News

The shadow fleet tanker 'Sea Fidelity' has loaded 560,000 barrels of Russian oil in St. Petersburg on Nov 27, 2024, two days after the UK government cited the vessel as an example of the success of its sanctions policy, after weeks of idling in the Baltic Sea. The 'Sea Fidelity' along with, the Gabon-flagged tanker 'Artemis' were cited by British officials as examples that its targeting of the shadow fleet was having a concrete impact by stopping them from trading. The 'Sea Fidelity' remained at anchor in pos. 60° 06' N 029° 20' E in the Baltic Sea on Nov 28 in a possible sign that the sanctions were still having a disruptive effect on the vessel’s normal trading activity. The vessel had passed through the English Channel 10 times in 2024, before being sanctioned by the British government, hauling oil from Russian ports to India, Turkey and Morocco. It last delivered a crude cargo to a refinery in Gujara on Sep 9 before ballasting back to the Baltic where it has remained since then. The vessel is owned by single ship company Elory Logistics.

The “Isle of Inishmore” was detained on Nov 25, 2024, at 9.30 a.m. in the port of Calais, after its arrival from Dover. During an inspection. the bilge pump did not work. On the whole four defiencies were found. The ferry was back on the run on Nov 27 at 5.30 a.m., although running behind schedule due to Storm Condal.

At least 21 crew members of the 'Debi', which has been detained in Paradip since Dec 1, 2023, after the recovery of 22 kg of cocaine worth R 220 crore aboard the vessel, staged a protest on Nov 27, 2024, against their prolonged detention. The protest started when the ship was moored at the berth for supplies. Crew members halted al work.preventing the ship from returning to the anchorage area for several hours. ;aid many crew members are suffering from depression due to tthe prolonged detention. Despite the drug haul, no arrests have been made as the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) in Bhubaneswar is yet to submit its analysis report to the Kujang court. In Jan, the Vietnamese ship owner's petition for the vessel's release was rejected by the Kujang court.

The 'Breizn Nevez I', sailing between the island of Groix and Lorient, had one more passenger when it arrived on the continent on Nov 27, 2024. Having left Port-Tudy at 6:50 a.m., one of its passengers gave birth on board the ferry during the 45-minute crossing. The mother, who was on the island, went into contractions around 3 a.m. and had alerted the emergency services late in the night. She was taken care of by the Groix firefighters who transported her to the port in their ambulance. As the weather conditions were very bad, the CROSS did not send an SNSM launch to ensure the mother's repatriation to tLorient. The ambulance and its team drove onto the ship at 6:50 a.m. The birth took place inside the ambulance during the crossing. Upon arrival at the Lorient ferry terminal, the mother and her child were then taken care of by a team from the SAMU to be transported to the maternity ward of the Scorff hospital. In the morning, the Compagnie Océane got news from the mother of her baby, a boy named Bastien. They are doing well.

The Australian port of Newcastle, the world's largest coal exporter located 170 kilometres north of Sydney, was temporarily blocked by environmental activists between Nov 21 and Nov 24, 2024. Environmental activists demonstrated around bulk carriers going to and from the port. The 'Mount Matterhorn' had to be escorted by police vessels to leave Newcastle and the 'ITG Uming 3' was greeted by a hundred kayaks and other floating boats, arriving via the adjacent Nobby beach, as it entered the port. With this action, the Rising Tide organization that initiated the movement wanted to ask the Australian government to cancel all new fossil fuel projects, to end all coal exports from Newcastle by 2030, and to tax 78% of the profits from the export of fossil fuels to finance the industrial transition. Australia has committed to reaching the Net Zero objective by 2050, although it continues to approve projects that include fossil fuels (coal, of which it is one of the main producers, and gas). In total, 170 activists, including 14 miners, were arrested and 138 demonstrators risked a maximum penalty of 13,550 euros in fines and two years in prison for "disrupting a major installation". Meanwhile, 32 other people, accused of failing to comply with officers’ instructions, were facing a fine of €2,000. The New South Wales government has strict laws on actions that hinder economic activity. Authorities tried to invoke the Maritime Safety Act of 1998 to create a temporary exclusion zone around the port, but the Supreme Court overturned the measure on Nov 21, just before the protests began, Report with photo: https://lemarin.ouest-france.fr/sciences-environnement/en-australie-des-vraquiers-accueillis-par-une-centaine-de-militants-au-port-a-charbon-de-newcastle-b17d912e-aca0-11ef-9f0f-abd6acfb270c