gCaptain.com

Nearly 7 years ago Yantai Raffles Shipyard, in Shandong Province China, recognized that the building of tomorrow’s largest offshore oil vessels and platforms would require machinery of epic size. To prepare for this future they commissioned the construction of the World’s Largest Crane.

The Proposed Site

Groundbreaking

Laying The Foundation

Building The Towers

[Continue Reading →]

In spirit of the 2008 Olympics that kicked off today in Beijing, I came across this interesting article from The Economic Times explaining how this years Olympics brings down ship freight rates.  Now I’m no economist so I think you will be better off reading the article for yourself HERE.  But the gist of it is that China will effectively shut down for the next 17 days and the events leading up to, during and after the games are going to have a lasting effect on ship freight rates.

All factories, workshops, and industrial estates in and around Beijing province will be closed to ensure tourists and deadly serious sportspeople don’t get a whiff of smoke, see ugly machinery or the usual detritus of a country that has become the world’s factory yard.

Since Chinese factories will be shut, they would not need copious volumes of raw material, nor have giant ship-loads of finished goods to move out. Moreover, China had been stockpiling diesel and crude oil before the Games to ensure uninterrupted supplies. That record demand for tankers to carry crude is expected to drop 40% once the Games start. So basically, China needs very few ships right now. That has acted as a sledge hammer on ship freight rates.

Essentially, supply currently outweighs demand and that’s a good thing… right?

This admittedly isn’t the newest military tech on the block, but I just couldn’t help writing it up. Russia makes the world’s largest military hovercraft dubbed the “Zubr.” It displaces 621 tons and can haul twice the payload of similar boats from the US Navy (somewhere around 150 tons). 

With production dating back to 1988, the last Zubr looks to have launched in 2004. Capable of carrying multiple tanks and a nice mix of 140mm rocket pods, 30mm cannons and air defense missiles, the Zubr can cruise for 300 miles before rapidly deploying troops and equipment close to shore. Scratch that. Directly on shore. In other words, it’s just like that R/C vehicle you lusted after in the ’90s, but it’s way bigger and actually good for something. Or, in this case, potentially very, very bad.

via Gizmodo.com

___________________________

This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

Experts attempting to understand the strategic aims behind China’s aggressive military expansion have generally focused on Taiwan. But a new naval base points at Beijing’s significant and growing interest in projecting power into waters far from the Taiwan Strait.

The new underground base for submarines and comfortable facilities that would attract technically proficient soldiers and sailors. Its location will allow China to exert greater dominance over disputed territories of the South China Sea; to place a much larger naval force closer to sea lanes crucial to Asia’s commercial lifeblood; and to exercise influence over the critical Straits of Malacca. (Source: Wall Street Journal - NPR Audio)

If you think that it is no big deal that China is building submarines at an alarming rate take a look at this video of an Australian Navy torpedo test.

And if you think the US Navy has the ability to protect Merchant Shipping against this kind of attack first ask: can they protect themselves?

If not can they at least protect the US Mainland and that of our allies against China’s new boomers?

Details:

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) sunk HMAS Torrens on June 14th 1999 with a single Mk48 wire guided torpedo fired from the Collins Class submarine Farncomb. Torrens was the last of six Australian ‘River Class’ Type 12 Destroyer-Escort, the others (Derwent, Parramatta, Stuart, Swan and Yarra) having been disposed of previously. Before the sinking Torrens had been thoroughly cleaned of all fuels, oils and potentially environmentally harmful substances. Her gun turret was donated to the South Western City of Albany. Torrens was then towed from Fleet Base West (HMAS Stirling) 90km out to sea, west of Perth. The submarine Farncomb fired the torpedo at the stationary target from a submerged position over the horizon . (Source: BTInternet)

For the science behind the explosion click HERE.

Video:

The New York Times tells us:

In a slap to Zimbabwe, its longtime ally Angola announced Saturday that a Chinese ship bearing arms for Zimbabwe would not be allowed to unload the weapons while it docked in Luanda, the Angolan capital.

The “ship of shame,” as the Chinese vessel An Yue Jiang has been nicknamed in African newspapers, has become a powerful organizing tool for trade unions, religious leaders and civic groups trying to stop state-sponsored brutality against Zimbabwe’s opposition. Any delivery of its weapons could well make that crackdown even more deadly.

Angola’s decision — it said it had allowed the ship to unload cargo meant for Angola, just not the weapons — brought the latest and the most surprising evidence of success in the international pressure campaign against the Zimbabwean government. Continue Reading…

You pull into port and are busy most of the day getting ready for the discharge, suddenly it’s 16:00 and you have to report to watch. Now you need to do some shopping but don’t know what’s open at at 20:00. What can you do?

Lifehacker has the answer;

Google Maps mashup What’s Open pinpoints local businesses just like any other local search, then goes one step further by indicating which stores are currently open and which aren’t. It’s a simple concept, but if you’re actually using local search to find somewhere to grab a cup of coffee or get something to eat, it’s a really useful idea. Currently the search needs a little refining, and the public beta is California only (sign up for the full beta for US, EU, and China support), but this is one feature I’d kill to see integrated into Google Maps proper.

WhatsOpen [via Download Squad]

Need to find out how to get to the mall? Try Mark Ovenden’s new book “Transit Maps of the World“. Gadlin, the travel blog, tells us;

Penguin’s new book claims to be the first and only comprehensive collection of historic and current maps of every rapid-transit system on earth. Whew! Author and transport extraordinaire Mark Ovenden traces the history of mass transit-including rare maps, diagrams, and photographs. I don’t doubt that this book will live up to what the publisher calls “the graphic designer’s new bible, the transport enthusiast’s dream collection, and a coffee-table essential for everyone who’s ever traveled in a city.” Read More…

Here are some other Lifehacker maps you may enjoy:

• Check Your Airport’s Delay Record Before You Travel
• Measure Your Map Lines
• Flight Simulator in Google Earth 4.2
• Start your road trip at the best time
• Determine Lat/Long for anywhere

Pakistan’s Daily Times has the scoop on China’s newest museum;

China is building a giant underwater museum to preserve and exhibit an ancient shipwreck. The museum, the first of its kind in the world, is to contain a sunken ship more than 800 years old and its treasures.

Archaeologists say the ship is China’s most exciting underwater excavation. Named the Southern Sea Number One, it lies under 24 metres of water and two metres of sand and soil.

Archaeologists took more than 6,000 treasures from one small room on the ship in 2002. The Guangdong provincial government has now allocated £10 million to building a five hall underwater museum to preserve the wreck.

Expert’s say, “Since the ship and its treasures have become accustomed to being underwater, it’s better to keep them there.” Read More…

Interested in Underwater Museums? Take a look at Divester’s post; “The World’s Coolest Underwater Museums”
Links:

• Official Underwater Museum Page
• The Guangzhou Salvage Bureau
• Watching The Water Rise - China’s Three Gorges Dam

Cosco Busan - Questions,Questions,Questions

By Bob Couttie

Once the US National Transportation Safety Board has produced the transcripts of the voyage data recorder from the Cosco Busan (Formerly the Hanjin Cairo, the Hanjin name remains on the ship side) we’ll have a better idea of who said what to whom and when. Currently only the pilot’s version of events is available and it is raising a number of questions.

A malfunctioning radar appears to have been an element, though not the cause, of the incident and so far there has been no indication regarding the second radar on the ship’s bridge. Given that there was poor visibility, was the speed of the vessel excessive? Should departure have been delayed until the fog cleared.

The pilot was not familiar with the ECDIS equipment onboard, which does not appear to have malfunctioned. When the pilot asked the Captain to point out the centre of the bridge span the captain allegedly pointed to the bridge support and the pilot navigated accordingly.

With an apparently malfunctioning radar and a lack of familiarity with the primary method of navigation, did the pilot seek to confirm the vessels position with the VTS and/or the accompanying tug?

VTS informed the pilot that the ship was off course, which the Pilot disputed and shortly afterwards a lookout shouted a warning that there was a bridge support ahead and the vessel went hard right and allided with the Delta bridge support.

There also appears to have been a lack of detail in the master/pilot exchange when the latter took conduct of the vessel, as the pilot’s lawyer admits. Would the missing information have been enought to prevent the incident?

There may also have been communications problems between the American pilot and the bridge team who were Chinese. Of there were, to what extent did they reduce the pilot and the bridge team’s situational awareness?

It is not uncommon for pilots to ‘go it alone’ rather than work with a bridge team with whom communication is problematic. This increases the workload on the pilot and reduces his situational awareness. Had the pilot and the bridge team undergone bridge team/bridge resource management training?

Incidents such as this rarely have a single cause, or a single responsible individual. They are usually the result of systemic problems with Bridge Team Management, leadership, culture and navigational practices.

It will be a while before we know the full story of the Cosco Busan, but we’ll hit that bridge when we get to it.

______

Bob Couttie has written for a number of maritime industry publications, including the prestigious Lloyd’s List International daily newspaper and Lloyd’s Ship Manager magazine. His reportage on problems with ship’s officer certification examinations in the Philippines in the late 1990s influenced the adoption of computerized examinations for ship officers by the country’s Professional Regulatory Commission.

Bob currently writes and produces podcasts for The Maritime Accident Casebook

_____

Would you like your article published by gCaptain? Submit it now.

While we have been preoccupied with the Bay Bridge Allision readers of our Maritime News Discoverer know of this troubling news from the pacific;

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed.
At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world’s only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders.

That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory.

American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board.

By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier.

According to senior Nato officials the incident caused consternation in the U.S. Navy.

Continue Reading….

First a note… I am publishing this short clip ahead of my next article because of its importance!

While preparing our upcoming “questions for investigators” article on the Cosco Busan incident we were asked by more than one party a question along this line; with communications failure being a leading cause of incidents and the crew of the Cosco Busan being Chinese of limited english skills (they required translators during the investigation) why do incidents of this type not happen more often?

The answer is Bridge Team Management.

Ok… so what is BRM?

Revisiting a previous post I state:

• Bridge Team (or resource) Management (called BRM in the industry) is a process to use all of your available resources during critical operations. It came from the airline industry which found an alarming number of accidents happened despite prior warning from the equipment or crew…. mostly by captains with military backgrounds and a “I can do this” attitude who did not fully use critical information from either the equipment or junior personnel.Boiled down it’s a class all officers must take in both teamwork and processing the large amounts of data (lookout reports, radar, radio comms, gps charting, weather information….) that pours into the bridge.
• Here’s a more official answer:The Bridge Team Management course introduces the concept of a navigation team to ship masters and watch officers and frames their decision making process toward establishing watch conditions during the course of the voyage. Bridge Team Management techniques will emphasize decision making based upon conditions related to workload and potential threat to the vessel. The intent of the program is to define the individual task and responsibilities of the various team members while developing a situational awareness to prevent individual errors.

In stating the importance of this post I am looking at the media reaction to the incident. In reporting disasters the public is often not satisfied until a single individual is blamed…. quickly. This was the case in the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Tampa Skyway Bridge Disaster and even in the early reports on the Empress of the North grounding where fault was placed on the Jr. Officer on watch who was only weeks out of the Maritime Academy. In the Empress of the North incident gCaptain broke from traditional media and laid the blame on management techniques rather than the “green” officer and we are happy to report he was recently clear of all charges (as was Capt. Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez).

It is clear to us the Cosco Busan allided with the Bay Bridge because of a breakdown in Bridge Team Management. For example while VTS contacted the ship questing its course did the mate on watch, captain, helmsman or assist tug captain also voice concern? Was the equipment operational and set up properly? As the primary fault for the Exxon Valdez incident was not with Captain Hazelwood (he was cleared of charges and his license was reinstated) John Cota, Pilot aboard the Cosco Busan is not solely at fault for this incident.

The team failed the Cosco Busan not the ship’s Chinese Captain or American Pilot alone. Lets just hope the court of public opinion does not convict either person before the long and thorough investigation is completed. Otherwise they might stand the fate of Captain Hazelwood, cleared of charges and fully licensed to pilot a ship but unable to find a company willing to hire him.

________

Asking yourself how a ship 131 wide could have such trouble in a channel 737 metres wide? Read a more unbelievable story HERE then watch the amazing slideshow HERE.

UPDATE: Bob Couttie of the Maritime Accident Casebook has a very interesting article along similar lines. You can find it HERE.

UPDATE 2:
Criminal probe opened in Bay oil spill

The entire crew of the cargo ship that sideswiped a bridge, causing San Francisco Bay’s worst oil spill in nearly two decades, has been detained as part of a criminal investigation, a Coast Guard official said Sunday.

Capt. William Uberti said he notified the U.S. attorney’s office on Saturday about issues involving management and communication among members of the bridge crew: the helmsman, the watch officer, the ship’s master and the pilot.