Russia and Finland Sign Icebreaker Deal for Baltic Sea

Russia and Finland have signed an agreement on the provision of mutual icebreaking services in a bid to improve navigation in the eastern Gulf of Finland.

The new rules will allow Finnish icebreakers to operate in Russian territorial waters in return for financial compensation, said a statement posted Monday on the Finnish Transportation Ministry website.

In accordance with the agreement, Russian icebreakers will also help ships at Finnish ports, though all operations in territorial waters will be subject to prior approval.

Russian Transportation Minister Sergei Aristov and his Finnish counterpart Harri Pursiainen were prompted to sign the icebreaking accord following a particularly harsh winter in 2010 when conditions in the gulf were tough, said a statement on the Russian ministry's website.

The transportation ministers also signed an amendment to an existing road transport agreement that will allow Russian transport operators to carry higher weights in Finland, the statement added.
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost part of the Baltic Sea and borders Russia, Estonia and Finland.
[themoscowtimes.com]
17/9/14

Japan hopes to expand its territorial waters /Erupting island rises south of Tokyo (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

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The Japanese government hopes to expand its territorial waters as a result of the occurrence of a large volcanic formation in the Pacific Ocean, which can later become a full-fledged island.

This was announced today at a press conference in Tokyo by Chief Cabinet Secretary, Esihide Suga.

“If this formation becomes a real island, the area of our territorial waters will increase”, - he said.


In the area of ​​the newborn island, columns of ash arise to a height of about 600 meters from the water. Hot stones are been thrown in the air. The situation is being monitored by a patrolling aircraft of the Coast Guard.
http://indian.ruvr.ru/news/2013_11_21/Japan-hopes-to-expand-its-territorial-waters-4479/
21/11/13
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• A volcano eruption has raised a small islet in the sea off the Japanese coast. The Japanese Coast Guard has issued a warning as the new land mass is spitting steam, black smoke, ash and rocks.

The new island is part of the Ogasawara chain, also known as the Bonin Islands, a group of some 20 uninhabited islands located approximately 1,000 kilometres from the Japanese capital. The islet is estimated to be about 200 meters in diameter.
The new island may be eroded away just as quickly as it appeared, but it also may become a permanent part of the chain, volcanologist Hiroshi Ito, who travelled with the Coast Guard, told the FNN news network.
The eruption on Thursday is the first reported in the area since the mid-1970s. Most volcanic activity there goes undetected, because it goes on deep on the seabed along the Izu-Ogasawara-Marianas Trench.
The Japanese government is quite sensitive about the country’s territorial supremacy and have a number of border disputes with neighbours. It welcomed the unexpected addition.
"If it becomes a full-fledged island, we would be happy to have more territory," governmental spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.............fotos & video.... http://rt.com/news/japan-sea-volcano-eruption-066/
21/11/13
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