The blue economy of the EU Atlantic area is one of the largest in Europe as it amounts to €65 billion gross value and employs more than 1.2 million people. The European Commission reports that the Atlantic stakeholders are reviewing how they can help decarbonize the economy, reduce marine pollution and further promote a sustainable blue economy, looking at the new decade approaching with a new Commission and new funding instruments.
The Delaware State Division of Fish and Wildlife, got the retired cruise ship American Glory and sunk it 16.5 nautical miles off Indian River Inlet, adding another sunken vessel in their artificial reef program. The 200-foot ship got lifted by Norfolk,Virginia-based marine contractor Coleen Marine, which also prepared it for the reef.
The crew of the UK Royal Navy icebreaker ‘HMS Protector’ discovered an abandoned merchant ship drifting in mid-Atlantic on 31st August. The crew was heading to Bermudas to provide assistance on hurricane relief efforts, at the time.
“The scene at Nightingale is dreadful,” authorities were quoted as saying after the Maltese-registered bulk carrier ‘Oliva’ ran aground in the South Atlantic Ocean, causing an unprecedented oil spill in one of the most pristine regions in the world.
After successfully conducting a cargo run trial in the North Sea, the 12-meter-long autonomous ship ‘Maxlimer’ is set to set sail from Canada in an attempt of the world’s first transatlantic voyage without a crew. The voyage is expected to last about 35 days.
The last days of March have been ones of black anniversaries for shipping: On 24 March, the industry commemorated the Exxon Valdez incident. On 31st March, shipping mourns a relatively recent tragedy: The loss of the South Korean VLOC ‘Stellar Daisy’ in 2017, which took almost entire crew at the bottom of the South Atlantic.
US could open up portions of the Atlantic to oil and gas drilling is spite of opposition from East Coast states, a US Interior Department official said during remarks at a recent energy industry conference. This comes at a time when the US is preparing to announce a five-year drilling plan proposal that could expand available acreage, and enhance US oil, gas and coal production.
The US Coast Guard announced in the Federal Register that it starts a new study of routes used by ships to access ports on the Atlantic Coast of the US. This new study comes to be added on and builds on the Atlantic Coast Port Access Route Study completed April 5, 2017. Current capabilities and planned improvements in these ports to handle maritime conveyances will be considered as well.
The search ship, Seabed Constructor of Ocean Infinity is scouting the accident area and on 20 February it found the remains and an object that appears to be working clothes, on the seabed around a fragment of the hull. The search team has also retrieved a voyage data recorder and other high-tech equipment.
Ocean Infinity informed that it has successfully located the wreck of the lost South Korean tanker, Stellar Daisy. The ship was found 3461 meters deep in the South Atlantic Ocean, approximately 1800 nautical miles due west of Cape Town. Stellar Daisy sank on 31 March 2017, while transporting iron ore from Brazil to China. As a result, 22 of the 24 crew died.
