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
[Continue Reading →]
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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
Generally speaking, Mondays are our biggest days here at gCaptain.com in terms of visitors to the site. I know I spend enough time sitting in front of a computer during the week that the last thing I want to be doing on my time off is surfing around the web, so I tend to wait until Monday to get up to speed on all my favorite sites.
This Monday was particularly good for us, but rather than thinking that everyone was just so excited to get their gCaptain fix when back in front of their computers, we had to investigate.
Turns out that the Wall Street Journal did an article titled “The Mega Containers Invade.” It points to the fact that despite the current credit crisis that is sinking its teeth into the shipping industry, especially for container shippers, companies with the means are still building a record number of giant vessels that might very well knock the smaller players out of the game.
So how was this good for gCaptain? Well it gave mention to the recently delivered 13,800 TEU, MSC Daniela. And if you put the keywords “msc daniela” into google, gCaptain ranks number 1. So, to repay the favor for the 1,000 or so hits we received, here is a snippet of the article with a link back to the WSJ: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · Container Ship, maritime security, MSC
After reading our posts (HERE and HERE) on less-than-lethal anti-piracy weapons, which system do you think has the best chance of success against Somali pirates? [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · anti_piracy, maritime security, piracy, poll, weapons
Photo By Cayusa
Note: This article was originally posted in The Maritime Executive Newsletter and can be found HERE.
The dynamic in the Gulf Of Aden is changing by the day. The last two weeks brought news of two separate attacks on Cruise Ships and a determined attack against a convoy under the protection of an Italian navy destroyer. The one constant in the region is a general lack of answers to the question; “How do we keep our vessels and crews safe?” The international shipping community, government organizations like the European Union and corporations like Global Rescue LLC, a US based rescue, evacuation and security company (LINK), are engaged in developing solutions. [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · ISPS Code, maritime security, piracy
gCaptain made an unscheduled stop this week at the Maritime Security Expo in Long Beach. The event showcases new technology and ideas that improve the security of ports and vessels. The following is a sampling of the best new technology we tested at the event:
Incident Commanders’ Radio Interface
The Incident Commander’s Radio Interface is a system developed by C-AT to allow ‘bridges’ any two incompatible radio, cell, satellite, and landline phones, providing interoperability across frequencies. Developed to allow firefighters, police and other first responders to communicate together this device also has many uses aboard ship.
Having worked aboard a offshore drillship there were times, like during well testing, when half a dozen or more third party companies were working on deck. Each company operated a different type of radio broadcasting on a separate channel. This worked well during normal operations but during emergencies communication with these teams of workers became difficult.
How does it work? [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · Gear, ISPS Code, LRAD, maritime security, security, technology
Danica White Hijacking
The English translation to the DANICA WHITE hijacking is now available. As previously mentioned, the ship’s crew is partly to blame for the incident, as they failed to maintain a proper watch:
If there had been proper lookout from DANICA WHITE, the pirate boats could have been spotted app. 30 minutes before they reached DANICA WHITE. However, due to the slow speed of the ship, DANICA WHITE could not have sailed away from the pirates, but the crew would have been able to raise the alarm in time and shown the pirates that they had been spotted. (6.5) – DMA (page 5)
Here is a list of who was on the ship. The ship had an absurdly low crew of five:
That’s it. Two Captains, two Ordinary Seamen (OS) (an entry-level position which requires little more than a heartbeat) and a cook to feed them. No experienced crew. No Able-bodied Seaman (AB) for the Ordinary Seamen to learn from. No Bosun to oversee them, no time for the Captain or Mate to supervise them, other than when they were on the bridge, no additional watchstanding officer to keep working time on the bridge to eight hours a day per officer, leaving four hours of overtime available for other activities and no engineers to maintain the machinery or to figure out any problems if the ship’s engine or generator decide to stop working on it’s own.
Here is how the work was organized on the ship:
Normally, DANICA WHITE had a crew of 6 men, the master, the mate, three OSs and one cook.
The sea watch on board was arranged in such a way that the master and the mate had a 6 – 6 hours schedule as the navigators on duty. Two out of the three OSs also had similar 6 – 6 hours schedule as lookout man/helmsman. OS 3 was a day man and did not take the sea watch. The OS on duty worked with the day man within normal working hours (08 – 17).
In port, the OSs kept an entrance log at the gangway. (Page 16)
Basically, this ship did not have enough crew to maintain a proper lookout. In my experience, Ordinary Seaman just don’t count. Sure they contribute, but that is not exactly their purpose, especially when it comes to contributing to a bridge lookout.
An Ordinary Seaman (OS) is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The position is an apprenticeship to become an Able Seaman, and has been for centuries. In modern times, an OS is required to work on a ship for a specific amount of time, gaining what is referred to as “sea time.” Once a sufficient amount of sea time is acquired, the OS can apply to take a series of courses, and then a series of examinations to become certified as an able seaman.
An OS is generally not required to stand watch, but must pass examinations on watchstanding skills such as performing lookout duty and being a helmsman. Thus an OS will often be found on a ship’s bridge after working hours taking a turn at the ship’s wheel or being familiarized with bridge equipment.
During the apprenticeship, an OS performs a variety of duties concerned with the operation and upkeep of deck department areas and equipment. These duties vary with the type of ship, the type of voyage, the number of crewmembers, the weather, the supervisor, and any number of other variables. However, in most cases, one can expect an ordinary seaman to clean, to perform maintenance, to work with deck equipment, and to undergo on-the-job-training under the supervision of senior deck department members. – Wikipedia
It is nice to have them onboard to do the menial tasks, so that the able-bodied seaman can take care of other things, or give them an extra set of hands to take care of larger tasks. So, this ship really had a crew of two. (The equivalent position in the engine room is ‘Wiper’. Can you guess the type of work that he does?) To prove my point that you can’t count on ordinaries to safely mann the ship, take a look at what happened on this ship: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · Danica White, hijacking, ISPS Code, maritime security, piracy, terrorism
American Airlines Passenger planes at JFK will be outfitted with a new missile defense system. Gothamist tells us:
The Dept. of Homeland Security is funding the installation of a number of anti-missile defense systems on commercial jets flying in and out of JFK Airport. The tests are the third stage of testing of a system that is already used by military aircraft. The defense system consists of equipment affixed to the bottom of the aircraft that electronically jams the heat-seeking component of shoulder filed missiles. The latter are referred to as man portable air defense systems, or MANPADs. The current test of the anti-MANPAD systems on jets is to see how the equipment holds up on the real world operating conditions of a commercial jet.
Could missile defense systems soon be mandated for cruise ships and is this something the industry would welcome or reject? The airline industry has strong opinions on the subject:
American Airlines contends that money would be better spent physically securing the approach and departure zones around the nation’s airports.
Read More over at Gothamist and Engadget and for more missile tech news read “Japan to attempt missile intercept in space from ship off Hawaii”
To learn more be sure to visit this year’s Maritime Security Expo
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Tags: · cruise_ships, ISPS Code, maritime security
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. 
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