Italy Inaugurates the First Offshore Wind Farm in the Mediterranean

The first turbine for the Beleolico wind farm (Renexia)

PUBLISHED APR 25, 2022 7:17 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Last Thursday, the first offshore wind farm in the Mediterranean was inaugurated off the coast of Italy.

The new Beleolico wind project is located in the Apulia region, just a few hundred yards off the Port of Taranto. The Italian offshore wind development company Renexia is the owner and developer.

The project is a small installation by modern standards, featuring just ten bottom-fixed 3.0 megawatt wind turbines supplied by China’s MingYang Smart Energy. According to the company, this is the first time a Chinese manufacturer has supplied turbines for the European offshore wind market. The turbines have a total combined capacity of 30 megawatts (MW) and an estimated output of 58,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year, enough to power 21,000 homes.

This project marks the start of Italy’s ambitious journey to produce over 5 GW of wind energy from offshore sites by 2040.

“Italy is determined to speed up the installation of renewable energy and increase its share in the national energy mix. Offshore energy could help secure economic opportunities for countries with large coastal areas, such as Italy, promoting local value chains,” said Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, during the project’s inaugural ceremony at the Port of Taranto.

At the event , the Port Authority signed an agreement with Renexia for the sale of at least 220 MWh per year of the wind energy.

Renexia first proposed the project in 2008, and it secured a 25-year lease in an Italian auction in 2016.

At the inauguration ceremony, an environmental group Legambiente held a banner reading “Sorry, I’m Late”, protesting the years-long delay in the project's completion.

“The case of Taranto is unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg because in Italy there are many renewable projects blocked due to excessive bureaucracy from local administrations, moratoriums of the regions and protests from local committees. I hope the Beleolico project marks a turning point for renewables development in Italy with accelerated permitting processes,” said Stefano Ciafini, the national president of Legambiente.

Taiwan's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Produces First Power

Changhua 1 (Courtesy Orsted)

PUBLISHED APR 22, 2022 3:33 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Danish offshore wind farm developer Ørsted has delivered the first power from Taiwan’s largest offshore wind project, a development that marks another milestone in the company’s offshore wind power ambitions.

Ørsted announced it has successfully delivered first power from the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farm, Taiwan’s largest offshore wind project and the company’s first large-scale project in the Asia-Pacific region.

Located 35-60 kilometers off Taiwan’s west coast, the wind farm has a total capacity of 900 MW. Once completed this year, the wind farm will significantly support Taiwan’s fast-track build-out of renewables.

Taiwan’s authorities have put top priority on the development of renewable energy, with offshore wind power expected to contribute significantly to the goal of generating 20 percent of the nation's electricity with renewables by 2025.

“Delivering the first power as scheduled is a major milestone for both Ørsted and Taiwan. Since the 900 MW capacity was first awarded to Ørsted in April 2018 through the grid allocation process, our team has spared no efforts to develop and construct Greater Changhua 1 & 2a and achieve first power only four years later,” said Christy Wang, Ørsted Taiwan General Manager.

A total of 111 Siemens Gamesa 8.0-167 DD wind turbines will be installed at Changhua 1 & 2a, which will produce enough power to cover the power consumption of a million Taiwanese households.

“Managing the risks of the key component fabrication, vessel mobilization and installation of the offshore wind farm has been imperative during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ulrik Lange, Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farm Co-CEO.

The Greater Changhua 1 wind farm is owned by Ørsted, which controls a 50 percent stake. A consortium comprising Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the Taiwanese private equity fund Cathay PE control the remaining 50 percent. Ørsted solely owns the 295 MW Changhua 2a.

Apart from the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a wind farm, the leading offshore wind developer is the major shareholder and co-owner of Taiwan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, Formosa 1, which was extended from 8 MW to 128 MW in 2019.

Ørsted was also awarded the right to build the 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farm and has signed a power purchase agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). The wind farm is expected to become operational in 2025 and will be fully commissioned in 2026, subject to grid availability and Ørsted’s final investment decision.

The company also announced that it has started the environmental impact assessments of the Xu Feng 1, 2 and 3 projects off the coast of Changhua County, with a total potential capacity of 2.1 GW, and the Wo Neng 1 and 2 projects off the coast of Taichung, with a potential capacity of 3 GW.

Around the world, Ørsted has installed more than 1,600 offshore wind turbines with a combined capacity of 7.6 GW, and it has an additional 3.4 GW under construction. The company has ambitions to install a total of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity worldwide by 2030.

 

Photos: Sunken Dive Vessel Spills Diesel into Galapagos' Academy Bay

Light sheen on Academy Bay, April 23 (PNG)

PUBLISHED APR 24, 2022 11:09 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Officials in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands say that a speedy spill-response effort has prevented environmental harm from the sinking of a tour vessel at Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Island. 

The recreational diving boat Albatros went down in Academy Bay on Saturday. No passengers were on board, and all four crewmembers were safely rescued, but the sinking left a light sheen on the water in parts of the bay. The boat had an estimated 2,000 gallons of diesel on board. 

Ecuador's environment ministry reported that local first responders took immediate action to contain the spill. The effort was successful and has prevented "significant impacts on the island and marine ecosystems of the archipelago," said the Galapagos National Park in a statement.

Images courtesy PNG

Tourism operations in the area were temporarily suspended Saturday, but resumed swiftly on Sunday, according to the park. 

The incident is believed to have been caused by a ruptured pipe inside the vessel, according to the authorities. There is still fuel aboard the boat, and it will have to be removed in a salvage operation.

The last significant diesel spill in the Galapagos was in 2019, when a barge went down off San Cristobal with about 600 gallons of diesel on board. The incident did not have an appreciable effect on wildlife. A far larger casualty, the grounding of the tanker Jessica in 2001, resulted in the release of about 150,000 gallons of diesel, causing significant damage to the coastal environment on several islands in the archipelago. 

NGO Uses Infrared Cameras to Illustrate Methane Slip

T&E used infrared cameras to create images that they say show methane slip (T&E)

PUBLISHED APR 15, 2022 3:14 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Methane slip, the release of unburnt methane into the atmosphere, remains one of the most hotly debated issues in the growing use of LNG for shipping. While the industry argues that significant progress has been made in reducing or eliminating the harmful emissions, a new study from an NGO contends that they have been able to document methane emissions from two in-service vessels.

Using a specially equipped infrared camera, the NGO Transport & Environment reports that it carried out an investigation on a clear November 2021 day at the Port of Rotterdam. They contend that they were able to document significant amounts of methane being released into the atmosphere. They said the effort was limited to two ships due to the complexity of carrying out such an investigation.

“Infrared images show unburned methane being released from supposedly green LNG ships the investigation shows,” T&E wrote releasing its images. They cite data from the International Maritime Organization that says depending on the engine “it has been estimated that between 0.2 percent to over 3 percent of fossil gas slips from the combustion process and is released into the atmosphere.”

According to T&E, the images show heat and gas emissions from the exhaust stack of ship engines. The bright light near the exhaust stack indicates a heat source. As the plume moves away from the heated exhaust stack, they said that they were able to observe uncombusted hydrocarbon emissions. They also had a peer review of the images carried out by TCHD Consulting, an optical gas imaging consultancy, that they report also said that the images are evidence that intense uncombusted hydrocarbon emissions were being released into the atmosphere above the ship. The release did not quantify the level of methane slip that they believe is occurring from the vessels.

 

T&E says the bright light near the stack indicates heat and as the plume moves away from the stack and cools they observed methane (T&E)

 

The NGO reported that it observed two vessels in Rotterdam, one being a CMA CGM containership and the other a hopper dredge operating in the Netherlands. The containership was the 23,000 TEU CMA CGM Louvre built two years ago in China as part of the French company’s class of large LNG vessels. The dredge named EcoDelta was built four years ago in the Netherlands.

T&E argues that there is an urgency to address the issues of methane slip because of the increasing number of LNG-fueled ships being ordered. They cited data that shows shipowners commissioned more gas-fueled vessels in 2021 than the four previous years combined. The NGO says its analysis shows that over two-thirds of new ships could be powered with LNG from 2025. “This would raise the share of fossil LNG from an estimated six percent today to over one-fifth of all marine fuels in Europe by 2030 and lock in fossil fuel use into the 2040s.”

Delphine Gozillon, shipping officer at T&E, said, “In promoting LNG ships, European policymakers are locking us into a future of fossil gas. The ships may be painted green, but, beneath the surface, the truth is that most LNG ships on the market today are more damaging for the climate than the fossil ships they’re supposed to replace.”

The LNG industry however cites significant progress with new generations of engines that have reduced or eliminated methane slip. Further, the industry is working to develop bio-methane while researchers are looking at adapting emission scrubbers with new technology to capture methane emissions from a vessel’s exhausts. In March 2022, Japanese shipping and engineer companies reported that they are making significant progress in developing a design to reduce methane slip aboard ships using LNG-fueled engines.

 

Photos: Sunken WWI Minesweeper Found off the Hebrides After 105 Years

HMS Jason going down, April 1917 (public domain)

PUBLISHED APR 24, 2022 11:48 PM BY ROYAL NAVY NEWS

 

A Royal Navy warship has been found by divers on the Scottish seabed – almost 105 years to the day it sank. Torpedo boat destroyer HMS Jason has not been seen since she struck a mine and sank off the island of Coll in the Inner Hebrides in April 1917.

But after five years of research and surveying, the wreck of the Jason was found first on sonar – then confirmed by a team of divers who plunged 93 metres into the chilly waters.

They found the warship in surprisingly good condition – but minus her bow, blown off when she struck the mine… ironically during a minesweeping operation in company with HMS Circe.

The depth, weather and water conditions, the undulating seabed and the fact that dives are only possible at certain times of year have meant the wreck had not been found – despite Jason’s loss being accurately documented, even photographed, at the time.

HMS Jason (public domain)

The discovery is the work of historians Wendy Sadler and Kevin Heath from Lost in Waters Deep, a group that researches contemporary records and the personal history of crew, and a team from Orkney-based SULA Diving led by Steve Mortimer and their support boat MV Clasina, skippered by Bob Anderson.

A sonar scan earlier this year suggested HMS Jason had been found – no other wrecks were known in the area – but it needed visual confirmation. At 93 meters down, divers had just 20 minutes to inspect the wreck before returning to the surface. They found tell-tale features of a warship: a pointed stern, a distinctive propeller, two 4.7 inch guns and Admiralty crockery.

Among the dive team was Royal Navy officer Lieutenant Jen Smith, who works at the Fleet’s headquarters in Portsmouth. “There was excitement at finding the wreck, but that’s quickly tempered by the fact that it’s a war grave – 25 men died here,” she said. “It’s incredibly moving to think that no-one has seen the ship since her stern disappeared 105 years ago. Families knew the fate of the ship, but now they will know where she is and that can bring closure.”

A cannon from HMS Jason (Royal Navy)

HMS Jason's wheel (Royal Navy)

HMS Jason's engine telegraph (Royal Navy)

Twenty-five men were killed but only one body was recovered – that of 25-year-old stoker James Blackman from Southsea.

The warship – built in 1892 as a torpedo gunboat but turned into a makeshift minesweeper – ran over a mine laid by German submarine U-78, part of a field intended to block the Minches. She went down in little more than five minutes, enough time for three quarters of her crew to escape.

Steps will now be taken to ensure HMS Jason is protected under UK law as an official war grave, allowing divers to visit – but not touch – the wreck. The team that discovered the site plans to return to document the warship more thoroughly.

“Documenting the ship, showing people what she’s like today is important to me,” said Lieutenant Smith, who has 25 years’ experience as a diver. “Naval war graves are often forgotten, as it’s hard for people to remember what you can’t see. Whilst land battlefields and cemeteries such as those in Normandy or the Somme can be visited by anyone, only a few of us can visit a shipwreck. So the more we can show, explain what happened to her and her sailors, the better. It’s important to make sure those who served are not forgotten."

This article appears courtesy of Royal Navy News and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

A superyacht captain deployed sonic weapons and 'pain rays' to fend off pirates armed with Kalashnikovs, worker says

Mon, April 25, 2022, 

A superyacht industry insider shared stories from the seas with The Times of London.

Sabri Kesen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A superyacht captain used sonic weapons to fend off pirates, an industry insider told The Times of London.

They also deployed "pain rays," which create a burning sensation on the skin, the worker said.

The captain used the weapons against armed pirates approaching on inflatable boats, the worker added.

The captain of a superyacht deployed sonic weapons and "pain rays" to fend off armed pirates in the Arabian Sea, according to an industry insider.

"Kalashnikov-wielding pirates" were speeding towards the 230-foot yacht on inflatable boats, the anonymous worker, who spent 20 years in the superyacht business, wrote in The Times of London.

The captain was said to have deployed an onboard weapon that directed "ear-splitting, high-volume acoustics" at the pirates. He was also said to have used "pain rays" – narrow beams of electromagnetic energy that trigger a burning sensation on the skin.

The worker wrote in The Times: "The threat of pirate attacks is all too real. In some areas, such as along the coast of Africa in the Gulf of Aden, it's even expected. Any protective technology worth having will find its way aboard a yacht."

Superyachts tend to be adorned with luxury features that make them attractive targets for pirates.

A Russian businessman's yacht that was seized in the UK in March has a fresh-water swimming pool and a wine cellar, the UK government said. Meanwhile, a $120 million vessel detained in France features a swimming pool that converts into a helicopter pad and a sun deck with a jacuzzi, according to its maker Oceanco.

The amenities on billionaire Roman Abramovich's $700 million superyacht Eclipse include a helipad, two swimming pools, and a dance floor, per SuperYacht Fan. Media reports have suggested the 553-foot vessel has a missile defense system but the anonymous worker wrote in the Times that this wasn't true.

Abramovich, a Russian oligarch, is among the wealthy individuals who have been targeted by Western sanctions over their connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukraine war. The sanctions have led to the freezing of oligarchs' assets and the seizure of their luxury yachts and private jets.

The anonymous worker also detailed to The Times how a superyacht's crew prepared fresh lobster for its wealthy owner every day despite not knowing if he was on board, and how the crew of a yacht dressed in designer clothes that were thrown away by its owner after he wore them once.

Malaysia looks to meet global palm oil demand after Indonesia's export ban,

 but labour shortage an issue

Malaysia is the world's second-largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia.

25 Apr 2022

KUALA LUMPUR: The global demand for palm oil is likely to switch to Malaysia after Indonesia's export ban, but industry players warned that labour shortage could hamper output.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin told the media on Sunday (Apr 24) that Malaysia should be able to increase its production of palm oil with the reopening of the country’s borders.

“I am confident that Malaysia is ready and able to supply palm oil to global markets because our production is expected to rise following the reopening of its borders, which has enabled the hiring of foreign workers,” Mdm Zuraida was quoted as saying by Bernama.

In an announcement last Friday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the exports of cooking oil and crude palm oil (CPO) would be suspended starting this Thursday in a bid to stabilise prices in the country.

“The government prohibits the exports of palm oil used in cooking oil,” said Mr Widodo, who is also popularly known as Jokowi.

In recent months, cooking oil prices have soared in Indonesia amid an increase in global CPO prices, prompting the government to implement price ceilings and export restrictions.

In a separate event on Sunday, Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Wee Jeck Seng said the local palm oil production is currently being affected by the ongoing labour shortage issue, and therefore it is unlikely that Malaysia will be able to fulfil the high export demand gap left by Indonesia.

“This imbalance in demand and supply would see prices of palm oil and other competing oils soaring," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Related:


As global palm oil prices rise, cooking oil stock runs low in Indonesia’s retail outlets

Indonesian farmers support palm oil export ban

Dr Wee said as of last year, Indonesia's palm oil accounted for 59 per cent and 56 per cent of the world’s palm oil production and exports respectively, adding that Indonesian palm oil exports represented 30 per cent of total world oils and fats exports.

“As such, this drastic step taken by Indonesia will definitely have a massive impact on other countries, especially major palm oil importers such as China, India and the European Union,” he said after attending his constituency’s Muslim breaking of fast event.

The deputy minister added that the Malaysian government’s move to set price control and a ceiling price for palm cooking oil could also help protect the consumers from the effects of surging palm oil prices in the global market.

However, Dr Wee said that this also means that the government will have to bear the higher cost of cooking oil subsidies due to the increase in palm oil prices in the market to ensure that the welfare and interests of Malaysian consumers are protected.

ADVANTAGE TO MALAYSIAN PALM OIL INDUSTRY

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) said the Indonesian export ban is likely to be an advantage to the Malaysian palm oil industry.

The Star quoted MPOA chief executive officer Nageeb Wahab as saying that he envisaged the local palm oil industry would be able to reap higher export earnings this year, particularly in the next two to three months.

Related:

Malaysia's palm oil board urges countries to reconsider food versus fuel priorities

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) director-general Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir said that “any policy changes by Indonesia will definitely affect Malaysia” as the latter is the second-largest producer and exporter of palm oil after Indonesia.

“The ban will definitely see most of the global palm oil demand switching to Malaysia,” he said, as quoted by the Star.

However, he also noted that Malaysia is facing an issue with palm oil supply due to the severe labour shortage and the country may not be able to absorb much of the excess global demand.

Indonesia's palm oil export ban leaves global buyers with no plan B

 People shop for cooking oil made using palm oil at a supermarket in Jakarta

Sun, April 24, 2022
By Rajendra Jadhav

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Global edible oil consumers have no option but to pay top dollar for supplies after Indonesia's surprise palm oil export ban forced buyers to seek alternatives, already in short supply due to adverse weather and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The move by the world's biggest palm oil producer to ban exports from Thursday will lift prices of all major edible oils including palm oil, soyoil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil, industry watchers predict. That will place extra strain on cost-sensitive consumers in Asia and Africa hit by higher fuel and food prices.

"Indonesia's decision affects not only palm oil availability, but vegetable oils worldwide," James Fry, chairman of commodities consultancy LMC International, told Reuters.

Palm oil - used in everything from cakes and frying fats to cosmetics and cleaning products - accounts for nearly 60% of global vegetable oil shipments, and top producer Indonesia accounts for around a third of all vegetable oil exports. It announced the export ban on April 22, until further notice, in a move to tackle rising domestic prices.

"This is happening when the export tonnages of all other major oils are under pressure: soybean oil due to droughts in South America; rapeseed oil due to disastrous canola crops in Canada; and sunflower oil because of Russia's war on Ukraine," Fry said.

Vegetable oil prices have already risen more than 50% in the past six months as factors from labour shortages in Malaysia to droughts in Argentina and Canada - the biggest exporters of soyoil and canola oil respectively - curtailed supplies.

GRAPHIC-Global edible oil prices scale record highs after every major oil suffers supply setbacks https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/gdpzyawzovw/GlobalVegOilsApril2022.png

Buyers were hoping a bumper sunflower crop from top exporter Ukraine would ease the tightness, but supplies from Kyiv have stopped because of what Russia calls its "special operation" in the country.

This had prompted importers to bank on palm oil being able to plug the supply gap until Indonesia's shock ban delivered a "double whammy" to buyers, said Atul Chaturvedi, president of trade body the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA).

NO ALTERNATIVE

Importers such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan will try to increase palm oil purchases from Malaysia, but the world's second-biggest palm oil producer cannot fill the gap created by Indonesia, Chaturvedi said.

Indonesia typically supplies nearly half of India's total palm oil imports, while Pakistan and Bangladesh import nearly 80% of their palm oil from Indonesia.

"Nobody can compensate for the loss of Indonesian palm oil. Every country is going to suffer," said Rasheed JanMohd, chairman of Pakistan Edible oil Refiners Association (PEORA).

GRAPHIC-Key global edible oil statistics 

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/qmypmeaeopr/EdibleOilStats.png

In February, prices of vegetable oils jumped to a record high as sunflower oil supplies were disrupted from the Black Sea region.

The price rise raised working capital requirements for oil refiners, who were holding lower inventories than normal in anticipation of a pullback in prices, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

Instead, all oil prices have rallied further.

"Refiners have been caught on the wrong foot. Now they can't afford to wait for a few weeks. They have to make purchases to run plants," the dealer said.

As Indonesia has allowed loading until April 28, consuming countries will have enough supply for the first half of May, but could face shortages from the second half, said a refiner based in Dhaka.

South Asian refiners will only slowly release oil into the market as they know supplies are limited, he said.

In India, the world's biggest vegetable oil importer, palm oil prices rose by nearly 5% over the weekend as industry prices in shortages in the coming months. Prices also rose in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Gavin Maguire and Kenneth Maxwell)

Indonesia, the world's top cooking-oil exporter, says it's going to ban exports of the oil this week, and it's sent the global prices of edible oils soaring

Huileng Tan
Sun, April 24, 2022


Indonesia, a top palm-oil exporter, is planning to ban exports beginning on Thursday.


Palm oil, the world's most used vegetable oil, is used in cooking and a range of consumer products.


Palm-oil and competing soybean-oil prices are jumping after news of the ban.

The world's top palm-oil producer announced that it would ban exports of the commodity starting on Thursday, sending the prices of edible oils soaring.

Indonesia accounts for about half of the world's supply of palm oil, the world's most widely used vegetable oil. Palm oil is used for cooking and for the production of thousands of consumer products, including biscuits, detergents, and lipsticks.

In a video statement on Friday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the move was designed to bring down domestic palm-oil prices and ensure domestic food availability in the wake of global food inflation.

"I will monitor and evaluate the implementation of this policy so availability of cooking oil in the domestic market becomes abundant and affordable," Widodo said, a Reuters translation reported.

The move comes as Indonesia has seen recent protests over the high prices of cooking oil, with retail prices gaining more than 40% so far this year, Reuters reported.

The ban is expected to be in place until further notice. Indonesian palm-oil exports were worth about $30 billion in 2021, the data provider Statista showed.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia's finance minister, told Reuters on Friday that the palm-oil ban would hurt other countries, but that it was necessary to contain the soaring domestic prices of cooking oil.

Benchmark crude palm-oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia exchange jumped as much as 7% on Monday morning. They are up over 40% year to date.

Prices for alternative vegetable oil also spiked in response to the impending ban on palm-oil exports in Indonesia. Benchmark Chicago soybean oil prices hit their highest levels since 2008, Reuters reported.

Prices of edible oil — including palm oil — have been rising because of the war in Ukraine, as the country is a large sunflower-oil exporter. "Edible oils are often interchangeable, so a shortage of one type exerts pressure on the others," Gro Intelligence, a global agriculture data-analysis firm, wrote in an April 23 note.

Gains in vegetable-oil prices are outpacing overall food-price increases, Gro Intelligence wrote in the report. US prices of a basket of common vegetable oils are up 41% on year, while food prices are up 25% on year.

"Indonesia's ban on exports is likely to further fuel global food inflation," the firm added.

https://news.yahoo.com/malaysia-urges-countries-prioritise-food-050134644.html#:~:text=Malaysia%20urges%20countries,Kapoor%2C%20Martin%20Petty)

Family Members Look for Answers After Loss of the Cruiser Moskva

Moskva in her final hours, April 14 (source unknown)

PUBLISHED APR 26, 2022BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Russian officials have been tight-lipped about the fate of the crew of the cruiser Moskva, which went down off Odesa on April 14. The vessel was hit by two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, and sank after a day of failed salvage efforts. 

In the days after the casualty, Russian state media claimed that the vessel had sustained a fire and an ammunition magazine explosion, and that all of her 500-odd crewmembers had evacuated. However, images from the scene told a different story: the vessel appeared to have sustained two hull breaches near the waterline on the port side, just beneath the stack, and extensive fire damage amidships. 

A memorial service for "the ship and sailors" was held at the Russian Navy's Sevastopol base on April 15, and an estimated 100-250 members of the crew were in attendance, based on official video footage - well short of the full complement of about 500. 

Meanwhile, parents of missing sailors from Moskva began taking to Russian social media to report their frustration with the official response. One parent, Dmitry Shkrebets, told Newsweek that he had received two competing stories. Moskva's officers quietly acknowledged that his son was missing, while the Russian Ministry of Defense maintained that he was not; Shkrebets described the official response as a "wall of indifferent, frenzied silence."

On Friday, the Kremlin made an effort to reconcile conflicting versions of the event by releasing its first casualty count. One member of the cruiser's crew died and 27 more are missing, according to the official accounting. The count aligns with an earlier report from the U.S.-backed outlet Radio Liberty, which received the same casualty numbers from the wife of a deceased crewmember.

Other informal estimates have run higher. Last week, Russian language outlet Novaya Gazeta reported on a conversation with the mother of a crewmember who survived the attack. The mother relayed a story of heavy damage and loss of life, including an estimated 40 dead, a large number of severely wounded crewmembers and many more missing. 

The Russian Navy may soon have more information on the cause and the human cost of the sinking. According to naval analyst H.I. Sutton, recent satellite imaging shows that the Black Sea Fleet has deployed the aging submarine tender Kommuna to the site of the Moskva's wreck. 

The Kommuna is a 110-year-old catamaran with a riveted lifting derrick above her hull, and her unique shape is immediately identifiable. Built in 1913 to service small subs, the Kommuna serves the same purpose today. She is the host vessel for the deep-diving submarine AS-28, which may well be on board for a mission to survey the wreck - and potentially recover some of its more valuable components. 

Kommuna at Sebastopol circa 2008 (George Chernilevsky / public domain)

Century-old Russian rescue ship ‘trying to

salvage missiles’ from sunken Moskva –

Bild

Mon, April 25, 2022

Cruiser Moscow before going to the bottom

Read also: Russia assaults Popasna and bombs Azovstal, says General Staff

“Russia is trying to dredge up anti-ship and AA missiles from the sunken Moskva, along with classified documents and military equipment,” Bild’s message said.

Given the size of Moskva (the ship was 187 meters long), the ancient 110-year-old Commune will probably not be able to salvage the cruiser whole.

Read also: 61st day of Putin's war. Russians attack Vinnytsia, Poltava, Rivne oblasts, seize Kherson city council

Commune was commissioned in 1912, and is one of the oldest serving navy vessels in the world.

Read also: The second phase of the war and the second front

On April 13, Ukraine’s Navy hit the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, missile cruiser Moskva, with two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship missiles, fired from a coastal battery. Russia later confirmed the ship has sunk after its ammunition detonated.

USA National Economic Burden of PTSD Is “Staggering” – More Than $230 Billion in Annual Costs

By VETERANS AFFAIRS RESEARCH APRIL 25, 2022

U.S. civilian, military populations combine for more than $230 billion in annual costs.

A new study finds that the national economic burden of PTSD goes beyond direct health care expenses and exceeds the costs of other common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression.

The researchers estimated the cost of PTSD at $232.2 billion for 2018, the latest year for which data were available at the time of the study. They called for increased awareness of PTSD, more effective therapies, and the expansion of evidence-based strategies to “reduce the large clinical and economic burden” of that mental health condition.

The results appeared online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry today (April 25, 2022).

“The $232 billion annual economic burden of PTSD in the U.S. demonstrated in this study is staggering and fuels the urgency for public and private stakeholders to work together to discover new and better treatments, reduce stigma, improve access to existing treatments, and expand evidence-based recovery and rehabilitation programs,” the researchers write.

Dr. Lori Davis, the associate chief of staff for research at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Alabama, led the study. She and her team used insurance claims data, academic literature, and government publications to estimate the costs of PTSD in both the U.S. civilian and military populations. The latter cohort included active-duty military and veterans.

A study led by Dr. Lori Davis of the Tuscaloosa VA brought to light the extent to which PTSD not only impacts Veterans and active-duty military, but civilians, as well. Credit: Mike Harris

Understanding the complex nature of posttraumatic stress disorder, commonly known as PTSD, is one of VA’s most pressing challenges. The agency says many veterans who fought in Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the post-9/11 conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have had that mental health condition sometime in their lives.

PTSD symptoms are well documented: re-experiencing of trauma through flashbacks and nightmares; avoidance of reminders of a traumatic event; changes in thoughts and feelings, such as guilt and emotional numbing; insomnia; and hyperarousal.

In the study, the investigators brought to light the extent to which PTSD not only impacts veterans, but civilians, as well. The research team found that civilians accounted for 82% of the total PTSD costs, compared with 18% for the military population. That disparity is predicated on the fact that the number of civilians far exceeds that of active-duty military and veterans. Although PTSD is more prevalent in the military, the number of civilians with PTSD still tops the number of Veterans with that condition.

Davis and her colleagues noted that more studies on PTSD and its treatments are needed to address the rise in civilians with PTSD, calling that phenomenon a “rapidly accumulating societal burden.” Improved access to effective treatments is also needed, especially for people in economically vulnerable situations,” she noted.

“Much of the research and legislative response on PTSD has focused on combat-exposed populations due to the high prevalence of the condition among the military population,” the researchers write. “However, the military population composed a small proportion of the overall U.S. population with PTSD.

“With the increasing occurrence of national and societal traumatic events around the world, including COVID-19, civil unrest, and climate change, there is mounting concern of an increase in PTSD and burden in the civilian population. As such, the current cost estimate is likely an underestimation given these recent global traumas, the effects of which would not have been captured and are likely to result in increasing negative repercussions.”

Although civilians accounted for more than three times the total PTSD costs, the annual costs per civilian with PTSD ($18,640) were lower than that in the military population ($25,684). In the civilian population, direct health care and unemployment costs accounted for the economic burden, while disability and direct health care costs drove the burden in the military population. Non-direct health costs such as disability payments are higher in military populations, according to Davis. The expansion of supported employment services for PTSD patients is overdue and could address the growing disability and unemployment crisis in veterans, she says.

The researchers also found that women represented 66% and 74% of the overall and civilian population with PTSD, respectively, thereby contributing disproportionally to the national costs. Research has shown that trauma-exposed women show higher levels of PTSD symptoms than trauma-exposed men. Plus, traumas such as sexual assault and domestic violence tend to affect more women than men and represent important areas for prevention and treatment.

The study notes that the substantial economic burden of PTSD highlights the “urgent and unmet” need for treating and rehabilitating people with the disorder.

“Experts agree that there is a long-standing crisis in pharmacologic drug development for the treatment of PTSD, as no medication has been FDA-approved for PTSD since the only two marketed agents were approved 20 years ago,” the researchers write. “Additionally, there is a scarcity of evidence on the impact of available pharmacologic and psychological treatments and the interplay between the two on patient-centered outcomes, such as quality of life, well-being, interpersonal relationships, and occupational functioning. A burden that is often ignored in economic calculations is the cost for psychotherapy not covered under health plans, which represents a significant out-of-pocket [expense] for someone with PTSD, as demonstrated in the current study.”

What does all of this mean for getting PTSD costs under control in the future?

“It is important to remember that we have effective treatments for PTSD,” says Dr. Paula Schnurr, executive director of VA’s National Center for PTSD. “One potential implication of this study’s findings is that increasing treatment could reduce not only the symptom burden on people but also the economic costs to society as a whole.”

Reference: “The Economic Burden of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the United States From a Societal Perspective” by Lori L. Davis, MD; Jeff Schein, DrPH, MPH; Martin Cloutier, MSc; Patrick Gagnon-Sanschagrin, MSc; Jessica Maitland, MScPH; Annette Urganus, MPH; Annie Guerin, MSc; Patrick Lefebvre, MA and Christy R. Houle, PhD, MPH, 25 April 2022, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
DOI: 10.4088/JCP.21m14116