gCaptain.com

Digital Ship tells us:

ORBCOMM has successfully  launched six  AIS-equipped satellites  (a  Coast Guard  Concept Demonstration satellite and  five Quick  Launch satellites) after the Cosmos 3M rocket carrying the company’s payload blasted  off at 10:36am Moscow time (06:36 GMT) from Kapustin Yar, in the Astrakhan Region, on June  19. The satellites are equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology to receive and report transmissions from AIS-equipped maritime vessels  from anywhere within the satellite coverage area, information which  is expected to be of major interest to authorities interested in Long Range Identification and  Tracking (LRIT) in the marine domain. ORBCOMM says it intends to market this AIS data  to US and international coast guards and  government agencies, as well as to companies  whose businesses require ship tracking and  other navigational  activities. These satellites  represent the  first stage  of a multi-year  satellite upgrade  plan, which ORBCOMM says now  makes  it  the only satellite company providing worldwide commercial AIS data services.

You can read more about this and other ship technology articles by subscribing to Digital Ship’s free monthly newsletter which can also be viewed on their website.

In related news INMARST has launched their third INMARSAT-4 satellite. Maritime Executive tells us:

The satellite was launched on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11.43pm BST on 18th August (4.43am 19th August, local time). Inmarsat’s tracking station in Fucino, Italy was able to track the satellite while it was still coupled to the Breeze M launch vehicle. Launch provider ILS confirmed successful spacecraft separation at 8.46am BST on 19th August.

The satellite is the third in the I-4 constellation, concluding a decade of development and a $1.5 billion investment. The current constellation of two Inmarsat-4 satellites delivers mobile broadband services to 85 per cent of the world’s landmass, covering 98 per cent of the world’s population. The third I-4 will complete the global coverage for Inmarsat’s broadband services.

Andrew Sukawaty, CEO and Chairman of Inmarsat, said: “The Inmarsat-4s are the world’s most sophisticated commercial network for mobile voice and data services, and the successful launch of the third I-4 allows us to complete the global coverage for our broadband services. Once the third I-4 is operational, Inmarsat will have the only fully-funded next-generation network for mobile satellite services.”

The Maritime Executive also has an excellent newsletter which goes out weekly via email. You can subscribe to it free by following this LINK.

The Sea Barge (SEABEE) can carry the aircraft of Army units without extensive sectionalization. The 200- by 100-foot (61- by 30.5-m) deck area between the deckhouse and smokestacks provides a suitable landing area for fly-on/fly-off operations. The SEABEE barges are stored horizontally on 3 decks, 12 each on the main and lower decks and 14 on the upper deck. One hundred and sixty containers can be carried on 10 of the 14 barges on the upper deck. Barges are loaded aboard the SEABEE ship by a 2,000-ton-capacity submersible stern elevator. Under ideal conditions the SEABEE ship can load or discharge its load in 13 hours.

The dimensions and pertinent characteristics of the SEABEE ship areas follows: Length 874 ft (267 m) Width 106 ft (32 m) Deadweight (max) 38,410 LTON (34 000 MTON) Speed 21.7 knots Dry cargo 44,350 MTON Barge capacity 38 barges.

The watertight, double-hulled SEABEE barge is the same width and one-half the length of the standard US commercial river barge. It is slightly larger, but has approximately twice the cargo-carrying capacity of the LASH lighter. The barges are readily accessible during the voyage by catwalk in the ship and by manhole hatches in the barges. Each barge is fitted for smoke monitoring and has water fire-extinguishing systems. Forced draft ventilation while underway is also provided. The SEABEE barge, with the seven hatch covers installed, has a draft of just less than 2 feet (.6 m). The shallow draft allows the barge to be drawn very close to an unprepared river bank. No deck winches are installed on the SEABEE barge. However, sufficient cleats are available for securing the barge. The mooring lines must be kept taut at all times to prevent drift caused by tidal action or strong river currents. As the barge is loaded, the shoreside edge of the hull will settle firmly its full length on the river bank. The settling will add stability to the barge and aid in loading. Should high and low tidal conditions be expected along coastlines it will be necessary to prevent the barge from settling on shore. The loaded lighter can be moved off the river bank easily by crane or by a small harbor tug. (source: GlobalSecurity.org)

* UPDATE in response to NOAA’s Ship Strike Reduction Rule

NOAA has moved a step forward in implementing it’s Ship Strike Reduction Rule, which aims to reduce the number of North Atlantic right whales injured or killed from collisions with large ships.

The final environmental impact statement (EIS), outlines 6 alternatives including a vessel speed restriction of 10 knots or less in designated areas along the east coast of the US, the preferred alternative by NOAA.

With approximately 300 North Atlantic right whales left in existence, they are among the most endangered whales in the world.  Slow moving right whales are highly vulnerable to ship collisions, since their migration route crosses major East Coast shipping lanes.  It is estimated that 1 to 2 right whales are killed per year due to collision with large ships.

Below is a April 12th gCaptain post that explains a new technology that can used to help save these endangered species of whales.

* ORIGINAL POST

The Boston Globe tells us of a new undersea system to help ships avoid right whales. They write:

Scientists have developed a cutting-edge underwater listening system to protect the creatures from their number one killer: ships. The Massachusetts Bay network can track right whales by their signature call - and in as little as 20 minutes warn mariners to slow if they’re too close.

The devices are also giving scientists unprecedented insight into how the creatures change behavior to respond to the cacophony of man-made noises in the bay.

“We need to listen to these whales” to save them, said Christopher W. Clark, director of Cornell University’s Bioacoustics Research Program, which developed the technology with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Clarks said an increasing number of pipelines, cruise ships, tankers, and construction projects are drowning out the whales’ soft calls, making it difficult for them to connect. Clark has evidence that the whales simply don’t “whoop” when the bay gets too noisy.

The listening system, which is estimated to cost $47 million over the 25- to 40-year life of the project, is initially being paid for by Excelerate Energy, which recently finished construction of New England’s first offshore liquefied natural gas port, 13 miles southeast of Gloucester. If a second proposed port is built nearby, it will share the costs of the network. Federal officials demanded the monitoring system because vessels delivering gas will steam through the whale-laden sanctuary. Continue Reading….

Visit Listenforwhales.com for the full details. (Thanks Kurt)

The race to go green is on in the shipping industry.  Not only is the price of oil soaring, but more and more stress is being put on the shipping industry to decrease its carbon emissions and its harmful affects on the global environment.  This has led shipping companies to turn to sources of a renewable energy to power their vessels.

Two Japanese companies have taken the initiative to tackle this important issue saying that they plan to begin work on the first ships to have propulsion engines partially powered by solar energy and they could be ready as soon as 2010.  According to an article in Reuters:

Japan’s biggest shipping line Nippon Yusen KK and Nippon Oil Corp said solar panels capable of generating 40 kilowatts of electricity would be placed on top of a 60,000 tonne car carrier to be used by Toyota Motor Corp.

The solar panels would help conserve up to 6.5 percent of fuel oil used in powering diesel engines that generate electricity at any given moment.

Solar panels for an average home usually generate 3.5 kilowatts of electricity.

The system is expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1-2 percent, or about 20 tonnes per year, said Hideyuki Dohi, general manager at Nippon Oil’s energy system development department.

Nippon Yusen will invest about 150 million yen ($1.4 million) in the solar panel system to be designed by Nippon Oil.

Solar panels capable of generating several kilowatts of electricity have been used on large vessels before but their use has been limited to power for the crew’s living quarters.

While this system would have to be implemented on a large scale to have any significant impact on emissions from the industry as a whole, it is a step in the right direction and could potentially persuade other companies to follow.

Check out gCaptain’s post on Skysails and more information on other green ship designs HERE.

August 13, 2008: From what appears to be the result of strong winds whipping through the area, a 125 ft., 950-ton container crane collapsed, slamming into a second crane of the same size.  Both cranes crumbled to the ground in a heap of twisted metal, damaging a third crane.

The cranes, located on Jaxport’s Blount Island Marine Terminal in Jacksonville Fl., cost an estimated $6M each.  Luckily, no injuries were reported.

Investigators are looking further into the incident, as the cranes have withstood tropical storms for 25 years without a hitch.

For more information on this and other maritime incidents, check out Cargolaw.

In a Press Release on August 19, NOAA announced its new Southeast U.S. Marine Weather website.  It reads:

NOAA has launched a one-stop Southeast Marine Weather Internet portal offering marine weather forecasts and real-time coastal wind and water condition information for the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The portal is the result of a two-year, $579,546 NOAA-funded project implemented within the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, through the University of North Carolina/Wilmington. The portal is an experimental product developed in cooperation with NOAA’s National Weather Service and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).

“The goal is to supply people with everything they might need to know to make the smartest decisions,” said Zdenka Willis, NOAA IOOS Program director. “Easier access to timely and useful water, weather and climate information will save lives, property and resources.”

The portal is part of IOOS, a tool for tracking, predicting, managing and adapting to changes in the marine environment. IOOS delivers data and information needed to increase understanding of the nation’s waters to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment.

”The Southeast Marine Weather Portal has been developed with the end user - the mariner, sailor, surfer, beachgoer - in mind,” said Jennifer Dorton, program coordinator with the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program at UNC Wilmington. “The portal provides the information they need to make safe and informed decisions before going out on the water or to the beach.”

For more real time weather charts and forecasts, check out gCaptain’s weather portal in our Tools page HERE.

Welcome to this 124th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 74 here. (Published 3 Sept 2007)

You can find last week’s edition here .

You can find links to all the previous editions at the bottom of this post. You are encouraged to participate using the comment link/form at the bottom of the post. If you have photos or stories to tell, do email me at fred@gcaptain.com.

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This Week’s Photos:

This week’s photos are of the first recent shipment of wine sent in Europe by sailship by the French company CTMV:

18 juillet 2008 BREST : CTMV-FairWindWine load 22 pallets of South Of France Wines onboard Kathleen&May Schooner. Destination : Dublin. Unloading for Gilbey’s and Obriens importators the 25th July. 25, 26, 27th July, wine tasting onboard the ship in the center of Dublin. - Wine by Sail

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The S/V KATHLEEN & MAY

Their homepage can be found here.

More photos of the trip can be found here. They also promise: “Coming soon, Fair Wind Wines available in UK & CANADA.”

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This Week’s Items:

EagleSpeak has coverage of a great idea with “Disaster Relief — from Ships“.

Also be sure to check out EagleSpeak’s weekly series “Sunday Ship History: Monitor Ships” and “Sunday Ship History: Update on the LST with a Sail“.

gCaptain has “London Gateway Project“.

London Gateway will be Uk’s first deep sea container port for over 25 years and offers an exciting opportunity for the UK economy and shipping industry as a whole. It is set to be the most technologically advanced container port in the world and will be fully integrated with Europe’s largest logistics park.

Lankaweb has “SRI LANKAN RICE CARGO SHIP SINKS NEAR CHITTAGONG HARBOR AND 16 CREW MEN ARE RESCUED; ONE MISSING“. The ship was the BADULU VALLEY.

Nhan Dan has “Vinashin’s cargo ship sinks off Ba Ria – Vung Tau“. The ship was the GREEN VISHIP.

Focus Information Agency has “US coastguards, Dutch navy land giant cocaine haul“. The ship was traveling from Venezuela to Europe.

Business Week has coverage of the results of what happens when you pay off pirates in “Warship tracks 3 ships, 57 crew seized off Somalia“.

MarEx Newsletter has “America’s Marine Highway: A gaping window of opportunity“.

In Connecticut, America’s Marine Highway – as MARAD’s Sean Connaughton has coined it – has significantly reduced traffic on I-95, partly through the use of a high speed ferry system between the state and New York. According to the Connecticut Maritime Coalition, as much as 19 million tons of cargo, 2.6 million people and 850,000 vehicles are moved over water by private operators each year and waterborne transport keeps 950,000 trucks off Connecticut’s roads annually. Hardly a status quo solution, but nothing to sniff at, either.

Houston Ship Pilot/photographer OneEighteen has photos of dolphins swimming ahead of a ship here and here. He also has a photo of what he tags a ‘lactating ship’ here.

Kiwi at Sea covers the job or greasing machinery in “Nipples“.

CDR Salamander exposes a big problem in shipbuilding in “What clown did this weld?“. The post brought lots of comments including one declaring: ‘This gets my vote as scariest thread of the week‘. My first ship, the car carrier NOSAC RANGER had cracks all over it back when I was sailing on it in 1992. Welding crews were regular visitors. So how are your welds?

The Maritime asks “Are we on the brink of a naval showdown in the Black Sea?” as the US prepares to run the Russian naval blockade of Georgia, using warships to deliver humanitarian aid.

The BBC confirms that “US warship reaches Georgian port“, but not the Port of Poti, instead calling the Georgian Port of Batumi, which happens to be the end-point for the Baku-Batumi oil pipeline. Oddly enough, the port was host to a Russian army unit until November, 2007 when they handed the base back to Georgia. So, I guess planning for the Russian invasion of Georgia didn’t start until after that point.

Pat Dollard has a Russian Admiral’s complaint in: “Aid Deliveries Cover For NATO Build Up“. Pat say yes. I wonder when we are going to tell the Russians to give us our Hummers back.

Information Dissemination has “Moskva Returns to Sevastopol” noting a lack of any visible damage from fighting in Georgia. The ship returned despite Ukraine’s declaration that Russian ships operating off Georgia might be banned from returning to their Ukrainian port.

Bob Couttie’s Maritime Accident Casebook has “Bullies Kill Crews, Sink Ships“.

Robin Storm - In Search of Severe Weather remembers 1958 in “SURVIVING THE BIGGEST WAVE EVER“.

Cargo Law has more photos of the collapsed container cranes at the Port of Jacksonville noting ‘JAXPORT Does Not Use A Tie-Down Method, And Believes That The Brakes Are Sufficient.’. As I mentioned last week, I was at the same terminal in 1992 on the containership SS HUMACAO when the wind pushed a crane so hard that it took off the top of our mast and slammed into two other cranes. Surely they were the same ones as involved this time. So the port knew that this was a possibility. One of the cranes was hit so hard that it was put out of action.

Lloyd’s List Newsroom Blog has “Overcapacity problem” (containerships) and “Is it curtains for reefers?“. (Reefer ships)

Helsingin Sanomat (Finland) has “Attempts to get GTS Finnjet back to Finland continue“. Good luck to them, especially considering that the ship is already beached at the breakers yard in Alang, India.

Marine Log has posted it’s August Edition online.

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Maritime Global Net has a case of possible unintended consequences in “INTERFERRY: SULPHUR RULES COULD PUSH CARGO ONTO ROADS“.

FERRY industry organisation Interferry has says it has alerted IMO that plans to reduce air pollution from ships could backfire both commercially and environmentally in northern Europe unless equally stringent limits on the sulphur content of fuel are applied to other transport sectors.

CourierPostOnline has “Junk exports aid port of Camden” as used and broken goods in the US find buyers in the third world willing to repair and reuse them. With that and with reports of the Russian Army stealing everything including items normally considered trash in the western world, perhaps the US can also solve its garbage problem by exporting it to Russia.

Maryland Daily Record has “Snow Bird fights to stave off order of sale“.

Meanwhile, in accordance with U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy, two armed guards stand watch over the ship 24 hours a day, at a rate of $2,640 per day. Skeen said the security measure is a consequence of one member of the crew abandoning the ship in Pennsylvania.

“They’re really not a threat to anyone,” Skeen said of the 10-man crew from South and Central America. “They all have visas, but they’ve been kept on board anyway because this one guy walked.”

No wonder there is a fear of them running away, the ship has been under arrest for five months!

The NY Sun has an opinion piece suggesting that NATO should blockade the Russian Port of Kaliningrad if Russia carries out its threat to re-arm their Baltic Fleet with nukes in “The New Insecurity“. Anyway, the Russians already have nukes there, right in the middle of Europe, which I would think would cause more of an uproar than Putin’s fit over a couple defensive missiles in Poland. See Stockholm News: “We know Russia has nukes in the Baltic region“

Trading Markets has “Peru Fights For Coins Retrieved In 2007 By Odyssey Marine“. That would be the same treasure that Spain is also demanding for itself.

The Monitor has bad news for Canada in “GOC Cancels New Vessel Acquisitions“.

Millions have been spent in the planning, design and the now aborted acquisition of the ships. Instead of buying, say one supply vessel and eight CG patrol vessels which would give the organizations at least something new to work with, every scrap of work done has been swept off the table.

For those of you located in Canada, The Discovery Channel is showing the series “Mighty Ships“. (Found at The Monitor)

Leaving 24-hour buffets, deck-side cocktail parties and peppy cruise activity directors to “tamer” ships, Discovery Channel climbs aboard to offer an exclusive look at some of the coolest working vessels in the world with the premiere of its new original Canadian series, Mighty Ships.

So far they have visited the containership EMMA MAERSK, the livestock ship BECRUX, and the Car Carrier FAUST. Anyone know when the series will be shown in the US?

AFP has more migrants traveling from Africa to the EU by small boat in “Nearly 900 immigrants converge on Italian island“. Maybe sending some naval vessels to patrol off Somalia will reduce the flow of illegal migrants?

Kennebec Captain has “Third Mates and Law School“. I sailed once after graduation. It was six months as an AB. Not by choice but simply due to a lack of third mate positions. Four of the six ABs were newly-minted third officers. Myself and one other were seen as competent. I stood bridge watch to give the Chief Mate time off as well as time to supervise what was going on around deck as the ship had no bosun. The other two couldn’t even handle doing AB work. (They also were not any good at practicing birth control with one getting the other one pregnant. It might not have happened had they done some overtime deck work. However, chipping and painting was beneath them.)

The New York Times has “Cargo Ships Leaving Red Hook? Maybe Not So Fast” as the New York City Council warns Mayor Bloomberg to back off plans to close the last remaining container terminal in Brooklyn, which by the way has lots of business. I would also think that this terminal would fit well into the US’s push to expand short-sea shipping (The Marine Highway Initiative).

The Washington Post has “Activists Break Blockade of Gaza“. They sailed a relatively small boat from Cyprus and brought in 200 hearing aids, a couple thousand balloons and 47 ‘activists’ who were hoping that Israel would make a scene by confronting them. If that’s what they are looking for, then maybe they should try breaking the Russian blockade of the Georgian Port of Poti. Y Net News has “Palestinians: Leftist boats didn’t bring enough food“

Professional Mariner has “Metal thieves cause leaks on derelict ship on Columbia River“. The ship is the former US Navy LST USS Washtenaw County.

BitterEnd has “Seriously LOST” covering a recent nighttime trip to find a small boater who had no clue where they were. They were so lost they needed to light off a couple flares. The Coast Guard was advised in advance that this would happen.

BitterEnd also has a warning for everyone taking fuel in “80 gal of diesel in a gas boat“.

Sea * Fever has the story on a house build on an island in Newport, RI in “Sea-Fever Style: The House on the Rock“.

MarineBuzz has “Wireless Maritime Services Provide Global Connectivity at Sea“. Before you get too excited, it appears that it has only been installed on cruise ships.

MarineBuzz also has “Indian Navy to Conduct Joint Naval Exercise with JMSDF” (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces).

Tugster has photos of pizza delivery, to a New York City Police patrol boat.

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Kennebec Captain explains the “Suez Canal Light“.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (UK) has “8 FOREIGN SHIPS UNDER DETENTION“.

The Merchant Marine Express gets his replacement documents, noting:

I am amazed as to the government’s inability to track standard information such as citizenship through a routine background check as they surely know my Social Security number, I’m certain. Isn’t this critical information provided with every file that the Social Security Administration’s has on us?

How much do seafarers have to pay for that Government-conducted background check?

Hellenic Shipping News has “Scrap ships crowd Bangladesh shore on demand for cheap steel“.

An Unofficial Coast Guard Blog has “Africa and the U.S. Coast Guard“.

Maritime Compass has news from Canada in “Still Searching for the Franklin Expedition“.

Why send out the icebreaker Sir Wilfrid Laurier? Why look for Franklin’s ships after all this time? Not just for global maritime history, but for the reasons that have lain behind maritime exploration for centuries: to boost a claim for sovereignty.

Shipping Times has “Innovative new way to beat hull fouling“. Seems that ii is currently available for small craft.

Greenpeace is seeding the Sylt Outer Reef with huge stones to combat bottom trawling in “The North Sea ROCKS!“. Can anyone comment on the legality of this activity?

Tangobaby takes a trip to Suisun Bay in “Visit to the Ghost Fleet“. She traveled on the Liberty Ship SS JEREMIAH O’BRIEN. I was out there a long time ago, but that was to work.

Surely, everyone has seen photos of Senator Barack Obama at the beach on vacation in Hawaii. Well he also took his kids to the USS ARIZONA Memorial. Navy Newsstand has the photo.

Navy Newsstand also has a welcome to the Philippines for the USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50).

080819-N-1231T-005 PHILIPPINES (Aug. 19, 2008) During a maritime interdiction operation exercise, a Philippine visit, board, search and seizure team member secures the bridge aboard the Military Sealift Command rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50) as part of a Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEACAT) exercise. SEACAT brings several countries together for simultaneous bilateral exercises with the United States to enhance maritime security and interoperability. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Mark Thomas/Released)

Perfunction has “Spy Sat Sharpshooter Apparently Now On The Front Lines” with the US Navy tracking Iran’s latest missile launch.

Katu has a wreck removal update in “New Carissa gets smaller and smaller“.

delmarvanow has “Wrecked vessels tell a story - Del. coast littered with sunken boats from British rule in America“.

Watertown Daily Times has what sounds like a horror story in “Real invasive species - Snakes on Guam change the ecosystem“.

Wired looks back in “Aug. 22, 1962: First Nuke-Powered Cargo Ship Docks“. The ship of course is the NS SAVANNAH.

Wired also has “Air Force Dives into Wave Energy Project“.

BarentsObserver has fishing news with “New Russian quota regulations from Putin“.

Fox News has “Russia Won’t Leave Georgian Port, Angering Protesters“.

LiveLeak has a video tour in: “MAERSK MISSOURI…Cargo Ship Main Engine, super high def version.“.

IMC Brokers also has video in “Triple Expansion Steam Engined Tugboat SS Master” noting that the tug is ‘the last remaining wooden hulled steam powered tugboat of Her type in North America’.

blue water: news of my escape picks on bad news reporting with “Filipino Monkey and Media Idiocracy“.

Her Captain’s Voice has “US Navy ships heading towards Indian sea border“.

The SY-SHIMMI CIRCUMNAVIGATION… blog covering the round-the-world sailing vacation of Golla and Chantal Malherbe and their two little children (one of which is less than 6 months old) has been removed from Blogger. Their last post mentioned that they were sailing between Cuba and Haiti. What happened?

IceNews has “Thai tour company promotes endangered longtail boats“.

Free Ship Plans has the side wheeler “ROBT. E. LEE Missisipi Steamer Plans“.

THE PRIVATE ISLANDS BLOG has “East Germany Lives On - As a Tiny Caribbean Island“. The island is uninhabited. Hell, in my last job I ran into numerous USSR passports, issued as late as 2000!

intheboatshed.net has “Hervey Benham on the wonderful benefits of sailing a smack“. Don’t know what a smack is? Go and find out then.

Never Sea Land is getting ready to buy a bigger boat, which means his cool “Norseboat 17.5 Searaven is for sale“. (He is on the US West Coast)

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Haight’s Maritime Items has:

Maine – buoy bells have gone missing - The US Coast Guard issued a press release stating that a growing number of buoy bells have been removed from buoys along the Maine coast. Investigators suspect they are being stolen and sold. (8/14/08). - Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

AND:

Paris MOU – Annual Report – 2007 - The Paris MOU issued its Annual Report on Port State Control for 2007. It notes, that after several years of declining detention rates, those rates are now climbing. The report speculates that several factors may play a role, such as increased demand for tonnage worldwide and the reported difficulties of shipowners in finding well-qualified and experienced seafarers. (8/21/08). - Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

Fairplay Daily News has:

Three die as workers used for yard test - PROTESTERS have carried a mock coffin through Istanbul to dramatise their allegations of poor safety in Turkish shipyards.

In the most recent mishap, three men were killed on 11 August during a freefall test on a lifeboat at the Gisan yard in Istanbul’s Tuzla area. Thirteen others in the lifeboat were injured when a supporting cable snapped, propelling the craft onto a newly built tanker.

Protesters said 99 workers have been killed at the yard since 1992, but Gisan’s founder, Mehmet Oyar, told Turkish reporters that inexperienced workers were to blame for the deaths.

When asked why workers were used to load the lifeboat instead of sandbags, Oyar said: “I’ve done this job for 48 years, and I don’t know about sandbags. Sandbags are not used in those tests.”

He added that Turk Loydu, the Turkish classification and certification society, permitted using people for the lifeboat test.

The accident closed Gisan for two days. - Fairplay Homepage (Used with Permission)

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Submissions for future editions:

Please submit articles for inclusion in next week’s edition using the following submit form at Blog Carnival. You are also welcome to email stories and photos to fred@gcaptain.com for inclusion in future editions as well as suggest areas of coverage.

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Previous Editions: As linked below or click on the tag ‘Maritime Monday’ for all gCaptain editions.

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Image courtesy of NYCharities.org

On Sunday, August 31 is the 16th Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition held at Pier 84 on the Hudson River.  I know last year this event was a big hit and we look forward to it again this year.  Below is a description of the event from nyc.gov.

Tugboats from all of the tug and towing companies in New York Harbor, as well as historic tugboats, will motor into Pier 84 for the Great North River Tugboat Race and Challenge. The event kicks off with a parade of tugboats from Pier 84 to the race start line near the 79th Street Basin.

The tugboats will then race one nautical mile back to Pier 84. Awards will be presented to each class of boats, broken down by total horsepower. Following the race there will be a bow to bow pushing contest and a line throwing contest, in which deck hands will attempt to lasso a bollard and tie off in the fastest time possible. There will also be a contest to determine the best decorated tug.

Spectators can purchase tickets to view all the festivities from fireboat John J. Harvey, which will depart from Pier 83 and will offer the closest viewing of the action. Free viewing is also available at Pier 84.

For more information on this and other fun events, visit the Working Harbor Committee website HERE.

Although originally from the NYC area, gCaptain works out of California so we are sorry to say we won’t be able to make it, but if any readers out there do attend, we would love to from you.  Email us at tips@gCaptain.com

Also see our coverage from last year’s race HERE.

*Update:

According to asap Travel, Royal Caribbean has started taking reservations from members of Royal Caribbean’s Diamond and Diamond Plus Crown & Anchor programs for the Oasis of the Seas maiden voyage in December 2009.  Starting August 28th, any passenger that has sailed on a Royal Caribbean Cruise will have a chance to book a reservation followed by everyone else September 3rd.

The article reads:

The cruise line is doing its share to make sure everyone knows that Oasis of the Seas is ready to start taking reservations.  Rzymowska said “On 3 September we will be direct-mailing 200,000 households — people who have inquired about Oasis, past passengers and Crown & Anchor members. And on 6 September we start a nationwide press campaign, which will run until mid-October.

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Illustration courtesy Royal Caribbean

Cruise editor Gene Sloan is the host of USA TODAY’s Cruise Log Blog. His blog brings the latest headlines and news stories from the Cruise Ship industry to people around the world. Today, Gene is bloging live from New York City where he is attending the unveiling of the latest plans for Royal Caribbean new ship, Oasis of the Seas — the largest, most innovative cruise ship ever built. Here is Mr. Sloan’s report

It’s a big day for Royal Caribbean fans — the day they finally find out what gee-whiz marvels the line has dreamed up for its next ship, Oasis of the Seas.

The company that pioneered rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks and surfing pools on the high seas will unveil its plans for the much-awaited vessel — the largest ever built — at an event in New York.

RELATED ITEMS: Royal Caribbean ships will feature “Central Park”; Royal Caribbean’s next ships will be Oasis, Allure

The 220,000-ton giant, which will launch in late 2009, will be more than 40% larger than the largest cruise ship afloat, and Royal Caribbean already has said it’ll include such innovative features as a massive “Central Park” with live trees and outdoor restaurant seating. The ship will hold 5,400 passengers at double occupancy — a number once thought unthinkable in the cruise business.

Want to be among the first to hear the news, which will include the official launch date and itinerary for the ship? Check back here starting at 12:30 PM EST as we blog live from the event in New York’s Nokia Theatre. Live Blog

(Source: IMC Brokers)

In the broad expanse of the northern Pacific Ocean, there exists the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a slowly moving, clockwise spiral of currents created by a high-pressure system of air currents. The area is an oceanic desert, filled with tiny phytoplankton but few big fish or mammals. Due to its lack of large fish and gentle breezes, fishermen and sailors rarely travel through the gyre. But the area is filled with something besides plankton: trash, millions of pounds of it, most of it plastic. It’s the largest landfill in the world, and it floats in the middle of the ocean.

The primary sources of ocean debris include storm sewers, illegal dumping, littering, commercial and recreational boats, and commercial shipping.

The gyre has actually given birth to two large masses of ever-accumulating trash, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches, sometimes collectively called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Eastern Garbage Patch floats between Hawaii and California; scientists estimate its size as two times bigger than Texas. The patch is characterised by exceptionally high concentrations of suspended plastic and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre.

The main problem with plastic — besides there being so much of it — is that it doesn’t biodegrade. No natural process can break it down. (Experts point out that the durability that makes plastic so useful to humans also makes it quite harmful to nature.) Instead, plastic photodegrades. A plastic cigarette lighter cast out to sea will fragment into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic without breaking into simpler compounds, which scientists estimate could take hundreds of years. The small bits of plastic produced by photodegradation are called mermaid tears or nurdles.

Besides the obvious affects this has on both marine life and tourism, another question that presents itself is how do we clean this up?

This question is yet to be answered.  For now, experts say the best approach we have is not to clean it up at all, but to keep it from growing.

Other good reads on this subject:

HowStuffWorks

ABC News