M/V Gaurav Prem. Photo (c) Mercator Limited

The former captain of a Panama-flagged bulk carrier M/V Gaurav Prem that discharged hundreds of plastic pipes into the ocean, has been convicted by a jury in Mobile, AL, on two counts of obstruction of justice, including obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the vessel in the port of Mobile on Sept. 21, 2011.

During the trial, witnesses testified that Captain Prastana Taohim, 38, ordered the ship’s chief officer to throw hundreds of plastic pipes into the ocean and not record the discharge in the ship’s garbage record book as required.  Taohim then knowingly made the garbage record book available during a Coast Guard inspection of the vessel in the Port of Mobile, Ala., on Sept. 21, 2011. The plastic pipes had previously contained insecticide and were used to fumigate a grain shipment. The discharge of plastic into the sea is prohibited under the International Convention to Prevent Pollution from Ships, known as MARPOL.

Taohim was found guilty in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Alabama for obstructing the Coast Guard’s inspection of the ship The jury also found the defendant guilty of one count of obstruction of justice related to covering up the pollution by creating a false and fictitious garbage log.

The M/V Gaurav Prem is a 73,901 dwt bulk carrier owned by Mercator Limited of Singapore.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 15, 2012.

M/V AQUAROSA

A federal judge in the United States has awarded Salvador Lopez, a former 3rd Engineer from the MV AQUAROSA, $462,500.  The court’s order is provided here.  But there may be even more reward money for Lopez in the months to come.  The Filipino seafarer may collect an additional $462,500 depending on how the judge rules in another aspect of the case.

The award was made for his role in providing information of intentional MARPOL violations involving a ”magic pipe” which had been occuring on the vessel starting from its maiden voyage in June 2010.   Because the company and the government agreed to a payment plan as part of a plea agreement, the first installment to Lopez will be paid on May 25, 2012.   Prosecutors had previously asked the court to limit the the attorneys fees Lopez would have to pay his attorney, if an award was made.   The court approved the award and ruled that it ”…sees no reason to delay payment of the award in this case to Salvador Lopez while resolving counsel’s fee issues.”  So it is expected that the court will scrutinize and have to approve any attorneys fees paid to Lopez’s attorney – to ensure those fees are not unreasonable or excessive.

One of the defendants in the case, EFPLOIA SHIPPING Company, had filed opposition to whistblower payments, as discussed in more detail in a prior post.  If the judge does not find EFPLOIA’s arguments to be persuasive, Lopez stands to be awarded an additional $462,500.

Investigations into the violation began in February 2011 after Lopez had apparently taken over 300 photos on his cell phone documenting the violations and provided them to the Coast Guard in Baltimore.

This post is authored by Luke Reid of Reid Law, LLC, with gCaptain editing, and originally appeared on ReidLawus.com. It is republished here with permission.

KL: IMO will shortly be attending the Conference of Parties [COP17] for the UNFCCC in Durban, what message is the Organization taking to that meeting?

EV: The main message will be to encourage the parties to UNFCCC to continue to entrust the International Maritime Organization with the control of greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, and of course a central part of our message will be the successful outcome of MEPC62 this July when governments adopted amendments to Annex 6 to introduce mandatory energy efficiency measures for ships engaged in international trade.

KL: There seems to be concern that overall emissions from shipping may not fall even after the new IMO regulations take effect, but isn’t that a function of global demand for trade, and therefore outside the scope of any technical regulation?

EV: You’re absolutely right.  Due to the continued demand for shipping services that again is a result of world trade, or increase in world trade, the technical and operational measures can act the best lead to the establishment of shipping emissions, but it will not lead to an overall total reduction.  That is why IMO is continuing it’s work to control greenhouse gases with both to expand the technical measures to other ship types, and also working on a market-based measure to provide additional incentive for the shipping industry to invest in more fuel efficient ships, and to operate them even more fuel-efficiently than today.

KL: A recent study suggests that the volume of greenhouse gas emission reductions from international shipping resulting from applying the mandatory measures adopted by the IMO will be even greater than first envisaged.  Can you expand on that?

EV: Yes, I’m happy to expand on that.  Following the adoption in July, the IMO Secretariat commissioned a study to look into the detailed affects the adopted measures will actually produce, and it’s very promising that by 2020 we will see a reduction by 100 to 200 million tons, or between 10 and 17 percent reduction over business as usual.  And if you go further down the line to 2030, the reduction will be between 200 and 400 million tons, or in percent, an 18 to 27% reduction over business as usual.  If you go all the way down to 2050, we will see a reduction between 35 and 40% compared to business as usual.  Meaning that a ship in 2050 will be twice as efficient as it is today due to the new regulations.  The operational measures will have an immediate affect, while in the longer term, it will be the design index that will be the main driver of change.

KL:  The recent amendments to MARPOL Annex 6 that you referred to earlier have established the first-ever mandatory regime for an industry sector, is IMO organizing workshops or training to assist with their implementation?

EV: Actually, we have already had the two first workshops.  One took place in Singapore last week and as we speak, the second one is about to conclude in Durban, South Africa, so that is very fitting that we have one here and one in Durban.  We have planned activities of about 20 workshops over the next two years to assist, in particular, developing countries to implement and enforce the new measures.

KL: Is IMO’s work connected with other UN organizations such as UNIP?

EV: Yes, definitely.  IMO is part of the UN family, the UN system, and a lot of our work is very closely linked to the work of, in particular, UNEP, but also other UN agencies such as UNDP and of course our greenhouse gas work is closely linked to what happens in the global negotiations under UNFCCC.

To find out more about IMO’s work, find them online at www.IMO.org

AP Photo/Santa Barbara News-Press, Mike Eliason

ABERDEEN, Scotland (Dow Jones)–The organization tasked with policing safety on U.K. North Sea oil and gas installations said Wednesday it is prepared to change the way it publishes information on leaks and other incidents, amid criticism of a lack of transparency around Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA) recent spill at the Gannet Alpha platform.

“There has been pressure on us to be more transparent, there is more expected on this,” said Steve Walker, head of the Health and Safety Executive’s offshore division. “We could do it in a more attributable way.”

Walker said the HSE could by next year release more detailed information identifying companies responsible for safety and environmental breaches.

“There is now a drive for us to actually release that data [and say] ‘here is a hydrocarbon release by so and so on such a such a such date,’” said Walker.

Under the current system, interested parties have request data under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows citizens to obtain sensitive documents held by public service organizations.

However, criticism has mounted in recent weeks following an undersea pipeline leak at a Shell platform and the subsequent release of crude oil into the North Sea, the U.K.’s biggest spill in a decade. HSE data obtained under the Act showed the company to be among the worst offenders when it came to recent hydrocarbon releases.

Walker said any move to “name and shame” negligent operators would have to be done in accord with the industry.

“We are in discussions with Oil and Gas UK, because it is a sensitive issue, and if we are going to chance it we need to get the views of the industry, and I think they are pretty supportive of that,” said Walker.

-By Alexis Flynn, Dow Jones Newswires

June 7, 2011

Good morning everyone! Let me begin with some heartfelt thanks to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation — Jason Patlis, Jeb Berman and the foundation staff.

Your diligence and dedication have made Capitol Hill Oceans Week an important and informative June tradition.  Everyone in this room, and those of you joining us by webcast, are part of our burgeoning ocean community. Each of you has been a vital force in making healthy oceans a priority for the nation.  You are the people who understand and deliver the messages that healthy oceans matter, that healthy oceans are important for American prosperity, and that healthy oceans are everyone’s business. That is my theme today.

As we come together to talk about the oceans’ role in global security and American prosperity, it is fitting that on Thursday, President Obama declared this month National Oceans Month.

Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because our oceans are critical to life in the United States, to the nations of the world, and to our planet.  Oceans are a keystone in our economic progress, our national security and our natural heritage.

Whether we talk about marine commerce, sustainable commercial fisheries, recreational fishing, boating, tourism or energy production, the ocean in all of these endeavors provides people with jobs as well as the services that strengthen our economy.

So … Just how much do the oceans contribute to the American economy?

According to the National Ocean Economics Program, in 2007 the ocean economy generated over 2.3 million jobs and more than $138 billion of the GDP of the United States. One hundred fifty six million people live in coastal counties, where they hold 69 million jobs that contribute $7.9 trillion to the Nation’s economy.

That inseparable connection between the health of the ocean, the health of the American economy, the health of the job market and the well-being of people emerged as an indelible message from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.

As an unprecedented environmental disaster, the Deepwater Horizon spill oiled over 1,000 miles of shoreline, 3/5 of them in Louisiana. Although the vast majority of the oil in the Gulf is now gone, oil remains close to shore in many of these Louisiana coastal areas, and the effects on Gulf ecosystems and communities will be felt for years. Communities and economies throughout the Gulf were devastated by the spill.

While a cooperative Natural Resource Damage Assessment process is well underway, it will be some time yet before we have a clear picture of the full impact of the spill.

On April 21, NOAA and the other federal and state Natural Resources Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill announced that BP will pay $1 billion as a down payment on restoration.  These efforts will reap local, regional and national benefits and build on the major commitment to restoration already demonstrated in the Gulf. Trustees will use the funds for projects such as rebuilding coastal marshes, replenishing damaged beaches and conserving fish and wildlife habitat injured as a result of the spill. They are actively working with citizens, local officials, environmental organizations and others to develop a comprehensive list of projects to be considered for early restoration.

The events of Deepwater Horizon call loudly to us for action. Deepwater Horizon says that we need to pay attention now to effectively manage and conserve oceans — or in Carl Safina’s words, we need to learn “to use oceans without using them up.”

And we are paying attention, and acting. We are entering a new era in ocean governance.  An era when we embrace holistic, ecosystem-based management of our oceans.  An era when our scientific understanding of the impacts of humans on coastal and ocean ecosystems is being used to inform our management decisions.  An era when policy connects jobs, communities, and economies with healthy ecosystems.

The Nation’s first ever National Ocean Policy established last July embodies these principles. This policy — the National Policy for Stewardship of the Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes — is aboutgood governance – governance informed by sound science. This policy says “healthy oceans matter” in black and white.

With its bold vision for more holistic, ecosystem-based management of our oceans, the National Ocean Policy fully recognizes the critical importance of partnerships — partnerships that collaborate, cooperate, and coordinate across the federal government, across state, local, regional and tribal levels, and within communities themselves.

All ocean users — from recreational and commercial fishermen, boaters, and industry, to environmental groups, scientists, and the public — will have a say in planning for, managing, and sustaining the many human uses that healthy oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes support.

Ultimately, the goal is less waste and conflict, more efficiency, and savings for American taxpayers.  This common-sense planning helps us take care of our ocean resources. And it also creates predictability, and fosters a better climate for investment.

The National Ocean Policy opens a critical window of opportunity. But, to move forward, we must:

• Improve alignment between our scientific understanding and decisions;
• Reevaluate existing policies and practices to build a more sustainable future; and
• Invest in the knowledge, institutions and partnerships that enable sustainable use.

Since July, we’ve been working hard to get the National Ocean Policy up and running by getting the federal family in order.  The Governance Coordinating Committee, a group of state, local and tribal representatives that will serve as a key coordinating body for the National Ocean Policy, has already convened and will be meeting again this month.  We also are working to develop strategic action plans for each of the priorities we’ve set for the oceans. Topics range from water quality to ocean observations to improving coordination of the multiple diverse entities involved in ocean management.  We released outlines for these strategic action plans for public review.

Over the month of June, we hope you will provide us with your thoughts about these outlines and attend a public listening session near you.  Your first chance will be the listening session this Thursday night, from 6:00-8:30 p.m., at the Women’s Memorial at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. As they say in the South: Y’all come!

A key upcoming event is the National Workshop on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, from June 21-23. Workshop participants can learn about Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning and help frame how it can be used to harmonize the often competing uses of ocean and Great Lake waters, such as national security, energy and economic security, and conservation.

If you have not already signed up to attend the public day of the workshop here in Washington, D.C., on the 21st, you can catch it via live webcast at www.doi.gov/live.  And soon — stay tuned! — we will begin to work with states and tribes to create the regional planning bodies that will work on CMSP.

We realize the policy’s vision will not be easy, but I am hopeful. Those of us who worked hard on it are committed to having it succeed. For example, NOAA has realigned many of its working groups to be maximally supportive and effective and is developing memoranda of understanding with other agencies to ensure strong partnerships.

Let me now turn to exploring some of the ways in which healthy oceans are indeed everyone’s business — not just coastal residents’, not just ocean champions’ — but EVERYONE’S. I will highlight four arenas in which this is true: seafood, habitat restoration, marine commerce and energy.

Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because oceans have provided people with food since the origin of coastal civilizations.

• Today, a billion people worldwide depend on seafood as their primary source of protein. The concept of “food security,” therefore, must include fisheries and aquaculture.
• We Americans are no exception. We consume about 5 billion pounds of seafood each year.
• U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries and aquaculture result in more than $160 billion in sales and 1.9 million jobs in U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries.
• These 1.9 million jobs make our waterfronts working waterfronts.

Who are these workers?

They are the boat captains and their crews, the oyster farmers and workers in seafood processing plants. They are the charter boat operators that make it possible for others to get out on the water to fish. They are the truckers transporting seafood from the dock to processors and elsewhere.  They are the retailers selling us key ingredients for seafood dinners in our homes, and the chefs, cooks, and wait staff that serve them to us in restaurants.

Healthy oceans support healthy fisheries and food security, while supplying jobs and strengthening the economy.

Prior to 1976 — the nation’s bicentennial — federal management of marine fisheries was almost nonexistent. That year, in 1976, the Magnuson-Stevens Act spurred a movement to end overfishing and rebuild depleted stocks.  This year we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. And thanks to its vision and courageous action, we are turning the corner on ending overfishing.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act put the U.S. on track to end overfishing in federally managed fisheries, rebuild stocks, and ensure conservation and sustainable use of ocean resources.  Today, fisheries harvested in the U.S. are scientifically monitored, regionally managed, and legally enforced under 10 strict national standards for sustainability.

We are on track for annual catch limits and accountability to be in place for all 528 federally managed fish stocks and complexes by the end of 2011.

With the rebuilding of fisheries underway, we are beginning to see real benefits for fishermen, fishing communities, and for our commercial and recreational fishing industries.  Rebuilding all U.S. fish stocks would add an additional $31 billion in sales impacts, support an additional 500,000 jobs — that is a half MILLION jobs — and increase annual dockside revenues by more than 50 percent.

We must continue to invest in the science that diminishes uncertainty in fisheries and assures levels of harvest are monitored so that we maintain sustainable levels. Only then can we realize the potential of fully sustainable fisheries domestically and continue to pursue exporting these practices internationally where real challenges to our ocean’s living marine resources still exist.

U.S. and worldwide demand for seafood will continue to grow as the population and consumer awareness of seafood’s health benefits grow. And, as we are ending overfishing we must simultaneously build a sustainable aquaculture industry here in the U.S.

Already, aquaculture plays a far larger role in seafood supply than many people know:

• Approximately 84 percent of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, and about half of that comes from foreign aquaculture.
• In 2009, aquaculture crossed the threshold of providing more than half of all seafood consumed worldwide. Yet, U.S. aquaculture provides only about 5 percent of the seafood consumed in the United States.
• Driven by imports, the U.S. seafood trade deficit has grown to over $9 billion annually — the highest it’s ever been. There is clearly an opportunity for growth in this industry. If done wisely, aquaculture can complement wild fisheries while contributing to healthy oceans and coastal economies.
• In February of this year, the Department of Commerce and NOAA jointly released draft Aquaculture Policies for public comment. The public comment period ended on April 11. Once the policies are in place, NOAA will work with partners to create initiatives that encourage growth of sustainable aquaculture.

We can see how sustainable aquaculture creates multiple benefits by taking a look at Perry Raso, an oyster farmer in Rhode Island.

In 2002, Perry started his oyster farm. Two years ago, he opened a seafood restaurant next door. He now has seven full-time employees who tend the oyster farm and 130 people working in his restaurant.

When asked about the future of aquaculture, Perry says, “Aquaculture … has to be done in a sustainable manner. Otherwise, the industry will shoot itself in the foot. Whether it’s inshore or offshore, aquaculture needs to be well thought out, sustainable and accepted by all the user groups, including coastal property owners, fishermen, boaters and others.”

Perry is also involved in a restoration project to bring the oysters back to a local pond.

Perry Raso shows us one way that working waterfronts help rebuild America.

Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because healthy coasts and oceans are the sine qua non for vibrant coastal communities.

Habitat restoration presents another golden opportunity to create jobs and restore the plethora of benefits that come from healthy coastal habitats. Habitat restoration is stimulating the local economy in the small town of Bayou la Batre in Alabama.

Bayou la Batre sits in the southwestern tip of Alabama in Mobile County. You may know it from the movie Forrest Gump. Bayou la Batre is a seafood processing harbor serving hundreds of shrimp and fishing boats, shipbuilding and locally owned and operated shipyards.

Even before Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike left their marks on Bayou le Batre, coastal wetlands and fishery resources were declining. In 2011, Deepwater Horizon struck yet another blow.

Bayou la Batre was selected to receive Recovery Act funding from NOAA for habitat restoration. Partnered with The Nature Conservancy, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, and the University of South Alabama, the town installed a submerged breakwater reef along two stretches of shoreline, protected more than 18 acres of habitat for submerged aquatic vegetation and created almost two acres of oyster reef.

The project director, a Bayou la Batre native and former oysterman, hired out-of-work oystermen to construct and place reefs. That project director was a real skeptic. He didn’t think the project would work. Fast forward to today: Lo and behold, fishermen are bringing in large catches of flounder near the restored reef, and biological monitoring shows early evidence of fish and oyster recovery at the site. Real jobs and more fish changed the project director’s mind.

Though the town is small, this success is a big one for them. This small example shows that restoration creates jobs, sparks economic and ecosystem benefits, while making healthy oceans and resilience real for one waterfront community.

• Elsewhere across the country, $167 million of NOAA’s ARRA funds were allocated to 50 restoration projects. By the end of 2012, approximately 1,000 direct jobs will have been created by these projects.
• Upon completion, these projects will have restored more than 8,700 acres of habitat, opened more than 700 stream miles for fish to migrate and spawn, removed more than 850 metric tons of debris, and protected 11,750 acres to reduce threats to coral reefs — all in coastal areas around the U.S. The restored habitats, in turn, will support and sustain fishing and tourism jobs and local communities.
• From the demand we saw for ARRA monies, the need for restoration funds and the jobs that come with them is clear. We received 814 applications totaling $3 billion for shovel-ready projects and could only fund 50 of them totaling $167 million.

Restoration is not only good for the oceans, coasts and Great Lakes, restoration is good for economic recovery.

Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because the oceans are home to America’s ports, part of America’s core infrastructure.

Ports are the nation’s centers of marine transportation and commerce, and centers of the oil and gas industry and chemical facilities.

According to U.S. Department of Transportation and Department of Energy, marine transportation is the engine of our economy. Ports move more than 77 percent of our overseas trade by weight and 48 percent by value in 2008. This includes 9 million barrels of oil a day or roughly 47 percent of the oil needed to meet our annual energy requirements.

About 2/3 of the goods we buy come to us by ship. Marine transportation now contributes more than $1 trillion and 13 million jobs to the American economy.  Maritime trade has doubled over the last 50 years, and the U.S. will see continued growth as we look to marine transportation as an energy-efficient alternative to land and air transport.

• This year, more than 135 ships are likely to be involved in costly ship groundings, potentially lethal collisions and other accidents.
• Stoppage of traffic on the Mississippi River costs approximately $250 million per day.

Just outside of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish, the Huey P. Long Bridge crosses the Mississippi River.

On a hot, hot day, the 135-foot bridge might sag 3 to 4 feet. Large ships passing under the bridge need real-time bridge clearance. And ships are bigger than they’ve ever been, pushing the limits of channel depth and bridge clearance.

When stoppage itself costs upwards of $250 million per day, real-time data and round-the-clock availability are critical. NOAA’s Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems, or PORTS, does just that.

• Available 24/7, 365 days a year by web or phone, PORTS provides ship pilots and mariners real-time tide, current, bridge clearance, and weather data.
• During data trials of the lower Mississippi PORTS, the system’s air gap technology enabled a new $1B Navy ship, the USS New York, to pass safely down the Mississippi and clear the Huey P. Long bridge with two feet to spare.  That’s accurate!

When ports are hit by hurricanes, NOAA’s rapid response hydrographic survey ships often are the first to help survey and re-open damaged port areas.  These same ships are part of NOAA’s charting program responsible for surveying and mapping the 3.4 million square nautical miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, the largest in the world.  Navigation rights and freedoms are essential for the global economy and for security.  We need accurate positioning for navigation, for flood risk determination, levee construction, emergency preparedness, air traffic control, building construction and land use planning. The grid that makes GPS work for us and accurate positioning possible is the National Spatial Reference System — a NOAA product.

Navigation services data feed the decision support tools necessary for coastal communities, ports and commercial interests to plan for and negotiate use of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes resources and to prepare for climate impacts, such as sea level rise, like we’re seeing in Port Fourchon.

Port Fourchon, Louisiana sees 13 to 15 percent of all oil imported into the nation, while providing passage for crude oil to 50 percent of the nation’s refineries.

The coastal wetland where Port Fourchon sits is under severe stress. Regional land subsidence, erosion and inundation from coastal storms have taken their toll.

Louisiana Highway 1 (LA 1) is the only highway access to Fourchon. Sea level rise and subsidence rates add up to about 9.23 mm per year, likely increasing in the future. The unelevated portion of this highway will see frequent flooding and closures in 15 to 17 years with almost complete loss of the highway in subsequent years.

To estimate sea level rise, Port Fourchon is using NOAA’s elevation data at historical tide stations along LA 1.

• The information will be used to evaluate the need to raise the highway.
• Anticipating sea level rise can bring economic benefit in this way.

These examples show some of the roles that port safety, navigation and mapping play in national security and energy security, while creating jobs and economic sustenance to the nation.

Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because the nation’s energy security depends on them.

Energy security depends on gaining oil independence. According to its Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future, the White House set a goal of reducing the nation’s use of oil by one-third by a little more than a decade from now.  And by 2035, 80 percent of our electricity must come from clean energy sources, including renewables like wind, solar, and ocean.

As President Obama said, “The United States of America cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity, our long-term security on a resource that will eventually run out, and even before it runs out will get more and more expensive to extract from the ground. We can’t afford it when the costs to our economy, our country, and our planet are so high.”

Wind, solar, and biomass/biofuels are the most rapidly growing renewable energy sectors in the U.S. They promise to be a significant portion of the total U.S. energy supply. We will rely on the ocean for siting for wind farms and as an alternative energy source.

NOAA is responsible for assessing the potential effects of these ocean-based, energy-generating technologies on marine trust resources and existing coastal and ocean uses of concern, and response and restoration if trust resources are harmed.  Coastal and marine spatial planning will be an important tool for regional planning for use of the ocean for this purpose.

Renewable energy sources depend on improved weather and cloud forecasts to be economically viable and successfully integrated into the U.S. electrical grid system.  Proposed ocean-based renewable energy technologies, including hydrokinetic energy and ocean thermal energy conversion, require research and information about ocean conditions and processes before they can be developed.

We also need better atmospheric and oceanic observations, models, forecasts and analysis tools to reap the benefits of renewable energy.

Clearly, these areas of research and technology development for energy production are ripe for innovation.

We are making progress on renewable energy research. For example, to improve wind farm energy production, NOAA researchers and colleagues just launched a study to better understand and predict how gusts and rapid changes in wind direction affect turbine operations and how turbine wakes behave. This research will help improve design standards, increase efficiency, and reduce the cost of energy.

NOAA and the Department of Energy (DOE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2011 to work together on enhancing the use of weather-dependent and oceanic renewable energy technologies and infrastructure.

NOAA also just signed a landmark agreement with Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) to increase coordination and collaboration for environmentally sound offshore energy development.

Now, it should be clear from my remarks thus far — looking across governance, seafood, habitat, commerce, and energy — that we have come a very long way.

• We are entering a new era in ocean governance with the first-ever National Ocean Policy.
• We are turning the corner to end overfishing and rebuild stocks.
• We are about to launch a national aquaculture policy that will open new doors for a sustainable aquaculture industry.
• We are restoring habitats and revitalizing coastal communities to keep working waterfronts sustainable.
• We are protecting our ports and supporting marine transportation and commerce in the present and anticipating future needs of climate change.
• And we are developing greater scientific understanding and innovating tools and technologies forclean energy.

Through all of these activities, we are creating jobs and strengthening the economy and infrastructure, while making the oceans more resilient.

Yes, we have come a long way. But we still have a long way to go.  The time has come to reach out, grow our ocean community, build on the great efforts to date, but make a quantum leap in the level of activity.  The time has come to act now to make healthy oceans everyone’s business – EVERYONE’S business.  Let’s ensure that healthy oceans stay a high priority on today’s agenda and on tomorrow’s.  Healthy oceans are indeed everyone’s business, but keep in mind that they are much more.  Healthy oceans matter in large part because they are an expression of our commitment to one another and to the rest of life on the planet.

NOTE: gCaptain.com is saddened to receive word of Mr. Yoshio Sasamura’s passing and our condolences go out to the his friends and family.  Among a number of achievements, Mr. Sasamura played an integral role in the development of the 1973 MARPOL Convention and its subsequent Protocol of 1978.  Posted below is the press release from the International Maritime Organization.

Mr. Yoshio Sasamura of Japan, a veteran of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and a major contributor to its work over many decades, has died. He was 84 and had been battling with cancer.

In a long and illustrious career, Mr. Sasamura dedicated more than 50 years’ service to improving maritime safety and the protection of the marine environment.

A graduate of Tokyo University’s Department of Engineering and Naval Architecture, Mr. Sasamura joined the IMO Secretariat in 1964 after a career of some 15 years as an engineer and a surveyor with the Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai.

Six years later he was appointed Director of IMO’s Marine Science and Technology Division and subsequently became Director, first of the Organization’s Marine Environment Division and, latterly, its Maritime Safety Division. In 1987, he was appointed Assistant Secretary-General.

After leaving the IMO Secretariat in 1989, he was appointed technical adviser to the Japan Shipbuilding Research Association and, in this capacity, served until 2008 as a member of the Japanese delegation to IMO. He was also the Secretary of the Tokyo MOU on Port State Control from its beginning, in 1994, until 2007.

Among his many achievements, which included an influential involvement in the development of the 1966 Load Lines Convention, the 1969 Tonnage Measurement Convention and the 1974 SOLAS Convention, it will be for his work in the establishment of the 1973 MARPOL Convention and its subsequent Protocol of 1978 that he will perhaps be best remembered.

That took place at a time when oil tankers were growing exponentially in size, with the birth of what was effectively a new type of ship, the Very Large Crude Carrier; and when the threat that these giant ocean carriers could pose to the environment was becoming only too apparent. MARPOL emerged from that period as the bedrock on which the environmental credentials of the shipping industry were founded and so it remains today, albeit much revised, updated and expanded.

In 1992, he was awarded the International Maritime Prize.

Commenting on Mr. Sasamura’s passing, IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos said, “Few people have played such a dominant role in the work of IMO as Mr. Sasamura. His experience, knowledge and deep understanding of the issues won him universal admiration, even from those who may have espoused a different viewpoint, while his skill as a negotiator often cleared the way for solutions acceptable to all parties.”

“He will also be remembered fondly for his sense of humour, even in the most difficult situations. His interventions would often produce a note of levity that served to diffuse any tension and allow the discussion to move on to new areas and different dimensions, usually to great effect overall.”

“He was truly a legend of IMO and a great servant of both the Organization and of shipping.”

A memorial service for Mr. Sasamura will be held at the Anglican-EpiscopaIian Church in Tokyo on 28 May and his funeral will take place the following day.

Via International Maritime Organization

Image (c) Lisa Haug

CAMERON, LA – The Dredge Bayport, operated by Manson Gulf, LLC, was dredging in the Calcissieu Ship Channel on 30 March when they struck a 12″ condensate and natural gas pipeline.  Damage to the pipeline resulted in a highly flammable “fountain” of gas and condensate erupting from the surface of the ocean.

The following is the press release from Marine Safety Unit Lake Charles:

Incident Summary: At 2030 on 30 Mar, while conducting dredging operations in the Calcasieu Ship Channel, the dredge BAYPORT struck a sub-soil 12″ gas/condensate oil pipeline causing a breach in the line and a visible
“fountain” of natural gas & condensate at the water surface.

Location: 29-37-54N, 093-19-20W; near buoy #28 in the Calcasieu Ship Channel, approx 10 miles south of Cameron jetties.

MSU LC contacted El Paso Energy platform in West Cameron Block 62 (~ 1 mile east of the spill site).  They noted that the product was likely theirs as they had witnessed a slight drop in pressure in their discharge line (1000
psi down to ~ 960 psi).  The platform was shut in at approx 2200.  Shortly thereafter, pressure in the pipeline decreased to 750 psi.  Initially, there was concern that the downstream check valve in the line was not holding, causing back pressure from the other platforms and lines that feed the main trunkline.  However, pressure in the pipeline has decreased steadily over the past several hours to its current reading of 290 psi (as of 0300), indicating that the check valve is holding.  Additionally, BAYPORT has been monitoring the “fountain” with its radar and has noted that the signature is now barely visible.

Pipeline details:   12″ high pressure natural gas/condensate oil mixture line.  At normal operating pressure of 1000 psi, the pipeline typically produces 34.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 230 barrels of condensate oil per day.  The condensate has an API gravity of 47 degrees (very light).  The pipeline has a 12 mile run between the rig in West Cameron Block 62 and the check valve and sub-sea shut-in valve in West Cameron Block 44.  The residual pressure in this 12 mile run must be released for the spill to stop.

Pipeline is owned by Stingray Enbridge.  They have assumed the role of responsible party and activated their incident management team.  O’Briens is the spill management contractor.  OSRO resources have been activated through Clean Gulf.

Estimate of spill volume: Based on max capacity of the line and a full-line breach w/unrestricted flow, the maximum discharge of hydrocarbon which would produce a sheen on the water (condensate only) over the previous 6 hours would be 60 barrels.  This is an upper bound.  We anticipate less than this amount as the pressure in the line has been significantly less than 1000 psi since the production rig was shut in at 2200.

Current actions: Continue to monitor pressures in the line.  AM overflights to assess pollution impact.  RP has established an incident command post at the O’Briens facility in Slidell.  MSULC has 1 rep at the command post, others to arrive in the AM.

Future actions:  RP has helo overflight scheduled for 0730 out of Lake Charles w/MSULC mbr onboard.  USCG fixed wing sched to depart out of Mobile, AL at 0800 w/Strike Team mbr onboard.  Stingray Enbridge is sending a dive boat out to WC Block 44 to manually close the sub-sea shut in valve.  This will complete the shut-in process.  ETA is noon.  Two Clean Gulf fast response boats are on standby w/4 hour onscene time to be activated as needed for spill cleanup.

Waterways impact: Calcasieu Ship Channel has been closed in the vicinity of the spill site with a 2 mile safety zone.  3 inboard and 2 outbound deep draft vessels are currently delayed.  Anticipate maintaining safety zone
until final shut-in is complete by the dive team and confirmation of no further gas/condensate discharge at the spill site.

Early Tuesday morning, the Malaysian-registered M/T Bunga Kelana 3 collided with the St. Vincents and The Grenadines registered bulk carrier, M/V Waily, about seven miles southeast of Changi Complex in Singapore.  The M/T Bunga Keleana 3, pictured above, suffered damage to one of its cargo tanks resulting in an estimated spill of 2,500 tons of crude oil into the Singapore Strait.  M/T Bunga Keleana 3 was carrying approximately 62,000 tons of light crude oil at the time of the collision.

According to reports, no injuries were reported and ship traffic in the Singapore Strait has not been effected.

More HERE