Natural gas crystals: Energy under the sea

Published: March 11th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Environment

On the left, a core sample from India showing crystalized natural gas. On the right, unlocking its energy.

By Steve Hargreaves, staff writer – CNNMoney.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — It looks like ice — but this ice could one day be used to heat your home.

It’s actually not ice at all, but crystallized natural gas, and if scientists can figure out how to harvest it cheaply enough, it could become a vast new source of energy available in just about every country in the world.

The big advantage to these crystals, known as methane hydrates, are their abundance. They are found beneath the sea floor off every continent, and under the arctic tundra.

Plus, they’re estimated to hold twice as much carbon as all the known reserves of oil, coal and natural gas combined.

“The potential is enough to power humanity from now until the asteroid hits,” said Peter Tertzakian, chief energy economist at ARC Financial, a Calgary-based private equity firm.

But citing cost and the abundance of conventional natural gas, Tertzakian said this resource will likely “remain on the margins” for two or three decades.

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Gas company finds 12 shipwrecks in Baltic

Published: March 11th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Salvage

STOCKHOLM – A gas company building an underwater pipeline in the Baltic Sea has found a dozen centuries-old shipwrecks – some of them unusually well preserved.

The oldest wreck probably dates to medieval times and could be up to 800 years old, while the others may be from the 17th to 19th centuries, Peter Norman of Sweden’s National Heritage Board said yesterday.

“They could be interesting, but we have only seen pictures of their exterior. Many of them are considered to be fully intact. They look very well preserved,’’ Norman said.

Thousands of wrecks – from medieval ships to warships sunk during the world wars of the 20th century – have been found in the Baltic Sea, which doesn’t have the ship worm that destroys wooden wrecks in saltier oceans.

The latest discovery was made during a search east of the Swedish island of Gotland by the Nord Stream consortium, which is building a 750-mile pipeline between Russia and Germany.

The 12 wrecks were found in a 30-mile-long, 1.2-mile-wide corridor, according to a Nord Stream spokeswoman.

The Heritage Board said three have intact hulls and are upside down at a depth of 430 feet.

It’s unclear whether any of them will be salvaged, but the board said it hopes divers will explore them.

Photo – Associated Press

Chilean Earthquake Tsunami – Videos

Published: March 10th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Environment, Video

Yesterday we showed you maps of the tsunami created by the February 27th 8.8 magnitude Chilean earthquake. Today we follow up with a collection of videos of the actual tsunami as it reached shores along the Pacific. All videos are aggregated by the International Tsunami Information Centre.

An International Post-Tsunami Field Survey is being coordinated by UNESCO Santiago, ITIC, and local scientists. This Survey will officially start on Monday, March 8. For more information contact the ITIC Director, Laura Kong (l.kong@unesco.org)

The 27 February 2010 magnitude 8.8 Chilean earthquake and tsunami caused damage and over 700 deaths in the coastal regions of central Chile. Following the earthquake, the NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers issued warnings for locations all over the Pacific from Antarctica to Seward, Alaska. As a result of the warnings, although tsunami waves of between 3-6 feet and strong currents were observed in many locations, no lives were lost outside of the epicentral region. Unfortunately, lives were lost due to the tsunami in Pelluhue and Dichato in central Chile and on Robinson Crusoe Island located near the epicenter. The highest tsunami amplitudes, of several meters, were observed in the Juan Fernandez Islands and Talcahuano, Chile. Information is still being gathered and assessed.

According to the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC, http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/) Global Historical Event databases, this is the largest instrumental earthquake observed in Chile since the 1960 magnitude 9.5 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami that killed over 1,200 people, including 60 deaths in Hawaii. Globally, this is the 6th largest instrumental earthquake and one of 280 deadly tsunamis.

CONTINUE READING →→

Hospital ship USNS Comfort sailing home from Haiti

Published: March 10th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Lifesaving Incidents, Navy

USNS Comfort Haiti Hospital ship USNS Comfort sailing home from Haiti

By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY

The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort pulled up anchor Tuesday in Port-au-Prince and began the long trip home to Baltimore, ending its role in Operation Unified Response-Haiti.

The ship’s departure brings to a close a dramatic naval mission launched three days after the Haitian earthquake Jan. 12, when the ship’s crew ended scheduled maintenance midway and set sail to provide medical relief to a nation whose hospitals and clinics lay in ruins.

From Jan. 19 to Feb. 27, doctors treated nearly 1,000 patients, performed 843 surgeries, carried out 37 amputations, repaired dozens of bone fractures and delivered nine babies, says Capt. James Ware, the ship’s commanding officer. By late February, Ware says in an e-mail, the Haitian government began working with the Pan American Health Organization and other groups to improve the medical care on shore “with the ambition of building back to pre-earthquake medical levels.”

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor says the time has come to call the Comfort home. “The doctors on the USNS Comfort did a heroic job treating patients following the earthquake in Haiti and provided essential short-term support, but the Comfort is not a long-term solution,” he says.

Shipping IPOs Ready to Embark

Published: March 10th, 2010 by Mike | Category: finance

By Scott Eden

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — About half a decade after the first maritime shipping concerns sold shares to the public on U.S. stock exchanges, another fleet of IPOs is preparing to set sail into the capital markets of New York.

Kicking it off on Wednesday is the expected pricing of two new issues — an owner of dry-bulk vessels called Baltic Trading and an oil-tanker outfit called, straight-forwardly enough, Crude Carriers.

Both names have established provenances. Baltic, which will trade under the symbol BALT, was formed by Peter Georgiopoulos, the impresario behind the tanker operator General Maritime(GMR) (the first shipping company to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, back in 2001), as well as the dry-bulk ship owner Genco Shipping & Trading(GNK) and the ship-fuel transporter Aegean Marine(ANW).

Crude Carriers, which will trade under the ticker CRU, was formed by Capital Maritime & Trading, a privately held Greek company that owns and manages tankers as well as dry-bulk carriers. Capital Maritime is the baby of Evangelos Marinkais, who also took public Capital Product Partners(CPLP) in 2007 on Nasdaq. Capital Product owns 19 of the kind of tankers that carry wet cargoes other than petroleum, known in the industry as “product tankers.”

Yet another shipper filed a prospectus in February: Scorpio, an Italian shipping group, hopes to float shares of its fleet of three Panamax chemical tankers under the name Scorpio Tankers.

Some observers have wondered at the timing of this latest IPO push. The first wave occurred during boom times, when global trade was brisk and shipping rates high. Not so in early 2010; only a year ago, the marine transport business had fallen to its lowest ebb in decades. Rates cratered and share prices in the sector have yet to recover.

Pimp My Ship!

Published: March 9th, 2010 by Monkey Fist | Category: Humor, Ship Design, Ships

Fit out the phattest sea-ride…

Make your suggestions to the best, wildest fantasy ship, and see your ideas come to life

By Ryan Skinner for 59° 56′ N

Somewhere, at some time, someone probably said: "Yeah, this ship’s OK, but it’d be better if it had…." And anyone who’s ever seen MTV’s Pimp My Ride knows that all your dreams can be realized, as long as you have some cash, a welding torch and some know-how.

Now, anyone can propose any thing for the wildest ship imaginable! Pimp a ship! Whatever’s your thing – swimming pools, 3-D cinemas, mud wrestling, laser weaponry, whatever! – just propose it in a comment below or take part in the discussions at LinkedIn groups.

It can be a cruise ship, a tanker, an offshore ship, any commercial vessel, and any wild thing you’d like to put on board. Use your imagination! The results will be put into a series of illustrations by a colleague of mine, a designer who can make any thought into gorgeous visuals. And anyone who takes part will get co-credit for the design.

Send your suggestions »

Emma Maersk’ s Wartsila-Sulzer Super Ship Engine – Part 2

Chilean Earthquake Tsunami – Mapped

Published: March 9th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Data

This post is brought to us by Peter Mello of Sea-fever.org (via NOAA), in two seperate installments. The first post a map of Ocean Energy Distribution Map from Chile Earthquake Tsunami (shown above). Peter writes:

8.2-foot tsunami wave expected to strike Hilo, Hawaii 11:05 a.m. local time (4:05 p.m. ET) according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Tsunami advisory extended to Oregon, Washington, parts of Alaska, coastal British Colombia by West Coast Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

Here is the map of the Chilean earthquake and aftershocks from the USGS.

Peter then follows up with the following;

This post of NOAA’s Wave Energy Distribution Map (computer modeled) was a very popular Sea-Fever post over the weekend.

If you think that graphic was impressive, the below animation will definitely rock your boat.

YOUblog Featured Article: Diary of a PMI/Workboat Academy Cadet

Published: March 9th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Featured, Training

This YOUblog featured article was submitted by one of gCaptain’s top contributors, Ordinaryseaman, otherwise known as Anthony, who was recently accepted to PMI’s Workboat Mate Program.

–

Howdy everyone!

For those who don’t know, PMI and their sister school MITAGS offer an excellent program for entry level and experienced mariners to obtain a mate’s license aboard tugs, research vessels, OSV’s, and small cruise ships. The 2 year program alternates classroom training and working aboard vessels in a format that lets you get your mate’s license in much less time – and for much less money – than the typical “hawsepipe” system of working your way up the ladder. More information can be found at www.workboatacademy.com

This is the first post in a series detailing my experiences as a cadet at Pacific Maritime Institute in Seattle Washington. My hope is to give those considering becoming a cadet some insight into what it’s like to be a cadet. I will try to post as often as my tight schedule of school, studying, and working a night job allows. Feel free to PM or email me with any questions you may have – Anthony

CONTINUE READING →→

Crowley lands Haiti shipping contract

Published: March 9th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Container Ship

Jacksonville Business Journal – by Mark Szakonyi Staff reporter

Crowley Liner Services Inc. has received a contract worth up to $22 million from the U.S. military to provide emergency port services in Haiti.

The Jacksonville-based shipping company will repair Port-au-Prince’s piers and beaches, provide warehousing, cargo consolidation, and transport cargo, according to the U.S. Transportation Command contract. The contract runs until April 15.

Crowley has been able to bring in containers into Port-au-Prince despite the city’s piers still being under repair. The company used a process called lightering, where smaller vessels with roll-on/roll-off capabilities unload cargo from a large container ship and bring it ashore without using a traditional dock.

Crowley has also shipped containers to the Dominican Republic, from where they were trucked into Haiti. Under the contract, Crowley will also build a temporary pier at Port-au-Prince and use a crane to unload cargo onto the shore.

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Maritime Monday 204

Published: March 8th, 2010 by Monkey Fist | Category: Maritime Monday

Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday

You can find last week’s edition here »

image2 Maritime Monday 204 One. Ugly. Ship. Yes, that’s a ship. It’s a specialized ship made to carry automobiles. I can’t say I’m overwhelmed by their grace and fine lines. OneEighteen’s Flickr photostream »

image3 Maritime Monday 204 Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse, Nova Scotia. Rob Huntley’s Nova Scotia Set on Flickr »

image4 Maritime Monday 204 Cool Ulstein ship. View from new office at Umoe IKT. Hoff-Z’s Flickr photostream »

A view of the telegraph by night

Once on nights, always on nights. There is a tendency to end up on a run of nights for no other good reason than that’s just the way it goes, and no matter how much rest you get during the day, nothing beats a proper nights sleep. The engines are about to rumble to life, it’s 4.30 in the AM and I have a few minutes before the Rotterdam pilot boards for departure.

keep reading on Tim’s Times »

Anti-Piracy Tactics Used by Bulk Ships

image6 Maritime Monday 204 Somali pirates are likely to increasingly target ships taking coal and other commodities over the Indian Ocean because smaller bulk vessels are an easier target than large oil tankers and trade to Asia is booming.

South African coal shippers have installed a sonic device with a 3 kilometre range on a trial basis which has successfully halted attacks on tankers and naval ships off the African coast. The LRAD device, made by American Technology Corporation and costs $175,0000, can warn off pirates not responding to radio calls and disorient them preventing boarding but causes no permanent harm, shippers said.