MOBY ORLI

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69 Bolivians transferred from MSC Armonia to Moby Orli

The 'Moby Orli' made it possible to tranship the 69 Bolivian passengers, among them 14 minors, who could not disembark in Barcelona from the 'MSC Armonia' and will be transported to a non-EU port by the Spanish authorities. The 'Moby Orli' has left the regular Livorno – Bastia route and reached Barcelona on April 4, 2024. The ferry will transport the Bolivian passengers back to a non-EU port. Without this prompt assistance from the 'Moby Orli', the 'MSC Armonia' would have remained stuck on the dock in Barcelona for another few days before being able to sail again. Once this mission has been completed, the ferry will return to its regular service for Moby between Tuscany and Corsica, where in the meantime it has been replaced by the 'Moby Kiss'. Before arriving in Barcelona, the authorities at the port of Tenerife had allowed the Bolivian citizens to disembark on Spanish territory, and only when the ship arrived on the Iberian peninsula did they encounter problems with their documentation.

Accomodation ship leaves Russia due to sanctions for Ukraine invasion

The 'Princess Anastasia' that can accommodate up to 2,500 people and arrived in Belokamenka on May 3, 2020, cast off its moorings and left Murmansk on May 31, 2022, headed to Messina with an ETA as of June 12. The departure of the vessel coincides with the mounting troubles for Novatek and its Arctic LNG projects. Following the introduction of international sanctions, the natural gas company can no longer import technology of crucial importance for project development. According to the EU’s 5th sanctions package, Russian companies are banned from importing equipment such as heat-exchanging units, which is creating serious problems for Novatek, which leans heavily of technology from European manufacturers. The last pieces of contracted plant components arrived in Belokamenka on May 25, two days before the final time limit set by the European Council. It is believed that the 'Princess Anastasia' has accommodated mostly foreign experts. Without access to western technology, those people might no longer be needed in Belokamenka. The LNG Construction Center in Belokamenka is building so-called gravity-based structures (GBS) and assembles topside modules for the Arctic LNG 2 project. Novatek might ultimately be able to complete only one of the projected three structures and already in late April halted construction at project train number 3, while number 2 will be halted in late May.

Cruise ferry arrived in Murmansk

On MAy 3 the 'Princess Anastasia' has arrived at a new shipyard facility outside Murmansk in order to provide extra housing for local coronavirus response efforts,. About 2,000 workers out of 11,000 at Novatek's Belokamenka yard site have tested positive for COVID-19, and the number has been growing rapidly. The cruise ferry will provide berthing for staff who are believed to be healthy. Moby SPL had suspended the ship's normal sailing schedule due to coronavirus travel restrictions. The company has decided to temporarily use the ferry in another commercial project in Murmansk. One of the yard's primary contractors, Velesstroy, has partially suspended its work at Belokamenka due to the outbreak. Workers will carry out a 14-day self-isolation period, and after testing negative three times, they will be permitted to return home. The demobilization effort began on May 6 when 200 hourly workers left the construction site for flights back to their home regions. The new shipyard is intended to support the construction of Novatek's new Arctic LNG 2 liquefaction terminal near the Yamal Peninsula. The plan calls for three liquefaction plants built on top of giant gravity-based structures (GBS), similar in concept to the first North Sea offshore oil platforms deployed in the 1970s. The GBS jackets will be built and fully fitted out at Belokamenka, then floated to the Artic LNG 2 site and sunk in place. Commercial operation is scheduled for 2023. Novatek's previous LNG plant in the area, Yamal LNG, was built using Chinese- and European-assembled modules which were delivered to the site and connected together. By doing the assembly work at Belokamenka instead, Novatek will increase the amount of project capital expenditure that stays within Russia. Novatek has made clear that it will not slow down construction work for Arctic LNG 2 due to the coronavirus pandemic.The outbreak will not affect construction works on site, nor the successive development of the Arctic LNG-2.