Maritime traffic hits rock bottom –n°2
Here we are for the Morning Midas, 5,000 metres below sea level, 830 km from Adak Island, one of the 302 Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea between Alaska and the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Morning Midas, which had been on fire since June 3, was operated by the London-based company Zodiac Maritime. The wreck contains 3,048 vehicles, including 70 electric and 681 hybrid, 350 tonnes of diesel and 1,530 tonnes of fuel oil, plus fuel for combustion engine and hybrid cars.
“On the Trail” n°45, the defaunation bulletin
“On the Trail”, English version
“A la Trace”, French version
Quarterly information and analysis report on endangered animals poaching and smuggling
No. 45
1,022 events between April 1 and May 31, 2024
261 illustrations and 4 maps
809 sources, 172 pages, 6.6 MB
White flag on nuclear sites – 2
4:45 p.m
A few days after Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine, the NGO Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) was the first, or among the first, to stress the urgent need to impose the inviolability of nuclear sites in war zones that international diplomacy has been unable to prevent (1).
Peace for whales
The President of the French Republic will pay a formal visit to Greenland on Sunday June 15, 2025, more than a year after the inauguration of the European Union office in Nuuk by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission. He will hold talks with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Prime Minister of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Maritime traffic hits rock bottom
On May 25, 2025, the dilapidated container ship MSC Elsa 3, which was certified as suitable for sea transport by the French group Veritas, sunk south of Kochi, State of Kerala, India. Fifteen days later, a white tide of plastic pellets is invading ports and beaches. Twenty-five kilogram (plastic) bags of pellets wash up on the shore as well. Fishing is banned in a large area. This means desolation for the coastline and thousands of fishermen who live there. The government of the Indian Union is trying to reassure them. Currently 100 meters below sea-level, the wreck of the Elsa 3 should be raised from the seafloor to recover all of the containers in her hold. All the containers that were on the bridge are already adrift. Initial findings suggest that a malfunction in the ballast water tank filling system caused the sudden and uncontrollable list.
Vultures: the other pet peeve
A preview of the “On the Trail” bulletin
European Union
Vultures are on their way to becoming as abhorred by agricultural France as wolves. Local press titles are unleashed, boosted by testimonials of farmers who claim to have seen (or almost seen) 50, 100, 200 vultures or more dive down on a newborn calf and his mother and eat both of them as easily as the average person would eat a hamburger.
MSC, Luxury and Misery
The Swiss-Italien maritime company MSC plays both sides.
The third largest cruise company worldwide, MSC just commissioned two World Class mega-cruise ships from the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire with great fanfare: 3.5 billion euros for “Choose France” and mass tourism (see press release of May 31, 2017).
Fibs kill boas
A preview of the “On the Trail” bulletin
The Indian border police seized 202 Indian sand boas (Gongylophis conicus) from the bags of Alif and Talib Mal in Ghewmari, Dhubri District, State of Assam, India, at the beginning of May.
For a ban on nuclear weapons
On Sunday, January 26, 2025, Robin des Bois joined Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese association awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize representing the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in a peaceful demonstration in front of the Ile Longue nuclear ballistic missile submarine base, 10 km as the crow flies from the centre of Brest urban area (Department of Finistère, Brittany), which has a population of over 200,000.
Shipbreaking is broke, including in India and Bangladesh
The demolition of merchant vessels is almost at a standstill, which does not avoid death in the shipbreaking yards.
Syrian chemical weapons
In 2013 and 2014, Robin des Bois published 6 information notes accompanied by maps, based on its culture of war waste management and telephone conferences with the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) and its experts concerning the destruction of components of Syrian chemical weapons on board a US Navy factory ship, the Cape Ray.
Shell abuse
On the 80th commemoration of the Normandy landings, Robin des Bois publishes its 9th inventory of discoveries and blasting of unexploded ordnance after the wars.
Nuclear Confusion
The meeting of the HCTISN (High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety) on March 28, 2024 was enlightening.
According to Jimmy Energy’s management heard at the meeting, an agreement in principle will be announced on April 22 with a food processing plant in the Grand Est region of France, for the construction of a 20-megawatt high-temperature nuclear reactor whose stated utility will be to supply carbon-free industrial heat. The mayors of the siting town and four neighboring towns have already been informed, and are respecting a confidentiality clause contrary to their basic obligations to inform the municipal councils and their citizens. According to Robin des Bois’ information, this pioneering industrial site is the Cristal Union/Cristanol complex at Bazancourt in the Marne department, which includes a sugar refinery and France’s largest bioethanol production plant. The Cristanol distillery is subject to the Seveso high threshold directive and co-produces animal feed and alcohols for the cosmetics industry.
Russia/Ukraine
Nuclear, gas, forest fires, maritime safety…
Publications of Robin des Bois on the war in Ukraine and the French-Russian nuclear issue:
“Ukraine : Robin des Bois keeps a close watch on grain”, August 2, 2022
“La guerre du nucléaire”, 8 juin 2022 (Only in French)
“Le gaz russe avance masqué – suite”, April 26, 2022 (Only in French)
“Ukraine/Russie. Exclusif : les cargos et les marins otages de la guerre”, April 20, 2022 (Only in French)
“L’Union fait la farce”, April 14, 2022 (Only in French)
“Les roublards” (Gaz et Nucléaire), April 7, 2022 (Only in French)
“Arrivée du Clean Planet au terminal gazier de Dunkerque”, March 30, 2022 (Only in French)
“Le virus russe”, March 25, 2022 (Only in French)
“Russian gas is covering up”, March 18, 2022
“Despite the tensions, the current flows”, March 7, 2022
“Russian gas on the trail”, March 4, 2022
“White flag on nuclear sites”, February 28, 2022
“The Atom of Discord”, February 25, 2022
“Sanctions against Russia: will they dare?”, February 24, 2022
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Robin des Bois was founded in France in 1985 by pioneers of environmental protection. The NGO’s orientation is decided on by a board elected by the member’s General Assembly and carried out by 8 full-time staff members with multidisciplinary skills. Robin des Bois’ objective is the protection of Man and the Environment by means of all forms of research and non-violent action. Words are our only weapon. On ground investigations, bibliographic synthesis, publishing reports, press releases, letters to authorities, regular participation to a dozen institutional consulting groups and international conventions: we are at work with our grey matter, solid boots and a good dose of flair. We put forward technical, historical, geographical, sometimes philosophical arguments, with a strong will to remain concrete and constructive.
Robin des Bois is supported by a national and international network of supporters and professionals in areas such as the maritime community, anti-environmental criminality, risk management, waste and polluted sites. The NGO is not affiliated to any political party. Our campaigns require perseverance and are to be carried out over the long term. Robin des Bois also takes legal action and part took in the success of the historical law suit concerning the Erika oil spill, and such without the help of a lawyer. The NGO is in France accredited for the protection of the environment.
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