Latest news with #AmazonRiver
Travel Weekly
5 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
CroisiEurope unveils ship name and itineraries for Brazil river cruises
River cruise line CroisiEurope announced its new Amazon itineraries in Brazil, which will begin in 2027. The itineraries will be offered on the line's new river ship, the 32-passenger Brasilian Dream, and will focus on eco-tourism on the Amazon. The line will operate three 11-day itineraries. Amazon & Rio Negro will sail roundtrip from Manaus, Amazon & Rio Tapajos will cruise between Manaus and Santarem, and Cruise Along the Amazon Between Brazil & Colombia will operate between Manaus and Tabatinga. The cruises will visit major parks and UNESCO sites, where passengers will observe the region's wildlife in dinghies and dugout canoes. Guests will embark on nocturnal excursions and visit river villages. The four-deck Brasilian Dream will have vibrant colors and local artwork inspired by Amazonian culture. Lodging consists of 16 suites with private balconies, including two presidential suites. The ship also will feature a restaurant serving Brazilian-inspired dishes, spa, fitness room, sun deck and conference room. The Brasilian Dream will have an advanced wastewater treatment system and solar panels. More information, including prices, will be unveiled in July.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Amazon itineraries have been revealed for CroisiEurope's new luxury river cruise ship
Canoe trips along the Amazon and meetings with indigenous communities are among the experiences that cruise line CroisiEurope is set to offer as the brand prepares to debut on the world's longest river in 2027. The European river cruise will debut RV Brasilian Dream in 2027 with three 11-day itineraries to choose from – The Amazon & Rio Negro round trip from Manaus, The Amazon & Rio Tapajos between Manaus and Santarém, and Cruise Along the Amazon Between Brazil & Colombia, which sails between Manaus and Tabatinga. From January to June, cruise passengers will be able to explore the flooded forest by canoe, getting up close to river dolphins and aquatic birds. Between July and December, itineraries will focus on the region's white sandy beaches and abundant wildlife along the riverbanks. Highlights of the cruises will include visits to major parks and UNESCO-type protected areas, while passengers will be able to observe wildlife in dinghies and from dugout canoes. There will also be meetings with indigenous communities, evening excursions and visits to villages on stilts along the riverbank, plus the chance to learn about local crafts, plants and produce and a variety of on-board lectures. Further details, including dates, prices and when bookings will open will be announced at the beginning of July 2025. The cruises will take place on the new 32-guest RV Brasilian Dream, a four-deck ship inspired by Amazonian culture. Accommodation includes 16 suites with private balconies, including two presidential suites suspended between the sky and water. There will also be a gourmet restaurant serving Brazilian-inspired dishes, a spa, fitness room, sun deck and a conference room. As part of its commitment to protecting and preserving the Amazon, CroisiEurope said it is implementing the latest eco innovations, including engines that meet the strictest environmental standards, an advanced wastewater treatment system and solar panels that will allow the ship to shut down its generators at night and operate on batteries.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on protecting the Amazon: forest defenders must have support
It doesn't start for six months, but the build-up to the UN's annual climate conference is already well under way in Brazil. Hosting the tens of thousands of delegates who make the trip is a big undertaking for any city. But the decision to host Cop30 in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon river, has multiplied the complications. After three consecutive Cops in autocratic nations, the stated aim of Cop30's chair, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, is to make this year's event a showcase for civil society, including the Indigenous groups and forest defenders who play such a vital role in conservation. But the lack of affordable accommodation and other infrastructure, as well as the distance that must be travelled to reach the Amazon port, mean this commendable ideal will be hard to realise. Dom Phillips' posthumously published book, How To Save the Amazon: A Journalist's Deadly Quest for Answers, is a compelling reminder of what is at stake. It is nearly three years since he was killed along with Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian government employee whose job was monitoring isolated Indigenous groups. The pair were on the way back from a trip to the remote Javari valley. The search and investigation were initially botched. Two men will go on trial for murder later this year. Phillips and Pereira understood the risks they ran, in struggling to document the destruction that was then taking place. Between 2019 and 2023, under the far-right presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, progress on rainforest conservation went into sharp reverse and deforested areas grew rapidly. Illegal loggers, miners and ranchers effectively had carte blanche, as the agencies tasked with upholding environmental regulations were weakened and disbanded. Over the same period, and encouraged by the government's laissez-faire approach, competition between drug traffickers over lucrative smuggling routes intensified. Owing to its remoteness, the Javari reserve, near the border with Peru, became a key battleground. Under President Lula the situation has stabilised. His environment minister, Marina Silva, is the right person to oversee the government's policy of zero net deforestation by 2030. But plans to expand the country's fossil fuel production are impossible to square with these environmental goals. The risk that global heating and deforestation could cause a mass dieback of the rainforest, triggering the release of vast stores of carbon, continues to trouble scientists. At the same time, doubts are growing about whether this year's deadline for certification of the beef supply chain as deforestation-free will be met. Under strong international pressure, JBS, the world's largest meat company, is putting new systems in place. But the huge number of farmers (Brazil has a cattle herd of 240m), the terrain, gaps in land registration, and systems set up to bypass checks, mean the prospects for success are not high. Having the global spotlight on the forest should at least focus minds. The Amazon's biodiversity, and role in climate regulation, make it too important to lose. Indigenous defenders, some of whom worked with Pereira and Phillips, continue the vital work of championing the landscape that is their home. The journalist's book, completed by his friends, shows the urgency of supporting their courageous efforts.
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Petrobras gets a win in Amazon drilling push but future licensing in doubt
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 20 (Reuters) - A decision by Brazilian environmental agency Ibama on Monday will let state-run oil firm Petrobras ( opens new tab move a step closer to drilling for oil in a coveted offshore region, but it came with an important caveat for future permits in the area. Documents seen by Reuters show Ibama head Rodrigo Agostinho warned in his decision against "disorderly multiplication of future requests for environmental licenses" in the Foz do Amazonas basin, an oil frontier near the mouth of the Amazon River. The area, in the northernmost part of Brazil's Equatorial Margin, is considered Petrobras' most promising oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab is developing huge fields. But Agostinho said it would be hard to issue "fragmented and successive exploration licenses" in the Foz do Amazonas basin without a complex environmental study known as an AAAS that could take years to complete. Ibama had previously requested an AAAS to evaluate Petrobras' bid, but Brazil's solicitor-general issued a legal opinion that such a study should not hold up licensing. Agostinho's renewed demand adds to uncertainty about future licensing in the region, where Brazil is preparing to offer new blocks at a June auction. For now, the agency chief granted approval to a Petrobras proposal for how it would assist local fauna in the event of an oil spill in the environmentally sensitive region, which includes vast coral reefs, opens new tab and coastal Indigenous communities. Petrobras said it welcomed the decision on Monday, taking it as a green light to run a test of its environmental emergency plan, which it called the last step before a final licensing decision. The progress for Petrobras represents a loss for Ibama's technical staff, which had signed a document in February saying the plan to rescue fauna in case of an oil spill had only a "remote possibility" of being successful. In 2023, Ibama denied a Petrobras request to drill in the area, which the company immediately appealed, stoking divisions in Brazil's government between environmental advocates and allies pushing for oil and gas development in the region.
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Inside the hunt for deathtrap narco-subs that smuggle £120m of cocaine each and flood Britain with cocaine
The sleek submarines, each painted cobalt blue to match the ocean, cut through choppy waters at remarkable rates. Zipping from south America to Europe, each one is designed to carry the maximum amount of weight possible, and as a result can carry a maximum of three people who are trapped inside for weeks at a time with one job in mind. Cartels are now on the offensive in the war against drugs, and have been spending heavily on their research and development to come up with their latest innovation - narco subs. Authorities estimate that each vessel costs around $1million (£750,000) to make. They aren't armed, instead relying on camouflage to evade detection from investigating authorities whose resources are already stretched thin. The submarines are made deep in the jungles of south America, where cartels rule and are accountable to no one thanks to dense thickets hiding their activities. 'Narco submarines are being built in rivers and mangroves. That's why, for example, the Amazon river in Brazil, is perfect. As soon as you open Google Maps, you realise it's a labyrinth of islets and mangroves and tributaries', Javier Romero, a local journalist, told the Wall Street Journal. 'You can hide a shipyard, then you can build it, put it into the water, and with the cover of darkness you launch it into the night.' The first was spotted in European waters in 2019, and revealed how far ahead trafficking gangs were in the cat-and-mouse game that the war on drugs has become. One that was recently caught by Spanish authorities was believed to have travelled over 4,000 miles from Brazil to Europe over the course of 27 days, highlighting the sophistication of these machines. Romero said: 'It was evidence that there is no control over the issue. The bad buys are way, way, way ahead of the good guys.' So far, at least three narco-subs have been caught near Spain, though authorities estimate that as many as 30 may have avoided detections. Galicia, Spain, has long been considered to be the perfect hub of trafficking. Its rocky coastline means there are countless nooks and crannies for drugs to be pushed onto land, before they're send to distributors. And for decades, the region has had significant cultural ties with Latin American cartels, meaning the human infrastructure need Though these vessels are a new phenomenon in Europe, they have reportedly been used for decades in South America. One vessel caught by drug cops was said to have been carrying 3,000kg of cocaine. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), this submarine was carrying nearly £249,000 worth of cocaine into Europe. As a result, port authorities across Europe are being overwhelmed by cartels. The continent takes in 90million shipping containers each year, and authorities are only able to search between two and 10 percent of containers that sit in their ports. Last year, Royal Navy commandos stormed their first 'narco sub', seizing two-tonnes of cocaine. Royal Marines based on patrol ship HMS Trent made the historic bust during a patrol in the Caribbean. The secret underwater submarine is used by drug cartels to ferry huge quantities for narcotics around the world. Powered by twin electric engines, the stealthy boats can glide undetected under the waves, carrying up to six-tonnes of drugs. A boarding team made up of Royal Marines from 47 Commando, specialist sailors and US Coast Guard personnel, clambered aboard the vessel in waters 190 nautical miles south of the Dominican Republic. The crack team of operators seized 2,000kg of cocaine, striking yet another huge blow to the Caribbean drugs trade. It is one of the largest seizures by British personnel of recent years. The bust is the eighth carried out by Portsmouth-based HMS Trent, which has stropped £750m of drug reaching Britain in just seven months.
