The Baltic Sea could become a leader in climate-smart shipping – but unclear regulations are slowing progress
The Baltic Sea region has strong potential to take a lead in the transition to climate-smart marine fuels, but faces delays due to high costs and unclear political policy direction. This is highlighted in a new report from IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, in which Port of Luleå is studied.
The new report, which examines market conditions among the eight countries around the Baltic Sea, shows that hydrogen-based electrofuels – such as electro-ammonia and electro-methanol – will be crucial for meeting climate targets. Shipping is one of the sectors where transition to fossil-free operations is progressing slowly. The report shows that energy companies and ports see these new fuels as essential in the long term, but stakeholders hesitate to invest because of uncertainity about future demand or which fuel type will dominate. John Sundvall, Technical Director at Port of Luleå, confirms this and sees the development of renewable fuels as a necessity to meet future requirements from shipping companies and industry.
– In northern Sweden, a major energy transition in industry is underway, which could also benefit shipping. As a transport hub and one of EU’s strategically designated ports, we naturally want to contribute to this transition. It is possible to build infrastructure here for both bunkering and export, but for us to invest, the market needs to become more secure, he says.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 1 Dec
Announcements are published as a service to readers. The sender is responsible for all content. Announcements for publication can be submitted to announcements@thehanseatic.com.
Offshore Center Bornholm continues to grow and strengthen its local network. We are pleased to welcome five new member companies, all contributing valuable competencies to the island’s maritime and energy ecosystem.
With these new members, Offshore Center Bornholm further reinforces its position as a strong platform for collaboration across maritime, logistics, construction, and service sectors—supporting the development of large-scale offshore and energy projects around Bornholm.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 1 Apr
From mid-September, DFDS will significantly strengthen freight and passenger services on the Karlshamm-Klaipeda route with the introduction of newly chartered vessel Ciudad de Valencia.
The vessel will almost triple passenger capacity compared to the ship it replaces, while also providing additional freight space. This upgrade will enhance service reliability for customers and support DFDS’s continued growth in the Baltic Sea region.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 2 Apr
How can freedom and security coexist in an increasingly complex world? Join us in Lübeck, Germany, from 2–5 July 2026 for four days of collaboration, creativity, and impact at [#b_hack] – the Baltic Sea Region Hackathon 2026.
This year’s edition invites young people from across the Baltic Sea Region to explore the theme “Free and Secure Societies. Working together in challenging times.” Through innovation and teamwork, participants will tackle real-world challenges and develop ideas that strengthen both individual freedoms and collective security.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
State services are already fully digitalised for citizens in Estonia, but there’s more to improve in the business sector. Enterprise Estonia is rolling out three new grant schemes totalling €10M to help companies automate data exchange — both between businesses and between the private and public sectors.
The initiative sits within Estonia’s broader real-time economy (RTE) agenda, which aims to eliminate manual data handling by ensuring information flows automatically, in standardised formats, to the right parties at the right time. This will enable automated annual reports, real-time payroll submissions, and live inventory management — rather than PDFs and email attachments.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
A new report shows that Finland’s current large-scale trawl fishing in the Baltic Sea results in a socio-economic loss of nearly five million euros per year. This is at a time when several fish stocks are at dangerously low levels. Calculations also show that a new fisheries policy shifting focus from industrial trawling to primarily coastal fishing for food fish could generate socio-economic benefits of up to 25 million euros annually.
Finland’s herring catches in the Baltic Sea have fallen significantly since the peak year of 2016. Despite catches falling by nearly 60 per cent, several fish stocks are at critically low levels. Previously valuable and prized food fish such as Baltic cod and salmon have declined dramatically and can no longer be fished due to fishing bans.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
Metsä Group has launched a preliminary planning project for the first commercial biogenic carbon dioxide capture plant. As part of the plant’s financing plan, the company has submitted an application to a reverse auction organised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, which awards investment grants to clean transition projects.
The potential facility would be located adjacent to Metsä Group’s Rauma pulp mill, and its nominal capacity would be approximately 100,000 tons of captured wood-based carbon dioxide per year. The carbon dioxide would be captured from the mill’s flue gases. This would be a commercial production facility, and its planned capacity would be the first step toward a larger scale: at Metsä Group, the long-term carbon dioxide capture potential from wood is several million tons per year. Carbon dioxide can be used as a raw material in the chemical and fuel industries, among others, and can replace the use of fossil raw materials.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 31 Mar
From December 2027, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) will be fully applicable, forcing manufacturers of connected products to guarantee cybersecurity throughout the entire lifecycle or lose access to the EU market. For German SMEs, this means urgent upgrades to existing products without halting production. Estonian software engineering company Proekspert specialises in exactly this task—bringing legacy products up to CRA standards without redesigning hardware.
“For many manufacturers, the Cyber Resilience Act is not a future problem. It is already embedded in products currently on the market. Industrial drives and configuration tools are a good example: almost every product with digital elements is now a potential point of attack. Security can no longer be treated as an add-on,” says Marco Spielmann, CEO of Proekspert.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 31 Mar
Dependence on imported raw materials has made Europe vulnerable, exposed to supply chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty. Smart regulation is needed to create a level playing field for circular materials, products and business models, and to encourage innovation and reduce environmental pressures.
The European Union is currently formulating the Circular Economy Act (CEA) as a decisive step towards a competitive and more sustainable Europe. This presents a critical opportunity to move Europe’s circular economy from ambition to delivery.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 31 Mar
Members of the Executive Board of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have expressed their dismay to learn that the proposed amendments to the Law on Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) are currently scheduled to be discussed by the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) after Easter without any due consideration being given to recommendations from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, nor to the critical observations expressed by the Seimas’ own legal experts and both the national and international journalist communities
The Executive Board – whose members are the leaders of 8 public service media organizations throughout Europe – stressed again on behalf of the EBU and their own organizations that the current draft law would only further increase the vulnerability of LRT to political pressure and thus severely undermine LRT’s public service remit and vital role in providing the Lithuanian public with independent, reliable and pluralistic information.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar
The Airbus ‘Bird of Prey’ interceptor drone successfully completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In a realistic mission scenario, it autonomously searched, detected and classified a medium-sized one-way attack (kamikaze) drone. After successful identification, the Bird of Prey interceptor engaged the target with a Mark I air-to-air missile developed by defence tech start-up partner Frankenburg Technologies.
“Against the current geopolitical and military backdrop, defending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority that urgently needs to be tackled,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO Airbus Defence and Space. “With our Bird of Prey and Frankenburg’s affordable Mark I missiles, we are providing armed forces with an effective, cost-efficient interceptor, filling a crucial capability gap in today’s asymmetric conflict theatres. The integration of Bird of Prey into Airbus’ air defence battle management suite IBMS acts as a force multiplier.”
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 30 Mar