Luxembourg News

European governments including Germany, Britain and Denmark will reinforce their plans to massively expand wind power projects on Monday, despite U.S. President Donald Trump stepping up criticism of their green energy agenda, a draft declaration due to be signed by government leaders showed.Trump has been openly critical of European countries' efforts to shift to low-carbon energy.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) led a large-scale joint customs operation, NOXIA II, successfully targeting shipments suspected of containing illicit cigarettes, waste, drug precursors, and pesticides.The operation led to the coordinated seizure by the participating customs authorities of 149.5 million cigarettes, over 3,000 tonnes of illicit waste, 66.5 kg of pseudoephedrine, 52 tonnes of solid pesticides, and 21,000 liters of liquid pesticides.NOXIA II revealed the use of sophisticated global routes to smuggle cigarettes into the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has joined 47 governments in a joint submission to the final round of negotiations at the IMO on a GHG emissions pricing mechanism for international shipping.The joint text is supported by major shipping nations such as Greece, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom, the world’s largest flag States including Bahamas, Liberia, Marshall Islands and Panama, all EU States (and the European Commission), other African countries such as Nigeria and Kenya…

EU-funded researchers have been working to optimize a common platform that makes sharing information among different maritime authorities much easier.On 1 July 2024, the EU’s Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE) became operational in a project coordinated by Isto Matilla, an expert in maritime security and information sharing at Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland.A hypothetical scenario: A container ship sailing at night through the Baltic Sea, travelling along the Polish coast, pulls alongside a fishing boat.

The French government has selected winning proposals for a hydrogen import terminal, a renewable fuels facility and a lithium production factory to be built at the state-run port of Le Havre as part of an effort to attract industrial investment, the finance ministry said on Thursday.The land around the port was labelled a turnkey investment site under the 30 billion euro "France 2030" plan, allowing Haropa Port — the public entity that manages the ports of Rouen, Le Havre and Paris — to launch a tender for green projects.The three winners will benefit from accelerated approval procedures, grid connections and aid for preliminary studies from Haropa.If built, the projects would represent some 2.6 billion to 2.7 billion euros of investment and 720 jobs, the ministry said.U.S.

Diana Shipping, a global shipping company specializing in the ownership and bareboat charter-in of dry bulk vessels, has announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has extended the time charter contract with Cobelfret S.A., Luxembourg, for one of its Post-Panamax dry bulk vessels, the Amphitrite.The gross charter rate is $12,250 per day for the first 30 days of the charter period and $15,000 per day for the balance period of the time charter, in each case minus a 5% commission paid to third parties…

Pakistan has become a Party to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (Hong Kong Convention).Vice Admiral (Retd.) Iftikhar Ahmad Rao, Maritime Minister and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Maritime Affairs, Pakistan, deposited the instrument of accession with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters in London on November 30.The deposit follows an IMO-run national seminar in Karachi to…

Brazil has banned the export of live cattle from all its ports.Reuters reports that federal judge Djalma Gomes’s ruling states: "Animals are not things. They are sentient living beings, that is, individuals who feel hunger, thirst, pain, cold, anguish, fear."The verdict was handed down after the National Forum for the Protection and Defense of Animals filed a law suit in 2017.The case, still subject to appeal, comes as New Zealand also banned the export of cattle from its shores from April 30.

CLdN announced one of its RoRo car carrier vessels is ready for its return to service after being fitted with a rotor sail wind propulsion system.The Luxembourg based company is the latest in a string of ship owners and operators to have turned to wind propulsion systems as a means to reduce fuel burn and emissions amid its journey to improve operational efficiency and its environmental footprint.Now fitted with two 35mx5m rotor sails, Delphine is the first vessel in the CLdN fleet to be fitted with the system and will return to service from Zeebrugge…

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has been selected to supply RoRo equipment for two 8000 LM RoRo vessels built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in South Korea for Cobelfret CLdN, Luxembourg.The order, booked into Cargotec’s first quarter 2023 orders received, consists of design and complete hardware including stern ramps, ramp covers and hoistable car decks, access ramps, and rampway doors. In addition, MacGregor engineers will provide support and supervision during the installation.Coberlfret…

Portugal’s Navalrocha Shipyard announced it has completed a multimillion-dollar repair project for Luxembourg-based company Jan De Nul Group as it targets growth across the Benelux dredging sector.The cluster-contract involving repair work to two split hopper barges and one trailing suction hopper dredger - Tiger, De Bougainville, and Le Guerrier - was finalized at the end of November 2022. Key elements of the project involved complex heavy-lift operations, to replace 40-tonne hydraulic cylinders, plus ballast water treatment system (BWTS) installations.

Spain on Monday won backing from Europe's top court in its mutlimillion euros damage claim against The London Steam-Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association for a massive oil spill on its northwestern coast two decades ago.The 2002 sinking of the Greek oil tanker Prestige, which was sailing to Gibraltar, released an estimated 63,000 tones of foul-smelling black fuel along the Galicia coast and forced the closure of Spain's richest fishing grounds.It led to a lengthy dispute between The London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Limited…

Norwegian ballast water treatment systems manufacturer Optimarin said it has so far been able to overcome global supply chain challenges by leveraging a flexible delivery model for key components for its systems.While the world continues to deal with supply chain issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, the company has implemented a dual-supplier strategy that has enabled it to maintain efficient system deliveries even though supply capacity has been strained as demand has rebounded…

French shipping giant CMA CGM said it had struck a preliminary agreement to acquire a majority stake in French delivery firm Colis Prive, as it continues to build up its logistics business.CMA CGM is to buy 51% of Colis Prive from current owner Hopps Group and will have an option of increasing its stake further. The value of the planned transaction was not disclosed.Marseille-based CMA CGM has been investing in non-maritime services, similar to its container shipping rivals. After buying Swiss logistics group CEVA Logistics in 2019…

Dry bulk shipping company Diana Shipping announced that it has extended the time charter contract with CLdN Cobelfret SA, Luxembourg, for one of its Post-Panamax dry bulk vessels, Polymnia.The Polymnia is a 98,704 dwt Post-Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2012.The vessel is currently chartered at a gross charter rate of $12,100 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, and the new gross charter rate is $24,750 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties.The new charter period is expected to commence on February 2, 2022, and will run until minimum January 15, 2023 up to maximum March 15, 2023.Diana said the employment is anticipated to generate approximately $8.49 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter.

Chevron Marine Lubricants announced its low sulphated ash trunk piston engine oil Chevron HDAX 9700 has become the first lubricant to gain time-unrestricted approval for use with MAN Energy Solutions’ four-stroke engines running on either liquefied natural gas (LNG) or distillate fuels (with a sulphur content of up to 0.10%).Chevron said the first-of-its-kind approval offers simplicity for operators switching between the two fuels, meaning that they can use just one lubricant, rather than having to change lubricants after a fixed period operating on one fuel or the other.

I have a good friend named John Guste. He and his wife grew up in the same neighborhood as my wife, they all went to college together, and now our kids are friends. As a doctor, I’m sure he has little concern with the messy, yet mundane, intricacies of offshore energy and maritime policy. You can imagine my surprise then when one night while I was reading the Congressional Record from 1977—I’m a blast at parties—to see John’s grandfather testifying before the U.S. House of Representative’s Ad Hoc Select Committee on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) issues.Mr.

Offshore installation contractor Jan De Nul has informed that the keel-laying ceremony was held in China for its offshore installation vessel Voltaire. The vessel will, once delivered, be able to install the world's largest offshore wind turbines.The keel-laying ceremony for the jack-up unit was held Thursday at the Cosco Shipping Shipyard in Nantong, China, in the presence of Jan De Nul, Cosco’s and Bureau Veritas’ representatives.Luxembourg-based Jan De Nul Group ordered the…

Luxembourg-based marine services company Jan De Nul Group has agreed to buy the offshore construction and cable-lay vessel Connector from Ocean Yield. The vessel will be officially transferred during the fourth quarter of 2020.The Connector, previously known as Lewek Connector, is an advanced subsea construction & cable-lay vessel that was operating on a long-term bareboat charter until February 2017. Ocean Yield has, expecting a market recovery, for the past years traded the vessel in the short-term market.

Gula Skrinet AB reached an agreement with Caterpillar Luxembourg Sarl to acquire Caterpillar Propulsion AB and its subsidiaries. The sale is expected to close on June 30, 2020. Caterpillar Propulsion AB, formerly Berg Propulsion AB, is a manufacturer of mechanically and electrically driven propulsion systems and marine controls for ships.The proposed acquisition includes Caterpillar Propulsion AB and its subsidiaries, including Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, as well as Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd, its subsidiary Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co.

The Dutch government said on Thursday it is providing ailing shipbuilder Royal IHC with a lifeline of up to almost 400 million euros ($435 million), enabling the company's takeover by a consortium of marine companies and investors from Benelux countries.IHC had been looking for fresh capital since the summer of 2019 as it grappled with mounting debt and heavy losses on tailor-made ships.The company is to be taken over by Luxembourg-based investor HAL Trust and Belgian peer Ackermans & Van Haaren, together with Dutch dredgers Van Oord and equipment maker Huisman.Together these companies will pr

The Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy has published an update March 16, 2020 to MSIB: Novel Coronavirus – Update (Change 2)An outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) may affect mariners and maritime commerce. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated their Interim Guidance for Ships on Managing Suspected Coronavirus Disease 2019 (see https://go.usa.gov/xdfyG) and Cruise Ship Travel (see https://go.usa.gov/xdfVP).Illness…

Luxembourg-headquartered dredging and construction engineering company Jan De Nul Group completed the capital dredging works for the improvement of Liepaja Port in Latvia ahead of schedule.In order to allow larger vessels to enter and leave the port of Liepaja fully loaded, the access channel to the port needed to be adapted. As part of the Liepaja Port Water Infrastructure Works, Jan De Nul Group was awarded the dredging works.The scope for Jan De Nul Group entailed the removal of 2.7 million m³ of sediments to deepen the port access channel from 12.5 m to 14.5 m, and to create a new navigation channel of -14 m towards one of the main bulk terminals within the port area.Jan De Nul Group faced challenging weather and soil conditions during the execution of the project.