Following the newly-published Cruise Baltic Market Review, in 2019 5,909,784 guests visited the ports in the Baltic Sea, presenting an increase of 9.1% from 2018 and 16.9% from 2017. A recent report revealed that the cruise industry supports over 12,500 jobs in the Baltic Sea region, which has been recently seeing a surge of cruise passengers, which is showing on the positive economic impact in the region.
According to a recent statement by the Freeport of Riga, 62.4 million marine shipments were handled by Latvian ports in 2019; the total volume of cargo decreased by 5.7% compared to 2018. Taking into consideration that the traditional regional cargo flows tend to change, and that the volume of handled transit consignments has decreased in Latvia, this development can still to be considered fairly good. Namely, the largest ports of Latvia handled 41% of the total cargo volume in the Baltic States, amounting to 147 million tonnes.
Hutchison Ports will operate two brand new super-post-Panamax cranes at the container terminal at the Stockholm Norvik Port. The container cranes started their journey from Shanghai on 10th January and will arrive for installation at the new port at the end of March.
The Swedish Club issued its 2020 Navigational Claims issue, focusing on a collision between two vessels, resulting to the fact that the lookout of the responsible seafarers at the time of the incident was improper, highlighting that the OOW is always responsible for reporting of any targets observed.
A Protocol of Agreement was inked several days ago between Freeport of Riga and province of Corrientes, in order to boost and expand both of the ports’ facilities. Through this agreement, the two sides aim to find ways to develop their bilateral trade and to enhance Argentinian produce exports via the Port of Riga.
On behalf of German ship operator Reederei Nord, a team from ETH Zurich investigated shipping activities in the North and Baltic Seas as well as the infrastructure, costs of new fuels and storage options, in a bid to map out “routes” towards emission-free shipping.
The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (HaV) announced it will empty oil from the ‘Finnbirch’ shipwreck, which has been leaking oil for over a year, off Öland, posing an environmental risk for local ecosystems of the Baltic Sea.
The LNG bunker supply vessel Kairos, operated by Nauticor, carried out the first LNG bunkering operation in the port of Södertälje, Sweden, where it delivered 150 tons of LNG. The operation occurred on September 12 at Södertälje’s oil terminal.
The Baltic Ports Organization entered the World Ports Sustainability Program, after the signing of the WPSP declaration by Mr Bogdan Ołdakowski, BPO Secretary General. The Program aims to improve and coordinate future sustainability efforts of ports worldwide.
Using advanced underwater robotics, an international team of scientists has revealed the remains of an intact shipwreck from the Early Modern Period (late 15th – early 16th century) in the Baltic Sea. The project comes as a result of the ongoing partnership between MMT and the University of Southampton.
