National Assembly News

First responders and volunteers from Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday sought to contain an oil spill detected last week in the Caribbean country's waters and clean areas of Tobago island's coast already affected by the incident.Trinidad and Tobago's coast guard first spotted the spill on Feb. 7, about 6 kilometers off the coast of Studley Park, the chief secretary of Tobago's national assembly, Farley Augustine, said in a press conference on Sunday.Barriers have been installed to contain the spill…

Shipments of refined products from French refinery and depots were blocked on Monday by a 13th day of strike action, though some refineries operated with a reduced flow, a company spokesperson said.The industrial action is part of a nationwide movement against pension system changes that lift the retirement age two years to 64. The changes were forced through parliament without a vote last week.There is an increasing expectation of diesel supply shortages in France and Europe as a result of the strike-caused outages…

Britain is sending two navy patrol boats to the British Channel Island of Jersey after France suggested it could cut power supplies to the island if its fishermen are not granted full access to U.K. fishing waters under post-Brexit trading terms.Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged his "unwavering support" for the island after he spoke with Jersey officials about the prospect of the French blockade.Johnson "stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation in tensions," a spokesperson for Johnson said. "As a precautionary measure the U.K.

An oil slick washed up over the weekend on the coastline of Venezuela's western Falcon state, known for pristine beaches and nature preserves, two opposition lawmakers said on Monday, though there was no official comment on the spill's provenance.Maria Hernandez, who chairs the opposition-held National Assembly's environmental committee, said she was concerned about the effect of pollution on marine life as well as water supplies onshore.A satellite image posted on Twitter by…

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on five Iranian ship captains who delivered oil to Venezuela, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed Washington's backing for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.Speaking at a news conference, Pompeo said the ships delivered about 1.5 million barrels of Iranian gasoline and related components, and warned mariners against doing business with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose ouster Washington seeks."As a result of today’s sanctions, these captains’ assets will be blocked. Their careers and prospects will suffer from this designation," Pompeo said in a statement later."We will continue to support the National Assembly…

Venezuela's military will escort Iranian tankers bringing fuel to the gasoline-starved country as soon as they enter its exclusive economic zone, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Wednesday.His comments came after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said the shipment should "alarm" Latin America. Both OPEC members are U.S. adversaries whose oil industries are under U.S. sanctions. Trump administration officials say Washington is considering a response to the shipment.The tankers - Fortune…

Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been embroiled in a weeks-long standoff near an offshore oil block in disputed waters of the South China Sea, which fall within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, two Washington-based think-tanks said on Wednesday.China's U-shaped "nine-dash line" marks a vast expanse of the South China Sea that it claims, including large swathes of Vietnam's continental shelf where it has awarded oil concessions.The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a ship operated by the China Geological Survey…

As tensions with Venezuela mount, the United States is planning to announce on Tuesday the deployment of a military hospital ship to the region, U.S. officials say, in the latest sign of the Pentagon's limited, and targeted, involvement in the crisis.The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not specify where in the region the ship would travel to. Last year, a hospital ship -- the USNS Comfort -- cared for Venezuelan refugees and others as it stopped in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Honduras.The U.S. military's Southern Command, which oversees U.S.

Last July 6, Major General Manuel Quevedo joined his wife, a Catholic priest and a gathering of oil workers in prayer in a conference room at the headquarters of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.The career military officer, who for the past year has been boss at the troubled state-owned oil company, was at no ordinary mass. The gathering, rather, was a ceremony at which he and other senior oil ministry officials asked God to boost oil output."This place of peace and spirituality…

Quebec's National Assembly unanimously adopted a motion in support of the Federal government's reform or 'refresh' of the National Shipbuilding Strategy.The motion called upon the federal government to endorse the House of Commons and Senate's recommendations to proceed immediately with the construction at Davie Shipbuilding of a second Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship as well as a new fleet of icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.During 2017, the Federal government conducted a review of the National Shipbuilding Strategy in order to reform the failed strategy and begin to deliver ships for Canada in a timely and cost-effective manner.

The National Maritime Transport Policy concept is being promoted by International Maritime Organization (IMO)  as a good governance practice to guide planning, decision making and legislation in the maritime sector. It can also be a key driver for a country's sustainable development, particularly when it comes to the “blue economy”. Officials in Kenya are participating in a workshop in Kilifi, Kenya (9-11 May), to gain knowledge and understanding of the development and content of a National Maritime Transport Policy. The workshop aims to highlights the involvement of the different stakeholders that are involved in the maritime sector.

Vietnam wants to give its coast guard more flexibility to open fire at sea, amid tension in the busy South China Sea waterway, a draft law released on Wednesday showed. The law, expected to be voted by lawmakers at the end of this year, would allow greater assertiveness in disputed waters by the coast guard, now armed with modern U.S. and Japanese patrol boats, in a policy likely to alarm neighbouring China. China claims almost all the South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Vietnam and four other countries also say they have rights in the sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

The Federal Executive Council of Nigeria approved the Suppression of Piracy and Maritime Offences Bill, reported TVC News. The approval was given at a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The two bills will now be forwarded to the National Assembly for approval and passage. The bill is to ensure the protection of the maritime industry against Piracy. According to Business Day, the intention is to accord protection to the maritime industry against piracy and indeed come up with a comprehensive policy position incorporated into the bill which is intended to ensure that at the end of the day…

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stated that in order to harness the opportunities derivable from the Blue Economy in Africa there is a need for a proper framework and structure which will enhance the coordination of the sector. The NIMASA DG who stated this during a paper presentation to the Management of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) in Lagos titled; “Introducing the Blue Economy Concept”  said that in realizing a desirable blue sea economy framework, participatory engagement and agenda setting, participatory policy design and implementation and multi sector partnership are key areas that must be considered.

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has assured Nigerians and the international maritime community that the Federal Government is actively working to keep the menace of piracy and other illicit crimes in check on the nation’s territorial waterways. In this case the word are backed by action and investment, as the Nigerian government has approved the procurement of three helicopters and 12 fast intervention…

The Chinese government will supply eight modified diesel-electric attack submarines to Pakistan by the year 2028, reports Sputnik. Four of the subs would be constructed in China and the rest in Pakistan. Shaikh Rohail Asghar head of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence said the Pakistan Navy had inked a contract with China for submarines according to which the latter will construct four submarines in China and supply them to the Pakistan Navy in mid 2022-23. The remaining four submarines will be constructed in Pakistan at the Karachi Shipyard and these will be handed over to the Pakistan Navy in 2028. In April, a senior Pakistan Navy official announced that Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) had secured a contract to produce four of the eight submarines…

Cuba's chronic goods trade deficit widened by $1.5 billion in 2015 as exports fell 24 percent and imports rose 3 percent, the government said on Wednesday, in the first data showing a commodity crash has hurt the economy. The information, released on the National Statistics Office web page did not cover Cuba's large service exports. Prices for key Cuban exports such as sugar, nickel and refined oil products all tumbled last year. The Communist-run country began cutting back on its 2016 import orders last year and has been slow in making some payments to creditors and suppliers. Cuba orders much of its imports a year in advance. Cuban…

The opening of a newly expanded Panama Canal, previously scheduled for April, will be postponed due to cracks detected in the new set of locks that are the centerpiece of the $5.25 billion overhaul, EFE quotes Panama Canal Authority (ACP) head Jorge Quijano as saying. The interoceanic waterway agency was still planning for the inauguration to occur during the second quarter of 2016 and no later than June. Under the new timetable, the GUPC consortium that is carrying out the expansion will begin navigation tests in April, Quijano said in statements to business leaders that the ACP forwarded to EFE. "We moved it to April due to these problems we had," the administrator said.

When night falls over western Venezuela, armed gangs known as "pirates" sometimes ride boats into muggy Lake Maracaibo to steal equipment from oil wells. In the country's Paraguana peninsula, opposite the Caribbean island of Aruba, slum dwellers at times break through a perimeter wall into Venezuela's biggest refinery and rob machinery, construction tools, and cables to sell as scrap. On the other side of the OPEC country in Monagas state, around 26,000 potential barrels were lost in March during a shutdown after state oil company employees and contractors stole copper cables and caused a tank to overflow. Venezuela's national crime pandemic - the United Nations says the country has the world's second-highest murder rate after Honduras - is a growing headache for the oil industry…

South Korea plans to enable its citizens and foreign tourists to wager on new cruise ship services that will serve ports around the country, reports the Korea Joongang Daily newspaper. Some major overseas cruise companies – such as Genting Hong Kong Ltd’s Star Cruises – operate shipboard casinos that only open once the vessel is in international waters. The plans also include allowing local residents to use casinos on cruise ships. The National Assembly passed the Cruise Act in January to open casinos on cruise ships carrying the Korean national flag for foreign passengers only, but now the government plans to submit a revision bill to allow local residents to use cruise ship casinos.

Singapore-based port operator PSA Panama International Terminal (PSA Panama) has started a USD 400 million expansion of its container terminal located on the west bank of the Panama Canal Pacific. It has started on the expansion after being granted approval by the National Assembly, the Panama Canal Authority ACP, the Panama Maritime Authority and the Panamanian State. The expansion is targeted to be ready for operations before the end of 2016, in conjunction with the commercial opening of the expanded Panama Canal. The expansion will increase the capacity of the terminal from 450,000 to 2 million TEUs per year. The investment into civil works amounts to USD 285 million, while the value of equipment will be over USD 125 million.

The Latvian armed forces spotted a Russian submarine in the exclusive economic zone of Latvia on March 16, reports BBC. The warship was seen at a distance of 27 nautical miles from the territorial waters of the country. The vessel was a Russian Project 877 Paltus submarine, the National Assembly of Latvia said. The Armed forces confirmed that there were two Russian Kilo-class submarines and a research vessel outside the country’s territorial waters. The Kilo-class vessels, to use their NATO classification, have been deployed by the Soviet, and then the Russian navy since the early 1980s. Nimble and quiet, they have traditionally been named “black holes” for their stealth capabilities.

National Assembly will question two national leaders, among them the Panama Canal Administrator. The plenary of the National Assembly has approved a proposal to call Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano before the body to answer questions about the waterway's finances and the progress of the expansion. The proposal was presented by a group of deputies from different parties, including Leandro Avila and Raúl Pineda of the PRD, CD Deputy Dalia Bernal and Miguel Salas of the Panameñista party.