CAPE TOWN - As learners in the Western Cape gear up for the start of the 2025 academic year this week, parents from some primary schools in Ceres say they are worried about their children's safety to and from school. This after learner transport services for pupils from the Vredebes housing project who attend Morrisdale and Ceres primary schools were cancelled in August last year due to budget constraints. The distance between Vredebes and the schools also falls outside of the 5-kilometre radius distance required to qualify for free learner transport. Parents and civil society organisation, Witzenberg Justice Coalition, held a picket at Morrisdale Primary School on Monday, demanding that the Western Cape Education Department to reinstate the free bus service. The Coalition's Naomi Betana is also calling for the education department to review its scholar transport policy. "Because if you calculate the distance, Vredebes is 4.1km outside Ceres town. There's currently a bus coming from Nduli, which is nearby, going to another high school which means that bus is going past that community. It's not as if it's 1.4km, it's 4.1km, so you can be a bit more lenient with that." She said that most of the parents from Vredebes cannot afford to pay for transport. "Most of the people living in Vredebes are pensioners because it's a housing project that was linked to your government subsidy and pensioners got the houses. So, it is unemployed people living there." Sections Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com By Fred Meintjes2025-02-28T09:29:00+00:00 and a generous dose of grace led to the Welgemeen Boerdery in the Witzenberg Valley claiming top honours for overall excellence at Ceres Fruit Growers’ (CFG) annual awards ceremony for 2024 Hannes Hanekom receives the trophy from Francois Malan of CFG South Africa’s largest supplier of apples and pears Its shareholders are mostly located in the Ceres which is one of South Africa’s biggest apple It was an all-round great year for Welgemeen Boerdery which also scooped the Buks Nel trophy for best performance in BigBucks Gala It was further honoured with trophies for its outstanding performance with Golden Delicious apples described as a “brilliant red” apple variety and we were truly blessed,” said Hannes Hanekom who heads up operations at Welgemeen Boerdery with sufficient chill units and ample water,” Hanekom continued we could focus on the finer details to ensure great quality,” he noted ”We are deeply grateful for seasons like these.” The Hanekom family grows apples and pears on approximately 200 hectares – of which about 90 per cent are apples – on its farms Welgemeen and Slagboom To ensure cash flow stability and to utilise natural resources the family also produces onions and onion bulbs for seed production. “The Witzenberg Valley is renowned for apple production,” confirmed Hanekom ”The fact that we are located at a high altitude and cooler than the Warm Bokkeveld plays a major role in our success with apples and I think it is because of chill requirements.” Site powered by Webvision Cloud A smaller-than-expected group of civic minded volunteers turned out for Saturday’s “Love Ceres” to do their part to clean up town or doing acts of love for others The event was threatened by rain that made everything wet earlier in the day but volunteers like Keara Bell and her children Raiel and Kade Bell came out to pick up trash in one of Ceres’ parks “I usually do ‘Love Modesto’ but I decided to do ‘Love Ceres’ because I live here,” said Keara Bell “I used to live in Turlock when I first started.” youth pastors at Grace Community Christian Church and their three children turned were put to work designing and writing cards of thanks for local military veterans at a picnic table in Whitmore Park “Never done this before – we didn’t know what to expect,” said Mike who was coloring an American flag on a cover of a card he was designing About 40 cards were created to give to Blue Star Moms for current military service personnel and veterans The event began with a kickoff gathering in Whitmore Park with members of the Ceres Lions Club providing 250 breakfast burritos to fuel the volunteers for work details event organizers Brandy and Keith Meyer welcomed the workers and introduced local officials who were in attendance “This is about love,” said Mayor Javier Lopez who thanked the “Love Ceres” committee I think it’s really important that we give back to our community – not just today but every day.” Posing with workers was “L.C.” (for “Love Ceres”) the large heart-shaped mascot worn by Dominic Martinez Besides the greeters and photographers capturing images of the work being done at the various sites volunteers engaged in a number of work projects They included picking up trash in downtown Ceres and in Strawberry Persephone and Guillermo Ochoa parks; washing ambulances and police vehicles at the downtown Ceres fire station; and removing old mulch from the flowerbed at the Ceres Police headquarters on Third Street and replacing it with fresh bark donated by California Landscape Supply in Ceres Members of the Persephone Guild drove to the homes of about 13 Ceres residents – some of them veterans – to replace worn American flags with new ones Ceres librarian Rebecca Brown ran a book focused childcare program in the library for families of small children Because the early morning rain made grass wet some scheduled yard work for seniors and shut-ins had to be postponed to a later date city employee Toni Cordell was able to led work details in the yards of some Ceres seniors “We did have a lot of people text us this week saying it’s going to rain – we’re not sure we’re going to make it,’” Brandy Meyer told the crowd “So unfortunately we lose a few people but that’s okay You guys are here and I want to thank you for showing up on this cold rainy morning.” about 175 volunteers in total participated in “Love Ceres” this year including those who drove around on April 18 for the Classic Car Cruise Up spouses and friends paid visits to folks dealing with illnesses or a tragedy and offered flowers and encouragement The event included tours of the downtown Ceres fire station a returning participant of “Love Ceres,” spent time on Fourth Street with a plastic garbage bag and a trash picker to remove litter in time for the Ceres Street Faire this weekend “The older I get the more I care about this community,” said Baker “I do love Ceres and love living here and being a part of everything and so it feels good to be out here.” Baker is attending Stanislaus State University and working toward his teaching credential He is employed as a paraprofessional for Ceres schools helping in PE and music as well as coaching at Ceres High School Baker said he wants to make Ceres his home for life Meyer said she left Saturday “feeling so blessed that our community came together.” Owners of Cold Stone Creamery in Ceres offered free ice creams for Love Ceres volunteers after the morning work detail coffee pledged to donate $1 for every drink sold at the Ceres location for next year’s event Ten boxes of donuts were donated by Congressman Adam Gray coffee by Starbucks and a hot dog lunch with chips and drinks by the Ceres Rotary Club Other sponsors of the event included Embroidery Plus which printed the volunteers’ T-shirts; Sign Depot which print signs; Dalton Durossette who placed the signs around town; Bertolotti Disposal which provided bins for garbage and yard clippings; Dutch Bros and Home Depot who sent employees to help out at the event; and citizen Gene Yeakley who donated funds for water and orange juice is a leading producer of fruit juice concentrates and purées The company uses globally benchmarked processes to deliver flavourful and wholesome value to its customers In response to energy supply challenges in a vulnerable and intermittent supply landscape NEC XON was tasked with providing a fully integrated solution using innovative technologies Managing Director at Ceres Fruit Processors: “The reliable supply of electricity to our factory is crucial Ceres faced several critical challenges related to energy supply The underlying technical requirement was to implement a fully engineered integrated solution to manage all energy resources on an 11kV medium voltage bus This solution aimed to maximise supply efficiencies and optimise financial benefits through advanced design and feasibility processes NEC XON’s integrated energy solution powers Ceres Fruit Processors with reliable efficient and sustainable energy for 24/7 operations (Image: Supplied) Meeting these objectives is important to Ceres' ability to scale up production and sustained competitiveness Energy supply risks can impact the company’s compliance profile Says Reinecke: “NEC XON was chosen over other technology providers because they demonstrated an ability to integrate diesel generators The solution provided by NEC XON included several key components in phase one they established control of the existing utility grid supply They then integrated new and existing switchgear protection relays and medium voltage transformers they developed a megawatt-scale generator farm and implemented automated bulk tank facilities civil and security measures were also put in place to ensure the safety and efficiency of the system Future phases of the project will focus on enhancements including the addition of megawatt-scale photovoltaic renewable generation resources and utility-scale battery energy storage systems These additions will bolster the system's capacity for renewable energy and provide greater flexibility and security in energy management Integration and customisation: The solution featured a customised energy management system that ensured safety compliance This system design enables easy interface with existing control systems at a future date Meeting business and technical requirements: The solution addressed all customer objectives Special accommodations: The implementation was carefully planned to minimise impact on production during peak seasons with a focus on maintaining full production during scheduled and unscheduled outages The first phase ran from September 2023 to February 2024 Future phases’ timelines are yet to be determined in line with capex/opex considerations and timelines for required environmental impact assessment studies NEC XON's solution enabled several key capabilities for Ceres Fruit Processors One of the primary benefits was the seamless handover of customer loads during outages This was complemented by improved energy supply efficiencies resulting in reduced costs and enhanced production capacity even during power disruptions Ceres has become more competitive in the energy market with a significant step towards grid independence and a reduced carbon footprint The solution also provided visibility into energy usage through a customised monitoring and control system allowing for real-time tracking and optimisation and sustainable energy for 24/7 operations GM Strategic Projects at NEC XON: "Our partnership with Ceres Fruit Processors demonstrates the power of innovative technology in transforming energy supply challenges into sustainable solutions This project not only enhances energy efficiency but also positions Ceres as a leader in renewable energy adoption within the industry." Success will be gauged by achieving the stated business objectives which include improvements in energy quality providing a clear picture of the project's success and areas for potential improvement The next project phases include adding renewable energy resources and battery energy storage optimising the system for enhanced functionality through smart control This will further solidify Ceres' position as a leader in sustainable and efficient energy systems NEC XON's solution not only meets the current needs of Ceres Fruit Processors but also positions the company for future growth and sustainability cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy supply NEC XON Ceres Power Explores Solid Electrolyte Innovations for Hydrogen Hybrid Battery Systems All 5 Releases 0861 99 00 44 Studio@smile904.fm An investigation is underway after a Ceres Rail Company train on its 160km round-trip to the Elgin Railway Market was forced to make an emergency stop during its return to Table Bay Harbour which occurred near Harbour Bridge Platform by the Cape Town International Convention Centre led to injuries among both passengers and staff Ceres Rail Company is working with Transnet Freight Rail to understand and prevent similar incidents in the future Ceres Rail Company explained that the driver had to perform an emergency stop due to “incorrectly set track points which were leading the train towards stationary goods wagons” impacting several passengers and leading to injuries One passenger on board described the moments leading up to the incident. Speaking to News24 he recounted how passengers were thrown forward as the train came to a sudden halt with some colliding with the hardwood folding beds in the carriages He says on-board medical assistance was limited with only a massage therapist and a doctor among the travellers able to provide aid Ceres Rail Company expressed gratitude to the emergency responders for their “swift assistance” and thanked passengers for their patience and understanding the company assured the public that they remain committed to “understanding the factors involved and ensuring that all necessary measures are taken to prevent a recurrence.” © Smile904.fm hosted and supported by Immedia Terms of Use | General Contest Guidelines|Archive|Advertise with us|Privacy Policy|Contact Us Bright yellow deposits in Consus Crater bear witness to dwarf planet Ceres' cryovolcanic past - and revive the debate about its place of origin. Arriving at its destination: This illustration shows how the Dawn space probe reaches the dwarf planet Ceres. Consus Crater is located in the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres. The most striking structure in its interior is a smaller crater (“floor crater”) in its eastern half. A flat central mountain rises up in the center of Consus Crater. The yellowish bright material, marked here as “yBM”, is found exclusively on the edge of the smaller crater and in its immediate eastern vicinity. “At 450 million years, Consus Crater is not particularly old by geological standards, but it is one of the oldest surviving structures on Ceres. Due to its deep excavation, it gives us access to processes that took place in the interior of Ceres over many billions of years - and is thus a kind of window into the dwarf planet's past,” says MPS researcher Dr. Ranjan Sarkar, a co-author of the study. CAPE TOWN - Firefighters in the Cape Winelands District are still battling two fires raging up in the mountain just outside Ceres. The blaze started on Sunday, above the toll house on Mitchell's Pass. Cape Winelands District Municipality's Jo-Anne Otto said that ground teams were managing flare-ups on the first fire. She added that they were concerned about the second one burning in the direction of the Koekedouw dam. "The team on this fire line are concerned that the wind, which has increased over the last hour, will push the fire line around the dam and down into the Witzenberg or Tulbagh valley." Otto said they're hoping the rain that's started falling would contribute to the firefighting efforts. This view of the dwarf planet Ceres shows the mountain and likely ice volcano Ahuna Mons on the right edge and the bright spots of the Occator crater in the bottom left Research suggests that multiple ice volcanoes once dotted Ceres' surface The building blocks of life could have been delivered to Ceres by one or more space rocks from the outer asteroid belt Using AI to comb through data gathered by NASA's Dawn spacecraft scientists have conducted a detailed scan of the dwarf planet Ceres to map regions rich in organic molecules to determine whether these "building blocks of life" originated from within the planet or were delivered by external sources At the time, scientists identified potential patches of organic material by observing that the amount of light reflected from certain areas on Ceres' surface was higher in longer wavelengths especially those with complex molecules like hydrocarbons often reflect more light from longer wavelengths due to their molecular structure which influences how they absorb and scatter light researchers believed that the deposits they identified could contain organic compounds with a chain-like structure their remote data couldn't pinpoint the exact types of molecules with any certainty scientists have reanalyzed the entire surface of the dwarf planet Ceres While previous studies identified organic compounds in specific regions AI allowed for a systematic examination of the Dawn mission's full dataset uncovering patterns that had previously been overlooked By cross-referencing spectral data with geological features, AI helped the team confirm that organic materials were in fact not associated with sites of cryovolcanic activity "Sites of such organic molecules are actually rare on Ceres and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures," commented one of the study's scientists These findings help rule out the possibility that the organic molecules originated from Ceres' interior where organic compounds were reliably detected there were no signs of deep or surface activity "At none of the deposits do we find evidence of current or past volcanic or tectonic activity: no trenches there are no deep impact craters nearby," said Martin Hoffmann The vast majority of deposits were located along Ceres' large Ernutet crater in its northern hemisphere Only three are located at a greater distance from it Dawn can't detect all types of organic compounds," said Nathues the organic deposits that have been reliably detected with Dawn so far likely do not originate [from] Ceres itself." — Dwarf planet Ceres could be rich in organics, defunct spacecraft data reveals — Mystery of dwarf planet Ceres' origin may finally be solved, thanks to retired NASA spacecraft — This crater on dwarf planet Ceres that may hold another icy volcano, scientists say These simulations show that such asteroids frequently collide with Ceres but because they originate from the same general region allowing organic compounds to survive without being destroyed as it suggests that organic molecules could have been present on asteroids and comets in the outer solar system early in its formation and may have only reached the inner solar system much later potentially playing a key role in the development of life here on Earth Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Victoria CorlessContributing WriterA chemist turned science writer in organic synthesis at the University of Toronto and realized lab work was not something she wanted to do for the rest of her days. After dabbling in science writing and a brief stint as a medical writer Victoria joined Wiley’s Advanced Science News where she works as an editor and writer she freelances for various outlets including Research2Reality and Chemistry World James Webb Space Telescope captures thousands of galaxies in a cosmic 'feast' (image) Astronomers gaze into 'dark nebula' 60 times the size of the solar system (video) What would it be like living on Tatooine from 'Star Wars' This exoplanet orbiting twin suns could tell us Picture : The Cape Winelands District Municipality Cape Winelands crews are currently battling a blaze on Mitchell’s Pass near Ceres The fire broke out above the Toll-huis and spread into an area of old veld The cooler overnight temperatures helped fire crews bring the fire line that had been running parallel to the road But as Cape Winelands district municipality spokesperson Jo-Ann Otto explains they’re not out of the woods just yet … JONATHAN BUTLER ON NAVIGATING FAME, MUSIC, AND HIS TESTIMONY IN STUDIO MICHAEL OWEN TALKS LIFE AFTER PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL, PREMIER LEAGUE & VISITING SA LIVING LEGEND LEBO M SITS DOWN WITH OLWETHU POTENTIAL SPA SCAM? ATLANTIC SPA BOUTIQUE HOTEL ACCUSED OF FRAUD | HEART MATTERS INVESTIGATION THE COURT HEARS DETAILS ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR JOSHLIN GANG VIOLENCE GRIPS MITCHELLS PLAIN 15 MILLION RAND PRETORIA BUST FS COLLISION LEAVES 10 DEAD Lisa Mantarro Moore jokes about ordering picture perfect weather and expecting it to arrive for this weekend’s Ceres Street Faire While weather is something out of anyone’s control it does appear that the wishes of the chairwoman of this year’s Ceres Street Faire Committee may come true with a mixture of sun and clouds and pleasant temperatures in the 70’s Moore has seen various events in the past ruined by cold and wet weather for the first weekend in May but regardless of what happens the free event goes on “rain or shine” event The Faire in downtown Ceres will include the staple activities Faire goers have come to expect: street vendors selling their goods food booth vendors operated by non-profit Ceres groups and fun activities for kids to do in Whitmore Park The arts and crafts vendors will also appreciate nice weather “We are totally filled on our booth spaces We’ve had an overwhelming amount of vendors reaching back out to us and new vendors to come in so we’re pretty excited about that.” Corn-hole games will be set up on Fourth Street as a new addition on Saturday coinciding with a classic car and pickup show on Fourth Street between Magnolia and North streets Over 100 cars are expected this year for the Saturday exhibition Car owners can sign up for entries online at ceresstreetfaire.org Pre-registration is $25 while registration that Saturday is $35 with a Low Rider Car Show with awards at 2 p.m instead of the traditional Sunday closing time of 4 p.m A full army of other service clubs and youth groups will also be selling food items along Third Street on both days The Ceres Lions Club will be among the food vendors to barbecue their ever popular beef tri-tip sandwiches The entertainment line-up – the schedule appears on page A7 – includes local karate and dance groups as well as music bands Lavon & the Train Wreck will close out Saturday’s music acts while Sunday’s closing act will be Ceres’ own country singer Greg Scudder & Honky-Tonk Truth Ceres cheerleaders will take the stage at various times The Ceres Street Faire Committee takes pride in making the Ceres Street Faire a free and family friendly experience Whitmore Park will be filled with fun things for the children during the annual Ceres Street Faire this weekend A petting zoo and B&B Pony Rides for the little ones will be offered at the southern end of the park A variety of fun activities and games will be available including: • A 15-foot-high inflatable bounce house for children which is a great way for parents to let their children get all their wiggles out • Four carnival rides/attractions sponsored by Teaco Amusements • A giant slide presented by Teaco Amusements of Patterson Adults and kids are welcome to climb up this giant fiberglas slide and slide down the 100 feet on a sack for smiles and laughs – and then do it again • A Ferris Wheel brought to Ceres by Teaco Slides The family will want to take in the variety of local entertainment acts offered on the Whitmore Park slab and from the new Whitmore Park gazebo which was completed in time for this weekend’s affair The Ceres Street Faire is known for the opportunity to shop for unusual products for people of all ages and this year there will be a healthy number of vendors lining both Magnolia Commercial booths which have purchased booths are: A number of community service groups who plan to have booths offering information and other items include: Arts and crafts vendors selling their products include: There will be plenty of non-profit organizations at the Street Faire selling lots of yummy food including loaded baked potatoes The Ceres Street Faire has been a Ceres tradition since 1988 when the Ceres Lions Club and Ceres Chamber of Commerce joined forces to replace the Ceres Peach Harvest Festival The venue changed from Smyrna Park to downtown Ceres downtown was spruced up during last Saturday’s “Love Ceres” event Images of the surface of Ceres showing high abundances of organic materials The large craters Urvara (top) and Yalode (bottom) of Ceres as seen by the Dawn spacecraft "The significance of this discovery lies in the fact that it would confirm the existence of internal energy sources that could support biological processes." Using data from NASA's now-defunct Dawn spacecraft scientists have discovered that the dwarf planet Ceres the second wettest body in the solar system after Earth could have an interior reserve rich in organic materials — the building blocks of life Researchers from Spain's Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía used Dawn data to identify 11 more regions on Ceres rich in organic material. This indicated to the team that a reservoir of organic materials exists within Ceres With a width of over 578 miles (930 kilometers) Ceres doesn't quite meet the criteria of a planet That means it is also an object with potential significance in the search for life beyond Earth There was already heated discussion surrounding Ceres' origin and evolution The problem arises from the fact that organic compounds are rapidly degraded by solar radiation and if these materials were always on the surface of Ceres they should have been destroyed or at least have their abundances reduced Most of the 11 regions discovered in the Dawn data were found in this region toward the equator of Ceres The materials in the sites around the Ernutet crater had been exposed to more solar radiation than those in the crater That degraded the spectral features of the exposed material so the material must originate from deeper regions than the material ejected from other basins or craters," Rizos said The scientist added that if the presence of organics is confirmed their origin leaves little doubt that these compounds were created in the interior of Ceres And the quantities of the materials detected by the team hint that organic molecules must exist in great amounts below the surface of Ceres — Dwarf planet Ceres has way more organic molecules than originally suspected — Astronomers spy new class of dark, water-rich asteroids like dwarf planet Ceres — Could the dwarf planet Ceres support life? suggesting that organic materials were recently released to the surface of Ceres by asteroid impacts are supported by separate results delivered by a team of Italian scientists This separate team found that organic compounds degrade more rapidly under solar radiation than previously estimated "The idea of an organic reservoir in such a remote and seemingly inert location like Ceres raises the possibility that similar conditions could exist on other solar system bodies," Rizos concluded Ceres will be revisited by new probes in the near future and our research will be key in defining the observational strategy for these missions." The team's results were published in the Planetary Science Journal. Robert LeaSocial Links NavigationSenior WriterRobert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K whose articles have been published in Physics World He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.’s Open University US House space committee wants a standard lunar clock and receive alerts when they’re in the news Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London We are experts in medium and small-cap markets we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies commodities and broader investment stories This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation It has been a rough ride for hydrogen stocks lately but one investment bank thinks there are still reasons to look closely at the UK names In a new sector update, RBC Capital Markets reiterated its preference for ITM Power PLC (AIM:ITM) keeping an 'outperform' rating and a 70p price target suggesting plenty of upside from the current level ITM’s recent commercial momentum is encouraging It raised revenue and cash guidance for 2025 and looks increasingly confident about its pipeline but RBC points out that these are being cleared out and newer deals should offer better margins the market is effectively valuing ITM's cash pile but assigning little to no worth to the business itself especially given a more disciplined management team now in place Meanwhile, Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LSE:CWR, OTC:CPWHF) is still seen as a mixed story RBC has a 'sector perform' rating here and trimmed its price target to 90p from 110p The problem for Ceres lies in partner risk: after Bosch scaled back its involvement questions hang over how fast Ceres can grow its royalty streams The solid oxide technology also lags behind better-established systems like PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysers when it comes to green hydrogen scale-up particularly as funding conditions tighten But the UK remains in focus for green hydrogen development helped by government-backed initiatives like the HySpeed project and HAR2 funding rounds That should benefit domestic players like ITM if investors are willing to look beyond the near-term volatility there could still be real opportunities in the sector and ITM Power looks better placed than most to make the most of them Sign up to receive alerts and news direct to your inbox Autonomix Medical CEO Brad Hauser joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce a significant milestone in the company’s development of breakthrough neuro-modulation technology The company has released a compelling new video testimonial from a patient who participated in the initial phase of.. 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Terms of use Metrics details Ceres is a key object in understanding the evolution of small bodies and is the only dwarf planet to have been orbited by a spacecraft Dawn data paint an inconclusive picture of Ceres’ internal structure composition and evolutionary pathway: crater morphology and gravity inversions suggest an ice-rich interior while a lack of extensive crater relaxation argues for low ice content Here we resolve this discrepancy by applying an ice rheology that includes effects of impurities on grain boundary sliding to finite element method simulations of Cerean craters We show that Ceres can maintain its cratered topography while also having an ice-rich crust Our simulations show that a crust with ~90% ice near the surface which gradually decreases to 0% at 117 km depth simultaneously matches the observed lack of crater relaxation observed crater morphology and gravity inversions This crustal structure results from a frozen ocean that became more impurity rich as it solidified top-down the Dawn data are consistent with an icy Ceres that evolved through freezing of an ancient These models suggested that craters on an icy Ceres would efficiently viscously relax away over geologic time Note that we use ‘differentiation’ in this Article to refer to separation of rock and water ice and does not necessarily include metal More details about the FEM model can be found in Methods where the top layer is icier than the bottom layer in which the ice content decreases linearly with depth The uniform crust in a would need to be more impurity rich than the top layer and more ice-rich than the bottom layer of b for both scenarios to match Dawn gravity inversions The composition gradient in c depends on the ice content in the near subsurface to match gravity inversions This simulation was run in a uniformly 90% ice crust (Fig. 1a) at the equator and shows total vertical displacement after 1 Gyr of relaxation The black lines are the initial state of the simulation and the solid colour shows the final state of the simulation the crater has only shallowed by ~70 m from an initial depth of 2,400 m (seen as the solid colour at the centre of the crater slightly offset from the black line) solid line) experiences the least amount of relaxation (~20%) in this crustal structure and the same thing very well may have occurred on Ceres Both soluble impurities and suspended colloidal solutions may work in tandem to help trap impurities between ice grains and increase the strength of Ceres’ crust decreasing porosity in a uniform crust would also explain this observation Our gradational crustal structure agrees with the top-down freezing ocean model and the observed density profile Regardless of the mechanism of crustal formation our results show that either method can allow more ice than previously thought making Ceres more similar to other ocean worlds with ice-rich shells Impact and relaxation simulations focused on planetary-scale basins could further help elucidate the evolutionary pathway of Ceres’ ancient ocean We use the FEM software COMSOL Multiphysics to run our viscoelastic simulations We use the thermal physics module to set up a temperature profile through the interior and the solid mechanics module to simulate relaxation The mesh is designed to be finer near the crater We tested a few cases and found that our results do not notably change by increasing the resolution of the mesh compared with the simulations presented here which may allow a few more Kelvin in the near subsurface Our simulations include both elastic and viscous deformation Elastic deformation in our model is controlled by Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio Elastic deformation is small on geological timescales; our results are not sensitive to small changes in the elastic parameters Viscous deformation is the dominant control on whether craters are maintained over geological timescales we solve the Stokes equations for conservation of mass and momentum $\rho$ is the density (917 kg m−3 for ice 2,500 kg m−3 for impurities) and g is the acceleration due to gravity vector (0.27 m s−2 on Ceres) At the end of the simulations (1 Gyr of deformation) we calculate the per cent relaxation of the crater We define ‘per cent relaxation’ as the ratio of the difference in elevation between the crater rim and floor at the beginning and end of the simulation we define the floor elevation as the centre of the crater which is one-fifth the diameter of the crater Complex craters have relatively flat floors but for the topographic profiles we used in our simulations there is a slight slope down towards the centre of the crater We define the floor elevation of the complex craters as the elevation where the relatively flat floor and peak meet We note that the floor elevation is the deepest part of the crater in each simulation will have the highest stresses (and displacement) including the crater and surrounding terrain and the wall that is not being rotated around (to make the model 2D axisymmetric) is allowed to deform in the z direction but not the r direction Data from NASA’s Dawn mission are available to the public in the NASA Planetary Data System’s small bodies node (https://pds-smallbodies.astro.umd.edu/) The code used to simulate relaxing craters is available on Figshare at https://figshare.com/projects/An_ancient_and_impure_frozen_ocean_on_Ceres_implied_by_its_ice-rich_crust/210268 The code was made in the COMOSL Multiphysics Software and requires a licence for the software as well as the Solid Mechanics and Nonlinear Materials modules Ceres’ evolution and present state constrained by shape data Differentiation of the asteroid Ceres as revealed by its shape Brucite and carbonate assemblages from altered olivine-rich materials on Ceres Predicted crater morphologies on Ceres: probing internal structure and evolution Constraints on Ceres’ internal structure and evolution from its shape and gravity measured by the Dawn spacecraft Extensive water ice within Ceres’ aqueously altered regolith: evidence from nuclear spectroscopy Cratering on Ceres: implications for its crust and evolution A global inventory of ice-related morphological features on dwarf planet Ceres: implications for the evolution and current state of the cryosphere The interior structure of Ceres as revealed by surface topography Composition and structure of the shallow subsurface of Ceres revealed by crater morphology Insights into Ceres’s evolution from surface composition Properties of CO2 clathrate hydrates formed in the presence of MgSO4 solutions with implications for icy moons The varied sources of faculae-forming brines in Ceres’ Occator crater emplaced via hydrothermal brine effusion Impact-driven mobilization of deep crustal brines on dwarf planet Ceres Dawn arrives at Ceres: exploration of a small A partially differentiated interior for (1) Ceres deduced from its gravity field and shape Ceres’ partial differentiation: undifferentiated crust mixing with a water-rich mantle Hydrothermal dynamics in a CM-based model of Ceres and cryovolcanism on Ceres with a muddy ice mantle Induced magnetic fields as evidence for subsurface oceans in Europa and Callisto Mystery of Callisto: is it undifferentiated Inhibition of grain boundary sliding in fine-grained ice by intergranular particles: implications for planetary ice masses A review of the microstructural location of impurities in polar ice and their impacts on deformation Evidence of non-uniform crust of Ceres from Dawn’s high-resolution gravity data Freezing colloidal suspensions: periodic ice lenses and compaction and inorganic ions into lake ice during ice formation The composition and structure of Ceres’ interior Cryovolcanic rates on Ceres revealed by topography Dome formation on Ceres by solid-state flow analogous to terrestrial salt tectonics Ceres: astrobiological target and possible ocean world Science drivers for the future exploration of Ceres: from solar system evolution to ocean world science Concepts for the future exploration of dwarf planet Ceres’ habitability Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process (Oxford Univ Creep of water ices at planetary conditions: a compilation Superplastic deformation of ice: experimental observations Download references This work was funded by NASA Discovery Data Analysis Program (DDAP) grant 80NSSC22K1062 created and ran the finite element method simulations and led the writing of the manuscript All authors conceptualized the study and edited the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Nature Astronomy thanks Lauren Schurmeier and the other reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Crater diameter and depth are reported in kilometres but displacement from relaxation is reported in metres See Methods for definition of ‘floor’ for simple and complex craters as well as ‘per cent relaxation’ The location for ‘rim displacement’ was taken from the peak of the rim See Supplementary Data 1 caption for additional information Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02350-4 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Organic molecules are among the necessary inventory of life-friendly worlds hydrogen and – in smaller quantities – other elements form the basic building blocks of all life researchers have found such molecules at great distances from the Sun: on trans-Neptunian objects These bodies are thought to be largely unaltered remnants from the early days of the Solar System The building blocks of life may therefore have been part of their “basic configuration” from the very beginning and possibly reached the inner Solar System only later the researchers looked for previously unknown deposits of organic material on dwarf planet Ceres With its location in the middle of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter the body is neither clearly native to the inner nor the outer Solar System this location could even be its birthplace Scientists are therefore interested in the origin of Ceres’s organic components Did they originate locally in the asteroid belt Evidence of deposits of organic material was already found during the early stages of the Dawn mission The Dawn spacecraft reached Ceres in March 2015 and accompanied it for about three and a half years the scientific camera system and the spectrometer on board scanned the entire surface of the dwarf planet Potential patches of organic material can be detected from the camera data: the brightness of the light reflected from these areas increases noticeably with increasing wavelength The spectrometer splits the light into many more wavelengths than the camera and can therefore prove or disprove the presence of organics remote data is not sufficient to identify individual types of molecules beyond doubt it is certain that the discovered deposits consist of organic compounds that have a chain-like structure Researchers refer to such molecules as aliphatic hydrocarbons Geologic context of the organic-rich sites near and in Ernutet (a): High Altitude Mapping Orbit color mosaic (R-965 nm; G-749 nm; B-438 nm) of the vast Ernutet area The red dots mark locations of steep red-sloped pixels and the yellow dots indicate locations of moderate red-sloped pixels identified by the DNN The red boxes mark those locations where organic-rich material is identified by using VIR data Organics appear to be spatially concentrated in two locations on the Ernutet’s rim (annotated as “concentration”) The box with the blue six-pointed star is a new spot identified in this study c) are Low Altitude Mapping Orbit (LAMO) clear filter mosaics of the two areas outlined by white boxes in panels (a–c): Small craters exposing organic-rich material (white arrows) appear as bright spots and streaks in the LAMO clear filter mosaic The blue arrow in panel c marks the location of organic-rich material exposed by the ∼8 km crater (see text) The authors of the current study have now used artificial intelligence to comb the entire surface of the dwarf planet for traces of aliphatic organic molecules “Sites of such organic molecules are actually rare on Ceres and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures” says first author Ranjan Sarkar from the MPS The vast majority of deposits can be found along the edge or near the large Ernutet crater in the northern hemisphere of the dwarf planet A closer look at the geological structures at the locations of the organic material allows further conclusions “At none of the deposits do we find evidence of current or past volcanic or tectonic activity: no trenches there are no deep impact craters nearby,” says Martin Hoffmann from MPS Ceres had turned out to be an extraordinary which in some places has been seeping to the surface until recently the first assumption is that Ceres’ unique cryovolcanism has transported the organic material from the interior of the body to the surface,” says Andreas Nathues from MPS And where organic compounds have been reliably detected there is no evidence of deep or surface activity The researchers therefore argue that the impact of one or more asteroids from the outer asteroid belt introduced the organic material Computer simulations show that these bodies are among the ones that most frequently collided with Ceres Since the not-too-distant neighbors do not pick up much speed Organic compounds can survive these temperatures Dawn can’t detect all types of organic compounds,” Andreas Nathues points out It is quite likely that building blocks of life were also formed in Ceres’ underground ocean and perhaps even reached the surface – or are still doing so the organic deposits that have been reliably detected with Dawn so far likely do not originate Ceres itself,” he explains Nathues continues by saying that a future lander mission would be needed to detect organic material from the interior of Ceres NASA’s Dawn mission studied two bodies in the asteroid belt up close: the protoplanet Vesta from 2011 to 2012 and the dwarf planet Ceres from 2015 to 2018 and operated during the mission under the leadership of MPS The VIR spectrometer was provided by the Italian Space Agency ASI Ceres: Organic-Rich Sites of Exogenic Origin? ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran Eos The dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in our solar system’s asteroid belt, and it may have remnants of a subsurface ocean Get the most fascinating science news stories of the week in your inbox every Friday which consist of carbon atoms arranged in long chains were most likely produced by chemical processes on Ceres a lively debate grew over whether these organics had indeed formed on the dwarf planet or were delivered by organic-rich asteroids that crashed into its surface Now, Sarkar et al. present a new analysis that supports an external asteroid origin for Ceres’s complex organic compounds The researchers scanned Ceres’s surface in search of any organic compound hot spots that earlier studies may have missed. First, they applied a machine learning approach known as a deep neural network to images captured by Dawn’s Framing Camera visible-wavelength signatures of potential organic-rich sites they further analyzed those sites using data from Dawn’s Visual and Infrared Spectrometer specifically looking for infrared light at 3.4 micrometers—a telltale sign of the chain-like compounds they sought such as fracture systems or volcanic structures that might indicate the materials came from Ceres’s interior the new data suggest that the organic compounds were more likely deposited by organic-rich asteroids that crashed into Ceres traveling slowly enough that at least some of the organics remained intact after impact The researchers note, however, that the debate may not yet be resolved; it is still possible that organic compounds are indeed produced on Ceres but escape current detection capabilities. (AGU Advances, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001362 Metrics details Yet most of Ceres’s craters are not shallow Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Pamerleau, I. F., Sori, M. M. & Scully, J. E. C. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02350-4 (2024) Download references Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02316-6 Bright material on the floor of Occator Crater on Ceres is believed to be deposits from the welling up of a buried ocean is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe.' which at 588 miles (946 kilometers) across is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter Yet planetary scientists were generally not convinced particularly after NASA's Dawn spacecraft gave us our first good look at Ceres which the probe orbited between 2015 and 2018. and crater walls made of ice will eventually soften and flow back into the surface leading to the craters becoming shallow or non-existent Related: Dwarf planet Ceres could be a great place to hunt for alien life. Here's why Yet Dawn found that there were plenty of stark craters with steep walls on Ceres' battered terrain "The conclusion after NASA's Dawn mission was that the crust could not be that icy," said Pamerleau. and Jennifer Scully of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ran computer simulations that modeled how Ceres' craters would behave across billions of years allowing craters to persist for the lifetime of the dwarf planet "Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ocean world like Europa it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it." forming a shallow ocean beneath a thin layer of ice Researchers would love to find out how long this ocean persisted for because even after the thermal heat of Ceres' birth had leaked out heat from radioactive isotopes could have kept the ocean liquid for longer it would be easier to study Ceres' frozen ocean to find the answers to questions such as this "To me, the exciting part of all this, if we're right, is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth," says Sori. Its proximity to us and lack of other dangers, such as the radiation that missions to Europa face at Jupiter could render Ceres relatively easy to retrieve samples from There are areas where the underlying ocean seems to have burst through to the surface such as the bright areas seen by Dawn in Occator Crater among others. is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe," Sori concluded and has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Manchester He's the author of "The Contact Paradox: Challenging Our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" (Bloomsbury Sigma 2020) and has written articles on astronomy physics and astrobiology for a multitude of magazines and websites A whole 'population' of minimoons may be lurking near Earth DARPA wants a spacecraft to search for water on the moon 10 must-have 'Star Wars' books and novels coming soon to your galaxy Introducing the all-new Astronomy.com Forum! Become a part of our Community! >> Visit Now Dwarf planet Ceres is one of the most enigmatic worlds in our solar system — one whose secrets scientists have only been uncovering in the last decade salt-rich world that might have — or once have had — an ocean new research provides evidence that it might also hold the right stuff for life In a paper published Wednesday in Science Advances researchers present evidence that a series of chemicals called long-chain aliphatic organics (AOs) — basically long chains of hydrocarbons that often form natural lipids (fats) — may have formed within Ceres and come to the surface via cryovolcanism. Related: Explore Ceres’ icy secrets Prior to this study, scientists knew there were AOs on Ceres but whether they had been deposited onto the surface by meteorites or present already was unclear The latter idea bolsters the case that Ceres was once an oceanic world as similar compounds are found on other water worlds like Enceladus The relative abundance of these chemicals on Ceres was also too high to have come from meteorites alone Ceres is the largest object in the main belt And it doesn’t look much like other objects there; scientists think it may have formed farther out in the solar system where other dwarf planets like Pluto and Eris reside It may have once hosted an ocean that lasted for hundreds of millions of years and now may exist only in localized pockets under reservoirs of slushy brines nearer the surface That means the AOs seen on Ceres’ surface must have formed recently the AOs are found near sites that have other evidence of plumelike activity We have identified very recent (in geological time) mountains domes and fractures,” says lead author Maria Cristina De Sanctis a planetary scientist at INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali in Italy “The presence of AOs that should be recent confirms that Ceres can be considered a still evolving body.” To determine why they were seeing such high concentrations of AOs the team took Dawn data and compared it against a recreation of Ceres-like conditions in a lab This mini-Ceres was given AOs and then subjected to the various kinds of radiation you’d expect in interplanetary space near its orbit around the Sun The team tracked the breakdown of the AOs to estimate when the currently observed AOs may have made it to the surface the team believes AOs buried beneath the surface were exposed over time strengthening the case that they came from the deep ocean of Ceres The results also showed that the current abundance is probably the result of even higher abundances of AOs being pushed up to the surface with some breaking down before more was pushed up. De Sanctis says that the presence of clays and organics all point to the main-belt world having the right chemicals the high quantity of AO and the kind of AO (spectrally similar to terrestrial kerogens [which contain detritus from dead organisms]) increase the potential of Ceres in terms of habitability,” she says Our understanding of the many ocean worlds in our solar system is just beginning Although researchers are still combing through the wealth of data from the now-ended Dawn mission the new mysteries they’ve uncovered at such a nearby world might mean it could soon be due for another updates and special offers via email from Astronomy.com Astronomy leads the astronomy hobby as the most popular magazine of its kind in the world Count me in Subscribers can access their digital magazine issues and registered users can participate in our Community forums and galleries Lloyd's List is part of Maritime Intelligence This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited registered in England and Wales with company number 13831625 and address c/o Hackwood Secretaries Limited Lloyd’s List Intelligence is a trading name of Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited Lloyd’s is the registered trademark of the Society Incorporated by the Lloyd’s Act 1871 by the name of Lloyd’s For high-quality copies or electronic reprints for distribution to colleagues or customers please call UK support at +44 (0)20 3377 3996 / APAC support at +65 6508 2430 Lloyd’s-backed insurers have failed to answer questions over whether they provided cover for a 25-year-old a dark fleet poster child intercepted by Malaysian authorities as it fled the scene of a collision and is now detained NEARLY every day for the past three weeks, Lloyd’s List has emailed or called the London offices of insurers understood to be connected with Ceres I (IMO: 9229439) the Iranian oil-carrying spoofing tanker detained by Malaysian officials along with another ship after colliding in international waters last month or an apologetic receptionist explaining that nobody is available to help Ceres I isn’t just any ordinary very large crude carrier Sao Tomé and Principe-flagged ship has spent the past five years using deceptive and dangerous shipping practices to transport millions of barrels of US-sanctioned Iranian oil to China The vessel’s anonymous owners, hiding behind Hong Kong-incorporated ownership and management shell companies has exploited all the regulatory gaps in international shipping. The circumstances surrounding the July 18 casualty have yet to fully emerge, except that it was in ballast and at anchor due to unspecified technical difficulties when a naphtha-laden panamax tanker Hafnia Nile (IMO: 9766217) collided with it while sailing at 14 knots Many of the crew were injured and both vessels are write-offs Ceres I was flagged with a privately managed registry so obscure that the Cyprus-based company behind it (according to its website) cannot be traced There is no known recognised organisation or classification society on shipping databases for Ceres I P&I insurance was outside the International Group of P&I clubs but Lloyd’s List is unable to directly confirm reports that cover was with a specific marine insurer that is backed by Lloyd’s of London syndicates It’s a simple “yes” or “no” question required of the insurer and the broker That accountability and transparency fails in London — and not any of the usual hidey-holes where dark fleet shipping tends to congregate — is a black mark for a city claiming to be a world maritime leader and the birthplace of modern marine insurance but an oil sheen has been seen from Hafnia Nile The Malaysian and Singapore maritime authorities (Singapore-flagged Hafnia Nile) provided sparse details about the casualty due to the sensitivity credit is due to Malaysia’s coastguard for chasing down Ceres I when it attempted to flee the scene and after intercepting it accompanied the VLCC to Malaysian waters where it was detained he “dark fleet”* shipping oil and gas threaten the environment maritime safety and the regulatory integrity of global trade. Without accountability and transparency at the heart of global shipping for more than 300 years how can anybody be assured that the bifurcation in standards triggered by Western sanctions won’t be arrested Lloyd’s List first wrote in 2021 about how sanctions-circumventing tankers were exploiting a network of P&I insurers outside the International Group who were issuing certificates to tankers linked to evasive and deceptive shipping practices This week Lloyd’s List wrote how an anonymously owned tanker loading the inaugural liquefied natural gas cargo at a US-sanctioned Russian Arctic project had P&I cover provided by a Lloyd’s-backed insurer Satellite imagery showed the tanker calling at the Arctic port while Automatic Identification System signals showed it in the Barents Sea was also undertaking the same practice by manipulating its AIS signals to appear elsewhere The information about the LNG carrier only came to light because the registry of Palau demonstrated accountability and transparency by passing on this information about the Blue Card upon request traces of oil spillage have been discovered The anonymously owned tanker is one of a nascent dark fleet of LNG carriers now emerging as Western regulators tighten enforcement and compliance Last month Lloyd’s List wrote how a tanker laden with Russian crude from Ust-Luga switched class mid-voyage to avoid an unscheduled survey into a string of dangerous deficiencies which emerged after an inspection in mid-June The Cook Islands-flagged tanker is one of 26 with the Pacific Islands registry that was previously insured by Ingosstrakh Since Ingosstrakh was recently sanctioned by the UK the Cook Islands registry requested all ships with Blue Cards issued by the Russian insurer find alternative providers Have these and other tankers shifted to insurers with exposure to Lloyd’s We’ll never know while accountability and transparency are not seen as good practice among all marine insurers there The vast majority of marine insurers at Lloyd’s do But taking on the dark fleet means turning down business or no longer ignoring the obvious we know there are retrospective sanctions exclusion clauses that protect marine insurers from liability should a vessel entered with them breach sanctions There are some at Lloyd’s that opine to Lloyd’s List that these clauses are effectively a licence to print money because of the no-risk premise they provide There may be a cost to accountability and transparency international shipping goes back to the future and the 1980s and the days of the “ships of shame” Back then the global campaign against substandard shipping by Australian politician Peter Morris and his report about “ships of shame” triggered a clean-up of dangerous marine practices that cost lives and endangered many others It’s time to stop avoiding the realities of geopolitics Enforcement and compliance have landed at the feet of marine insurers Avoiding the hard questions only delays not resolves the issue Download our explainer on the different risk profiles of the dark fleet here Your username does not meet the requirements Sorry - public email accounts are not allowed An account with that username already exists Unfortunately we've not been able to process your registration Your question has been successfully sent to the email address below and we will get back as soon as possible This article has been sent to my@email.address Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt and the only potential ocean world in the inner Solar System A global scan for organic-rich sites on Ceres using a deep neural network revealed two new sites close to the well-known Ernutet crater “Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt and the only potential ocean world in the inner Solar System,” said Dr Ranjan Sarkar from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and his colleagues “It is key to understanding not only the formation and evolution of individual planetary bodies but also the structure of the Solar System.” “Its current location within the asteroid belt provides conditions for the potential long-term preservation of water ice beneath its surface.” “The overall carbonaceous chondritic composition of Ceres has been known for many years but the high spatial resolution data from NASA’s Dawn mission enabled individual evolutionary steps and small unique surface materials to become detectable.” the discovery of organic-rich sites is an important one,” they added “Previous research had identified three craters on Ceres — Ernutet and Urvara — that contain detectable deposits of complex organic compounds.” the authors aimed to better understand the global distribution and geologic context of all the organic-rich sites on Ceres They used a deep neural network to scan the dwarf planet’s surface and identify any additional organic-rich areas that may have been missed in earlier studies They found that only two of the newly-identified reddish sites actually contain organic material At the previously known organic-rich sites of Ernutet the organic material is found to be confined to just the upper surface layer There is also an absence of geological features that would suggest an internal and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures,” Dr “The vast majority of deposits can be found along the edge or near the large Ernutet crater in the northern hemisphere of the dwarf planet.” “Only three are located at a greater distance from it “A closer look at the geological structures at the locations of the organic material allows further conclusions.” there are no deep impact craters nearby,” said Dr also from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research the first assumption is that Ceres’ unique cryovolcanism has transported the organic material from the interior of the body to the surface,” said Dr “And where organic compounds have been reliably detected there is no evidence of deep or surface activity.” The study was published in the journal AGU Advances Ceres: Organic-Rich Sites of Exogenic Origin AGU Advances 6 (1): e2024AV001362; doi: 10.1029/2024AV001362 Lloyd’s of London’s involvement in underwriting risk arising from the casualty remains undisclosed with Maritime Mutual declining to respond to questions about Ceres I claim and how it is being handled A MARINE insurer backed by syndicates at Lloyd’s of London provided cover to tanker Ceres I (IMO: 9229439) the 23-year-old vessel shipping Iranian oil that was involved in a collision with another vessel in July Cyprus-based São Tomé and Principe International Ship Registry confirmed that Maritime Mutual Insurance Association (NZ) Ltd issued the Blue Card for the very large crude carrier which regularly shipped and stored Iranian crude over the past 18 months Ceres I reflagged to São Tomé and Principe in April 2024 — its third flag in four years — and is one of the 640 elderly tankers that form part of the so-called dark fleet* of anonymously owned vessels solely deployed in shipping sanctioned Russian Lloyd’s of London’s involvement in underwriting risk underscores the dilemmas arising from marine contracts undertaken in “utmost good faith” as details of the Ceres I claim and how syndicates have handled it remain undisclosed Since July 31, Ceres I has been detained for further investigation by the Malaysia Marine Department in Tanjung Sedili waters along with Singapore-flagged Hafnia Nile (IMO: 9766217) the product tanker involved in the collision. while Hafnia Nile was laden with 55,000 tonnes of naphtha A preliminary investigation found Hafnia Nile collided with the starboard side bulbous bow of Ceres I which was anchored in international waters off eastern Malaysia on July 19 due to unspecified technical problems the department said in a statement issued July 31 Malaysia’s coast guard reported that its patrol boat had intercepted Ceres I with injured crew on board when the tanker switched off its Automatic Identification Signal shortly after the incident and sailed north in an attempt to leave the area but with executives or directors working from Liechtenstein declined to respond to numerous emails and phone calls requesting confirmation it issued the Blue Card for Ceres I The Blue Card is the international certificate verifying protection and indemnity insurance is in place and that the marine insurer is liable for costs relating to pollution and oil spills The Maritime Mutual P&I Club were “providers of member-focused and cost-effective marine insurance coverage secured by A+ rated Lloyd’s syndicates” One insurance company reported by sources at Lloyd’s to be involved in the claim has not responded to emails and calls from Lloyd’s List seeking further information The sensitivity is underscored by Ceres I’s long history in shipping US-sanctioned Iranian and Venezuelan oil over the past three years according to data from London-based commodities provider Vortexa Tankertracker.com and United Against Nuclear Iran Maritime Mutual said it limited liability to the first $250,000 of any claim for its members with the remainder reinsured “through a high quality programme created by renowned London market reinsurance brokers” Its retained exposure and layered insurance programme was up to $1bn according to its website Unlike the 12 clubs that form the International Group of P&I Clubs Maritime Mutual does not publish details about the tankers that it insures but has long provided cover to the 14% of tankers in the global fleet that operate outside group Lloyd’s List first reported in February 2021 that Maritime Mutual insured six tankers shipping Iranian oil its Liechtenstein-based director Paul Rankin said that it had contacted the members involved after learning of the vessels’ links but had not heard back from them “No system is flawless and is therefore vulnerable to a certain extent,” he said at the time That was the first and last time Maritime Mutual responded to questions from Lloyd’s List Rankin has declined to answer emails or calls about cover for dark fleet tankers as and when details of Blue Cards emerged Maritime Mutual was also revealed as the P&I providers for four newly acquired anonymously-owned LNG carriers deployed to ship LNG from a US-sanctioned LNG project in the Arctic Two of the cargoes were loaded by LNG carriers Pioneer (IMO: 9180140) and Asya Energy (IMO: 9216298) when the gas carriers were mis-declaring their location in the Barents Sea This deceptive practice is commonly used by the dark fleet of tankers shipping Venezuelan and Iranian oil when AIS receivers are manipulated to make the vessel appear in one place when they are in another The Palau-flagged tankers are now under investigation by that country’s flag registry Sources at Lloyd’s said Maritime Mutual has rapidly expanded in the past three years alongside the growth of the dark fleet the company’s presence in the City of London is limited The Maritime Mutual website lists its London address as 8 Bishopsgate London distinctive City building that houses many insurance companies two staff members at the reception desk said that a company by the name of Maritime Mutual or Maritime Pacific Insurance Services Ltd was not based there and they had not heard of them A Maritime Mutual receptionist then contacted by telephone at the time said that the address on the website was a “correspondence address only” and that the physical office was based in Chelmsford The 8 Bishopsgate reception staff told Lloyd’s List that they were not aware of 8 Bishopsgate offering correspondence address services The London-based director of Maritime Pacific Insurance Services Ltd Phillip Murrant didn’t respond to emails or calls about this or the Ceres I Blue Card. The UK-incorporated company of which he is a director lists New Zealand-incorporated Crystal Holdings (New Zealand) Ltd as having an interest of 75% or more That entity lists Steven Joyce as one of the directors, based in Guernsey and appointed in May 2023. Murrant did not return calls or emails Steven Joyce’s LinkedIn profile identifies him as the company’s group IT director New Zealand-incorporated Maritime Mutual Insurance Association (NZ) Ltd also lists Guernsey-based Paul Rankin as one of the six directors THE Malaysian Marine Department has detained Ceres I (IMO: 9229439) and Hafnia Nile (IMO: 9766217) the two vessels that collided in the eastern waters of Malaysia on July 19 Preliminary findings indicate that Hafnia Nile was in transit and attempted but failed to evade Ceres I which anchored at latitude 1° 45.54’N and longitude 104° 39.43’E because of technical issues The port side of Hafnia Nile collided with the starboard side bulbous bow of Ceres I MMD said in a press conference held on Tuesday at a Malaysia Marine Week event both vessels caught fire and the anchor chain of Ceres I on the starboard side was cut where the collision took place, is a well-known area for storage and transfers of oil. is among the dark fleet tankers and has long been used for facilitating Iranian trade engaging in storage and ship-to-ship transfers based on information collated by Lloyd’s List “Damage to both vessels has not yet been estimated,” the MMD said The initial investigation showed that there was no oil spill detected, only an oil sheen suspected to be caused by Hafnia Nile’s bunker tank. Salvor placed an oil boom around the Singapore-flagged vessel to control the situation The owners of Hafnia Nile, through Resolve Salvage & Fire (Asia) have appointed Straits Salvage Engineers as salvor to carry out salvage work At the time of the collision, Ceres I, sailing in ballast, was en route to Lanshan, China, while Hafnia Nile was transporting naphtha on its journey to Kashima Ceres I dropped anchor at latitude 2° 01.183’N and longitude 104° 13.849’E and Hafnia Nile dropped anchor at latitude 1° 49.400’N and longitude 104° 26.240’E in the Tanjung Sedili waters MMD did not comment on the statement by the Malaysia Coast Guard on July 21 that Ceres I and two tugs were suspected of attempting to leave the scene they found it was likely once a muddy ocean world coming within 233 miles (375 km) of its surface Ceres looks a bit like Mercury or the far side of our moon Astronomers had long thought that because the dwarf planet is covered in craters Be a part of something big! EarthSky has upped its game with a fresh community photo page, engaging livestreams, and thrilling watch parties. Your donation can help us reach our $50,000 match goal. Let’s make an impact together! The team made their conclusions after running simulations of how Ceres’ crust evolved over billions of years. Mike Sori of Purdue University We think that there’s lots of water-ice near Ceres’ surface and that it gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper People used to think that if Ceres was very icy the craters would deform quickly over time we’ve shown through our simulations that ice can be much stronger in conditions on Ceres than previously predicted if you mix in just a little bit of solid rock Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ‘ocean world’ like Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons) it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it Ian Pamerleau another author also from Purdue University explained how they came to their conclusions: We used multiple observations made with Dawn data as motivation for finding an ice-rich crust that resisted crater relaxation on Ceres etc.) suggest the near subsurface of Ceres contains a lot of ice Spectrographic data also shows that there should be ice beneath the regolith [crust] on the dwarf planet And gravity data yields a density value very near that of ice We also took a topographic profile of an actual complex crater on Ceres and used it to construct the geometry for some of our simulations Even solids will flow over long timescales Craters have deep bowls which produce high stresses that then relax to a lower stress state resulting in a shallower bowl via solid state flow So the conclusion after NASA’s Dawn mission was that due to the lack of relaxed Our computer simulations account for a new way that ice can flow with only a little bit of non-ice impurities mixed in which would allow for a very ice-rich crust to barely flow even over billions of years we could get an ice-rich Ceres that still matches the observed lack of crater relaxation We tested different crustal structures in these simulations and found that a gradational crust with a high ice content near the surface that grades down to lower ice with depth was the best way to limit relaxation of Cerean craters is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth Ceres may be a valuable point of comparison for the ocean-hosting icy moons of the outer solar system like Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe That makes it a great target for future spacecraft missions Some of the bright features we see at Ceres’ surface are the remnants of Ceres’ muddy ocean So we have a place to collect samples from the ocean of an ancient ocean world that is not too difficult to send a spacecraft to Bottom line: Ceres – a dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt – may once have been a muddy ocean world Source: An ancient and impure frozen ocean on Ceres implied by its ice-rich crust Via Purdue University We invite you to visit our campaign page to discover why we need your contributions now more than ever to preview an illustration from Guy Ottewell’s great book that we're helping finalize and to learn more about EarthSky’s history “Things are always so much more peaceful when looking up.” We couldn’t agree more we apologize for the popup and greatly appreciate your support To use all available functions on this website JavaScript must be enabled in your browser For centuries, scientists have wondered what lies beneath the cratered surface of Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt The heavily cratered and battered surface seemed to suggest otherwise—after all an icy surface should theoretically flow and smooth out over time But new research from Purdue University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) is challenging these long-held beliefs. The study, published in Nature Astronomy suggests that Ceres is far icier than once thought and may have once been a muddy ocean world To reach this conclusion, the researchers used computer simulations to model how craters on CeresCeres might deform over billions of years Their findings revealed that Ceres’ crust is likely composed of about 90% ice near its surface far more than the previously estimated 30% “We think that there’s lots of water-ice near Ceres’ surface, and that it gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper,” Mike Sori, assistant professor with the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University explained in a recent statement Ceres holds a unique place in the history of astronomy and planetary science. Discovered in 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, Ceres was the first asteroid ever identified, and it remains the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter Ceres was later redefined as an asteroid and With a diameter of approximately 950 kilometers, Ceres has fascinated scientists for over two centuries, offering a window into the early solar system’s formation and evolution. As a protoplanet, it contains water-ice and other elements that could provide clues about the presence of water on other celestial bodies. NASA’s Dawn mission became the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies—Vesta and Ceres It reached Ceres in 2015 and continued orbiting until 2018 providing valuable data about its surface and structure suggested that Ceres might contain a lot of ice just beneath its surface spectrographic data indicated the presence of ice below the top layer of soil while gravity data hinted at a density similar to that of impure ice “We used multiple observations made with Dawn data as motivation for finding an ice-rich crust that resisted crater relaxation on Ceres,” Ian Pamerleau a PhD student with Purdue University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the paper’s first author elaborated “We even took a topographic profile of an actual complex crater on Ceres to construct the geometry for some of our simulations.” scientists believed that if Ceres had a high ice content its craters would relax and flatten over time this new study’s simulations demonstrated that ice can be far stronger in Ceres’ conditions than previously thought especially when mixed with small amounts of solid rock “People used to think that if Ceres was very icy “But we’ve shown that ice can be much stronger if you mix in just a little bit of solid rock.” By modeling how craters on Ceres change shape the researchers accounted for how even solids flow over very long timescales “Even solids will flow over long timescales and ice flows more readily than rock,” Pamerleau said “Our computer simulations account for a new way that ice can flow with only a little bit of non-ice impurities mixed in which would allow for a very ice-rich crust to barely flow even over billions of years.” the researchers believe Ceres was once an “ocean world” like Europa “Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ocean world it left behind an icy crust with traces of rocky material trapped inside it This discovery means that Ceres could be much more similar to the icy moons in our outer solar system than previously thought ocean-world-turned-dwarf-planet could have implications for future space missions “We have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth like Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.” Because Ceres is relatively accessible compared to other icy bodies in our solar system it represents an attractive target for exploration “Some of the bright features we see at Ceres’ surface are the remnants of Ceres’ muddy ocean “We have a place to collect samples from the ocean of an ancient ocean world that is not too difficult to send a spacecraft to.” Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Science Communicator at JILA (a world-leading physics research institute) and a science writer at The Debrief. 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