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Kenya News

18 Mar 2024

IMO to Open Regional Office in Fiji

Source: IMO

The IMO will open its seventh Regional Presence Office (RPO), in Suva, Fiji, after IMO Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, and Fiji Minister for Transport, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 18.The Regional Presence Office will support the maritime needs and priorities of countries in the Pacific Islands region, aligning IMO actions with national and regional development policies, while providing advice on key maritime issues such as training, safety and security, legislation and marine environment.

19 Feb 2024

African Union Bans Donkey Skin Trade

Source: The Donkey Sanctuary

African Heads of State have agreed a landmark moratorium on the donkey skin trade. The agreement was reached on February 18 during the 37th African Union Summit in Ethiopia.Over the last decade, Africa has seen its donkey population decimated due to Chinese demand for ejiao, a gelatine used in traditional Chinese medicine that is made from boiling down donkey skins. Believed to have unsubstantiated health benefits, demand for ejiao has obliterated China’s own donkey population…

18 Jul 2023

Panama's Arsenio Dominguez Elected as IMO Secretary General

Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco (Photo: IMO)

The International Maritime Organization's Council (IMO) has elected Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco from Panama as its secretary-general, the UN shipping agency said on Tuesday.Dominguez beat six other contenders from China, Turkey, Kenya, Finland, Dominica and Bangladesh in a vote and will take office on January 1, 2024, for a four-year term, subject to the approval of the IMO Assembly.Dominguez will take the helm at a crucial time as the shipping industry grapples with challenges including pressures to speed up decarbonization.A trained naval architect…

18 May 2023

Ukraine Black Sea Grain Deal Extended for Two Months

© Aleksandr Lesik / Adobe Stock

The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as "good news for the world," a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced the extension in a televised speech and it was later confirmed by Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations.The flow of ships through the corridor had been grinding to a halt during the last few days with the deal set to expire on Thursday."The continuation is good news for the world…

15 May 2023

UN Efforts to Save Black Sea Grain Deal to Continue in Coming Days

© dechevm / Adobe Stock

The U.N. aid chief said on Monday efforts will continue in coming days to extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, a pact Russia has threatened to quit on May 18 over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.The final two ships are due to leave Ukrainian ports on Tuesday under the Black Sea deal, said a U.N. spokesperson."Continuation of the Black Sea Initiative is critically important," Martin Griffiths told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine. "We will continue to call on all to meet their responsibilities as the world watches us very closely."The U.N.

11 May 2023

African Leaders Positive About Participation in Decarbonization

Source: IMO

Africa's abundance of solar, wind and thermal energy across the continent can place Africa at the core of the global decarbonization of maritime transport, the IMO conference on Low-Carbon Shipping in Africa heard on May 5.Speaking at the Conference, held in In Mombasa, Kenya, and co-organized with the Kenya Maritime Authority, The Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, Minister of Transport, Ghana, said Africa is the key to speeding up global climate action on the Decarbonization Agenda.

03 Apr 2023

Next IMO Secretary-General Could be a Win for Diversity

Source: IMO

Seven IMO Member States have nominated a candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the IMO in what could be a win for diversity in maritime.Three of the seven are women, and if elected, Nancy Karigithu of Kenya would also be the first African to hold the post. The other female nominees are Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry (Dominica) and Minna Kivimäki (Finland).They are joined by nominees Moin Uddin Ahmed (Bangladesh), Suat Hayri Aka (Türkiye), Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco (Panama) and Zhang Xiaojie (China).The term of the current incumbent…

05 Dec 2022

Anti-famine Push: Ukraine Says Ship with Wheat for Ethiopia Arrives

Illustration:  ©Elena/AdobeStock

A ship with Ukrainian wheat destined for Ethiopia arrived in port on Saturday, the first vessel to sail as part of a push to send food to countries most vulnerable to famine and drought, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Last Saturday, Ukraine and allied nations launched an initiative to export $150 million worth of grain to Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Kenya, and Yemen. "We ship food. We ship hope," Zelenskiy said in a tweet accompanying a short clip of a vessel carrying 25…

30 Sep 2022

EUNAVFOR Conducts First Combined Operation with RMIFC and RCOC

(Photo: EUNAVFOR)

EUNAVFOR Atalanta and both the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Center (RMIFC/Madagascar) and the Regional Coordination Operations Center (RCOC/Seychelles) conducted their first joint operation from September 21 to 24. This first Operation, named MARLIN, was aimed at strengthening maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean through sustainable collaboration between the States of the region and international partners. It contributed to the implementation of the cooperation agreement signed between EUNAVFOR Operation ATALANTA and the two regional centers in December 2021…

21 Sep 2022

“A Captain’s Duty” - Captain Phillips To Speak At Mass Maritime

Captain Richard Phillips, author of A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, will discuss his encounter, his remarkable rescue and lessons learned, in an Ed Fouhy Speaker Series program presented by the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center on October 6. Photo courtesy Mass Maritime

On Thursday October 6, Captain Richard Phillips, author of A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, will discuss his encounter, his remarkable rescue and lessons learned, in an Ed Fouhy Speaker Series program presented by the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center. The program will begin at 7:00 PM at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Admirals Hall, 101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA.The now-famous hostage standoff began on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 when a small band of Somali pirates swung a ladder from their skiff onto the MV Maersk Alabama…

30 Aug 2022

UN Ships Food Relief from Ukraine to Drought-stricken Horn of Africa

A ship carrying wheat from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa docked on Tuesday, the United Nations said, the first to make the journey since the Russian invasion six months ago.The vessel Brave Commander is carrying 23,000 tonnes of grain and will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes.The total shipment, which will be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5 million people for a month.That barely begins to alleviate the problems of Eastern Africa, where the United Nations' World Food Programme says extreme weather, surging food prices and conflict mean 82 million people need food aid across nine countries - Burundi…

02 Aug 2022

Lake Victoria Ferry Equipped with Schottel Propulsion

(Image: Schottel)

A ferry serving Lake Victoria in East Africa has been fitted with new Schottel propulsion systems.With an area of nearly 69,000 square meters, Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa—and a vital resource for around 30 million people who live on its shores. It is not only a source of water and fish but also provides them with transport routes. Every day, almost 40 ferries travel across the lake between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. One of these ferries is the 1985-built Sengerema…

14 Apr 2022

Russian Warship Sinks in the Black Sea

Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Russia's lead warship in the Black Sea sank on Thursday, Russia's defense ministry announced, after what Ukraine said was a missile strike and Russia described as an explosion of ammunition on board.The loss of the Moskva, the flagship in Russia's Black Sea fleet, occurred as it was being towed to port in stormy weather, Russian news agencies quoted the defense ministry as saying. The sinking was a fresh blow to Moscow's military campaign as it readied for new assaults in east…

22 Mar 2022

Med Marine Delivers New Tug to Kenya Port Authority

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Kenya Port Authority's new tug,  Mwokozi II, was delivered to her home port of Mombasa on January 10, 2022.The Mwokozi II is a custom design 42-meter, 120 tonne bollard pull RAstar 4200 salvage and harbor tug developed by Robert Allan Ltd., with particularly outstanding performance in maneuvering, seakeeping, and stability.The Turkish shipbuilder Med Marine was contracted to build the new tugboat at its group owned Eregli Shipyard. The keel was laid on March 23, 2020, and construction…

13 Dec 2021

IMO Assembly Elects New 40-member Council

(Photo: IMO)

The Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has elected the Members of its Council for the 2022-2023 biennium.The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization. Between sessions of the Assembly, the Council performs the functions of the Assembly, except that of making recommendations to Governments on maritime safety and pollution prevention.The Assembly of the International Maritime…

20 Oct 2021

California Ports, Key to US Supply Chain, Among World's Least Efficient

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

Southern California’s Los Angeles and Long Beach ports handle the most ocean cargo of any ports in the United States, but are some of the least efficient in the world, according to a ranking by the World Bank and IHS Markit.In a review of 351 container ports around the globe, Los Angeles was ranked 328, behind Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and Alaska’s Dutch Harbor. The adjacent port of Long Beach came in even lower, at 333, behind Turkey’s Nemrut Bay and Kenya’s Mombasa, the groups…

06 Oct 2021

IMO to Establish Regional Office for the Pacific Islands

© Sergii Figurnyi / Adobe Stock

IMO's Technical Cooperation Committee at its 71st session (TC 71) (20-24 September) has approved the establishment of an IMO Regional Presence Office (RPO) for the Pacific Islands region. If approved at the thirty-fourth extraordinary session of the Council (08 - 12 November 2021), this will see the Pacific Region become the sixth to feature an IMO RPO.The existing RPOs are: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire for west and central Africa (Francophone); Accra, Ghana for west and central Africa (Anglophone)…

29 Jul 2021

Maersk Gives Kenyan Exporters to Europe a Boost with Salalah Transshipments

Credit: Maersk

Shipping giant Maersk is enhancing the service it offers from Mombasa, Kenya, to North Europe, specifically Felixstowe and Rotterdam, by providing a single transshipment product via Salalah, Oman.Maersk said that the ME7 service would connect Kenya’s exports via Salalah to Europe ensuring the cargo will flow smoothly without getting affected by unforeseen delays in case of congestion. The ME7 service will provide regular rotations between the hubs of Colombo and Salalah, letting…

20 May 2021

First Ships Dock at Kenya's Lamu Deep Water Port

(Photo: LAPSSET)

The first ships docked at Kenya's deep water Lamu Port on Thursday as the country looks to open a new transport corridor linking its vast northern region and neighboring nations to the sea.Kenyan officials hope that the Indian Ocean port, the country's second deep water facility, will attract cargo destined for neighboring landlocked nations Ethiopia and South Sudan, and offer transhipment services where large vessels bring in cargo for onward distribution by smaller ships.The Lamu Port…

18 May 2021

Designated Risk Areas: Arbitrary Lines or Useful Tool for Illustrating Risk?

© Wojciech Wrzesień / Adobe Stock

The art of drawing lines on maps is fraught with contention. Sir Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot are likely unfamiliar to many, but their names and actions live on. Their role in carving up the Ottoman Empire toward the end of the of World War I created artificial borders in the Middle East—determined arbitrarily with a ruler and with no regard to ethnic or sectarian characteristics—highlights the unintended cartographic consequences that can arise when applying rigid models of expression to inherently dynamic areas.Designated areas of maritime risk…

10 May 2021

Tech File: Schottel SRP 710 for KPA Salvage Tug

Image courtesy Schottel

A pair of Schottel RudderPropellers type SRP 710 have left the German production site in Wismar and are on their way to the Turkish shipyard Med Marine for installation in a new tug. The salvage tug, which has been ordered by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will be equipped with main and auxiliary propulsion systems from Schottel . By this, the vessel will achieve an expected bollard pull of more than 120 tons. The Robert Allan RAstar 4200 (MED-A42120) design vessel is considered…

28 Sep 2020

More than 400,000 Seafarers Are Still Stuck at Sea

© Eugene / Adobe Stock

The number of mariners stranded on ships at sea is steadily rising as the crew change crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic continues with no end in sight.Travel and transit restrictions in place due to COVID-19 have severely impacted seafarers, the number of crew members whose contracts have been extended by several months has continued to rise despite multiple pleas to governments to designate them as essential key workers and to facilitate their travel.According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO)…

13 Aug 2020

Schottel to Equip Kenya's Powerful New Tug

(Image: Med Marine)

German propulsion systems manufacturer Schottel says it has secured a contract with Turkish shipyard Med Marine to provide azimuth thrusters for a powerful new salvage tug ordered by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA). The vessel will be equipped with main and auxiliary propulsion systems from Schottel, achieving a bollard pull of more than 120 tonnes. The Robert Allan RAstar 4200 (MED-A42120) design vessel is considered the largest tugboat on the East African Coast of the Indian Ocean.Recai Hakan Şen…

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