Greece News

The U.S. Coast Guard picked up 10 crewmembers who had been stranded at sea for nearly three weeks after their cargo ship became disabled approximately 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda."We were conducting a law enforcement patrol near Puerto Rico when we were assigned to assist the crew of the motor vessel Alta,” said Cmdr. Travis Emge, the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Confidence. “We traveled over 1,300 nautical miles to get to the disabled ship ahead of Hurricane…

A Turkish energy exploration ship will continue to operate in the Mediterranean Sea, the energy minister said on Friday, after Ankara said the navy stopped a Greek frigate from harassing the ship due to territorial disputes.Turkey, Greece and Cyprus's internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government have long disputed their overlapping claims of jurisdiction for offshore oil and gas research in the Mediterranean."Turkish Petroleum's exploration ship will continue its activities in line with Turkey's rights," Energy Minister Fatih Donmez told reporters in the western coastal province of Izmi

Maritime safety equipment manufacturer and global service provider VIKING Life-Saving Equipment A/S has acquired Norsafe, the Norwegian boatbuilder whose lifeboats are used throughout the world. The parties have not disclosed the sales price, and closing is expected October 1, 2018.Established in 1903, Norsafe produces a full range of free-fall lifeboats and fast rescue boats with davits and have supplied over 28,000 lifeboats to the global ship market over the years. Its lifeboat…

The 2018 report on the “Leading Maritime Nations of the World” ranks China as the world’s leading maritime nation, placed among the top four on all the maritime pillars in the ranking. China’s position is particularly strong in shipping and ports & logistics.The study conducted by Menon Economics benchmarks the 30 leading maritime nations around the world in four key maritime pillars: shipping, finance and law, maritime technology and ports & logistics, in an attempt to understand the key drivers behind national maritime success.

Kongsberg Digital (KDI) will deliver to GasLog a comprehensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) simulator package designed to enable new levels of safety and operational training for the owner/operator’s professional crews.GasLog operates 27 LNG vessels through its subsidiary, GasLog LNG Services and has seven ships currently on order. The KDI contract represents a commitment and investment on GasLog’s part to provide a high-level training environment for their crews, solely focused on LNG operation.The scope of supply is based on an integrated…

Five migrants drowned and 193 were rescued in the western Mediterranean sea off the Spanish coast, the Spanish coastguard said on Thursday, after six rafts sank.Spain has become the main entry point for migrants fleeing Africa to seek a better life in Europe, overtaking Italy and Greece, as Italy's new populist government refuses to admit rescue boats.Dozens of migrants dressed in hooded white forensic suits disembarked from a rescue vessel on Thursday in the port of Motril in the southern region of Andalusia, video footage showed.Survivors from one of the rafts rescued said four other people had been lost at sea earlier in the journey…

London based P&I club Britannia said it has finalized plans to open its Greek office in Piraeus as part of an ongoing expansion of the club’s regional hub network.The Greek office will be headed by David Harley who recently returned to the London office having established and worked for over five years as head of Britannia, Hong Kong. Harley will be assisted by newly appointed Konstantinos Samaritis, who joins from a Greek shipowner, having previously worked for both Standard and Skuld Clubs’ Greek operations.

Greece-based Pyxis Tankers announced that it had successfully completed the refinancing of a previous loan facility for the Pyxis Epsilon.The emerging growth pure play product tanker company said in a press release that after repayment of existing bank debt, the new 5 year secured loan provided us approximately $7.3 million of additional net proceeds for general corporate purposes. Valentios Valentis, our Chairman and CEO said:"We welcome a new lender to our company. Blue Ocean Maritime funds managed by EnTrustPermal provided us $24.0 million of new debt.

Greece-based owner and operator of tanker vessels  Navios Maritime Acquisition agrees to merge with Navios Maritime Midstream Partners.Under the transaction, each Navios Midstream unitholder will receive 6.292 newly issued Navios Acquisition share; or 1.0 share of a newly issued preferred stock of Navios Acquisition convertible into 5.1 shares.Navios Midstream publicly held units for which no election is made will be deemed to have elected the form of consideration most elected by holders of publicly held units of Navios Midstream.

Portugal’s Naval Rocha shipyard is reporting a surge in activity in the opening half of 2018 after delivering a series of drydock, wet basin and pier-side projects.Naval Rocha commercial director Sergio Rodrigues said the yard located in the heart of Lisbon Harbour on the north bank of the River Tagus has completed a wide variety of repair and conversion projects.Key work has involved containers, cruise, passenger and sailing ships, cargo and research survey vessels, naval ships, anchor handing tugs, supply vessels and dredgers.“Naval Rocha is a unique, modern shipyard,” said Mr Rodrigues.

Finland is a traditional marine tech hub, with almost 90 company members in the Finnish Maritime Industries association. While the country has a storied maritime history across many sectors, based on geographic locale, it’s Arctic and ice marine technology is second to none, and it’s hoping the U.S. Coast Guard is taking notice.The Finnish maritime industry is hoping to get involved in developing the new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker program. Ulla Lainio…

Global marine insurer provider North P&I Club has further strengthened its underwriting team with the appointment of a new U.K. based underwriter combined with some operational changes to a number of senior underwriting roles.Tom McLoughlin joined the team as an Underwriter last week, bringing with him a range of marine experience from his former roles with insurance brokers Marsh in London, and a significant tanker management company in Athens. Initially McLoughlin will work across all of the regional teams as he settles into his new role with the Club.Earlier in the year…

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said on Thursday that the navy had stopped a Greek frigate from harassing a Turkish ship in the Mediterranean. It did not give further details.Turkey, Greece and Cyprus's internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government have long disputed their overlapping claims of jurisdiction for offshore oil and gas research in the Mediterranean.The ship Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa was carrying out seismic research activity, the foreign ministry said earlier.It…

Mechanica Utilities Ltd has formed a new company to specialize in supporting the maritime sector in the U.K. and overseas.Having worked nationally in partnership with several marine engineering companies for very many years, Mechanica Utilities has stepped into to fill the void generated by ship repairer Burgess Marine’s recent sale and the vast reduction in its Dover footprint.The newly formed company Mechanica Marine, which acquired and redeveloped a marine engineering purposed 25…

The Project Forward initiative led by Athens-Based Arista Shipping, with Wärtsilä as one of the participants, demonstrates that with LNG as fuel, an advanced hull design, and highly efficient propulsion machinery, it will be possible to meet the IMO’s target for a 40 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030.Model tests of the Project’s concept vessel indicate that the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) is well below the currently most stringent Phase III level. The EEDI reflects the CO2 emissions per transport work and is a measure of carbon intensity.

The U.S. Coast Guard airdropped a large supply of food to the crew of a cargo ship that is adrift approximately 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda after the vessel became disabled while transiting from Greece to Haiti.The Coast Guard was notified Sunday morning that the 250-foot Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship, Alta, with 10 people onboard, was disabled and unable to make repairs. The crew reported that they had enough food for two days and water for 15 days, and that there were no…

Greece-based DryShips announced that it has entered into an agreement with an unaffiliated buyer for the sale of one of its 2001-built Panamax drybulk carrier.The vessel is scheduled for delivery to its buyer no later than the end of this month.The diversified owner and operator of ocean going cargo vessels expects to realize a gain on vessels sales compared to the book value of this asset.DryShips operates worldwide. As of August 15, 2018, and not giving effect to any pending vessel transactions…

Athens, Greece-based Star Bulk Carriers Corp took delivery of the first of the three firm dry bulk vessels, the ER Brighton, renamed to Star Bright, from an entity affiliated with E.R. Capital Holding GmbH & Cie. KG.The global shipping company focusing on the transportation of dry bulk cargoes announced that, the delivery is in pursuant to the previously announced transaction of August 28, 2018. The Vessel was acquired for a combination of cash and shares. Following this delivery…

Greek seamen on Tuesday called off a strike that had kept ferries and passengers stranded in ports around the country, after reaching a deal with employers on a wage increase.The strike, which started at 0600 (0300 GMT) on Monday, was led by the PNO seamen's federation and other unions including dockers and merchant marine engineers.The PNO had initially planned to continue the strike to Wednesday but said it would end it after reaching an agreement with employers on a 2 percent pay rise this year, its members' first increase for eight years.The walkout forced many holidaymakers to seek altern

Three European Commission co-funded initiatives – Poseidon Med II, CYnergy and Elemed – are driving forward the uptake of alternative fuels in the Eastern Mediterranean region.Poseidon Med II: Creating a comprehensive and sustainable supply chain for LNG bunkeringThe Poseidon Med II project is a practical roadmap that aims to promote wide adoption of LNG as a safe, environmentally efficient and viable alternative fuel for shipping and help the East Mediterranean marine transportation propel towards a low carbon future.The project…

Archaeologists in Greece have discovered at least 58 shipwrecks, many laden with antiquities, in what they say may be the largest concentration of ancient wrecks ever found in the Aegean and possibly the whole of the Mediterranean.The wrecks lie in the small island archipelago of Fournoi, in the Eastern Aegean, and span a huge period from ancient Greece right through to the 20th century. Most are dated to the Greek, Roman and Byzantine eras.Although shipwrecks can be seen together in the Aegean…

BWMS, Scrubber Install Outlook is GoodOperating since 2011, Qatar’s Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (N-KOM) offers a range of repair, conversion, maintenance and fabrication services to marine, offshore and onshore industry. The shipyard has delivered in excess of 800 marine and offshore projects to date, of which 20% is made up of LNG carrier repairs. In comparison to the first half of 2017, the year 2018 has a marked increase in volume about 25% in terms of repairs and other works.

A tanker caught fire at the Gadani shipbreaking beach that holds a deplorable record of life threatening accidents on 11 October.Fortunately, no casualties were recorded. Only a few days later, on 14 October, yet another oil tanker named KRITI (IMO 9270737) caught fire, this time injuring seven workers, three of which are in a critical condition.The Platform has reported a series of accidents following the catastrophic explosion that killed at least 29 workers and injured 58 on the 1st of November 2016. Since then, there have been at least five more fires caused by unsafe cutting operations.