Tag: Spain

Barcelona City Council subscribed to an initiative to create an Emission Control Area in the Mediterranean Sea to limit air pollution produced by ships. The success of the Emission Control Areas that exist in Northern Europe, North America and other areas, indicates that the creation of an ECA in the Mediterranean Sea would also generate significant benefits.

Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise shipping company, announced an agreement with Spain's Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to be the first concession-holder to operate the Canary Islands' and Mid Atlantic's newest cruise terminal. With more than 600,000 passengers each year, Santa Cruz de Tenerife is one of the busiest cruise ports in the Canary Islands and Spain.

Six Greenpeace activists boarded Stolt Tenacity for protest purposes, a giant tanker owned by Stolt Tankers, while the vessel was underway off the west coast of Spain, in the Gulf of Cadiz, on November 17. According to Greenpeace, the captain had already been informed via VHF radio for the protest.

Seventeen migrants have lost their lives this week, during their attempt to cross the sea from North Africa to Spain. In addition, rescuers have picked up over 100 migrants, the Spanish coast guard informed. Namely, 13 died between the Iberian peninsula and Morocco and Algeria, while the coast guard located another four bodies off Cadiz.

Spanish LNG company HAM Group, in cooperation with the Port of Barcelona and Portuguese energy firm Galp opened the first LNG fueling station within the port, to reduce emissions from port activities. The facility has two compressed natural gas pumps for trucks and vehicles, two liquefied natural gas pumps for trucks and a cryogenic LNG tank of 60 cubic meters capacity.

The Spanish port of Las Palmas revealed plans to launch in October a project for the installation of a system measuring the level of air pollution within the port. The pilot project will last until end of 2019, with a budget of 209,244 euros ($242,450).

France, Portugal, Spain and Germany agreed to take in migrants from the Mediterranean rescue ship Aquarius sailing off the coast of Malta, France said, after Italy refused to let the vessel dock. According to Malta, a patrol boat will transfer the migrants in international waters and then to the island, from where they will be sent to the four other European Union states.

On the sidelines of the Second Energy Interconnections summit on 27 July, European leaders signed the Lisbon Declaration, aiming to strengthen regional cooperation in the framework of the Energy Union and better integrate the Iberian Peninsula into the internal energy market.

The port city of Algeciras is warning that help is needed to cope with the increasing numbers of migrants crossing in southern Spain. Namely, Algeciras's mayor José Ignacio Landaluce called for help as illegal migration to Spain has been increasing for more than a year and arrivals by sea have risen dramatically in recent weeks.

Five people were injured after the tourist boat 'Boramar' burst into flame, following collision with another vessel off the island of Toxa, in northwest Spain, Tuesday.  The catamaran was carrying 48 passengers and four crew members at the time of the incident.