It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, April 06, 2023
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Europol Says Corruption is Enabling Criminal Gangs to Infiltrate Ports
Europol highlights corruption by the organized gangs to infiltrate ports (file photo)
Europol, the EU agency charged with preventing and combatting international and organized crime, issued its first report exploring how organized crime infiltrates the ports of Europe. Detailing its findings and releasing the 24-page report today in The Hague, Europol said that it believes criminal networks are constantly evolving in their techniques as they are increasingly working toward infiltration of and control over major logistical points. The agency is calling for increased cooperation and awareness and focused efforts to address the challenges of crime in Europe’s ports.
“The Europol report on criminal networks in ports illustrates what we are up against. It lays bare the sophistication of criminal drug gangs, their strength, and their savagery,” said Ylva Johansson, Commissioner for Home Affairs for the European Commission. “The drug traffickers promote corrupt actions and practices sometimes by bribery, sometimes by intimidation. We are working with authorities at all levels to strengthen systems in the fight against the criminal activity this report outlines.”
The analysis was conducted with the Security Steering Committee of the ports of Antwerp, Hamburg/Bremerhaven, and Rotterdam. Europol said that Europe’s three biggest ports are among the most targeted for criminal infiltration although organized crime networks are also expanding into smaller ports as a means of avoiding enforcement. In the last few years, they estimate that at least 200 tons of cocaine have been trafficked through the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam alone.
The report finds that the structure of the ports and the nature of their operations makes them vulnerable to infiltration. They highlight the open structure, need for access, growing automation, and a large number of companies and personnel involved in port operations.
However, they point to the volume of goods moving through the ports and the fact that the percentage of containers and imports inspected is low. For example, in 2021, the report highlights that a total of 3.5 billion tons was imported through Europe’s main ports with containers accounting for a quarter of the goods handled or some 90 million TEU. Authorities are only able to inspect between 2 and 10 percent of the containers.
“Corruption is a key enable for criminal infiltration of ports,” the report concludes. “This includes port workers and personnel of shipping companies, freight forwarders/shipping agents, importers, transport companies, terminals, security companies, law enforcement, and customs. Bribery fees may reach hundreds of thousands of euros. The highest fees are paid to essential links in the extraction chain, often crane operators, planners, or employees providing access to information via IT systems. Coordinators of extraction teams receive between 7 to 15 percent of the value of the illicit load.”
They also point to the gangs seeking new modus operandi that require the corruption of fewer individuals. In 2018, law enforcement in Rotterdam detected a new technique involving the misappropriation of container reference codes. This has also been detected in Antwerp and they believe is being used more broadly as it requires the corruption of just one individual to gain the code and the possible use of “extraction teams,” to gain access and remove the contraband.
The report identifies a few common techniques used in smuggling including “rip-on/rip-off” where the drugs or other items are hidden with legitimate imports and retrieved in or outside the port at the destination. A newer switch method involves moving the drugs between containers during inter-community transport from one EU country to another. However, the gangs are also becoming more sophisticated by cloning containers by using the same registration number of multiple boxes. “Trojan horse containers,” are used to get extraction teams into the port often hidden inside an export container sometimes days before the arrival of the illicit goods.
The main recommendations of the report include better international information exchange as they note the gangs have infiltrated ports on all the continents. They said ports must integrate security features into the design of their infrastructure and public-private partnerships need to be implemented to involve all port actors essential for tracking the infiltration.
As the first cooperation between ports, the report is seen as a first step in building common efforts. Europol is also calling for legislative initiatives at the European level to support the ports and streamline security measures.
Robbers Board Evergreen Boxshp in Manila Anchorage
Ever Boomy which was boarded in one of 20 ships in the line's B-type class with the first of the class Ever Bliss in this photo (Evergreen file photo)
Evergreen Lines confirmed to the media in Manila in the Philippines that one of its containerships was briefly boarded by robberies while in the port’s anchorage. While none of the crew was seriously injured, it is being considered an unusual incident and is being investigated by the authorities.
One of the line’s smaller containerships, a B-Tyle vessel was boarded by an unknown number of robberies. The vessel, the Ever Boomy (37,300 dwt) arrived in the Manila anchorage on April 3 on her normal route which had included port calls in China and Taiwan. The vessel was laying in the outer anchorage waiting for its berth. Built in 2018, the vessel is 695 feet long with a capacity of 2,880 TEU.
The robbers came aboard the vessel and were discovered around 0200 on the morning of April 5 while the containership remained at anchor. An able seaman on watch on the deck was accosted by the boarders. He was assaulted and tied up. Unconfirmed reports in the newspapers said at least one crewmember was also threatened with a knife and that the sailor who was tied up feared they might attempt to throw him overboard. The media indicates that the crewmember was able to free himself.
Evergreen in its statement said that the captain of the Ever Boomy immediately notified the Philippine Coast Guard and Panama as the ship’s flag state. The Coast Guard and local authorities came to the vessel and confirmed the safety of the crew. Evergreen said that no one was injured, and a search of the ship showed that there was no major property loss.
The Ever Boomy was able to proceed to the terminal. The vessel departed, today, April 6, on its normal route bound for Thailand.
These types of boardings by robbers are more common in other parts of Asia and other anchorages around the world. ReCAAP ISC, which is the reporting agency for maritime incidents in Asia, issued an update at the end of March showing that there were four boardings reported in the last five days of March in the eastbound lanes of the Singapore Strait in an area near Indonesia. Engine spares were stolen in one incident and spare parts for the fuel pumps were stolen in another incident. ReCAAP and other security agencies have repeatedly warned of the dangers in the area. The agency highlights that a total of 18 incidents were reported in the Singapore Strait since January 2023 and the danger remains as none of the perpetrators have been arrested.
Euronav Tanker Departs for Yemen to Replace Decaying FSO Safer
Euronav's VLCC Nautica departed China on the first leg of its voyage to Yemen to replace the FSO Safer (UNDP photo)
Euronav’s VLCC tanker the Nautica has departed for Yemen in the first step toward transferring the oil stored aboard the decaying FSO Safer to a new storage arrangement. UN officials are calling the tanker's departure a key step while however cautioning that they still need to raise a significant amount of money to complete the first, emergency phase of the operation.
Euronav and the UN Development Program reached an agreement at the beginning of March for the acquisition of the VLCC and for Euronav’s assistance in the effort to complete the transfer of more than one million barrels of oil from the Safer to the new tanker.
The Nautica is a 15-year old VLCC built in China and is 307,000 dwt. She entered service in 2008 as the Maersk Nautica and was acquired by Euronav in 2014. The vessel is 1,055 feet long and currently registered in Liberia.
The tanker was drydocked in Zhoushan, China where she has been since early March. She underwent regular maintenance as well as some necessary modification for her new assignment. The Nautica departed China today, April 5, and is currently sailing to Singapore where she is scheduled to make a stopover on April 15. UN officials are saying the tanker is expected to arrive in Yemen in early May.
“The departure of the Nautica, and its onward journey to the Red Sea, is a significant next step in the complex operation to take on the oil from the Safer. This moment marks the culmination of many months of preparation and coordination,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.
A team from SMIT has begun preliminary work and planning for the operation. They were to survey the Safer and prepare the vessel for the operation. The Safer (406,639 dwt) was built as a supertanker in 1976 and converted a decade later to be a floating storage and offloading facility moored about 4.8 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen. The vessel holds an estimated 1.14 million barrels of light crude oil.
Production, offloading, and maintenance operations on the Safer were suspended in 2015 because of the war in Yemen. Maintenance was continued by a skeleton crew with limited resources with the UN reporting that the Safer’s structural integrity has significantly deteriorated. It is believed the tanks have not been properly ventilated since 2017. Assessments indicate that the vessel is beyond repair.
Announcing the agreement with the UN, Hugo De Stoop, CEO of Euronav said the company was proud to be a part of the effort and committed to providing the necessary expertise with its operational staff to support the salvage procedure. “This critical operation requires dedicated support from Euronav for at least nine months and reflects our wider sustainability and environmental credentials,” he said.
The emergency phase of the plan, which is currently underway, called for stabilizing the Safer and preparing it for the transfer. As well as preparing it to be towed away. The second phase of the UN plan calls for the installation of a catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) buoy to which the replacement VLCC will be connected as a safe, long-term replacement, and the towing and scrapping of the Safer.
“The sailing of the vessel that will take on the Safer’s oil brings us closer to preventing a catastrophe,” said David Gressly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, who has led the UN efforts since September 2021. “We have the best available technical expertise and political support from all sides. Donors have been generous. We just need the final piece of funding this month to ensure success.”
UNDP officials highlight that the war in Ukraine and changes in the oil market drove up the estimated cost of the replacement tanker. As outlined in the UN’s initial plan in April 2022, the budget for the two-track operation was $144 million, with current reports saying they will now need $129 million for the first phase. As of the beginning of April, the UN reports commitments for $95 million with efforts continuing to cover the gap of $34 million. The private sector provided $12 million with another $200,0000 from individuals with the majority coming from UN member states.
To fill the budget gap, the UN is appealing to member states and private entities, and the global public through a crowdfunding appeal. They are also exploring internal means of temporarily covering the budget shortfall while the fundraising continues.
Eight Missing After Cargo Ship Bound for Ukraine Sinks off Turkey
Turkish Coast Guard reports rescuing two crewmembers from the water after being located by one of its helicopters (Turkish Coast Guard)
Turkish officials are reporting that a search and rescue operation is underway in the Mediterranean after a small, general cargo ship, sunk in a storm. The Turkish Coast Guard and state-run Anadolu Agency are reporting that one body was recovered from the water, while five were rescued and the search is ongoing for eight other crewmembers. Local media reports are saying as many as three crewmembers have died with the search still underway.
The vessel is a 30-year-old general cargo ship operating under the name of Joe 3 and registered in Guinea-Bissau. The Equasis database however still lists the vessel under the former name of Ali Bey registered in Panama. It has a spotty history also showing previous registries in St Vincent and Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis and two decades ago in Russia.
The vessel is 3,400 dwt and its AIS data shows it departed the southeastern Turkish port of Iskenderun on April 3 bound for Izmail on the Danube near the Romanian border in the Odesa region of Ukraine. Anadolu is reporting that it was carrying a cargo of aluminum. The owners of the vessel are believed to be Turkish.
The distress call came at 0347 on April 5 with the vessel approximately 20 nautical miles south of Kumluca in the Antalya region of Turkey and northwest of Cyprus. The Coast Guard is saying that the rescue efforts were hampered by a storm.
Eight Coast Guard vessels were dispatched along with two helicopters and a Coast Guard aircraft. The Turkish Navy also sent two frigates and two helicopters.
A Coast Guard helicopter spotted two crewmembers in the water who were rescued and taken to a local hospital. Three other crewmembers were rescued by an unidentified commercial ship that was also sailing in the area. The Coast Guard reports that one deceased crewmember was recovered while the search lists eight other crewmembers as missing. All 14 of the crew are reported to be from Syria.
The 282-foot vessel was last inspected according to Equasis last month in Lebanon. During the Port State Control inspection, they reflect five deficiencies including the magnetic compass being recorded as not readable and maintenance issues with ventilator air pipes and documentation but the vessel was not detained. Equasis lists the prior inspection in 2020, with detentions in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Turkey. The inspection in Cyprus identified 21 deficiencies.
Officials said the cause of the sinking is unknown and that the regional prosecutor’s office would conduct an investigation.
Black Carbon: The "Low-Hanging Fruit" for Clean Shipping
Shipping is a highly polluting industry. Between 2007 and 2012, it was responsible for roughly three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use and industrial processes, or around one billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
Ship exhaust may also contain “black carbon” – sooty particles that absorb sunlight and trap heat in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Black carbon rapidly accelerates ice melt when it lands, by darkening surfaces and thus reducing how much sunlight they reflect. At the same time it poses a serious health risk to coastal communities.
Environmental groups say this climate and health threat could easily be eradicated if ships were forced to use cleaner fuels.
The impact on warming
Black carbon is produced when ships burn heavy fuel oil, which is “a hazardous, toxic tar-like fuel”, says Andrew Dumbrille, an advisor to both the Clean Arctic Alliance, a group of 20 nonprofits, and to the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents all Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka on internationally important matters. “It is literally the stuff at the bottom of the barrel,” he says.
“You have to heat it up to use it… it’s like burning tar, one could walk on it,” he says. “Our global trade system is enabled by this highly polluting by-product fuel.”
Black carbon emissions are responsible for around 20% of the shipping industry’s climate impact over a 20-year period, according to the Clean Arctic Alliance.
It is “especially damaging, and has a disproportionate impact, when it is released in or near the Arctic,” says Sian Prior, lead adviser to the alliance.
The Arctic is already warming almost four times faster than the global average, at 0.73C per decade compared to the global average of 0.19C per decade between 1979–2021, according to a 2022 study by Finnish researchers.
“When black carbon settles in the polar environment… the surface starts absorbing more and more heat because it’s dark,” says Prior. “So you lose the albedo effect, which is the reflectivity of the snow and the ice.”
This leads to a vicious cycle of warming. Less sea ice means more open, dark ocean which absorbs more heat and accelerates temperature rise, not just in the Arctic but worldwide.
“Some of that warming is going to be transported further south,” says Pam Pearson, director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative. “So a warmer Arctic also translates into warmer mid-latitudes because of black carbon.”
If the Arctic sea ice melts completely during the summer, there is going to be “so much more sea level rise and extreme weather globally,” says Pearson.
A 2021 report by the Climate Crisis Advisory Group warned that the Arctic is “ground zero” for cascading climate impacts across the planet.
Rising temperatures there are leading to warmer ocean temperatures and shifts in atmospheric circulation, and are expected to weaken the jet stream, leading to more extreme weather.
The impact on Arctic communities
“The melting of sea ice is [causing] global climate disruption, but also local, cultural disruption,” says Dumbrille. Black carbon’s impact is already being felt by indigenous communities living in the Arctic.
There are serious health risks associated with exposure to black carbon. A component of fine particulate matter, black carbon has been linked to lung and heart disease and can impair cognitive and immune functions.
“Black carbon is changing our culture,” says Lisa Koperqualuk, vice president international of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.
She explains that the rapid melting of ice is drastically changing the Inuit way of life by delaying harvesting seasons and making it more difficult for communities to travel. “We call the ice our highway,” she says. “We use it to travel and to go hunting on the edge of the sea ice.”
There are concerns that black carbon could contaminate the main food source for Inuit communities, seafood, according to Koperqualuk. “The migration patterns of animals could also change [as the ocean warms] because there are some marine mammals that follow colder waters,” she says.
“The Arctic is a very important area to protect and to keep as pristine as possible, not only for our culture, but for the [entire] world,” says Koperqualuk. “The Arctic is linked to the rest of the globe. So protecting it is protecting the world as well.”
The rise (and fall?) of black carbon
Between 2015 and 2019, the Arctic saw an 85% rise in black carbon due to increased shipping traffic.
“Black carbon emissions are increasing because there are more and more ships going to the Arctic. In recent years, there have been more oil tankers and bunker carriers going to the Arctic,” says Prior.
Maritime traffic grew by 25% between 2013 and 2019, while the distance covered by ships in the region increased by 75%.
The increase in shipping traffic in the Arctic is “very much related to the loss of sea ice,” says Prior. The ice is also “forming later in the year and melting earlier,” she says. This means that more ships are able to sail for longer periods in the Arctic region.
It’s leading to a “really nasty feedback loop,” says Pearson. “As you lose more sea ice, you get more ships, more emissions, [and] less sea ice.”
There is an easy way to rapidly cut black carbon emissions, according to environmental groups.
If all ships using heavy fuel oil were to switch to a cleaner distillate fuel (similar to diesel) there would be an immediate reduction of around 44% in black carbon emissions from these ships, according to the Clean Arctic Alliance. If all ships also installed diesel particulate filters, which capture soot, black carbon could be reduced by over 90%.
Black carbon could rapidly disappear from the atmosphere if regulations were introduced
Black carbon is a short-lived climate pollutant with a lifespan of just a few days or weeks, whereas CO2 can remain in the atmosphere for 300 to 1,000 years. This means that black carbon could rapidly disappear from the atmosphere if regulations were introduced.
“Black carbon could be resolved very quickly, which is why we call it the ‘low hanging fruit’,” says Prior. “Whereas with carbon dioxide you’ve got a very potent warming gas that is staying in the atmosphere for hundreds of years.”
If the European Union required ships sailing in the Arctic to switch from bunker fuels to cleaner distillate fuels, it would reduce their black carbon emissions in Arctic waters by 50–80%, according to analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).
Technically, it is easy for ships to make the switch. “It’s seen as an overnight solution, because ship engines can run, and already do run, on both heavy bunker fuel and lighter distillate fuel,” says Dumbrille.
“Most engines can just switch between the fuels. In fact, they often do already,” says Prior. “Ships often use the lighter diesel fuels in the coastal waters, and then switch over to the heavy fuels when they’re offshore.”
But uptake of distillate fuels is lagging due to cost. They are more expensive due to higher demand (especially from road vehicles) and because they require more refining, says Dumbrille.
“It’s about twice as expensive to use the cleaner fuel,” says Bryan Comer, who leads the marine programme at the ICCT.
The need for stronger regulations
Regulations are needed to force ship operators to switch to distillate fuel. In November 2021, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body overseeing shipping, adopted a resolution urging ship operators to switch to cleaner fuels in the Arctic in a bid to reduce black carbon emissions. But it was a voluntary measure, which relied on governments to introduce supportive policies. Environmental groups are calling for mandatory regulations to drastically slash black carbon emissions in the Arctic.
Regulations are already in place around the North American coastline, where the IMO introduced an emission control area (ECA) in 2012, requiring ships to limit their nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur oxide (SOx) and particulate matter pollution. This regulation has incentivised many ship operators to switch to distillate fuel. ECAs have also been established in the Mediterranean, the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
Environmental groups would like the North America ECA to be extended to the Arctic.
“Arctic communities were overlooked when the North America ECA was established,” says Comer. “Some would argue that’s environmental injustice and environmental racism.”
It is important that existing loopholes, which enable ship operators to continue using heavy fuel oil, are removed from new IMO regulations, experts argue. Currently, many ships in the ECA use scrubbers to remove their exhaust fumes from the atmosphere and comply with regulations, without having to switch to a more expensive distillate fuel.
“There are loopholes within the ECA… so you can still carry on using heavy fuel oil but install a scrubber to reduce your sulphur emissions,” says Prior.
Although scrubbers reduce air pollution, they are still incredibly polluting as they dump the chemicals removed from the exhaust directly into the ocean. By using scrubbers, “you are taking an atmospheric pollution problem and turning it into an ocean pollution problem,” says Prior.
If the North American emissions control area is extended to the Arctic “you’d want to see that high sulphur fuels would not be allowed, even if ships have a scrubber,” says Comer. “Instead, they should be required to use distillate fuels.”
A proposal to extend the ECA is likely to be brought to the IMO this year, but it won’t get much air time until 2024, says Comer. This year the IMO is set to review its long-term emissions reduction strategy and decide whether to adopt a net zero by 2050 target.
The current IMO target, which campaigners say is woefully inadequate, is to halve shipping emissions by 2050. Without further action, shipping emissions are projected to reach 90-130% of their 2008 levels by 2050.
“It is very inadequate,” says Dumbrille. “To be aligned with the Paris Agreement, [the target] needs to be at least 100% by 2050, ideally 100% by 2040, and 50% by 2030.”
“If you’re thinking about a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, dealing with black carbon should be at the top of your list,” he says.
“I’m not holding my breath at the moment… it’s going to take a couple more years,” says Prior, noting that there is still quite a lot of opposition within the industry. “It’s frustrating when [tackling black carbon] should be low-hanging fruit, especially compared to what needs to happen to decarbonise the whole sector.”
Isabelle Gerretsen is a freelance journalist based in London who covers climate and environmental issues for a wide range of news outlets including Climate Home News, the BBC and CNN International.
This article appears courtesy of China Dialogue Ocean and may be found in its original form here.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) recently pledged to respond to industry concerns over the criteria and implementation of its Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) rating system after the review process is completed this year. With this in mind, maritime executives should expect CII to become even more influential as enforcement mechanisms and unintended consequences are addressed.
One such unintended consequence of the regulation that is already becoming apparent is the industry’s focus on slow steaming to improve CII ratings. Relying solely on slow steaming, and taking a static view on CII regulations more broadly, is a significant risk. While it’s true that slow steaming can improve CII ratings, it is by no means a silver bullet and it certainly has flaws.
Vessels will slow down, meaning that the global fleet will need to expand to transport the same volume of goods. Ultimately, this will increase the global fleet’s lifecycle emissions – so slow steaming is counterintuitive to the environmental aims of CII. Once widely recognized, this makes it likely that the IMO will incentivize other solutions for attaining A and B ratings, which will themselves grow in importance as a mark of pedigree between different shipowners.
While the regulatory penalty for CII non-compliance is currently minimal, the commercial impact may yet be substantial. For example, if freight rates are high, a competitive advantage is held by those who can move fast while maintaining a favorable CII rating. Additionally, as more customers press for carbon-neutral shipping of goods, a superior CII rating may become a license to operate for reputable cargo owners.
Ultimately, vessel efficiency and charter rates, emissions and profits, are only set to become more intertwined. For those who recognize this clear direction of travel, and appreciate the need to look beyond slow steaming for true solutions, clean technology is an obvious place to start the search.
Retrofit-ready technology
Clean technologies, such as air lubrication systems, offer a logical opportunity to improve vessel efficiency, thereby reducing fuel use, and in turn reducing OPEX and emissions. Plus, saving fuel becomes even more important as more expensive, less energy-dense alternative fuels are introduced to the mix.
If the shipping industry is to complete its decarbonization puzzle, improving the efficiency of the massive existing fleet must not be overlooked. While newbuilds do remain a key piece of that puzzle, it is simply too emission-intensive to build all of the new ships required. Bearing that in mind, most, if not all shipowners will seek to retrofit some of their existing vessels to improve efficiency.
Having said that, it may be challenging to determine which clean technology or technologies will lead to genuine, proven efficiency improvements on existing vessels. So, what should shipowners look for in a clean technology?
The first step is to check whether, from a technical perspective, it is feasible to retrofit a specific clean technology to a specific vessel – making sure to properly understand the payback equation given the remaining lifecycle of the vessel.
The next step is to check that a solution can be installed efficiently. A lot of clean technologies can be installed during a ship’s scheduled drydocking period, maximizing trading time. Looking at the full lifecycle of, and total cost of ownership for, a technology is also key. Systems with minimal impact on the vessel’s equipment footprint and that are easy-to-use and maintain should be prized.
Efficient installation depends upon resilient supply chains. For example, at Silverstream Technologies, we focus on supply chain resilience, which requires a diversity of suppliers as well as strong relationships with OEMs and local entities. This enables us to deliver systems within six months, on time and within budget.
Verified emissions data
As is the case with most strategic decisions in the modern shipping industry, clean technology choices should be underpinned by data. A proven track record of emissions reduction claims and case studies spanning each specific vessel type are vital. At Silverstream, for example, looking at the hydrodynamics, we know that our technology works well for almost all vessels that have a large, flat bottom such as LNGCs, cruise ships and VLCCs.
In general, shipowners should be skeptical of clean technology providers that lack transparency and don’t openly publish performance data for their technology. Shipowners and operators can also help move the data conversation forward by bringing strong operational data and a clear understanding of their ship’s operational profile to the table.
Shipowners and operators should also look for emissions savings that have been independently verified. This is often achieved when a technology goes through systematic testing phases in collaboration with class societies. Technologies that can be switched on and off can also offer a simple way to accurately measure real-life operational performance.
It is also important to consider the emissions reduction data across the entire operational range of the vessel, not only a single point of optimization, as well as whether that voyage was typical of how the ship is usually operated. Exploring how the new technology will interact with other equipment and clean technology onboard the vessel, and supporting this with data and simulations where possible, is also valuable. While some clean technologies complement each other well and lead to greater efficiency gains, others can actually hinder one another. Factoring all of these data points into the set will make the insights more realistic and accurate.
Shipowners large and small, from all over the world, can leverage the opportunities to gain competitive advantage presented by the industry’s decarbonization transition. If they have done their due diligence, and they have considered the key factors outlined above, it’s a case of being decisive, taking the decarbonization bull by the horns, and installing the right clean technology to make an impact today.
David Connolly is Chief Technologist at Silverstream Technologies.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
The Chinese satellite tracking and missile telemetry ship Yuan Wang 5 called at the Port of Durban on March 29, the latest in a series of controversial port calls for a vessel with a dual military-civilian role. Her arrival has been interpreted as another sign of South Africa's increasing alignment with Chinese and Russian interests, following a high-profile naval exercise between the three nations earlier this year.
Yuan Wang 5 came a long way for her visit to Durban. She left her berth on the Yangtze in late February and headed south, passing through the Philippine Sea and the Banda Sea before entering the Indian Ocean. After a five-day period of loitering off Western Australia, she got under way for Durban, arriving March 29. She is now under way once more, headed west towards the Atlantic and declaring the "open sea" as her destination.
The vessel is no stranger to controversy. In August 2022, the government of India protested vehemently when Yuan Wang 5 scheduled a port call in Hambantota, the Chinese-operated seaport on Sri Lanka's south coast. India denounced the "spy ship" visit as a breach of its national security interests, warning that it could start a pattern of Chinese naval activity near Indian shores. India and Sri Lanka share a defense treaty that prohibits Colombo from allowing a foreign military to use Sri Lankan ports if the use infringes on Indian security, but after a brief delay, Sri Lanka decided to allow the civilian "research" ship to enter port. Yuan Wang 5 returned to the Indian Ocean a second time in early December, just ahead of a series of planned Indian ballistic missile tests.
The vessel's recent port call in Durban drew criticism from South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance party. “It’s a concern. Why would she dock, and why is she around?” said DA spokesman Kobus Marais, speaking to Bloomberg. “We don’t think further than our noses about future consequences."
Yuan Wang 5's port call overlapped with the arrival of two Iranian Navy vessels, the expeditionary base ship Makran and the frigate Dena, at the Port of Cape Town. On their arrival, Iranian ambassador to South Africa Mehdi Aqa Jafari said that the call "indicates the high level of relations between the two countries and will greatly help to further strengthen cooperation between both sides' navies."
The arrival of Iranian warships in South Africa drew criticism from the U.S. embassy, which warned that "entities and individuals that provide support, including maritime services to designated entities could be subject to sanctions risk under US authorities."
Hochschild Mining walks away from Canadian gold project
Hochschild Mining (LON: HOC) has informed Skeena Resources (NYSE: SKE) (TSX: SKE) that it is ending its option to earn in a 60% interest in the Canadian miner’s Snip gold project, located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia.
The precious metals producer said termination of the option, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Hochschild Mining Canada Corp., is effective immediately, adding it has no liability to complete the aggregate expenditure requirement.
In 2021, the London-based miner agreed to spend about C$100 million ($74m) over a three-year period, which would have granted a majority stake in the project.
To date, Hochschild has spent C$15 million ($11.2m) on Snip, according to Skeena.
Chief executive officer Ignacio Bustamante said the company had enjoyed working in Canada, but it is currently focusing its capital on later-stage projects in the portfolio, particularly the Mara Rosa project in Brazil.
“We are thrilled to have 100% of Snip back in our portfolio,” Skeena’s president and chief executive officer said in a separate statement. “In the months ahead, Skeena plans to investigate opportunities to bolster the Eskay Creek mine life by processing Snip ore at the Eskay Creek mill.”
The Snip project is a past-producing mine that Skeena acquired from Barrick Gold in 2017.
The operation churned out about one million ounces of gold between 1991 and 1999 at an average gold grade of 27.5 g/t. Since then, the project has been improved with the recent construction of nearby infrastructure and substantially higher gold prices.
The property consists of one mining lease and eight mineral claims totalling approximately 4,546 hectares in the Liard mining division.
Technology to extract REE from acid mine drainage gets $8m from US government
Staff Writer | April 6, 2023 | Acid mine drainage at the Richard Mine site on lower Deckers Creek.
(Image by Brian Persinger, courtesy of West Virginia University).
A technology developed by West Virginia University that aims to extract and separate rare earth elements and critical minerals from acid mine drainage and coal waste, will receive $8 million in new funding from the US Department of Energy.
The grant, part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, will lead to the design, construction and operation of a pre-commercial demonstration facility where the solution will be put to work.
According to university authorities, the plant and technology are expected to not only address environmental issues but also create employment in regions of West Virginia impacted by the United States’ transition away from fossil fuels.
“Using AMD as a feedstock has several community and environmental advantages,” lead researcher Paul Ziemkiewicz said in a media statement. “These are already permitted sites, which facilitates the move to production, and exploration is easy: just sample the site’s AMD discharges. Also, we’re not opening a new mine or disturbing a lot of ground, and we don’t produce radioactive byproducts like most conventional rare earth mines.”
Ziemkiewicz explained that acid mine drainage provides rare earths in a form that is easily recovered, which means no rock grinding nor intensive processing is needed.
“As a result, our carbon footprint is much less than that of a conventional mining and milling operation,” he said. “Our main byproduct is clean water since our process separately recovers the rare earths and all the other metals from AMD.”
Ziemkiewicz and his team have selected several candidate sites in West Virginia for this facility and have initiated engagement with a broad range of stakeholders including state and local legislative bodies, environmental and community-based economic development groups, AMD-treatment operators, trade unions and technology providers.
They project that the facility will produce between 5.4% and 7.3% of the global requirements for terbium and dysprosium, two of the most sought-after and critical REEs. He and his colleagues have studied and refined the process since 2016 in collaboration with the Department of Energy.
“These previous efforts culminated in a technology package suitable for demonstration-scale deployment as well as an innovation ecosystem and research infrastructure, which will be leveraged for this project,” the scientist said.
Ziemkiewicz also noted that over 60% of the rare earths in AMD are neodymium, praseodymium and the heavy REEs that are most utilized in green energy and defence technologies. That number far surpasses the 12% HREE produced at typical REE mines.
Operational pilot plant
The West Virginia University’s work is already making an impact as Ziemkiewicz’s group has joined forces with the state Department of Environmental Protection to construct an AMD/REE pilot plant near Mount Storm. That facility can treat up to 500 gallons per minute of acid mine drainage from an adjacent coal property while producing nearly two tons per year of REEs and critical minerals in the form of mixed oxides.
The Mount Storm site is online producing compliant discharge water and, as of September 2022, the system began production of hydraulic pre-concentrate.
“Unlike most academic research, our team has focused on developing large-scale, continuous operations that with this new funding can move the technology rapidly toward the market,” Ziemkiewicz said. “This has meant developing private and public sector partnerships with Rockwell Automation, L3Eng, SNF Chemicals, Solmax, Endress and Hauser as well as the West Virginia DEP. Without their technologies and real-world expertise, we’d still be working at the laboratory scale.”
MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M
CHART: Glencore’s big bid for Teck extends Canada’s mining deal heritage
Glencore Plc’s $23 billion proposal for Teck Resources Ltd. would mark one of the world’s biggest mining takeovers, if it happens.
The deal would be the second-largest mining acquisition in Canada, where some of the industry’s biggest transactions have emerged in the past two decades.
Many top-tier Canadian metals producers have disappeared over the years thanks to domestic and foreign takeovers, leaving the country with few remaining mining champions on the global stage.
Rio Tinto Group’s 2007 purchase of aluminum maker Alcan Inc. is the largest takeover of a metals producer in Canada.
(By Doug Alexander)
Ancient enzyme may play key role in producing hydrogen for green economy
A team of chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been investigating an ancient biological enzyme known as nickel-iron hydrogenase and have come to the conclusion that it may play a key role in producing hydrogen for a renewables-based energy economy.
To prove their point, the researchers designed a synthetic molecule that mimics the hydrogen gas-producing chemical reaction performed by the enzyme.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the scientists explain that currently, industrial hydrogen is usually produced by separating hydrogen gas molecules from oxygen atoms in water using a process called electrolysis. To boost this chemical reaction in industrial settings, platinum metal is used as a catalyst in the cathodes that direct the reaction. However, many studies have shown that the cost and rarity of platinum make it unattractive as the world pushes toward more environmentally sound energy sources.
On the other hand, nature’s nickel-iron hydrogenase enzyme produces hydrogen employing the earth-abundant metals stored in its core.
“The nickel at the core of the natural enzyme produces hydrogen by reducing protons in water,” study lead author Liviu Mirica said in a media statement. “During the catalytic process, the nickel center goes through paramagnetic intermediates, meaning that the intermediates have an unpaired electron – which makes them extremely short-lived.”
According to Mirica, chemists have made nickel compounds that produce hydrogen for over a decade. While some of these compounds are very efficient at producing hydrogen, the vast majority of them operate via intermediates that are not paramagnetic.
“Researchers are trying to mimic exactly what nature does because it is efficient, and maximizing efficiency is a key challenge to overcome when engineering energy sources,” he said. “Being able to reproduce the paramagnetic intermediate steps that occur in the natural enzyme is what our group is trying to achieve – to increase efficiency and mimic nature.”
To achieve this, the team designed an organic molecule called a ligand that contains electron-donating atoms like nitrogen and sulphur and can hold the nickel in place and support the two relevant paramagnetic states that produce hydrogen.
The key design element that sets this molecule apart from other catalysts is the presence of a carbon-hydrogen bond near the nickel center that is broken and re-formed during catalysis. This was crucial in stabilizing the aforementioned paramagnetic states.
“One of the key takeaways from our work is that by using the specially designed ligand in the manner we did, we have successfully united ideas from two fields of inorganic chemistry – bioinorganic and organometallic chemistry – to make nickel complexes that behave similarly to the active site of one of nature’s most beautiful and complicated enzymes,” co-author Sagnik Chakrabarti said.
In the recent past, several unusual enzymes have been found that feature metal-carbon bonds in their active sites, the researchers said. Such design principles in synthetic complexes could lead to further insights into how nature performs chemistry with small molecules like hydrogen.
