Latest news with #ThomasTraasdahl
The Star
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Estonia says Russia detained a tanker in Baltic Sea
FILE PHOTO: Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna speaks during a press conference after a meeting of the Foreign ministers from the member countries of the Nordic-Baltic Eight, NB8, at the island of Bornholm, Denmark, Tuesday April 29, 2025. The member countries in the NB8 cooperation are the three Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as the five Nordic countries Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark . Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS/File Photo TALLINN (Reuters) -Russia detained a Greek-owned oil tanker on Sunday after it left an Estonian Baltic Sea port, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said, adding that it had alerted NATO allies to the incident. The Liberia-flagged ship Green Admire was leaving Sillamae port using a designated navigation channel that crosses Russian territorial waters, the ministry said in a statement. "Today's incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably," said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. "I have also informed our Allies of the event." The Green Admire had departed Sillamae port on Saturday 18:40 GMT, and on Sunday afternoon was anchored near Russia's Hogland island, according to Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels. The ship was bound for Rotterdam with a load of Estonia's shale oil, said the Estonian Transport Administration. The navigation channel out of Sillamae through Russian territorial waters has been set up under an agreement between Estonia, Finland and Russia to avoid shallows in the Estonian waters, the administration said. Vessels sailing into and out of the port will now be guided through Estonian territorial waters, it added. The Baltic has seen confrontations at sea over what NATO countries have described as Russian efforts to evade sanctions and sabotage undersea cables and pipelines. On Thursday, Estonia said Russia had sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea after an attempt to stop a Russia-bound tanker thought to be part of a so-called 'shadow fleet' used by Moscow to evade sanctions. (Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Peter Graff)
Straits Times
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Estonia says Russia detained a tanker in Baltic Sea
FILE PHOTO: Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna speaks during a press conference after a meeting of the Foreign ministers from the member countries of the Nordic-Baltic Eight, NB8, at the island of Bornholm, Denmark, Tuesday April 29, 2025. The member countries in the NB8 cooperation are the three Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as the five Nordic countries Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark . Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS/File Photo TALLINN - Russia detained a Greek-owned oil tanker on Sunday after it left an Estonian Baltic Sea port, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said, adding that it had alerted NATO allies to the incident. The Liberia-flagged ship Green Admire was leaving Sillamae port using a designated navigation channel that crosses Russian territorial waters, the ministry said in a statement. "Today's incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably," said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. "I have also informed our Allies of the event." The Green Admire had departed Sillamae port on Saturday 18:40 GMT, and on Sunday afternoon was anchored near Russia's Hogland island, according to Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels. The ship was bound for Rotterdam with a load of Estonia's shale oil, said the Estonian Transport Administration. The navigation channel out of Sillamae through Russian territorial waters has been set up under an agreement between Estonia, Finland and Russia to avoid shallows in the Estonian waters, the administration said. Vessels sailing into and out of the port will now be guided through Estonian territorial waters, it added. The Baltic has seen confrontations at sea over what NATO countries have described as Russian efforts to evade sanctions and sabotage undersea cables and pipelines. On Thursday, Estonia said Russia had sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea after an attempt to stop a Russia-bound tanker thought to be part of a so-called 'shadow fleet' used by Moscow to evade sanctions. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
France expels Algerian officials in tit-for-tat measure, minister says ties 'totally blocked'
FILE PHOTO: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot speaks during a press conference on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, Tuesday April 29, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS/File Photo PARIS - France's foreign ministry summoned a senior Algerian diplomat on Wednesday to inform him that Paris was expelling Algerians holding diplomatic passports without visas in a response to a decision by Algiers to expel 15 French officials. "France reserves the right to take additional measures depending on how the situation evolves," the ministry said in a statement after summoning Algeria's charge d'affaires. It did not say how many people were expelled. France's ties with its former colony have long been complicated, but took a turn for the worse last year when President Emmanuel Macron angered Algeria by backing Morocco's position over the disputed Western Sahara region. There had been a short-lived thaw in tensions last month after Barrot visited Algiers, but a week later tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions once again strained ties. Algeria's press agency APS reported on Monday that France's charge d'affaires had been informed that 15 French diplomatic agents were in irregular positions and would be expelled. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM television on Wednesday that ties were now "totally blocked." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Danish firm Orsted halts huge UK offshore wind farm project
Orsted posed lower-than-expected sales in the first quarter (Thomas Traasdahl) Danish renewables firm Orsted said Wednesday it was shelving plans to build a massive wind farm off the UK coast due to rising costs, dealing a setback to Britain's clean energy goals. The 2,400-megawatt Hornsea 4 project would have complemented two existing Orsted wind farms and a third under construction. But Orsted said in a statement that the project "has seen several adverse developments", including rising supply chain costs, higher interest rates and an increased risk in building it on the planned timeline. "We've decided to discontinue the development of the Hornsea 4 project in its current form," Orsted chief executive Rasmus Errboe said. "The adverse macroeconomic developments, continued supply chain challenges, and increased execution, market and operational risks have eroded the value creation," he added. The existing Hornsea 1 and 2 wind farms and the Hornsea 3 project will have a combined capacity exceeding five gigawatts. Orsted said shelving the Hornsea 4 project would cost the company between 3.5 billion and 4.5 billion kroner ($533 million and $685 million). "I'd like to emphasise that Orsted continues to firmly believe in the long-term fundamentals of and value perspectives for offshore wind in the UK," Errboe said. "We'll keep the project rights for the Hornsea 4 project in our development portfolio, and we'll seek to develop the project later in a way that is more value-creating for us and our shareholders." The British government said it would work with Orsted to revive the project. "We recognise the effect that globally high inflation and supply chain constraints are having on industry across Europe," said a spokesperson for Britain's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. "We will work with Orsted to get Hornsea 4 back on track," the spokesperson said. Orsted was already dealt a $4 billion blow in 2023 when it cancelled wind farm projects in the United States, a crucial market for the group. Now the entire sector faces a major challenge in the United States after President Donald Trump froze federal permitting and loans for all offshore and onshore wind projects. Orsted also reported first-quarter results on Wednesday showing sales rose eight percent to 20.7 billion kroner, lower than the 21.7 billion kroner forecast by analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet. Its net profit, however, nearly doubled to 4.8 billion kroner. cbw/lth/yad
