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Maritime Monday 109

Fred
Total Views: 27
May 5, 2008

The following is posted by Fred Fry:

Welcome to this 109th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 59 here. (Published 14 May 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 [email protected].

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This Week’s Photos:

This week’s photos come from the website of the Pipe Laying company AllSeas:

The Swiss-based Allseas Group S.A. is one of the major offshore pipelay and subsea construction companies in the world, operating six specialised vessels which were designed in-house.

Founded in 1985, we have gained worldwide experience in all types of offshore and subsea construction projects. Allseas’ approach is to support clients already in the conceptual design stage and offer its services for project management, engineering and procurement up to and including installation and commissioning. We do not restrict ourselves to available technology; we develop new techniques and applications wherever necessary. – Read the rest here


Many more photos can be found in their photo gallery here.

The website also includes a number of videos including one explaining the pipe assembly and laying process. The movies can be found here.

Their homepage can be found here.

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This Week’s Items:

EagleSpeak has a detailed post on “Port Security: Sea mines, UWIEDs and other threats“.

Also check out EagleSpeak‘s weekly series “Sunday Ship History: The Big Squeeze (lower half)“.

Chaotic Synaptic Activity has for his weekly series ‘Monday Maritime Matters’ a teaser centering on Admiral Jesse Olendorf, USN with a promise for more to follow.

blue water: news of my escape has a must-read sea story, of sorts.

Star Bulletin (Holonlulu) has pleas from locals for the SuperFerry to forgive and return in an amusing case of what goes around, comes around: “Kauai feeling brunt of cargo woes“. Not surprisingly, there is zero sympathy to be found in the story’s reader’s comments. They also explain the current problems in supplying the island here. I comment on the story here.

gCaptain has video of “Pilot Station Rotterdam – Boarding the Berge Stahl“. How do you board the world’s largest bulk carrier? In this case, by helicopter.

gCaptain also has video of “Birth Of A Giant – Supertanker Construction Video“. The subject tanker is the MT BATILLUS, build in France.

MarEx NewsLetter has “Presidential Sweepstakes Only Promise More of the Same for the Maritime Industry“.

Kennebec Captain explains the Port of Houston Pilot’s game of “Texas Chicken” and includes photos of one encounter.

Robin Storm has more rescue news in “NOAA Satellites Help Save 23 People in the North Atlantic“.

Shirlaw News Group has “U.S. Coast Guard Officer Pleads Guilty for Lying About Vessel Pollution“.

The Historic Marker Database has photos of New Jersey’s Merchant Mariner Memorial.

Lloyd’s List has bad news for London in “Fears grow over London’s shipping status“. The assumption that shipping companies would not move to avoid higher taxes placed on their owners was a stupid one considering the historical mobility of the maritime industry and those who work in it.

Lloyd’s List has more bad news, this time for Norway in “BW Gas in Bermuda move after Norway tax row“. The trouble with taxing rich people is that they have the money to move away if they think they are being taxed unfairly. In the case of Norway, the politicians used jealously of shipowners by the general population to win an election.

The New York Times has an illustrated presentation “Tugboat Minuet“.

The Baltic Times has “Supership to be built in Klaipeda“. The vessel is the WIND LIFT 1 which will work in the offshore wind power industry.

Logistics Management has “Ocean cargo: ILWU shuts down West Coast ports in war protest“….

AND: Michelle Malkin comments on the protests in “May Day, May Day: All-purpose, left-wing grievance day; West Coast port shutdowns expected; in-your-face illegal aliens in Chicago; 29 ports down“.

The Merchant Marine Express is a US Merchant Marine Deck officer ho just so happens to also blog. Here is his latest in “No Car-go, Ship Stop” as he spends time at anchor with the ship waiting for orders. I almost never spent time at anchor until I sailed on a gasoline tanker.

Newsis has “Korea Ranks 6th in Number of Ships“.

AllAfrica has “Africa: Illegal Fishing Costs Continent Sh62 Billion“.

OneEighteen has part II of his time lapse video of an outbound pilot trip in “500 Knots Part II“.

The Jawa Report has unsurprising bad news in “All the USS Cole Bombers Free in Yemen, Journalist on Trial for Terrorism“. Clearly, they are not with us…

Meanwhile The Sunday Express (India) covers the ‘surprise’ arrival of the USS Cole in India to participate as an observer at Indo-UK ‘Konkan’ exercises, which happened to coincide with a visit by Iran’s President. (The Indian Navy invited the ship and then waited until the last minute to inform their Government properly.)

MarineBuzz has “Safety Guidance on Boarding Ladders Online Version Available” and “Scuba Divers of Taiwan Provide Tips to Survive at Sea for 48 Hours“.

SteelJaw Scribe has “Flightdeck Friday: Desperate Times = Desperate Measures” covering the recovery of helicopters and one small plane as they fled the country to the US carriers MIDWAY and HANCOCK as South Vietnam falls.

Sea * Fever has long awaited video in “Here’s What Happened to the Cougar Ace’s Cargo“. Best not to look if you love Mazdas.

Maritime Accident Casebook has “Pirates, A Doom With A Q?“.

Hellenic Shipping News has news of rising tanker rates due to Iran using VLCC tankers to store crude oil.

CDR Salamander has “Procurement Holiday Blowback” and suggests ways to get Navy shipbuilding back on track. My suggestion is to let the shipping industry manage the program. They at least do not accept the type of the cost overruns that the Navy seems to invite.

BitterEnd covers immigration checks on domestic Seattle ferry routes in “Papers Please – welcome to the US. Hey, we never left!“. My guess is that they keep checking because they keep finding people.

BitterEnd also notes his first tow job of the boating season.

Big Ship Films has posted a trailer to their documentary “SS United States: Lady in Waiting“. The trailer is located in the media tab. Direct link here. The site mentions that the documentary is airing in May. Still no update on the other documentary covering the ship which I mentioned in Maritime Monday 7. They also have a trailer worth watching so follow the links.

The Baltimore Sun suggests “End crab fishery, plant trees” as a way of trying to save the Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab.

Never Sea Land has a photo of “Today’s pirate wench“.

The Stupid Shall Be Punished has “Kiwi Honors American Submariners” for protecting New Zealand from invasion by Japan during WWII.

SAILORS, MARINERS & WARRIORS LEAGUE has “Barge Breaks In Half In Seattle” and includes a photo.

Mercury News covers the six crew members of the COSCO BUSAN who still have not been permitted to return home to China in “Ship crew members – witnesses in oil-spill case – can’t leave U.S.” noting that the shipping company, China’s COSCO will cutoff their paychecks as of the end of May.

What do you do with all those fishing vessels no longer needed in the EU due to quotas? Well Expedition Yacht is converting one into a ‘private expedition vessel’ with plans to do many more.

Cruise Bruise has a negligence ruling in the investigation of the SS NORWAY boiler explosion that killed 8. The ship was later renamed the BLUE LADY and scrapped in India.

The Destroyermen covers burials at sea with photos of one performed on the USS RUSSELL. He notes that ‘Most Americans – and even many veterans – don’t realize that any honorably discharged veteran of any of the armed forces is entitled to a burial at sea if they or their loved ones choose.’

The Wall Street Journal has “Africa Does Not Have to Starve“. US farmers have long argued that the US-Flag Shipping requirement makes their grain too expensive, completely ignoring that they receive subsidies to become competitive in the first place. The article makes a suggestion that would partly render the farming industry’s complaint irrelevant.

EU Referendum has the lightly covered scientific prediction of ““…several decades of global cooling”“.

Telegraph has “Chinese build secret nuclear submarine base“. Well now it is a little less secret.

Union Blog Metal Trades Department has “Protectionist Legislation, The Jones Act” as they sue the Federal Government over a recent decision viewed as skirting the US-built requirement for Jones Act Trade.

the “seattle” schienbeins posts a striking picture of their brother who is a merchant mariner. She shares a problem common with families of merchant mariners in that she can’t really explain what he does.

EDP 24 (UK) has “Lifeboat shed vandals sentenced“.

Science Daily has an update on the West Coast Salmon fishery collapse in “‘Fishery Failure’ Declared For West Coast Salmon Fishery“.

Christiaan Conover has a video presentation of “Life on Board an LNG Tanker” filmed on the BRITISH TRADER.

The Monitor notes the sale of the cruiseship THE TOPAZ to Indian breakers.

Water under the keel is not the only limiting factor of a port. Tugster covers another limiting factor; bridges that limit the available ‘air draft’, in “Bayonne Barrier“.

Neptunus Lex covers Maine’s outright money grab as they tax rich people who decide to visit their state by private yacht or plane. OK, dock fees are expensive enough, but adding a tax bill for tens of thousands more is outrageous. Not for anything, but just because they have the money, doesn’t mean that they won’t mind you taking it. Once the word gets out, they’ll just go elsewhere. Worse is that the tax is not levied on all, but according to some set of rules. So be sure to check with your lawyer before sending any lines ashore, or even dropping anchor. Beware, they are probably also getting ready to tax people as they drive through the state as well. It is only a matter or time.

Lloyd’s List Newsroom Blog has commentary on the need to weigh shipping containers in light of the MSC NAPOLI investigation report noting that smaller ships are probably more at risk than the larger ships.

Helsingin Sanomat has Polish fishermen behaving badly in “Rampant overfishing endangers Baltic fish stocks“.

Pinoy Maritime has “A Happy Ship“.

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Haight’s Maritime Items has:

Salvor can be required to disclose location of submerged wreck – The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a salvor can, in some circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, be required to disclose the precise location of a submerged wreck before the court grants salvage rights. In the instant case, plaintiff salvors assert that they located a submerged wreck of historical importance in Lake Michigan. They brought an in rem admiralty action in federal court seeking an arrest warrant for the wreck. The State of Michigan intervened, claiming title to the wreck under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act. The federal court directed the salvors to disclose the precise location of the wreck so that the State of Michigan could determine whether the wreck was both abandoned and embedded in the state’s submerged lands. When the salvors refused to provide the location (out of concern that the federal court might then lose jurisdiction to the State), the court dismissed the proceeding. Plaintiff salvors appealed the dismissal. On appeal, the court ruled that the federal court has authority to take sufficient steps to secure federal jurisdiction over the claim. Great Lakes Exploration Group v. Unidentified Wreck, No. 06-2584 (6th Cir., April 22, 2008). – Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

Fairplay Daily News has:

Chinese arms ship: Update – AN Yue Jiang, the cargo ship at the centre of a row over an alleged cargo of arms, is not en route back to China but is waiting outside the port of Luanda, the ITF believes. The vessel was thought to have set course back to China after first being refused entry, then due to be served papers impounding its cargo, in South Africa last month. Subsequent news reports quoted a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman as saying that Cosco had “decided to bring back” the An Yue Jiang.

The ITF said in its press release yesterday that the ship was thought to be waiting in a queue of 20 waiting for a berth at Luanda. It quotes an Angolan transport workers’ union as declaring on 30 April that its members would refuse to unload any weapons bound for Zimbabwe. – 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 [email protected] 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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