Seafarers employed on Tsakos-owned vessels operated under its management arrangement with Columbia Shipmanagement will now be paid electronically as opposed to by ‘Cash-by-Master’, under an agreement signed with global maritime payments provider ShipMoney.
This week, shipping commemorated the grounding and sinking of the cruise ship ‘Sea Diamond’ off the Greek island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. The incident resulted in two fatalities, but it is still discussed for lying at the bottom of Aegean Sea as a ‘toxic bomb’ in the local marine ecosystem.
The Port of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest container port, became the first Greek port to enter the Green Award certification program and will be providing an incentive to Green Award ships calling at the port. The move comes as part of the port authority’s broader plan to combat climate change.
A small tanker ran aground in the morning hours of Saturday, in a rocky shallow, while underway at the Aegean Sea, near the port of Gavrio, Andros Island, Greece, according to information provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard.
Hellenic Petroleum, one of Greece’s biggest oil refiners, informed on February 28 that two of its three refineries are already ready to comply with the 2020 sulphur cap. Specifically, its refineries in Elefsina and Thessaloniki have adjusted to the new rules. As for the third refinery in Aspropyrgos, which produces high sulphur fuel oil, it will comply with the new rules in November.
Following information that the Greek shipowners reached an agreement with their government to change the way they are taxed, the prime minister’s office now announced that the Greek shipowners have agreed to pay at least 75 million euros annually to the state budget under the deal.
SAFETY4SEA Team met with Mr. Suresh Sinha, Managing Director, and Mr. S. Patil, Business Development, of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) to discuss about industry’s key challenges and their expansion plans in the Greek market. Since opening its Greek office in 2010, based in Piraeus, IRClass has been actively engaged with Greek shipyards and owners to offer its full range of classification services.
One of the world’s largest container vessels, ‘COSCO shipping Pisces’, that has a capacity of 20.000 TEU, was docked at Piraeus port on February 15, after voyaging for one month from China. This is the vessel’s first voyage, after its delivery on January 15.
At the latest AGM of the Union of Greek Shipowners, the UGS president, Theodore Veniamis, spoke about the 2020 sulphur cap. Mr. Veniamis reinstated that scrubbers are an exception to the rule, and do not constitute an equal compliance option. He explained that their environmental impact has not been studied enough. He also mentioned that the desulphurization of ships should take place on land, and not on board.
While the voting procedure for the 2019 GREEN4SEA Awards is open, Mr. Panos Yannoulis, President, probunkers, explains why LNG is the best available alternative for complying with environmental regulations and achieving sustainability. Although a startup, probunkers has succeed at early stages in conveying the message that LNG is an attractive solution, revealing an ambitious plan for supporting LNG as a marine fuel and turning challenges into opportunities. For all these actions, probunkers has been nominated in the ‘Initiative’ category among other distinguished nominees.
