Tag: EU

The war of European Union against Somali pirates is set to escalate The European Union's war against Somali pirates is set to escalate, with pirates soon to use deck-mounted machine guns in order to seize freight ships, writes Justin Stares.The simultaneous firing of all guns from one side of a ship is better associated with Horatio Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars but, within months, pirates will be firing broadsides from deck-mounted machine guns into freighters transiting the Indian Ocean.This was the prediction of Lieutenant Colonel Andy Price, on assignment from the Royal Navy and currently executive officer with EU NAVFOR, the European Union's anti-piracy force. Broadsides, he told a conference in Brussels, will be the result of a dangerous escalation in firepower. The rocket-propelled grenade has until now been the weapon of choice for the many Somalis, who try their luck against commercial vessels. Three years ago, when piracy was a nascent industry, a grenade launched from a shoulder-held rocket was enough to convince the ship's master that resistance to boarding was futile.But ship owners soon got wise. First came low-tech self-protection techniques such as swinging buckets of sand, sticky foam, high pressure water hoses and dummies masquerading as lookouts. ...

European Commision requests from 9 Member States to adopt legislation The European Commission has requested Belgium, Estonia, France, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Finland and the United Kingdom to adopt national legislation to implement EU rules setting up a vessel traffic monitoring and information system .The rules in question, an important measure to prevent loss of life and environmental damage from shipping accidents, were due to be implemented by Member States no later than 30 November 2010.The Commission's request takes the form of a reasoned opinion under EU infringement procedures.If these Member States fail to inform the Commission within two months of what measures they have taken to ensure full compliance with the law, the Commission could refer the case to the EU Court of Justice.Source: EMSA

The Decision indicates a prohibition on making funds On 7 June 2011, the EU Council published a Council Decision indicating its intention to add six port authorities to its list of 'designated' persons or entities who will fall within the current sanctions in force against Libya.Freezing of assets of these six port authorities will begin once the Regulation implementing the Council Decision has been published. This is expected early next week.The six listed port authorities controlled by the Gaddafi regime are: Port authority of Tripoli Port authority of Al Khoms Port authority of Brega Port authority of Ras Lanuf Port authority of ZawiaPort authority of Zuwara The Decision indicates a prohibition on making funds, financial assets to economic resources, available to these port authorities directly or indirectly, e.g. payment of port fees. So anyone subject to EU jurisdiction will not be able to pay any dues to the authorities listed. What is not clear is whether the prohibition could be circumvented by, for example, making the payment to the port through a third party. The Regulation may clear up this ambiguity.There is a 'prior contracts' exemption for contracts concluded before the entry into force of the Decision until 15 July ...

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 ...

The impact of extending security measures to ships Sentinel Maritime has been appointed by the European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport to study the impact (including the financial consequences) of extending security measures to ships which currently do not fall within the scope of SOLAS Chapter XI/2 and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.The Study has been given the name "Project SecureSeas." The study is, in part, a response to the growing concern that such ships may pose as serious or more serious a threat than ships currently within the scope of the ISPS Code. Apart from the terrorist attacks carried out by "non-ISPS" vessels on the "USS Cole" and "MT Limburg", or their use in the attack on Mumbai, "non-ISPS" ships are frequently used in human trafficking as well as smuggling drugs and contraband.As a first step, Sentinel has been tasked to assess the current "state of play" in the EU Member States as far as non-SOLAS ships are concerned. The study will collate information on member state compliance with Article 3.3 of Regulation 725/2004, procedures for registering vessels, the means for reporting security concerns and the numbers and distribution of vessels which could be ...

Cyprus, Estonia and Portugal have so far failed to confirm measures The European Commission is threatening to take seven European Union member states to the European Court of Justice if they fail to implement legislation to comply with the new port state control inspection regime that came into effect at the beginning of this year.The commission says Cyprus, Estonia and Portugal have so far failed to confirm measures they are taking to enforce the new directive, despite being required to do so by the end of last year. In addition, it says Belgium, France, Poland and the UK have only partially implemented the measures in legislation.

EU has already imposed a travel ban and wide-ranging asset freeze The European Union said on Tuesday they had agreed to add six Libyan ports to the list of assets frozen in sanctions imposed on Muammar Gaddafi's government."The council of the European Union adopted a decision yesterday extending the assets freeze to six Libyan port authorities, in view of the gravity of the situation in the country," said a statement from the European Council, which represents all EU governments.The statement did not give any details of what form the sanctions would take, but EU officials say they will make it illegal for European-operated ships to do business with the port authorities.A one-month window has been left for existing contracts, one official said.The EU has already imposed a travel ban and wide-ranging asset freeze.An EU diplomat said last month that EU experts had agreed to put six ports -- Tripoli, Zuara, Zawiyah, Al-Khoms, Ras Lanuf and Brega -- on the sanctions list.Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's government has been seeking to raise fuel imports by using a loophole in international sanctions after a campaign of Western air strikes against Libya.Civil war has crippled the refining industry and Gaddafi urgently needs fuel imports ...

Clean air at sea promoting solutions for sustainable and competitive shipping 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EL X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The European Commission (EC) released the speech delivered by Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for Environment regarding improving air quality.He reiterated the importance of transposing the into EU law as quickly as possible so as to provide a strong enforcement mechanismMaritime Stakeholder event "Clean air at sea promoting solutions for sustainable and competitive shipping"Brussels, 1st June 2011I'd like to thank you for the possibility of joining you today to discuss a subject that is high on my agenda and yours also. Since you will be hearing more on the forthcoming revision of the Sulphur Directive later, I want to use my time to get you up to speed on where we are with the EU's air policy, and on my programme for a comprehensive review by 2013.I want to remind you too that while reducing emissions from maritime shipping is of key importance, it is only one element in the wider air quality picture.Air quality policy in the EU has largely been a success story. Since the Nineties, we have reduced emissions from almost all relevant pollutants.Sulphur dioxide is down ...

All of the shippers are under investigation The EU Commission said it suspects that Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp. and several other shippers have been engaged in cartel activities in violation of EU antitrust regulations.The commission said it launched an investigation into the matter on May 17 with a raid on the offices of the shippers since it had collected sufficient evidence pointing to their wrongdoing.However, the commission declined to disclose any further details of the probe or the alleged cartel activities, saying the investigation was still in progress.Apart from Evergreen Marine, the other shippers being investigated are Singapore-based Naptune Orient Lines, Hong Kong's Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., South Korea's Hanjin Shipping, Denmark's Maersk Line, CMA CGM of France and Hapag-Lloyd of Germany.All of the shippers, including Evergreen Marine, have confirmed that they are under investigation by the EU Commission.The commission said it will respect the right of the shippers to defend themselves and has no presumptions on the results of the probe.It also said it has no timetable for wrapping up the investigation, as this will depend on several factors such as the complexity of the case and whether or not the shippers will cooperate with the investigators.The commission's records ...

Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom The European Commission yesterday asked Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom to adopt national legislation to implement the new port state control regime to comply with European Union law.The Commission's request takes the form of a reasoned opinion under EU infringement procedures. If these Member States fail to inform the Commission within two months of the measures they have taken to ensure full compliance with EU law, the Commission could refer the case to the EU Court of Justice.The EU rulesFollowing the "Erika" and "Prestige" accidents off the European coasts, EU legislation on port state control was adopted in 2009 under the third maritime safety package.This directive reinforces as of 1 January 2011, Member States' obligations to inspect vessels calling at their ports. The new law requires more frequent inspections on ships posing a higher risk and extends the ban on substandard ships.The reason for actionCyprus, Estonia, and Portugal have failed to notify the Commission of the measures taken to enforce the new directive on port state control although required to do so by 31 December 2010. Belgium, France, Poland and the United Kingdom have notified ...