Head over to IMC Broker’s blog to find a really good guide to tanker sizes. From Handy to ULCC this guide has pictures, descriptions and dead weight tonnages to help you visualize the different sizes. An example:
Capesize: Refers to a rather ill-defined standard which have the common characteristic of being incapable of using the Panama or Suez canals, not necessarily because of their tonnage, but because of their size. These ships serve deepwater terminals handling raw materials, such as iron ore and coal. As a result, “Capesize” vessels transit via Cape Horn (South America) or the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa).
Our friend, Sid Martin of Golden Shellback fame was on the Today Show this morning dunking Matt Lauer’s blackberry in a fish tank full of water. I hear even Al Roker was impressed. here is the video.
Note of disclosure: gCaptain’s maritime consulting arm arranged the taping.
Popular Science brings us Future Navy Ships - Littoral Combat Ship. They write:
This is a small, fast ship (capable of 45 knots) for sub-hunting, mine-clearing, and fighting small boats near coastlines—the littoral region. Each LCS would be equipped with one of three distinct mission modules: a set of plug-and-play ship sensors, missiles, small boats, unmanned underwater vehicles and specially equipped helicopters, for mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare or surface combat. The base configuration would include antimissile batteries and a medium-caliber gun. The ships could clear mines and chase subs away from an area before the rest of the fleet arrived.
Also included in the article are three other ships designed for future combat. You can view the full article with photos HERE.
The most elegant ship built in decades has caught the inspiration of artists, photographers and ship spotters worldwide. She is elegant, record breaking and capable. She’s also a YouTube Star! Here are two video that have reached over 25,000 viewers and for good reason. Take a look:
The liner Queen Mary 2 slips under the Golden Gate Bridge (BTW this video won our iPhone contest).
The Queen Mary 2 departing New York Harbour.
Like most celebrities she is also photogenic. The best series of photographs are by San Francisco Photo Blogger Todd Lapin and his team over at Telstar Logistics. Here is a slideshow of his photographs Telstar Logistics Photos. [Continue Reading →]
(Note: This post originally appeared on gCaptain Jan ‘08)
Three years ago at the World Expo in Aichi Japan SkySails promised a revolutionary design with the ability to reduce fuel consumption aboard ship by up to 24%. Last week the dream became reality. BBC News tells us:
There is something rather magical about being up on deck of a giant cargo ship as it pushes its way out to sea. Ten thousand tonnes of metal heaving through the water, the ship’s giant masts glistening in the winter sun. But there is something even more magical about being aboard MS Beluga SkySails. On the face of it, this vessel - which is carrying parts of a timber production line to Venezuela - looks like any other cargo ship.
MS Beluga SkySails believes its fuel bill will be cut by £800 ($1,560) a day. “We can demonstrate that you can combine economy and ecology,” Verena Frank of Beluga Shipping explains. “Economy, because you can reduce fuel consumption and fuel costs, and on the ecological side of things, we reduce emissions.”
The kite is controlled by computers. One computer helps it to fly in figures of eight in the sky - maximising the power it produces. Another computer adjusts the kite’s direction. If the project is successful, expect to see even bigger kites soon - some up to 5,000sq m (53,820sq ft) in size pulling ships across the seas and oceans. Read More…
Looking for a good knot tying tutorial? Then Animated Knots by Grog is the place to visit. While SUNY Maritime instructor GPS is famous for saying “You can do anything with these two knots…” there are others I tend to use a lot including the rolling hitch (aka timber hitch), figure eight and square knot. Grog has the knots you need in an easy to learn format.
Bonus points to the commenter who correctly identifies GPS’s two favorite knots.
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 come from the website of Miami, Florida’s ANTILLEAN MARINE SHIPPING CORP.:
In 1960, the Babun brothers— Jose, Teofilo, and Abraham—fled Cuba’s communism and settled with their families in Miami leaving their successful lumber and cement businesses behind them, three years later, equipped with a single break-bulk ship the Babuns launched a liner service on the working river.
Originally coming from Cuba, Antillean’s historic heritage has been preserved in the Dynamic young leadership embodied by assured that the company balances the value of its history with the demands of a state-of –the-art shipping company.
Antillean Marine Shipping Corporation is one of the Miami River “anchor” marine cargo companies handling over one million tons yearly. Antillean Marine has been providing regular liner service to ports in the Dominican Republic, Haiti twice weekly for over thirty-seven years.
Bob Couttie’s Maritime Accident Casebook has the shocking story of death on the container ship CM LONDON EXPRESS in “The Case Of The One-Way Assassin“. A must read for engineers, Captains and seafarers in general. This happened to an engineer, but it could have happened to any member of the crew in any number of places onboard ship.
In the latest twist out west, the Cosco Busan operator is now accused of fabricating records to hinder the NTSB and DOJ probes of the November 2007 allision in San Francisco Bay (see the USDOJ press release elsewhere in this e-newsletter). I don’t know who else can be charged for what else, but it is getting pretty hard to follow along without a scorecard. To say that this has been the most bizarre set of circumstances I have ever witnessed in relation to any maritime accident would be a gross understatement. I’ve said it once before and I’ll reiterate for you again: I’m not going to make any suppositions or predictions in this case.
Tugster has photos of a couple Stena Bulk ships in “Bear Ships” and includes a link to an interesting PDF document with photos of a number of ice-strengthened ships with ice damage.
Going back into the archives of Freaque Waves, he posts “A list of freaque wave encounters” with ships. I found it as he recently posted “Peril in the age of internet” noting that the reference for one of the incidents was web based and no longer to be found.
Kiwi at Sea has an update from the Falkland’s in “A brief review” as they try to iron out some kinks in their new ferry service using a landing craft. He also describes a recent flight from hell but it is so nauseating that I won’t touch it with an internet link halfway around the world. So you can go to his homepage and find it yourself. I’d take a plane full of drunken seaman over what he encountered.
“They dropped anchor without permission…I went out and explained to the master, over the side of the boat, that he was a naughty boy and that he must bugger off over the horizon – which he did.”
SAILORS, MARINERS & WARRIORS LEAGUE has “45 Dead In Congo Boat Disaster“. Another 77 passengers are missing. Seems that the aids to navigation in the river were stolen.
The Russian navy has resumed its patrols of the Arctic sea around the Svalbard archipelago, an area claimed by both Russia and Norway. There has been no activity by Russia’s military in this region since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But now the Russian navy has stated it plans to increase military activity in the waters.
BitterEnd notes that even Vessel Assist vessels sometimes need assistance themselves in “Oh No! Salvation takes a dump“. Well it is kind of the nature of boating.
Shirlaw News Group has “Tanker explosion kills eight in Greece“. The ship is the FRIENDSHIPGAS and the explosion took place while the ship was in a shipyard. Lloyd’s List covers the fallout in “Anger as Greek LPG carrier blast kills eight“. I am a bit suspect of the maritime unions blaming the Greek Government for being lax on safety issues since at the end of the day it is the workers who choose whether or not to work safely and follow safety rules. More details also to be found at MarineBuzz
Press Register has “Mobile container terminal gets surprise customer” as the Hapag-Lloyd container ship ROME EXPRESS calls the not-yet completed container terminal in response to the Mississippi River oil spill.
Shipping provides a unique insight into what is going on in the real world. Those working in the industry usually know weeks ahead of the financial markets about the true state of global commerce. Official economic data may not start to reflect shifting trends for several months.
The agency noted the last time it did a comprehensive port study, growth was seriously underestimated. That Comprehensive Port Improvement Plan forecast the port would not exceed 5 million TEUs until 2015, while volumes actually hit 5.3 million TEUs in 2007. Similarly, the study thought the port would only be handling 674,000 vehicles by 2020, but instead, the port was already handling 930,298 vehicles last year.
BarentsObserver has “Murmansk based tall ship got port ban to Norway“. The ship is the sail training ship SEDOV, the worlds largest four-masted tall ship. The situation is worse than indicated in the title as the order has come from the Russian Foreign Ministry and the ship is also forbidden from calling UK and Irish ports. One theory is that there is a fear of the ship being arrested in one of these ports.
THE PRIVATE ISLANDS BLOG has “Russia & China Island Deal” as Russia returns an island and a bit to China. No mention of what Russia got in return. So does that mean that there were some payoffs to some Swiss banks accounts? Certainly Russia didn’t return the territory out of the goodness of their hearts.
Life at SEA has “See-Saw between Ship and Shore.” I always looked at going to sea as putting my life on hold. While it was not that long ago, none of the ships I sailed on had internet or email. I didn’t have a mobile phone and satphone calls from the ship cost $10 a minute. And you never called from the ship. Phone calls from shore were not cheap either.
The Stupid Shall Be Punished has “This Picture Could Cause A Fuss” discussing a recent photo of the USS PROVIDENCE moored at the North Pole in open water.
The Horse’s Mouth has photos of what can happen when you fail to pay your slip fees at ‘Marina Del Ray’.
The Horse’s Mouth also has the biggest fishing story ever for this week’s edition of “Fish On Fridays.” And no, it didn’t come with a bikini.
Houston Ship Channel Pilot / Photographer OneEighteen has a couple interesting photos taken while at work in “Lightning on Galveston Bay” and “Night Thunderstorm“. Sure thunderstorms are cool, but not as much when you are standing on a gasoline tanker loading cargo in Beaumont, Texas. And yes, they stop cargo ops for the storm, but it’s still not a comfortable felling out there. Oddly enough, I took comfort in the fact that my ship was old and made it that long through numerous storms without any problems.
Cruise Bruisecovers a case in San Diego, California, where the harbor police rescued a harbor cruise entertainer who jumped overboard only to shoot him to death shortly thereafter as he violently attacked one of his saviors.
blue water: news of my escape has “coming down” as he runs into another member of crew that rubs him the wrong way. That’s never good, but worse so when you’re working on a small tug.
Maritime Compass has “Cooking for 100 aboard ship?” providing a link to a copy of a ‘General mess manual and cookbook for use on board vessels of the United States Navy (1904)’.
USCG may not ignore right whales when designating routing measures - The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed a decision of the federal District Court that had sanctioned the failure by the US Coast Guard to consider the impact on the endangered North Atlantic right whales in its designation of ship routing schemes. Various environmental advocacy groups had brought suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for failure to issue an emergency rulemaking requiring ship speed reductions in waters frequented by the right whales and against the Coast Guard for failure to consider the impact on right whales in its designation of vessel routing measures under authority of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act. The District Court had granted motions for summary judgment in favor of the two agencies. The environmental advocacy groups appealed. The appellate court found that the failure of the Coast Guard to consider the impact on right whales in its designation of vessel routing measures constituted final agency action and was thus reviewable. It remanded the case to the District Court to review on the merits the allegations of the environmental advocacy groups regarding the Coast Guard’s responsibility to consider the impact on North Atlantic right whales in its designation of vessel routing measures. Defenders of Wildlife v. Gutierrez, No. 07-5278 (DC Cir., July 18, 2008). - Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage(Used with Permission)
AND:
DOJ – company that managed Cosco Busan indicted- The Department of Justice issued anews release stating that the company that managed the COSCO BUSAN when it allided with a bridge abutment in San Francisco Bay on November 7, 2007 has been indicted for negligently causing the resulting oil spill, falsifying documents, and killing migratory birds. An indictment is merely an accusation. Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (7/23/08). - Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage(Used with Permission)
Fairplay Daily News has:
Collision tug had no licensed master - NO LICENSED master was aboard the tug that was pushing the oil-laden barge cut in half on the Mississippi River at New Orleans, the US Coast Guard has learned. - Representatives of the DRD Towing tug Mel Oliver told the Coast Guard that one crewman aboard had an apprentice mate’s licence and that none of the others aboard was licensed at all.
The tug was pushing the American Commercial Line barge yesterday morning near the Crescent City Connection Bridge when the barge was struck by the Lauren Maritime-managed chemical tanker Tintomar, which was laden and headed downriver, at about 0130.
The barge spilled all of its nearly 1,400-tonne cargo of Number 6 fuel oil into the river, while the 46,733dwt Liberian-flagged tanker’s cargo of bio-diesel and styrene remained intact. According to the Coast Guard, the fuel oil is lighter than regular fuel oil and dissipates quickly, but miles of the river were closed.
About 13,700m of containment boom has been deployed on the river and another 8,840m will soon be deployed.
Neither injuries nor damage to wetlands have been reported. - 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.
Is it just me, or does something seem out of place here?
Located in the middle of Hong Kong’s largest private housing estate, Whompoa Garden, this cruise ship is actually a huge shopping center. Within it is more than 200 shops and restaurants, making it one of Whompoa Garden’s premier shopping locations.
On a side note, Whompoa Garden, including the shopping mall, was built by Huchtinson Whompoa Property on the former site of Kowloon Dock, or Whompoa Dock for short, previously the Hong Kong and Whompoa Dock Company Limited. According to their website:
The company was established in 1863 to acquire docks and repair yards at Whampoa, on the Canton River in China, and the then newly constructed dry docks at Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island. In 1866, the company became the holder of the first Hong Kong business registration certificate issued under the new Companies Ordinance.
The company ran one of the largest dry-docking, ship repair and shipbuilding operations in the Far East for over a century, survived two World Wars and, at its peak, handled an average of 25 vessels per week. In 1960, it was servicing the ships of no fewer than 23 nationalities and 9 navies.
Check out the rest of its interesting history HERE.
Last year Sid Martin, Director of Technology at Northeast Maritime Institute was faced with a dilemma. He had been hired to spearhead a project bringing the latest technology to the field of Maritime Security and test it in the field. Martin was the perfect candidate for this job. Prior to working at NMI he was a member of the project team responsible for the wheel bearings on the Mars Lander and in doing so became familiar with the obstacles faced in developing products for use in harsh environments. But the project was nearing completion and he needed to find new ways to use his experience at the institute.
Before developing Aerospace technology Martin worked for years in the manufacturing of semiconductors and during this time he gained both knowledge and experience coating objects at a molecular scale. With the sole directive of realizing the Institute’s mission to “honor the mariner” Sid diverted his focus from maritime security to a long stirring idea; Waterproofing Electronics.
With the backing of NMI President Eric Dawicki he began work on techniques he learned during the time he worked in the semiconductor industry, applied coatings to surfaces at the molecular level. Up to this point marine electronics were separated from the corrosive and conductive properties of salt water with the use of protective shells. A waterproof radio for example, combines a protective shell with plastic coating and gaskets to keep water away from sensitive electrical components. This works fairly well provided you maintain the watertight integrity of the unit but it’s expensive to manufacture and maintain not to mention the extra weight and bulk it adds to the device itself. Damage the shell or service the components in harsh conditions and that protection is useless.
Martin’s idea was different. By merging his experience in harsh weather design with his knowledge of semiconductors he developed a new coating that provides direct protection to both internal and external components of a device regardless of size. The process itself is a closely guarded secret but results in a ultra thin yet durable protection at the molecular level.
To test this claim we visited NMI’s workshop in Fairhaven Massachusetts and asked him for a personal demonstration. The results were simply astounding. Standing above a 5 gallon bucket of water Martin picks up a working Balckberry phone and drops it straight into the salt water. Minutes later he removes the device and makes a call with the water still pouring out of the keypad. As if this was not impressive enough he proceeds to pour what remains in the bucket onto his Dell laptop computer. He then remarks, “The possibilities are endless. Not only are the internal components protected but the CPU is actually being cooled by the water inside the case!”
The possibilities are exciting indeed and to help convince me (as if that was still required) he refills the bucket and begins dunking the other items he has coated. First in was a 372 year old letter sent to mariner from his wife, then he dunks an ipod touch and finally compares two sets of stainless steel bolt; one exposed to salt water and the other not. The difference was noticeable.
What’s next for Martin’s dunk tank? He replies with a wide grin, “ I’ve already tried this coating on sugar cubes, I think the next challenge will be to coat an ice cube!”
Regardless of the next product to be tested Martin is currently looking for companies wishing to employ this technology in the manufacturing process. Otherwise he hopes to team up with retailers and offer the coating as a service provided in-store. If all goes according to plan it won’t be long until you can take your new iPhone to the pool and drop it in just to witness the reaction of onlookers. Martin’s goals are slighltly higher, “I’m waiting for the day a mariner finds trouble in harsh conditions and a coated device provides a lifeline to help. That will turn my grin into a big smile”.
Expect NMI’s Golden Shellback coatings to be available on some of your favorite devices in the coming months. For our full Golden Shellback Coverage click HERE.
The most technologically advanced drillship in the world is not on lovaton in the gulf of mexico or in a Korean shipyard. Actually it’s not even built yet. Meet the Aurora Borealis, a dynamically positioned, drillship/icebreaker, arctic research vessel designed for the European Union. The official website tells us;
The Research Icebreaker AURORA BOREALIS will be the most advanced Polar Research Vessel in the world with a multi-functional role of drilling in deep ocean basins and supporting climate/environmental research for the next 40 years.
The new technological features will include azimuth propulsion systems, satellite navigation, ice-management support, deep-sea drilling under a closed sea-ice cover and the deployment and operation of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) from one of the two moon-pools.
The unique feature of the vessel is the drilling rig, which will enable sampling of the ocean floor down to 5000 m water depth and with 1000 m penetration into the seafloor at the most inhospitable places on earth. The drilling capability will be deployed in both polar regions and AURORA BOREALIS will be the only vessel worldwide to undertake this type of scientific investigation.
Technical Details:
• Powerful icebreaker with ca. 55 MW (diesel-electric)
• Highest classification for icebreakers
• Twin hull
• Two moon pools 7 x 7 m each
• Dynamic Positioning System
• Deep-sea drilling under a closed sea-ice cover
• Drilling rig: max. 5,000 m water depth and 1,000 m core
• Riserless drilling technology
• Modularized mobile laboratory systems - mission specific laboratories
Length over all ca. 180 m | Beam ca. 40 m | Personnel (crew + scientists) 120 | Expedition duration 60 days.
For more information on the Aurora Borealis visit the official website HERE or download the presentation HERE. For the oceanography geeks a more detailed study can be found HERE.
UPDATE: The BBC has just run an excellent article on this vessel which can be found HERE.
Note: This article was originally posted in Jan 08
