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It’s the classic scenario from the Academy… You are the stand on vessel with no room to maneuver and a zero CPA contact is bearing down on you. You try the radio but no answer… what do you do next?

This post doesn’t answer the question but gives you other options not available when you were at the academy.

Use your AIS & VHF DSC:

1. Head to the AIS and get the contact’s MMSI number & name
2. Enter the number into your VHF DSC controller
3. Select a working frequency.
   
4. Hit send then start hailing on the working channel

What happens next is the GMDSS alarm will go off and his VHF will change to a working frequency. If he was away from the bridge he’ll have to return to silence the alarm at which point he hears your hail.

What if the alarm doesn’t wake him or he has it disabled?

CALL HIS BOSS

1. Get his name from the AIS.
2. Look him up in your ITU pub.
3. Find his INMARSAT-B number and call him.

Why does this work? As it was explained to me “Most captains have an INMARSAT-B extension in their office, most captains spend most of their time in their office. Most of the time the captain will answer the phone and rectify the problem post-haste.” …smile

The Star Tribune points us to a new prehistoric discovery;

Remains of a bus-sized prehistoric “monster” reptile found on a remote Arctic island may be a new species never before recorded, researchers said Tuesday.

Initial excavation on the Svalbard islands, 300 miles north of Norway’s mainland, in August yielded the remains, teeth, skull fragments and vertebrae of a reptile estimated to measure nearly 40 feet long, said Joern Harald Hurum of the University of Oslo. It appears to be the same species as a sea predator whose remains were found nearby last year.

Hurum’s team described those 150-million-year-old remains as belonging to a short-necked plesiosaur measuring more than 30 feet — “as long as a bus … with teeth larger than cucumbers.” It was a voracious reptile often described as the Tyrannosaurus rex of the oceans.

CLICK HERE for the project team’s website.

We have taken a look at ways to harness the ocean’s immense power before but this alternative energy solutions is slightly different. Using subsea moorings and 100′ diameter turbines this solution targets Gulf Stream currents to produce power. Inhabitat.com tells us;

The idea is to have underwater turbines placed right in the middle of the Gulf Stream current. The turbines are designed to be about 100 feet in diameter. These will be connected to a buoy that holds the electricity generating equipment. The gulf stream carries billions of gallons per minute, so the impact of these turbines would be minimal if negligible to the current itself.

Look for the first prototype to be launched by Dania Beach Florida based Center of Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology in the first quarter of 2008.

(You can find related multimedia HERE)

 

 Prototype Subsea Ocean Current Turbine - Animation [0:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Question: What is The most dangerous hour in shipping?

Answer: 22:24 to 23:45

There are three watches aboard ship 00-04 (i.e. 0000 to 0400 and 1600 to 2200) is often stood by the Second Mate. 04-08 is often stood by the Chief Mate. 08-12 is stood by the Third Mate.

The C/M stands the 04-08 so he’s up and ready for the day workers to start work at 0800 and the Third Mate is given the 08-12 because the Captain is usually awake from 0600 to 2200 and is available to help the most junior watch officer.

But… from the time the Captain goes to bed till the Second Mate arrives for watch (at around 23:30) the Third Mate is the only deck officer that is awake. Not a problem if the Third has experiance but when green mates meet in restricted waters two ships passing in the night is anything but poetic.

Want to know more about The Protector? Popular Mechanics tells us;

Robots versus pirates—it’s not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase in worldwide pirate attacks this year.

The Protector, which comes mounted with a 7.62mm machine gun, wasn’t originally intended for anti-piracy operations. But according to BAE Systems spokesperson Stephanie Moncada, the robot could easily fill that role. “Down the line, it could potentially be modified for commercial use as well,” she says. Instead of being deployed by a warship to intercept and possibly fire on an incoming vessel, a non-lethal variant of the Protector could be used to simply investigate a potential threat. Continue Reading…

Also be sure to check out BitterEnd’s video find: Tres Cool - RIB boarding a Chinook

Photo by OneEighteen

We have some bad news to report for mates working the 00-04 watch. Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a “probable” cause of cancer. The Associated Press tells us;

Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen.

The higher cancer rates don’t prove working overnight can cause cancer. There may be other factors common among graveyard shift workers that raise their risk for cancer.

However, scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm, the body’s biological clock. The hormone melatonin, which can suppress tumor development, is normally produced at night.

If the graveyard shift theory eventually proves correct, millions of people worldwide could be affected. Experts estimate that nearly 20 percent of the working population in developed countries work night shifts.

They continue;

Scientists believe having lower melatonin levels can raise the risk of developing cancer. Light shuts down melatonin production, so people working in artificial light at night may have lower melatonin levels.

Sleep deprivation may be another factor in cancer risk. People who work at night are not usually able to completely reverse their day and night cycles.

“Night shift people tend to be day shift people who are trying to stay awake at night,” said Mark Rea, director of the Light Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, who is not connected with the IARC analysis.

Not getting enough sleep makes your immune system vulnerable to attack, and less able to fight off potentially cancerous cells.

Confusing your body’s natural rhythm can also lead to a breakdown of other essential tasks. “Timing is very important,” Rea said. Certain processes like cell division and DNA repair happen at regular times.

Even worse than working an overnight shift is flipping between daytime and overnight work.

“The problem is re-setting your body’s clock,”

This article continues with advice and links for more information. To access it CLICK HERE.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers at home and away at sea. Since launching gCaptain in late May we have logged over 100,000 unique visitors and over 300,000 pageviews and are very thankful for your support in spreading the word.

Panbo, the marine electronics blog, brings us today’s gCaptain Holiday Gift Suggestion. The unit is the SPOT Satellite Messenger & Emergency Locater and it’s fairly amazing.

First a note. This is not a substitute for the most important safety item aboard ship an EPIRB. If you are looking for the best personal emergency solution we recommend the ACR - ResQFix 406 GPS Personal Locater Beacon (PLB) . (EPIRBS are know as PLB’s when used for personal use and ELT’s in aviation).

So what can the SPOT do? Basically it is a unit that updates your position on a google map which your friends can log into and track your position. It also has extensive emergency locating features at a fraction of the price of a PLB or EPIRB. Panbo tells us;

The just announced Spot is a waterproof Globalstar messenger and GPS combo that will purportedly let you alert the authorities (at least the U.S. ones) [we know it uses GEOS SAR but doesn't have global coverage) with your position, or ask for help from your friends or just notify them of where you are, or build an online track of your travels. It will be available in November for $149 with an annual service contract ranging from $99 upwards depending on what features you want to use. There’s not much detail on the Spot site yet, except for some pretty extreme fear marketing, but I’d guess that this product will get some real attention, even from some boaters. And I’m glad that, unlike TracMe, Spot is not confusing the market place by using the term Personal Locator Beacon (PLB).

For $149 at Amazon this seems like a bargain to give your family some extra peace of mind and let your kids track your position at sea from your home computer (check with your ISPS DP for your company's policy). [Continue Reading →]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue Reading….

Kappsized Clarification?!

By James MacGuire

In my last article Kappsized or Scuttled?!, I forwarded a client question which was, “Do I HAVE to file these amended returns?” regarding recent amended returns sent to former clients of Martin Kapp. I answered “no” with respect to the question. It has come to my attention that this may have been incorrectly interpreted. Treasury Regulations, specifically §1.451-1(a) state If a taxpayer ascertains that an item should have been included in gross income in a prior taxable year, he should, if within the period of limitation, file an amended return and pay any additional tax due. This is not an obligation (have, must), but a recommendation (should). Please be aware that not filing an amended return could result in the assessment of additional interest and penalties. Filing an amended return does not excuse you from interest and penalties either. Interest and penalties generally keep accruing until you pay the amount due.

Here’s the bottom line. You cannot deduct meals while onboard a vessel if meals are provided for you. If you took these deductions on prior returns, it was in error, either knowingly or unknowingly. The IRS is entitled to the difference between the original and amended tax due.

Making matters worse, I’m fearful of additional acts that could occur in the future. Generally speaking, there is a three year statute of limitations for the audit of income tax returns. Fraud is NOT subject to this statute. Fraud can be audited indefinitely. It has often been stated that for fraud to apply, it needs to be on the part of the taxpayer and not solely the preparer. THIS NO LONGER APPEARS TO BE THE CASE. A recently released tax court memorandum http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/InOpHistoric/vallen.TC.WPD.pdf held a taxpayer liable for fraud committed solely by the preparer with respect to the statute of limitations. The IRS was allowed to audit past the statute when only the preparer committed fraud. This suggests that the IRS could audit Mr. Kapp’s former clients for years past the current three year period. How far? From the point that the fraudulent positions were taken is my guess. This also suggests that the IRS could wait until you are collecting social security to audit those returns.

I hope this doesn’t happen. To my knowledge there haven’t been any public statements of position from the Service on this issue. The only sure thing is that time will tell…..

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This article was written for gCaptain.com by James MacGuire, MaguireTaxes.com