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This week we bring you the real life experience obtaining a TWIC ( Transportation Worker’s Identification Card ) with Captain Kelly Sweeney, monthly contributor to Professional Mariner magazine and author of From the Bridge: Authentic Modern Sea Stories. For more real life experiences in obtaining TWICs visit the TWIC Page of gCaptain’s Forum.
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Photo by steven and darusha
Jeff Charlton of 911team.org in London asked a interesting maritime question on the IAEM list-serve the other day that Robin Storm thought we could answer.
Jeff’s question?
“What if the need arises to replace a master or pilot because the ship has been affected by plague, terrorism, CBRn incident? How many [...]

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It comes as no surprise that we in the United States are security aware. Possible threats create new legislation on a regular basis. Today, I enrolled for my Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC.) The office was due to be opened at 08:00. Here’s what happened.
07:57 I arrive at the Anacortes Wa. enrollment [...]

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In an unusual turn of events the TSA (United States’ Transportation Security Agency) has launched a blog! While the review on NPR’s show “On The Media” was positive, with the agency reportedly solving problems identified by readers, you have to wonder about the name, “Evolution Of Security“, and the bloggers themselves. You can find [...]

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Danica White Hijacking
by Fred Fry
The English translation to the DANICA WHITE hijacking is now available. As previously mentioned, the ship’s crew is partly to blame for the incident, as they failed to maintain a proper watch:
If there had been proper lookout from DANICA WHITE, the pirate boats could have been spotted app. 30 minutes before [...]

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In breaking news from the Antarctic Japanese whalers have taken two activists hostage after they boarded the whaling ship Yushin Maru. The BBC tells us;
The Sea Shepherd campaign group said the two - a Briton and an Australian - had been assaulted and tied to the radar mast by the Japanese crew.
They said [...]

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With a large increase of attacks in Nigeria and Somalia, 2007 was not a good year for maritime safety. The NY Times writes;

Last year, there were 269 attacks on ships, up from 239 in 2006 and reversing a downward trend that began in 2003, the International Maritime Bureau said in its annual report released by [...]

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American Airlines Passenger planes at JFK will be outfitted with a new missile defense system. Gothamist tells us:
The Dept. of Homeland Security is funding the installation of a number of anti-missile defense systems on commercial jets flying in and out of JFK Airport. The tests are the third stage of testing of a system that [...]

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Effective January 1, 2008, mariners sailing in the capacity of Ship Security Officer (SSO) will have to show evidence of being “qualified” to hold that position. The SSO training requirement only applies to STCW vessels 500GT or greater operating on international voyages. Evidence of qualification will include the following:
Course completion certificate (in accordance with the [...]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjtH70edsGQ

Want to know more about The Protector? Popular Mechanics tells us;
Robots versus pirates—it’s not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four [...]

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