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Maritime Monday 180

Fred
Total Views: 77
September 21, 2009

The following is posted by Fred Fry:

Welcome to this 180th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 130 here. (Published 6 October 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 come from the website of Denmark’s Rederiet M.H.Simonsen ApS:

Rederiet M.H. Simonsen is a family owned shipping company operating 10 tankers ranging from 2.000 dwt to 4.500dwt.

Our ships are primarily engaged in 2 segments of the north european small tanker market. The majority of the vessels are employed in the transportation of vegetable oils, fats, molasses, waxes, UAN and other FOSFA acceptable products.

Two units of our fleet MT ORAKOTA and MT ORATECA are futher more dedicated as foodgrade carriers and adheres to the stringiest requirements in our industry.

MT ORASILA is presently trading as dedicated CPP trade in Greenland.

All our tankers are operated by Simonsen Chartering APS.

Rederiet M.H. Simonsen was founded in 1931 by Martin Hjorth Simonsen and is today managed by the son Lars Hjorth Simonsen.

The first thirty years from 1931-1961, the shipping company’s main business consisted of drycargo vessels plying the domestic molasses trade. In 1961, the first tanker, MT Brotank, was purchased. Since then more vessels have been added to the fleet.

MT ORANESS, a drycargo ship purchased in July 2001, was converted into an oil tanker and delivered in February 2002.

Since 1998, the office of Rederiet M.H. Simonsen resides in the old mansion ‘Villa Svea’ by Svendborsund. Villa Svea required a year of renovation before moving in was possible, and the mansion is today regarded as one of
the most beautiful houses in Svendborg.

Billede 003

* M/T ORAHOLM *

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2007-04-28 113

* M/T ORASILA *

2007-04-28 108

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SDC14534

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Kap Farvel 2

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Their homepage can be found here.

You can also find a book on the company’s history in PDF format here.

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This Week’s Items:

EagleSpeak has “Iran says Brits won’t let Iran join in pirate fight“.

gCaptain has “NOAA on Fog: “A Costly Phenomenon”“.

The article looks at the phenomenon of fog, exactly what it is costing us and what NOAA is doing to mitigate the loss of life, property and resources from this everyday occurrence.

War is Boring has the explanation: “Better Maritime Coordination Suppresses Pirate Attacks“.

Flags of Convenience has the latest concerning the vessel:”Arctic Sea: no handover of the ship” and concerning the owners: “Solchart files for bankruptcy

Members of the committee, neither the crew do not answer the phone calls. Understanding uselessness of the presence of our representative in Las Palmas and full ignorance of our interests and concerns about the future of the vessel, cargo and the Company he was forced to return home on 11th of September. Maltese delegation also left Las Palmas on 11th of September. Since then we do not have any information about the future of the vessel.

Nice work Russia bankrupting the company. Then again, if the company was set up for the purpose of smuggling weapons, no reason to keep it going given that the voyage failed.

Lloyd’s List has “Former Royal Marines hired to protect Iranian tankers“.

EX-ROYAL Marines are being routinely deployed as anti-piracy forces onboard fully laden large Iranian oil tankers now under regular attack from heavily armed pirates off the Gulf of Aden.

Hmm. I am not sure this makes sense, given how Iran treated some of their compatriots a while back. See the related Fairplay article below.

Trade and Logistics Malaysia has “Pirates attempt to board two tankers south of Malaysia“.

Two hours later, six men with long knives tried to board Malaysia-registered chemical tanker MMM Kingston. They fled in a speedboat after seeing the crew had been alerted.

MarineBuzz has “Inland Waterways of India” and “Inmarsat FleetBroadband Users to have Free 505 Emergency Calling“.

CNN has a settlement in the PROBO KOALA dumping case in “Firm offers to settle toxic waste case in Ivory Coast“.

Marenostrum has “Gulf of Aden Armed Transport“. In partnership with the Yemanese Government!

Marenostrum also has a very good summary in “Diving Operations Explained“. Was it the ANDRIA DORIA that they did a documentary a long time ago where they had saturation divers hunting down the ship’s safes? Most interesting.

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Tims Times experiences an alternate reality in part of the former Soviet Union in “Magic numbers“.

OK it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that the above operation should take 12 hours give or take a few minutes here and there.

After the above information was shared and digested, our loading master then informed us that we would be alongside for 48 hours?

But what about the 1000 tonnes per hour, “Yes, is my maximum rate” he confirmed and nodded proudly, and marched away.

US Naval Institute Blog has some Q&A with the author: “Lighthouses & Keepers: The U.S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy by Dennis Noble“.

WWF has “Endangered Grand Banks cod catch doubles in 2008“.

The amount of cod caught on the Grand Banks this past year exceeded the 420 tonnes bycatch reduction target set by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) by a wide margin.

The target was exceeded by more than 500 tonnes, or 119 per cent, according to new data recently made public by NAFO.

The Guardian (UK) has “Measures to protect Mediterranean tuna are failing, report warns“.

Measures to protect dwindling stocks of bluefin tuna fish in the Mediterranean have failed to curb illegal fishing practices, leaked papers show.

The Guardian has been passed a confidential report of a French navy inspection of the tuna fishery, which shows how fishing boats in the region routinely fail to follow regulations put in place to protect stocks. Conservation experts say the report shows that existing controls are not enough to save the species and that wider measures are needed.

Calgary Herald has “Nova Scotia looks to tap powerful Bay of Fundy tides for clean energy“.

The tides in the Bay of Fundy pummel the shores of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with the force of 8,000 locomotives, a twice daily demonstration of nature’s unyielding power.

More than 100 billion tonnes of water — more than all of the world’s rivers combined — rush in and out, raising 12 metres between high and low tide.

iCommandant – Web Journal of Admiral Thad Allen has “Ocean Policy Task Force Releases Interim Report“.

CG Blog has “Coast Guard History: U-Boat“.

Maritime Information Centre has “Grimaldi optimises West African services“.

The BBC has a video report: “Arctic trail blazers make history“.

north_east_passage466

BitterEnd has searching on Washington State Ferries in “Stop Light comes to Friday Harbor“. (Note: He has moved to bitterendblog.com)

Casco Bay Boaters Blog has “Landowners & Science at Odds with Seaweed Harvesters“.

Naval Open Source INTelligence has “Submarine captain slips off vessel, still missing“. (Last second update. Apparently his body has been located.)

The Merchant Marine Express is nearing the end of a voyage in “Arrival into Philly“.

Terra Daily has “Greenland icesheet could melt faster than thought: study“.

HotAir has “Video: The valley hope forgot“.

That would be the San Joaquin Valley in California, one of the most prolific agricultural areas in the country — or at least it was, until environmentalists turned off the water. Did they need it for people in response to the drought? No, because the water that would normally flow to the SJV is getting directed out to sea instead. Environmentalists have chosen to bankrupt an entire ecosystem of farms in favor of protecting the Delta smelt, a three-inch fish that neither feeds people nor eliminates pests from the water system.

Professional Mariner has “TSB endorses requirement that maintenance records be kept permanently aboard vessels“.

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AP has “Women rise in seafaring ranks“. (Found via Professional Mariner)

Shipgaz has “European yards demand action to save shipbuilding“.

The Old Salt Blog has “Gold and Ivory Shipwreck on a Beach of Diamonds“.

The Monitor has “Another Fishing Boat Lost“. She was the SEA GYPSY.

Springbored’s Springboard has “The Peril Of Operationalizing Conservation:

So, at the moment, this fuel conservation is all good fun. It’s new and exciting. People are getting promoted if they save that liquid gold…But, in time, we’ll all get used to fuel conservation and those big cuts in fuel budgets we’re seeing today will become boring old routine. The fuel budget will soon recede back to the DOD’s budget folks….

Offshore Magazine has “USGS study reveals huge arctic offshore potential“.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that 44 to 157 billion barrels (Bbbl) of oil could be added to proved reserves from new discoveries north of the Arctic Circle and that there is a 50% chance of finding 83 Bbbl of oil. Approximately 73% of this amount, almost 61 Bbbl of oil, is expected to be found offshore.

CargoLaw covers the engine room fire on the Netherlands Coastguard vessel M/V WALKER in “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished“.

Singles09.Walker2

New England Lighthouses has the “American Lighthouse Foundation Interpretive Center“, now on Maine Street in Rockland, Maine.

Sea * Fever has news of a new Moby Dick miniseries.

Towmasters: the Master of Towing Vessels Assoc. Forum has “Synthetic Snap-Back: It Really Does Happen“.

This kind of accident happens at a slow but steady pace, year after year. I frequently find myself on the radio reminding one of my deckhands and/or a tankerman to either stand clear of a line I’m going to work on, am working on, or to have them verbally warn a terminal’s dockman to stand clear until I’m ready to take in said line. Do they feel that they become immune to the danger after a time? Do they just space out and forget about it? Are they high on benzene and without a care in the world? Who knows…

How you behave around lines is very basic. It is a stupid way to get hurt/killed.

Tugster has some tug line throwing in “Handling Lines“.

The Maritime Executive has “New Organization Opens to Provide Counter-Piracy Training, Support and Certification“.

Bryant’s Maritime Blog has “USCG – large US passenger vessel crew requirements“.

The US Coast Guard promulgated a final rule regarding merchant mariner documentation requirements for large US-flag passenger vessels. The final rule adopts, with minor non-substantive changes, the interim rule published on April 24, 2007. It allows issuance of merchant mariner credentials to certain non-resident aliens for service in the steward’s departments of large US-flag passenger vessels eligible to engage in the coastwise trade. The rule comes into effect on October 19. 74 Fed. Reg. 47729 (September 17, 2009).

Information Dissemination has the announcement: “Battleship the Movie?

HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS WORLDWIDE has “Iran to build tankers for Venezuela“.

Molten Eagle has “More Misleading Submarine News“.

The Journal of Commerce has “Bayonne Bridge Too Low, Corps Study Says“. That’s good, because most anyone could have told you that much. The tricky part is figuring out the solution, which the article mentions some possible solutions.

FuturePundit has “Half Of Consumed Fish From Aquaculture“. The articles notes the problem of growing farm-raised fish with food made from wild-caught fish.

Neptunus Lex has longer deployments for the Navy in “Aging Warships“.

The Islomaniac has “Horse Island, Connecticut For Sale“.

Never Sea Land has “Bounty Boat Expedition“.

If successful it will be the first time that anyone has ever sailed the same course, in the same way that William Bligh did 221 years before. (1983 and 1990 attempts both used almanacs and charts for navigation, torches, modern time pieces etc, and also made unscheduled stopovers or did not follow the same route or were escorted part of the way). We’ll have no charts, no nautical almanacs, no modern watches, no torches, no toilet paper, no extra landings, all in a boat less than half the size of Bligh’s original “Bounty Boat”…

Sound like the trip for you? Well if you have an extra $20,000 laying around, you can sail with them.

Hawse Pipe has “Shipboard Organization and Stewards“.

Wildlife Extra has “Prize winning new fishing system to save thousands of seabirds“.

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Fairplay Daily News has:

Iran backs guns on ships – ARMED forces placed aboard merchant ships would be the cheapest and most effective way to deter pirates, an Iranian shipping leader said today.

Mohammad Souri, chairman of National Iranian Tanker, told the International Union of Marine Insurance conference in Bruges: “Having armed forces on board would be the cheapest way to counter piracy in the short term.”

He explained: “If a pirate thinks his life is in danger, he will try and escape the vessel. But insurers are reluctant to support their use on board.”

Multinational forces have included the use of more than 34 warships, helicopters and long-range patrolling aircraft from 16 different nations, he pointed out – all of which runs up huge expenses. But forces on the targeted ships would close down attacks much quicker, he suggested. As an average hijacking episode lasts two months, owners now face long-term fuel, equipment and charter costs – not to mention legal fees and ransoms.

As for his own fleet, Souri reported a dozen piracy attacks on vessels carrying about 2M barrels of crude.

About 30 of the company’s tankers have installed attack-delaying barbed wire, and all entrances are locked. – Fairplay Homepage (Used with Permission)

AND:

CBP could scrap Jones Act revision – CUSTOMS & Border Protection will soon withdraw a proposal to bring US offshore workboats under the Jones Act, an attorney working closely on the issue told Fairplay today.

CBP officials were not immediately available for comment, but the attorney said the agency will be “withdrawing what they did and starting over”, possibly with a revamped proposal.

The customs proposal would have reversed more than three decades of precedents on foreign-flag workboats serving the US offshore oil and gas drilling industry.

The changes would have meant that transport of undersea infrastructure used in deepwater oil extraction would be subject to Jones Act restrictions – requiring use of vessels built and flagged in the US.

That plan was hailed by the Offshore Marine Service Association as a means of gaining back US jobs lost to foreign competitors. OMSA president Ken Wells declined comment to Fairplay on reports that the initial CBP plan would be scuttled until he “saw any new proposal in writing”.

An official withdrawal notice is expected 1 October, with public confirmation of the reversal by CBP foreseen “in the near future”, the attorney source told Fairplay. – 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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