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Oslo To Make Port Emission-Free
Oslo Harbour KF has signed a cooperation agreement with the Bellona Foundation. Bellona will partner up with the Port of Oslo to make the port emission-free, and will distribute the lessons learned from this project with the international community, allowing others to follow Oslo’s example.
In the first semester Zeebrugge registered a 12.5 % overall growth in comparison to the same period in 2018. A total cargo volume of 21,883,578 tonnes was handled.
The ro-ro traffic grew by 5 % in the first half of the year to a total volume of 8,404,658 tonnes. In anticipation of the first Brexit date (29 March) the UK markets were supplied in anticipation (volumes rose by 17.2%). In the second quarter the volume decreased by 6.8% in May and by 12.3% in June.
The roro traffics to Southern Europe increased substantially thanks to new services and economies of scale.
A total of 1,527,872 new cars were handled (+4.9%).
The Regional Council of Attica was held up yesterday in order to approve the Rafina Port’s “Development Plan and Master Plan”.
According to the study, there are planned four main uses for Rafina Port, with equal four Port Authority Departments: The Port Authority for the Coastal Lines (Conventional and High Speed Crafts), the Port Authority of Small Boats, of Fishing Grounds and for the Seaplanes.
According to the master plan the port of Rafina will be expanded in order to facilitate 15 ferries, while the “vision” for its future exceeds all expectations:
The port of Rafina is the second largest in passenger traffic among the 16 Greek ports of international interest and participates substantially in the wider Attica port system, with the prospect of becoming the first passenger traffic in Attica in the coming years.
Of course, the construction of such a giant port will also require the construction of infrastructure that include terminals, two- and three-storey parking spaces, car waiting areas, lorries and bicycles, a convention center for 300 people, service facilities, parking facilities , café-restaurants and shops.
For all that infrastructure it is required a total surface area of 25,400 m2. People of Rafina protest strongly, claiming that the entire city’s sea front will be occupied by port facilities resulting in a traditional seaside town being cut off from the sea!
Also, they claim that the environmental burden (air pollution and noise pollution) from the simultaneous docking of 15 ships, 5 seaplanes as well as the passage of hundreds of thousands of trucks, will be unbearable.
The regional ship agents’ association in Sardinia calls for a relocation of the ferry and ro-ro traffic in Cagliari, from the old harbour in the city center to the so called ‘Porto Canale’ where the local container terminal managed by Contship Italia is set to be shut down soon.
The Cagliari International Container Terminal had a yard area of 400,000 m2 and 1,520 metres of linear quays.
According to the local ship agents’ association, “a broader reorganization of the port spaces is needed. Our idea would be to move from the old port all the activities related to ro-ro and ro-pax traffics thus leaving Rinascita and Sabaudo quays to the cruise traffic and yachts”.
As of today, the only ferry company calling at the port of Cagliari is Tirrenia, while Grendi Trasporti Marittimi offers a maritime ro-ro link to and from Marina di Carrara, and Grimaldi Group to and from Civitavecchia.
Former Norwegian Ferry Capsized In Gulf of Guinea
Ferry AUSTRHEIM, with more than 200 passengers on board, capsized and probably sank during the night Aug 25-26 in Gulf of Guinea, while en route from Calabar Nigeria to Cameroon.
Golden Stars Shine Together
SUPERFERRY 2 and SUPERFERRY of Golden Star Ferries arrive at Paros. The vessels operate a daily sailing Rafina – Andros – Tinos – Mykonos – Paros – Heraklion. Each day one vessel sails in each direction and both vessels meet in Paros.
The Greek Minister Of Mercantile Marine Announces Five Support Measures For The Island Of Samothrace
A ruined port, a problematic ferry operator with a dark past and bad weather conditions have revealed problems of decades in the Samothrace connection service, which have intensified in recent years.
And despite the fact that the issue of Samothrace’s precarious ferry connection has been known since 2017, an early elected government is now called to deal with both the short-term problem as well as the long-term solution of the remote Greek island services and the country’s poor port infrastructure.
It is noted that during the recent government meeting which was held in Athens it was decided:
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Mercantile Marine has requested explanations from Saos Ferries regarding the exact causes of the disruption that left tourists stranded on the island for nine days.
For now, the Alexandroupolis – Samothrace run is temporarily being carried out by the HSC ANDROS JET of Seajets and ZEFYROS of Saos Ferries. But still the Hellenic Ministry expects to see the progress tests results on the SAOS II performance, which will allow her to return back in service. Otherwise, Seajets will be called upon to continue to serve the line.
In any case, in two and a half months, when the public service contract with SAOS Ferries expires, a more reliable connection will be sought –by the Ministry- in order to solve the ferry problem of Samothrace for good.
Source and photo: KATHIMERINI newspaper
Through important makeovers, three Hurtigruten coastal vessels will be transformed to hybrid powered expedition cruise ships.
Equipped with battery packs and other green technology, the three ships will operate year-round expedition cruises along the Norwegian coast from 2021 on yet to be disclosed itineraries.
Hurtigruten will no longer be the only company to operate the coastal ferry service, once Kystlink steps in with its four new ships in January 2021. Hurtigruten has always seen this as an opportunity, especially now that the interest in expedition-style cruising is so big.
As they are transformed into expedition cruise ships, the current TROLLFJORD, FINNMARKEN and MIDNATSOL, will be renamed MAUD, OTTO SVERDRUP and EIRIK RAUDE.
OTTO SVERDRUP will have battery packs installed during a 2020 yard stay, with a letter of intent for the same battery installation on MAUD and EIRIK RAUDE in 2021. The battery packs will support the ships engines, and drastically cut emissions.
The three ships will also be equipped for shore power and will get substantially upgraded low-emission engines, complying with all known and upcoming regulations (Tier3).
The Italian NGO ‘Citizens for Air’ (Cittadini Per L’Aria) has analyzed the environmental commitment of 32 shipping companies operating in Italy, stating that too little is being done.
Only 4 out of 174 ships taken into consideration have already adopted systems to reduce polluting emissions, while only four less polluting ferries are under construction.
Slightly more than 2% of the total fleet navigating has implemented measures to protect the people’s health and the environment.
Citizens for air asked the ship-owners operating maritime passenger transport and ro-pax in Italy, what actions are taking or planned to improve the environmental performance of their fleets. The resulting analysis is included in a report (in Italian) highlighting criticalities and possible solutions.
“The vast majority of the 32 companies surveyed, some of which also reach or come from ports in other Mediterranean countries, are taking no measures at all to make their ships less polluting, while ship-owners who started investing to make their ferries more sustainable can be counted on one hand” is written in the report. “A paradoxical situation given that a group of these ship-owners receives over 250 million euros each year of public subsidies to carry out the passenger transport service”.
Citizens for Air underlined also that only Grimaldi Group is already operating two ferries that can have zero their emissions at berth using onboard batteries, and reduce the emissions during navigation thanks to scrubbers, the same exhaust gas abatement system adopted by the VIZZAVONA of Corsica Linea. While Caronte & Tourist is operating an LNG-ready ferry. As for the future, two new LNG-ready ferries are now being built in China for Tirrenia.
