-date and reliable data necessary to plan operations from only one supplier…

Leading shipping finance banks have joined industry players in support of faster action to cut carbon emissions by the sector.In April, the United Nations shipping agency reached an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050 compared with 2008 levels, which fell short of more ambitious targets.The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) is meeting in London this week to work on an initial strategy on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.In the meantime…

Following the drawdown at the end of the Cold War, the Navy finds itself trying to build up again. The expansion of Russian and Chinese naval power has changed the calculus. While there will always be a debate about the final number of ships to build, we can all agree on one thing: the Navy must get bigger and the demand signal is to start building now,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, in testimony before Congress regarding the sea service’s 2019 budget request.

Eamonn O’Reilly was unanimously re-elected as Chairman following a vote of European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO)'s General Assembly in Brussels. E. O’Reilly has been chairing the organisation during the last two years.The General Assembly also re-elected Annaleena Mäkilä and elected Zeno d’Agostino as Vice-Chairs. Ms Mäkilä is currently Managing Director of the Finnish ports Association and has been Vice Chair since 2014.d’Agostino is President of Assoporti, the Italian Association of Ports and President of the Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea.

The Clean Arctic Alliance and indigenous groups welcomed the support given by member states to commence work on developing a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil in Arctic waters as the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73) closed last week in London.Support for commencing work, to mitigate the risks of using and carrying HFO fuel in the Arctic which includes developing a ban, at the PPR6 technical meeting, in February 2019…

A joint venture signed between defense company Leonardo and shipbuilder Fincantieri will favor Italy's talks with France over a military shipbuilding deal, Leonardo CEO told Corriere della Sera on Monday.Earlier this month the two Italian companies sealed a deal over the development of combat systems, strengthening their cooperation in the naval sector.Separately, Fincantieri and French state-controlled shipyards Naval Group last week announced a joint venture for warship projects, moving closer to a broader alliance between the two countries on military shipbuilding.Leonardo, which supplies c

Iberdrola inaugurates the wind farm of Wikinger, located in Germany in the waters of the Baltic Sea, with an investment of 1,400 million euros.In its development have participated companies like the Asturian Windar, with the construction of 280 piles of 40 meters in length, as well as the Danish Bladt and the Spanish Navantia, which have made the 70 foundations (‘jackets’) – a large part in Fene, or Adwen, which has been in charge of the wind turbines.With an output of 350 megawatts (MW)…

Rhine water levels hit record lows in October; river is a key fuel transport hub for Europe.Low water levels on the Rhine river have caused a fuel supply deficit in parts of Europe's industrial heartlands that is sucking up cargoes from more than 10,000 km away in Singapore.Following a long, scorching summer, water levels on the Rhine - a key commodity shipping lane connecting industrial centres in Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands to major seaports - fell to record lows…

European electric utility company Électricité de France (EDF) group has sold its stake in the Dunkirk  liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, after obtained the requisite regulatory approvals.According to a press release from the  integrated energy company the modalities set out in the press release published on 29 June remain unchanged, the transaction having been made on the basis of an average enterprise value of EUR2.4 billion for the Dunkerque LNG company.The disposal will contribute to the reduction of the EDF Group’s net financial debt…