EU Ocean Deal & more – 24th Oct 2023

Ahoy from Tibidabo! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 24th of October twenty twenty-three A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater.

The World Wildlife Fund European Policy Office, Seas At Risk, ClientEarth, among other organizations, recently published a joint Manifesto for the twenty twenty-four European elections. Despite the European Union working on the “European Green Deal” to make its economy more environmentally friendly, these organizations argue that the deal doesn’t consider the ocean and its needs. The Manifesto calls for three specific actions to protect the oceans: firstly, adopting an “EU Ocean Deal” so that all EU member states acknowledge the protection, preservation, and management of the ocean; secondly, creating an EU Ocean Fund to make sure the money is used to achieve policy objectives; lastly, establishing an Ocean Committee in the European Parliament that will oversee the EU Ocean Deal and the EU Ocean Fund.

On Thursday, the 19th, the global ocean exploration nonprofit OceanX signed an agreement with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO to support the implementation of the Ocean Decade, also called the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, held from twenty twenty-one to twenty thirty. OceanX will participate with a Blue Zone pavilion in the twenty twenty-three UN Climate Conference to celebrate the cooperation. The agreement includes collaboration for several projects, like crafting international communication, making OceanX expedition data accessible to the public, and sponsoring initiatives with scientific partners.

Talking about projects, a Japanese Consortium called Class NK, working on a project sponsored by the government for next-generation zero-emission shipping, reports that they got the design approval for the proposed layout of hydrogen-fueled vessels. The design consists of a multi-purpose cargo ship with a fuel tank and hydrogen-powered propulsion system. It will take three years to build the vessel. Class NK announced the project in May twenty twenty-three, and successfully tested hydrogen fuel injection for a low-speed two-stroke engine. Demonstration travels for the vessel will take place in twenty twenty-seven.

Still on vessels. Berge Bulk, a firm based in Singapore, has launched the most powerful sailing cargo ship. The vessel, called Berge Olympus, is a bulk carrier retrofitted with four mega steel sails that cut fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions. Berge Olympus weighs 210,000 tonnes and will save six tonnes of fuel daily thanks to its four WindWings installed, which utilize wind power. Each of the four WindWings is twenty meters (or sixty-six feet) wide and thirty-eight meters (or 125 feet) tall. Berge Olympus will sail between Brazil and China, a route famous for its favorable wind conditions.

Moving on to the Black Sea. Ukraine reported that more than fifty vessels have passed through the Black Sea’s corridor. The ships' identity and time of passage were not disclosed for safety reasons, as the Russian Naval Force keeps making threats. Still, the three main seaports in Ukraine are all accepting ships. On Tuesday, the 17th, three other bulkers departed from the Odessa region, following this safe route that goes from Ukraine, passing through Romania, moving along the western shoreline of the Black Sea, with Turkey as the final destination. All vessels cruising in the area are not announcing Ukrainian ports as points of departure or destination. The maritime traffic continues to flow despite the delicate situation between Russia and Ukraine, ensuring grain exports from the latter.

From Ukraine to Japan. The International Atomic Energy Agency (or IAEA) is currently on a mission to test the conditions of sea and marine life around Fukushima’s nuclear plant for radioactive content. The mission aims to test seawater, seabed sediment, and seafood near the power plant. The mission started on Monday the 16th, the same day Russia joined China in suspending the import of Japanese seafood and will last until Monday the 23rd. Experts from Health Canada, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, and the Third Institute of Oceanography of China’s Ministry of Natural Resources are collaborating to understand if there are differences between their results and the lab’s. It’s the first time a Chinese lab has joined IAEA monitoring missions in Japan since they started in twenty fourteen

Did you find this story interesting and wanna know more? Head over to the Roroshok Multilateral Update, link in the show notes! .

…and from Japan to Denmark. On Friday the 13th, a cargo ship caught fire and continued burning throughout the weekend. It took thirty hours for the firefighters to extinguish the fire. The small coastal cargo ship didn’t report any damage or casualty: the firefighters prevented the vessel from capsizing and the fire from spreading to a nearby warehouse. The large amount of smoke from the fire was concerning, but it moved over uninhabited areas due to the wind and the fire department’s efforts. The vessel, Ann Rousing, arrived in Copenhagen overnight on Friday from Odense, Denmark. Ann Rousing was handling scrap metal, and it’s still unclear if the fire started because of the metal itself or in some other part of the ship.

In other news, scientists from England’s University of Plymouth conducted a new study in the Indian Ocean, saying that corals now reside in deeper waters because of global warming. They have to go deeper to find colder waters. They are bleaching because of an irregular oscillation of ocean surface temperatures, where different areas of the Indian Ocean become first warmer and then colder, alternatively. The oscillation caused the damage of 80% of coral reefs in depths of the seabed that scientists previously thought were resilient to warming.

Moving on, The Soufriere Marine Management Association (or SMMA) started an awareness campaign in Castries, the capital of Saint Lucia, to educate the general public on preserving the island’s marine life. The association has worked for the sustainable use and maintenance of the Soufriere coast since nineteen ninety-five. Harold Dalson, Chairman of the SMMA, said the area is currently congested with diverse sea users, especially after the pandemic: boat charters, dive shops, water taxis, yachters, fishermen, property owners, and swimmers, all share the same coast. The association is promoting cooperation between all sea users so that everyone will benefit from the coast.

From Saint Lucia to Alaska. Billions of crabs went missing in the area. Scientists believe that the warmer ocean temperatures have made crabs disappear from Alaska since their food lives in cold water, causing them to starve to death. On Thursday, the 19th, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a new study that found a significant connection between the heat wave in the Eastern Bering Sea and the disappearance of the crabs, which has been consistent since twenty twenty-one. A few days before the study was published, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game canceled the snow crab harvest season in the Bering Sea for the second year in a row.

Did you find this story interesting? Head over to the Rorshok Arctic Update to know more! Link in the show notes!

In other news, Rock Pool Project, a Cornwall and Devon social enterprise encouraging marine conservation, is organizing an event of Marine Life Safari in October. The event, called “The Changing Tides Bioblitz,” is held in Gyllyngvase Beach, in Falmouth, and consists of participants finding and identifying as many species as fast as possible. The Rock Pool Project set a challenging goal for the attendees: finding over 300 marine species in only six hours. The free event includes talks from leading marine experts, a climate change film screening, trade stalls, and food vendors at the Princess Pavilion on Melvill Road.

Closing with the Vietnamese coastal province of Quang Ninh, which recently opened areas for watersports and aimed to promote tourist activities in HaLong Bay. During the summer season, the proposed activities will include kayaking, rowing, speed boat riding, parasailing, and paragliding. The goal is to facilitate businesses’ investments in developing tourism services.

And that’s it for this week!

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