Camagüey takes actions favoring the protection of turtles

The Ministry of Fishery in Cuba promotes actions among the people living in the coastal areas toward the preservation of the turtle, an endangered marine species, on which Cuba will soon set the closed time for its capture.

Biologist Idania Lee González, of the Empresa Pesquera e Industrial Camagüey (EPICAM), said that the MIP together with the National Office of Inspection would carry out the programme Sustainable Fishery in the locations of Cocodrilo and Nuevitas. The purpose is to halt the legal and poaching capture of the Hawksbill, the Caguama and the Green turtles that have been for many years source of food for the people living near the coasts. With this move, Cuba joins the countries that started the closed season recommended by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, of which the Caribbean nation is signatory since 1990. The expert informed that starting in 2008 and for a period of ten years, the MIP will ban the capture of the turtle.
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Olympic sailing venue showcased

Weymouth and Portland - hosts of the sailing events at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games - will be represented at the London Boat Show.

The borough's entry to the January 2008 exhibition, overseen by the council will reflect its growing reputation as a key location for marine business. The stand will showcase current regeneration and development projects. The existing sailing academy is now being transformed into "a world class training and competition venue". Weymouth and Portland Borough Council gave planning permission for the £21m Portland Marina at Osprey Quay in June. The plans include a 560-berth marina, to be sheltered by the stone breakwater. There will also be an on-shore reception centre with washrooms, showers and laundry facilities and a restaurant bar overlooking the harbor. Work is due to be finished by the end of 2008.
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Japanese sign US$ 239 million loan for Mombasa container terminal

Japan has planed to invest US$239.05 million in the Mombasa Port Development Project.

This will involve the construction of a second container terminal that would double Kenya's capacity by 2018. The second terminal at Mombasa will be built over three phases to handle 1.2 million TEU. The facility will cover a site measuring 100 hectares and it will be next to the Kipevu Oil Terminal, a kilometre from the existing container terminal. The Project will involve dredging the port's channel to 15 metres and the widening a turning basin, to accommodate larger vessels. This development comes, as the Port of Mombasa, the largest in the region, has been experiencing traffic growth in recent years owing to a rise in the economies of the countries it serves. The second container terminal is intended to ease congestion at the port.
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Most WA projects back on stream

More oil and gas projects are resuming operations after the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a cyclone warning as tropical storm Melanie moved away from the coast of Western Australia.

Woodside's Cossack Pioneer project will re-start production today after the floating production, storage and offloading vessel was reconnected. Production was shut down at Cossack Pioneer and Enfield on Dec. 29. Enfield resumed production on Dec. 31. Santos' Mutineer Exeter, also shut-in on Dec. 29, re-started production late last night and is now producing 5,000 b/d of oil. Mutineer Exeter, which produced at an average rate of 27,890 b/d in the third quarter, has been producing at a reduced rate of between 4,000 and 5,000 b/d due to electrical damage to subsea pumps. The operator's Griffin oil field, however, has remained offline, as attempts to reconnect the FPSO were unsuccessful under unfavourable weather conditions.
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Ship that ran aground with 'danger' cargo is towed to safety

Coast guards last night succeeded in refloating a large container ship with 27 crew on board which had ran aground in the Dover Strait off the coast of Kent.

The 90,465-tonne LT Cortesia was en route to the Suez Canal when it hit the Varne Bank, nine miles south of Dover harbour. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said no one on board had been injured and the ship appeared watertight.
The vessel was carrying 4,148 containers, some of which was "hazardous cargo", but they were reported to be secure. The exact nature of the materials on board was unknown. Three commercial tugboats took an hour to pull the vessel off the sandbank and they then towed it to an anchorage three miles off the town of Deal.
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Conservationists condemn plans for Chukchi Sea petroleum leases

The U.S. government will open up nearly 46,000 square miles off Alaska's northwest coast to petroleum leases next month.

Environmental groups that contend the industrial activity will harm polar bears and other northern marine mammals condemned this decision. The Minerals Management Agency planned the sale in the Chukchi Sea without taking into account changes in the Arctic brought on by global warming and proposed insufficient protections for polar bears, walrus, whales and other species that could be harmed by drilling rigs or spills. The lease sale is among the largest acreage (hectarage) offered in the Alaska region. The MMS announced it would hold a lease sale Feb. 6 in Anchorage for the ocean floor on the outer continental shelf of the Chukchi Sea, the body of water that begins north of the Bering Strait and stretches between northwest Alaska and the northern coast of the Russian Far East. The MMS is a branch of the Interior Department.

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Three die after sea turtle meal

Three people died and two were admitted at the hospital in critical condition after feasting on the meat of a sea turtle.

The victims from Ngomeni area, some of them anglers, have eaten the meat of the endangered marine creature whose hunting has been banned under the Wildlife Act and which is under protection by a number of conservation groups. One of the deceased villagers, identified as Mohammed Sura was buried early Tuesday while those admitted to hospital are responding well to medication. Those admitted are both seasoned anglers while it is not clear whether the three deceased persons, who included a young boy, were also anglers.
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