Friday, March 15, 2024

EU Ombudsman Calls for Reforms in EU Coast Guard in Wake of 2023 Tragedy

Frontex EU Coast Guard — EU Ombudsman calls for changes to the EU Coast Guard operation (file photo)

The European Union’s Ombudsman issued a report critical of the handling of the 2023 migrant boat tragedy in the Mediterranean where more than 600 people are thought to have drowned. It is also questioning more of the fundamental issues related to the operations of the EU’s Border and Coast Guard agency Frontex.

The report finds that the EU’s Border and Coast Guard Agency is unable to fully fulfill its fundamental obligations and is too reliant on member states. It calls on EU legislatures both to investigate the handling of the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and to address the fundamental rights gap for Frontex.

Frontex describes its mission as supporting and coordinating the efforts of member states for border security and cross-border crime. While the agency has extensive resources when it comes to maritime situations, the report highlights Frontex operates in support of member state agencies which must request assistance and can also redirect Frontex. Previous reports have accused individual states of sending Frontex away or refusing its resources while efforts were made to “push back” migrants.

“Frontex includes ‘coast guard’ in its name, but its current mandate and mission clearly fall short of that,” concludes Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly in the recently released report. “If Frontex has a duty to help save lives at sea, but the tools for it are lacking, then this is clearly a matter for EU legislators.”

O’Reilly’s investigation was one of several launched after a migrant boat named Adriana sunk last year. Greece’s Ombudsman and the Greek Naval Court are still investigating the incident but the Hellenic Coast Guard declined an internal review despite accusations that its boat contributed to the sinking and covered up its actions by seizing survivors’ cellphones.

The boat had been identified as a risk by Italian authorities, Frontex, and international aid groups after it left Libya on June 10 overcrowded with approximately 750 people including children. The vessel was in Greece’s region and four days later foundered with only around 100 people saved. Approximately 80 bodies were recovered.

While looking at the actions of Frontex as they related to the Adriana, the Ombudsman also investigated the agency’s response in other maritime emergencies, its mandate, and its structure. The report concludes that Frontex has no internal guidelines on issuing emergency signals and that there is a failure to ensure fundamental rights monitors are sufficiently involved.

In the case of the Adriana, a Frontex surveillance plane spent 10 minutes over the vessel on June 13 during a standard maritime surveillance patrol. It shared video footage and information about the boat’s conditions and sea state with the Italian and Greek authorities. Frontex highlighted the overcrowding and that no lifejackets were visible, but concluded the boat was not in immediate danger and did not issue a Mayday. Frontex says it believed Greece was handling the situation.

The report acknowledges it is contested if a Mayday should have been issued and if it would have prevented the tragedy. An internal report at Frontex however concluded while the agency complied with its obligations, in the future similar cases should be more thoroughly assessed.

Frontex made four additional offers of assistance on June 13 and 14 to the Greek authorities but received no reply. A second pre-planned surveillance on June 13 was diverted and Frontex did not return to the Adriana until after the vessel was lost. Under the current regulations, Frontex needed Greek permission to go to the location of the Adriana.

“It is not unlikely that there will be a repeat of the Adriana tragedy unless there are significant changes to the legal and operational framework for responding to maritime emergencies,” concludes the Ombudsman. The report observes boats in distress carrying refugees and asylum seekers can not as it now stands rely on proactive SAR operations at the EU level.

The Ombudsman has no legal authority to require changes but writes the incident should cause wider reflections on the changes needed to demonstrate the EU’s commitment to saving lives at sea. A request was made for Frontex to resolve internal issues, while the report calls on the EU to establish an independent commission to assess the reasons for the large number of deaths in the Mediterranean. The report also wants to consider whether Frontex should suspend or terminate activities when a member state has persistent violations of fundamental rights.

The Ombudsman calls on EU legislators to reflect on and address the clear fundamental rights gap in the way the system operates today.

Siport21 Develops Simulator for Evaluating Cost-Benefit & Carbon Footprint

[By: Siport21]

The electrification of ports should be a reality in the European Union by 2030. It is therefore necessary to invest in infrastructure able to supply power to the moored vessels so that they can switch off their auxiliary engines, decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions.

To achieve this, the European Union ports must implement OPS (Onshore Power Supply) technology to permit the vessel connection to the electricity grid. This system must ensure sufficient shore-side electrical power to meet a high percentage of demand based on their average annual throughput of container ships, passenger ships, and ro-ro vessels.

These installations require a large investment. For this reason, it is essential to accurately establish the need for energy. Siport21 has recently developed a methodology to define the sizing and optimize OPS facilities in ports. The results of a practical case were presented in Marlog 13 “The International Maritime Transport and Logistics Conference”, organized by the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Alejandria (Egypt).

The simulator provides an estimate of hourly power demand over the course of a year associated with probability levels. This methodology will help ports to have probability-based estimates and their seasonal distribution. It will therefore be essential for decision- making, evaluating the cost-benefit of the investment to be made and the total power to be installed. In addition, the tool also shows the results of the decrease in carbon footprint in the port due to the operation of the OPS.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive

Chile's ASENAV Launches Robert Allan-Designed Escort Tug

Towing vessel built on speculation and seeking a buyer

[By Asenav]

Ships in different sectors, such as tankers, container ships, or even big cruise ships, often need to be towed by another smaller ship but with greater pulling power. That is precisely what ASENAV launched: an escort tugboat manufactured with national engineering that transports the Chilean maritime industry to a privileged position in the world. It has already been launched into the Calle Calle River.

Belonging to a unit of the RAstar 3200-W model, this ship is the first of its kind, manufactured at ASENAV, to have the design of the renowned Canadian engineering office, Robert Allan Naval Architects, which represents a seal of quality for the tugboat industry, due to its very high global standard.

For this reason, this tug stands out for incorporating an advanced balancing method, which allows for much friendlier navigation for the crew and safer guidance of the ship it is towing. The latter allows it to be towed safely in demanding areas such as entering and exiting terminals.

“This tug puts us at the forefront in the manufacture of ships of this type in Chile at an international level, which a Canadian company also designed. We work with them thinking about meeting all the quality and safety requirements that the port industry demands of us, but that can also be adapted to the special conditions of other countries,” highlighted Ricardo Contreras, ASENAV's New Projects Manager.

In fact, the ship can be used to operate in complex places such as, for example, the port of Quintero, which - being a gas port - requires high safety standards; those of Valparaíso and San Antonio, dedicated mainly to the transportation of merchandise; although it is also very attractive for the port of Punta Arenas, just to mention some of the productive areas of this ship.

In this sense, security systems stand out, such as misting systems that protect it and allow it to approach a vessel in the event of a possible explosion or fire. These systems also transform the vessel into one capable of combating an external incident, among many other functions.

The above is interesting, especially considering that this ship was manufactured speculatively: that is, it is open to be acquired by any company or shipping company that needs a ship with these characteristics.

The vessel features 32 meters in length, 12.5 knots, wide accommodations for ten crew, and Fi-Fi 1. Additionally, is “fitted for” complying with TIER III and to add a stern winch. It also includes first-level equipment, which highlights MTU engines, Kongsberg propulsion system, Progener gensets, Ibercisa deck equipment.

“Although this tugboat is speculative for now, its construction adds to the 35 tugboats built by ASENAV with Chilean innovation and technology, which can highlight the name of the country in Chile and the rest of the world. Although this is a ship that could perfectly operate in the ports of Quintero, Mejillones, San Antonio, or Punta Arenas, it could also do so in international spaces, such as the port of Callao in Peru, the port of Buenos Aires in Argentina, or even in ports in the rest of Europe. In that sense, we believe that this ship adds another milestone to the experience we have in the construction of tugboats and, at the same time, highlights the Chilean shipbuilding industry in the world,” added Contreras.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

France Unveils Latest Plan to Rebuild the Port of Beirut

As Lebanon continues to seek to rebuild the Port of Beirut almost four years after the ammonium nitrate explosion, France has come forward with a new proposal. At a conference in Beirut this week, Lebanese and French officials revealed the port’s reconstruction and re-organization plan.

The proposal aims to repair the damaged infrastructure, optimize the port layout for better traffic flow, and enable the transition to the use of solar power. However, the proposal does not address the rebuilding of the grain silos, which experienced the most impact during the blast.

Two French engineering firms, Artelia and Egis, were involved in the development of the plan through funding from the French government. Another French public agency Expertise France, conducted a study with recommendations on how to improve security at the Port of Beirut.

“The plan has been accepted and the port’s revenue will be used to finance the required investments,” Lebanon’s transport and public works minister Ali Hamie told the French newspaper Le Monde.

Restoration of the state’s infrastructure destroyed during the explosion is estimated at $60 to 80 million. However, this cost rises to $140 million while accounting for private companies' infrastructure which was impacted, according to a 2021 assessment by USAID’s Middle East Economic Growth Project.

With the restoration costs expected to come from the port’s revenue, Director General of the Port of Beirut Omar Itani noted that there have been several positive changes after the disaster. He highlighted that revenues increased to nearly $150 million in 2023 from a low of $9 million in 2020. The number of containers handled also rose to 800,000 TEUs last year from around 600,000 TEUs in 2022. However, this is still low compared to the 1.2 million TEUs that the port handled in 2019 before the explosion.

France was among the first responders, with President Emmanuel Macron visiting the country on August 6, 2020, two days after the explosion. At the time, Macron promised to rally international players for financial support to the Lebanese people.

This week, the French ambassador to Lebanon Hervé Magro reiterated France’s support for Lebanon. “The Lebanese economy needs a port that has been rebuilt, modernized, and made safe. The French government has made the issue of the port a priority and one of the pillars of French cooperation with Lebanon,” said Magro.

In 2022, CMA Terminals, a subsidiary of the ocean carrier CMA CGM won a ten-year concession to run and manage the Port of Beirut’s container terminal. The firm pledged to invest $33 million in the terminal, focused mainly on replacing, renewing, and purchasing new equipment.

Besides France, Germany in 2021 also presented a comprehensive proposal to rebuild the port, in addition to redeveloping more than 100 hectares of the surrounding area, including residential developments.

MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

U.S. Navy Pulls Together $9 Billion to Invest in Submarine Supply Chain

The future Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (General Dynamics)

Facing delays in the construction of its next-generation ballistic missile submarine, the Columbia-class, the U.S. Navy wants to plow billions of dollars into strengthening American companies that build submarine components. Its newly-released FY2025 budget cuts back on R&D spending, decommissions seven ships before end of service life, and puts $8.8 billion over five years into the submarine industrial base.

Defense officials have quietly admitted that the first Columbia-class - which has been at risk of delays - is now on track to deliver in 2028, one year late. The main problems include issues with constructing its steam turbine plant and completing the bow section, according to USNI.

The Columbia program is timed to replace the current Ohio-class ballistic missile sub fleet on a one-for-one basis, and any prolonged delay will mean that the Navy will have to extend the lives of some of the Ohios.

The setbacks reflect capacity challenges in the submarine industrial base, including serious workforce recruitment issues. The Pentagon has been providing funds to these suppliers since 2018 to help them increase efficiency and boost production, and the new budget request would triple the amount spent previously.

If adopted by Congress, this would be a historic investment in capacity-building. To help cover the cost, the service is cutting one Virginia-class sub from the usual two in the FY2025 budget. This reduces procurement on paper, but it brings the pace of new orders into line with the industry's actual delivery rate of about 1.2 Virginia hulls per year.

Other cost-saving measures include early decommissioning of two more Littoral Combat Ships, USS Jackson (nine years old) and USS Montgomery (eight years old). This is the latest in a series of early retirement requests for the two LCS classes.

For the first time, the Navy is also asking Congress for early decommissioning for Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPFs). The hulls on the list are the first four in the series, USNS Spearhead, Choctaw County, Millinocket and Fall River, and they range in age from 10-12 years. Other decommissioning requests include cruisers USS Shiloh and Lake Erie, the amphib USS Germantown, and the semisub transport ship USNS John Glenn (now only 10 years old).

These candidates were selected based on a "hull-by-hull" analysis, Undersecretary of the Navy Erik Raven told USNI.

BOEM Advancing Offshore Wind Energy for New Jersey and Gulf of Maine

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management mapped out its next two steps in the ongoing efforts to implement the United States’ offshore wind energy program. A day after the U.S. marked the completion of its first large offshore wind farm, the agency overseeing the development process reports it is beginning the environmental review for the 1.5 GW Atlantic Shores North wind farm off New Jersey while the same time has completed the designation of a massive two-million-acre Wind Energy Area in the Gulf of Maine.

“BOEM is continuing to implement the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy agenda, while maintaining a careful approach to prevent, reduce, and address any adverse effects on ocean users and the marine ecosystem,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “As an integral part of our environmental assessments, we will continue to actively solicit feedback from Tribes; federal, state, and local government partners; the fishing community; and the public to help guide our actions.”

The launching of the effort to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation Plan for the Atlantic Shores project marks the twelfth wind energy COP environmental review they have initiated. It is another step toward the goal of 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity in the U.S. by 2030.

Atlantic Shores is a project proposed by Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables and according to BOEM’s announcement, the plan calls for 157 wind turbines, eight offshore substations, one permanent meteorological tower, and two potential export cable corridors that would make landfall in Sea Girt, New Jersey and either the New York City area or near Asbury Park, New Jersey.

The lease area, which the company was awarded in 2018 is more than 81,000 acres located at least eight miles off the New Jersey coast and 60 miles from New York. The company holds a total of three leases in the area with Atlantic Shores North targeting operations by 2027 to become New Jersey’s first wind farm. BOEM is initiating a 45-day comment period till early May as it begins the review for the project.

BOEM is designating a massive new wind area (green) for the Gulf of Maine (lower left shows the existing leases)

BOEM also today announced it has finalized the area in the Gulf of Maine as the next step toward the second goal which is 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035. They highlight area while 43 percent smaller than the draft released last October, has the potential to support the generation of 32 GW, which surpasses the 10 GW goal from Massachusetts and the 3 GW goal from Maine.

The area is in a range between 23 and 92 miles off the coast. It ranges from Maine to Massachusetts and New Hampshire. BOEM finalized the area after extensive engagement with the states and interested parties including ocean users and the fishing community. A 30-day public comment period is beginning

Based on the feedback they highlight that it was reduced 80 percent from the initial area identified for potential leasing. BOEM notes it will further seek to avoid or minimize remaining ocean use and resource conflicts in subsequent phases of the leasing process.

Moving these two elements forward, BOEM highlights it has now approved six commercial-scale offshore wind projects. They also conducted four auctions during the Biden administration and are exploring additional potential both in the Gulf of Maine and the Central Atlantic.

Maersk Supply Service and Edison Chouest Partner for Wind Feeder Vessels

wind installation — ECO will build and operate the barges and tugs used to move materials to Maersk Supply Service's installation vessel (MSS)

The U.S. shipbuilding industry continues to benefit from the emergence of the offshore wind energy sector. The latest deal is a partnership between Maersk Supply Service and Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore for the construction of vessels as part of Maersk’s feeder ship approach that is designed to enable faster offshore wind installations.

The partnership is the next step in the implementation of the company’s feeder spread. It will include two tugs and two barges to be built by Bollinger Shipyards. They will be owned and operated by ECO in support of the installation system.

Maersk Supply Service detailed its plans for the feeder approach several years ago and already has its large wind turbine installation vessel on order with Seatrim in Singapore (former Sembcorp Marine) and it is expected to be delivered in 2025. The concept is that the massive jack-up vessel, which will be registered in Denmark, will be positioned at the site, and be fed by specialized barges transporting materials from the staging area at the wind port with the tugs.

“Maersk Supply Service’s new installation concept can make offshore wind farm installations significantly faster with estimated efficiency gains of 30 percent. The partnership with ECO makes this new technology available for the U.S. offshore wind market enabling faster offshore wind installations in the U.S.,” said Christian M. Ingerslev, CEO of Maersk Supply Service.

In a separate wind sector project, ECO is building the first U.S.-flagged SOV for the offshore wind (Orsted)

The barges and tugs will be registered in the U.S. to meet Jones Act requirements. The WTIV will have a unique interlocking system that will secure the barges and raise trays with the components feeding the installation process. According to Maersk, in addition to meeting the Jones Act requirements, the WTIV spends more time on site and the locking and stabilizing system is less dependent on weather and sea conditions for the supply operation.

Maersk Supply Service already has the installation contract for the Empire Wind 1 project, which is now being developed by Equinor. It has cleared most of its hurdles, including the decision to split the partnership between Equinor and BP. Equinor expects to make the final investment decision by mid-2024 on the wind farm, which has already received its federal approvals from BOEM and just recently cleared to renegotiate its power contract by New York State. The second phase, Empire Wind II, however, has been put on hold and Maersk also has a contract for Beacon Wind which now belongs to BP.

The first installation is to be from the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal which will be the staging area. The barges are less likely to have height and clearance problems while they are moving materials to the offshore location.

ECO has already entered the offshore wind sector and is looking to expand its opportunities in the industry. In December 2023, ECO moved the first U.S.-built Service Operation Vessel, ECO Edison, from the building dock. The ship is set to operate to support Ørsted’s offshore operations.

Last year, President Joe Biden highlighted that companies have already announced 18 offshore wind shipbuilding projects. This includes investments of nearly $3.5 billion across 12 manufacturing facilities and 13 ports to strengthen the American offshore wind supply chain.

First Bunkering and Tests of Ammonia as Marine Fuel Completed in Singapore

ammonia fueled OSV — Fortescue Green Pioneer successfully bunkered with ammonia and began engine tests (MPA)

In what may be a pivotal moment in the future of alternative marine fuels, the world’s first bunkering of ammonia and tests of adapted engines took place in Singapore aboard an offshore supply vessel retrofitted by Australia’s Fortescue Group. The testing is ongoing helping to develop the information on safety and management that might one day see ammonia become one of the leading marine fuels.

The tests were carried out with the Fortescue Green Pioneer, a 3,100 dwt vessel built in 2010 in Indonesia. Fortescue Future Industries acquired the now 14-year-old supply ship MMA Leveque early in 2022 from Australia-based MMA Offshore. It was originally outfitted with four diesel-electric Cummins main engines.

Fortescue began in 2022 testing the conversion of a four-stroke engine to run on ammonia in combination with diesel as its pilot fuel. The tests took place at the company’s facility in Perth, Australia, and in July 2023 the conversion work on the vessel began at Seatrium’s Benoi yard. Two of the vessel’s four engines were enabled to use ammonia in the process which included the installation of the gas fuel delivery system, safety systems, and the infrastructure to support the operations.

The vessel was previewed at the COP28 conference when the company’s flamboyant founder and chairman Andrew Forrest arrived in Dubai aboard the Fortescue Green Pioneer. He called for the world’s ports to prepare and develop the infrastructure for ammonia as a marine fuel. The ship was not able to sail on ammonia he said because no port was ready.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore worked with partners including DNV and fuel supplier Vopak. They report since October 2023 they have been conducting workshops to study the hazards and safety protocols. They also developed processes for the mitigation methods and monitoring due to the highly toxic nature of ammonia. Furthermore, they developed training protocols for the handling of ammonia.

“The safe conduct of this fuel trial supports the holistic assessment of the use of ammonia as a marine fuel, and the development of standards and safety procedures,” said Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of the MPA. “This will inform the crew training, emergency, and bunkering procedures which MPA, agencies, and the tripartite community are developing in support of making available safe and cost-efficient solutions as MaritimeSG and the international shipping community undergo the energy transition.”

The first bunkering involved three tonnes of liquid ammonia loaded from Vopak’s Banyan Terminal on Jurong Island in Singapore. According to the MPA, as part of the risk management, extensive pre-operations, safety checks, and tests were conducted. They highlight that the fueling was completed with the existing infrastructure demonstrating the industry’s ability to adapt to ammonia as a marine fuel in the future.

The fuel trial was conducted over a period of seven weeks. It included rigorous testing of the vessel’s storage systems for ammonia, as well as the associated piping, gas fuel delivery system, retrofitted engines, and the overall seaworthiness of the Fortescue Green Pioneer. The vessel is registered in Singapore and earned a gas fuel ammonia notation.

The testing and demonstrations are ongoing. A second bunkering of a further three tonnes of liquid ammonia will be loaded for the Fortescue Green Pioneer in the next few weeks. Further tests and trials are planned as the validation process continues.

UK Researchers Find Wreck of a Steamship Sunk by U-Boat in WWI

Using past sonar data and historical records, scientists at Bangor University have found the wreck of a steamship that was sunk by a U-boat in the Irish Sea in 1915.

The merchant steamer SS Hartdale was originally laid down as SS Benbrook in 1910. Sold and renamed, Hartdale departed Scotland in March 1915, bound for Eygpt with a load of coal. She was spotted by the crew of the U-boat U-27, and after a chase, the German submarine sank her with one torpedo. Two crewmembers died in the sinking.

Hartdale remained lost to memory for more than a century, though there were plenty of clues to her whereabouts. The Bangor University team pulled together multiple threads of information to find her, including the accounts of the survivors, the log of the U-27's crew, and sonar survey data. They narrowed down the candidates to one wreck site, some twelve miles off the coast of Northern Ireland in about 80 meters of water.

U-27 would not be much luckier. On August 19, the sub encountered the Royal Navy Q-ship (undercover warship) HMS Baralong. The crew of the Baralong were already angered by the sinking of an ocean liner by another U-boat that same day, and they took vengeance on the U-27. None of the sub's crew survived.

"[SS Hartdale] is just one of the many thousands of merchant ships known to have been lost in UK waters that remain listed as missing or have been incorrectly identified due to a lack of high-quality data. We certainly now have the capability and technology to able to rectify this largely overlooked issue," said lead investigator Dr. Michael Roberts.

SS Hartdale is the first success of Historic England's Unpath'd Waters project, which hopes to use shared archival data to correctly identify wreck sites between the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.

“This is one excellent example of the vast, untapped potential waiting to be unleashed through the creation of a linked, accessible and sustainable national collection of the UK’s cultural and heritage archives," said Barney Sloane, the principal investigator of the Unpath'd Waters project.

Four More Subsea Cables Disrupted Off Africa

On Thursday morning, damage to at least four subsea cables along the west coast of Africa slowed down internet access for a dozen countries, according to service providers and internet traffic analysts.

"We have determined that multiple fiber cables on the West Coast of Africa — WACS, MainOne, SAT3, ACE — have been impacted," said Microsoft's Azure cloud service in a statement.

The damage adds to slowdowns caused by the severing of three cables in the Red Sea late last month. That earlier event has been widely attributed to an anchor dragged by the stricken bulker Rubymar, which drifted for weeks after taking a mortal hit from a Houthi antiship missile.

Taken together, the East Africa and West Africa cable incidents are affecting network traffic all over the continent, Microsoft said.

The internet customers who were affected most by Thursday's outage were residents of Liberia, who were essentially cut off, according to Cloudflare's data. Cote d'Ivoire also experienced substantial slowdowns, and Gambia, Guinea, Ghana, Benin, Niger and South Africa saw lesser effects.

Internet service providers reroute traffic to alternative networks when a subsea cable goes down, but with seven of Africa's international data links now severed, the list of alternative options has been reduced.

The extent, the cause and the location of Thursday's cable breaks are still under investigation. Cloudflare reports that it has identified a pattern in the timing of the disruptions, radiating from north to south. Another network analysis consultancy, Netblocks, concluded that the disruption was “likely at or near the subsea network cable landing points."

90 percent of all international data traffic passes beneath the sea, and securing this economically-vital infrastructure is an increasingly important priority for Western governments. Cables are high-value, remote, difficult to monitor, and largely unprotected, especially in deep waters.

World Central Kitchen Loads Second Aid Shipment for Gaza

An aid worker helps load food cargo aboard a small freighter chartered by World Central Kitchen (WCK)

A tug-and-barge shipment of aid is approaching the shores of Gaza, bearing about 200 tonnes of much-needed food and other supplies, and a second shipment is now being packed aboard a small freighter. World Central Kitchen, the NGO behind the plan, acknowledges that it is a hail-Mary pass: no suitable receiving pier exists, and their team is still working to build one out of rubble as the tug nears its destination.

"We have crews working 24-7 and we are really trying to build this 60-meter-long jetty that will allow us then successfully, if things go well, to start bringing in humanitarian aid in bigger quantities," WCK founder Jose Andres told NPR. "The necessity and the urgency are so great that the worst thing we can do is not try new ways."

The location of the destination is being kept secret for now; Gaza's security situation is precarious and there have been previous incidents of interference with aid convoys.

Open Arms' trackline from Cyprus to Gaza (Pole Star)

The tug Open Arms appears to have encountered GPS disruption or spoofing during its voyage. As it transited south of Cyprus, its AIS position jumped from the Eastern Mediterranean to the center of Beirut International Airport. Similar patterns of "impossible" AIS movement have been detected in areas with suspected GPS jamming activity, like the Russian sector of the Black Sea.

A second, much larger aid shipment is already being loaded aboard a small freighter at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. As with the first, the cargo is marked with the logo of the UAE's aid organization.

Andres acknowledged that it would be far easier to deliver aid in the volume required if border restrictions on Gaza were lifted. However, there are substantial political obstacles to clear before achieving that goal, and Andres noted simply that "this is not happening and this is out of our control."

The Biden administration has reached a similar conclusion, and has launched a 1,000-man mission to build and operate a temporary landing pier on a beach in northern Gaza. A flotilla of U.S. Army landing ships is under way from Virginia to deliver the equipment, and the operation should be up and running within about 60 days.

Germany Adds Fourth FSRU Further Expanding Imports and LNG Supply Stability

German FSRU — Energos Force docking in Germany to become the fourth FSRU (DET)

Germany’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity is set to increase by up to five billion cubic meters (bcm) following the arrival of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Energos Force at the port of Stade. It is the first unit to be positioned in Stade and the fourth overall in Germany, all introduced in the past two years in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

State-owned LNG terminal operator Deutsche Energy Terminals (DET) announced the FSRU arrived at the AVG pier in the industrial port in Stade-Bützfleth today March 15. The vessel is expected to undergo several weeks of test operations before starting to feed up to full operations. In preparation for the FSRU, construction of a new jetty was completed at the end of last year, with DET being the operator of the floating LNG terminal in collaboration with various service providers.

The company highlights that the 174,000 cubic meter FSRU is expected to play a significant contribution in enhancing the security of supply and gas price stability in Germany and Europe. The vessel, which is 965 feet (294 meters) long was built in 2021 as Transgas Force. It was acquired from Greece’s Dynagas in January this year by US-based Energos Infrastructure, a joint venture of Apollo and New Fortress Energy. The 94,361 dwt vessel was converted from cargo operations to an FSRU in the Netherlands.

Energos Force was recently acquired converting for transportation to the role as an FSRU (DET)

Built by China’s Hudong-Zhonghua, Energos Force features three Wartsila regasification modules with a capacity of 250 million standard cubic feet per day. It also features a MAN dual-fuel diesel-electric propulsion and GTT’s NO96 containment system. The company highlights that in the winter using closed cycle steam boilers the vessel will process up to 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and in the summer using open cycle seawater capacity can be raised to 750 MMSCFD.

The Energos Force will join two other DET-operated FSRUs that are already operating at the Brunsbüttel and Wilhelmshaven terminals, with a fourth expected to be commissioned at its second terminal in Wilhelmshaven by June this year. The four FSRUs are part of a public-private partnership launched by the German government designed to provide LNG import capabilities to replace the gas supply from Russia.

Xeneta: Importers Ship Through Mexico to Avoid US Tariffs on Chinese Goods

Mexico container terminal — APM runs the terminal in Mexico’s deepest water port at Lázaro Cárdenas (APM)

A massive increase in the number of containers imported from China to Mexico may be a sign that businesses are avoiding the Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports according to a new analysis by Xeneta, the market analytics and benchmarking company for the logistics industry. They point to the strong growth in imports during 2023 and a very strong start to 2024 speculating it is “probably the fastest growing trade” of all the global routes.

During the then administration of President Trump, the U.S. launched a trade war with China imposing nearly $300 billion in tariffs on a wide range of products, which President Joe Biden has left in place. Xeneta highlights the strength of the growth, which appears far beyond Mexico’s domestic economy, noting that importing into Mexico’s West Coast ports from China is seen as a viable alternative to goods arriving directly into the U.S. West Coast.

“A sizeable proportion of the goods arriving in Mexico by ocean will likely be trucked into the U.S.,” says Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst, which he says, “gives rise to the suspicion that the increase in trade we are witnessing is due to importers trying to circumvent U.S. tariffs. In a purely hypothetical scenario, if this growth rate continues, by the year 2031 there will be more containers imported from China into Mexico than the U.S. West Coast.

Xeneta’s data illustrates the growth showing a 60 percent increase in January 2024 versus the prior year, to a total of 117,000 TEU versus 73,000 TEU in January 2023. This increase comes after import volumes were up nearly 35 percent in 2023 after just a 3.5 percent increase in 2022.

“The strength in trade between China and Mexico was building during 2023 but the latest data of January 2024 reveals a massive increase,” said Sand.

He also points to the opening of a new cargo-only airport in Mexico City in 2023 as a sign that imports continue to scale up.

“I doubt this is happening due to increased demand in Mexico only, but more likely because it is a back door into the U.S.”

While there was a rate advantage a year ago when freight rates between China and Mexico fell below the rates to the U.S., Xeneta highlights rates are now largely comparable on the two routes. They note the cost advantage moved back and forth between the two routes several times but as of this month is within $5 per FEU traveling to Mexico versus to the U.S. West Coast.

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