The Titan Submersible Imploded & more– 27th June 2023

Ahoy from xxx! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 27th of June twenty twenty-three… A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater

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Other deaths at the sea in a significantly larger number were found in the Mediterranean Sea, right across Greece, after a fishing boat from Libya, crowded with more than 700 migrants, sank on its way to Italy. Many citizens protested against the inaction of the Greek Coastguard and generally the Greek government's policies on migration. Many individuals were arrested. If the Greek Coastguard had intervened sooner more lives could have been saved. Greek authorities have so far rescued more than 100 migrants and recovered around eighty bodies from the sea. Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, the chairman of Pakistan’s Senate, declared that 300 of the missing people were Pakistani nationals, although this information hasn’t been confirmed by the Greek authorities yet.

The catastrophe happened just a few days before International Refugee Day. On Tuesday, the 20th of June, the world commemorated all the people that were forced to flee from their countries. More than 108 million people were forcibly displaced due to persecution and human rights violations at the end of last year. Focusing on this year and specifically on the Mediterranean situation, the refugees and migrants arriving by sea to the so-called “countries of entry” (Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta) were over 74 thousands, of whom 70% were men, 10% were women and 20% were children. Only this month, June twenty twenty-three, authorities reported a total of 9,185 arrivals by sea.

The climate impact of shipping will be soon under examination in a summer meeting of the International Maritime Organization (or IMO). The shipping industry has failed to limit its greenhouse gas emissions. Up to date, it remains the only industry that is not reducing emissions to keep the global temperature from increasing by two degrees Celsius. States are now under pressure as the IMO meeting approaches, because they are legally responsible to tackle the climate impact of shipping. The three biggest shipping companies in the world are all European, followed by China, Singapore and South Korea in the top ten. The environmental issues with shipping concern air, water and oil pollution, as they emit particles of Black Carbon produced by combusting marine fuel.

Water pollution is also impacting the seasides: in England, many businesses are closing due to the increase in pollution levels. Sewage discharges are affecting the whole East seaside from Scarborough to Whitstable. Red flags are going up on all the beaches of the area. Poor water quality has always been a problem in this area, but for the first time, there is a complete shutdown of all the activities and businesses. The data are alarming: in twenty twenty-two, an average of 825 sewage spills per day have been reported only in England.

Leaving Europe and moving to the American continent, The International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, also known as OPRC, held a meeting in Cuba in the middle of June to prepare governments on designing effective plans to respond to an oil pollution incident. The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Centre-Caribe was in charge of delivering the workshop. Participants acquired knowledge of hazards faced by responders, the impact of an oil spill on the local environment, as well as oil spill contingency planning, response strategies and tactics, and resource management.

In the state of California, toxic algae are killing hundreds of dolphins and sea lions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (or NOAA) have reported that one thousand marine animals got sick or died in June. These algal blooms are generally a threat only in Summer, but climate change may prolong their presence. This alga produces a toxin called domoic acid that makes a large number of marine animals ill. These blooms can also pose risks to human health, as consuming fish contaminated with toxins from the blooms can make people sick. However, the California Department of Public Health actively monitors these toxin levels to ensure public safety. Humans have tried to approach sea lions and dolphins stranded on the beach, but this can be very risky because the animals become very aggressive due to the toxins.

Moving on, the Annual Day of the Seafarer was celebrated on Sunday, the 25th of June. Due to their extensive time spent at sea, seafarers play a crucial role in safeguarding the marine environment. The IMO’s campaign this year for Seafarer Day consisted of asking the seafarer to share a picture showcasing the marine environment surrounding them during their time at sea, highlighting the importance of its conservation and the need for its protection. There are over 1.8 million seafarers worldwide working on internationally trading merchant ships, and the number will most likely rise to respond to the increasing demand. Most seafarers are from the Philippines, followed by China, Indonesia, and Russia.

In other news, in the last weeks, orcas have been attacking boats on several occasions. On Thursday, the 22nd of June, a pod of orcas attacked two sailing teams during an international competition, the Ocean Race, that also collected climate data. The sailors, who are also scientists working part-time, engage in a competition aboard equipped boats to collect data on the effects of climate change on the oceans. The attack happened in the Atlantic Ocean, while two boats were directed to Gibraltar. The orcas pushed up against and bit the boats but they didn’t sustain any damage and the sailors weren’t injured. On Monday, the 19th of June, orcas also attacked a yacht near Scotland, making it the first such incident in the Northern seas. It seems that the phenomenon is spreading outside the area of Gibraltar. It is possible that the orcas are teaching each other such behavior and reproducing it beyond Spain and Portugal, where this kind of behavior was first spotted. What it’s still not clear is the reason for this increase in interaction with human vessels: it might be due to food scarcity or because they are just playing around.

A luckier sailing competition (as no orcas attacked any boat this time) was the Women on Water Regatta held in Stockholm this last weekend, on the 24th and the 25th of June. The Swedish GKSS Ladies' team won a place in the finals of the Women's Sailing Champions League that will be held in September. Each team had to compete in nine races over the weekend, and the GKSS crew won six of them, ensuring their position in Denmark for the upcoming Champions League.

Starting from the 1st of July, the Suez Canal Authority (or SCA) will introduce extra charges for ships that transport floating units on their decks while traversing the Canal. The ships will be required to pay transit fees equivalent to 100% of the floating Suez Canal Gross Tonnage ( or SCGT) unit.

And to close this edition, on Tuesday the 27th of June the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries voted on an agreement that will change the existing fisheries control regulations, focusing on ensuring transparency and implementing the new control devices. The agreement was reached three weeks ago with the Council of the EU, and it has already raised some doubts: industry representatives are insisting that the new technological instruments will not solve the obstacles created by the Common Fisheries Policy (or CFP), such as Landing Obligations that they have asked to revise multiple times. According to the representatives of the European Association of Fish Producers Organisations (or EAPO) and Europêche (the representative body for fishermen in the European Union), the regulations impose economic burdens on fishing operations.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

See you next week!