Maritime Monday 128

Welcome to this 128th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 78 here. (Published 01 October 2007)

You can find last week’s edition here .

You can find links to all the previous editions at the bottom of this post. You are encouraged to participate using the comment link/form at the bottom of the post. If you have photos or stories to tell, do email me at [email protected].

CONTEST: One lucky commenter to this week’s post will receive this merchant marine patch. (Designed by Disney during WWII. See history of the design here) Please keep your comments related to the stories I linked below.  There are a number of stories that  should be easy to comment about while adding value’ to the conversation. It is a little prize, so a little value is enough. Winner to be announced in next week’s post. Winner to be chosen by me.

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This Week’s Photos:

This week’s photos come from the homepage of the Canadian Navy’s HMCS VILLE de QUEBEC:

This ship is currently off the Coast of Somalia providing escort duty for food aid ships calling Mogadishu. (See related story linked below.)

Transit Suez Canal – The beginning of our new mission. Transit through the Suez canal – Credit: Cpl Veillette

VERTREP – Helo conducting transfer of personnel on the Focsle – Credit: Cpl Veillette

Boarding team and our second escort – Our boarding team in company with the Executive Officer embarking on our second ship to be escorted, the Zang Za San Chong Nyon Ho, from North Korea – Credit: Cpl Veillette

Swimming exercise – Swimming session in the middle of the Mediterranean, water temperature 27 degrees celcius. – Credit: PO2 McGraw

Loading of cargo – Our first escorted ship (Abdul Rahman) being loaded with food to be delivered in Somalia. 5000 tons of food loaded by hand. – Credit: Combat Camera

Sunset – Beautiful sunset, somewhere Between Suez canal and Somalia – Credit: PO2 McGraw

Their photo gallery is here.

Their homepage can be found here.

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This Week’s Items:

Has another maritime blogger run into trouble over his blog? blue water: news of my escape has been wiped clean right to the title. Or maybe he is the victim of a web vandal?.As of this Sunday he has changed the title to “HAWSEPIPER: The Longest Climb” and explains some recent developments. It appears that there was a problem, but not with the home office, but instead with his fellow sailors.

So, when I was able to ask why it was that some folks were looking at me in that way a toddler looks when they’re soiling a diaper, I was a little taken aback at the amount of concern that my blog has generated.

EagleSpeak has good news in “Somalia: Danes Capture 10 Suspected Pirates“. Also be sure to check his homepage as he is actively keeping track of all the Somalia pirate developments including the latest capture of two more cargo ships.

Also be sure to check out EagleSpeak‘s weekly series “Sunday Ship History: Sonobuoys”

gCaptain has “Cosco Busan – Radar Images And NTSB Transcript“.

gCaptain also has “gCaptain Contest – Win A Spot Satellite Messenger“. You enter by leaving a comment that adds value to the conversation of any gCaptain post, including this one which would get you entered into two contests. We all know that you are a smart and knowledgeable bunch of readers, so that should be easy. Read the post for the rules and about the prizes.

Lloyd’s List Newsroom Blog has “Prosecuting pirates“.

There must be more the industry and governments can do than allow shipowners to simply pay the ransom.

Lloyd’s List has “US raises Ike damage tally to 49 platforms” and “Korean owners call for military action against Somali pirates “.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency Press Office (UK) has “6 FOREIGN SHIPS UNDER DETENTION IN THE UK DURING AUGUST“.

ISRAEL WITHOUT IFS OR BUTS has “USNS Pathfinder enters Sevastopol harbor” and anchors. To search for a sunken WWII hospital ship says the Ukraine. To spy on the Russian Navy says Russia.

RIA Novosti has “U.S. plays down Russia’s planned Arctic marking“.

Deep Water Writing has “New Medical Requirments” that are going to be a big problem for many US Mariners. Certainly a must-read for active sailors.

Houston Chronicle has “Ship Channel traffic getting back up to speed“.

Shipdog has a photo “Not a bad view to wake up to everyday” with Locarno in Switzerland to the left, Italy on the opposing shore and to the right.

Kurt’s Weblog has an image mapping “Global shipping patterns“.

Lou Minatti has video taken from a workboat that rode out the storm in “Hurricane Ike on Galveston Bay“. More video from the same crewman can be found here.

EU Referendum has the EU looking at its Common Fisheries Policy “The mother of all failures“.

As it is, the fishing policy is neither science-based nor attuned to fisheries management. It is a political instrument designed to reconcile the competing demands for a resource to which all EU nations have access and for which no one bears any responsibility.

Houston Pilot and maritime photographer OneEighteen posts a photo of what is left of his house in “Hurricane Ike“. Best wishes for the rebuild or re-location.

Pinoy Maritime has “The Deadly Life of Stowaways” mentioning some dos and don’ts when encountering stowaways including to not throw them overboard into the sea. I am somewhat surprised that this still happens because it seems that word almost always gets that about the event. Probably because the captains and mates willing to do this are also little loved by the crew as it is.

BitterEnd has some must see trailer photos in “How to Load a Boat on to a Pickup“.

Tims Times has “Fatigue & The Knock on Effect“.

AFP has “Up to 20 people missing after Sao Tome shipwreck“.

Hellenic shipping News has “US calls for more inspections of IRISL cargo, line ‘deliberately misleading maritime authorities’” looking at Malta Freeport as the place to act since the shipping line calls there.

Bills of lading has the “NOAA Vessel Pisces at Pascagoula“.

MarineLog has posted its September Edition online.

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BarentsObserver.com has “USA warns against Nord Stream project“. This is the planned underwater pipeline running through the Baltic.

The U.S. ambassador to Sweden, Michael Wood, in a comment in newspaper Svenska Dagbladet warns against the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, saying that imported Russian gas is “a threat against Sweden”.

The article quickly triggered furore in the German government, a major stakeholder in the project. An official protest has now been sent by the Germans to U.S. authorities.

Wired’s Danger Room Blog has “Pics: High-Tech ‘Batman’ Ship in Florida Drug Raid“.

TimesOnline has “Somalia: Only guns can get aid past the pirates into the gates of Hell” as the Canadian frigate, HMCS VILLE de QUEBEC escorts the cargoship MV GOLINA carrying food aid into the Port of Mogadishu.

His 510-mile voyage from the Kenyan port of Mombasa was made possible only by staying close to the guns of a naval escort. As the master turns the vast hull of the Golina towards Mogadishu’s harbour, a Canadian frigate, HMCS Ville de Quebec, stands guard. Her commander, Chris Dickinson, scans the shoreline with high-powered binoculars, watching for high-speed skiffs leaving the harbour. Anything that gets within 500 yards of cargo ship or escort will be turned to driftwood by the frigate’s 57mm cannon. “The threat here for us is small boats – a suicide boat or a boat armed with RPGs or small arms,” Commander Dickinson says.

The HMCS VILLE de QUEBEC Homepage has this photo of escorting the ship:

flickr poster jpellgen has a photo “Merchant Marine Monument & Statue of Liberty“.

CNN has crazy video: “Hydroplane crashes at practice“. Disintegrates is a more accurate description. 180 miles per hour.

Ynetnews has “Haifa: Ukrainian sailors hospitalized after eating poisonous fish“. The cook made some blowfish that the crew had caught. He and a couple of the crew reportedly needed to be resuscitated and the cook may end up losing his life. Even if you didn’t know the damn fish was poisonous, it is not a fish you think of eating when you look at it. Not only that, but there is not much meat on the thing.

Navy Newsstand has photos of the recent US Coast Guard seizure of a semi-submersible craft packed with bales of cocaine.

MarineBuzz has more photos with “Self Propelled Semi Submersible (SPSS): Increasing Threat from Sea“.

The Maritime has “U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy interdict two semi-submersible vessels“.

Chaotic Synaptic Activity has “19 Years Ago – Life at Sea“, Parts I through IV.

Freaque Waves has “Freaque waves not excuse!“

The Merchant Marine Express returns to Galveston after hurricane Ike in “Anchored within a fleet of ships!“

Her Captain’s Voice has “Under-water capabilities of Indian Navy“.

THE PRIVATE ISLANDS BLOG has the history of the Spratly Island chain’s “Pag-asa Island“, an island so small that the airport sticks out off both ends of the island. Also explained is why the Philippines have the claim to beat, buying the claim to the island for one peso.

Tugster goes cleaning up the shoreline of South Brother Island in New York’s East River.

MarineBuzz also does cleanup with “Weekend Cleanup: Indian Coast Guard Transforms Chennai Marina Beach to Green Marina“.

The Stupid Shall Be Punished has video of “Dolphins Riding The Bow Wave” of a submarine.

Steeljaw Scribe has “Russian SLBM Developments“. Developments come slow in Russian shipyards with the ten year upgrade of the missile boat DMITRIY DONSKOY.

Inhabitant has “Oxford Unveils Next-Gen Underwater Turbines“, the THAWT device.

Modern Mechanix has the 1957 story “The ATOMIC SHIP Takes Shape” telling the pre-story of the USNS SAVANNAH.

insanely crafty takes a tour of the US Merchant Marine Academy and posts lots of pictures in “Friday WARNING HUGE POST“.

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Scandinavian Shipping Gazette has “The Ballast-Free Ship concept: An alternative solution to ballast water treatment“.

The Journal of Commerce Online has “Box ship orders collapse“. Freight Dawg notes “Good News! JoC Online is now Free!“. That is long overdue.

CDR Salamander has “The Navy’s racism laid bare“.

Coast Guard Report has stonewalling in response to their request for information to determine if there was some deceptive actions taken by removing possibly faulty communication equipment from the new US Coast Guard Cutter BERTHOLF in order to pass inspection by the Coast Guard: “Admiral Thad Allen: Transparency Blocked Again, Self Correcting Behavior – NOT“.

Information Dissemination has a detailed posted: “The Challenges of the 21st Century Conversation“.

Kennebec Captain has to deal with trying to dock at the “Islamic Port of Jeddah – Prayer times“.

Robin Storm – In Search of Severe Weather has “Ike Underscores Foolishness of Building on Barrier Islands“.

Bob Couttie’s Maritime Accident Casebook has “Hot work near-miss could have been a bomb“. Welding where one should not.

Sea * Fever has “National Maritime Museum (UK) Joins Flickr Commons“.

PortSide Mary Whalen (the tanker Mary Whalen’s blog – begun in Brooklyn Navy Yard 1/07, mothballed for a while and now reactivated 8/08) sees opportunity as another boat of the same type is going to be scrapped in “Can the Ked help the Whalen?“

It’s sad to see another Bushey boat go, but we’re hoping the Ked can help save the Whalen. The Ked has two davits on the boat deck (we are missing 3) and also has a Fairbanks Morse engine. We don’t know what type of engine yet; I’m hoping it’s a 37E12! Standing by!

Mail Online has another cool innovation in personal submersibles in “Pictured: The bright orange mini-submarine guaranteed to make waves“. See the company’s website here: U-Boat Worx

Computeractive has “Historic Canadian ship passenger lists go online“.

Courier Mail (Australia) has “Sunken Swedish ship the Kronan offers up historic haul“. The ship is the KRONAN and it sank in 1676.

The Pilot Boat has photos of the cement carrier CEMENTADOR in “a 40 years old lady…“

CargoSystems.Net has “Stevedore upgrades for coal” in Canada.

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Haight’s Maritime Items has:

UK – MSC NAPOLI salvage work suspended until 2009 – The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) issued a press notice stating that, with the onset of winter weather, salvage work on the remnants of wreck of the MSC NAPOLI has been suspended until spring 2009. (9/16/08). – Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

AND:

USCG – Safety Alert – counterfeit EEBDs – The US Coast Guard issued a Safety Alert stating that counterfeit Unitor model UNISCAPE 15h emergency escape breathing devices (EEBDs) are being sold to ship operators and placed onboard commercial vessels.  As explained in the Safety Alert, there are physical differences between the authentic and the counterfeit devices.  If in doubt regarding your EEBD, contact the manufacturer. (9/19/08). – Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

Fairplay Daily News has:

Tax bill 17 times bigger rocks Solvang – SOLVANG, the listed Norwegian owner of LPG carriers, is having second thoughts about its decision to put its fleet in Norway’s new tonnage tax regime – after its tax bill arrived 17 times larger.

The company recorded net losses in the second quarter of 51.5M kroner ($10.2M), versus profits of 31.4M kroner in the same period last year.

Its tax bill has soared to 75.8M kroner from 4.4M kroner since the abolition of the 1996 tonnage tax regime at the end of last year.

Solvang pointed to “constant change in and backdating of the rules for entering the new tonnage tax regime” as the reason for reconsidering. SOLVANG, the listed Norwegian owner of LPG carriers, is having second thoughts about its decision to put its fleet in Norway’s new tonnage tax regime – after its tax bill arrived 17 times larger. – 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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