You can find last week’s edition here
Deep Water Writing has been Girl Watching in Singapore Harbor – “This boat would circle us every evening as curious Singaporeans looked on from their tacky dinner cruise experience. A steel hull with fake cannon ports and a dirty exhaust stained transom, this motorized replica of a Junk never inspired me to buy a ticket.
“The dinner cruise sets out from Marina South Pier with the skyline of Singapore behind. The three towers to the right are currently under construction to become Asia’s most spectacular entertainment destination, Marina Bay Sands. The tops of the three buildings are to be joined by a ship like structure complete with rooftop gardens. While it would be free for you or I to have a go at the roulette tables here in a year’s time it will cost each Singaporean $100 to enter.” See Ship Spotting on Deep Water Writing »
Wake Turbulence – Chasing the Queen Mary 2 in San Francisco Harbor See full size »
Abandoned cruise ship SS Aquarama, formally known as the SS Marine Star, was a World War II troop ship for the United States Navy. In 1952, it was converted into the largest passenger ship ever to operate in the Great Lakes – See full size – MaritimeDigital Archive
Calliope of the America Queen. Photo by Peter Knego 2007 See: Paddlewheel Blog AMERICAN QUEEN: Cincinnati to Pittsburgh »
More photos: Maritime Monday 205 A , Maritime Monday 205 
Abu Dhabi Ship Building Opens Talks with STX
South Korea’s STX Offshore and Shipbuilding, the world’s fourth-largest marine builder, plan to open talks this year with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to help it break into the regional market for offshore support vessels.
The budding alliance between STX and ADSB, based in Musaffah, is part of a wave of new connections between UAE and South Korean companies after the US$20.4 billion (Dh74.92bn) nuclear plant contract that Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation awarded to Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) in December.
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Tags: · Maritime Monday
Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday
You can find last week’s edition here »
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 »
Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse, Nova Scotia. Rob Huntley’s Nova Scotia Set on Flickr »
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.
Anti-Piracy Tactics Used by Bulk Ships
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.
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Tags: · Maritime Monday
You can find last week’s edition here »
Steamboats at Colman Dock, Seattle, WA, circa 1912 – The Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet was a large number of private transportation companies running small passenger and freight boats around on Puget Sound, nearby waterways, and rivers. This large group of steamers and sternwheelers stopped at every waterfront dock. The historical peak of activity occurred between the first and second World Wars. Click image to see full size.
Steamer Virginia V, last of Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet – now one of the historic fleet of NW Seaport, South Lake Union Park, Seattle, Washington, USA. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The boat has city landmark status. Steamer Virginia V’s website »
Cade Candies – boat being built at Dakota Creek Shipyard in Anacortes for the Otto Candies company of Des Allemands, LA. – from flickr
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Tags: · customs, Dredge, Environment, Federal Funds, International Maritime Organization, Maritime Law, Maritime Monday, maritime security, Nautical History, noaa, pipeline, ship breaking, submarines, supertankers
Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday
You can find last week’s edition here
Some fun from The Art of Dredging. See their post Ten Tips for Captains »
English Russia: When entering city of Odessa Port one can be greeted by a giant metal robot staying there for years already. Constructed mainly of auto parts, like hoods etc. – so looking at it we might guess where from the Transformers idea might has appeared.
Refurbishing Patty Nolan – Once this bikini was neon-yellowishgreen. Sunny months of braving the elements have faded the color of the Hudson River’s only tugboat figurehead. See Tugster for info on the Patty Nolan bikini contest »
Boom Tenders: Tanker Port; South Portland, Maine. From BoatBanter
A match made in heaven: Roger Corman has teamed with SyFy to bring us the schlock science-fiction TV movie ‘Sharktopus’. The movie is being billed as the SyFy version of the movie ‘Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus’, a title that abandons all pretense of subtlety. More »
Aboitiz Transport Buys Two Vessels to Hike Fleet Capacity
17 Feb 2010 / Business Mirror – PHILIPPINES: Months after the sinking of one of its vessels, Aboitiz Transport System Corp. (ATSC) on Tuesday said it purchased two vessels in a move to increase the capacity of its SuperFerry fleet and to boost the growth of its logistics arm.
Aboitiz said in a disclosure that it had purchased two roll-on/roll-off-passenger vessels, currently named MV Sunflower Kogane from the Diamond Ferry Co. Ltd and MV Sunflower Nishiki from Kansai Kisen Kaisha. Both are Japanese firms based in Oita and in Osaka, respectively.
ATSC said it bought the vessels at $7.5 million each. It has a total capacity of loading 400 twenty-foot equivalent units and can carry 2,000 passengers each. Aboitiz Transport’s principal business is transporting people using its SuperFerry, SuperCat and Cebu Ferries brands of vessels, as well as transporting cargoes under 2GO.
Another Shackleton Explores Antarctica: CDR Scott Shackleton
18 Feb 2010 / Armed with Science – Commander Scott Shackleton is a Naval Reservist and distant relative of Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose 1914-1916 Endurance expedition in Antarctica remains one of the great survival stories.
Q: What is your job, and what unit are you deployed from?
A: I am a Naval Reservist assigned to Military Sealift Command (MSC) as a Ships Operation Officer. My role in Antarctica is in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the Department of Defense‘s annual delivery of fuel, equipment and supplies required to sustain the scientist and support personnel conducting vital research across the Antarctic continent.
Austal Delivers Six-Vessel Fleet to Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard
High Speed Firepower In Paradise
BYM Industry News – Capable of speeds greater than 40 knots and armed with general purpose machine guns and a 20mm cannon, the 30 metre vessels – designed and built by Australian shipbuilder Austal – will expand the TTCG’s surveillance and enforcement capability in the region.
The on-schedule, on-budget delivery of the fleet was achieved less than two years from the initial order, with the final vessels arriving in Trinidad and Tobago via heavy lift ship on January 18.
Bahamas Moves to Fill Seafarer Shortage
15 Feb 2010 / Freeport Tribune – The Bahamas is developing "a core of highly qualified" mariners to take a leading role in the maritime industry, in a bid to fill the gap created by a global shortage of seafarers.
Earl Deveaux, minister of the environment, said that to date some 300 persons have graduated from the Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps, and another 50 are scheduled to graduate this year.
Image from CargoLaw
Big Bunch ‘O Black Barges Go Boom!
19 Feb 20101 / Independent Online; South Africa – The wreck of the massive barge carrier Margaret, which towers over Jacobs Bay like a block of flats, will be broken up using explosives in a controlled demolition operation that will topple its cargo of smaller barges into the sea.
This is the sad end to what was a brand-new barge carrier when it ran aground on June 24 after the tug towing the vessel lost the tow connection in a storm near Saldanha Bay.
Canadian School Ship SV Concordia Sinks off Brazil; All 64 Aboard Rescued by Nearby Cargo Vessels
Teachers and Crew of tall ship that sank in high winds spent 16 hours in life-rafts before being rescued Friday by three passing cargo ships
19 Feb 2010 / Associated Press – Officials say the 57-metre sailing school sank in strong winds about 500 kilometres southeast of Rio de Janeiro, forcing the 42 Canadians and remaining staff and students from other countries around the world to scramble into four life-rafts.
The ship’s owner is West Island College International, based in Lunenburg, N.S. Edgardo Ybranez, captain of the Philippine flagged Hokuetsu Delight cargo ship, told The Associated Press via satellite phone that his ship rescued 44 of the victims in rough, dangerous seas. The remaining people were picked up by two other passing ships.
Carnival Glory Returns to Service Following Extensive Multi-Million-Dollar Refurbishment
15 Feb 2010 – The 2,974-passenger Carnival Glory has resumed Caribbean service from Miami following a multi-million-dollar renovation that added a host of new facilities and features, including a Serenity adults-only retreat, a 270-square-foot Seaside Theatre poolside LED screen, and a Circle “C” facility for 12- to 14- year olds.
Eighteen new balconies were also incorporated onto existing ocean view staterooms and a new Mongolian wok venue was added to the casual poolside restaurant. Bow-to-stern Wi-Fi access was added, as well.
Cheaper Piracy Patrols off Somalia Needed, U.S. Official Says
18 Feb 2010 / Bloomberg Business Week – The U.S. says it wants to find cheaper options to battle pirates off the coast of Somalia, as an international naval force has pushed the seaborne brigands from the 1 million square miles of the Gulf of Aden into an area twice that size in the Indian Ocean.
“The locus of pirate activity has shifted and we are trying to deal with it,” Tom Countryman, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, said in Washington today. “It’s expensive, and that’s why we feel strongly the need to pursue the lowest-cost options to deter piracy.”
Defensive measures taken by ship owners and crews are “the lowest-cost and most-effective way to deter pirate attacks,” Countryman said.
China’s Sri Lanka Port Raises Concern
17 Feb 2010 / UPI.com – China’s construction of a port in Sri Lanka and a Chinese admiral’s suggestion Beijing build a naval base in the Gulf of Aden has raised fears in the Middle East that a confrontation between China and India is looming along vital energy export routes.
Both the Asian titans, whose economies continue to expand despite the global financial meltdown, are heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil and will become more so as supplies dwindle.The Indians are building their naval forces across these vital shipping lanes through which some 85 percent of China’s oil supplies pass along with raw materials from Africa.
Chinese Ship Operator that Caused 2007 San Francisco Bay Oil Spill Fined $10 Million
Cosco Busan, This is Your Life!
19 Feb 2010 / ABC News – U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston also ordered Fleet Management Inc. to better train its officers in navigation and safety. Court documents showed the company acknowledging its crew was poorly trained and the master failed to stop the pilot from leaving port in thick fog the morning of the accident.
Fleet agreed to the punishment in August when it pleaded guilty to obstruction, making false statements and negligent discharge of oil. The NTSB concluded earlier this year that a medically unfit pilot, an ineffective captain and poor communications between the two were the primary causes of the accident. Company lawyers declined comment Friday, citing active lawsuits over the spill.
The “deep sea mining vessel” Hughes Glomar Explorer (wink wink, say no more) source
CIA Owns Up to 1974 Project
Washington, DC
18 Feb 2010 / Associated Press – In 1974, far out in the Pacific, a U.S. ship pretending to be a deep-sea mining vessel fished a sunken Soviet nuclear-armed submarine out of the ocean depths, took what it could of the wreck, and made off to Hawaii with its purloined prize. Now, Washington is owning up to Project Azorian, a brazen mission from the days of high-stakes – and high-seas – Cold War rivalry.
After more than 30 years of refusing to confirm the barest facts of what the world already knew, the CIA released an internal account of Project Azorian, though with juicy details taken out. The account surfaced Friday at the hands of private researchers from the National Security Archive who used the Freedom of Information Act to achieve the declassification.
Communication: Intel and Nokia Merge to Create MeeGo
16 Feb 2010 – The world’s largest chip maker and the world’s largest mobile phone maker have merged operating systems to create a single platform for mobiles.The new MeeGo platform, unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, will be used to power phones, netbooks, TVs and in-car entertainment systems.
The open-source software has been created by merging elements of Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo software.
Contain Somalia’s Problems to Spare Yemen
15 Feb 2010 / Detroit Free Press; OPINION – Three hijackings by pirates already this year highlight the profound weakness of the international naval force tasked with patrolling the waters along the coast of lawless Somalia. Pirates kidnapped and now hold at least 100 crewpersons from just those ships—and over 300 hostages since April. The pirates’ release Thursday, after receiving a ransom, of the 30-person crew of a Taiwanese fishing boat, held for 10 months, again puts the issue into the headlines.
The charged Detroit-bound failed airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was allegedly trained in Yemen, an Arab country located directly across from Somalia over the Gulf of Aden, at the entrance to the Red Sea and gateway to the Indian Ocean. Yemen’s oil supply is estimated to run out in seven years, and its potable water in five. Yemen’s government is in danger of becoming a failed state, as weak as neighbor Somalia.
Crew Member on Holland America Cruise Ship at 
Olympics Tests Positive for Leprosy
20 Feb 2010 / USA Today - A crew member on a Holland America ship docked in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics has been diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease, better known as leprosy.
In a statement issued today, the line says the crew member worked in the engine room of the 1,258-passenger Statendam, which has been chartered to house police and other security personnel during the Winter Games.
Crowley Signs Contract with Bollinger to Build Two Newly Designed Ocean Going Tugboats
17 Feb 2010 / TUGBOATLIFE.COM – These 10,880-horsepower tugs are the beginning of a new-build program at Crowley to further enhance its ocean towing, salvage and offshore support capabilities.
The new tugs will be ideally suited to work with Crowley’s new 455 series heavy lift deck barges, which measure 400 feet by 105 feet and offer increased stability for loads up to 4,200 pounds per square foot. Additionally, the tugs will be outfitted for, and capable of, rig moves, platform and Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit tows, emergency response and firefighting.
“Deeper Than Light” at the National Museum of Natural History
18 Feb 2010 / Washington Post - In many ways, the ocean floor can seem as alien and mysterious as the far reaches of space. This exhibition displays the efforts of scientists on a Norwegian research vessel who set out in 2004 to study the depths of the north Atlantic Ocean. Art, models and multimedia are used to examine their work, which explores the lives of our planet’s hidden inhabitants. The traveling show is on loan from the University of Bergen’s Bergen Museum in Norway.
Through May 23 at the National Museum of Natural History
Do You Need Time at Sea to Work in Shipping?
The same prejudice that may hamper 
shipping’s growth, makes communication possible
15 Feb 2010 / 59° 56′ N – If you work in the shipping industry but you haven’t worked on a ship, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The condescension, even the contempt, of the mariner for the land-lubber. Even if the mariner has long since come ashore and he’s talking to an accountant, or lawyer, or PR flack (about accounting, law or PR), he’ll make it clear that only he knows what’s what in this industry.
It’s infuriating, to put it mildly. How many times have I asked myself: "Do astronauts express condescension for the rocket scientists who make space travel possible? Does anyone give a damn if you’ve flown a plane if you’re working in the airlines business? So who cares about time at sea?"
Eagle Bulk Shipping Takes Delivery of Two Additional Newbuildings
11 Feb 2010 / Your Shipbuilding News – Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. today announced that it has taken delivery of two additional vessels, Thrasher and Avocet, from its newbuild program. The addition of these two vessels brings Eagle Bulk’s total on-the-water fleet to 32 vessels.
The Thrasher and Avocet have each entered into nine year time charters. The rate for each charter is $18,400 per day through February 2016 and March 2016 respectively; thereafter the contracts convert to a profit-sharing charter with a base rate of $18,000 per day. In aggregate, the Thrasher and Avocet will each contribute approximately $59 million in minimum contracted revenue.
Emergency Scenario: Operation Caledonian Sunset for Arran ferry
19 Feb 2010 / Arran Banner – Last Tuesday, Arran’s ferry MV Caledonian Isles was involved in a collision with a tanker in Brodick Bay and the 500 people on board had to be evacuated to safety. Among those on board was a party of Portuguese schoolchildren, a fuel tanker lorry and floats of cattle and sheep.
That was the essence of a make-believe scenario, codenamed Operation Caledonian Sunset, to test the ability of the emergency services to cope with such a hazardous situation. The exercise actually took place in the comfortable surroundings of the Seamill Hydro Hotel on the Ayrshire coast.
English-Russia: A calm area on the Baikal Lake, not far from a port of the same name, keeps a secret of the ships laid up. This place is called “the graveyard” among residents. The majority of ships rusting here are towboats and barges having served for delivering construction materials, soil, timber and fuel for the purposes of the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
First of Three Semi-Submersibles Launched for TPI Mega Line
19 Feb 2010 / Heavy Lift - The Mega Passion, a semi-submersible heavy lift ship, has been successfully launched for TPI Mega Line by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. Final delivery to the client is expected to be in May, 2010. She will be followed by two sister ships next year.
The Mega Passion has a length of 203 m, breadth of 63 m and a maximum load out capacity of 45,000 tonnes at a speed of 12 knots.
Florida’s Safety Harbor Museum Treks to Turks and Caicos on Shipwreck Hunt
Tampa Bay Beacon – Led by James Dwyer, curator of archeology at the museum, an underwater archeological survey will be conducted to locate Spanish shipwrecks from around the time of Christopher Columbus. This project is licensed by the British government and the Turks and Caicos, a British commonwealth. Undisclosed private funding for the exploration will support his efforts.
The research vessel Osprey, a 100-foot research ship and old navy transport vessel, along with three Zodiacs will spearhead the mission at a maximum of 50 feet under water in the Turks and Caicos. Depending on the initial find of historically significant evidence, the excavation will begin.
Hanjin to Build World’s Biggest Container Ship in Subic
17 Feb 2010 / Business Mirror – Following the completion here of APL Bahrain, a 259.8-meter-long container ship which is said to be the biggest vessel to be built in the country, shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp. Philippines Inc. (HHICP) announced it will next build the biggest container ship in the world.
Hanjin officials announced the firm’s next big project during the visit of President Arroyo at the Hanjin shipyard last week. “We will [soon start] fabricating the biggest container ship in the world,” said Jeong Sup Shim, whom Mrs. Arroyo acknowledged as the founding president of HHIC Philippines.
The ship will be finished by late next year or early 2012, Shim said during an impromptu press briefing upon Mrs. Arroyo’s arrival at the Hanjin shipyard in Subic’s Redondo peninsula. Hanjin officials announced earlier that the company—now the fourth-biggest shipbuilder in the world—will soon start the construction of ultralarge oil tankers and Capesize-type bulk carriers.
Hard Times for Some are Bargain Hunting Opportunities for Others
16 Feb 2010 / MarineLog – The latest delivery from STX Europe is the Multipurpose ROV and light construction vessel Tidewater Enabler. The vessel was originally ordered by Aquanos AS, but was bought by Tidewater while under construction at STX Europe’s Brevik yard in Norway for about $63 million.
The 96.25 m diesel electric vessel is equipped with a 100 ton active heave compensating crane, accommodations for 69 persons, firefighting equipment (Fifi I), DP2, a moonpool and a helideck. It also has the cargo capabilities to operate as a large platform supply vessel.
Hawsepiper; The Longest Climb has a Reminder…
It’s snowing again. A week ago I was up to my nuts in snowdrifts on deck, and here it’s starting again. After I woke up, I headed out to the generator room to do a walk-through in the course of my morning ritual of eyeballing every valve, line and gauge on board. My boots are drying out nicely after a day of non-use, so I put on a pair of sneakers, and promptly slipped and slid down the catwalk stairs as soon as I stepped outside.
I landed on my ass, sort of sideways, on my hip, which was aching a touch when I woke up. Anyways, in cold, wet weather, my hip is always a little sore, courtesy of the bumps and bruises we all get in the course of time. Landing ass-first on a cold deck failed to improve the feeling. Anyhow, wet ass and all, I made my rounds, slipping and sliding the while…
Hollywood Ship Sets Sail for Green Bay Festival
19 Feb 2010 / Green Bay Press Gazette – Organizers of the Baylake Bank Tall Ship Festival announced today that the festival will include the H.M.S. Bounty, which also was used in the more recent movie “Pirates of the Caribbean II.”
In addition to the H.M.S. Bounty, the lineup announced today includes: Amistad, a floating classroom about the American slave trade; Roseway, which focuses on marine ecology education; and Pride of Baltimore II, a top-sail schooner.
A dozen ships will be showcased, including the previously announced S/V Denis Sullivan and Unicorn. The festival scheduled for Aug. 13-15 on the Fox River is expected to draw 75,000 people.
Improving Rescue – How Satellites are Making the Oceans Safer
15 Feb 2010 / Sail World – ORBCOMM Inc. is a global satellite data communications company focused on two-way Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications and leading provider of space-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) services, and their AIS data was used to help rescue two yachters in distress and in detecting low power search and rescue transponders from space.
The report explains that ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data was used to ‘identify a merchant ship not otherwise known to RCC Australia’. The AIS data was then used to direct the ship to the scene of a yacht in distress off the northern Australia coast, where two people were rescued.
Iran Launches First Locally Built Naval Destroyer
TEHRAN – Iranian state TV reports that the country has launched its first domestically built destroyer
19 Feb 2010 / Forbes (Associated Press) – Friday’s broadcast says the guided-missile destroyer called Jamaran is equipped with anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles as well as torpedoes and naval cannons.
The report says the 94-meter (308-foot) destroyer weighs 1,500 tons and has a helipad and modern radar. The ship has a top speed of 30 knots and can carry 120 to 140 personnel.
I Want a Shipper with a Slooow Hand…
Danish shipping giant Maersk says, “slower is better”
16 Feb 2010 / NY Times – It took more than a month for the container ship Ebba Maersk to steam from Germany to Guangdong, China, where it unloaded cargo on a recent Friday — a week longer than it did two years ago.
In a global culture dominated by speed, from overnight package delivery to bullet trains to fast-cash withdrawals, the company has seized on a sales pitch that may startle some hard-driving corporate customers: Slow is better.
Montreal: Next Generation Ship Technologies – Polar Shipping Summit
May 5th and 6th, 2010
Summit participants will be looking at providing solutions to the current major challenges being found by ship owners working in the Arctic Circle. Delegates will be drawn from the Maritime industry and include VPs, Directors and Managers of leading companies. There will also be representation from different stakeholders within arctic shipping which include oil and gas and mining organisations.
Morse Code; A Blast from the Past
Endless Possibilities blog – Yes, the Morse Code, is (was) the center of our universe… The bloodline on which the Maritime industry thrived, or even existed. The planet and it’s inhabitants were dependant on the ships calling their shores for their daily existence.
It was the CODE that took us to the right place at the right time! Samuel Morse & Marconi were our unseen but revered Gods. Yet all this has been consigned to the deep annals of history, whose custodians don’t even feign knowledge of these important facts…
MSC Puts 8,085-TEU Ships Into East Coast
19 Feb 2010 / Journal of Commerce - Mediterranean Shipping Co. said it is temporarily using several 8,085-TEU ships, the largest to call at U.S. East Coast ports, in a new weekly Suez Canal service linking Asia with New York-New Jersey, Baltimore, Norfolk and 
Charleston.
The first of the large ships in the service was the MSC Tomoko, which called at East Coast ports earlier this month. The MSC Rita was scheduled to arrive in Baltimore on Sunday following an initial stop in New York-New Jersey, and continue on to Norfolk and Charleston.
The arrival of the 8,085-TEU ships is a notable event for U.S. East Coast ports, which have been rushing to prepare for the larger ships that will be able to transit the Panama Canal after 2104 when a multibillion-dollar lock-expansion project is completed.
Navy Times: CO of Amphibious Assault Ship Wasp 
Took Kickbacks, Fudged Records
17 Feb 2010 - When the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) pulled into Bahrain in 2007 for a port call, crew members thought it was odd that their skipper, Capt. Michael Hawley, kept making announcements on the 1MC about things he wanted them to buy.
A suit-maker was flying in from Rota, Spain, who would make sailors a great deal on some new threads. A Bahraini rug-seller set up his wares for the officers, who were all but required to browse and strongly encouraged to buy.
Skimming a little off the top, cashing in on his status as commanding officer, improperly taking gifts — life was sweet for Hawley during his time on Wasp, according to a report by the naval inspector general obtained by Navy Times.
Not the Kind of Raft-Up We’d Like to See
Slideshow: Sidelined ships
16 Feb 2010 / Financial Times – The sight that emerges from the mist during a trip up Loch Striven, on Scotland’s west coast, is a striking illustration of container shipping’s biggest-ever crisis. Five of the six ships lashed together here out of use include remarkable, highly expensive vessels all built within the last four years.
On Crete, New Evidence of Very Ancient Mariners
15 Feb 2010 / New York Times – Early humans, possibly even pre-human ancestors, appear to have been going to sea much longer than anyone had ever suspected.That is the startling implication of discoveries made the last two summers on the Greek island of Crete.
Stone tools found there, archaeologists say, are at least 130,000 years old, which is considered strong evidence for the earliest known seafaring in the Mediterranean and cause for rethinking the maritime capabilities of pre-human cultures.
Crete has been an island for more than five million years, meaning that the toolmakers must have arrived by boat. So this seems to push the history of Mediterranean voyaging back more than 100,000 years, specialists in Stone Age archaeology say.
Route Sharing: Shipping Lines to Cooperate on Asian – African – South American Route
15 Feb 2010 / Handy Shipping – Zim Integrated Shipping Services issued a press release on Friday stating they had reached agreement with Hanjin Shipping, Hapag – Lloyd, Wan hai Lines and CCNI to cooperate on the service from South Korea, Singapore and Southern China via South Africa to and from Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, sharing vessel space and facilities.
Route sharing is likely to become even more popular with the major container carriers in the coming months as numbers of TEU remain consistently low compared to earlier years. Although such practices are often frowned upon by anti trust bodies they remain the only option for companies struggling to maintain service levels in a depleted market.
Salvors Making Headway on Removal of Navigation Hazards in Haiti
18 Feb 2010 / Maritime Journal – “We’re working closely with USTRANSCOM to re-establish port functionality”, said Dan Schwall, managing director of TITAN. “The faster the port becomes more usable, the faster relief and commercial cargo will make it into the hands of the people of Haiti.”
Seeing Panama Canal Growth, Port Manatee to Add 
Container Crane
18 Feb 2010 / Tampa Bay Business Journal – The Manatee Port Authority approved the purchase of Port Manatee’s second mobile harbor container crane.The second crane will play a vital role in preparations for increased shipping expected from the Panama Canal expansion, said David L. McDonald, the port’s executive director, in a statement.
The purchase was made possible through a public-private partnership between the port authority, the Florida Department of Transportation and Logistec USA Inc., the company that partnered with the port for its first crane purchase in 2007.
The crane, which is expected to be operational at the port by October, will be titled to the authority.Logistec will handle operation, maintenance and insurance for the crane through a lease/mortgage arrangement with the port authority. Logistec USA is a subsidiary of Montreal-based Logistec Corp.
Seizure of Over $36 Million of Hashish at the Port of Montréal
18 Feb 2010 / CBSA Press Release - Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced today that its officers working at the Port of Montréal seized more than 1,700 kg of hashish with an estimated street value of over $36 million Canadian.
Border services officers at the CBSA Container Examination Facility discovered the narcotics on January 27, 2010, when searching a shipping container from South Africa. The drugs, portioned into 864 packets, were concealed in false-bottom wooden crates containing statues and masks.
An in-depth physical examination of the container confirmed the presence of hashish in 18 of the 19 inspected crates. The container in question had been examined by CBSA officers in July 2009 and returned to its country of origin because the wood packaging did not meet Canada’s plant health requirements. The drugs were handed over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port Poised to Become Biggest Harbour in South Asia
21 Feb 2010 / Sunday Observer – According to the Chairman of the Ports Authority, the first stage of the Hambantota Port Development is to be completed by the end of the year and is ahead of schedule. The total cost for the project is US$ 360 million.
The 600 metre long jetty is now nearing completion and the depth of the basin would be 17 metres. In the Colombo harbour the depth is only 15.5 metres. The turning circle would be 600 metres and the breakwater would be 1450 metres.
One of the biggest advantages of the Port site is the 22 metre depth to the mouth of the harbour, a unique geographical feature which even the Indian Ports could not match. When completed the Hambantota harbour could accommodate 33 vessels to berth at any given time after completion.
State of the Coast Guard: Always Ready?
13 Feb 2010 / WorkBoat.com - Listening to Commandant Thad Allen’s State of the Coast Guard speech at the National Press Club in Washington on Feb 12, I was struck by a number of contradictions.
He eloquently described the good work done by Coasties in Haiti, and said personnel are now in Vancouver helping the Canadian government with security at the Winter Olympics. This is in addition to all the other things they do, from securing U.S. ports to to licensing to saving lives at sea. And they are doing it all with obsolete equipment, including 10 cutters that broke down in Haiti.
Then came the surprise: despite all these duties and an expanding national security role, the Obama administration has proposed a 3 percent cut in the Coast Guard budget and a reduction of 773 jobs, while also funding major replacements of aging cutters and aircraft…
StockWatch: Navigating Through Maritime Shippers
There’s still time to get on-board shipping stocks but you have to tread carefully.
19 Feb 2010 / Forbes – While the rudderless U.S. market drifts, the Claymore/Delta Global Shipping Index ETF (SEA) is up 6% year-to-date, thanks to buoyant overseas demand. Choppy equity waters may have slowed some sea transporters, but one international shipper should be able to navigate past sluggish U.S. demand.
One of the strongest shipping stocks this year is international petroleum transporter Teekay which has mirrored the Claymore Shipping ETFs 6% year-to-date return. The 6% advance comes on top of a 46% surge in 2009, but most of Teekay’s indicators are approaching overbought levels after the strong run.
Towmasters Blows Some Sunshine — Jim Cavo: Shell Answer Man for the Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center
18 Feb 2010 / Towmasters – As you’re all surely aware, websites, blogs and other forms of social media have become the new standard for communicating to the masses. The U.S. Coast Guard, though still suffering from some glaring communication problems with the mariners they oversee (this is a cultural problem, not a technological problem), has embraced this concept on many levels. Many of the individual cutters and shore units have also jumped on the band wagon, such as the Boston-based CGC Escanaba. The more the better.
I will, however, single out an individual who deserves much praise for helping mariners struggling with our often user-unfriendly system of licensing, and it’s not on any Coast Guard site or blog. That would be Mr. Jim Cavo of the Policy Division of the Coast Guard’s Mariner Credentialing Program. He serves as the Shell Answer Man on the mariner forums of gCaptain, routinely fielding questions ranging from simple and routine to complicated and obscure…
Tuzla Shipyards in Dire Straits as Orders Dry Up
15 Feb 2010 / Hurriyet Daily News – TUZLA, Istanbul; Pre-crisis, the Tuzla shipyards were building 150 ships each year, but as global trade screeched to a halt the shipyard zone has been pulled into toward economic paralysis.In the past 15 months, orders to build 200 ships were canceled. The number of workers retreated to 8,000 from 38,000. Nearly all subcontracted workers were fired and 60 percent of regular staff were laid off.
Last year, the shipyards, located at the southern tip of Istanbul, saw production plummet by 90 percent while employment declined 75 percent. The shipyards have received just one order for 2012. The government is rumored to be preparing a new stimulus package for the shipbuilding sector, but shipyard owners have lost hope and laid off workers are desperate. The stimulus rumors were fueled by Economy Minister Ali Babacan’s surprise visit to Tuzla last week.
Immersed tube elements for the New Tyne Crossing are been floated into place.
Tunnels: The Tale of the Tyne Tube
18 Feb 2010 / New Civil Engineer – “This project was stuck in planning for over 10 years while the existing tunnel is running hugely over-capacity. Trevor Jackson, managing director of concessionaire TT2, which is part financing, designing, building, operating and maintaining the new 1.6km crossing, agrees the project is long overdue.
The bureaucracy involved in getting a project off the ground in this country is ridiculous,” says Jackson, who comes from South Africa. “After 10 years of planning, the construction process only takes four years.”
The £260M tunnel is the final stretch of the A19 from Yorkshire to Northumberland to be dualled. When fully operational, the new crossing will carry southbound traffic while the older tunnel will carry northbound vehicles, effectively doubling the capacity of the crossing.
Rather than boring below the seabed, a stretch of watertight tube forms the tunnel. It is laid down and covered with backfill in a dredged trench. Despite it being a common technique on the Continent, this is only the third immersed tunnel to be built in the UK. “This was the least risky method. It removes the need to tunnel under the river which is inherently risky. To minimise risk here we would have had to dig deep, which would be expensive,” says Jackson.
University of Rhode Island Research Vessel headed to Haiti
17 Feb 2010 / Providence Journal - The University of Rhode Island research vessel Endeavor is heading to Haiti Wednesday. The ship will conduct a two-week survey of the sea floor off of Haiti to look for geological evidence of the deadly earthquake that struck last month.
The 185-foot ship also will deliver dozens of large tents that have been collected by Warwick-based Plan USA for use as classroom shelters. The researchers who will be working on the Endeavor are not from URI.
Video: Research Expedition to North Pacific Gyre 
Garbage Patch
VBS.TV and CNN – The Garbage Patch is located at a natural collecting point at the center of a set of revolving currents called the North Pacific Gyre. The middle of the Gyre is more of a meteorological phenomenon than an actual place: a consistent high-pressure zone north of the Hawaiian Islands that, combined with the extremely weak currents, helps keep the ocean surface as placid as lake water.
Flotsam has been sucked into this area from the encircling currents for as long as the Pacific’s existed, but up until the last century this process ended with the refuse safely biodegrading and being reabsorbed into the food chain as nutrients. With the advent of plastics, however, the Garbage Patch has transformed from a fertile feeding ground to the oceanic equivalent of a desert. And a particularly crap-strewn desert at that…
Whaling Protesters are Behaving Like Pirates
Activists are breaking international law
18 Feb 2010 / The Australian (opinion) – When Sea Shepherd Conservation Society member Pete Bethune climbed from his jet ski on to Japanese whaling ship the Shonan Maru 2 and presented a demand for money following weeks of hostile encounters between the whalers and Sea Shepherd, the environmental activists finally crossed the line from protesters to pirates.
The dramatic and violent encounters that previously have taken place in the waters off Antarctica during Japan’s whaling season have rightly given rise to allegations of violating laws relating to the safety of life at sea and failing to show due regard to the rights of other maritime users. Arguments continue to go back and forth as to the legality of Japan’s so-called scientific research into whales…
Yeah, I’ll Get Right on That…
MARINA asks public to avoid sea travel on March 1
Manilla Bulletin – CEBU CITY: The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) is urging the public, especially those in the Visayas and Mindanao areas, to avoid traveling or sending shipment by sea on March 1 so that they will not be inconvenienced by the “maritime holiday” being set by ship-owners.
MARINA Administrator Maria Elena Bautista, over local radio Wednesday urged the public to cancel their sea trips on March 1 and reschedule shipments before or after said date so that they will not be stranded in ports affected by the province-wide strike.
Gov’t rejects maritime holiday – “Shipping companies should reconsider staging a maritime holiday and instead follow higher safety standards on sea travel set by the government,” Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Charito Planas said Friday.
You Tube Video of the Week: A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything »
Evening light on Rondout Creek – photo by Jessica DuLong via Facebook
Panama Canal Construction: Gatun upper locks looking north from lighthouse. c. 1910-1915. Click to see full size. Library of Congress Flickr Photostream (original)
Shorpy’s Photo Archive – On the Waterfront: Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1905
"Payday for the Stevedores." 8×10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size »
Monkey Fist’s Home Town: Clear and Bright Day on the Portland, Maine Waterfront
Photo by Corey Templeton / Portland, Maine Daily Photo. Click to see full size »
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Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday
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Photo by Joel Milton – Towmasters; View From My Office Gallery on Flickr »
View of Nieuw Amsterdam or New York’ by Johannes Vingboons; 1664. New Amsterdam had approximately 1500 residents in 1664 when it was transferred from Dutch to British stewardship, becoming New York in the process. from Bibliodyssey
Port of NYC 1892 – Currier & Ives – Birds Eye View from the Battery Looking South full»
Oracle helmsman James Spithill (R) and Oracle’s owner Larry Ellison
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Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday
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This Week’s Theme: Rust Never Sleeps
Mothball Fleet at Suisun Bay – Amazing photo gallery by Amy Heiden; story below
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The buoy chain splashes into the water as the crewmembers aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Oak set the second buoy in Port-Au-Prince Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. The buoy was set to mark safe water as ships approach the APN Main Terminal pier. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandyn Hill. MORE »
Rusted antennae stanchion being secured by lashing straps
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Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday
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Today’s Maritime Monday brought to you by the color Yellow
The gantry crane at the Mindanao International Container Terminal is one of only three such cranes in the country. As Mindanao agricultural exports and domestic out-shipments continue to rise, the private sector is calling for the development of a logistics corridor that would integrate key production areas and link the ports of Cagayan de Oro and Davao City.
No, it’s not yet another photo of Haiti’s destroyed seaport. It’s a hip, new, colorfully painted shipping container city that recently sprung up just outside of Mexico City. Created by a small community of businesses, the project features restaurants, gallery space, bars, funky stores and even living spaces constructed completely out of recycled shipping containers. MORE »
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, Miss. – The Navy is reinspecting thousands of welds on ships manufactured by Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Pascagoula and Avondale, La. shipyards in recent years in light of evidence that some could fail long-term or in the event of a jolt to the ship. See story below
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Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday
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Tugboats in the Port of Castries, St. Lucia. Photo by Joey Ciaramitaro
A diver explores the wreckage of a Japanese World War II fighter plane near the town of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. The waters around Rabaul, which was a Japanese stronghold during the war, are strewn with the broken remains of both Allied and Axis warships and aircraft. National Geographic »
Destination: Bottom of the World – the port city of Ushuaia, Argentina; capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego. It is commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world. Its population is estimated to be about 64,000. Originally founded as a prison colony for repeat offenders and serious criminals, its commercial pier is now a major port for Antarctic tourist and research traffic. Coordinates: 54°48′S 68°18′W
Paying Attention: Craig Newkirk doing the pilot thing on the tanker Montego. The Star Grindanger is inbound and the ITB Orion is on berth at left. Taken on the Houston Ship Channel. Photo by OneEighteen; My Office Window (Set) on Flickr. Great Maritime collection.
STX ROSE 1: A ship that helps build other ships. It’s a semi-submersible heavy lift carrier that is used to transfer ultra large vessel blocks for assembly afloat, and one of MarineLog’s Most Influential Ships of 2009. photo from ShipSpotting
Americas Cup: BMW ORACLE Racing: Making of BOR 90
Sail Dispute Could Delay America’s Cup
January 19, 2010 / Associated Press - The America’s Cup challenger, BMW Oracle, began test sailing its giant trimaran in the waters off Valencia, Spain, for the first time Tuesday. But the chances of its match race starting on time against the Cup holder, Alinghi, seems remote as negotiations between the two teams broke down again.
The Golden Gate Yacht Club, where BMW Oracle is based, said Alinghi turned down another offer Sunday to settle a dispute over the Swiss team’s sails. The dispute threatens to delay the Feb. 8 start date. Alinghi had refused to sign an agreement following talks in Singapore witnessed by the International Sailing Federation.
The Golden Gate Yacht Club spokesman Tom Ehman said that Alinghi “again turned their backs on the agreement and the cup’s pre-eminent principle — mutual consent.” The American team has asked the New York Supreme Court to rule on the sails, which it says break match rules by being constructed outside the Swiss team’s home country.
Argentina: Antarctic Expedition Ship Damages Prop After 
Hitting Rocks
Cruise ship Clelia II has been withdrawn from service this month for repairs following an accident that occurred over Christmas week. New York-based Travel Dynamics International, which operates the 100-passenger vessel, has cancelled the ship’s voyages following the incident, which damaged one of the ship’s propellers.
The Corinthian II, another expedition ship also operated by Travel Dynamics was only eight miles away; it arrived on the scene within an hour to assist. The Clelia II’s crew examined the vessel for further damage and the Corinthian II, and then escorted the damaged Clelia II across the Drake Passage back to its home port of Ushuaia, Argentina. The ships arrived in Ushuaia on Dec. 30.
It’s not uncommon for news of incidents on ships in Antarctica to take several days to reach the outside world due to the remote location. The Clelia II is famed as “One of the most elegant expedition ships operating in Antarctica.”
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators Statement:
“The five-deck ship had arrived at Antarctica’s famed Petermann Island on Dec. 26 for a passenger landing when a stronger-than-anticipated current pushed it toward the rocky shoreline. Efforts by the officer of the watch to correct the situation failed, and the starboard propeller struck some rocks. The impact … resulted in the shutdown of the starboard engine and the loss of electrical power aboard ship. The Clelia II’s port engine never lost power and was used to drive Clelia II off the rocks to a safe position about one mile from shore. At no time during this incident was there a threat to human life, the association says in its statement. A trace amount of oil leaked into the water but dissipated quickly”
Around the Americas is Also at the Bottom of the World
The Beagle Channel – Deep in the far, remote, southern reaches of the vast continent of South America is a winding, snakelike, 150-nautical mile waterway that links the Atlantic Ocean, to the east, with the Pacific Ocean, to the west.
The so-called Beagle Channel was named after the HMS Beagle during its first hydrographic survey of the coasts and islands of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego from 1826 to 1830. It was the Beagle’s second voyage, however, that etched its name into the annals of history, science and exploration.
Asian Glory – A Message to the "Experts"
Kennebec Captain is back from the far flung corners and he has a bone to pick with Lloyds list, "Naval experts baffled by recent hijackings"
…the opportunistic hijack of a car carrier took most experts by surprise as they were previously thought to be too challenging for pirates to bother attacking given their high freeboard and relatively high speed…
ABC News – A planned 48-hour strike at the Esperance Port has been called off. About 60 members of the Maritime Union of Australia were due to walk off the job yesterday over a pay dispute.
However, last minute negotiations has seen the union and the port’s management agree to a new, three year deal. The package includes an immediate 6 per cent pay rise for workers, backdated from November last year, and a 2.5 per cent incremental rise in July. The Port’s acting chief executive, Devinder Grewal says the package is worth more than $900,000. He says averting the strike has saved the Port and its customers $13 million.
Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – Esperance workers cancel strike after wage win »
Baby Seal Found in British Garden 18 Miles from the Sea
“It looked like a huge, slimy cat…”
Biloxi: Barbour Envisions South Mississippi as a Major Hub
Jan. 17, 2010 / Sun Herald via WorkBoat.com - Gov. Haley Barbour supports creating a large transportation hub at Palmer’s Crossing to handle increased container traffic from a $1 billion expansion of the Port of Gulfport.
Barbour said the $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, which could be complete sometime around 2014, will create many new opportunities for the port, which could handle a large portion of container traffic, much of which is currently sent to the West Coast, and then shipped by rail to the rest of the country.
A 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 Roadster, which has lain at the murky bottom of Lake Maggiore for the past 70 years, has been raised from the depths and is expected to sell for €70,000 – €90,000.
How and why the Bugatti made the 900 km journey from Paris to Ascona on the banks of Lake Maggiore is unknown. The story around Ascona holds that the taxes amounted to more than the Bugatti’s value so it was dumped, unceremoniously, in Lake Maggiore when Schmuklerski left town.
Bullish Forecast and Report from Panama Canal Authority
Faster transit times and more throughput were hallmarks of the latest report issued by the gateway’s governing body.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) released first quarter (Q1) operational metrics today for fiscal year 2010. In Q1, Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it takes a vessel to transit the Canal (including waiting time for passage) significantly decreased. There also were increases in total transits and net tonnage. These metrics are based on operations from October through December 2009, the first quarter of the ACP’s 2010 fiscal year, and are compared with Q1 of fiscal year 2009.
Coast Guard Called “Absolutely Essential” by 
Commander of Joint Task Force Haiti
UNOFFICIAL COAST GUARD BLOG / 19 January 2010
By Jim Dolbow – Last night, I participated in a Department of Defense’s Bloggers Roundtable with Lieutenant General Ken Keen, commander of Joint Task Force Haiti.
Collision Causes Oil Spill In Port Arthur, Texas
T/V Eagle Otome-Barge Collision – Port Arthur, TX 2010-Jan-23
At 0915 on 23JAN2010, NOAA Emergency Response Division was notified by the NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Lake Charles, LA of a collision between a crude oil tanker (T/V Eagle Otome) and a barge in Port Arthur, TX. The contents of the barge are not currently known. USCG informed the NOAA SSC that they suspected H2S had been released. The tanker was reported to contain crude oil with a capacity of several hundred thousand barrels. According to local news reports, the collision occurred shortly before 10:00 AM local time. Local law enforcement informed the WFO that noxious fumes were coming from both vessels and that they have initiated evacuations of residents and workers in and around the Port of Port Arthur. The WFO has produced a dilution contour plume footprint using HYSPLIT. The Sabine-Neches Ship Channel and Intracoastal Waterway have been closed. Local Emergency Management will be conducting a helicopter over-flight to get photographs and video. Two NOAA SSC’s are en route.
- Cause of incident: Collision
- Products of concern: Crude Oil, H2S
- Total amount at risk of spill: 12000 barrels
- Latitude (approximate): 29° 52.20′ N Longitude (approximate): 93° 55.80′ W
- more photos »
Confident Captain/Ocean Pros Looking for Exposure Suits
Newport, RI – Confident Captain/Ocean Pros is looking for exposure suits in decent condition to use for training courses (they do not have to pass inspection). Credit for courses at Confident Captain will be given for each suit pending condition.
Please email us at info@confidentcaptain.com if you have a suit or would like more information about this program.
Cunard Blog Assembles Media Package for Queen Elizabeth Float-Out 
The folks at Cunard have assembled a bunch of videos and snaps of the big float out ceremony for the Queen Elizabeth, as well as some of the traditional ceremonies associated with a new build. The image to the right is the program cover.
The fortnight that seemed it would never end is over and once again I am on a jet liner working against sun and sky towards cooler weather and familiar country. This last hitch ended on a positive note with a hefty payoff, an open invitation back to a permanent spot and an idle day before my flight to lounge around the pool at my friends flat on the Singapore River.
A few days after my 28th birthday I passed the hundred-day mark at sea and realized I was ready for a relief. Unfortunately the prospect of dropping a cool million dollars for the thruster repair meant we would be in a holding pattern for the next ten days as the company decided how to repair a cable ship loaded down to her marks…
Dept. of Defense: Africa, Partners Work for Maritime Security
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2010 – The international community is taking focused, collaborative action to remove maritime insecurities in Africa, the deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces Africa said yesterday.
Navy Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. spoke to international reporters in a roundtable discussion at the State Department’s Foreign Press Center here. He talked about the complex situation in Africa and the multinational partnership committed to providing security there.
Maritime insecurities — such as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, oil theft, piracy, illicit trade, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, illegal immigration and environmental degradation — put African development in jeopardy and affect the global community, Harris said.
Electric Ferry Land
Bitter End reports: The Zero Emission Electric Propulsion Ship is a 100-foot, 800-person ferry that sucks no diesel. Instead, the boat operates from a huge bay of lithium ion batteries, all while looking vaguely like it’s going to kill you and your family.
French Navy “Operation Earthquake Haiti 2010” – Photos
French Fry Inte… I mean Fred Fry International – Under the emergency aid decided by France on behalf of victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti January 12, armed forces have launched Operation Earthquake Haiti 2010.
The priorities are to route emergency resources to locate missing persons, medical aid, to secure relief, repatriation of our nationals and preparing the organization of humanitarian aid. Some military and civilian chartered mobilized since January 13 to route emergency resources, personnel and cargo to Haiti and repatriate nationals.
gCaptain Keeps it Real with “Confined Space Entry Hazards – The Death of an Expert”
Even experts can become casualties of hazards in confined spaces and you don’t have to be inside a confined space for the hazards to hurt you warns the latest podcast from Maritime Accident Casebook, The Case of the Forgotten Assassin. Confined space hazards and how to avoid them will be the focus of the web-based maritime safety resource for 2010.
Government of Canada Takes Action to Facilitate Shortsea Shipping
Jan. 15, 2010 / Marketwire - Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced completion of the Southern Railway of British Columbia (SRY) rail barge ramp, a shortsea shipping project at the marine rail terminal on Annacis Island in Delta. This project was made possible by $4.6 million in federal funding under the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative.
This project includes a barge ramp and berth capable of handling railcars and truck trailers. The marine rail terminal connects with existing SRY tracks on Annacis Island providing Vancouver Island and Coastal BC industries with direct rail connections to Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific using existing SRY interchanges.
Haiti: Grasp in Port au Prince Harbor
Photo sent by Justin. O. Vandenheuvel; USCGC Oak. click to see full size
Hawsepipe Wants a Soapbox
There are tugboat companies out there who are sacrificing safety in an effort to remain competitive – reduced manning, increased work hours, whatever… these companies survive parasitically – obeying laws on paper with the full knowledge that reality is quite different. These are the examples, publicized or not, that argue for the existence and necessity of unions in the maritime world.
A couple of years ago, I took a job in New York harbor when I was home from my ship. Within 2 hours of stowing my bags on my tugboat, I found myself being strong-armed by a thug who told me that I had to join the union…
Houma: Plans Move Forward to Build Icebreaker
Final assembly of a $150 million Arctic supply vessel for Edison Chouest Offshore is expected to take place in Houma, a project that will keep hundreds of local workers busy for more than two years, company officials said Thursday.
Gary Chouest, the company’s president, had previously said work on the ship would either take place at LaShip, the company’s new yard in Houma, or at its recently acquired facility in Tampa. The company announced the contract for the vessel, designed to support oil and gas drilling in Alaska for Shell, in July
Insights from the Shark Diver Blog: Sea Shepherd – Mastering Reality Disasters?
Old Salt Blog - The good folks at the Shark Diver Blog consider the recent sinking of the Ady Gil from a television production perspective. It never occurred to me what a masterful stroke the staged sinking of the Ady Gil truly was. Their insight is nothing less than brilliant. Thank you Shark Diver.
“We would like to congratulate Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet on a fantastic staged event for television… perhaps one of the best staged disaster moments of 2010…”
also: The Sinking of the Ady Gil – How it may haunt the Sea Shepherds »
Interpol Hunting Pirate Money
LYON, France – Interpol has seen no proof so far that terror groups like al-Qaida are profiting from big-money ransoms paid out to pirates operating off eastern Africa, the international police group’s No. 2 said Tuesday.
Jean-Michel Louboutin spoke to The Associated Press as Interpol opened a closed-door, two-day conference at its Lyon headquarters on tackling the money trail in piracy.
“I Y’am What I Y’am”
Love him or hate him, one of the most known fictional sailors is Popeye. Starting as a character in the Thimble Theater comic strip in 1929, he later appeared in cartoons, films, books–and on the radio.
The Internet Archive has made many Popeye cartoons available–there is a media type limit available via a pull-down list to the right of the search box on their home page–you’ll find "Animation and cartoons" under the "Moving Images" type.
Judge Rules On "Ghost Fleet"
Capital Public Radio /Sacramento, CA - A Sacramento judge says a fleet of rotting warships anchored in Solano County’s Suisun Bay is violating federal and state pollution laws.
U.S. District Court Judge Garland Burrell ruled Thursday that the agency was breaking the law by continuing to allow paint from the obsolete vessels to flake off into the bay. Jason Flanders is with the environmental group Baykeeper which filed the lawsuit.
“We were incredibly thrilled although not surprised. These ships were clearly violating our clean water and hazardous waste laws for a decade. So we are looking forward to moving on now to getting these ships cleaned and disposed of.”
Even before the ruling, the Maritime Administration had started removing ships from the fleet. Flanders believes the suit helped break a years-long regulatory impasse that blocked any action.
Making the Missouri Mightier: MoDOT and Others Hope to Tap into the Transportati
A single barge – sometimes as many as 48 can be pushed at once by tandem towboats – can haul 1,500 tons of cargo, 15 times more than a one rail car and almost 60 times more than a single semi-trailer load, according to industry figures. Multiply that by the number of barges in a tow and the hauling capacity becomes even more impressive.
On the Mississippi, a 15-barge tow is typical north of St. Louis, but the numbers increase south of the city where the river is deeper and wider, transportation sources say. If the Missouri Department of Transportation and a consortium of other governmental and commercial interests are successful, high-volume barge traffic may soon find its way to the Missouri River.
Manila: PCG Urges Speedy Probe of Sea Mishaps
Manilla Bulletin - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Sunday urged the Special Board of Marine Inquiry to hasten its investigation of two maritime disasters in Cavite and Batangas that caused significant loss of lives last month.
Tuason heads the SBMI in the collision and sinking of the M/V Catalyn-B off Limbones Island in Cavite last Christmas Eve while Chen leads the fact-finding board investigating the sinking of the Roll-on-Roll-off vessel M/V Baleno-9 near Verde Island in Batangas last December 26.
Maritime Museum in the Works for Port Canaveral
FLORIDA TODAY – The Canaveral Port Authority on Wednesday gave the initial go-ahead to pursue plans for a state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar maritime museum and visitors center at the port that would highlight the history of the Sunshine State.
The plan would also feature an observation tower, possibly 300 feet or higher — that planners think could eventually become an icon for Brevard County.
Miniature Titanic Ready to Take to the Seas
A remote-controlled model of the Titanic cruise-liner has gone on sale
The 1:150 scale replica is true to the original 882ft vessel, which sank on April 14, 1912, in every detail. The 6ft design, on sale for £1,500, is made from over 300 handcrafted pieces and has a gentle cruising speed of 5mph on calm water.
It is powered by rechargeable batteries, which drive each of the three propellers, and can run for three hours. The plastic used for the railings, windows, doors and funnels was laser-cut for precision and the cedar, mahogany and white maple wood used for the decking and to cover the hull were all handcrafted.
New Drydock for Derecktor in 2010
Derecktor Shipyards of Connecticut has announced that this Spring will see the first commercial operations of its newly expanded dry dock to work. Designed to allow the yard to work on vessels up to 400ft (122m) in length, 4000 long tons, 82ft (25m) in beam and 20ft (6m) draft. According to Derecktor, the expanded dry dock will also provide a better method of moving these large vessels from the water onto the repair apron or into the yard’s main building via the dock and a system of air casters.
The company are confident that with this new addition to the yard their capacity for repair and refit of multiple vessels during peak periods will be greatly increased.
Nigeria Needs 50,000 Sailors; $40m Cabotage Fund Lies Fallow
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has decried the manpower gap in the nation’s maritime sector, disclosing that no fewer than 50,000 seafarers are needed for the shipping industry to realise its full potential and stimulate the desired economic growth in Nigeria.
But the manpower requirement appears to be only a tip of the iceberg among the challenges in the sector as $40 million accruing to the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) has remained inaccessible to indigenous businessmen desirous of establishing shipping lines.
Director General of NIMASA, Mr Temisan Omatseye said the manpower gap has led to a situation where the shipping industry in Nigeria has become dominated by foreigners while the few indigenous shipping firms have witnessed declining fortunes.
NOAA: The National Ocean Service Releases its Annual Report for 2009
Over the past year, we responded to survey requests in some of our nation’s busiest ports, expanded the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System, studied how changes in the warming Arctic will impact shipping, adopted a system that will revolutionize how we produce nautical charts, and more—all aimed at ensuring that marine transportation is safe, efficient, and environmentally sound.
No Props for You: Wärtsilä Sheds European Jobs as Market 
Slows
21 Jan 2010 / Maritime Journal – Finnish marine engines and propulsion systems manufacturer Wärtsilä announced on Tuesday that in response to fundamental changes in the market it will reduce its manufacturing capacity in Europe.
Wärtsilä plans to move the majority of its propeller production and auxiliary engine production to China, close to the main marine markets. The current propeller manufacturing in Drunen, and the component manufacturing DTS in Zwolle, both in the Netherlands, are planned to be closed.
Ocean Warming Extends Range of Wreck Eating Shipworms
DISCOVER Magazine – At the bottom of the Baltic Sea, history sits largely intact. Because shipworms don’t care for these cold, low-salt waters, shipwrecks can endure for centuries without great decay. The Vasa, a famous Swedish warship that sank in Stockholm harbor in 1628, was in terrific condition when engineers raised it from the depths more than 300 years later. But, scientists now warn, those conditions could be coming to an end due to global warming.
Shipworms, which can obliterate a wreck in ten years, have already attacked about a hundred sunken vessels dating back to the 13th century in Baltic waters off Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, reported study co-author Christin Appelqvist (National Geographic News). Now, Appelqvist says, their range is beginning to extend beyond those areas into the northern part of the Baltic. That could threaten close to 100,000 shipwrecks scattered across the bottom of the sea.
Online Stories can Make You (or Break You): The Deep Cygnus effect
59° 56′ N – Marketers and PR managers take note: Good (or bad) stories in the mainstream or maritime trade press have a short shelf-life – at least, in print. Stories online stick around, with permanent references to your company or product. It’s an idea that was hammered home in a recent chat with gCaptain’s John Konrad, and I can attest to from my own experience.
Overseas Trade Endangered Unless New Zealand Has A Maritime Strategy
The Maritime Union of New Zealand says that New Zealand’s overseas trade could be in jeopardy unless the Government has a plan for ports and the maritime sector.
Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood, responding to comments from the Minister of Transport Hon. Stephen Joyce, says it is not good enough for the Government to leave it to chance when 99% of New Zealand’s imports and exports are shipped.
Puget Sound Maritime: Sink the Kalakala!
Raucous meeting with Kalakala owner, who rejects dive park idea
PORT ANGELES — After a Wednesday lunch meeting with ferry Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues that several participants described as chaotic, a new proposal emerged for the 
age-battered vessel: Sink it.
That way, it could be the main attraction in an underwater dive park proposed off Ediz Hook about a mile from the entrance west of downtown, participants said after the nearly two-hour, invitation-only meeting at Smuggler’s Landing restaurant in Port Angeles.
But Rodrigues will not consider that option, which would require expensive sandblasting and complete detoxification of the vessel.
Resting Dinghies Gone Wild
70.8% – Tim Robison is, among other things, a sailor and a photographer. Rather a good photographer, I’d say. His website, Pergrine Sea, named after his boat Peregrina, has several galleries, one of which is sampled here. It’s called ‘Resting Dinghies’, a collection of photographs taken at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, Washington.
Sailors for the Sea
Scientists aboard Ocean Watch continue to work with the NASA CERES S’COOL Project, to research changes in clouds patterns. Two satellites circumnavigate the earth collecting data that is compared to the observations made by researchers including those on Ocean Watch. Research has shown that some clouds cool the earth, while others heat it up.
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See also: an article by Dr. R. Michael Reynolds (AtA scientist) and Dr. Lin Chambers (Director of the NASA CERES S’COOL Project.)
St. Lawrence Seaway Concludes 50th Anniversary Season
January 12, 2010 / MarineLink - The Welland Canal, which has been in operation since 1932, remained open to navigation until December 30, as the CSL Tadoussac transited Lock 1 at 3:04 p.m. and cleared Port Weller entering Lake Ontario at 3:22 p.m.
Total Seaway cargo volume for 2009 is estimated to amount to 30.5 million tonnes, the lowest volume witnessed since the early 1960’s. The 25% decrease in cargo volume compared to 2008 can be attributed to the depth of the recession, which sharply curtailed movements of iron ore and steel on the waterway.
The Salty Barrister Wonders What’s Wrong with Them?
Admiralty attorney John Fulweiler shares some insights into the "Law of the Sea". He grew up as a RI Boater, and spent several of his collegiate summers as a Safe/Sea Captain.
I grew up around folks that tended toward self-sufficiency. A spare something was generally on hand. You didn’t come into the dock too hot because rudders and clutches could be ornery. You checked the depth gauge against your plotted position to make sure things looked about the same. You didn’t run your fuel tanks down, rely on a radar, or run off your entire battery bank. You get the drill, and that approach has faired me well. So what with the wisdom of my increasing years, I’m damn unhappy about the Loran-C system being unplugged.
Everyone from the commercial fisherman to the weekend warrior is bombing around the coast on the wings of a GPS signal. Cut that signal and my money says you’re going to have big problems…
On the Flipside: LORAN – Nice knowing you. RIP
Bills of Lading – I find myself being the devil’s advocate in this particular argument. I hate it when new kids become too reliant on one technology. I hate it when duty officers don’t even know where the sextant is kept. I hate it that when I ask the chap to tell me the range to a ship, he checks the AIS instead of the RADAR. I hate it all.
The USCG, which is responsible for the upkeep of the system, claims that it is no longer required. I believe they are right. Those guys have been getting a lot of flak on the net since they announced the closure in Nov last year, and I am writing this so that at least they have one blog post they can show to the next congressman that bangs on their door…
Seventies’ Child Nerd Moment
If you’re like me and grew up during the Ford and Carter administrations, this clip will certainly hit on all cylinders.
- For fellow fans of Star Trek and Monty Python, you have indeed reached your Holy Grail of Geekdom: a mashup of the two »
Steel Exports Fall in November
Exports of U.S. steel fell off nearly 5 percent from October to November, according to the American Institute for International Steel, or to 935,335 tons from 983,218 tons. Comparing November 2009 to November 2008, however, total exports of this typical breakbulk cargo were up 1.5 percent.
Tonight’s Menu: Icelandic Holiday Surprise, Putrefied Skate!
Putrefied skate is selling like hot cakes before the traditional Thorláksmessa skate dinner parties held all over Iceland. The popularity of putrefied skate has been increasing steadily according to Finnbogason.
The skate is produced domestically and has not increased in price like many other foodstuffs. “On the whole we have sold more this year than in 2007 which was our best year,” said Finnbogason.
For the unacquainted putrefied skate smells like really strong cheese and could be recognized as rotten fish. It has a strong odour of ammonia which many people dislike profoundly. But once people overcome the smell the taste is extremely good.
Towmasters Wonders When is it a Tug, When is it an ATB, & What About the TOAR? – Part I
It sounds like a simple question: when is a tug a tug? Since the ATB unit has come on the scene the answer isn’t quite so simple anymore, and it has brought new challenges to the training and licensing of deck officers as well as the manning of the vessels.
I’ve no doubt that there are a number of mariners out there who’ll dispute my definition of what is and is not a towing vessel, but it seems that the debate has at least gotten started and at least one old-school type who had previously disagreed with me has since come around to the idea that this is an area that needs to be addressed.
Tuffy and Nate Prepare to Offload a Pile of Lobster Gear
Gloucester, Massachusetts – Here the boys are getting ready to offload a pile of lobster traps. The cold water temperature has made the lobstering activity slow down to a crawl and the time will be better spent fixing broken gear and making repairs than going out to catch very few lobsters this time of year. When the last load of traps comes in it is a big relief for lobstermen. It’s the end of another season and hopefully they’ve made enough to carry them through the winter.
Twenty One Years After Spill, Exxon Valdez Oil is *Still* Stuck in Alaska’s Beaches
DISCOVER Magazine – More than two decades have passed since the Exxon Valdez spilled 38,000 tons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, but despite cleanup efforts and time, thousands of gallons of oil remain stuck in the region’s beaches. A new Nature Geoscience study offers an explanation for why the oil has been so slow to disperse: it’s the composition of the beaches themselves.
According to study leader Michel C. Boufadel, natural forces have created beaches in Prince William Sound with two distinct layers, and water moves 1,000 times slower through the bottom layer than the top. Once the oil entered the lower level, conditions were right to keep it there, he said. Tidal forces worked to compact the finer-grained gravel even more, creating a nearly oxygen-free environment with low nutrient levels that slowed the ability of the oil to biodegrade (AP).
UglyShips has a Decidedly Un-Ugly Ship, the Cap San Diego
Build : 1962 by Deutsche Werft – Hamburg in Germany, nr 785
I usually don’t have much sympathy for people trying desperately to save what is (in their eyes) an iconic vessel. I see ships as a tool to do the job and when the tool is worn out you should replace it and throw the old one away.
Just before she was to be scrapped in 1986 she was rescued by the The Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg who bought her to be preserved as a maritime monument. Nowadays she spends her life tied up to a quay as a floating museum and exhibition and congress center. You can actually spend the night on her if you fancy that.
Undersea Cables Could Detect Tsunamis’ Electric Signatures Before They Strike
DISCOVER Magazine – NOAA’s Manoj Nair has devised a new possible method of detecting a deadly tsunami long before the wave crests to dangerous heights. And, in a bit of good news, much of it is already in place.
In a new study in next month’s Earth, Planets, and Space, Nair modeled the massive 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and found that a tsunami picking up steam as it moves across the ocean emits a tiny electromagnetic signature of of about 500 millivolts. That’s enough to have an effect on the communication cables that stretch across the ocean floor, carrying internet messages and phone calls…
US Container Traffic Signals Retail Optimism
The volume of container traffic going into big North American ports in December showed its first year-on-year rise since the US started sliding into recession 2½ years ago, according to estimates from the National Retail Federation.
The year-on-year increase is the first since mid-2007. Jonathan Gold, who follows supply chain issues for the NRF, said the numbers “are a clear sign that retailers are optimistic about 2010”, despite continuing caution about rebuilding their inventory levels.
“We wouldn’t see these increases in imports if stores weren’t expecting sales to improve … so this is definitely good news.”
Welder making boilers for a ship
Combustion Engineering Co., Chattanooga, Tennessee. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer June, 1942. click to see full size The Library of Congress’ photostream »
Huge Slimy Dogs: Harbor seals on the Maine coast; nelights’ photostream »
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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, photos, suggestions, kudos or complaints to MM@gcaptain.com. No recipes, please.
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Welcome to This Week’s Edition of Maritime Monday
You can find last week’s edition here »
The Ships of the Haitian Response Force:
USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) is a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser laid down by Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 11 January 1984, launched on 11 March 1985 and commissioned on 20 September 1986. Bunker Hill is home-ported at Naval Base San Diego in California. wikipedia
USS Bataan (LHD-5) a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. The Bataan has sailors with Haitian roots on board, and that makes their assignment even more personal.
USS Bataan’s Landing Craft Air Cushions to provide vital role in Haiti – Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott Klimko has a unique view of the mission of mercy to Haiti; through the windshield of a craft that a civilian might describe as a high-speed floating mattress.
Klimko is a craftmaster aboard an LCAC, the air-cushioned, propeller-driven craft that will be hauling troops and supplies to earthquake-shattered shores in a just a few days.Powered by four gas turbine engines, the craft can speed along at 50 knots and haul up to 70 tons on its wide deck — be it Marines, heavy trucks or weapons.”Pretty much whatever they need to get from shore to ship and ship to shore,” MORE »
January 13, 2010 – The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson was rerouted to support humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, On board were 19 helicopters, a water purification plant and medicines. Story on NavyTimes »
Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort en route to Haiti: Addressing the crew on the USNS Comfort on Friday night, Navy Capt. Andy Johnson, director of medical operations, gave the audience a laugh with the following: “The plan we have is incredible… The problem right now is that I have no idea what it is.” MORE »
The US Navy is sending the rescue and salvage ship, USS Grasp, to Port-au-Prince, Haiti with divers and underwater construction personnel to assess the damage to piers and other port facilities.
Navy divers will deploy to repair Haiti Capital’s Port
NORFOLK – The Virginian-Pilot / January 17, 2010 - Navy divers and salvage experts are ready to deploy to Haiti, while evacuees are returning.
Members of Underwater Construction Team 1, Detachment Alpha and Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two from Little Creek Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story expect to leave within two days, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jeff Barone said Saturday. “Our goal is to… open that port up and get humanitarian aid in,” Barone said.
As of Saturday morning, more than 50 sailors were expected to be part of the first team to deploy. The underwater construction team will inspect piers in Port-au-Prince to try and get them open as soon as possible. The mobile team will remove obstructions from the waterway. MORE »
The dock landing ship Gunston Hall LSD 44 , commanded by Cmdr. Fred Wilhelm, is the ninth ship en route to Haiti to provide humanitarian assistance. The ship has a crew of more than 400 officers and sailors. Gunston Hall’s mission is to transport United States Marines with their combat equipment to designated areas around the world, and then to launch and support assault landing craft and helicopters during amphibious operations.
GH carries a new Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). The LCAC is an assault hovercraft with the ability to exceed 40 knots while carrying a 60 ton payload. Using this new craft, forces are able to carry out amphibious approaches. (click image below to see full size)
specs / navsource – USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) »
Dock landing ships USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) and USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) also got underway Thursday afternoon from Hampton Roads. The Norfolk-based cruiser USS Normandy (CG-60) and Mayport, Fla.-based frigate USS Underwood (FFG-36) departed Wednesday.
USCGC Tahoma – Nicknamed “The Mighty T,” the Tahoma has seen its share of tragedy. The 170-foot cutter, commissioned in 1988, was the first major U.S. military asset on the scene after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers in New York.
This week, with its sister cutters USCGC Forward (WMEC-911) and USCGC Mohawk (WMEC-913), the Tahoma was again among the first U.S. vessels on station off Port-au-Prince. The cutter came from the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, about 200 miles to the east, to provide port damage assessments, air-traffic control and medical relief missions to the slowly mushrooming international relief effort. MORE »
Navy committed to helping Haiti
Navy Times: The Navy’s top officer said the service is committed to helping Haitians in crisis, and expects that effort will be long-lasting, multi-faceted and will likely require extensions of other worldwide deployments.
About 10,000 sailors and 16 ships are currently committed to humanitarian aid and disaster relief in a nation gripped by “absolutely extraordinary devastation,” said Adm. Gary Roughead (right), Chief of Naval Operations.
“We still have a long way to go… We are prepared to stay however long it takes.”
MORE »
BITTER END has compiled a series of posts on The History of Loran »
NY HARBOR – JANUARY 10, 2010 - Something went amiss with Sichem Defiance, where a tank blew, calling for the attention of emergency responders. TUGSTER ON THE SCENE »
Ice Work on the Hudson: Ice… white gold for some. A tribulation for others. And like many dangerous things, ice can be beautiful, reminiscent of Thomas Cole. Through this, your petroleum products must flow, safely. Pics and Videos on TUGSTER »
After Long Wait, Freighters Finally Moving Through River
PORT HURON TIMES HERALD – U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit Commander Joe Snowden said a convoy of freighters made it down the river Tuesday after five ice cutters cleared a path. The cutters escorted the nine southbound vessels to the Detroit area before turning around and heading north with four freighters.
keep reading »
Ahead of the Bell: Oil Tanker Cos. Upgraded
Associated Press / January 11, 2010 - Crude oil demand will likely rise in 2010, prompting OPEC to raise production and boosting demand for oil shipping companies, an analyst said Monday as he upgraded the oil tanker sector.
Jefferies & Co. analyst Douglas Mavrinac said that as the economy improves, he expects higher OPEC production levels to boost tanker demand growth beyond crude oil tanker fleet growth. Meanwhile, regulatory mandates by the International Maritime Organization require that nearly all remaining single-hull vessels be demolished by the end of 2010, which will significantly shrink fleet supplies, Mavrinac said.
keep reading on Business Week »
And the Rest, as They Say, is History…
Wired.com is reporting: ANAHEIM, Calif. — Human ancestors that left Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago to see the rest of the world were no landlubbers.
Stone hand axes unearthed on the Mediterranean island of Crete indicate that an ancient Homo species — perhaps Homo erectus — had used rafts or other seagoing vessels to cross from northern Africa to Europe via at least some of the larger islands in between, says archaeologist Thomas Strasser of Providence College in Rhode Island.
See the full post »
Baltimore-Based USNS Comfort Sets Sail For Haiti
January 16, 2010 / WBAL TV – Crews rushed the ship out of maintenance and into duty, stocking it with medical provisions and water before heading to sea Saturday.
It is expected to reach Haiti by Wednesday and immediately begin providing care to victims of the quake. Because the ship is too large for Haiti’s port, it will remain off shore.
keep reading » (text and video)
CEPSA Marine Fuels Operates New Barge in Gibraltar Strait
January 11, 2010 / MARINELINK - CEPSA Marine Fuels, S.A. has put into place a new barge in Algeciras Bay, providing service for the ports of Algeciras and Gibraltar.
The double hull barge is the Spabunker Cuarenta, which is new built and holds the most advanced technology. It has been specially designed to supply bunkers in terms of manoeuvres, pumping rates, automatic blenders, radar soundings and meters.
keep reading »
China’s Largest Oil Tanker Set to Sail
January 14, 2010 / China Daily - The most sophisticated supertanker ever designed and built by a Chinese shipyard, Xin Pu Yang, is about to start its maiden voyage from Guangzhou later this month, media reports said. The ship is believed to be the largest oil tanker in the world, three times the size of an aircraft carrier.
Captain Feng Wanyuan said the tanker is equipped with the world’s most advanced automatic navigation system, which enables it to sail 24 hours a day without manual operation.
keep reading »
Crowley Responds to Earthquake in Haiti 
Jan. 13, 2010 / Crowley.com – In light of the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Crowley Maritime Corporation’s liner services group has temporarily suspended regularly scheduled cargo services to and from the country. This temporary suspension comes as port infrastructure damages are being assessed. The company is cooperating with and assisting U.S. government agencies including USAID, SDDC and other relief agencies with emergency shipments to the country.
Crowley stands ready to ship emergency supplies and needed cargo as soon as port conditions allow. The company is evaluating how it can best deploy its wide variety of specialized marine assets to deliver humanitarian cargo and assistance to the disaster relief.
keep reading »
Demand for Ship Repair Services to Pick Up in UAE
EMIRATES BUSINESS / January 13, 2010 - Demand for ship repair services and facilities is poised to accelerate in the UAE, the regional hub for dry dock facilities, when the global shipping activities revive, according to a marine expert.
The UAE, located strategically on one of the world’s most important shipping routes, sees a number of ships and vessels calling at its ports, which also means more and more demand for ship repair services. The demand for ship repair is also expected to gain speed in the UAE because of the International Maritime Organisation’s regulation to phase-out single-hull tankers by 2010 that would trigger increased conversion activities of single hull tankers.
keep reading »
Dubai’s Cruise Industry Poised for Growth
In the wake of the financial downturn, cruise tourism has emerged as the strongest growth area in Dubai’s hospitality sector, with increased popularity expected in 2010 thanks to a new terminal facility and the arrival of more luxury cruise liners.
Dubai’s cruise industry has seen a rapid rise since it was launched three years ago by Italy’s Costa Crociere. Costa Cruises expects a 40% increase in the number of its guests coming to Dubai this year.
keep reading »
French Container Shipping Line Denies Iran Link
FRANCE: 11 January 2010 – Reports in the Iranian press this week proclaiming that French giant shipping line CMA CGM had “begun operations” into the port of Bushehr have been denied by the company who described a call made to the port by the 1100 TEU container vessel “Simba” as “Exceptional”
Reports in the Tehran Times quote a port deputy director at Bushehr, situated on the West coast of the Gulf opposite the Saudi and Kuwait coastlines, claiming throughput of traffic by the company was about to increase “tenfold”
keep reading »
Fuel Cell Terminal Tractors Help Clean Up Cargo Ports
WIRED / January 13, 2010 - While state and local governments have already taken cargo ship owners to task for the exhaust fumes that some marine diesel-burning container ships belch while in port, advocates say the trucks and tractors that haul cargo around ports have also been responsible for the high levels of particulate emissions in communities surrounding working ports.
Hydrogen fuel cells may be ideal for terminal tractors. They spend their entire working lives hauling shipping containers within the confines of a port, to and from boats, trains and storage yards, but always close to a central refueling source. Hybrid terminal tractors have already caught on in California, partly because of the state’s strict regulation of in-port pollution and ban on the highest-polluting trucks.
keep reading »
Haiti: The Magnitude of a Disaster: Click to see full size
Ruined Ports Hindering Delivery of Relief
Not only have the shore cranes fallen into the water but significant sections of the docks have also collapsed.
January 15, 2010 / New York Times – MIAMI — The first cargo ship carrying aid for quake-damaged Haiti set sail for the northern port of Cap Haïtien Friday evening, but most shipping companies that usually supply the country with goods are still unable to reach the desperate islanders because the main pier in Port-au-Prince has splintered and fallen into the ocean. SEE FULL SIZE »
More than 30 cargo containers of donated water and canned food were piled on the docks of Antillean Marine Shipping here, one of the primary shippers to the island.
Antillean had two ships docked at the Port-au-Prince pier when the temblor hit on Tuesday, snapping off concrete pilings and sending half the pier, two large cranes and several containers sliding into the water. The ships had to head back to Miami.
keep reading »
Lloyd’s List reports:
Some 30 Haitian dockers working vessels at the moment when Tuesday’s earthquake struck were killed, mostly through drowning, according to the main operating company at the port of Port-au-Prince.
Richard Lebrun of Terminal Varreux also told the New York Times newspaper that its two terminals had been destroyed as a result of the disaster. In addition, the main commercial pier, wharf and the crane that removes shipping containers are under water.
via Old Salt Blog
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Hard News: Cougar Cruise Sets Sail
Last month, nearly 300 “cougars” — older women who prefer young, virile men — and their “cubs” sailed away on a three-night Mexican cruise out of California aboard the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation. The event was promoted as the world’s first cougar cruise.
The entire cougar experience happened over just a quick weekend. The cruise left San Diego Friday afternoon, went to Ensenada, Mexico, and was back in California by 8 a.m. Monday morning. When the group tried to book another Carnival trip, the cruise company said no. Carnival said it didn’t have any problems with the Cougar Cruise group but has chosen to discontinue such “theme” bookings.
keep reading »
Houston: Number of Active US Oil and Natural Gas Rigs up 31
AP – 1/7/2010 - Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday 781 rigs were exploring for natural gas and 427 for oil. Twelve were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week, the 
rig count stood at 1,589.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained 13 rigs, Louisiana and Oklahoma each gained three, Arkansas, Colorado, North Dakota and Pennsylvania each gained two and New Mexico gained one. Wyoming lost one rig while Alaska, California and West Virginia were unchanged.
The rig count tally peaked at 4,530 in 1981, during the height of the oil boom. The industry posted a record low of 488 in 1999.
In the Boat Shed has a Great Video of Galway Hookers Racing
(and no, he doesn’t mean Irish streetwalkers)
My long-standing sailing and Internet friend Peter Vanderwaart today tipped me off about this Youtube clip of a collection of Galway hookers, and cheered me up no end.
I gather it was made for a television series featuring the boats broadcast on TG4, but I haven’t been able to work out how to see the programmes via the station’s website. But aren’t these heavy, shapely wooden boats just the bee’s knees?
keep reading »
Jack Tar Mag has a Giggle Reading the Wooden Boat Magazine Forums
January 10, 2010 - These guys are great. Even the anti-tattoo crochety ones – so old fashioned. Sailors have been getting tattoos for hundreds of years, if not thousands!
I fully understand people having different tastes – maybe you don’t like tats at all (why you would even pick up a maritime calendar is beyond me), and most sexy calendars have girls with more makeup or airbrushing.
keep reading »
“It’s interesting that in all of the furor over the attempted bombing of Flight 253 on Christmas Day that the news media, the administration, and everyone else involved seem to have forgotten the most important part of the story. The man was subdued by passengers…”
Korea Shipbuilders Win Orders Worth $1 Billion
Jan. 12, 2010 / CHOSUN News - Korean ship-builders won new orders worth over US$1 billion in the first 10 days of the new year, in a complete reversal of the situation last year. STX Offshore & Shipbuilding and Hanjin Heavy Industries delivered the good news on Monday, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering won new orders earlier.
keep reading »
Liberian Registry Posts Record Fleet Numbers
January 12, 2010 / MARINELINK – The Liberian-flag fleet grew to a record 3,140 ships, aggregating 97.2m gross tons, in 2009. This represents a net growth during the course of the year of 215 ships and 10.5m gross tons.
2009 was a landmark year for the Liberian Registry. It was the year in which the 3,000th vessel was registered under the Liberian flag, and it was the year in which the agreement between the Liberian Bureau of Maritime Affairs and LISCR covering the management of the registry was extended for a further ten years.
keep reading »
Man Overboard: What Do You Really Do?
Jan. 10, 2010 / TOWMASTERS - A semi-overlapping combination of federal regulations, company operations and safety policies, and customer/charterer requirements mandates that many of us in the towing industry conduct an array of safety/response/regulatory-compliance drills and inspections with, and provide instruction of same to, our crews every month. This generally, but not always, includes the big three: Man Overboard (MOB), Abandon Ship (AS) and Firefighting (FF), among others.
keep reading »
Manu’s Scripts Hates to Say He Told You So, But…
January 15, 2010 – For more than a year, this column has underscored the criticality of linking Somali piracy to terrorism and the need to focus on Yemen as the next terrorist haven along with AfPak.
I have particularly and repeatedly highlighted Al Shabaab in Somalia and its links with both Al Qaeda and the pirates who sometimes reportedly pay as much as half their takings to the Islamist outfit. I have reported Somali pirate links to elements within Pakistan, and trained Pakistani nationals having been caught in key positions on pirate boats.
More later since I am getting ahead of myself here, but I am slowly getting convinced that there is, additionally, an un-orchestrated conspiracy not to let piracy be linked to terrorism.
keep reading »
National Ocean Service: The ‘Non-Navigation’ Side of Navigation Services
Within NOS, there are three offices that may be thought of most often as delivering products and services for the navigation community. And yes, some of the principal work of the Office of Coast Survey (OCS), National Geodetic Survey (NGS), and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) includes making nautical charts and surveying the sea floor; establishing and maintaining a consistent geodetic (land-based) coordinate system; and recording water levels, coastal currents, and related meteorological and oceanographic data.
These are indeed all things with a strong focus on transportation. But you may be surprised to learn that the work of OCS, NGS, and CO-OPS does more than keep commercial shipping lanes open, ensure that your Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver points you in the right direction, and inform coastal weather reports.
keep reading »
Poland: DCT Gdansk to Become Hub for Baltic Sea Region
January 12, 2010 / MARINELINK - On 4 January 2010, DCT Gdansk received the largest container vessel ever to call Poland when the 8200TEU Maersk Taikung (length 1,089 ft; beam 141.7 ft; draft 47.5 ft) arrived from the Far East. From January 2010, Maersk post-panamax ships sailing on Maersk Line’s AE10 service from China will call DCT Gdansk every Monday bringing Polish, Russian and Finnish cargo to be discharged at DCT Gdansk.
This marks the beginning of a new era in container shipping linking directly Poland to Asia, and the development of DCT Gdansk as a hub in the Baltic Sea, as Russian and Finnish cargo will be transhipped to feeders from DCT Gdansk to their final destinations.
keep reading »
Quadriplegic’s Atlantic Crossing Inspires Disabled Sailing
12 January 2010 / RoundTownNewsUK - Last week saw a British yachtsman become the first quadriplegic to sail across the Atlantic. Geoff Holt’s amazing feat has been an inspiration to disabled people all over the world and recently, the Mar Menor’s very own disabled sailing club was launched in Los Alcazares.
Geoff, from Southampton, took 28 days to complete the 2,700-mile voyage after setting off from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. He is already the first quadriplegic sailor to sail solo around Britain.
keep reading »
Quake Dashes Hopes for Haiti’s Fragile Economy
JANUARY 17, 2010 / NY Times – Nearly all manufacturers fled Haiti during the 1990s trade embargo imposed by the U.S. after a coup. After the embargo ended in 1994, few investors returned. In 2004, a new United Nations peacekeeping effort got under way after the nation descended into anarchy again. In 2008, deadly storms, food riots destabilized the government.
But things appeared to be changing in the last year or so. U.N. peacekeepers achieved enough stability to make new investment conceivable. A U.S. Congress vote in 2008 to erase tariffs on Haitian garments created incentives for manufacturers to return.
A luxury hotel complex called the Oasis and an upscale project by Best Western International Inc. going up in the Pétionville suburb symbolized the optimism. Optimism peaked in October, when organizers of a Haiti investment conference attracted U.S. companies such as Levi-Strauss & Co. and Gap Inc…
keep reading »
Royal Caribbean Cruises Provides Humanitarian Relief to Haiti Earthquake Victims
BYM Industry News - Royal Caribbean Cruises, one of Haiti’s largest foreign investors for almost 30 years, today announced its plans to provide at least $1 million in humanitarian relief to Haiti. Royal Caribbean will be partnering with charitable organizations – such as Food for the Poor, Pan American Development Foundation, and the Solano Foundation, the company’s foundation in Haiti – to provide additional assistance to the people of Haiti.
Royal Caribbean will also be delivering much needed goods and supplies to Haiti via their cruise ships. Experts estimate that at least 10,000 new garment industry jobs were created in Port-au-Prince last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. invested $55 million to build a pier and resort destination in Haiti.
keep reading »
RollDock Takes Delivery of First Newbuild
Jan 14, 2010 / Heavy Lift – RollDock, the Dutch heavy lift shipping company launched a couple of years ago, has taken delivery of the first of the innovative new ships that it has on order at L&T Shipping in India.
RollDock has advised HLPFI that RollDock Sun (was) handed over by the yard to RollDock Shipping B.V. last Friday (8 January) and immediately sailed from Mumbai to the Far East to execute a number of contracts. Sister ships, RollDock Sea, RollDock Sky and RollDock Star will follow over the next 14 months.
keep reading »
Shipping Map Tracks Invasive Species Stowaways
Alien stowaways can wreak havoc on marine ecosystems, but data on the movements of the ships that transport them has been hard to come by. A new global map of cargo-ship movements should boost efforts to monitor invasive species.
January 13, 2010 / AFP – Invasive species that hitch a ride on cargo ships pose a rising threat to marine biodiversity, with the potential to inflict costs in the billions of dollars. But a new map of shipping networks should provide watchdogs with a useful tool against these stowaways, scientists in Germany said on Wednesday. Until now there have been scant means of identifying ships or even shipping patterns to help pinpoint the source of the risk.
Sleuths trying to track these intruders have generally used a so-called “gravity model” of ship movements. It assumes that journeys are likelier between nearby ports than between ports that are far apart. The truth, though, is rather more complex, say marine biologists led by Bernd Blasius of the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg.
They used data from automatic transmitters, installed aboard large ships from 2001 to give port authorities the time of arrival and departure, to build a network of how the world’s 16,363 large cargo vessels plied their trade in 2007.
See Full Article »
Somali Man Is Charged In 2 More Ship Hijackings
January 12, 2010 – NY TIMES - A Somali man who was brought to New York last year and accused of piracy in the hijacking of an American-flagged cargo ship off Somalia was charged on Tuesday with leading the earlier takeover of two other ships, in which hostages were taken.Mr. Muse was originally charged in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama off Somalia.
The indictment does not identify the ships involved in the two previous hijackings. One was in the Indian Ocean in March when Mr. Muse and others boarded and seized control, the indictment said. The other was hijacked in April; it was from this vessel, the indictment said, that Mr. Muse and his group seized the Maersk Alabama.
keep reading »
Something Fishy in Massachusetts Cranberry Bog
EastBayRI.com – A Massachusetts cranberry farm may once again raise crops of largemouth bass if some Roger Williams University students can devise ways to provide the out-of-the way place with power.
Dale F. Leavitt, assistant professor of biology and aquaculture at the university, said that eight years ago he was working in southeastern Massachusetts at a time when cranberry farmers were in dire straits due to plunging prices. He became involved in an effort to help a Rochester, Mass., grower convert one of his bogs from cranberries to fish farming.
keep reading »
Tenth Annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference to Address Future of Shipping
NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 13, 2010 - The 10th annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference, hosted by The Journal of Commerce, returns to Long Beach, Calif., on March 1-2, 2010. TPM — with a roster of presenters led by opening keynote speaker Eivind Kolding, partner and CEO of the world’s largest container line, Maersk — will provide answers to pressing industry questions.
keep reading »
Tugboat Captain, Shipping Company Charged with Negligence in Fatal 2005 Barge Explosion
January 14, 2010 / CHICAGO TRIBUNE – With the statute of limitations looming next week, federal authorities on Wednesday indicted a tugboat captain and the Lemont company he worked for on negligence charges in the 2005 barge explosion that killed a deckhand.
keep reading »
UK: Green Generator Turns Tide for Former Shipyards
14 Jan 2010 / Maritime Journal – The first tidal generator to be manufactured at the site of Sunderland’s former shipbuilding yards is now complete and will be shipped to Humberside where it will be put into action in a series of trials.
The million pound Neptune Proteus tidal stream demonstrator has been built on Wearside by family run Wear Dock and Engineering. Weighing more than 150 tons and stretching to around 20m long, with a breadth of 14m, the generator has taken 25 workers more than six months to build.
keep reading »
UK: Russian Master in Court After Being Found Drunk in Charge of Ship
11 January 2010: BYM MARITIME – ABP notified the Maritime & Coastguard Agency via Solent Coastguard after concerns were raised that a vessel Balu C was not being managed correctly on its passage into a berth at the port.
The Master of the Balu C 52 year old Mr. Valery Semenov was breathalysed by the Police upon arrival into Southampton Port, and he was found to have 94 (mg) in 100 millilitres of breath. In the case of breath, 35 (mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres is the legal limit. Therefore Mr. Semenov, a 52 year old Russian national was nearly three times that legal limit.
The Balu C is a 2008 built general cargo ship registered in Antigua and Barbuda. Her deadweight tonnage is 8,045 tonnes. She was on passage from Amsterdam to Southampton with a cargo of grain with a crew of 12.
keep reading »
US Customs & Border Protection Seizes $4 million of Cocaine Hidden in Sailboat
13 January 2010 / BYM Industry News - U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents discovered 335 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a secret compartment on a sailing vessel. The drugs have an estimated value of more than $4 million.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Marine Unit, in conjunction with Ft. Lauderdale police and the Broward County sheriffs office, conducted a boarding on a 32’ sailing vessel Friday bearing the name “Sea Ya.” While on board, CBP Agents discovered an area that appeared inconsistent with the surrounding area of the vessel.
keep reading »
USN: Cowpens CO Relieved of Duty After Cruelty Charge
January 16, 2010 / Stars and Stripes – Abusive treatment of crewmembers has cost the captain of the Yokosuka-based 
guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens her command weeks before she was to transfer to a new assignment, according to Navy officials Thursday.
Capt. Holly Graf was relieved of command by Rear Adm. Kevin Donegan, Carrier Strike Group Five Commander, following a nonjudicial punishment Wednesday.
Graf was found guilty of cruelty and maltreatment, and conduct unbecoming an officer, according to 7th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Jeff Davis — violations of articles 93 and 133 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
keep reading »
War is Boring: Assessing Haiti’s Long-Term Disaster
Though many minds are justifiably devoted to more pressing emergency relief matters, two days after the earthquake some people have begun to begun to speculate on Haiti’s future. Even at its highest points, modern Haiti has been an utter political mess, unable or unwilling to provide for its citizens, and a constant source of worry for surrounding nations. Though last week some Haiti-watchers were cautiously optimistic about political developments, many relating to an upcoming election, it is clear that the earthquake does not merely represent a setback — it completely invalidates all views of the situation.
full post »
West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea Robber Pirates
Jan. 16, 2010 / Flags of Convenience - In 2009, these vessels and others were boarded by pirates bent on robbery, not vessel seizure, in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea: MT Front Chief , MV MOL Splendor, (FPSO) Histria Tiger, MV Bourbon Leda, MT Front Chief, MT Emirates Swan, MV Aristeas P, MT Aleyna Mercan, MV Reval, MV Anuket Ivory, MV Sevastopolskaya Bukhta, MV Tennei Maru, MV Duden, MV Pearl River, MT Abram Schulte, MV Saturnas.
On average, the Nigerian Navy hears of some 10 to 15 pirate attacks per month. Some experts say that the waters of the Gulf of Guinea are at least as dangerous as those off the Somali coast, if not more so.
keep reading »
___________________
FOR THOSE HEAVY DAYS – The USCGC Tampa; “a couple of guys I knew who were stationed aboard the Tampa used to tell me stories about how they would have to stand what eventually became known as the X-watch. This entailed, whenever there was another cutter in port, the assignment of additional crew for making security rounds and being generally more vigilant than usual, lest they wake up to an enraged commanding officer who had discovered that some pranksters had added an “X” to the end of their name on the stern in the dead of night. This happened more than once.” Tying a long white knotted rope to the stern would have certainly completed that picture. (Click to see full size)
GLOUCESTER, MASS: Commercial fishing vessel plows off into the sunset off New England. Photo by Paulie Frontiero. more »
Historic Ship of the Week: USN Hospital Ship Comfort
USS Comfort (hospital ship, later AH-3) at anchor, circa 1919. (source)
USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) is the third United States Navy ship to bear the name Comfort, and the second Mercy Class Hospital Ship to join the navy fleet. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, USNS Comfort and her crew do not carry any ordnance and firing on the Comfort is considered a war crime.
click to see full size
Like her sister ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19), Comfort was built as an oil tanker in 1976 by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company. Her original name was SS Rose City and she was launched from San Diego, California.
USNS Comfort - Engine Room (source)
Laid down: May 1, 1975 (As Rose City MA-301) – Launched: February 1, 1976 – Commissioned: December 1, 1987 (to US Navy) – Length: 894 ft (272 m) – Beam: 105 ft 7 in (32.18 m) – Displacement: 69,360 tons (70,470 t) – Speed: 17.5 knots (32 km/h)
Patient Capacity: Intensive care wards: 80 beds – Intermediate care wards: 280 beds – Light care wards: 120 beds – Limited care wards: 500 beds – Operating Rooms: 12
Complement: 63 civilian, 956 naval hospital staff, 258 naval support staff, up to 1000 bed patients – Oxygen producing plants (two)
Four distilling plants to make drinking water from sea water (300,000 gallons per day) – Flight deck can handle world’s largest military helicopters (wikipedia)
And one more cool thing about the Comfort… it’s Captain keeps a blog
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* See also: MARAD Orders More Ships to Assist in Haitian Relief »
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, photos, suggestions, kudos or complaints to MM@gcaptain.com. No recipes, please.
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Tags: · Haiti, Maritime Monday, usns_comfort
Welcome to this 196th edition of Maritime Monday.
You can find last week’s edition here »
La Mer set on Flickr »
Dockside on the HOS Centerline – a 370 foot multi-purpose supply vessel built from an old tanker. See: Hornbeack Offshore Introduces HOS Centerline » Photo by Jann
Notes From the Wooden and Iron World: The Friends of Falls of Clyde held a New Year’s Eve get-together at Pier 7. Splendid view of the Aloha Tower Marketplace fireworks from the poop deck of Falls of Clyde!
Rusting Hulks in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (MARAD photo) See story below
WHOMP, THERE IT IS: Sea Shepherd Boat Rammed and Sunk by Japanese Whalers » & Anti-Whaling Vessel Damaged in a Collision at Sea »
Australia: 1st Images of Sunken Torpedoed Hospital Ship Centaur Received
“It is incredible to think that these are the first images any human being has seen of this tragic ship in over six and a half decades.”
BYM INDUSTRY NEWS – The AHS Centaur was sunk without warning by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine on 14 May 1943, about 50 miles east north-east of Brisbane. Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived.
The wreck location is approximately 30 miles due east of the southern tip of Moreton Island (27 deg 16.98′ South, 153 deg 59.22′ East) at a depth of 2,059 metres.
keep reading » | MORE on USNI blog »
Awesome Octopi: Cephalopods from Outer Space
Right: A diver gets acquainted with one old and wise specimen in the Japan Sea, Primorie, Russia; a 23-foot Giant Pacific Octopus Doflein.
Still not satisfied that Earth can produce creatures crazy and alien-looking enough to come out of some nightmarish imagination?
keep reading »
Blackwater’s Anti-Piracy Ship for Sale
Maritime Memos: The notorious Blackwater Corporation, now called, mysteriously, Xe, is out of the anti-piracy business. So maybe that wasn’t such a great idea, after all: it seems that the pirate-fighting ship rarely left Norfolk. Life on board, described in the Virginian Pilot here, appears to have been more like that on an old-time pirate ship than on an anti-piracy ship. Anyway, the ship, the former NOAA survey ship McArthur, built by Norshipco in 1966, is for sale.
The asking price is $3.7 million. See the ad on Yachtworld.com here »
Book Shelf: Sunday is for Reading… “Pirate Latitudes”
BOAT BITS: Being something of a buff on the historical side of the age of piracy, books and films on things piratical are more likely to piss me off rather than entertain me and it is not unusual to hear the sound of book being thrown against bulkheads…
Not so much with the late Michael Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes which mostly gets it right. No mean feat in a genre that mostly gets it wrong and where source material is more than likely to be an amusement ride in a theme park rather than history.
keep reading »
BOSTON SUNSET: Jay Albert of Cape Ann Images captures the silhouette of a Gloucester lobster boat heading towards port against the backdrop of a fiery sunset. MORE »
Britain without the Gulfstream
BOING BOING: Britain is unusually warm for its latitude because of the gulfstream. This week, however, the gulfstream is on vacation in Greenland. So this is what Britain is like without the gulfstream.
keep reading »
Cold is the Sea: Hong Kong Liberty and the 
Purpose of Sketchblogging
This is a sketch I did a few weeks ago during a particularly slow day at work. My source material came from somewhere on the USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt (CVB-42/CVA-42/CV-42) website which has a great trove of photos.
I recently read a review on Peter Kuper’s Diario de Oaxaca by Brian Heater on The Daily Cross Hatch and he wrote a pretty good explanation of what a sketchbook is- which also explains my idea behind keeping this blog…
keep reading »
A Course Correction for Magnetic 
Compasses
THREE SHEETS NORTHWEST - The magnetic compass has been with us on the water for a thousand years or so. Recently, though, it has often been overshadowed by the near magic of GPS. For the serious sailor, however, it is the most basic and the most essential navigation instrument. When all else fails—the engine, the electrical system or the GPS itself—the compass still works, showing us the way to safety.
keep reading »
Coast Guard Icebreaking Season Kicks off on Hudson River
NEW YORK – The Coast Guard has commenced icebreaking operations on the Hudson River as temperatures continue to fall and waters begin to freeze.
A fleet of five cutters will help maintain waterways open to commercial vessel traffic in the port of New York/New Jersey to Albany from now until the middle of March, which is vital for upper New York’s residents and the area’s economy.
“An average of 300 vessels transit the Hudson River during the winter months, carrying over 5 million barrels of petroleum products to the communities of this northern region,” said Lt. Cmdr. Edward Munoz, Coast Guard Sector New York’s Chief of the Waterways Management Division for the New York region. “This includes home heating oil, which impacts hundreds of thousands of people in our area.”
keep reading »
Dankeschön, Darlin’ Dankeschön: Farewell to Loran C
iCommandant; The Web Journal of Admiral Thad Allen: Following certifications by me that LORAN C is not required for maritime navigation and the Secretary of Homeland Security that the LORAN C infrastructure is not required as a back up to Global Positioning System (GPS) and required public notification in the Federal Register, LORAN C operations as a system will cease operations on February 8, 2010 in U.S. waters. This will mark the end of an era. For many years this system provided precision navigation services but has now been overtaken by the more capable and precise GPS.
The decision to terminate Loran C was not taken lightly and was thoroughly reviewed beforehand. We determined last fall that termination of Loran C would not adversely affect navigation because there are sufficient aids to navigation in place to serve the mariner should GPS service be unavailable for any reason.
keep reading » | Play song from Lala.com »
Deep Water Writing Sees Sea Snow by the 
Seashore
Something that has been fascinating me lately is watching the camera feed from the ROV as it surveys the cable before and after repairs as well as cutting and gripping the cable for retrieval if need be. I have always been intrigued by what lives and grows and drifts about under the surface of water and there is no place in the world I love more than under the ocean. Seeing a live view of what’s beneath our hull as we work up cables, which happen to encourage marine growth, is mesmerizing.
Add to that the suspense generated when the ROV operator is working two manipulator arms to cut and grip a section of cable and I’m right entertained.
keep reading »
Derecktor Delivers Supertug Independence to Boston Towing and Transportation
MarEx: The tug, meant for the critical job of assisting LNG tankers, incorporates a number of features never before combined in a U.S. built tug, making it a genuinely unique vessel on the U.S. scene.
Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the tug boasts 5400hp from two 16v4000 series MTU engines driving Rolls Royce Z-drives with controllable pitch propellers. This propulsion package provides great efficiency and increased vessel speeds, along with tremendous power, evidenced by the 73.5 standard ton bollard pull measured during trials.
keep reading »
Dhaka: Committee Formed to Prepare Ship-Breaking Policy
In a briefing after the meeting, Hasan Mahmud said the prime minister in the light of the High Court order asked the ministry to formulate a new rule for flourishing ship breaking industry without causing any damage to environment.
The HC in an order on March 17, 2009, gave eight directives to the government to make the ship breaking industry environment friendly and make all ships free from dangerous chemicals before import.
keep reading »
Dragnet: “Deadliest Catch” Star Joshua Tel Warner Arrested for String of Brazen Bank Heists
EUGENE, Ore. (CBS/AP) For “Deadliest Catch” fans, cast member Joshua Tel Warner is well known for his confrontations with crew members of the fishing boat the “Wizard,” but to Oregon law enforcement he’s just a fugitive bank robber that finally got caught.
Police in Eugene, Ore., said Dec. 31, that Warner was wanted for a series of bank robberies including an Oct. 19, 2007 hit on a Washington Mutual Bank, an April 3, 2009 grab at Pacific Continental Bank and another robbery at the same bank just three weeks later.
keep reading »
Eight Bells: Coast Guard Hero Dies at 88
December 31, 2009: New York – Seymour Wittek, 88, of Ossining, N.Y., a World War II veteran who, with fellow shipmates, extinguished a fire aboard a ship laden with explosives that threatened people and property in New York City in 1943, died in the company of his family.
Wittek, a Seaman 2nd Class at the time, and Coast Guard comrades voluntarily boarded the burning S.S. El Estero – a freighter destined to re-supply U.S. troops in the European Theater – which was carrying 1,365 tons of high explosive block buster bombs, depth charges and various other explosives, after it caught fire while moored in Bayonne, N.J., April 24, 1943.
keep reading »
The El Estero Fire and How the US Coast Guard Helped Save New York Harbor » (pdf)
Falcon Catamaran Refit Stretches to Fit its Next Life
ALL AT SEA – Falcon started life on St. Kitts in 1985 when an Australian flight attendant, who had a love for the sea and sailing, commissioned her build as a lightweight semi racer. Unfortunately, the flight attendant disappeared after a down payment of $10,000 – just enough for builder, Doug Brookes, of then Brookes Boatyard, to set up and buy plywood and glue. Luckily, a friend of Brookes’ sister-in-law heard about the boat and put up the money to finisher her.
Falcon, a 53-foot sailing catamaran, was indeed designed for speed. Though Falcon’s assets and advantages as a racer were obvious, her new owner Dennis Berridge sailed her north to St. Maarten where she became a workhorse in a day charter trade, plying the waters between Phillipsburg and St. Barths…
keep reading »
Federal Maritime Commission Complaint Filed against Port of Oakland
Bryant’s Maritime Blog – The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued a notice stating that SSA Terminals (SSAT) has filed a complaint asserting that the City of Oakland, acting by and through its Board of Port Commissioners, has violated the Shipping Act of 1984.
The complaint alleges that the Port has entered into a lease agreement with a competing terminal that is more favorable in terms of rental and use of marine terminal facilities than those provided to SSAT. Docket No. 09-08
Financial Times: Tanker Owners Given Cold Comfort
The freezing conditions in recent weeks across much of the northern hemisphere have brought welcome relief to one group that saw lacklustre earnings or losses throughout 2009 – the world’s oil tanker owners.
Owners of tankers for refined oil products were the first beneficiaries after North American demand for heating oil from Europe started to surge in December. Dahlman Rose, a New York-based investment bank, said medium-range product tankers were able to command rates of $18,582 per day between Europe and the US east coast on Friday.
keep reading »
gCaptain forums have been hopping with 
all the news this week
Global Slump Hits Singapore’s 2009 Container Traffic
AFP — Singapore, one of the world’s busiest ports, said it handled 13.5 percent less container traffic in 2009 from the previous year as the global downturn squeezed world trade.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement released late Thursday the city-state handled 25.9 million standard six-metre (20-foot) container units last year, down from 29.9 million in 2008. Total cargo tonnage fell 8.9 percent to 469.6 million tonnes, the port authority said.
Great Lakes: Shippers See Worst Year in Seven Decades
BREAKBULK INDUSTRY NEWS – With the lowest cargo volume in 71 years for iron ore and the worst in 77 years for coal, the two chief backbones of U.S. Great Lakes shipping, fleet leaders are expecting better shipping in 2010 – but only mildly better.
The third biggest item for Great Lakes shipping, limestone, was down to its lowest level in 25 years, since the recession year of 1984, to 23.5 million net tons.
keep reading »
A Happy New Years to All, & Please Go Easy on the Wrens
OLD SALT: There is an old sailor’s superstition that if a sailor wears the feather of a wren killed on January 1st, he will not drown at sea. This was based on the story of mermaid who lured sailors to their deaths and who changed into the form of a wren when pursued. The mermaid was ultimately condemned to appear as a wren on New Year’s Day every year and thus to be hunted by the sailors who were once lured to their death by her song.
keep reading »
Hawsepiper; The Longest Climb: Ever See a Grown Man Cry?
What a tragedy! What a damn shame!
This afternoon I bunkered up a Russian bulk carrier. She stank to high heaven (the ship, I mean). The ship was discharging about 20,000 tons of cocoa beans, which smell exactly like feet, as it happens. Imagine the smell of 20,000 tons of feet trapped in a steel box for 3 weeks. Yeah.
Anyhow, the tragedy came at the end, when the engineer gave me a little package along with my paperwork. Such ‘gifts’ are common everywhere but here in the US. In the package were three cans of coke and three extremely cold and impossible to import bottles of Bohemia beer, the good stuff brewed in Amsterdam which ain’t exported…
keep reading »
Jakarta: Ship’s Crew Saved by Passing Fisherman
A fisherman rescued seven members of a ship’s crew after they had been floating in the open sea for almost a day following an accident, a police official said on Sunday. Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said the crew of KLM Muara Amanat was found floating on a raft east of Sebira Island, the northernmost of the Thousand Islands archipelago at around 5:30 p.m on Saturday.
keep reading »
Joisey: Reflecting on Rescue of Flight 1549 in the waters of the Hudson:
ASBURY PARK PRESS: The ditching of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River by Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger only began the Miracle on the Hudson.
The emergency water landing also relied on a massive rescue effort by crews from the NY Waterway commuter ferry service — led by Capt. Alan Warren, a Hazlet resident — to produce a happy ending.
RIGHT: The ferry Thomas Jefferson sits in the water behind Capt. Alan Warren of Hazlet, vice president of operations for NY Waterways. The ferry was first on the scene to rescue passengers from U.S. Airways Flight 1549 when it landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15. Warren directed the rescue effort.
keep reading »
See also: vhf harbor prose: salvage of the plane »
Kenya Shipping Container and Freight Truck Corruption Allegations Persist
Handy Shipping Guide - Kenya has long struggled to lose the image of a corrupt society which clings to it so persistently. The past month or so has seen an increase in the arguments over corruption, particularly in and around the Port of Mombasa with regard to mis-declaration of imported shipments in the thousands of shipping containers which pass through the docks. Now certain sections of the media have even hinted at possible links between the port and the increasing number of pirate attacks launched from neighbouring Somalia. keep reading »
BLACK PIG – Here follows the full series of Videos made by the Kenya Television network
Last Norwegian Kon-Tiki Raft Member Knut Haugland Dies
IceNews – The last surviving member of the famous balsa wood Kon-Tiki raft, which traversed the Pacific Ocean in 1947, has passed away at the age of 92. Knut Haugland, one of six members of the Norwegian crew, died in Oslo hospital of natural causes on Christmas Day.
Haugland was a famed WWII resistance fighter who was a national hero long before he joined Thor Heyerdahl’s legendary expedition from Peru in order to demonstrate that Polynesia may have been settled by South Americans. The Kon-Tiki sailed 8,000km across seas thought too treacherous to navigate at the time, particularly by a wooden raft based on drawings dating back to the Conquistadors.
keep reading »
The Mayon Volcano smolders with some fireworks of it’s own, answering those heralding the new year in Legazpi city, Albay province, south of Manila. The volcano has been spewing ash, burning mud, and rocks for more than two weeks. THE BIG PICTURE; NEW YEARS AROUND THE GLOBE »
Maersk Hires War Ship to Protect Tanker:
Danish shippers are taking more extreme measures to provide safety for the fleets sailing in pirate waters »
COPENHAGENPOST.com: Danish shipper A.P. Moller Maersk has hired out soldiers and a warship from Tanzania to protect its fleet in pirate-ridden waters off the coast of Africa, and now other shippers are expected to follow suit.
Maersk hired the warship through former special forces soldiers working for firm Guardian GBS security in December 2008. The ship was charged with protecting the Brigit Maersk tanker from pirates. It is unknown how much the shipping company paid for the service.
MARAD: More Mothballed Ships Anchored in Suisun Bay Headed for Dismantling
Vallejo Times-Herald: As a ship recycling company eyeing Vallejo continues to wade through environmental regulation permit red tape, three more World War II era-ships have been targeted for dismantling in Texas.
Contracts to clean and recycle three Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, or “mothball fleet” ships — the Rider Victory, the Winthrop Victory and the Mission Santa Ynez — were announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration.
The three new disposal contracts, worth more than $3.4 million collectively, come on the heels of two other ships removed last month.
keep reading »
Maritime Workers Strike for Big Pay Rise
Western Australia - About 200 employees of Farstad Shipping began a 48 hour strike early this morning after the company yesterday lost a last minute bid to have the industrial action deemed illegal. Chris Cain from the Maritime Union says after two days, workers will return to work for a day, before striking again
“The feeling among maritime workers at the moment, they are very, very, very angry,” he said. “My members haven’t had a wage rise for 13 or 14 months.”
keep reading »
Mexico ICA Consortium Awarded Panama Canal Contract
MEXICO CITY - A consortium including Mexican construction leader Empresas ICA SAB (ICA) was awarded Thursday a $260.8 million excavation project, the last major contract in the Panama Canal expansion.
The consortium included Spain’s Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC.MC) and Costa Rican construction firm Meco, officials at the Panama Canal Authority said.
The contract is the second-largest in the canal expansion plan after a $3.12 billion tender to build two new sets of locks–one on the Pacific side of the canal and one on the Atlantic.
keep reading »
Navy to Set Bid Terms Soon for New Warship
REUTERS: Rear Admiral Jim Murdoch, program manager for the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship, acknowledged the Navy was running about a month late with its revised acquisition procedure, but said: “It’ll be out soon. We are resolving a number of industry questions.” He said the new terms for the competition to build more LCS ships should be out within weeks, not months.
Murdoch spoke during a tour of the USS Independence, the first LCS ship completed by General Dynamics Corp, which is due to be commissioned on January 16.
keep reading »
New Cunard Cruise Liner Floated for First Time in Trieste
The new Cunard cruise liner Queen Elizabeth, the successor to the QE2, has been floated for the first time in a ceremony in an Italian shipyard
Just before the dry dock was opened, a bottle of prosecco was smashed against the side of the ship by Florence “Dennie” Farmer, 79, the widow of Willie Farmer, who served as chief engineer on both the original Queen Elizabeth and QE2.
She acted as “madrina” – or godmother – for the occasion, observing an Italian tradition for the “float out” of large ships, which entails opening floodgates at the entrance of the dry dock at the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste where the ship was welded together. Mrs Farmer’s presence and a 1938 half crown welded beneath the mast were nods towards the heyday of the 1930s of cruising with Cunard marketing its latest ship as an unashamed exercise in nostalgia.
keep reading »
This Just In - QUEEN ELIZABETH Transfer photo sequence and more on the story »
New Shipping Industry Blog Group Aims at Higher Safety & Environmental Standards
Maritime Executive - January 7th, 2010: At a press conference in London, Clay Maitland, a noted maritime executive and commentator, warned that ship quality standards are at risk due to financial cost-cutting during the present recession.
At the meeting, Mr. Maitland announced the start-up of a new website: claymaitland.com focusing on stimulating a dialogue on the environmental standards generally described as “quality issues.”
keep reading »
Nova Scotia: Sydney Marine Group forms Alliance with Ports of Philadelphia and Delaware
CAPE BRETON POST - Considered unique among North American ports, the agreement will push for the construction of a deep-water container terminal at Sydport capable of accommodating giant post-Panamax vessels of a type and size unable to enter existing continental ports except in Norfolk, Virginia.
Jim Wooder, chair of Sydney Marine Group, said the alliance complements a plan started almost three years ago that identified a number of opportunities for Sydney related to coal export and import, break bulk and project cargo, and more recently shipbuilding and ship repair.
keep reading »
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center to Provide Greater Lead Time in Watches and 
Warnings
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami will issue watches and warnings for tropical storms and hurricanes along threatened coastal areas 12 hours earlier than in previous years. According to NHC experts, advancements in track forecasts are making it possible for forecasters to provide greater lead time.
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NYPD to get Response Boat Medium – C
MARINE LOG: Kvichak Marine Industries, Seattle, Wash., is currently constructing a 44.5 ft X 13.7 ft Response Boat Medium – C for operation by the New York City Police Harbor Unit. This vessel is a sistership to the highly successful U.S. Coast Guard Response Boat Medium and has been adapted to meet the mission requirements of the NYPD Harbor Unit.
The boat will be named at a special dedication ceremony in New York City honoring an officer killed in the line of duty.
NZ: Wright Keeps Watch on the Waterfront
Otago Daily Times - The compact office of his home is an archive of details about ships and trains that have come and gone for more than half a century. It has floor-to-ceiling files and shipping registers and boxes full of black and white and colour prints and negatives.
He wanted to be an electrician, but such jobs went to servicemen returning from the World War II. So, he went painting, first for Love Construction and later for the Union Steam Ship Company. That involved painting the interiors of cabins and the hull “draught marks” on ships in the dry dock, a job that sometimes produced a bonus…
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Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Returns Historic ‘Mighty Mo’ to Battleship Row
Nearly 100 Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard men and women undocked Battleship Missouri Jan. 7 to support the return of the floating naval museum to her Ford Island berth on Battleship Row next to the USS Arizona Memorial.
As the 54,889-ton ship glided over the sill of Dry Dock 4 at noon, the “Mighty Mo” entered the harbor waters for the first time in two and half months. Missouri had been dry-docked at the Shipyard since Oct. 14 for $18 million of extensive maintenance and preservation work. It was the first time since 1992 the Missouri was serviced in dry dock.
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Port of Oakland: Air Board, Port Truckers Agree on Upgrading
SF CHRONICLE: A last-minute deal between California air pollution regulators and Port of Oakland truckers Monday will allow hundreds of big rigs to operate at the port for two weeks while they work to meet stricter requirements on diesel emissions that officially took effect for the new year Friday. keep reading »
see also: Oakland port haulers get $11 million more to help them comply
Preservation Alliance Announces 7th Annual Endangered Properties List
Philadelphia Weekly Press - The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia has announced its 7th annual Endangered Properties List, highlighting 14 significant historic resources in the region that are threatened by neglect or redevelopment proposals. The sites range from vacant church properties like Christ Memorial Church in West Philadelphia and St. Boniface Church in Norris Square to William Penn High School on N. Broad Street and the Cruiser Olympia at Penn’s Landing.
Known for its service in the Spanish-American War, this 1892 steel warship needs significant hull repairs in dry dock to ensure that it will remain afloat. keep reading »
THE PRICE WAS RIGHT: Five million dollars for an anti-whaling ship? Bob Barker says “Come on Down!” Barker donated that amount to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which named its new 1,200-ton Norwegian-built Antarctic harpoon vessel and now, anti-whaling ship after the former game show host and animal activist. See Bitter End’s COLREGS breakdown of the events »
Putin Estimates $5bln for Shipbuilding in Russian Far East by 2020
RIANOVOSTI Business – The program of civilian shipbuilding development in the Russian Far East stipulates financing estimated at $5 billion, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin 
said on Monday.
The Russian premier said that the plan involved orders from major Russian companies, including energy giant Gazprom, state-run oil company Rosneft, the largest shipping company Sovkomflot, and the production of fishing boats and specialized craft.
The first project stipulates the construction of a new shipyard for the production of drilling platforms at the Chazhma Bay near Vladivostok in a joint venture with Singapore, Putin said.
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Rowing the Atlantic – Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean
OCEAN NAVIGATOR – Roz Savage is true testimony to determination and self sufficiency. At 36 and unhappy with her life she wrote two versions of her own obituary — “the one that I wanted and the one I was headed for. They were very different.” She chose the former.
Turning her back on an 11-year career as a management consultant and facing a failing marriage she reinvented herself. She invested all she had in an ocean rowboat she named Sedna Solo in honor of the Inuit goddess of marine animals and became the first woman to enter the 2005/2006 Atlantic Rowing Race solo from the Canary Islands to Antigua.
keep reading »
Search Still Continuing for 4 Missing Crew Members of Ocean Lark
SINGAPORE NEWS: The search is still continuing for the four missing crew members of the Singapore-registered tugboat which sank off Pedra Branca early Wednesday morning. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said diving operations were hampered by bad weather conditions on Saturday.
It added that MPA will continue to inform all vessels passing the vicinity of the incident site to keep a lookout for the missing persons. Seven bodies have been recovered. Two seamen were found alive about five hours after the boat sunk. All crew members are Indonesians.
The tugboat, called Ocean Lark had left Batam, Indonesia and was headed to Matak, Indonesia, when the incident happened.
Seattle: Shipwreck Remains Found at Washaway Beach
NORTH COVE, Wash. — Washaway Beach, the sandy area between North Cove and Tokeland that is infamous for rapid erosion that causes whole houses to tumble into the ocean, now has a second reason for fame. Coastal storms in late December and early January have unearthed the remnants of a shipwreck.The large wooden piece, measuring close to 100 feet in length, contains dozens of iron spikes jutting out of the sand, just south of Warrenton Cannery Road.
Based on its location, Rex Martin, executive director of the Westport Maritime Museum said the piece is likely part of the freighter Canadian Exporter that wrecked at the mouth of Willapa Harbor in August of 1921, while en route to Portland from Vancouver, B.C., to complete loading some lumber bound for Asia.
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Show Me the Money: Shipbuilder gets boat-load of help from stimulus
One of the largest local grants received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Southern Indiana totaled $2.3 million and was awarded to Jeffboat LLC.
The grant was designated as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s Assistance to Small Shipyards program, for repair of a slipway and aerial lifts for the company.
“[The program] will help create and preserve jobs, provide valuable employment training and make much needed improvements to shipyards across the country,” said the Recovery.gov Web site.
keep reading on WorkBoat.com »
Tashmoo Trippers: Detroit, Michigan, circa 1900. “Excursionists on steamer Tashmoo.” 8×10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company.
Three Sheets NW has the backstory on the 2010 Jack Tar calendar:
Sailor pins literary hopes on sexy women of maritime »
A few years back, Kim Carver was working on commercial ships and looking for a way to finance the publication of her fledgling maritime magazine.
Though she worked in the traditionally male-dominated maritime industry, the Northwest native realized she was routinely crewing alongside women who were not just strong and accomplished, but downright sexy.
Taking a cue from the countless steamy calendars of firefighters, cheerleaders and other objects of desire, Carver rounded up some of her female friends working in the maritime industry around Seattle and photographed them in various stages of undress, on ships and in other locations.
And soon, the Sexy Women of Maritime Calendar was born…
Tim’s Times - It’s not a great time of year to be trading in the North Sea or indeed any latitude North of Gibraltar.
The picture is taken off the coast of Norway, Utsira to be precise and we had a hell of a night that went on and on. Rolling and sliding, the picture captures the moment fairly well. I wasn’t sick in the vomiting sense, but by Jaysus I was tired. Some of the boys were looking a bit green around the gills after the longest of nights, each battling his own private battle in his cabin, trying to sleep, moving onto the daybed or lying on the deck wedged into a corner, meanwhile outside the sea was boiling and churning and the sky was full of snow.
UK: Brown Hails Thames Port Project
MSN MONEY - Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that a Middle Eastern developer’s decision to go ahead with the creation of a new deep sea port on the banks of the River Thames is a “massive vote of confidence in the UK’s economic recovery”.
Mr Brown said the development of the London Gateway port on the north bank of the Thames near Thurrock, Essex, would bring jobs growth and prosperity. Developer DP World – the port arm of Dubai World – said it was pressing on with the £1.5 billion project.
keep reading »
Wall Street Journal: Loaded – Freighters Ready to Shoot Across Pirate Bow
Some Cargo Ships Break Maritime Tradition by Taking Up Arms that Many Carriers Fear That Will Threaten — Not Improve – Safety
Freighters that ferry goods in the pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia have a new and unusual cargo: armed guards.
Shipping firms in the modern era have resisted packing heat even in areas where attacks are common. Their reasoning: A firefight leading to lawsuits, damaged goods or a sunken ship could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, a sum far exceeding the few million dollars in ransom that pirates usually demand.
keep reading »
Will Shipping Stocks Sail In 2010?
SeafarerBlog.com – It often pays to be a contrarian when making investment decisions. Looking at investing in areas most others are abandoning can often lead to very rewarding investment candidates. After a terrible 2008, shares in dry bulk shipping stocks began to look cheap. As we look back on 2009, shares have not participated in the rally to the extent that others have.
What’s Wrong, Mr. Market? »
Wind Company Wades into Shipbuilding with Zero Emissions Ship
Brit wind energy company B9 unveils a zero-emissions cargo schooner; is this for real?
Environmental catharsis + economic meltdown = Plenty of innovation. The latest figure in the right-hand side of that equation is a wind energy company delving into shipping.
B9 Shipping is no wild, shot-in-the-dark kind of operation. This is an outfit with experience in ship design, wind power, biogas and offshore installation project management. As their managing director David Surplus stated in an interview: “We believe we are in a unique position to develop the first fossil fuel free ships of the new century”. I believe he’s right.
keep reading on 59° 56′ N »
Wind Turbines and Birds: The Cuisinarts of the Skies?
SkepticBlog – The main argument against wind turbines by environmentalists is that the spinning blades kill birds. When I heard this, I was skeptical.
Digging through the Intertubes, I found that it’s true. Each large, commercial wind turbine in the United States kills an average of about two birds per year. This varies a lot based on where the wind farm is. Some are right in bird migration paths, and some aren’t. But the average is about two per year per turbine. In 2001 there were 3,500 operational wind turbines in the U.S., for a grand total of 6,400 birds killed.
keep reading »
Wooden Ships on the Water
David Crosby’s Schooner Mayan for Sale »
World’s 3rd Largest Yacht: Al Said
Ranking as number three in the Top 5 Yachts of the World is the 508’ (156m) mega yacht, Al Said. Built in 2006 by Lürssen Yachts of Bremen, Germany, the Al Said reportedly cost USD $109 million and is owned by Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the Sultan of Oman. Although many of the Al Said amenities still remain a secret today, let’s take a closer look at the third ship in our list of the Top 5 Largest Yachts in the World today, the Al Said.
Founded in 1875, Lürssen Yachts has manufactured over 13,000 vessels since its inception including some of the most beautiful yachts in the world including the 377’ award winning Pelorus, 457’ Al Salamah, 260’ MadSummer, the 453’ Rising Sun and the 414’ Octopus.
keep reading »
World’s Largest Supply Vessel Goes to Work
MARINELOG: Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. has introduced the HOS Centerline, a Jones Act qualified, 370 ft multi-purpose support vessel (MPSV) to its fleet. It says that this HOS 370 design, with an 8,000 plus deadweight-ton capacity is “the largest and most diverse DP-2 classed offshore supply vessel available today.”
The HOS Centerline is the only vessel in the world to have received certifications by the United States Coast Guard allowing operations as a supply vessel, industrial/construction vessel and as a petroleum and chemical tanker.
keep reading »
WorkBoat Watch: Congress “Engaged” in 
the Maritime Industry
The first session of the 111th Congress was “engaged” when it came to maritime issues, according to the American Waterways Operators. Anne Burns, AWO spokeswoman, said that since the Democrats took over both houses of Congress, “there has been a steady increase in legislative activity affecting the maritime industry…”
Keep reading on WorkBoat.com »
Yemen Navy Charges $60,000 for Safe Passage in Pirate Waters
The Australian: YEMEN’S navy is charging commercial vessels up to $US55,000 ($60,800) each to guarantee transit through the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden under a deal that has reaped about $US30 million over 18 months.
The hiring of Yemeni military came as al-Qa’ida flourishes in the Arabian Peninsula nation, and was agreed without the apparent knowledge of Yemeni government officials or international anti-piracy military forces.
European governments and the US have vowed to boost counter-terrorism funding, intelligence-sharing and training for Yemen’s coastguard and defense forces to fight extremists.
keep reading »
See you next week!
WINTER BOATS: Port of Hamburg by horstdesign
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