We don’t usually publish press releases on gCaptain but we can’t help to be excited by new solutions for offering “High” Speed internet at sea. Marine Norway points us to this:

The introduction of FleetBroadband has pushed high-speed internet into the
marine mainstream, however, the pricing per megabyte of data puts the full
benefits of broadband usage out of reach of many vessels. Wired Ocean can
reduce the costs per megabyte of shore-to-ship FleetBroadband data to
approximately 10% by channelling the downlink through a vessel’s satellite TV
antenna. 

When used in conjunction with FleetBroadband, the Wired Ocean SBS brings with
it a tangible increase in downlink speed - a Wired Ocean downlink can be almost
twice the speed of a standard FB250 downlink without the Wired Ocean SBS
integrated. This makes the system ideal for high volume applications such as
internet browsing, downloading email with attachments, obtaining electronic
manuals and weather and navigation data for bridge and critical systems. Continue Reading…

The top two multiscale spatial models shows the human impact on the world ocean in comparison to the major shipping lanes of the world. The third shows invasive species. Creators of the models, nceas.ucsb.edu, brings us the full story of how they went about creating the models and what it all means.

Why Map The Human Impact?

What happens in the vast stretches of the world’s oceans - both wondrous and worrisome - has too often been out of sight, out of mind.

The sea represents the last major scientific frontier on planet earth - a place where expeditions continue to discover not only new species, but even new phyla. The role of these species in the ecosystem, where they sit in the tree of life, and how they respond to environmental changes really do constitute mysteries of the deep. Despite technological advances that now allow people to access, exploit or affect nearly all parts of the ocean, we still understand very little of the ocean’s biodiversity and how it is changing under our influence.

The goal of the research presented here is to estimate and visualize, for the first time, the global impact humans are having on the ocean’s ecosystems.

Our analysis, published in Science, February 15, 2008 (no subscription required), shows that over 40% of the world’s oceans are heavily affected by human activities and few if any areas remain untouched. [Continue Reading →]

Ever wonder where American goods are going? Well here is a look at America’s Top 10 countries for U.S. Exports (2005)

1. Canada … US$211.9 billion (up 31.7% from 2002)
2. Mexico … $120.4 billion (up 23.5%)
3. Japan … $55.5 billion (up 7.8%)
4. China … $41.9 billion (up 89.6%)
5. United Kingdom …$38.6 billion (up 16.3%)
6. Germany … $34.2 billion (up 28.6%)
7. South Korea … $27.8 billion (up 23%)
8. Netherlands … $26.5 billion (up 44.8%)
9. France … $22.4 billion (up 17.9%)
10. Taiwan … $22.1 billion (up 20.1%)

Statistics for this weeks Top 10 come to us from suite101.com

Safety First - Container Terminal In Hongkong - Click here for another funny movie.

Safety Reminder - Never stand under the load of a crane… you never know what may happen!

The US-owned cruise operator, Regent Seven Seas, is taken bids on a brand new ultra-luxury cruises ship. The vessel will have a projected capacity of 800 guest as well as an entire deck devoted to an on-board spa. At the moment Regent Seven Seas operate four small to mid-size luxury cruise ships.

travelweekly.co.uk brings us more on this new ship build.

President Mark Conroy said three shipyards are bidding for the business and a decision is expected by September with delivery slated for 2011 or 2012.

The vessel will be an all-balcony, all-suite vessel, like Regent’s flagships Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Voyager, but hold about 800 passengers, which is 100 more than those two ships.

Standard cabins will be slightly larger than on Mariner and Voyager - 400 square feet instead of 350 - and it will have more restaurants and probably an entire deck devoted to the spa.

Where are the Inspectors?

By John G. Denham

Each day I read articles in newspapers, see TV clips and peruse blogs featuring maritime accidents. My computer’s “favorites” has a list of bad news reporters that keep me informed of the casualty ” de jour.” Why so many?

In November 1942 I arrived in Honolulu in the Territory of Hawaii. I was 16. I arrived on USAT Ernest Hinds, an over the hill cargo passenger ship. In a moment of extreme patriotism I had shipped out with the Army transport Service (ATS) while I waited to be 17 and join the navy. Unemployed and a high school drop-out I joined Ernest Hinds late one afternoon with the plan of getting seaman’s papers the next day. I woke early to find we were passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. The Chief Mate, Charley Shaw informed me not to worry, I could get papers in Hawaii.

Standing in front of a stern appearing, elderly uniformed USCG officer I answered his query “How did you get here, if you reside in San Francisco?” My response created “My God boy, you were shanghaied! Do your parents know where you are?”After a call to San Francisco ( Mom indicated no concern) and some discussion, then a phone call to USAT Hinds, I was issued a Certificate of Service certifying I was now an Ordinary Seaman and signed by the concerned Merchant Marine Inspector in Charge.

Since 1942 I have faced a number of USCG officers, but none since about 1950 had any idea of who I was, why I was there and what I had been doing; that was established by a petty officer following a guide-sheet. My licenses state, ” “having been duly examined and found competent” I was licensed to be, whatever?

To be a licensed Master I underwent hours of training, months of rehearsals, and years of qualifying experience at sea. I wrote pages of answers and was reminded that “no one gets out of here is less 10 days.” After 10 days having been duly examined and found competent I was handed a Master, unlimited License signed by a U.S. Coast Guard Captain, as officer in charge.

Federal Pilotage endorsements in Washington and California were accomplished without any demonstration of ability or skill and 100% on written responses to printed questions. Route knowledge was accomplished by listing all navigation aids etc., on formatted blank charts. Although a number of day and night trips were required, certification could easily be circumvented. Advancing to state pilotage, although experienced and capable was a political process requiring no tests or examinations and certified on a pocket sized card. Special ports pilotage was similarly accomplished. It’s understood that a better system for state pilotage is now effective and enforced, however the certification for qualification is subjective. In most cases, a pre-requisite for state pilots is a federal endorsement.

However there are bigger dichotomies in the maritime process of marine transportation. A vessel is a man made structure operated by humans, mostly guided by computer manipulated equipments. The engineering competence of the ship builders is verified by the elements and the tenacity of the crews. However most non-environmental induced failures are produced by poor ship management: collisions, allisions, groundings are mostly caused by the lack of a proper lookout, inadequate BRM, and or failure to observe the ordinary practice of seaman.

Licensing, operational practices and procedures are functions that require knowledgeable supervision. None of those can be properly accomplished without properly experienced supervisors overseeing their conduct. For some time there has been a recognized decrease in the quality and effectiveness in the process responsible to provide and maintain certified competency in maritime skills.

Accidents occur and will continue to happen as long as people and equipment are tested by nature. However a significant reduction in such mishaps can be accomplished if the faults are identified and quickly promulgated as “lesson learned,” even though some are repeated.

A process of timely investigation by knowledgeable, experienced maritime qualified experts is needed to resolve technical questions involving accidents that may influence the public safety and interfere with commerce.

The ordinary practice seaman is a term that has endured over two centuries. It is not just a catch-all clause but a professional reminder by others that view the mariners work, they expect good sense to prevail, apply due diligence and follow through in all tasks and duties and verify with certainty that Neptune’s laws are obeyed.

The ordinary practice of seaman implies a knowledge of proper seamanship and experience that is disappearing in our mariners and being by-passed by otherwise concerned managers. The instinct and inquisitiveness of a practiced mariner to know proper from not, compliance from disregard and error from slovenly practice is essential to improve. Is it time to revisit the need for a dedicated, professional cadre of “Steam Boat Inspectors” and a mandated management process that verifies our vessels are competently managed. The opposite of the ordinary practice of seaman is unskillfulness, a term from the past, that is reappearing.

John Denham is a retired USN Captain, Licensed unlimited Master and Pilot, maritime academy teacher,and author with extensive experience as a marine consultant. He is also author of The Assistant and DD 891.

Photo by christinepilote

Can you starve to death sleep?

We have highlighted national sleep week, showed you how to cheat on sleep and even provided outrageous photos of a sleep realted incident but today’s post tops them all. Apparently our bodies have two internal clocks, one based on light and the other based on food. Lifehacker tells us:

Normally, the body’s natural circadian clock in the brain dictates when to wake, eat and sleep, all in response to light. But it seems a second clock takes over when food is scarce, and manipulating this clock might help travelers adjust to new time zones.

Granted, fasting is certainly extreme for just a few hours worth of jet lag, but the article points out that an 11-hour time change—like one an American traveler might experience when flying to Japan—would take the average person an entire week to adjust to. In such cases, a fast-before-you-fly policy could do wonders. The article is iffy about the effectiveness of this method, so if you’ve ever tried it, let’s hear how it worked in the comments.

If this interests you be sure visit NPR’s Science Friday post on the subject (audio file in upper left corner).

Photo by Sean Mantey

Prior to completing mission’s like rescuing self-appointed royaly the RNLI must first get its boats off the beach. The organization’s official website tells us about the process:

Successful rescues are all about teams working together and this happens even before the lifeboat has been launched. The lifeboat crews and shore helpers all work together to make sure the lifeboat is launched safely.

As the crew are getting kitted up the launchers get ready to take the lifeboat out to sea. If it’s an inshore lifeboat, a driver is needed for the tractor, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or land rover, which pulls the lifeboat, and sometimes a number of launchers are needed to help the crew get the lifeboat through the waves and surf.

If it’s an all weather carriage-launched lifeboat then a tractor driver and a whole team of launchers are needed to guide the lifeboat across roads, sand or from a shingle beach into the surf. On a slipway-launched lifeboat the head launcher, using a hammer, knocks the pin out of the cable that holds the lifeboat poised at the top of the ramp. If the lifeboat lies afloat in the harbour then the crew will get into a boarding boat and motor out to her.

The average time to launch a lifeboat is seven minutes for an inshore lifeboat and 12 minutes for an all weather lifeboat.

… but sometimes things don’t go according to plan:

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I wasn’t sure they would make it… then they laid into the reverse power. Brilliant.

Here’s what happens when the RNLI doesn’t quite make it to sea: [Continue Reading →]

Eide Marine Tech brings us a new Freefall lifeboat design. In a press release they write:

The lifeboat has a new superstructure design in order to get the water off the superstructure faster than earlier designed freefall lifeboats. And together with the bow, which EMT has used for several years, this will make the entry to the water quite soft.

The lifeboat was designed for use with their innovative freefall davit design. Rather than attempting to describbe the system, here is a drawing that should make the system’s advantages over a traditional free fall system obvious.

If you have any experience with these davits please post a comment with your thoughts.

Yesterday the passengers of the cruise ship Norwegian Spirit were, as the Daily News headline reads, “Cruising For A Bruising”, yesterday as the ship allided with New York City’s Pier 88. Click HERE for details.