Maritime Monday 165

The following is posted by Fred Fry:

Welcome to this 165th edition of Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 115 here. (Published 16 June 2008)

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].

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This Week’s Photos:

This week’s photos come from the website of The Port of Seattle:

The Port of Seattle plays a key role in bringing international trade, transportation and travel to the Pacific Northwest, and supports industries as diverse as tourism and commercial fishing. The Port is also a key builder of road and rail infrastructure, partnering with other agencies to improve freight traffic from Tacoma to Everett.

The Port owns and operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport – the nation’s 18th busiest – handling more than 31 million passengers in 2007. The Port’s passenger cruise terminals at Pier 66 and Terminal 30 handled 190 ship calls and nearly 755,000 passengers during the 2007 season.

State-of-the-art cargo handling facilities helped rank Seattle as the nation’s 7th busiest U.S. seaport in 2007, serving 21 international steamship lines. The Port also operates four public marinas, and manages a number of real estate assets for financial return and broad economic advantage.

The Port’s vision is to be the cleanest, greenest, most energy-efficient port in the nation, and uses the tagline, “Where a sustainable world is headed” to communicate that goal. The Puget Sound region is already in attainment of federal air quality standards, and the Port’s many environmental programs are designed for real benefits to the community and a competitive edge for our customers.

The Port of Seattle’s economic impact is strong. Seattle’s Seaport and Airport generate nearly 200,000 jobs throughout the region with payroll in excess of $6.8 billion. Five commissioners, elected at large by the voters of King County, Washington, serve four-year terms and establish Port of Seattle policy. The chief executive officer, in carrying out these policies, leads 1,600 employees and oversees Port programs. – Link

* Containerized shipping changed the industry in the late 1950s and early 60s. Port of Seattle was one of the first U.S. ports equipped to accommodate container traffic. *

* Pier 86 *

* Pier 86 *

* Night falls on Terminal 18 but the work does not stop *

* Longshore foreman checking cargo manifest *

* Fisherman at NW Dock *

* Fishermen’s – NW Dock *

Their homepage can be found here.

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This Week’s Items:

EagleSpeak has “North Korea: Testing the Waters” as they venture into Southern waters.

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

gCaptain has “American Flag Turns Gray – New Paris MOU Rankings Target US Ships” and “Marine Flares – More Than Meets the Eye“.

The Business Insider has “Oil Stored On Tankers Is Up 71% Since April“.

The volume of refined fuel stored on ships floating at sea has jumped nearly 71 percent since early April, industry sources said on Thursday.

About 41 million barrels of gas oil and jet fuel were being stored in tankers mostly off Europe’s coast, up from around 24 million barrels in April, sources said.

War is Boring has payback with “British Royal Navy, Booted from Basra?“

ShipGaz has “G8 fears pirates seeking asylum“.

BitterEnd has the most common type of boat he tows with “Return of the 28′ Bayliners“.

Springbored’s Springboard asks “Are We Losing Respect For Heavy Weather?“

Casco Bay Boaters Blog has “Thieves Steal Tons of Herring From Portland Bait Shop“.

PR Web has “American Security Firm Nexus Consulting Says “We Have Seen First Hand that Armed Security is an Effective Deterrent Against Piracy”“.

IceNews has “Somali pirates arrested by Swedish navy forces“. The HMS MALMO caught 7 pirates and dropped them off in Djibouti to face a decision on what to do with them.

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Lloyd’s List has more information concerning the mystery reported last week: “Iranians and Pakistanis among Somali pirates“.

The Voice of Russia news service, citing Russian naval officials, said that the suspects were 29 in number, and had been handed to the Iranian and Pakistani authorities for trial.

The Russia Today television channel said that the men were planning to hijack a tanker with Russian nationals on board.

Cruise Bruise Blog has “British Airways Airliner Nearly Collides With Cruise Ship” and “U.S. Cruise Ship Passengers Arrested For Drug Smuggling Tied To Terrorism“. Cocaine, brought to you by Hezbollah.

Danger Room wonders “Is North Korea Spoiling for a Fight at Sea?“

Whale Wars is back for season 2. YouTube has my favorite part from this season’s first episode in where the ship’s chief mate does nothing to cast off my comment from last year that he is the most dangerous Chief Mate afloat: “Iceberg Collision“. What you don’t see in this clip is his complaint that he does not know how to steer steer to a compass point (i.e.Steer 1-8-0) I wonder if the Japanese have planted him on the ship as a mole…

The Huffington Post has “Whale Wars – Eco-Terrorism as Reality TV” which is written by the author of The Old Salt Blog. The comments on the story are interesting in that instead of debating the facts as presented, noting that the whaling is legal and that the targeted whales are not endangered, those who disagree simply resort to attacking the author. Sadly this is prevalent in current US society, where the ignorant simply yell louder.

The Old Salt Blog also has “Classic Cruise Ships And SOLAS 2010“.

Many classic cruise ships may sail to the scrapyard by October 2010 when the new SOLAS rules come into effect. SOLAS, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, was first drafted in 1914 as a direct response to the RMS Titanic sinking. The SOLAS regulations have been progressively updated over the years and the latest regulations which largely prohibit combustable materials on cruise ships may finally end the economic life of many of the remaining classic cruise liners. Very few ships built before 1980 will meet the new standards without significant retrofitting.

Hellenic Shipping News has “Supertankers Storing Oil Plan to Deliver Cargoes, ICAP Says“.

Kennebec Captain has “Armed Security Teams Unregulated.” This will surely correct itself in short order. After all, most everyone is allowed to make mistakes in America, except for a select few, like Policemen, pilots, train engineers and merchant mariners. The easiest solution I think is embarking professional teams from the Military.

Information Dissemination lists his favorite editorials for “Celebrating Two Years of Information Dissemination“.

Lighthouse News has “First Lighthouse Up For Auction For 2009“. It is the East Charity Shoal Lighthouse in Lake Ontario near the border with Canada.

Bryant’s Maritime Blog has “Australia – collision due to absence of lookouts on both vessels“.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) issued the report of its investigation of the collision between a fishing vessel and a container ship off Bowen, Queensland on 21 January 2008. The officer of the watch on the container ship had sent the helmsman/lookout below and then was distracted by navigation duties. The master of the fishing vessel was alone on the bridge and turned on the interior lights so as to tally the catch. The container ship first observed the fishing vessel immediately prior to the collision and took evasive maneuvers. The officer of the watch assumed that the maneuvers avoided a collision because he observed the fishing vessel, with its lights on, astern of the ship. He did not notify the master of the incident and continued on the voyage. The fishing vessel incurred severe damage to its bow, activated its EPIRB, and was escorted into port. Because the master of the container ship did not learn of the incident until investigators arrived some days later, information on the ship’s voyage data recorder (VDR) was not preserved. The report noted that the officer of the watch on the container ship disregarded his legal and moral obligation to ensure the safety of the fishing vessel’s crew following the incident. MAIR No. 249 (6/3/09).

Sea * Fever has “Shiver Me Timbers! Bloggers Board USS Nimitz“. Hmm, I guess my invitation was misplaced.

Tims Times describes has “Global breakfast“.

The Maritime Executive has “Apples to Oranges: A poor analogy“.

In his May 31st editorial, Richard K. Bank tells his readers that “GM Is Sunk. Just Ask the Merchant Marine.” He then goes on to tell us why GM’s financial problems can be compared with the current plight of the U.S.-flag merchant fleet and then claims, “And in its demise lies a lesson for the U.S. auto industry.” We can all no doubt learn a lot from the slow death of a once-mighty domestic auto manufacturer. Using the U.S. merchant marine as a model for that collapse, however, is beyond ludicrous. It’s also unfair.

Life at Sea has “ALTERNATIVE PROPULSION POWERING FOR MERCHANT SHIPS“.

The New York Times stops by NY’s Seaman’s Church Institute and has a chat with a couple ancient mariners: “Where the Shipping News Is All Bad“.

“Pirates?” the old salt snorted. “Pirates won’t kill the shipping business. Pirates are a joke.”

He sipped his coffee bitterly and glanced without compassion at his fellow ancient mariners.

“You want to know what killed the shipping business, I’ll tell you what killed the shipping business. Capitalists,” he said.

Kings Point Waterfront has a graduate’s first year out of KP with “Thoughts After a Year…….” as he finds himself working on tugs.

The Yankee Sailor has “Green Ships On The Way?” as the Navy ponders gas-electric hybrid ships.

The Journal of Commerce has a market summary with “Idled Box Fleet Shrinks“.

The idled carrier-owned fleet has fallen from a peak of 241 ships of 1.04 million TEUs in March to 199 vessels of 790,000 TEUs, according to ASX-Alphaliner, the Paris-based consultant.

“Carriers have started to re-activate some of the idle ships as the summer peak season begins and also redelivering surplus tonnage to owners upon charter expiry,” ASX says.

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The Wall Street Journal has “Judge Wants Sunken Treasure Returned to Spain“.

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida deep-sea explorers who raised an estimated $500 million treasure from the 200-year-old wreck of a Spanish galleon should give all the loot back to Spain, a federal magistrate judge said.

But the two-year tug-of-war over the 17 tons of silver coins and other artifacts from what is believed to be the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes y las Animas is likely far from over.

The Wall Street Journal also has “It’s Not Too Late to Save the Tuna – The U.S. should step forward to stop exploitation of the seas.“

Conservation groups are now calling for the management of the bluefin to be taken out of Iccat’s hands and placed under the control of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which is presided over by trade and environment ministers rather than fisheries ministers. Cites could then list bluefin under Appendix 1 of the Convention, which bans all international trade. This would be the first ever Appendix 1 listing for a commercial fish species, and is not surprisingly opposed by fishing nations.

Because Cites is an intergovernmental treaty, a member nation must first propose the Appendix 1 listing. Monaco, a non-EU member, is ready to champion the bluefin and propose the listing. But Monaco needs to be supported by other partners in what is sure to be a bitter fight. In 1992, the last time Cites attempted to protect the bluefin, the proposer, Sweden, eventually quailed under Japanese threats of trade sanctions.

If the listing is to succeed, Monaco’s main partner needs to be the United States. It would not be the first time that the U.S. has stepped in to help a Europe that is unable to help itself. An alliance needs to be forged this summer and a listing proposal made in October in time for the next meeting of Cites in Doha, Qatar, next March. If that is to happen, decisions need to be made soon by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the U.S. and embraced by President Barack Obama over the summer.

Canada.com has “It’s time to limit bottom trawlers“.

BreakBulk Industry News has “St. Lawrence Seaway traffic plunges“.

Reuters has “Dead whale found on bow of Exxon tanker in Alaska“.

Freaque Waves has “Power generating waves“.

Queens Gazette has “Bridge Centennial Starts“. That would be New York’s Queensboro Bridge.

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AMVER Blog has a story about the US Coast Guard’s “Rescue Flotilla 1” which saved lives rescuing over 1,000 off Normandy during the D-Day landings.

DenverPost.com has “Last Army diver recalls Normandy on D-Day“. He served in the Merchant Marine, Navy and Army during WWII.

Canoe.CA has “Canadian Navy D-Day monument unveiled “.

Portland Tribune has “The forgotten ships – A veteran’s family discovers what most in the city don’t know – the war relics living around us“.

TRIBUNE PHOTO: L.E. BASKOW • The lower hull of the Dana is now serving as a floating dock at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 4. The ship was bought for scrap after the war, then purchased by the port.

Here are photos of the former Liberty Ship Memorial Park from before its destruction in 2006.

IndyStar.com has “Merchant Marine vets seek recognition“.

US Naval Institute Blog has “Gators of Neptune: Naval Amphibious Planning for the Normandy Invasion by Christopher D. Yung“.

Operation Neptune is the amphibious assault portion of the better known Operation Overlord, the Allied operation to invade northwestern Europe and defeat Nazi Germany during the Second World War. It took approximately 3 years to plan, went through several versions of the plan, and was planned by numerous staffs both English and American.

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iCommandant – Web Journal of Admiral Thad Allen has “Unit Profile — Coast Guard Station Grand Isle, La.“

MarineBuzz has “Beautiful Beaches of India in Google Maps” and “Weekend View: HMS Portland Sinks Somali Pirate Vessel“.

BitterEnd has “When Good Ideas go Bad” which is actually commentary on Navagear‘s post “Brake lights for outboards: Powersport Innovations Safety Alert System“. I agree with the comments that this is a bad idea. In many places there are already enough flashing and blinking lights to keep track of. Also, boats often slow down due to either approaching traffic or navigational issues, which following traffic should be aware of as well.

Ocra Worldwide has “Liberia Regional Search And Rescue Centre Opens“.

AP has “Saltwater fishermen balk at national registry“. Coming from the Northeast, this whole registration requirement is just Federal overreach. The states in the Northeast have been managing their game fish and setting catch limits and so on. And it was all done without the states needing fishermen to register.

Starting in 2010, federal law requires all the nation’s saltwater fishermen to be registered, whether they fish from a boat, dock or the Cape canal’s rocky borders. In most states, the registration will come with an annual fee of about $10 to $25.

Fishery managers say the registry is needed because they don’t really know the number of saltwater fishermen or what they’re catching — but they could be reeling in enough fish to deplete popular stocks. A registry of anglers will help gather better catch information so fishery managers know if a species is being overfished and can make rules to protect it.

But the new requirement has met stubborn resistance in the Northeast.

Gas 2.0 has “One Container Ship Pollutes As Much As 50 Million Cars“. Actually, this article loses it after making this one good point. After all, the numbers mean little unless there is a fair comparison.

NY TUGMASTER’S WEBLOG has securing your ship with “Safe Hatch Locks, The “Shadow Locking System”” which uses the hatches dogs to keep the door secure while still permitting easy egress if needed.

The Merchant Marine Express discusses time home and family occasions, attended and missed in “The Luck of the Draw“. Being at sea is a little bit like pressing the pause button on a movie. The one difference in that the story changes while the movie is paused.

HAWSEPIPER: The Longest Climb also deals with being away from home during important dates, in this case a first wedding anniversary, with “Wicked good accents“.

Modern Day Pirate Tales has “Canada: Suing terrorists okay; prosecuting pirates…?“

My point is that if we can create laws to deal with terrorists, why not change or amend or improve those that deal with pirates? What are we scared of? Worst case scenario: A Somali guy ends up before a Canadian – or other – judge and is acquitted. So we send him home. And he knows, and will relate to others, that we did not look on him or his ilk well.

CDR Salamander has Danish shipping taking advantage of a lack of decisions in “Anti-piracy parallel universe” as they start placing armed guards on their ships.

The Monitor has “103 years later, Amundsen returns” as the ship prepares to transit the Northwest Passage.

Arctic Focus has “New plan to govern Arctic fishing“.

Wikipedia has the story of Nazi Germany’s “Operation Hannibal“.

Right up until his suicide, Adolf Hitler insisted that the war go on. The flood of evacuees eventually turned the operation into one of the largest emergency evacuations by sea in history (over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types, including fishing boats and other craft, and utilizing Germany’s largest remaining naval units, would transport between 800,000 – 900,000 evacuees and 350,000 soldiers across the Baltic Sea to Germany and German-occupied Denmark.

Nytugmaster has posted to YouTube “Night Run, College Point to the Battery NY“. (Found via NY TUGMASTER’S WEBLOG)

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Fairplay Daily News has:

Fleet Management fights back – FLEET Management, which operated the Cosco Busan during the November 2007 spill in San Francisco Bay, faces serious financial risk after conceding guilt in two misdemeanours.

The group had admitted guilt last month in violating the Migratory Bird Act and Clean Water Act in connection with the box ship striking a SF Bay Bridge pier in heavy fog off Oakland, sparking a huge spill of fuel oil.

In court documents filed Monday that were reviewed by Fairplay, Fleet Management said that the US government has made a “last minute” attempt to use the Alternative Fines Act to drastically raise penalties.

“The government apparently intends to ask the court to impose a criminal fine of up to $40M for Fleet’s guilty plea to the violation of the Migratory Bird Act (that would otherwise carry a maximum fine of $200,000) and the Clean Water Act (that would otherwise carry a maximum fine of either $25,000/day of violation or $200,000),” said Fleet Management.

If the $40M fine were actually levied, Fleet Management warned that it “would potentially cripple Fleet financially as well as fatally damage its reputation in the shipping community”.

The group argued that the “government should not be allowed to change the charge after Fleet has publicly committed itself to pleading guilty”. – Fairplay Homepage (Used with Permission)

AND:

Seadrill hits loan jackpot – OSLO-LISTED Seadrill today proved lenders are still open for business by securing a $1. 5Bn loan.

The credit facility, provided by various commercial institutes and export credit agencies, will be used to refinance the existing $1Bn loan and for general corporate finances.

Terms of the loan are based on five years; it will be used for two ultra-deepwater, semi-submersible drilling rigs, one deepwater drill ship and one jack-up drilling rig.

Seadrill was particularly pleased that the loan was secured in the current gloomy economic climate. “This agreement reflects the quality of our assets and contract backlog as well as our long and outstanding relationship with our supporting banks,” added Seadrill CEO Alf C Thorkildsen. – 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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