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IMO convenes Sub-Committee on Preventing and Responding to Pollution
The twelfth meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) was held from 27 January to 31 January 2025 in London. Three working groups on marine biosafety, prevention of air pollution from ships and plastic waste from ships, as well as two drafting groups on the revision of MARPOL…
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Japan Fukushima water storage tank disintegration
On February 3, Kyodo News reported that Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that the dismantling of storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which have been emptied of contaminated water, will begin as early as this month. 7 discharges of contaminated water will be carried out in fiscal year 2025, totaling about…
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Discharge Violation by Greek Shipping Company
January 31, 2025 – Greek shipping company Eurobulk is facing legal penalties in the United States for violating the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) and falsifying records after its crew discharged oily bilge water directly into the sea, failing to use an oil-water separator, and connecting to an oil-water separator through fresh water, on the vessel…
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Ecuador Beach Pollution
Ecuador’s Galapagos National Park Authority recently said that Los Marinos and Oro beaches on San Cristóbal Island have been closed to the public because of contamination of seawater that exceeds the limits set by environmental regulations. The seawater was tested for excessive levels of fecal coliform bacteria, as well as other harmful chemical and organic…
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Hawaii’s Marine Debris Problem
Hawaiian waters in the United States have been facing a serious marine debris problem. A large amount of plastic garbage and discarded fishing gear floats on the sea surface or piles up on the beach. This trash not only affects the marine landscape, but also entangles marine organisms, causing them to be injured and die,…
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China’s Hainan Marine Ecological Restoration Achieves Fruitful Results
January 26, 2025 – Hainan has implemented a series of marine ecological protection and restoration projects with remarkable results. Through the salt field restoration and wetland ecological restoration project, the old city village of Danzhou City has retreated from the breeding area, carried out micro-topographic transformation, restored the ancient salt field, mangrove wetland and sandy…
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TEPCO plans to discharge Fukushima nuclear effluent
The announcement by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) that it plans to discharge about 54,600 tons of sewage from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea by 2025 has sparked widespread controversy and concern. Neighboring countries, such as China and South Korea, have expressed strong concern, and international environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, have…
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Kerch Strait Oil Spill
According to the International Energy Network (IEN) on January 24, 2025, satellite images verified by the BBC reveal that a large amount of oil has spread into the Kerch Strait between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula. Earlier, two tankers suffered serious damage in the Black Sea, resulting in an oil spill. The Volgoneft-239 ran aground…
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Nice, France Bans Large Cruise Ships from Docking
January 26, 2025 – The city of Nice, the second-largest city on the Mediterranean coast of southern France, has announced that, as of July 1 of this year, it will prohibit the docking of cruise ships with a capacity of more than 900 passengers or a length of more than 190 meters. The reason is…
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China Marine Police 2024 Law Enforcement to Protect Marine Resources and Ecology
On January 20, 2025, according to the Chinese Marine Police, in 2024, the Chinese Marine Police Bureau carried out the “Blue Sea” special law enforcement action, and marine police agencies at all levels seized more than 250 cases of pirated mining of sea sand, illegal use of the sea, illegal dumping, and threats to the…