/articles

  • Barcelona Will Supersize its Car-Free ‘#Superblocks’

    Since the Spanish city of Barcelona introduced its first “superblock” in 2016, the concept of carving out islands of car-free space by routing traffic around multi-block areas has been influential in cities around the world. Now the Catalan capital plans a major super-sizing of the idea: Over the next decade, Barcelona will convert its entire central grid into a greener, pedestrian-friendly area almost totally cleared of cars.

    At a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Ada Colau announced that 21 streets in Barcelona’s Eixample district will become a kind of super-superblock — vehicle traffic will only be permitted around the perimeter, leaving streets within the district only accessible by motor vehicle to residents, essential services or deliveries. By all-but-barring cars, Barcelona will free up space for 21 new pedestrian plazas at intersections.

    These squares and streets will be planted with trees that will shade 6.6 hectares (16 acres) of new green space when mature, in a zone that will contain an extra 33.4 hectares of pedestrian space. With work beginning in 2022 to a budget of 38 million euros ($45 million), the plan represents one of the most thorough revamps of a major European city so far this century. It is an attempt, Mayor Colau said in a statement, to “think of the new city for the present and the future — with less pollution, new mobility and new public space.”

    The new district is an order of magnitude larger than the first Superilla (“Super-island” in Catalan) in the district of Poblenou. Taking over nine city blocks, the 2016 redesign banished through-traffic to streets on its border. Within the block, car lanes were narrowed, and vehicles that still made it inside were required to give way to pedestrians and restricted to a maximum speed of 10 kilometers per hour. A further six superblocks have since been introduced. The city has long expressed an aspiration (albeit without a fixed end date) to ultimately transform its entire surface area with superblocks — this week’s announcement is the largest step towards that goal to date.

    In a city of few parks and extreme population density, the superblocks have proved to be an effective way to free up street space for other uses, including new squares, public seating areas and tree-lined green avenues. But they have also faced resistance from motorists, who in the past have organized demonstrations to protest the car restrictions.

    Those objections may re-emerge given the scale of the new superblock announced Wednesday, which covers one of the densest sections of the city. So large the city is referring to it as the “Barcelona superblock,” the project will probably prove more difficult to implement than those installed in quieter areas. While bustling parts of the city have been given the superblock treatment before — the current plan will extend from a smaller existing superblock around the Sant Antoni covered market — they have never extended for as great a distance as the new zone. The city is thus proposing a staggered introduction, one that starts by redesigning intersections along a single east-west axis and extends gradually across the neighborhood.

    The plan kicks off with a public competition to create four new plazas along a main artery in the area — the Carrer del Consell de Cent — which is being revamped, along with three intersecting streets. From these four streets, the superblock will gradually march across the district until all 21 streets have been remodeled by 2030.

    This is a process made somewhat easier by the connecting street in question having already been partly redesigned to permit more social distancing during the pandemic. Indeed, while the superblock expansion is not being framed by the city as a response provoked by Covid-19, the widespread adoption of remote work during the pandemic and the partial emptying of business districts has provided an opportunity to call for a reset to the ways urban space is used, and by whom, when the crowds return.

    The exact design of these streets will be chosen from a public competition in May 2021, but the city has already created some tight specifications: At least 80% of the street should be shaded by trees in summer, while at least 20% of surfacing should be permeable, and half of this total planted with grass, to allow the ground to soak up rainwater and improve flood resilience. Priority should be given to creating safe spaces for children and older people, while all public areas need to be equipped with drinking fountains.

    While the upheaval involved in the project — and the ultimate extension of the superblock model across all Barcelona — could be considerable, so is the public health payoff. The city believes it could free up 70% of its current road space for active travel and recreation space if it reaches its aspiration of covering its whole surface area in superblocks, slashing air pollution, carbon emissions and noise pollution in the process. Expanded tree cover could also reduce summer temperatures. According to a 2019 study published in the journal Environment International, a full realization of the city’s 503-block plan could prevent 667 premature deaths per year.

    That transformation is still years off, but the announcement of the new super-superblock suggests that the city is well on its way.

    The Catalan capital’s celebrated pedestrian-first zones are expanding to cover most of the city center, Mayor Ada Colau announced.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-11/barcelona-s-new-car-free-superblock-will-be-big
    #piétons #Barcelone #urbanisme #trafic #villes #urban_matter #car-free #Eixample #Superilla #îlots
    #TRUST #master_TRUST

  • Amazon Drops ‘Draconian’ Policy on Making Games After Work Hours - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-12/amazon-drops-company-policies-on-game-development-after-backlash

    Amazon.com Inc. withdrew a set of staff guidelines that claimed ownership rights to video games made by employees after work hours and dictated how they could distribute them, according to a company email reviewed by Bloomberg.

    Amazon abandonne ses prétentions sur les droits d’exploitation des jeux vidéo développés sur le temps libre de ses salariés, les forçant jusque là d’abreuver l’écosystème d’Amazon.

    #jeu_vidéo #jeux_vidéo #amazon #business #propriété_intellectuelle #droits_d'exploitation #boutique #ecommerce #aws #amazon_web_services

  • Il aura fallu trois jours pour éteindre l’incendie de la méga-batterie Tesla en Australie
    Préparons-nous à ce nouveau type de catastrophe.
    https://korii.slate.fr/tech/technologie-incendie-mega-batterie-tesla-neoen-australie-victoria-pompie
    Repéré par Thomas Burgel sur The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/02/tesla-big-battery-fire-in-victoria-burns-into-day-three

    Il y a quelques semaines, des experts britanniques tiraient la sonnette d’alarme : les « fermes à batteries » installées à tour de bras un peu partout dans le pays pour compenser les intermittences des énergies renouvelables constituaient de véritables bombes à retardement https://korii.slate.fr/tech/technologie-fermes-batteries-stockage-lithium-ion-danger-incendies-explo .

    Ce risque d’explosion et d’incendie est depuis longtemps connu pour la technologie lithium-ion, mais les exemples sont effectivement appelés à se multiplier. Comme fin juillet à Moorabool dans l’État de la Victoria en Australie, où une « méga-batterie » Tesla de 13 tonnes a explosé puis pris feu https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/30/22602411/neoen-tesla-megapack-fire-victorian-big-battery , mettant les soldats du feu du cru dans une position délicate.

    D’une puissance de 300 MW et produite par la firme française Neoen https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/energie-environnement/tesla-et-le-francais-neoen-veulent-construire-une-nouvelle-batterie-geante- , la « Victorian Big Battery » était en cours d’installation et en phase de tests initiaux https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-30/fire-erupts-at-tesla-big-battery-in-australia-during-testing . L’incident n’a heureusement fait aucun blessé ni mort, et n’a pas impacté la fourniture énergétique de la Victoria.

    Il n’a cependant pas été sans conséquence : une alerte aux fumées toxiques a été émise par les autorités pour les communautés avoisinantes, auxquelles il a été demandé de soigneusement se calfeutrer https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/fire-breaks-out-during-testing-of-victorian-big-battery-near-geelong-2021073 pour éviter tout risque d’intoxication.

    Une première, pas la dernière
    « Il nous semble que c’est la première fois au monde que nous devons faire face à l’incendie d’une méga-batterie », a expliqué Ian Beswicke, chef des pompiers de la zone repris par The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/02/tesla-big-battery-fire-in-victoria-burns-into-day-three .

    « Ces feux de méga-packs sont complexes à combattre, car on ne peut pas se contenter de les noyer sous l’eau : ça ne fait que prolonger la durée de l’incendie. »

    Les soldats du feu ont donc pris conseil auprès d’experts de la chose, à commencer par ceux de Tesla. La solution ? Refroidir ce qui entoure l’incendie pour éviter la contagion, et attendre que la chose se consume d’elle-même.

    C’est ce que les pompiers ont fait. Il aura finalement fallu plus de trois jours pour qu’ils puissent déclarer l’incident sous contrôle, et qu’ils commencent à surveiller la zone en cas de récidive.

    Le temps de l’enquête peut désormais advenir : ces batteries géantes étant appelées à se multiplier partout dans le monde, ses conclusions seront sans doute scrutées de très près.

    #fermes_à_batteries #batteries #méga-batteries #Australie #Neoen #méga-packs #pompiers #incendies #Tesla et ses #batteries de merde #elon_musk #énergie #technologie #innovation #technologisme #électricité #transhumanisme

  • Blizzard Employees Call For Strike After Discrimination Lawsuit - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-27/blizzard-employees-call-for-strike-after-discrimination-lawsuit

    Employees at Activision Blizzard Inc. are calling for a walkout on Wednesday to protest the company’s responses to a recent sexual discrimination lawsuit and demanding more equitable treatment for underrepresented staff.

    Jason Schreier sur Twitter :
    https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1420148025448611847

    Blizzard told employees this afternoon it will offer paid time off to those participating in tomorrow’s walk-out

    #jeu_vidéo #jeux_vidéo #activision_blizzard #grève #marche #protestation #contestation #emploi #ressources_humaines #sécurité_au_travail #harcèlement #discrimination #business #arbitrage #recrutement #salaires #rémunération #transparence #revendications #syndicalisme

  • Activision Blizzard (ATVI) Staff Sign Petition Supporting Discrimination Lawsuit - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-26/activision-blizzard-staff-sign-petition-supporting-labor-lawsuit

    Nearly 1,000 current and former Activision Blizzard Inc. employees have signed a letter calling the company’s responses to a recent discrimination lawsuit “abhorrent and insulting.”

    #jeu_vidéo #jeux_vidéo #activision_blizzard #ressources_humaines #emploi #business #courrier #scandale #procès #justice #harcèlement #souffrance_au_travail #frances_townsend #discrimination_au_travail #sécurite_au_travail

  • Inside Activision Blizzard’s Botched Warcraft III: Reforged Game - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-22/inside-activision-blizzard-s-botched-warcraft-iii-reforged-game

    Blizzard Entertainment’s disastrous remake of the classic video game Warcraft III last year was the result of mismanagement and financial pressures, according to newly revealed documents and people with knowledge of the failed launch. The release also reflected Blizzard’s significant cultural changes in recent years, as corporate owner Activision Blizzard Inc. has pushed the developer to cut costs and prioritize its biggest titles.

    #jeu_vidéo #jeux_vidéo #blizzard #blizzard_entertainment #activision_blizzard #warcraft_iii_reforged #jeu_vidéo_warcraft_iii_reforged #business #emploi #santé #finance #ressources_humaines #licenciements #culture #j._allen_brack #échec #déception #remake #remaster #précommande #jeu_vidéo_starcraft #starcraft

  • Netflix (NFLX) To Offer Video Games on Its Streaming Platform - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-14/netflix-plans-to-offer-video-games-in-expansion-beyond-films-tv

    The idea is to offer video games on Netflix’s streaming platform within the next year, according to a person familiar with the situation. The games will appear alongside current fare as a new programming genre — similar to what Netflix did with documentaries or stand-up specials. The company doesn’t currently plan to charge extra for the content, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

    #gaas #jeu_vidéo #jeux_vidéo #streaming #netflix #business #game_as_a_service

  • #Projet_Liberté, un projet de réseau social (ou, plus exactement, d’infrastructure sur laquelle bâtir un réseau social) avec une chaîne de blocs (continuez à lire : c’est sérieux), des identités auto-gérées et de la décentralisation.

    Le site officiel : https://www.projectliberty.io

    Le protocole sous-jacent : https://www.dsnp.org #DSNP

    Le papier blanc, plutôt sérieux :
    https://github.com/LibertyDSNP/papers/blob/main/whitepaper/dsnp_whitepaper.pdf

    C’est porté par un milliardaire, via son institut #McCourt (partenariat avec SciencesPo https://newsroom.sciencespo.fr/premier-partenaire-academique-en-europe-du-mccourt-institute-sci)

    Un article dans les médias en français : https://www.leparisien.fr/high-tech/donnees-personnelles-frank-mccourt-investit-100-millions-de-dollars-dans-

    En anglais : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-20/real-estate-mogul-frank-mccourt-has-a-100-million-plan-to-replace-faceboo

    #décentralisation_Internet #réseau_social

  • Rural Italy Had a Pandemic Renaissance. Can It Last ?

    After thousands of young workers fled urban lockdowns to the countryside, village leaders are trying to make sure they stay. It’s easier said than done.

    A Medieval hamlet perched in the Madonie mountains of Sicily, Castelbuono looks straight out of a fairy tale, with narrow, winding streets and a stone-walled castle from the 14th century.

    Yet despite years of local efforts to turn it into a cultural hub through tourism and the establishment of an international music festival, Castelbuono has been shrinking for decades. Since the late 1960s, entire families across southern and central Italy have fled to the wealthier north in search of employment, as agriculture, textile mills and other industries declined. As a result, some 2,500 villages across the country are disappearing, with more than 2 million empty houses.

    But Covid-19 brought an unlikely reversal in that trend. Even as the virus tore through Italy’s rural interior and south, it also drew a wave of young adults and expatriates into its declining towns. Once relegated to weekend escapes from urban fatigue, centuries-old villages like Castelbuono — called “borghi” in Italian, or “borgo” in the singular — became more attractive refuges from the claustrophobia of pandemic lockdowns, promising more space to inhabit and improved quality of life at cheaper prices.

    Now, to translate this phenomenon into a lasting post-pandemic legacy, elected leaders and grassroots organizations are taking action to improve infrastructure, rebuild community ties and push these aging villages into the 21st century as remote work becomes the new normal.

    “The pandemic created one of the biggest opportunities ever for small towns in Italy,” said Carla Cucco, a 30-year old lawyer who grew up in Castelbuono and moved back from Palermo amid the first lockdown in spring 2020. She is now living with her parents.

    Exactly how many people returned to villages last year is hard to say, especially since many Italians who previously left never gave up nominal residency. But a report by SVIMEZ, an Italian think tank focused on the economic development in the south, estimates that between 80,000 to 100,000 people moved back to these long-fading regions since the start of Covid-19, based on employer surveys. Meanwhile, demand for properties in rural areas increased by 20% last spring, according to real estate agencies.

    Some new arrivals are remaking villages so that they are more viable places to live long-term. Cucco is part of South Working, a loose network of young Italian professionals that started during the pandemic to stay connected while in isolation. Over the past six months, in cooperation with the local officials in Castelbuono, Cucco and a group of fellow returnees turned parts of historical buildings into coworking spaces. Now, when Cucco has to speak with a client in the city, she steps into what was once the cloister of an 18th-century Catholic church, now converted into an open-air conference room.

    The baroque village of Palazzolo Acreide in southern Sicily, which has lost about 7% residents in the last decade, is similarly trying to capitalize on the pandemic’s positive population effect.

    “We are not yet to the point of extinction, because despite the inevitable decrease in population, Palazzolo is still lively and can offer a lot,” said Mayor Salvatore Gallo. He estimates that hundreds of newcomers have arrived since last year to the town of 8,000, a UNESCO world heritage site rated the second most beautiful borgo in Italy in 2019.

    Before Covid hit, Gallo looked into bringing in the popular 1-euro houses program — where owners sell uninhabited homes in need of renovation for a nominal fee — that has been tried in dozens of emptied villages. But when he found that such incentives mostly function as holiday house give-aways, he decided that a better strategy for Palazzolo would be supporting projects and businesses that newcomers initiated.

    The first of those will be a FabLab, a workshop equipped with tools such as 3-D printers as well as soldering irons and textile looms. Directed by Marie-Marthe Joly, a Swiss entrepreneur, it will open this summer inside an old monastery, which Gallo made available for free.

    Enticed by the slower pace of life, Joly decided to make her move permanent after getting stuck at her holiday home in Palazzolo during the first lockdown. Through academic partnerships with the University of Geneva and the University of Catania in Sicily, she plans to use the FabLab to bring in experts to teach business, crafts and digital skills to locals.

    “Moving to a borgo shouldn’t just be a selfish decision to enjoy better food and cheaper rent, but a chance to enrich and give back to the host community,” she said.

    Yet the ability to work remotely at her university is what made the move possible. And that’s what she and Gallo — who has signed a contract for high-speed internet coverage for the entire town — hope will enable more arrivals to stay.

    As part of South Working, Carmelo Ignaccolo, a PhD student in urban studies and planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been tracking coworking hubs and places with access to high-speed internet that can cater to the needs of remote-working professionals across rural Italy; so far, the group has counted 192 locations. To better understand the level of repopulation that has taken place in some of these towns during the pandemic, he hopes to analyze mobile phone and internet use data. That could also help indicate where governments should aim for future investments, he said.

    In a kind of domino effect, several areas struggling with depopulation have already begun experimenting with ways to encourage newcomers to stay for the whole year rather than just during the holidays.

    Last July, Sicily’s regional government launched a program offering a grant of as much as 50,000 euros ($61,000) for people under the age of 30 to build social enterprises in culture and tourism in one of 23 designated villages, including Palazzolo Acreide. In September, the southern region of Molise announced it would offer 700 euros a month to those taking residency in a borgo with fewer than 2,000 residents. Another program launched in February in the mountainous northern region of Emilia-Romagna gives applicants up to 30,000 euros for the purchase or restoration of a house.

    “We are witnessing unparalleled times for the rebirth of these disappearing, yet invaluable, spaces of our national heritage. And that gives us hope for the future,” said Anna Laura Orrico, a member of Italy’s Parliament who has previously tried to make rural revitalization a national priority. For years, the government has tried to repopulate borghis through initiatives such as the 2014 “National Strategy for Inner Areas,” which aimed to develop rural areas through targeted investments in infrastructure and urban planning. But the plan’s impact has been difficult to assess, Orrico said, due to lack of monitoring.

    Now the topic has momentum. Last year, during her mandate as undersecretary of cultural affairs, Orrico’s office selected 12 villages across the country to become experimental hubs for innovative technology in the fields of environment, sustainable transportation and culture, funded through a project called “Smarter Italy.” Beginning in summer, 90 euros million will be allocated across these towns to fund diverse projects, including virtual museums and seismic monitoring.

    Some of the Recovery Plan funds that Italy is set to receive later this year from the European Union to counter the negative economic impact of coronavirus are also expected to be invested in borghi, although exact amounts are yet to be determined.

    Such investments are badly needed, as rural areas lack critical services such as secondary education, high-speed transportation, and health care. In ultra-remote parts of southern Italy, it takes an average of nearly 45 minutes to reach a hospital.

    Modernizing infrastructure and social services is key to keeping new residents for the long-term, said Fausto Carmelo Nigrelli, a professor of urban planning at the University of Catania, who has spent decades studying the economic challenges of Italy’s small villages. He believes that at least 1 billion euros is required to make rural areas more habitable. A historic lack of follow-through by the national government — as well as the pandemic’s devastating effect on the Italian economy — makes him skeptical that this time will be different.

    “This return is very encouraging,” Nigrelli said. “But if it’s not supported by concrete, effective policy planning that focuses on improving the welfare system, the risk is that, in a few years time, the emigration trend might retake its course.”

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-21/how-covid-repopulated-rural-italian-villages?cmpid=BBD052121_CITYLAB

    #renaissance #Italie #covid-19 #coronavirus #rural #campagnes #jeunes #jeunesse #travail_à_distance #Sicile #Madonie #Castelbuono #lockdown #confinement #post-pandémie #géographie #infrastructure #south_working #travail #Palazzolo #FabLab #co-working

    –—

    ajouté à la métaliste « #géographie (et notamment #géographie_politique) et #coronavirus » :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/852722

  • China’s Covid Shots Give Beijing Soft-Power Lever Around the World - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-19/china-s-covid-shots-give-beijing-soft-power-lever-around-the-world

    Soft ?

    Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy is clearly of the hardball variety. India’s desperately poor neighbors in South Asia were among those China targeted. On April 27, the same day Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi organized a virtual meeting with his counterparts in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe was in Bangladesh, pledging to enhance military cooperation. Within days, officials there gave emergency approval to the Sinopharm vaccine. Less than two weeks later, China’s ambassador to Bangladesh surprised his hosts with an unexpected warning: Any future cooperation with Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S. would inevitably damage the nation’s ties with China.

    #Chine

  • Les bonnes - et moins bonnes - affaires de Bernard-Henri Lévy Jamal Henni

    “Je n’ai, pas plus aujourd’hui qu’hier, de sympathie particulière pour ce fameux capitalisme généralisé, totalisé, déchaîné, qu’on appelle mondialisation des échanges et de la production”, assure Bernard-Henri Levy dans son dernier livre, Sur la route des hommes sans nom, paru le 5 mai. Pourtant, ce capitalisme assure la fortune et le train de vie du philosophe millionnaire. L’origine de cette fortune est connue : elle provient de la Becob, une société de négoce de bois créée par son père, André. Lorsque le patriarche décède, le 8 novembre 1995, la famille décide dans un premier temps de conserver l’entreprise, qui réalise alors 450 millions d’euros de chiffre d’affaires. Deux semaines après son décès, lors d’un conseil de surveillance, BHL rend hommage à son père qui “avait préparé sa succession avec beaucoup de sagesse [...] en associant son fils à ses décisions” (André avait notamment nommé BHL vice-président du conseil de surveillance). Le fils aîné promet alors de “mettre tout en oeuvre pour assurer le maintien du l’identité de la Becob ainsi que sa prospérité. C’est de cette façon qu’il entend rester fidèle à la mémoire de son père”, indique le procès-verbal.


    Mais, deux ans plus tard, la famille change d’avis. Elle cède les 76,9% qu’elle détient dans la Becob à Pinault Bois et Matériaux, une filiale du groupe PPR (devenu aujourd’hui Kering). Montant de la cession : 49,2 millions d’euros, indiquent les comptes. La famille aurait touché une cinquantaine de millions d’euros supplémentaires en vendant aux Pinault d’autres actifs (immobilier, filiales à l’étranger…), à en croire le livre Une imposture française de Nicolas Beau et Olivier Toscer.

    Ce pactole était en partie logé dans une holding familiale baptisée Finadeux. Son capital était réparti en trois parts à peu près égales entre les trois enfants d’André Levy : Bernard-Henri, Philippe et Véronique. Mais des désaccords apparaissent avec la soeur, qui remet en cause la stratégie de Finadeux. Finalement, en 2002, un accord est trouvé selon lequel les deux frères rachètent les actions de leur soeur. Mais ils expliquent à leur soeur que les actifs de Finadeux ne sont pas liquides, ce qui entraîne une décote de sa valorisation, qui s’élève à seulement 17,5 millions d’euros (pour 100% du capital). Mais le fisc, examinant la transaction, estime que les deux frères ont été plutôt pingres, et que Finadeux vaut en réalité presque le double (29,5 millions d’euros). BHL fait alors un recours devant la commission de conciliation du fisc, qui valorise Finadeux à 26,2 millions d’euros, et inflige un redressement de 169.576 euros aux frères Levy. Toujours trop pour BHL, qui conteste ce redressement devant le tribunal de grande instance de Paris, qui, sur la base d’une expertise, valorise finalement Finadeux à 23,6 millions d’euros, et réduit donc le redressement fiscal à 119.400 euros.

    Finadeux est ensuite absorbée par une autre holding baptisée Finaquatre, puis une autre baptisée BPL Finances. En 2008-09, BHL sort à son tour du capital, empochant à cette occasion 12 millions d’euros de cash. Toutefois, les statuts prévoient qu’il continue à toucher 20% des bénéfices en échange de “l’apport de ses compétences professionnelles, son crédit et son concours, à concurrence de 50 heures par mois”. L’an dernier, BHL a finalement repris 12,5% du capital de BPL Finances pour 347.500 euros.

    Entretemps, la fortune familiale n’a pas dormi sur un compte en banque. Selon les informations réunies par Capital, elle a été investie dans des entreprises les plus variées, en France et en Grande-Bretagne.

    Dans ces investissements, BHL a pu profiter des bons conseils de ses nombreuses relations dans le CAC 40 et ailleurs. A son mariage avec Arielle Dombasle étaient ainsi invités Liliane Bettencourt et Jean-Luc Lagardère, dont il fera plus tard l’éloge funèbre. Il revendique aussi son amitié avec François Pinault, Alain Minc, Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier... A la soirée des 20 ans de sa revue La règle du jeu https://laregledujeu.org/2010/12/02/3558/anniversaire-de-la-regle-du-jeu-les-dessous-de-la-fete , ont aussi assisté Xavier Niel, Pierre Bergé, Françoise Bettencourt, Maurice Levy, Serge Weinberg, François Henrot, Anne Méaux…

    L’industrie : un éclectisme profitable
    En 2000, BHL investit d’abord 685.000 euros dans Jaber’s Negoce, une société qui exporte sucre, farine ou riz vers l’Afrique, et créée par un négociant d’origine libanaise, Abbas Jaber. BHL revend ses parts quelques années après, pour une somme estimée à 430.000 euros. Depuis, Jaber’s Negoce s’est rebaptisé Advens et a racheté les Grands moulins de Strasbourg et Geocoton, un des principaux producteurs de coton en Afrique.

    En 2001, BHL crée une nouvelle société aux initiales de son père André, AL Industries, pour investir dans le rachat de Picard, aux côtés du fonds britannique Candover, Claude Bébéar, Louis-Jean de Nicolay (futur sénateur LR), Bertrand Collomb (PDG de Lafarge), Richard Ortiz (héritier du groupe propriétaire de Miko et Vivagel), et une mystérieuse société panaméenne, Interinvest Atlantic Inc. BHL prend un petit ticket (1,55 million d’euros) dans le rachat par LBO (leverage buy out) de la chaîne de surgelés, alors valorisée 920 millions d’euros. A peine trois ans plus tard, Picard est revendu au fonds BC Partners sur une valorisation de 1,3 milliard d’euros. La société de BHL empoche alors 2,3 millions d’euros de dividendes.

    A partir de 2006, AL Industries investit 2,3 millions d’euros dans Candover 2005 UK n°1 LP https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/LP010583 , un véhicule immatriculé à Guernesey du fonds britannique Candover. L’investissement se fait par l’intermédiaire d’une société belge, CPIW SA, qui compte aussi pour actionnaires Richard Ortiz, Philippe Beaufour (héritier des laboratoires Ipsen), et une autre panaméenne, Alca Investors Corp. Las ! La crise éclate juste après. “Les investisseurs de Candover 2005 ont perdu environ 45% de leur mise”, indique à Capital Cyrille Chevrillon, à l’époque directeur général de Candover.

    Enfin, en 2017, BHL rachète 25% de Sanotech, une chaîne de salles de sports à l’enseigne Bodyhit (ex-Bodytec club), spécialisée dans l’électrostimulation. Créée par Kevin Sanson, un coach sportif certifié, la société se développe rapidement, revendiquant aujourd’hui 110 salles franchisées dans toute la France. Sur l’exercice clos fin juin 2019, elle a réalisé un bénéfice de 141.050 euros sur un chiffre d’affaires de 1,4 million d’euros.

    L’immobilier : plutôt du flair
    BHL a aussi fait de bonnes affaires dans l’immobilier. Il a longtemps habité dans le quartier de Saint Germain des Prés à Paris dans un appartement de 350 m², dont il est locataire à partir de 1994 (pour 6.860 euros par mois), puis qu’il achète pour 2,6 millions d’euros en 2004. Cinq ans plus tard, l’appartement est valorisé 5,4 millions d’euros dans la déclaration d’ISF de BHL pour 2009. Lors d’un contrôle, le fisc estime que le pied à terre vaut plutôt 6,2 millions d’euros, et inflige un redressement de 26.830 euros à notre philosophe. Ce dernier conteste l’addition devant le tribunal de grande instance, puis la cour d’appel, mais en vain… Finalement, l’appartement est revendu en 2010 pour 7,1 millions d’euros. Entre-temps, en 2001, BHL a acheté un second appartement dans le quartier pour 680.000 euros.

    En 2012, notre philosophe migre dans le 8ème arrondissement de Paris, à deux pas de l’Elysée. Il y achète un pied à terre pour 2,9 millions d’euros, qu’il hypothèque ensuite pour 4,55 millions d’euros.

    BHL affectionne aussi Saint Paul de Vence, où il achète en 2002 une vaste demeure à une famille de la région, qui elle-même l’avait achetée en 1971 via un montage fictif mis en place pour tromper le fisc. Montant du rachat : pour 1,6 million d’euros. Mais la famille se déchirera jusqu’à la cour de cassation https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/juri/id/JURITEXT000021999851 pour savoir qui doit encaisser ce chèque… Entretemps, notre philosophe a revendu cette villa en 2014 pour 4 millions d’euros.

    Dernière terre de prédilection : le Maroc. A Marrakech, en 1998, BHL rachète à Alain Delon le palais de la Zahia https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-exclusive-tour-of-a-french-iconoclasts-moroccan-getaway-1505210280 , un riad ayant appartenu autrefois à John Paul Getty Jr. Montant de la transaction : 2 millions d’euros, selon les déclarations de BHL à Nicolas Beau et Olivier Toscer.

    A Tanger, il rachète en 2000 un palais maure de 620 mètres carrés, qui a aussi servi de maison close. Il le fait ensuite redécorer par Andrée Putman. En 2017, il remet en vente la demeure pour 6 millions d’euros. “J’ai trop de maisons à travers le monde”, explique-t-il https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-03/bernard-henri-l-vy-puts-7-million-tangier-mansion-on-the-market alors. La vente n’a visiblement toujours pas abouti, car l’annonce https://www.prestigeinternational.fr/tanger/villa_putman est toujours en ligne sur plusieurs sites.

    A côté de ces placements fructueux, BHL a aussi investi dans divers projets culturels lui tenant à coeur, le plus souvent en pure perte, mais qui pourrait l’en blâmer ? Heureusement pour lui, les montants investis étaient beaucoup moins élevés.

    La presse : des investissements à perte
    En 1975, BHL lance avec Michel Butel un quotidien baptisé l’Imprévu, financé par son père André. La diffusion s’effondre rapidement, tombant de 25.730 à 2.524 exemplaires sur Paris. L’aventure s’arrête donc au bout de onze numéros. Elle a coûté 3 à 4 millions de francs, selon la biographie BHL de Philippe Cohen.

    Dix ans plus tard, en 1985, BHL participe au mensuel Globe de Georges-Marc Benamou, dont il est un des contributeurs, mais aussi un actionnaire : il avait investi 3.800 francs pour 38% du capital. Le mensuel s’arrête en 1992, mais est relancé l’année suivante sous forme d’hebdomadaire par de riches mécènes (GAN, Crédit lyonnais, famille Vuillème...), qui rachètent notamment la marque aux actionnaires initiaux. Selon Nicolas Beau et Olivier Toscer, BHL touche à cette occasion 7,6 millions de francs.

    En 1990, BHL crée une revue baptisée La règle du jeu. Sa publication est ensuite reprise par une maison d’édition créée par BHL en 2001, LDL Editions, rebaptisée La règle du jeu SARL. A fin 2017, cette société a cumulé 248.042 euros de pertes, et affiche des capitaux propres négatifs de -240.043 euros. En 2013, BHL a cédé 25% du capital à la rédactrice en chef de la revue, Maria de França e Sila, pour un euro symbolique. Parallèlement, la revue est aussi financée par le groupe Lagardère au titre du mécénat d’entreprise (le groupe d’Arnaud Lagardère édite aussi les livres de BHL, via sa filiale Grasset).

    En 2008-09, BHL investit dans Libération, aux côtés notamment d’Edouard de Rothschild, et Carlo Caracciolo. Le philosophe apporte 113.300 euros à une holding baptisée Refondation, qui devient le principal actionnaire du quotidien. Il rentre aussi au conseil de surveillance. Mais l’argent de Refondation est rapidement absorbé par les pertes récurrentes du quotidien. En 2014, Refondation est diluée à zéro au profit de Bruno Ledoux.

    En 2011, BHL investit 20.000 euros dans le site Owni. Il raconte https://bernard-henri-levy.com/il-faut-sauver-le-soldat-shalit-pierre-olivier-sur-et-la-nouvell ainsi l’épisode : “son patron, Nicolas Voisin, fait savoir, un beau matin, que sa société est en péril. Sur quoi me vient une idée. Une idée simple. Très simple. Mais qui va marcher. L’idée est de partager la charge [entre] quelques-uns des partenaires, ou des rivaux bons camarades, ou parfois des lecteurs du site menacé. Et c’est ainsi que s’opère la levée de fonds la plus fraternelle et, sûrement, la plus rapide de l’histoire de l’Internet. De Xavier Niel à Marc Simoncini et Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier, de Patrick Bertrand à Stéphane Distinguin ou au patron de Wikio [Pierre Chappaz], tous les emblèmes du Net sont là – et le fait est, oui, qu’Owni est tiré d’affaire”. Mais les 200.000 euros ainsi levés ne suffiront pas, et Owni sera liquidé un an et demi après.

    Le cinéma : des films d’auteur coûteux au succès d’estime
    En 1993, BHL crée les Films du lendemain, une société détenue à 50/50 par la famille Levy et Artémis, le family office de la famille Pinault. Fin 2012, la société est revendue pour un euro symbolique à sa directrice générale, Kristina Larsen. Dans l’intervalle, la société, présidée par BHL en personne, a englouti 809.255 euros de capitaux, et cumulé 530.000 euros de pertes. Cet argent a servi à produire 25 films, dont une partie à la gloire du philosophe : son film de fiction Le jour et la nuit, son documentaire Bosna !, l’adaptation de son livre American vertigo, un documentaire sur sa maison de Tanger, et quelques films mettant en valeur Arielle Dombasle : le Temps retrouvé, les Âmes fortes, les Infortunes de la beauté et Gradiva. Pour le reste, les Films du lendemain ont surtout produit des films d’auteur aux budgets confortables. Mais les trois quarts des long-metrages produits ont réalisé moins de 100.000 entrées en salles. Et un seul, Lady Chatterley de Pascale Ferran, a remporté une récompense notable (César du meilleur film).

    La mode et la musique : les coups de coeur d’Arielle
    BHL s’est aussi associé à deux proches de son épouse Arielle Dombasle.

    En 2008, BHL investit 100.000 euros dans les Éditions Darré, la société de Vincent Darré, un styliste devenu décorateur. C’est un vieil ami d’Arielle Dombasle : il a dessiné sa robe de mariage puis a été directeur artistique des films réalisés par la blonde sylphide. A fin 2018, les Éditions Darré ont cumulé 338.576 euros de pertes.

    BHL s’est aussi associé avec Matthieu Tarot, le manager et producteur d’Arielle Dombasle, pour produire les disques de son épouse. Les deux hommes ont créé deux maisons de disques baptisées Tempest Music. La première, une société britannique détenue à 49% par Matthieu Tarot, a été créée en 2004 et a été dissoute en 2016, après avoir cumulé 38.000 livres de pertes. La seconde, une société française détenue à 50% par Matthieu Tarot, a été créée en 2007 et liquidée en 2015, après avoir perdu 17.955 euros cumulés.

    Contacté, l’avocat de BHL Olivier Cousi n’a pas souhaité faire de commentaires. Pour leur part, Abbas Jaber, Kevin Sanson et Vincent Darré n’ont pas répondu.
    Les résultats des Films du lendemain (en kE) => https://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/les-bonnes-et-moins-bonnes-affaires-de-bernard-henri-levy-1403144

    Les sociétés de Bernard-Henri Levy
    • Finadeux Création : 1979. Fusion avec Finaquatre en 2006. Actionnaires en 2002 : Bernard-Henri Levy (34,9%), Philippe Levy (32,7%) et Véronique Levy (32,4%). Valeur nette comptable : 46 millions d’euros en 2006. Participations : Becob, les Films du Lendemain, LDL Editions, AL Asset Management, PL Finances, SCI Aurelia (appartement à Saint Germain de Prés), ADSI (maison à Saint Paul de Vence)
    • Finatrois Création : 1998. Actionnaire : Bernard-Henri Levy (97,5%)
    • Finaquatre Création : 1999. Fusion avec BPL Finances en 2010. Actionnaires : Bernard-Henri, Philippe et Véronique Levy. Valeur nette comptable : 31 millions d’euros en 2010. Participations : les Films du Lendemain, La règle du jeu (ex-LDL Editions), AL Asset Management, PL Finances, SCI Aurelia, ADSI
    • BPL Finances Création : 2002. Actionnaires : Philippe Levy (99% de 2010 à 2020, 87,5% depuis 2020), Bernard-Henri Levy (12,5% depuis 2020). Participations : les Films du Lendemain, La règle du jeu, AL Asset Management, PL Finances, SCI Aurelia, ADSI, Sanotech
    • PL Finances Création : 2000. Dissolution : 2011. Actionnaires : Finadeux, puis Finaquatre, puis BPL Finances (99%). Participations : Jaber’s Negoce
    • BL & PL Ltd (ex AL Asset Management Ltd) Société britannique. Création : 1998. Actionnaire : Finadeux, puis Finaquatre, puis BPL Finances (100%). Actifs : 8 millions de livres fin 2019. Participations : AL Industries, PL Asset Management
    • PL Asset Management Ltd Société britannique. Création : 2002. Dissolution : 2016. Actionnaire : AL Asset Management (100%). Participation : Tempest Music Ltd
    • AL Industries Création : 2001. Dissolution : 2015. Actionnaire : AL Asset Management (100%). Participations : Picard, CPIW, Refondation (Libération), Editions Darré, Tactilize (Owni)
    • Levy Institute (ex Levy Consulting) Création : 2018. Actionnaire : Bernard-Henri Levy (100%)

    Source : https://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/les-bonnes-et-moins-bonnes-affaires-de-bernard-henri-levy-1403144

    #bhl #argent #pognon #haute_bourgeoisie #médias #philosophie #colonisation #politique #en_vedette #philosophe

  • Shipping Containers Plunge Overboard as Supply Race Raises Risks - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-26/shipping-containers-plunge-overboard-as-supply-race-raises-risks

    • Hectic pace amid surging demand raises risk of safety
    • Loss of containers reaches highest level in seven years

    Containers piled high on giant vessels carrying everything from car tires to smartphones are toppling over at an alarming rate, sending millions of dollars of cargo sinking to the bottom of the ocean as pressure to speed deliveries raises the risk of safety errors.

    The shipping industry is seeing the biggest spike in lost containers in seven years. More than 3,000 boxes dropped into the sea last year, and more than 1,000 have fallen overboard so far in 2021. The accidents are disrupting supply chains for hundreds of U.S. retailers and manufacturers such as Amazon and Tesla.

    There are a host of reasons for the sudden rise in accidents. Weather is getting more unpredictable, while ships are growing bigger, allowing for containers to be stacked higher than ever before. But greatly exacerbating the situation is a surge in e-commerce after consumer demand exploded during the pandemic, increasing the urgency for shipping lines to deliver products as quickly as possible.

    The increased movement of containers means that these very large containerships are much closer to full capacity than in the past,” said Clive Reed, founder of Reed Marine Maritime Casualty Management Consultancy. “There is commercial pressure on the ships to arrive on time and consequently make more voyages.

    After gale-force winds and large waves buffeted the 364-meter One Apus in November, causing the loss of more than 1,800 containers, footage showed thousands of steel boxes strewn like Lego pieces onboard, some torn to metal shreds. The incident was the worst since 2013, when the MOL Comfort broke in two and sank with its entire cargo of 4,293 containers into the Indian Ocean.

  • Tumult Grows in Soy-Export Hub on Argentine Minister’s Death - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-29/soy-shipping-hub-turmoil-deepens-with-argentine-minister-s-death


    A cargo ship transports cattle while traveling through the Parana River near the Port of Rosario in Rosario, Argentina, on April 23.
    Photographer: Sebastian Lopez Brach/Bloomberg

    • Transport chief was in charge of tender to dredge Parana River
    • Last-gasp extension tides over crop exporters for 90 days

    Argentine farmers struggling to ship their crops through increasingly shallow rivers may soon face a new obstacle: One of the world’s key soy waterways needs to be dredged, and there’s no firm plan for who will do it.

    The government in agricultural powerhouse Argentina has had months — even years — to draft the terms of a tender to dredge the Parana River, the source of most of the world’s soy meal for livestock feed and soy oil for cooking and biofuels. But companies eying the new multiyear contract are still in the dark and, compounding the uncertainty, the man in charge of what exactly is up for grabs, ex-Transport Minister Mario Meoni, died in a car crash last week.

    With the future of millions of tons of crop cargoes at stake, the turmoil couldn’t come at a worse time: Argentina’s soybean and corn harvests are in full swing, and the company holding the expiring contract is working overtime to keep the river channel deep enough for ships to load them as years of dry weather shallow out water levels.

    Policymakers continue to work under instructions left by ex-minister Meoni, a spokesman for the Transport Ministry said in a phone message, declining to give more details.

    The contract to dredge the river — from crop-export hub Rosario down to the estuary at Buenos Aires about 500 miles away — is currently held by Belgian company Jan de Nul in a partnership with Argentina’s Emepa. Jan de Nul and Emepa’s contract was set to expire on April 30, though the government published a last-minute resolution on Thursday extending it for 90 days. It’s unclear if that gives transport officials enough time to pull a tender together for bidders.

    The partnership has dredged the Parana since 1995, with the last contract extension signed in 2007.

    Dredging the Parana is worth around $200 million a year in tolls. The recommendation by industry groups is for the new contract to last 15 years, which would mean revenues for the winner of $3 billion.

    To farmers and agricultural traders who ship 80% of Argentina’s crops down the Parana, the waterway is worth a whole lot more: over $20 billion a year in exports.

  • Maps Show How the Mail Shaped the American West - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-21/maps-show-how-the-mail-shaped-the-american-west

    In The Postman, the 1997 post-apocalyptic Western starring and directed by Kevin Costner, a supposed emissary of the U.S. Postal Service revives and reunites a smattering of rural settlements that have survived the catastrophic end of the formal United States. The mail, the movie shows us, is the connective tissue of the nation-state — providing people with not just a means of communication, but also something to look forward to. (“You give out hope like it was candy in your pocket,” a love interest tells the titular postman, in an example of the movie’s amazingly bad dialogue.)

    #états-unis #histoire #peuples_premiers #premières_nations #nations_indiennes #colonisation

  • Black Americans Embrace Stocks and Bitcoin (BTC) to Make Up for Stolen Time - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-13/black-americans-embrace-stocks-and-bitcoin-btc-to-make-up-for-stolen-time

    Data show that while fewer Black Americans invest in stocks than White people, they are actually more receptive to holding cryptocurrencies. A recent Harris Poll survey found that in the U.S., 30% of Black and 27% Hispanic investors own cryptocurrency, compared with just 17% of White investors.

    The same survey found that over half of Black and Hispanic Americans who had heard of cryptocurrencies believe their decentralized nature is a positive aspect, compared with 44% of all Americans.

    Garrett-Scott says a majority of Black Americans do not have access to people within their networks with entrepreneurial knowledge. Instead, many turn to the internet and social media.

    Evidence of this is prominent in the Clubhouse app. In the audio-only social-media network — it’s like a cross between a podcast and a call-in radio network — many “clubs” with names such as Black Women Who Invest, Black Wealth Matters and Black Bitcoin Billionaires have sprung up. And in just a few months, they have attracted tens of thousands of followers.

  • EU Set to Ban Surveillance, Start Fines Under New AI Rules
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-13/eu-poised-to-set-ai-rules-that-would-ban-surveillance-scoring

    The European Union is poised to ban artificial intelligence systems used for mass surveillance or for ranking social behavior, while companies developing AI could face fines as high as 4% of global revenue if they fail to comply with new rules governing the software applications. The rules are part of legislation set to be proposed by the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, according to a draft of the proposal obtained by Bloomberg. The details could change before the commission (...)

    #algorithme #CCTV #biométrie #facial #législation #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance (...)

    ##surveillance

  • Egypt Suez Canal Authority May Seek $1Bln ’Ever Given’ Ship Crisis Compensation - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-01/egypt-may-seek-1-billion-in-compensation-for-suez-canal-crisis

    • ‘This is the right of the country,’ says Canal Authority chief
    • Ship blockage caused the nation to lose revenue, says SCA

    Egypt said it may seek around $1 billion in compensation after a giant container vessel blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week and roiled shipping markets.

    The figure is a rough estimate of losses linked to transit fees, damage to the waterway during the dredging and salvage efforts, and the cost of equipment and labor, the Suez Canal Authority’s chief executive officer, Osama Rabie, said late Wednesday to local television channel Sada Elbalad.

    He did not specify who the Canal Authority would seek compensation from.

    This is the right of the country,” Rabie said, adding that the incident hurt Egypt’s reputation. “This country should get its due.

    The 400-meter-long Ever Given ship, owned by Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., ran aground on March 23 in the southern part of the canal and was freed six days later.

    Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp., the vessel’s charterer, said Thursday it’s not responsible for delays of any cargo it was transporting.

    There is almost no chance that we will be sought to pay compensation,” Evergreen Marine President Eric Hsieh said at a briefing in Taipei.

    Shoei Kisen will discuss compensation with the Canal Authority, but will refrain from giving details for now, according to a spokesperson.

    Bitter Lake
    The ship and its cargo are currently in the Great Bitter Lake, roughly halfway along the canal.

    While they could be held in Egypt if the matter of compensation goes to court, such a scenario is unlikely, Rabie said.

    It may take until Friday night or Saturday to clear the backlog of hundreds of ships that built up while the canal was shut, Rabie said in a separate interview with Egyptian television.

    • Suez blockage may lead to large reinsurance claims, broker Willis Re says | Reuters
      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-reinsurance-marine-idUKKBN2BO4PN


      FILE PHOTO: A view shows Ever Given container ship in Suez Canal in this Maxar Technologies satellite image taken on March 29, 2021.
      Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

      The blockage of the Suez Canal is likely to lead to large reinsurance claims, adding to upward pressure on marine reinsurance rates, James Vickers, chair of reinsurance broker Willis Re International, told Reuters.

      Formal investigations began this week into how the giant container ship Ever Given ran aground in the canal, shutting down shipping in the major global waterway for almost a week.

      The incident and its impact on hundreds of ships delayed in the canal would be a “large loss” for insurance market Lloyd’s of London, its chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said this week, while Fitch Ratings said global reinsurers were likely to face hundreds of millions of euros of claims.

      Vickers also said reinsurance losses were “not going to be a small amount of money”. The blockage was the latest in a growing number of man-made disasters leading to reinsurance losses, on top of a list of natural catastrophes in the past year, he said.

      Reinsurers help insurers cover claims for major events such as hurricanes, in return for part of the premium. Reinsurers typically raise rates after they experience large losses.

      Even before the Suez incident, the marine market “didn’t need much encouragement to keep going in an upward direction”, Vickers said.

      Global marine reinsurance rates were generally seeing “high single digit” percentage point increases, Willis Re said in its April reinsurance renewals report on Thursday.

      Marine reinsurance premiums have been rising for the past few years after several years of falling rates, as Lloyd’s of London and other firms have cut back on loss-making lines, reducing competition. The COVID-19 pandemic has also put upward pressure on reinsurance rates across the board.

      Elsewhere, the U.S. property reinsurance market has been hit by a number of catastrophes including Winter Storm Uri in the United States in February, with rates up by as much as 25% in April, the report showed.

  • Un porte-conteneurs s’échoue et bloque le canal de Suez - Nice-Matin
    https://www.nicematin.com/faits-divers/un-porte-conteneurs-sechoue-et-bloque-le-canal-de-suez-661220

    Un porte-conteneurs géant s’est échoué dans le canal de Suez après avoir été déporté par une rafale de vent, a annoncé mercredi la compagnie maritime qui l’opère, et le trafic maritime s’est arrêté sur l’une des routes commerciales les plus fréquentées du monde.

    • analyse de la situation de l’Ever Given

      https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1374470486801838086.html

      Je reprends ici mes différentes réponses à ce tweet :
      #1 - Causes :
      J’ai pas d’info, mais d’expérience, une erreur humaine est très peu probable (rien ne l’indique ici). L’environnement ne peut pas créer ça tout seul. Il ne reste qu’un problème mécanique.
      Ça impliquerait que le contrôle de la manœuvre du navire soit perdue : soit avarie de barre, soit perte totale de la propulsion, soit un moteur (principal ou prop d’étrave) qui s’emballe de façon incontrôlée - rare).
      #2 - Dégâts au navire
      Ces bateaux sont costauds, et le bulbe (à l’avant) peut être écrasé sans couler le bateau. Les berges du canal ne sont pas rocheuses, d’ailleurs. Donc la coque va sûrement « pas trop mal » dans le sens où le bateau n’est pas coulé sur place.

      Par contre il est bien monté sur la berge (cf l’assiette, visible à la ligne de flottaison). Donc il est possible que certains apparaux de coque à l’avant soient touchés (prises d’eaux, etc). Si la réfrigération est bouchée par exemple, c’est vite la galère pour les moteurs.
      Plus grave : à la poupe, si les hélices ou le gouvernail se sont trop rapprochés de la berge ou du fond, ça pue. Notamment si on voile une ligne d’arbre ou une mèche. Ça peut signifier un passage au bassin rapidement après déchargement.
      #3 - situation des autres navires
      Le canal est fait pour gérer des zones d’attentes aux deux extrémités et le long de ses berges internes. Les bateaux vont donc accoster ou mouiller (et l’autorité du canal va donc facturer un max). Rien de bien inquiétant techniquement.
      #4 - évolution probables
      Il faut éviter à tout pris le déchargement sur place. D’abord parce que l’idée d’alléger le bateau pourrait le faire chavirer, et que ce n’est pas nécessaire. Ensuite parce qu’il n’y a pas d’infrastructures pour le faire.
      Il faudrait commencer par couler du béton armé sur les berges, puis faire venir d’immenses grues, et 10000 camions pour décharger. Ou tout faire par l’eau. Rien de simple.
      Le mieux est donc de contrôler l’étanchéité de la coque (par plongeurs et/ou de l’intérieur), de dégager le bulbe (coucou le ptit tractopelle), puis de procéder au déséchouage.

      Ce qui sera sûrement choisi, c’est une manœuvre ou l’on remorquera par le cul du navire, en tirant dessus avec un gros remorqueur, pendant que deux remorqueurs (minimum) seront en pousseurs sur l’avant de chaque bord, et un dernier en remorque inverse côté cul, pour freiner.

      Une fois déséchoué, j’imagine que le navire sera remorqué (avec ou sans aide de sa propre propulsion) vers l’extrémité du canal (Port Saïd).
      Là, des réparations et vérifications seront entreprises. Si besoin, des containers seront déchargés (si besoin d’une immobilisation longue)

      C’est sûrement le moment où la Suez Canal Authority procèdera à une très généreuse facturation (déjà qu’en temps normal, ça douille …). Le Canal est l’une des principales ressources du pays (surtout en ces temps de disette touristique).

      #5 - Plus grave ?
      Oui, toujours possible, même si rien ne l’indique encore. C’est déjà assez grave (et rare), mais ne sera pas un phénomène majeur pour le commerce mondial.
      Si le canal devait être bloqué plus d’une semaine par exemple, chacun d’entre nous devrait ressentir rapidement notre dépendance au canal (pétrole du Golfe et produits chinois en tout genre : tout passe par là !).
      Voilà. N’hésitez pas si vous avez d’autres questions !
      Ah et si vous voulez de l’accident plus grave, et plus débile (= impardonnable erreur humaine selon moi), n’hésitez pas à retrouver mon thread sur le Helge Ingstad ici :

    • À noter, en milieu d’après-midi, Le Monde (et d’autres médias) présentaient l’affaire comme étant en voie de règlement. On en trouve la trace dans la formulation initiale de l’adresse de l’article… (Le canal de Suez bloqué [plusieurs heures] à cause d’un cargo échoué en travers)
      et dans la formulation hybride du chapeau (_s’était retrouvé
      , plus que parfait)

      Le canal de Suez bloqué à cause d’un cargo échoué en travers
      https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2021/03/24/le-canal-de-suez-bloque-plusieurs-heures-a-cause-d-un-cargo-echoue-en-traver

      Le porte-conteneurs «  Ever Given  » s’était retrouvé en travers du canal reliant la mer Rouge à la Méditerranée, bloquant toute circulation. Le retour à la normale n’était pas acquis en milieu de journée.

      L’article expliquait que le navire avait été amarré parallèlement à la berge.

    • Suez Canal Block: How to Dislodge a 200,000 Ton Ship From a Canal Wall - Bloomberg
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/how-to-dislodge-a-200-000-ton-ship-from-a-canal-wall

      When you can’t shift a ship that’s stuck fast into the wall of a canal that’s vital to world trade, there’s only one thing to do: call the salvage guys.

      The Ever Given container ship — a 200,000-ton behemoth — has been blocking what is arguably the world’s most important waterway, the Suez Canal, since Tuesday morning.

      The struggle to dislodge it is now turning the world’s attention to the work of SMIT Salvage, a legendary Dutch firm whose employees parachute themselves from one ship wreckage to the next, saving vessels often during violent storms. The company is synonymous with some of the most daring naval salvages, including lifting a sunken Russian nuclear submarine in 2001, and removing fuel from inside the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground in Italy in 2012.

      SMIT, a unit of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, is one of the companies appointed by Ever Given’s owner to help move the vessel. The first job will be to work out exactly how entrenched in the wall the ship is, said Boskalis spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer.


      A digger clears the area around the bow of the stuck Ever Given container vessel in the Suez Canal on March 25.
      Source: Suez Canal Authority

      It will be critical to inspect the vessel and how deeply it is lodged in the embankment,” Schuttevaer said. “The question is how solidly she has been grounded.

      The answer to that question will dictate what comes next. The salvors could have to find a way to lighten the vessel’s enormous weight so that it can be pulled to a less obstructive position. At the moment, it’s blocking the path of more than 100 vessels.

      The canal handles something like 10% of seaborne trade, spanning everything from finished goods to oil, gas, and dry-bulk commodities. And those cargoes aren’t flowing while the Ever Given is stuck.

      The process of making the ship lighter means removing things like the ballast water, which helps keep ships steady when they’re at sea. Fuel will probably have to be unloaded too, Schuttavaer said.


      The stuck Ever Given container ship in the Suez Canal on March 25.
      Source: Suez Canal Authority

      In a worst-case scenario, it could be that some of the carrier’s containers — usually filled with everything from furniture to televisions — may have to be taken off. How long that process lasts would depend on how much equipment is around to do the heavy lifting. It can often involve flying in helicopters to remove the crates one by one.

      SMIT was due to fly an 8-person team in at dawn Thursday local time to board and inspect the vessel and the grounding. A big part of the initial underwater assessment is how much the banks slope at that point in the canal. Japan’s Nippon Salvage Co. has also been hired to assist in the re-floating, according to a person familiar with the matter.

      Such teams are usually led by a salvage master, often a former captain or someone with knowledge of the industry, but can also include divers, welders and crane operators, according to Joseph Farrell III, director of business development at Resolve Marine, another company that offers salvage services. He declined to comment specifically on the Ever Given.

      Stern Test
      Pictures now seen across the globe of the vessel spread fully across the canal, point to the first major hurdle. It ran aground both at the front and at the back, almost perpendicular to the canal walls. That’s leaving very little room to simply tow it away from either end, SMIT says.

      For now, the focus is on dredging around the vessel. The canal authority has dispatched two of its dredgers, the Mashor and the 10th of Ramadan, to remove sand from underwater before rescuers attempt to pull it. From the shore, excavators are also working around the vessel. Western shipping experts who analysed photos of the Ever Given calculated that her protruding bulb was as much as 5 meters buried into the canal wall.


      The container vessel MV Ever Given blocks the Suez Canal on March 24.
      Source: Planet Labs Inc. via AP Photo

      Not everything in the grounding has been bad news. One thing that’s likely to make the process easier is that the ship has gotten itself stuck in sand, rather than rock. More malleable material around the Ever Given should make for a slightly smoother escape.

      There are already tug boats around the ship working to help with its removal, but with such a giant vessel, bigger ones with more horsepower are usually needed. Crews are hoping that periods of higher tide over the next few days will be conducive to helping free the Ever Given.

      Until then, the world’s commodity and maritime markets — and the world trade they serve — will be left hanging, waiting on the professionals to help shift a 200,000-ton ship.

      There’s only a few companies in the world that do what we do,” said Farrell. “It’s a challenge, the container ships are always the biggest jobs.

    • Suez Canal could be blocked for weeks by ’beached whale’ ship | Reuters
      https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-suezcanal-ship-int-idUSKBN2BH0BP

      A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a “beached whale” may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday in a new setback for global trade.

      The 400 metre Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world’s busiest shipping channels for oil and refined fuels, grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.

      Late on Thursday, dredgers were still working to remove thousands of tonnes of sand from around the ship’s bow.

      The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said earlier that nine tugs were working to move the vessel, which got stuck diagonally across the single-lane southern stretch of the canal on Tuesday morning amid high winds and a dust storm.

      We can’t exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,” Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, one of two rescue teams trying to free the ship, told the Dutch television programme “Nieuwsuur”.

      A total of 206 large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels hauling grain have backed up at either end of the canal, according to tracking data, creating one of the worst shipping jams seen for years.

      The blockage comes on top of the disruption to world trade already caused in the past year by COVID-19, with trade volumes hit by high rates of ship cancellations, shortages of containers and slower handling speeds at ports.

      The world’s number one line A.P. Moller Maersk said it was considering diverting vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding five to six days to the journey between Asia and Europe. It said time-sensitive cargo could be sent on trains and airplanes, although no decisions had yet been made.

      “ENORMOUS WEIGHT”
      The SCA, which had allowed some vessels to enter the canal in the hope the blockage could be cleared, said it had temporarily suspended all traffic on Thursday. Maersk said in a customer advisory it had seven vessels affected.

      Berdowski said the ship’s bow and stern had been lifted up against either side of the canal.

      Explainer: How a giant container ship is blocking the Suez Canal
      It is like an enormous beached whale. It’s an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.

      Dredging work to remove 15,000-20,000 cubic metres of sand surrounding the bow continued after dark on Thursday, in coordination with the team from Boskalis subsidiary Smit Salvage, the SCA said.

      The dredging work, which began on Wednesday evening and has involved two dredgers, aims to return the ship to a draft of 12-16 metres at which it could be refloated, the authority said.

      (Graphic: Suez blockade - )

      Japanese shipowner Shoei Kisen apologised for the incident and said work on freeing the ship, which was heading to Europe from China, “has been extremely difficult” and it was not clear when the vessel would float again.

      Another official with knowledge of the operation said that was likely to take days. “If you end up in the scenario that you have to remove cargo then you are looking at a time consuming exercise,” he said, declining to be named.

      A higher tide due on Sunday may help the rescue efforts.

      However, the Egyptian meteorological authority is also warning of a “disruption of marine navigation” due to an expected sea storm on Saturday and Sunday, with winds forecast to reach up to 80 kph (50 mph) and waves up to 6 metres high along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez.

      Roughly 30% of the world’s shipping container volume transits through the 193 km (120 mile) Suez Canal daily, and about 12% of total global trade of all goods.

      Slideshow ( 5 images )

      Every port in Western Europe is going to feel this,” Leon Willems, a spokesman for Rotterdam Port, Europe’s largest, said. “We hope for both companies and consumers that it will be resolved soon.

      CONTAINER CRUNCH
      Consultancy Wood Mackenzie said the biggest impact was on container shipping, but there were also a total of 16 laden crude and product oil tankers due to sail through the canal and now delayed.

      The tankers were carrying 870,000 tonnes of crude and 670,000 tonnes of clean oil products such as gasoline, naphtha and diesel, it said.

      Russia and Saudi Arabia are the top two exporters of oil through the canal, while India and China are the main importers, oil analytics firm Vortexa said. Consultancy Kpler said the canal accounted for only 4.4% of total oil flows but a prolonged disruption would complicate flows of Russian and Caspian oil to Asia and oil from the Middle East into Europe.

      The impact on oil prices has been limited so far as the destination of most oil tankers is Europe, where demand is currently weaker due to a new round of lockdowns. [O/R]

      The deputy managing director of Germany’s BDI industry association, Holger Loesch, expressed concern, saying earlier shipping holdups were already affecting output, especially in industries depending on raw materials or construction supplies.

      About 16% of Germany’s chemicals imports arrive by ship via the Suez canal and the chief economist for the association of German chemicals and pharmaceuticals producers VCI, Henrik Meincke, said they would be affected with every day of blockage.

      The owner and insurers face claims totalling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources said on Wednesday. Shoei Kisen said the hull insurer of the group is MS&AD Insurance Group while the liability insurer is UK P&I Club.

    • Canal de Suez : le navire débloqué ce samedi soir ? - Monde - Le Télégramme
      https://www.letelegramme.fr/monde/canal-de-suez-le-navire-debloque-ce-samedi-soir-27-03-2021-12726032.php


      Le porte-conteneurs est bloqué depuis mardi dans le canal de Suez.
      Photo EPA

      Le navire qui empêche la navigation sur le canal de Suez depuis mardi pourrait être débloqué ce samedi soir, a déclaré son propriétaire.

      Yukito Higaki, le propriétaire du porte-conteneurs qui obstrue depuis mardi le canal de Suez, a dit avoir bon espoir que le navire soit débloqué dès ce samedi soir, alors que des jours voire des semaines étaient précédemment évoqués. « Nous sommes en train d’éliminer les sédiments, avec des outils de dragage supplémentaires », a déclaré vendredi Higaki, le président de la compagnie japonaise Shoei Kisen. Il a dit espérer un déblocage du Ever Given pour « demain (samedi) soir », c’est-à-dire dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche au Japon. « Le navire ne prend pas l’eau. Il n’y a aucun problème avec ses gouvernails et ses hélices. Une fois qu’il aura été renfloué, il devrait pouvoir fonctionner », a ajouté le dirigeant.

      10 % du commerce maritime international
      La société mandatée pour le « sauvetage » de l’Ever Given s’était auparavant montrée plus prudente, évoquant « des jours voire des semaines » pour assurer le déblocage du navire et la reprise du trafic sur le canal qui voit passer 10 % du commerce maritime international, selon des experts.

      Depuis mercredi, l’Autorité égyptienne du canal de Suez (SCA) tente de dégager ce navire de plus de 220 000 tonnes et d’une longueur équivalente à quatre terrains de football, coincé dans le sud du canal, à quelques kilomètres de la ville de Suez. Une opération menée vendredi par la SCA avec l’aide de remorqueurs « n’a pas réussi », a indiqué la Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), compagnie basée à Singapour qui assure la gestion technique du navire. « Deux remorqueurs (égyptiens) supplémentaires de 220 à 240 tonnes » doivent arriver d’ici dimanche pour une nouvelle tentative, selon cette société.

    • Mega-ship in Suez Canal moved ’80%’ in right direction
      https://news.yahoo.com/ever-given-ship-suez-canal-051538431.html

      The Ever Given was turned away from the bank of Suez Canal on Monday, raising hopes it could be soon be refloated

      la poupe a pu être dégagée, semble-t-il.
      il va falloir hâler fort en arrière pour dégager la proue (et le bulbe, bien planté…)

    • MV Ever Given Partially Refloated in Suez; Ship Still Blocking Canal – gCaptain
      https://gcaptain.com/mv-ever-given-partially-refloated-in-suez-ship-still-blocking-canal


      Screen shot shows the position of the MV Ever Given following reports that the ship had been refloated. Taken Mar 23, 04:17 UTC.
      Credit: VesselFinder.com

      The giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal has been at least partially refloated, the first step toward getting one of the world’s most important trade arteries moving again.

      The Ever Given was successfully refloated at about 4:30 a.m. local time in Egypt and the vessel is currently being secured, maritime services provider Inchcape Shipping Services said in an email. It followed a new attempt to dislodge the ship involving 10 tug boats, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

      There was no immediate clarity on the crucial question of when traffic in the canal will restart. The ship has a damaged hull and it’s not clear how soon it will be able to clear the way for other vessels to pass.