Tag: Baltic Sea

The world's largest LNG bunkering vessel, 'Kairos', was delivered this week to Babcock Schulte Energy (BSE), a joint venture between UK-based Babcock and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM). The first cut of steel was completed in November 2017 at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea and the keel was laid in early 2018.

The video, published by the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR), focuses on one of the objectives of the Strategy – Save the Sea, aiming to address threats to marine biodiversity and food web structures, such as eutrophication, invasive species and hazardous substances. 

On the sidelines of the 8th St. Petersburg International Gas Forum, Russian oil giant Gazprom and British oil major Shell signed a Framework Agreement on the joint design concept (pre-FEED) for the Baltic LNG project.

Estonian energy company, Eesti Gaas and Damen Shipyards signed a contract for the construction of the first of a series of short-sea LNG bunker vessels to operate in the Baltic Sea. The LGC 6000 LNG class vessel, is planned to be delivered in September 2020, and aims to boost the wider adoption of LNG.

Poland wants to build a canal through a narrow strip of land that blocks the Vistula Lagoon on the north-east coast from the Baltic Sea. The president of Poland's ruling party noted the canal will be built through a split of land near the Russian border.  Currently, Polish ships leaving from the port of Elblag have to pass through Russian waters to get to the open sea.

The entrances to the Baltic Sea are considered dangerous areas to navigate because of a combination of tide and meteorological conditions. This along with unknown obstructions on the seabed and sand migration, could cause reduced depth of navigable water. In addition, the area can be susceptible to high levels of traffic density.

According to Arctia, the Finnish state-owned company responsible for operating a Finnish icebreaker fleet, the icebreaking season 2017-2018 in the Baltic Sea ended. The season ended with Finnish icebreakers on Friday, May 18, 2018, when the last icebreaker "Kontio" returned to the icebreaker base in Katajanokka, Helsinki. The conditions were more challenging in the two previous winter, but normal for the long-term average.

Nine Baltic marine areas were described as ecologically or biologically significant, on the sidelines of the Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of EBSAs in Baltic, in late February, in Helsinki. These include five transboundary areas, covering waters of two or more countries, and extend into 14 of the 17 Baltic Sea sub-basins.

The early results from STM projects indicate that e-navigation is the way forward. HELCOM is looking forward to seeing more results and concrete implementation in the Baltic, where almost 7% of the world’s total goods volume is transported.

Arctia’s LNG-fueled icebreaker 'Polaris' departed the icebreaker base in Helsinki on 30 January 2018, as the Finnish icebreaking season’s third icebreaker. The vessel will first head to Pori Tahkoluoto to refuel LNG and then to provide maritime transport to the Bothnian Bay in the Baltic Sea.