Russia

Ship traffic in Kerch Channel after Russian-Ukrainian tension

Ukrainian Dias Marine Consulting informed that, after the attack of Ukrainian naval support vessels by Russian warships, traffic through the Kerch Channel was resumed on 26 November at 04.00 a.m.

Cargo vessels are not prohibited to pass the Channel. Foreign vessels calling to Russian ports of Azov Sea pass Channel without problems. Vessels which scheduled for Ukrainian ports are checked by Russian FSB service. These check-ups cause delays up to ten days each way (inward and outward).

Sunday’s...

https://safety4sea.com/ship-traffic-in-kerch-channel-after-russian-ukrainian-tension/

LNG carrier Pskov completes first open water STS transfer for Yamal LNG

From the STS operation with the Pskov (at the front)  and Vladimir Rusanov

On 24 November 2018, the LNG carrier Pskov successfully completed the first LNG ship-to-ship transfer operation for the Yamal LNG Project. Pskov loaded some 170,000 cubic meters of liquefied gas, which was delivered from the Port of Sabetta (Yamal Peninsula) to the transshipment point by one of the Arctic LNG carriers chartered by Yamal LNG.

The cargo transshipment was carried out at the safe anchorage off the port of...

http://www.allaboutshipping.co.uk/2018/11/26/lng-carrier-pskov-completes-first-open-water-sts-transfer-for-yamal-lng/

Murmansk Port reduces emissions by four times

The Murmansk Sea Trade Port managed to reduce its emissions four times. This achievement came after the Port invested 1.8 billion rubles ($27.4 mln) on the environmental safety of coal transshipment over the last two years.

The Chairman of Board of Directors of the port Denis Ilatovsky at the Arctic Days in Moscow Federal Arctic Forum pointed out the importance of the investment as it resulted a 4 time decrease of the amount of harmful emissions.

According to TASS, regarding the environmental...

https://safety4sea.com/murmansk-port-reduces-emissions-by-four-times/

Yamal LNG carries out first STS LNG transshipment in Norway

Novatek announced that Yamal LNG completed the first ship-to-ship LNG transshipment in the area near the port of Honningsvag in northern Norway. The Arc7 ice-class LNG tanker “Vladimir Rusanov” reloaded an LNG cargo to the lower ice-class designated tanker “Pskov”.

Novatek, announced that it completed the first ship-to-ship LNG transshipment in the area near the port of Honningsvag in northern Norway. The Arc7 ice-class LNG tanker ‘Vladimir Rusanov’ reloaded an LNG cargo which was delivered from...

https://safety4sea.com/yamal-lng-carries-out-first-sts-lng-transshipment-in-norway/

Ukrainian Sailors Injured, Held After Russia Seizes Three Warships

According to the Google translation of a Ukraine Ministry of Defense timeline, “Armored artillery boats ‘Berdyansk’ and ‘Nikopol’ were attacked by the enemy. Harbor tug ‘Yana Kapu’ was also forced to stop. Ukrainian ships are seized by Russian Special Forces. There is also information about two wounded Ukrainian sailors.” Ukraine Ministry of Defense photo.

Russian maritime forces have fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels that were attempting to sail from the Black Sea into the Sea...

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/26/ukrainian-sailors-injured-held-in-custody-after-russia-seizes-three-warships

Offshore section of TurkStream gas pipeline completed

The pipe laying vessel ‘Pioneering Spirit’ has completed construction of the offshore section of the TurkStream, the new gas pipeline connecting Russia and Turkey via the Black Sea, and the project has entered its final stage, Russian energy major Gazprom announced.

The command to weld the final joint of the gas pipeline’s second string was given by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The work is well ahead of schedule: the offshore section of the gas...

https://safety4sea.com/offshore-section-of-turkstream-gas-pipeline-completed/

Report to Congress on Global R&D Implications for the Pentagon

The following is the Nov. 8, 2018 Congressional Research Service report The Global Research and Development Landscape and Implications for the Department of Defense.

From the report:

For more than 70 years, the technological superiority of the United States military has offset the size and geographic advantages of potential adversaries. The Department of Defense (DOD), due in large part to the magnitude of its investments in research and development (R&D), has driven the global R&D and...

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/20/report-congress-global-rd-implications-pentagon

Panel: Southeast Asia Growing Increasingly Wary of Chinese Investment Strategy

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping before the beginning of the BRICS Leaders’ meeting in 2017. Kremlin Photo

Nations stretching from India into Southeast Asia see China’s investments and loan practices as a direct threat to their sovereignty as much as Beijing’s military, the editor of a new work on Indo-Pacific security balance said last week.

Jeff Smith, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said what had been a balancing act...

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/20/panel-southeast-asia-growing-increasingly-wary-chinese-investment-strategy

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