Tag: Baltic Sea

Rapidly growing commercial vessel traffic increase the risk of ecological damage More than three centuries after Peter the Great gave Russia access to the world by founding St. Petersburg as a "window onto Europe" at the head of the Gulf of Finland, area ports handle more than one-third of all oil exports and more than half of the country's container cargo turnover.Sea traffic is growing at about 5 percent per year leading to a boom in onshore infrastructure development, corresponding stress to the environment and risk of ecological disaster."The main contamination of the world's oceans is not happening at oil rigs, or other places where oil is being extracted the share of such spills is only about 2 percent," said Valery Tsepelev, deputy head of the northwest branch of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, or Rosgidromet. The much greater risk comes from transportation, he said, mainly at the ports where oil is being loaded onto tankers.While three modern port facilities in the area have come online, the specific fragility of the Baltic and Russia's antiquated fleet keep the risks as high as the rewards."The Baltic Sea is no less threatened and vulnerable a zone than the Arctic," ...

Workshop in Helsinki on 15 May 2012 aims to identify the future challenges for maritime safety A workshop in Helsinki on 15 May 2012 aims to identify the future challenges for maritime safety in the Baltic Sea Region More and larger vessels will pass the Baltic Sea in the years to come, and therefore it is important to address the challenges for maritime safety which will follow in the wake of the increased vessel traffic. At a workshop in Helsinki, co-organised by the Danish Maritime Authority, the Baltic Sea States will for the first time jointly develop scenarios for the maritime safety and security in the region. Set the agenda for maritime safety The joint challenges of the Baltic Sea States call for joint solutions. At the workshop, the Danish participants in cooperation with delegates from other countries are expected to table a number of issues relating to maritime safety. That could be improved surveillance or information exchange among the countries, which often require joint decisions. Another example is the ongoing development of new and safer technology on board the ships, which in due time will require new infrastructure on land across national borders. At the same time, the countries ...

New strategic alliances in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Russia OPDR has extended its Baltic Sea Service (BALT) through the formation of new strategic alliances in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Russia. The new BALT Service is specifically designed to ensure a cohesive connection to all other OPDR services and provides both higher frequency and reduced transit times."The restructuring of our BALT service through the appointment of four very experienced new Agencies as well as agreements with partner lines gives our Baltic Sea traffic a clear profile and reinforces our presence in this market", states OPDR Trade Manager Matthias Gehle. The BALT service connects all OPDR destinations in North and South Europe as well as North Africa via Hamburg and Rotterdam with the Baltic Sea ports such as Oslo, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and Gdynia as well as the Baltic ports and St. Petersburg. "Thanks to our strong partners we can also offer our customers other ports in the Baltic Sea region as well as the whole west coast of Norway", says Matthias Gehle.North bound cargo will be carried by OPDR's own vessels to the ports of to Hamburg and Rotterdam. "Due to the smooth cooperation with our northern European partners we ...

Improving the efficiency of transport in the Baltic Sea - Black Sea areas Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania and Georgia will work to improve the efficiency of transport in the Baltic Sea - Black Sea areas with the use of combined Viking transport and the existing rail and train ferries. This agreement was reached during a ministerial council meeting held in Batumi.Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Vera Kobalia, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Infrastructure Boris Kolesnikov, Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania Eligiyus Masiulis and Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of Belarus Alexander Shishkov attended the ministerial meeting.The transit issue is extremely important for Georgia and now there is an opportunity to establish a transit towards the Baltic and Black Sea areas, Kobalia told reporters on Wednesday."Today we need to work out the basic principles for the coordinated development of the rail-ferry service. To do this it's necessary to attract additional cargo and customer base, to form a competitive tariff policy and eliminate barriers to the successful development of transportation," she said. Kobalia said the necessary procedures for accession to the Agreement on the development of goods transportation in the areas of ...

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Vessels have to comply with a 0.1% limit on fuel sulphur content Trade association Interferry says that ferry operators in northern Europe face a near-impossible choice in trying to meet the 2015 deadline for ultra-low sulphur emissions from bunker fuel.The association also warns that the low-sulphur legislation will prompt an environmentally damaging modal shift from short-sea to overland transport and pose severe financial implications for the overall European economy.Under pending IMO and soon to be agreed European Union (EU) environmental requirements, vessels operating in the Baltic, North Sea and Channel Emission Control Areas (ECAs) will have to comply with a 0.1% limit on fuel sulphur content.Interferry says it acknowledges ferry operators' responsibility to reduce emissions and supports the move to lower sulphur limits globally by 2020 - but claims that the 2015 timescale is 'mission impossible´ due to unsustainable cost increases. It argues that, despite the ferry industry's efforts to develop alternative technologies and feasible alternative fuels, abatement technologies and financial support will not be available or sufficient enough to avoid a modal shift from sea to road. These alternatives are the elements in a 'toolbox' of technical and financial solutions proposed by the European Commission (EC).The toolbox suggests the ...

EfficienSea - a Flagship Project in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region EfficienSea is a Flagship Project in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, a maritime safety project lead by the Danish Maritime Authority.The main aim of e-Navigation is to ensure safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment. If we succeed, we will be able to meet the challenges ever increasing maritime transport without increasing the overall risk and consequential costs to society.E-Navigation Read more on www.efficiensea.org

EfficienSea is a flagship project in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

DMA cooperates with several partners in examining the possibility of using LNG In the recent year, the Danish Maritime Authority has cooperated with several partners in examining the possibility of using liquefied natural gas as an environmentally friendly alternative to ships' ordinary fuels.Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is an environmentally and climate friendly fuel that has, in the recent year, been the object of closer scrutiny: Is it possible to make it a competitive alternative through an effective infrastructure and good framework conditions? The Nordic countries and Belgium, ports, several major energy companies and private companies take part in the project, where the Danish Maritime Authority is the coordinating partner.A status report on the project has just been published. It establishes that there are extremely good possibilities of having greener voyages in short sea shipping in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the English Channel. However, there are also a number of challenges with which further work must be made. It is especially clear that solutions must be created making it possible for ships to tank LNG, while loading and unloading passengers and goods. There is also a need for so-called LNG bunkering and feeder vessels, just as the regulations ...

At least 268 vessels inspected and US$100,000 retrieved in wages owed to crew The ITF's week of action in Baltic Sea ports ended with at least 268 vessels inspected in the 10 countries involved, and getting on for US$100,000 retrieved in wages owed to crew.The action week, 10-14 October, involved inspectors and seafarer and dockworker union activists in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. More than US$86,400 was recovered in back pay owed to crewmembers in the first three days aloneThe week ended with at least a further US$7,090 in wages retrieved. ITF agreements were also signed or renewed on several vessels, and US$18,000 collected for the ITF welfare fund. The MSC Fabiola containership was boycotted while it was in Hamburg, as part of the action - the German owner then agreed to sign an ITF agreement for the ship, as well as to sign three new agreements and renew seven expired ones for other ships in its fleet.Source: ITF