AIS SART – New Technology And The Sharing Critical Information

AIS has been a revolutionary product and, regardless of your opinion on its use, has changed the way mates handle heavy traffic situations. Jotron, makers of various SOLAS compliant marine safety electronics, is looking to bring this revolution to Search And Rescue operations with the introduction of an AIS enabled Search And Rescue Transponder (SART).

The device will work similar to traditional SARTs but, rather than show the position of a lifeboat on your 3cm radar, will transmit the exact GPS coordinates to all AIS enabled devices within VHF range.

We are excited not only by the product itself but the advancement of new ideas for sharing of data among the AIS network. gCaptain recently discussed the topic with the Coast Guard’s office for marine safety and is working with them to outline ideas to take AIS and data sharing from a point-to-point system to a web of collaborative sharing. Here is a basic summary of our question to marine safety:

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Top 10 iPhone Apps When You Are Adrift At Sea!

Here is a great list of useful iPhone Apps from gCaptain’s author on everything DP, Sean Hogue.  You can find the original of this along with some all the latest DP news at his site, www.DyanamicPositioningNews.com. If you have any recommendations on other apps, let us know in the comments.  Also, be sure to check out gTrax, AIS Vessel Tracking For The iPhone… gCaptain’s very own app. Enjoy!

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When is maritime training just too dangerous?

Photo by Thomas Colla

Is disciplinary action warranted in a recent case of real life coast guard training?

Newsday reports on the removal of a US Coast Guard petty officer after conducting rescue boat training in adverse weather conditions. They report:

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Lilo lou’s Sailing Yacht, Ankida

It may just be a concept design, but this is truly an avant-garde project that questions the balance of form and function in traditional yacht/sailboat making.  Oh yeah, and it looks really cool.  Lila-Lou’s Ankida looks like it might be piloted by Lex Luther, but its genius is not evil.  Not to get too technical but the genius in this design lies in two basic areas.  First is the innovation of mast, sail, and keel integration with the hull.  The second is the dynamism of the sail position provided by a unique mast and sail structure.  Click HERE for an in depth review or continue on for some more photos. 

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What Jobs are Done with Dynamic Positioning? – Pt. 5

The fifth in our series of Dynamic Positioning job types. Make sure to check out the other entries in the series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4.

Heavy Lift

This serious operation has a large potential for disaster should something go wrong.  Setting large suction piles or even an entire accomodation unit on top of a platfrom is a precision job that requires precise technology.

Heavy lift vessels can take a variety of forms, from a large derrick barge, such as J. Ray McDermott’s DB50, to heavy lift semi-submersible lift boats, such as those owned by Jumbo Shipping.

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Shiphandling Simulator

The Seamanship Tutor has put together a series of simple computer animations that show various shiphandling techniques. The animations include search and rescue operations, use of an anchor and docking operations (among others). The full set of videos can be found HERE but we’ll share with you a short preview:

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 Flash Content [0:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Interesting Ship of The Week – BW Pioneer

This week’s interesting ship is the BW Pioneer, which Keppel Shipyard Limited (Keppel Shipyard) has just announced is on track to be delivered BW Pioneer Ltd, an affiliate of BW Offshore.  The vessel will be the first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the US Gulf of Mexico. Named today at Keppel Shipyard, the vessel BW Pioneer will be turret moored at a water depth of about 2,600 meters – by far the deepest for an FPSO.

The FPSO, which is nearing completion, has achieved an impressive safety record of more than 4 million incident-free man-hours to-date. BW Pioneer has been leased by Petrobras America Inc. to operate in the Cascade and Chinook fields of the US GoM, with production scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.

Designed to handle the harsh operating conditions in GoM, BW Pioneer is equipped with an internal disconnectable Submerged Turret Production (STP) mooring system and outfitted with advanced safety features to withstand environmental loads from currents, waves and wind. In the event of an approaching hurricane, this highly advanced safety feature will allow the FPSO to disengage from site and move on her own propulsion to seek sheltered waters.

BW Pioneer has a storage capacity of about 600,000 barrels of oil, a process capacity of 80,000 bopd and gas export facilities of 16 mmscfd.

Click HERE to read more from Keppel Corporation

15 Incredible Shipyard Photos and Pictures

Each month we cover a variety of different photography that pertains to the maritime world around us (you can find many of them in our section Amazing Photos). This time we present you a “mixed bag” of some truly outstanding photos and images, created by talented photographers across the globe. The photos cover a wide range of operations but each was taken in shipyard.

Below you’ll find 15 truly stunning and unusual photos. Every image is linked and leads to the source from which it was taken. Please feel free to explore further works of the talented photographers presented above.

USS George H. W. Bush – Newport News

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Coast Guard Officer Relieved In Montauk

Newsday.com has the story on why this photograph is making headlines.

The Montauk docks were abuzz with disbelief and disappointment Saturday over the removal of their top Coast Guard officer, stripped of his duties after he and a subordinate took a pair of rescue boats on training exercises for which they were not certified.

And one photographer who created dramatic shots of those exercises in heavy surf after Hurricane Bill passed Long Island in August says he’s despondent to think he might have made it look more dangerous than it was.

Chief Petty Officer James Weber, a well-liked, 21-year Coast Guard veteran, has been reassigned from the Montauk Station to the Guard’s New Haven office. He will lose his command permanently unless he prevails in an appeal. A Guard spokeswoman said Saturday Weber has not decided whether to appeal. He could not be reached for comment. Senior Coast Guard officials said Friday he had violated procedures vital to crew safety. Read More at Newsday.com

The photographer Thomas Colla took the photos on the morning of August 23rd and posted them to his website – tcolla.com.  Following news of the officers loss of command, Colla wrote on his facebook “Really sorry if my photos had anything to do with this . . . Not feeling good at all about this:”

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Maritime Monday 185

The following is posted by Fred Fry:

Welcome to this 185th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 135 here. (Published 10 November 2008)

You can find last week’s edition here. Thanks to the crew at gCaptain for seeing that it was done in my absence!

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 Malaysia’s MISC Berhard:

With a strong affiliation with our parent company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), MISC is fast becoming the world’s leading maritime transportation and logistics provider focused on energy transportation. 39 years on, we are now world renowned as the largest single owner/operator of LNG tankers.

Through our strategic partnerships and enthusiastic people-to-people relationships, MISC has helped shape businesses all over the globe. Our products and services continue to meet and exceed the demands and expectations of our growing clientele.

* EAGLE COLUMBUS *

* BUNGA SEROJA SATU *

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