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Maritime Monday 160

Fred
Total Views: 33
May 4, 2009

The following is posted by Fred Fry:

Welcome to this 160th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 110 here. (Published 12 May 2008)

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 are an assortment of photos of laid-up vessels found around the internet. Click on the photo to go to the relevant webpage:

fal-carrick-moorings

* Laid Up Ships at the The Fal-Carrick Moorings – By John H. Luxton *

ships-laid-up-in-king-harry-reach-river-fal

* Ships laid up in King Harry Reach, River Fal – By C.H.Stocker *

fal_ships_1

* As predicted the Fal is full of laid up ships particularly car carriers as Honda close their Swindon facility for four months *

shipphototamerkiranmedexpresstkhamburg

* Laid up at Kiran’s Tuzla Shipyard – By Andrea Galliano *

wallenius-wilhelmsen

* Wallenius Wilhelmsen in Norway *

You can find a discussion on laid-up vessels as SHIPSPOTTING.

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This Week’s Items:

EagleSpeak has “Latest ONI Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report (to 29 April 09)“. Surprise, surprise, Pirates are active in places other than off Somalia.

Also be sure to check out EagleSpeak‘s weekly series “Sunday Ship History: Japanese Midget Submarines on the Attack

gCaptain has “Pirate Attack on MSC Cruise Line – Photo Link” and a nice legal summary: “Maersk Alabama Crew Member Files Lawsuit Against Ship Owner – Legal principles behind the claim“. Looking at the amount involved, I am going to guess that this is not a simple money-grab.

Debbie Schlussel has “TRAVESTY: Achille Lauro Muslim Hijacker who Murdered Klinghoffer Freed“.

Youssef Magied al-Molqui, a member of the four-man team that hijacked the ship off Egypt, had been serving a 30-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.

He was convicted of shooting Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly Jewish man from New York, and ordering him to be dumped in the sea while in his wheelchair. Klinghoffer’s daughters and the Anti-Defamation League condemned Molqui’s early release.

The article also claims that another of the ship’s hijackers is currently living in Michigan and that the Government is aware of this and is doing nothing about it. Sadly, Government actions do nothing to make me not believe this.

Towmasters: the Master of Towing Vessels Assoc. Forum has a serious response to the following reader comment in “Towmasters Forum Fan Mail!“.

“You fail to mention the fact that there are just as many idiots operating tugs. The towing industry is full of people with less than average intelligence. These are dopes and dullards who got their jobs through the old “family connection”. If your father isn’t in the industry then chances are you won’t get anywhere near a tug job. So look in the mirror ass…”

An Unofficial Coast Guard Blog has “Coast Guard aboard USNS Comfort“.

iCommandant – Web Journal of Admiral Thad Allen has “Coast Guard and Offshore Marine Services Association Partnership“.

Bob Couttie’s Maritime Accident Casebook has “Maersk Kithira Death – Staff Didn’t Appreciate Risk“.

MarineBuzz has “MBA in Maritime Management by E-Learning from University of Greenwich” and the very cool photo: “Weekend View: Sinking of ex-USS Conolly (DD 979)“.

Puget Sound Maritime has “Massive cruise ship rescue exercise underway“.

NY Times has “Rich nations helping former colonies with seabed claims“.

CBC News has “French seabed bid necessary for St-Pierre survival, residents insist“. It will be interesting to see how France will try to explain away the 1992 agreement with Canada that was supposed to settle this matter for good.

The Times of Malta has “Migrants rescued close to Lampedusa brought to Malta – Government keeps mum“. They are not discussing how Italy refused to come to the migrant’s aid.

migrants

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The Stupid Shall Be Punished has “Are Eight Hour Watches The Way To Go?” as the Navy looks at options for moving from 18-hour days while on patrol. (Yes, you read that right.) Maybe they should look to Merchant Marine watchkeeping for the answer.

Sea * Fever has “Google Ships: Duchesse Anne of Dunkirk, France“.

Tugster has photos: “Hudson Surprise“.

Maritime Information Centre has “Captain fined for allowing drunk crewmembers on board“.

At Scottish Court, the Captain (62 ) of offshore supply vessel pleaded guilty to allowing drunk crew members on board, a breach of the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (ISM Code).

Information Dissemination asks “If a Chinese Aircraft Carrier Moves 2 Miles, Is it News?“.

US Naval Institute Blog discusses ““Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Is Irrelevant For Today’s Military“.

The Old Salt Blog has “Exceptional Ex-Military Ship for Sale“. Yep, that is a nice one.

Inside GNSS has “Obama Lifts Up GPS in Speech to U.S. Scientists“.

Lighthouse News has “Frying Pan Shoals To Go On Auction Block Again” as the original buyer backs out of the deal.

IceNews has “Extinct fish caught in Swede’s net“.

A fish that was declared extinct in the Baltic Sea more than a century ago has made a surprise reappearance in the net of a Swedish fisherman. The supposedly extinct sturgeon, which hadn’t been seen in Swedish waters since the early 1900s, was caught off the coast of Oland.

The Yankee Sailor Rates the new Administration “A View From The Sea-The First 100 Days“. Let me add another grade; fostering Maritime jobs: D. The expansion of Offshore oil production and the 100,000+ good-paying jobs it would bring appears to be in a holding pattern with Democrats set on killing any expansion of offshore oil exploration. The President also has yet to act on the DELTA QUEEN, despite coming out in support of the vessel while in the Senate.

Casco Bay Boaters Blog has “Six Famous Pirate Ships“.

Arctic Focus has “Countries denied permanent membership to the Arctic Council“.

AMVER Blog has “Amver Awards in Washington, DC“.

Times Union has “Kinderhook man, refugee reunite, recall ‘Ship of Miracles’ rescue“. Of course this concerns the SS MEREDITH VICTORY.

Cleveland.com has “‘Flotsametrics’ give us the daunting pattern in traveling sea junk“.

mlive.com has “Writers wake history of the shipwrecks that sleep in Lake Michigan’s waters“.

In the 1920s, the Hennepin was converted into the first self-unloading cargo ship in the Great Lakes, but she met her end off the Grand Haven shore more than 80 years ago.

The 208-foot ship ran into a squall after delivering a load of gravel in Chicago, and she sprang a leak that would lead to her undoing. Captain Ole Hansen and his 13-member crew worked for four hours to save her, but when the cause became hopeless, the men abandoned and survived. The Hennepin, valued at $100,000 at the time, was lost.

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Lloyd’s List has “MSC Melody uses firepower to repel east Africa piracy attack“.

MSC Melody master Ciro Pinto told the media that six pirates on a small craft approached the vessel late on Saturday and opened fire, which was returned by Israeli private security personnel on board. Water hoses were also deployed.

Several passengers observed the incident, and some even tried to throw deckchairs at the pirates as they tried to attach a ladder to the ship.

Lloyd’s List Newsroom Blog has “To arm or not to arm?

Remember 1985, when all it took was four supporters of the Palestine Liberation Front to seize control of Achille Lauro. The militants even murdered an elderly paraplegic Jew, the better to make their political point.

The Maritime Executive has “Piracy: Settling the Bill“.

Marine Log has “Colonna’s starts work on $71 million Staten Island Ferry repair contract“. Did Federal Stimulus money push the vessel’s repair to Virginia instead of having it done in NY?

Salem-News has “Expert Says Satellite Images from Space Reveal Sunken Treasure Ships (VIDEO)“.

Environment News Service has “Turtle Safety Puts Shallow Gulf of Mexico Off-Limits to Longliners“.

WASHINGTON, DC, April 30, 2009 (ENS) – An emergency fisheries closure to protect threatened sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico was announced Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. Conservation groups were pleased with the move, but commercial fishermen said many small businesses will go under as a result.

The six-month closure imposed by NOAA’s Fisheries Service will require the commercial reef fish longline fleet to fish seaward of a line approximating the 50-fathom (300 foot) contour in the Gulf of Mexico. Current regulations require this fleet to fish seaward of 20-fathoms.

The Jerusalem Post has “Plan to build fake island makes waves in Lebanon“. It would be in the shape of a Cedar Tree. I have a better idea. How about taking back the Southern part of the country from the Hezbollah Terrorists. Then you would have lots more room available.

Reuters has “Floating oil lake likely to curb future oil prices“.

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil companies are storing a record volume of oil at sea in giant tankers as world crude supply outstrips demand, and this floating oil lake is now so big that it is likely to keep a lid on prices for some time.

Shipping analysts say around 100 million barrels of crude and about 25 million barrels of refined products, such as gas oil, are held in fleets of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) in Europe, West Africa, the U.S. Gulf and off Asian ports.

StrategyPage has the discussion by merchant marines on avoiding capture by pirates in “Explosive Developments“.

Merchant sailors are a very practical bunch, and adept with tools. They also know that if the “shut down and safe room” practices are generally adopted, pirates will start coming prepared (with bolt cutters, explosives, grenades or even cutting torches). That’s already happening. A Portuguese warship recently captured 19 pirates, and found that they were carrying four sticks of dynamite, along with their usual AK-47s, RPGs and boarding ladders. The pirates were disarmed, and then released, because the Portuguese government will only keep pirates prisoner if a Portuguese ship was attacked.

Russos has photos of a long abandoned Soviet Lock complex. The text is in Russian so if anyone can comment on where this is, that would be great. Maybe Poland? And perhaps built by the Nazi?

abandoned-lock

BreakBulk Industry News has “Houston to receive $98.3 million in stimulus funds for ship channel“.

Space War has “Japan to give 40 mln dlrs to dismantle Russian submarines: report“. What a bunch of suckers.

HAWSEPIPER: The Longest Climb is now on a bunker barge: “shiftin’“.

Crains New York Business has “Global recession wave slams NY ports“.

A year ago, Angelo Mack was averaging 45 hours a week working on the docks in Bayonne, N.J., and on Staten Island. But as global demand for goods has plummeted, so has his workload.

“Two weeks ago, I worked 24.5 hours,” the 43-year-old longshoreman says. “Last week, it was eight hours. This week, it’s zero.”

The deepening worldwide recession is wreaking havoc at the Port of New York and New Jersey. Cargo traffic sank by 17.4% in the first quarter versus the same period in 2008. In response, major container companies are laying off administrative workers for the first time ever, and more and more longshoremen like Mr. Mack are sitting idle.

59° 56′ N has “Plan your Nor-Shipping“. No mention of the body painting that caused a stir last year. Anyone have pictures of that?

THE ISLOMANIAC has “Discount Islands For Sale“.

BarentsObserver has “USA, Russia seek common ground in Arctic“.

Maritime Compass has “Princess Taiping update“.

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Fairplay Daily News has:

Seafarers warned on US waters ID – SEAFARERS aboard ships in US waters must have proper credentials from 28 May, the Coast Guard announced yesterday.

Its new rule requires that each crew member on a foreign commercial vessel en route to a US port or place of destination – or on a US commercial vessel coming from a foreign port or place of departure to a US port or place of destination – carry and present upon demand an acceptable identification when in US navigable waters.

The vessel operator is required to ensure that crew members comply.

Maritime attorney Dennis Bryant reacted: “This rulemaking is not unexpected and not particularly onerous. The only compliance problem may be with regard to the effective date.”

He noted that foreign seafarers who do not have an acceptable identification document will probably be unable to obtain one within the next 30 days. So Bryant suggested that the Coast Guard exercise reasonable enforcement restraint so mariners can have time to comply.

Acceptable identification documents include: a passport; a US permanent resident card; a US merchant mariner document or US merchant mariner credential; a US Transportation Worker Identification Credential; or a Seafarer’s Identification Document issued by or under the authority of a country that has ratified the International Labor Organization Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (ILO 185), meeting all of the requirements of ILO 185. – Fairplay Homepage (Used with Permission)

AND:

Petraeus urges arming ships – GET ‘SERIOUS’ and arm yourself, US Army General David Petraeus has warned shipping.

Testifying before a House Appropriations Subcommittee, the originator of the US surge strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan told lawmakers: “It is important the maritime industry get more serious about [piracy].”

Referring to rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the four-star general pointed out on Friday: “It’s tough to be on the end of a water hose if the other guy is on the end of an RPG.”

The general – who now commands the US Central Command, which includes the Middle East – also noted that the US military stations armed guards on many commercial ships carrying its cargo.

The panel, which approves military construction funding, also heard that pirate ransoms cannot be seen as a mere cost of doing business. “That price is going up and, of course, the violence is going up,” Petraeus testified. “And the pirates have moved farther and farther and farther out.”

US legislation is being planned to the ships of ransom-paying owners from US ports, several congressional staff members told Fairplay last week. – 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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