Tag: Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea emits more carbon dioxide than it can bind The Baltic Sea emits more carbon dioxide than it can bind. Local variations have increased the exposure of the Bay of Bothnia. These are the results from a study of how carbon dioxide flows between the water of the Baltic Sea and the atmosphere, carried out by scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden."The capacity of the Baltic Sea to absorb carbon dioxide without major changes to the acidity of the water has changed in recent centuries. In the Bay of Bothnia, the ability to resist change has fallen, while it has increased in the south-eastern parts of the Baltic Sea", says Karin Wesslander of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising steadily as a result of human activities, but global climate models remain inaccurate.The coastal seas are rarely included in large-scale climate models. Karin Wesslander has investigated the carbon dioxide system of the surface water of the Baltic Sea, in order to increase understanding of how the concentration of carbon dioxide affects seas.Carbon dioxide is an important component of photosynthesis, which converts the energy from sunlight, ...

EfficienSea Project

It is one of Germany's most unusual ships One of Germany's most unusual ships, the 12,800dwt E-Ship 1, has sailed through the Kiel Canal for the first time adding the Baltic to her areas of operation.The 130m ship used the waterway, linking the North Sea and the Baltic, on her way to Klaipeda in Lithuania from Emden. She was carrying a cargo of wind energy rotors for owners Enercon.E-Ship 1 is unusual because of her four 27m high and 4m diameter Flettner rotors and Magnus Effect propulsion. She is also unusual because she was built at two German shipyards. She sailed for the first time last year after completion at Cassens Shipyard in Emden but was designed by owners Enercon in partnership with Lindenau Schiffswerft in Kiel, where her keel was laid in 2007. Enercon moved the largely finished hull to Emden in 2009 after insolvency trouble at Lindenau.Reports say E-Ship 1 is equipped with Mitsubishi marine diesels with a total output of 3.5MW, but Enercon has not released exact details of her propulsion system. The firm does however claim projected fuel savings with the rotors of 30-40% at a speed of 16knots.Source: The Motorship

It will run until 2013 and include the participation of Denmark, Finland, Sweden The MonaLisa project, an action in the Baltic Sea region aimed to improve the quality of maritime transport, will benefit from 11.23Euro million in EU contribution from the 2010 TEN-T Multi-Annual Call. The project, which forms part of TEN-T Priority Project 21 Motorways of the Sea, will run until 2013 and includes the participation of three Member States (Denmark, Finland and Sweden).The MonaLisa project aims to improve quality of maritime transport, safety at sea, exchange of maritime data and facilitation of environmental performance of shipping and implementation of e-Maritime relevant applications.Although three Member States Denmark, Finland and Sweden are currently participating in the project, more will be able to join once the project is underway. MonaLisa complies fully with the strategy for the Baltic Sea region and will also play a part in supporting European Motorways of the Sea activities.It will achieve these objectives through studies aimed at delivering the following results:A new methodology in maritime route planning, similar to air navigation. The related activity aims to define, develop and test a model in route planning based on existing Electronic Nautical Charts and Automatic Identification System.A new ...