Latest news with #MaritimeExecutive
Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Electric cars became a major headache for Israel amid its conflict with Iran
A general view shows the city of Haifa and its port. (AFP) Notify me The Israel-Iran conflict has caused significant destruction on both sides. With hundreds of missiles and drones flying from both sides and attacking each other, it has become a major conflict zone and headache for the rest of the world as well. The Israeli authorities are very much concerned about electric cars parked at the country's ports and other infrastructure. The Maritime Executive has reported that Israeli officials urged companies to prepare to move out electric vehicles from the ports. Authorities are reportedly afraid of a massive EV fire, which could be sparked by an Iranian missile attack. The officials reportedly asked the companies to relocate the vehicles to open lots, away from the country's critical infrastructure. The report has stated that in order to prepare for further escalation of the conflict with Iran, Israel's Administration of Shipping and Ports has ordered car importers in the country to prepare to evacuate all electric vehicles from the country's seaports. The report further added that authorities want electric vehicles out of key ports such as Haifa and Ashdod. The Port of Haifa is the busiest port in Israel. Nearly 20 million tons of cargo pass through the port every year, which makes it an attractive target for Iran. Why Israel wants EVs out of ports? Electric vehicle fires have been known as notoriously hard to extinguish due to the intensity of the fire. Over the last one decade, several EV fire incidents across the world have been reported, which have involved major injuries as well as death. While electric vehicles catching fire is not common, and the EV battery is less vulnerable to thermal incidents compared to fossil fuels like petrol and diesel, once an electric vehicle catches fire, it is nearly impossible to extinguish. The EV batteries emit immense heat during a thermal incident, which increases the intensity of the fire significantly. With hundreds of electric vehicles parked at the ports, a missile strike could result in a devastating fire incident. This concern has prompted the Israeli authorities to order the car importers in the country to move the EVs out of the ports. Get insights into Upcoming Cars In India, Electric Vehicles, Upcoming Bikes in India and cutting-edge technology transforming the automotive landscape. First Published Date: 24 Jun 2025, 09:14 AM IST
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Spoof ad promotes fake mascot ‘Scrubby Greenwash' to LNG execs
The latest issue of the trade journal Maritime Executive has an unusual advertisement tucked between the articles and editorials on the global shipping industry. The ad promotes the communications and marketing agency GreenCurrent Group, which it says supports maritime and energy businesses that invest in liquefied natural gas (LNG), 'the most exciting and misunderstood marine fuel'. If this seems unremarkable, the text becomes more absurd further down the page: 'Mitigating the practical and reputational risks of LNG investment is possible through robust energy efficiency measures … but there is an easier, more cost effective solution,' it says, offering a 'free branding consultation'. Want to learn more? Scan a QR code on the page to view a video. If the ad copy didn't make you raise your eyebrows, where the QR code leads surely will. It depicts executives from the LNG-powered cruise line Royal Caribbean, which has promoted LNG as the 'cleanest burning fossil fuel', working to protect their reputation and profits amid increasing awareness of the climate crisis. To do so, they do not phase out LNG. Instead, they hire a bright green sponge mascot named Scrubby Greenwash. 'Scrub, scrub, scrub sad facts away,' a jingle in the video goes. In case you've not yet caught on, GreenCurrent Group does not exist. The spoof ad was placed in the leading maritime and offshore industry publication by the Yes Men, an American-based collective of activist pranksters. The group, which has been engaging in similar stunts for 25 years, is perhaps best known for infiltrating various industry convenings while posing as bigwigs from the World Trade Organization, McDonald's, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil and other powerful organizations. Since 2003, they have produced three films about their work. The Yes Men's latest project is a critique of the trade media 'for uncritically publishing pro-LNG propaganda', said Natalie Whiteman, a Yes Men activist who worked on the prank. 'A lot of the LNG producers, transporters and industry leaders who read Maritime Executive are trying their hardest to convince the public that LNG is clean, and not a powerful heat-trapping fossil fuel with leakage problems at every step of the supply chain,' she said. 'But science keeps telling people the truth, which is bad for business, and also annoying.' It is also a send-up of fossil fuel greenwashing by the cruise industry, which activists have long called out for its toxic pollution and contributions to global warming. 'Scrubby helps LNG purveyors, shipping companies, cruise lines – anybody who's getting a bad rap for investing in LNG – to transform bad news into good news and good news into more money,' said Whiteman sarcastically. 'He is greenwash incarnate. Scrubby protects companies from public scrutiny the same way they protect themselves, through a dirty smokescreen of misleading marketing tactics.' The Guardian has approached both Maritime Executive and Royal Caribbean for comment. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Whiteman said she hoped the ads remind LNG producers that 'profiting off of expediting planetary collapse is generally frowned upon'. The fuel source is almost entirely composed of methane, a planet-heating gas with more than 80 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide in the short term. She noted that the advertisement was not difficult to place – a sign of the 'maritime industry's willingness to push aside ethical responsibilities in order to turn a profit'. 'That, or the editors can't read,' she said. The Yes Men prank comes amid increasing scrutiny of the role of fossil fuel marketing in climate delay. A group called Clean Creatives, for instance, has for years pushed creative agencies to cut ties with the oil and gas industry. It also comes as part of a wave of parody advertisements meant to call attention to the fossil fuel industry's contributions to the climate crisis. Other notable examples have been produced by the Oscar-winning director Adam McKay's Yellow Dot Studios, the anti-gas non-profit Gas Leaks Project, and the non-profit media organization Fossil Free Media. Jamie Henn, a founder of Clean Creatives and Fossil Free Media, said the latest Yes Men prank is 'great'. 'The industry relies on lying to us to push their product,' he said. 'Calling out that greenwashing is one of the best strategies we have to combat fossil fuel expansion.' The US is the largest exporter of LNG. Joe Biden last year paused new permits for exports pending a review, a move that his successor, Donald Trump, swept aside on the first day of his second term last month.
Russia Today
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Germany probes freighter traveling from Russia
German maritime police have stopped and boarded a tanker in the Kiel Canal linking the North and the Baltic seas, on suspicion it damaged an undersea cable off the Swedish island of Gotland, Handelsblatt reported on Wednesday. The incident reportedly took place last week, coinciding with the disruption of the C-Lion 1 communications cable between Finland and Germany. The Antigua-flagged freighter Arne was reportedly en route from St. Petersburg, Russia to Seville, Spain. On February 19, the Swedish authorities announced a suspected 'disturbance' to the C-Lion1 subsea cable. The damage, however, 'did not affect the functionality of telecommunications connections running in the cable,' Cinnia, the operator, said in a statement. The Maritime Executive news outlet reported that Arne's speed fluctuations and course drew the attention of NATO's monitoring mission in the Baltic Sea. The German Federal Marine Police dispatched patrol vessels to monitor and escort the freighter to Kiel Bay. German police inspected the tanker, noting that it was missing an anchor, which raised concerns about its potential involvement in the cable incident, the report said. But after a three-hour questioning of the crew, the vessel was allowed to continue its journey. The ship, which several reports claimed has ties with Russia, is a 27-year-old freighter flagged in Antigua and owned in Latvia, according to the Maritime Executive and VesselFinder. The freighter investigation follows a string of incidents involving damage to critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Western officials have speculated about Russian involvement but have refrained from leveling direct accusations. Moscow has dismissed the allegations as 'absurd.' Meanwhile, NATO has increased its Baltic Sea presence and stepped up patrols in the region on the pretext of protecting undersea infrastructure from the alleged Russian threat. Moscow has said the Baltic Sea – a strategic area for Russia's naval operations and energy exports – has become an 'internal lake of NATO' after Finland and Sweden joined the US-led military bloc. The expansion left Russia controlling only a small portion of the coastline.
