Tag: Mediterranean Sea

Maritime industry loses an estimated €235 million a year from marine plastic debris, while the fishing sector loses close to €138 million per year from plastic pollution, said WWF in a new report. The report reveals that maritime trade and fisheries are responsible for 20% of plastics at sea. 

More than 130 representatives of the shipping community from Greece and the Mediterranean countries gathered at the Hotel Costa Navarino, Pylos Messinia, from 23 to 25 May, for WISTA MED conference 2019. Discussions on the conference's theme - 'Turbulence or fair winds in the Med?' - were led by 21 speakers.

On the 14th May 2019, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), after a request made by the European Commission, organised a meeting to discuss the possibility of designating the Mediterranean Sea as an Emissions Control Area (ECA).

The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) issued the US Maritime Advisory No. 2019-005 regarding Global Positioning System (GPS) interference in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. Therefore, the Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator urges all RMI-flagged vessels transiting the designated areas listed in the below Advisory to exercise caution.

At the G7 meeting of Environmental Ministers in Metz, France, on May 6, the Italian Minister Costa met with his French counterpart, De Rugy. Among the topics discussed, it was decided to conduct a joint initiative to get the declaration of a combined SECA and NECA for the entire Mediterranean Sea. Spain has also spoke out in favour for an ECA as well.

This video depicts Taranto, the first offshore wind farm in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Italian Apulia region. The wind farm will be installed on monopile foundations in a water depth ranging from 3 to 18 metres. Senvion has adapted its 3.0M122 onshore turbines to the particularly challenging offshore environment and developed an installation procedure suitable for the near shore wind farm.

More than 30 years have passed since the explosion and sinking of the VLCC ‘MT Haven’ off the coast of Genoa, Italy. To date, Haven is not only known as the world's largest shipwrecks, but also the largest oil spill in the history of the Mediterranean Sea.

A European Commission-funded impact assessment into a potential Mediterranean emissions control area (ECA) concluded that designating such an ECA would result in significant socio-economic benefits. The assessment is the third study to be published since the middle of December. 

OPEC crude production fell by 240,000 b/d in February to 30.68 million b/d, its lowest level in 4 years, said Gibson Shipbrokers in its weekly tanker market report. The heavy crude market is already incredibly tight and production cuts come at a time when demand for heavy grades is rising, the report notes. 

Spain is in favor of the development of an Emission Control Area (ECA) in the Mediterranean Sea, said Pedro Saura, the country's State Secretary for Infrastructure. The creation of an ECA would implement stricter requirements for sulphur and NOx emissions from ships that sail in these waters.