COP28 Deals Disappoint Campaigners & more – 28th Dec 2023

Ahoy from BA! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 28th of December twenty twenty three A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater.

Climate campaigners from the Pacific Islands are disappointed with the outcomes of the COP28. In previous shows, we talked about the agreements and remedies many Pacific Island Nations are taking to survive - or, try to - the climate change. During COP28, countries' representatives and experts identified fossil fuels as a climate issue, but the campaigners argue that they didn’t recognize the urgency of addressing climate change and especially global warming. Pacific campaigners criticized the language choice on how to phrase the issue of the expression “transitioning away” being adopted over “phasing out” from fossil fuels. In particular, the Alliance of Small Island States recognizes the positive efforts and measures discussed and agreed, but underlines the need for more significant and strong interventions.

Moving on, on Wednesday the 20th, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission allowed Korean fishers to increase the catching of bluefin tuna up to 883 tons (meaning, a 135-ton increase) and the catching of bigeye tuna up to 5,336 tons (which equals to a 1,394-ton increase) for the up-coming year. Cho Seung-hwan, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, stated that the government could afford the decision to increase the quota because of previous efforts to reduce the catch for a maritime resources recovery: still, the commission sets these quotas with the intention to prevent overfishing and protect tuna species like Pacific bluefin tuna and Atlantic bigeye tuna, which were endangered because of overfishing and illegal practices of fishing. The government's decision wants to show its commitment to sustainable resource management based on the scientific data.

On Tuesday the 19th, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Active and its crew returned to Port Angeles, Washington, after a fifty-seven-day patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean to support the counternarcotics campaign called Joint Interagency Task Force-South. During the campaign, the crew intercepted more than 3,400 pounds of cocaine (more than 1,540 kilograms) and detained three suspected narcotics traffickers, while also rescuing five Ecuadorian fishermen who were adrift for nineteen days.

From the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. The US Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District, with the Virginia Port Authority and the City of Virginia Beach, awarded a more than 70 million US dollars dredging contract to Manson Construction Company to work on the phase two of the Atlantic Ocean Channel. The aim of the contract is to deepen the channel at least to a depth of fifty-nine feet (or almost eighteen meters) and to use the dredged material to renourish the beach. The contract will ensure an improvement of the movements in the Port of Virginia and will reinforce risk storm management in Virginia Beach. The work will likely start at the end of next year and will last until August twenty twenty five.

Still in the Atlantic Ocean. In a previous show, we talked about Morocco’s proposal to give the Sahel countries access to the ocean. Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Chad have embraced the initiative of King Mohammed VI during a recent coordination meeting that Nasser Bourita, Morocco’s foreign minister, hosted on Saturday the 23rd in Marrakech, Morocco. The initiative foresees a co-development approach among the involved countries to invest in infrastructures that will cross the national borders until reaching the Ocean through Morocco. The outcome of the meeting in Marrakech is to establish a National Task Forces that will plan roadmaps for the implementation of the project. The initiative will most likely change the economic dynamics of the Sahel region.

From Tuesday the 19th until Friday the 22nd, the Royal Thai Navy hosted the 8th edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (or IONS) Conclave of Chiefs in Bangkok, Thailand. Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, was leading the three-member Indian Naval delegation for the Conclave. The Indian Navy ideated IONS in two thousand and eight, to reinforce maritime cooperation. The Conclave discussed maritime issues of the region and confirmed the transfer of IONS from France to Thailand. In the meantime, the IONS also held a seminar on Blue Economy, which IONS countries’ representatives attended, to explore different possibilities of sustainable development for the region.

Talking about the Indian Ocean, the US military declared that an Iranian drone hit a chemical tanker called Chem Pluto on Saturday, the 23rd. At that moment, Chem Pluto was situated 200 nautical miles (or 370 kilometers) southwest of Veraval in India's Gujarat state. The incident caused a fire onboard, but no casualties. The tanker was heading to India and started its journey from Saudi Arabia. According to the maritime security firm Ambrey, the vessel is linked to Israel and the attack might have come from Houthi rebels, located in Yemen but backed by Iran. The Houthis have already used drones to attack vessels in the Red Sea region, but this would be the first time they attack so far away from the conflit. In any case, this incident marks the very first time the US directly accuses Iran of targeting a ship.

The Houthi attacks on ships also forced over 100 containers transiting near the Western coast of Yemen to re-route from the Suez Canal. The shipping company Kuehne and Nagel provided information on 103 vessels that changed course, despite adding 6,000 nautical miles and a range from three to four weeks more of journey, preferring to circumnavigate South Africa. Houthi rebels aligned with Iran and declared they are attacking ships to respond to the Israeli bombardment in Gaza. The rerouting caused an increase in oil prices that could impact supply chains on a global level. On Tuesday the 19th, the US declared it will send a naval coalition to protect vessels in the Suez Canal.

From the Suez to the Panama Canal. Despite the many challenges the drought brought during twenty twenty three, as we have discussed during our previous shows, and the consequential limiting transits of vessels, the Panama Canal Authority (or PCA) achieved 2.5 billion US dollars for the last year fiscal period. The Authority will deliver the money to the Panamanian government. This remarks the highest contribution from the Canal to the Government since the Canal started running in nineteen fourteen. The total revenue that the PCA reported was 3.3 billion US dollars, before detracting operating costs. It’s around 319 million US dollars more than the previous year. Twenty twenty threewas the second-driest year in the history of the Canal, but the reduced transits didn’t impact the finances as expected.

In other news, an Australian and international research voyage has utilized oceanography, seafloor mapping, and satellite technology to map a highly energetic "hotspot" in the world's strongest current. The FOCUS voyage on the CSIRO research vessel Investigator occurred in the Southern Ocean between Tasmania and Antarctica, and studied the Antarctic Circumpolar Current for a duration of five weeks, analyzing how the heat can pass through it and thus melt the Antarctic ice, increasing the sea level. The voyage worked in collaboration with the new Surface Water and Ocean Topography (or SWOT) satellite, that NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales developed jointly, mapping from ships and the satellite at the same time.

Still in Australia. On Friday the 22nd and Saturday the 23rd, the New South Wales Police Force found parcels containing approximately 124 kilograms of cocaine washed ashore between Sydney and Newcastle. Authorities are now conducting forensic examinations, while encouraging citizens to report any suspicious activity.

Closing with the Arctic Ocean. Mead Treadwell, former Chair of US Arctic Research Commission, published an article on Wednesday the 20th on Must Read Alaska, discussing the potential US extension in the region and highlighting different strategies to explore and manage hypothetical acquired lands. The author remarked on Article seventy-six of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that might justify the US extension in the territory, and then proceeds to address economic, security, environmental and international challenges and considerations.

Aaand that's it for this week!

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