Maritime Monday 104

The following is posted by Fred Fry:

Welcome to this 104th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 54 here. (Published 9 April 2007)

You can find last week’s edition here.

You can find links to all the previous editions at the bottom of this post. To stay informed all week long, be sure to check out gCaptain’s Discoverer site and vote for your favorite stories as well as add ones that you find.

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This Week’s Photos:

This week’s photos come from the website of Russia’s MNP Group:

MNP Group is engaged in shipbuilding. MNP Group incorporates leading Russian shipyards, located on the Volga River: Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard (Nizniy Novgorod) and Volgograd Shipyard.

In May, 2004, OMZ – Onshore & Offshore (OMZ-MNP) was separated from OMZ Company within the strategy of OMZ focusing on production of power equipment.

On December, 1, 2004, OMZ-MNP was renamed to MNP Group.

Project management is the key competence of the Company. Integrated management system, common approaches for quality management, unified information system and group of high-quality managers allow MNP Group establishing itself as one of the leading Russian engineering companies.

MNP Group activity is based on multi-project management system, which integrates projects data consolidation and coordination as well as independent project management. This approach leads to effectivization of investments and achievement of strategic goals.

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Their English-language homepage can be found here.

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This Week’s Items:

EagleSpeak has “Somali Pirates: First hand report of capture of Svitzer Korsakov“

gCaptain has “Alaska Ranger – Heroic Rescue“

ABC News has “EXCLUSIVE: We Called It the ‘Ranger Danger’“

China Law Blog has “Returning Substandard Products To Your China Factory: In Another Lifetime, Brother.“

The Yankee Sailor announces the launch of his ship’s official blog: The Destroyermen – Life Aboard United States Ship RUSSELL (DDG 59), Through the Eyes of its Crew. Wonder what rules an officially-sanctioned US Navy ship blog has to live by? Just check out the first post which spells it all out in “The Destroyermen’s Standing Orders“

The Destroyermen has “A Captain, But No Company“

Many people are relatively familiar with the organization of smaller Army and Marine units, with companies being comprised of platoons and squads. Fewer have any familiarity with how we organize the crew on a warship, however. And of course, being the Navy, we have a stubborn adherence to tradition that can confuse things.

America’s Port Blog goes up a container crane.

KMTR.com has “Barges arriving soon to remove New Carissa wreckage” which is a ship that ran aground in 1999 in Oregon. See CargoLaw for coverage of the original accident and past efforts including torching, bombing, torpedoing and gunfire. And yet, still part of the ship remains.

The March Edition of Marine Log is online:

Click on the image to open the web magazine.

NewsHerald has “Port working on new master plan” because Panama City, Panama is not just the location of an entrance to the Panama Canal.

The US Navy has “Military Sealift Command Ships Prepare for Sea-Basing Exercise in Africa“

NAPLES, Italy (NNS) — Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo (T-AK 3008) and USNS LCPL Roy M. Wheat (T-AK 3016) arrived off the coast of Monrovia, Liberia, in the Gulf of Guinea, March 20. They will participate in a sea-basing and humanitarian aid distribution exercise in conjunction with U.S. Marines and Africa Partnership Station ships USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and HSV-2 Swift.

Bobo and Wheat are U.S. Navy cargo ships that are part of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron (MPSRON) 1, one of three squadrons that preposition U.S. military equipment in strategic locations at-sea for rapid delivery ashore in response to military or humanitarian crises. These squadrons are commanded by a U.S. Navy captain with an embarked military staff, while the ships themselves are crewed by U.S. merchant mariners under contract to MSC.

The Sydney Morning Herald has “Families sound out disgrace in Pacific” concerning renewed calls to locate the Australian hospital Ship AHS CENTAUR and renewed anger as the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese sub during WWII despite being clearly marked as a hospital ship. More information on the ship can be found at Wikipedia.

CargoLaw has photos of the MSC SABRINA aground near Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada.

Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog has “ballast-free ship’ could cut costs while blocking aquatic invaders“

Robin Storm has “DRAMATIC INCREASES IN MERCHANT SHIP TOTAL AND PARTIAL LOSSES“

MarEx Newsletter has “Uncharted Waters: Criminalizing the Cosco Busan Incident“

Cruise Bruise has another black eye for Carnival Cruise Lines as they cover a crewmember’s claim that all passenger complaints about smelling marijuana smoke onboard are to be answered with claims that they are mistaken; that it is cigar smoke they smell. I wonder what the drug dogs think about that. Not only that, but what are those passengers thinking? The US is not the only country that searches ships for drugs. And no, the cabin’s safe is not a safe place to hide it from the dogs.

China Economic Review has “Sharp fall in transpacific cargo in first two months“ Maybe they should start bringing some empty containers back to the US, where there is a shortage. Booming US exports has increased demand for empties. Decreased imports as well reduce the supply.

The Energy Blog has “Plans Announced for a Wave Power Plant in Hawaii “

The Countervailing Force comments on the OCEAN VICTORY (that was mentioned in last week’s edition as the ship with the drunk Polish crew) in “Wodka on the Cheshapeake“

Signal 94 covers the GLOBAL PATRIOT shooting in “Lessons Learned” covering points that every seafarer, especially every American one, know about going through the canal.

The USS Global Patriot has put into practice what Muslim terrorists should have taught every American sailor. Keep your distance or die.

Remember what happened to the USS COLE. Also, how come there is basically no mention of how ISPS (the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code) fits into all of this. Egypt has been following the ISPS code since 2004. Somehow, they surely must have addressed the problem of these small boats, which have probably been around as long as the canal has. I went through the canal once and since we were the only American ship going south that morning we got to go first in the convoy. I have to say that it is something you have to experience to believe. The pilot actually stopped the ship right in the channel. He said nothing, but the Pilot Boat out under the bridgewing was sounding it’s horn as the crew of the boat make smoking motions with their hands, basically demanding that the Captain toss down a carton of cigarettes. The Captain did toss down a carton, of ‘Salems‘. Later when the Pilot got his carton, he actually got into an argument with the Captain, because he thought he wasn’t getting American cigarettes. I always wondered if they treated everyone going through the canal like this. Do they?

Addled Mind and Idle Hands has “Rouge Wave“

MarineBuzz has “Lack of Seamanship results in Mutiny” and explains how to paint piping onboard a ship. It brings back nightmares.

Press TV (Iran) has “Russia to deliver cargo ship to Iran“ (See photo of one of the ships above.)

World Affairs Board has “Worst Warship Designs of the Post-WWII era“. Some of the recent posts highlighted in this series make the case that they US Navy is not done adding to this list.

SteelJaw Scribe has a great owl story from the Aircraft Carrier USS HARRY S. TRUMAN in “Sailors Rescue a Nocturnal Creature“

CTV.ca has “Tough questions for coast guard after sealer tragedy” concerning the sinking of the sealing vessel L’Acadien II while under tow by the Coast Guard.

SAILORS, MARINERS & WARRIORS LEAGUE covers the sinking of a second seal boat, the ANNIE MARIE, in “Seven Quebec Sealers Rescued After Ship Sinks“

SAILORS, MARINERS & WARRIORS LEAGUE also explains military time, which is also used on merchant vessels. Zulu time is also covered.

Shirlaw News Group covers a lifeboat accident which basically puts everyone on notice that an enclosed lifeboat can be as dangerous as other enclosed spaces on a ship. More so if you consider that you are sharing space with an engine expelling carbon monoxide. However in this case, the gas came from outside. Not exactly a problem you’d encounter in an open boat.

Maritime Accident Casebook has the details in “Bourbon Dolphin Report Released – Tug Stability, Captain’s Competence, not checked” More including video at gCaptain.

3PLWIRE has “2008 Ocean Export Capacity Crunch” as booming exports have created a shortage of available shipping containers.

The success of startup Israeli Wine Direct is all dependent on the successful delivery of their reefer container of cargo in “Where In the World is Richard’s Wine?“.

Worlds: our travels, projects, and stuff is live-blogging their trip on the QUEEN MARY 2 with lots of photos. Here they take a ferry trip through the canal because the QM2 is too big to go through herself.

The Astute Bloggers has “Misleading Reports About Antarctica – The OVERALL ice cover in the Antarctic is in fact increasing” and a summary of Carbon dioxide as the product of oceanic respiration.

HawaiiThreads discusses the sad condition of the FALLS OF CLYDE, “the only surviving iron-hulled, four-masted full rigged ship, and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world.” She is currently rotting away in Hawaii with little hope of getting restored.

BitterEnd has the latest news in the Washington State Ferry crisis in “Return of the Steel Electrics?“

Novakeo has the problem of “The Plastic Sea“

Anchorage Daily News has “Sitka fishermen strike herring mother lode“

Telegraph (UK) has “Titanic survivor’s secrets revealed“

Theophrast.us – Chris Howard’s Writing Blog has “Coloring water –notes on drawing and painting water in motion“

Tugster covers Voith-Schneider propulsion with photos of a New York tug in drydock in “Where’s the Props“

Dark Roasted Blend has photos of “Russian Nuclear Icebreakers: to the North Pole!” (Found at Sea * Fever. Also covered at gCaptain)

THE PRIVATE ISLANDS BLOG explains “Island Sitting“

Mr. Boat Blog has coverage of one of the world’s largest sail yachts, THE MALTESE FALCON, being offered up for sale. At the asking price, there can’t be too many potential buyers around on the whole planet.

Sea * Fever also covers THE MALTESE FALCON sale including video and also has video of two other mega yachts for sale including one apparently owned by music producer Scott Storch, whose yacht is listed on eBay. (That has to be the most hideous interior decorating I have ever seen for the interior of a yacht. Puke green is for engine spaces only, if that.)

Hellenic Shipping News has “Estonia is first to sign Wreck Removal Convention“. Nine more countries need to do the same for it to have any meaning.

The Pilot Boat has photos of filming of “O Assalto ao Santa Maria – The Movie“

Tims Times gets a visit by the Port Police in Liverpool.

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Haight’s Maritime Items has:

Guam – vessel grounds, portion of crew flees – The US Coast Guard issued a press release stating that a Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel grounded on a reef off the coast of Guam. By the time the Coast Guard arrived, six of the suspected 14 crewmembers had fled ashore, leaving their life vests on the beach. The remaining eight crewmembers have been taken into custody. Authorities are treating this as an undocumented alien migration case. (3/25/08). – Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

It’s an island. Where did they think they were going?

Fairplay Daily News has:

Crew shortage fuelling P&I claims – SINGAPORE 28 March – The shortage of suitably qualified crew on board vessels is why Protection and Indemnity (P&I) claims are rising in the world. Christopher Hall, vice-president and senior lawyer of Skuld Singapore, warned of the consequences of the shortage of qualified officers – currently 2,000 and growing – at a P&I seminar at the Asia-Pacific Maritime Conference. “Eighty per cent of accidents are caused by human error with 20% due to unsafe working conditions,” declared Hall, stressing the importance of attracting and retaining skilled people. Promoting a safety culture and the sharing of knowledge on safety issues onboard vessels was another way to address the problem of rising claims. The lack of able crew had rated higher than the reluctance of owners to scrap vessels or insufficient vessel maintenance, in the growing incidence of P&I claims. Apart from officers, a shortage of 30,000 seafarers are needed to service global fleets, stressed Hall. He added that 25% of recent cargo claims have been linked to hatchcovers in bulkers. – Fairplay Homepage (Used with Permission)

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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 and photos to [email protected] for inclusion in future editions as well as suggest areas of coverage.

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Previous Editions: As linked below or click on the tag ‘Maritime Monday’ for all gCaptain editions.

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