All Maritime News and Travel: 01/02/2011

08 January 2011

Divers hope pig carcass in icy river will help locate drowned Manitoba boy

Steve Lambert -

Divers have been trying for a month to find the body of a six-year-old boy who fell through thin ice while playing with his older brother on the Red River in Manitoba's capital.

On Wednesday they dumped a pig carcass into the water in the hope it might drift the same way Nathanial Thorassie's body did and lead them to its resting place.

The dive team's leader said there was only one reason for the unusual approach.

"No six-year-old boy belongs at the bottom of a river. No family needs to think their boy is at the bottom of a river," Sgt. Rob Riffel, head of the Winnipeg Police Service dive unit, said as his crew methodically set up ropes and other gear to protect them from the water that is still not entirely frozen over.

"They need closure and we want to try to provide that to them."

Led by Gordon Giesbrecht, a kinesiology professor at the University of Manitoba who specializes in the effects of extreme weather on the human body, divers slowly dragged the pig carcass in a small sled to the edge of the open water in the middle of the river.

Giesbrecht dumped it in. The carcass was attached to a rope that he held as he walked along the shore as the pig's body slowly drifted downstream.

"We're just trying some different things," he said. "We might be here a day or two. We're not going to get an answer right now, but we'll shed some light on what is possible and what is probably less possible."

A pig is about the same size as a human child and has a similar lung capacity, Riffel said.

The unique cookiecutter shark

Donnell A. Tate -

Marks made by cookiecutter sharks have been found on a wide variety of marine mammals and fishes, as well as on submarines, undersea cables and even human bodies. Though rarely encountered because of its oceanic habitat, there are a handful of documented attacks on humans that were apparently caused by cookiecutter sharks.

Similar reports have come from shipwreck survivors of suffering small, clean, deep bites during nighttime. In March 2009, Maui resident Mike Spalding was bitten by a cookiecutter shark while swimming across the Alenuihaha Channel. Nevertheless, this diminutive shark is not regarded as highly dangerous.

One of the earliest accounts of the wounds left by the cookiecutter shark on various animals is in ancient Samoan legend, which held that atu (skipjack tuna) entering Palauli Bay would leave behind pieces of their flesh as a sacrifice to Tautunu, the community chief. In later centuries, various other explanations for the wounds were advanced, including lampreys, bacteria and invertebrate parasites.

In 1971, Everet Jones of the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (a predecessor of the National Marine Fisheries Service) discovered that the cigar shark, as it was then generally known, was responsible.

Shark expert Stewart Springer thus popularized the name “cookiecutter shark” for this species, though he originally called them “demon whale-biters.” Other common names used for this shark include luminous shark, smalltooth cookiecutter shark and smooth cookiecutter shark.

‘Big Blue’ update: salvage continues for sunken dry dock in Guam

gCaptain -

Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team members continue to provide oversight and monitor salvage operation plans for the sunken dry dock “Big Blue” in Apra Harbor, Thursday.

Strike Team members reviewed the fuel transfer plan and testing of fuel transfer lines. Guam Shipyard personnel transferred diesel fuel from the dry dock, Big Blue, to a fuel tank aboard the tugboat Marianas Voyager.

The transfer process was conducted at a rate of 480 gallons per hour. The fuel was transferred from the generator fuel tank located in a machinery space on Big Blue. This tank is the largest source of fuel on the dry dock. The fuel transfer was discontinued at sunset and will resume tomorrow morning at first light. Once the fuel tank is empty, the next step in the process of dewatering the remaining compartments will take place.

A member from the 14th Coast Guard District Response Advisory Team from Honolulu and three members of the Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team are on scene to assist Guam Shipyard with establishing recovery goals and provide expertise to ensure Big Blue is safely raised out of the water. After surveying the dry dock, Pacific Strike Team member Chief Boatswain’s Mate Benjamin Gamad said, “All agencies are working well together to reach a solution and mitigate any potential environmental impacts.”

U. S. Coast Guard Sector Guam urges all commercial and recreational boating traffic to remain vigilant while transiting near Big Blue. To report any debris or signs of oil in the water call the Sector Guam Command Center at 671-564-USCG.

Saturday's Quote !

“A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”

George Moore (English Philosopher one of the fathers of the analytic philosophy. 1873-1958)

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Super-size ships challenge capacity balance

Joc Sailing -

Ship owners and operators are betting their future profitability on super-sized container ships and must delay deliveries of additional vessels to avoid overcapacity and plunging rates, a European shipping bank warns in a research report.

Super-post-Panamax container ships -- vessels with capacities of at least 8,000 20-foot equivalent units - "are becoming the backbone of the operating fleet of the top tier global liners," said the report by DVB Bank, based in Rotterdam and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The world's top 15 global container fleet operators hold a 70 percent share of the 13.7 million-TEU capacity of the active liner fleet.

Carriers and vessel charterers are concentrating their investments on large ships that offer economies of scale and are using the big ships to displace other vessels, including post-Panamax ships in the 3,000-8,000-TEU range that are being bumped to other routes.

Balancing supply and demand of super-post-Panamax ships during the next two to three years will require moderate trade growth, capture of additional market share from smaller vessels, continued slow steaming to absorb capacity and "most importantly," further delays in deliveries of new ships, the report said.

If owners and operators abandon the "pro-active supply management" that restricted capacity and enabled them to return to profitability last year, the wave of large ships scheduled for delivery in 2011 and 2012 will cause Far East-Europe rates to crash. "This will in turn weigh on the entire container shipping market," the report said.

07 January 2011

Russian ship sinks in Far East, search underway for 14 crew

RT -

A fishing ship “Partner” has sunk off the western coast of Sakhalin Island on Friday, with no survivors found as yet.

Rosrybolovstvo fishing department reports the distress signal from the vessel was received on Friday morning.

Fourteen were reportedly on board, all Russian citizens. A rescue operation is underway and an airplane and two ships have been sent to the scene. However, as yet there is no sign of the ship or crew. The search is being hampered by the difficult weather conditions.

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Russian ship sinks in Far East, search underway for 14 crew

RT -

A fishing ship “Partner” has sunk off the western coast of Sakhalin Island on Friday, with no survivors found as yet.

Rosrybolovstvo fishing department reports the distress signal from the vessel was received on Friday morning.

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Breaking ice: trapped ships finally moving

RT -

An icebreaker in waters off the far eastern coast of Russia, the Admiral Makarov, has towed one of three ships that had been stuck in freezing waters for a week 24 miles toward clear water.

The icebreaker reached the scene Thursday after enormous effort, breaking a channel through the ice.

However, the stranded vessel's journey out of the icy trap is not over yet. Another icebreaker, Magadan, picked up the slack and is now towing it further away from the danger zone.

“The situation is normal. We are getting out of the ice,"

Dmitry Sova, the second mate on the vessel Professor Kizevetter, told RT.

"One of the other ships tried to free us, but it was unsuccessful. We are very happy, we will be home soon. We hope everything will be alright. We are hoping to reach clear waters by Friday night.”

According to official reports there is no immediate danger to the crew, as they have enough food and supplies for the moment.

Two more ships remain locked in the ice in the Bay of Sakhalin after getting into trouble on December 30.

The rescue operation has been monitored from Moscow and by local authorities.

The Admiral Makarov is now on its way to the biggest of the three vessels, the Sodruzhestvo, which has about 300 people stranded onboard.

Read more...

Photo Kristan Hutchison

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The General Abbatucci project

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Could chemicals in flood waters harm Barrier Reef ?

CTV -

After heavy rain caused hundreds of thousands of kilometers of flooding, environmentalists are now concerned about run-off containing fertilizers, pesticides and sediment that could negatively affect the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

Queensland, home to large sugar and coal production industries, borders the 2,600 km of coastline where the Great Barrier Reef is found. The large agricultural presence in the state could be creating algal blooms that could cut the amount of sunlight reaching the coral turning it white, an effect called bleaching.

Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence Canada, told Canada AM that the potential for an environmental disaster is huge.

"These algal blooms from the fertilizer are cutting down on the sunlight depriving the coral of nutrients," said Smith. "Then when you have a huge flood like this they pour into the ocean."

Environmental Defence Canada is an organization that hopes to inspire change by tackling environmental issues that impact everyday life, championing such causes as the removal of bisphenol A from plastic baby bottles and the creation of the Greenbelt in Ontario.

Algal blooms, large concentrations of algae, are sometimes known as ‘red tides.' Although most are harmless, some can create toxins that could kill birds, shellfish and marine mammals.

Japan steps up underwater mineral search

Claudette Werden -

Tokyo has announced it is ramping up its search for undersea mineral reserves in the Pacific.

The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals Corporation has been conducting basic surveys in waters close to the Northern Marianas.

Initial studies show that part of the Pacific is rich in deposits of undersea minerals which are used in the manufacture of electronics.

The Japanese government has now decided to take direct control of the project.

Professor Bernd Lottermoser, an expert in rare earth deposits, told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program that Tokyo's decision to step up its search for the metals is a strategic one.

"... to ensure they can manufacture their electronic devices without being held at ransom by the supply of rare earth elements by another nation," he said.

Mines in China had supplied about 97 per cent of the world's rare earth minerals - an essential component in many high-tech goods like smart phones, computers and lasers.

Late last year Beijing announced it was cutting its exports, reserving them for domestic production.

Political scientist and president of Japan's Niigata University, Professor Takashi Inoguchi, says Japan is now trying to secure a reliable source of its own.

Cayman Islands sinking US ship to create reef

David McFadden -

Contractors began flooding a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship Wednesday to sink it in the clear waters off the Cayman Islands, where officials hope the vessel will attract tourists and fish.

Plans called for the USS Kittiwake, a 1945-vintage submarine rescue ship, to rest on a sandy bottom off Grand Cayman's Seven Mile Beach. The 47-foot-tall (14-meter) ship will be at a depth of 62 feet (19 meters), so the top deck should be close to the Caribbean Sea's surface, making it easily accessible for snorkelers and divers.

Crews were carefully flooding the battered hulk in hopes the 2,200-ton (1,995 metric ton) ship would settle upright. Holes were punched in the hull and large pumps were gradually piping sea water into the ship, which was compartmentalized into three sections.

"I'm on pins and needles. We're trying to keep the ship on a level, even keel so hopefully it will go down nice and smooth," project manager Nancy Easterbrook said during a phone interview from a nearby boat on Seven Mile Beach.

The Kittiwake's scuttling raised mixed emotions in Jon Glatstein, who was a sailor on the vessel from 1984 to 1986. He traveled to this wealthy British Caribbean territory to watch his old ship sink beneath the waves.

Former TV camera man hurt when scuba tank falls and explodes in garage

WBTV -

A former NC TV videographer and his wife, a newspaper photographer, were hurt Monday evening when a SCUBA tank fell in their garage and exploded, WRAL-TV reported.

The incident happened in Fayetteville and involved a former WRAL-TV video photographer and a current photographer for the Fayetteville Observer, WRAL reported.

Rick Allen suffered severe burns and is listed as critical in a burn center in Chapel Hill, WRAL reported. His wife, Cindy Burnham, was hurt by flying glass, WRAL reported.

The incident happened when Allen, who is a scuba diver, walked between cars in his garage near midnight and knocked over a compressed air tank, fire officials told WRAL.

WRAL also reported that the home on Partridge Court in Fayetteville suffered "major structural damage."

Source Nautilus Productions

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Australian flood victims return to muddy homes

The Jakarta Post -

Evacuated victims began returning to homes caked in sludge on Friday as Australia's flood crisis eased, though one sandbagged town watched nervously as a swollen river level crept higher and forecasters warned of more rain.

Officials said they were moving from the emergency phase into cleanup as flood water levels stabilized in the hard-hit coastal city of Rockhampton and dropped further in towns further inland.

Queensland state has been in the grip of Australia's worst flooding in some 50 years since drenching tropical rains fell for days starting just before Christmas. At its worst, an area the size of France and Germany combined was covered with water, some 40 townships were inundated and nearly 4,000 people evacuated.

Police say 10 people have died in swollen rivers or floodwaters in Queensland since late November.

The flooding shut some 40 coal mines in the state, pushing up global prices, and has hurt wheat, mango, sugarcane and other crops. Road and rail links have been washed away in many places, and officials warn it could be months before they are restored so industry and other activity can return to normal.

Some of the 150 people of Condamine went home in a convoy on Thursday for the first time since everyone in the small cattle-ranch supply town 190 miles (300 kilometers) west of Brisbane, the state capital, was evacuated on Dec. 30 to escape rising floodwaters.

They found the waters gone, but that 42 of the town's 60 houses had been inundated by the flood.

"It's just flattened everything," said pub owner Shane Hickey. "All the grass is mud, all the plants have been torn out of the ground, the trees have gone over and are just covered in silt and mud."

Polar bear swim going strong -- and frigid

UPI -

A record 1,500 swimmers dashed into the 35-degree surf at New York's Coney Island for the annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim, organizers said.

"It was like 10,000 knives stabbing you at once," Tim Henshall, 50, an Army reservist from Blairstown, N.J., told the New York Daily News.

Just returned from Afghanistan, Henshall made his second New Year's plunge in only a Speedo and dog tags. "It's a great way to remind you you're alive," he said.

The swimmers' attire ranged from bikinis to mermaid costumes and scuba gear.

The event was also a fundraiser for Camp Sunshine for seriously ill children.

Ruby's Bar and Grill defiantly opened for the occasion, serving hot chocolate and coffee, but no alcohol. The bar's owners are fighting their eviction by a developer.

"I'm getting older, so this is one of the last things I can do that pushes me to the edge," said Jim Carbonaro, 55, of Staten Island. "And hey, it's a heck of a lot safer than skydiving. It's viciously invigorating."

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Mining the depths more than pie in the sky

Stuff -

Mining rock phosphate in the Chatham Rise area presents obvious benefits, but the hurdles are huge, reports James Weir.

Extracting rock phosphate from under 400 metres of water on the Chathams Rise has obvious benefits in that the mineral is a key part of fertiliser for New Zealand farms, but the challenge from a mining point of view is a "steep one", says an analyst's report.

If all goes to plan, Widespread Energy, one of the companies looking at rock phosphate, believes it could start underwater mining as early as 2013, although it faces big hurdles in raising cash overseas and getting government approval to mine.

McDouall Stuart's head of research, John Kidd, says rock phosphate is not "pie in the sky", but a real and valuable resource that could offset phosphate shipments from Morocco.

"Despite the obvious benefits, the challenge would be a steep one," he said, considering that seabed mining presents higher risks than onshore mining, especially considering the mid-water depth of 400 metres. However, seabed mining technology is well established and the challenges of applying it to the Chatham Rise "appear manageable".

However, the project is expected to face opposition from environmental groups.

Also, there is the challenge of mining phosphate at a depth that has never been achieved anywhere else. Still, three different overseas dredging companies believe it can be done and they have mined alluvial diamonds at up to 170 metres, says Widespread managing director Chris Castle.

Solo yacht racer delivers environmental plea

Neil Reid -

Solo round the world yachtie Brad Van Liew has made an impassioned New Year's resolution from the dangerous seas of the Southern Ocean.

Van Liew continues to set the pace in the Cape Town to Wellington leg of the Velux 5 Oceans Race.

And he has vowed to fight for the preservation of the seas he is battling, and the conservation of its lessening marine life, after being stunned at changes he has witnessed in the region since last racing in the Southern Ocean during the 2006 Velux 5 Oceans Race.

"The primary message that I will try to convey to this watery world as we enter 2011 is an apology,'' Van Liew blogged on the official race site from the Southern Ocean.

"I'd like to be an 'eyes wide open' witness to the impact our human existence has on this place. Maybe I am a lone ambassador of sorts?

"As I write this I am sailing in 9 degree Celsius water in a place that should have far cooler water temperature. I am sailing deliberately further north than ever before because the Antarctic convergence [ice zone] is hundreds of miles further north than when I first sailed the Southern Ocean in 1998.

"The birds are far less than I have ever experienced, and the whales ... well we all know that story.

Among the seafaring nomads of Asia

Karly Domb Sadof -

They learn to swim before they walk, legend says. They intentionally rupture their eardrums at an early age so they can dive deeper and longer. They spend their lives at sea, living on boats and plunging to improbable depths in search of pearls, sea cucumbers and fish.

They are the Bajau. They live in the Coral Triangle, an oceanic region off Southeast Asia. And they are among the last surviving communities of seafaring nomads in the world.

“It is their intimacy with the sea that protects them,” said the British photojournalist James Morgan, 24, who is currently based in Bali. He followed the Bajau last year with a grant from the Royal Photographic Society.

Mr. Morgan first heard about the marine cultures of Southeast Asia in 2004 as an anthropology student. The Bajau and other nomadic seafarers suffered almost no casualties from the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Sensing the earthquake, they had enough time to seek protection.

Mr. Morgan grew up by the sea and has always loved the ocean. But he had to specially prepare himself for this project by making deep dives off England’s south coast, practicing in the bathtub and teaching himself Malaysian and Indonesian.

Jacques Cousteau's granddaughter continues his legacy

Georgetown University -

Using some of the underwater gear created by her famous grandfather, Alexandra Cousteau (C’98) and her international team, Expedition Blue Planet, traveled 14,500 miles across North America in 2010 to investigate global water issues.

At a recent luncheon sponsored by Georgetown College, she said Jacques Cousteau, who died the year before she graduated from Georgetown, taught her to scuba dive at the age of 7.

He educated her about the environment, biodiversity, and underwater ecologies, she said, but also kept her guessing.

“If you want to know about the world, you’ll have to go see for yourself,” she said he told her.

The Georgetown government major followed her grandfather’s advice, studying dolphins at the Harvard Oceanographic Institution, diving with humpback whales in Maui and helping fisherman in Costa Rica with sustainable fishing practices.

In 2008, she founded Blue Legacy, an initiative that explores and documents environmental change.

An outgrowth of that initiative, Expedition Blue Planet is resulting in blog posts, photo essays and short web documentaries to help viewers understand their role in story of America’s changing watersheds.

“When you poison your water, you destroy your community,” Cousteau explained to students at the lunch. “In the United States, Over half of our rivers are neither fishable, drinkable nor swimmable.”

Verification of diver qualifications essential

Hydro International -

Checking diver qualifications is vital, says the International Marine Contractors Association, which has issued ‘Verification of diver qualifications' an information note to members.

Divers should hold a diving qualification suitable for the work to be undertaken and should have their original certificate in their possession. Checking only takes a matter of minutes, but is a key step to ensuring safe diving operations.

According to Jane Bugler, IMCA's technical director, several members have enquired recently about how they should go about verifying the validity of diving certificates recognised under the IMCA International Code of Practice for Offshore Diving.

"We would urge all those employing offshore divers to see these certificates as a matter of course. Anyone in doubt should address the certificate issuing authority as indicated on our information note. Our message is ‘check, check, check' it's the vital component for safe diving operations."

The recently-published IMCA information note includes full contact details in Australia, Canada, France, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa and the UK, with additional information on who to contact about a further range of certificates issued directly by the schools.

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Bat fish, razor fish, frog crab rediscovered

K.S. Sudhi -

In the Bay of Bengla after over a century of their first identification, three unique marine organisms, Deep Sea Smoky Bat fish, Grooved Razor fish and Frog crab, have been re-recorded from Indian waters after a gap of over a century.

Cruises on board ocean research vessel ‘Sagar Sampda' in the Bay of Bengal yielded the species. The specimens were collected off the Andhra Pradesh coast during the cruises held between August and September 2009.

It took over a year for the identification and validation of the species, scientists of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here said.

Bat fish was first described by Alfred William Alcock in 1894 after it was spotted in the Bay of Bengal following surveys conducted on board ‘Investigator,' the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship.

The samples were obtained from a depth ranging from 265 metres to 457 metres. The recent collection of the species came off Tamarapatnam at a depth of 100 metres and after 116 years of its identification, said scientists E. Vivekanandan and R. Jeyabaskaran.

Of the nine Bat fish species available worldwide, four have been reported in India. These species mainly feed on molluscs, marine worms, small crustaceans and occasionally small fishes. Bat fishes are mostly found in Indo-West Pacific, South Africa, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Taiwan and China.

Fisheries sector continues to grow rapidly

FIS Indonesia -

Over the past five years, the output of aquatic products has kept an annual growth rate of around 4 per cent with an apparently improved product mix and steadily raised quality and safety, which the Ministry of Agriculture believes has ensured effective and safe supply of these products.

It is expected that the total output may reach 53.50 million tonnes in 2010, the value of the total output could also top CNY 1200 billion (USD 180 billion), and per capita average income come up to CNY 8,963 (USD 1,353) with annual average growth rate of 8.8 per cent.

Incomplete statistics show that funds from the central government for fisheries in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan has increased by 700 per cent over the Tenth Five-Year Plan period that has totaled up to CNY 37 billion (USD 5.6 billion) with focus on subsidies for fishery policy enforcement, fishing harbours, preservation of resources, multiplication of improved breeds, and livelihoods of fishmen.

The Ministry also claims that Governments at all levels have given more attention to fishermens welfares through increasing subsidies for diesel for fishing vessels and fishery insurance premiums, ensuring subsistence allowances for poorer fishmen, and resettlement of fishermen on land.

The policy on diesel subsidies that the Eleventh Five-Year Plan has introduced has helped relieve the financial burden on fishermen imposed by a sharp increase in diesel prices.

Read more...

Photo China Fishery Group/Hong En Aquaculture/FIS

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Friday's Quote !

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
George Sheehan (American physician, author and running enthusiast, 1918 - 1993)

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'La Boudeuse' saisie par le fisc

NouvelObs -

Amarré depuis septembre 2010 à un quai de Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), le trois-mâts La Boudeuse a été saisi par le fisc le 13 décembre dernier pour un impayé de TVA de près de 66.800 euros, ce qui pourrait entraîner sa vente aux enchères, a-t-on appris auprès de son capitaine, l'explorateur et écrivain Patrice Franceschi.

Le navire historique n'a pas bougé de Nantes depuis septembre et l'arrêt de la mission Terre-Océan, prévue dans le cadre du Grenelle de la Mer, faut de subventions suffisantes. M. Franceschi a rencontré le 5 janvier la ministre de l'Écologie, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, pour évoquer la situation financière critique du navire. "Elle m'a assuré qu'elle allait faire son possible pour plaider la cause de La Boudeuse auprès du ministère des Finances, sans promesse de résultat", a-t-il déclaré à l'Associated Press.

Pour le capitaine de la goélette de 46 mètres, "c'est une situation entre Kafka et Courteline: on doit légitimement de l'argent à l'Etat qui nous a saisi à cause d'une subvention de 500.000 euros non versée par un autre service de l'Etat".

La suite...

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Carnival wins $24M from Rolls in Queen Mary suit

ABC News -

A Miami jury has awarded $24 million to Carnival Corp. in its lawsuit against Rolls-Royce PLC involving claims of a faulty propulsion system aboard the luxury liner Queen Mary 2.

The jury verdict came Wednesday after a two-week federal trial. A Carnival spokesman said jurors awarded $16 million in damages for eight counts of fraud and $8 million for breach of repair warranties.

Carnival contended that the Mermaid propulsion system installed by Rolls on the Queen Mary 2 was defective, suffered breakdowns and had to be serviced more often than advertised.

The 1,132-foot Queen Mary 2 is operated by Carnival subsidiary Cunard.

A Rolls-Royce spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a telephone request from The Associated Press for comment.

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NOAA improves marine and weather forecast models for the Great Lakes

gCaptain -

NOAA is now using enhanced weather and marine forecast models for the Great Lakes that will extend forecasts from 36 hours to 60 hours into the future to better serve commercial and recreational mariners, the shipping industry, emergency responders, water resource managers and the private weather industry.

The Great Lakes Operational Forecast System of NOAA’s National Ocean Service, which predict currents, water level and water temperature, is now running on NOAA’s National Weather Service’s powerful and reliable super computers. The super computers run around the clock, offering a more reliable computing framework to generate Great Lakes forecast models and ultimately producing more timely forecasts. GLOFS nowcasts and forecasts are online at http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/glofs.html.>

The National Weather Service provides customers with wind and wave forecasts in addition to weather forecasts for the five Great Lakes. Bringing the National Ocean Service’s forecasts under the same computing system provides the opportunity for customers to have access to Great Lakes predictions from a single source.

“We are expanding environmental modeling capabilities within NOAA by leveraging existing resources and partnerships,” said Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, a division of the National Weather Service. “This initiative will give NOAA customers better, more reliable and timely information.”

Washington State Governor proposes plan for regional ferry system

gCaptain -

Washington State Governor, Christine Gregoire today announced a plan that would transform the Washington State Ferry system from a state-run operation to a regional ferry district.

“These difficult times require bold action to not only save taxpayer money but to improve the way the state does business and serves the public,” said Gregoire.

The governor will introduce legislation to create a Puget Sound Regional Ferry District to operate the ferry system. The district would consist of all or a portion of the following counties: Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. The district’s funds would come from fares, a state subsidy to fund a core level of service, and regional taxing authority to ensure service levels are consistent with local and regional needs.

The ferry system is facing serious financial trouble. Washington State Ferries has lost more than $1.2 billion in funding since 1999 when voters repealed the motor vehicle excise tax, or MVET, with Initiative 695. According to the national Passenger Vehicle Association, this lack of stable funding is a critical challenge to the system’s sustainability and level of service. The system faces a $900 million shortfall over the next ten years.

“Rather than patch together funding for the ferries for another two years and subject ferry riders and communities to more uncertainty, I believe it is time to take bold action so the system is sustainable, safe and accessible,” Gregoire said. “A regional district will give the communities and families who depend on the ferries the stability and control they deserve.”

06 January 2011

More cruise ports can boost tourism

Erwida Maulia -

Indonesia is planning to build more cruise ports in efforts to increase numbers of foreign visitors who come here on cruises.

Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said Thursday he wanted new cruise ports in at least Bali and the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua.

At present, cruise liners passing through the Indonesian archipelago could only make stopovers in Semarang, where passengers could disembark to make road trips to the famous Borobudur temple in Central Java; as well as in Surabaya, East Java; Batam; and Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara.

"In Bali, cruise ships can only stop in the middle of the ocean. So we’re building a cruise port where they can dock. Cruise ships have many elderly passengers, so [ports are important]," Jero said.

He added that he wanted to draw investors to eastern Indonesia, and specifically expressed his wish to build a cruise port in the Raja Ampat area, often dubbed Indonesia's best marine park.

Jero made the statement after Indonesia and Singapore agreed on Tuesday to jointly develop cruise tourism. Singapore is currently enjoying a boom in cruise tourism and needs new destinations to offer, and Indonesia wants to make use of the opportunity to draw more visitors to its abundant marine tourist sites.

"This is very interesting because a cruise ship can carry up to 2,000 passengers. We can offer them food, souvenirs and the passengers’ other needs [while in Indonesia]," Jero said.

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BP and firms made risky decisions before spill

Ayesha Rascoe -

BP and its partners made a series of cost-cutting decisions that ultimately contributed to the oil spill that ravaged the Gulf of Mexico coast over the summer, the White House oil spill commission said on Wednesday.

In its final report on causes of the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, the commission said BP and its collaborators on the doomed Macondo well had lacked a system to ensure their actions were safe.

"Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time (and money)," the report said.

Created by President Barack Obama in the midst of the BP spill, the panel is the first government-sanctioned group to wrap up its probe of the causes of the drilling disaster.

Charged with guiding the future of offshore drilling, the commission will release its full review of the spill and its aftermath next week.

Although the commission lacks authority to establish policy or punish companies, its conclusions could have a bearing on future criminal and civil cases relating to the spill.

The findings contradict its initial report in November, which found no evidence that Macondo project workers cut corners to save money.

After receiving criticism for that finding, the panel sought to clarify those comments, saying it did not mean companies involved with the accident had never sacrificed safety to save money.

A chart by the commission was later leaked by the media detailing decisions made while drilling the Macondo well that saved time, but increased risks.

Eventually, the panel made the document public and the final report included a similar chart.

Read more...

Photo Suzanne Plunkett

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Draining flooded Australia mines could take weeks

Daniel Munoz -

Australia's flood-stricken coal industry was facing lengthy disruptions on Thursday, with one miner saying it could take weeks to drain its pits of water and the biggest coking coal port warning there was a risk its stocks could run out.

Floods swamped coking coal mines in Queensland state in December, paralysing operations that produce 35 percent of Australia's estimated 259 million tonnes of exportable coal. Australia accounts for two-thirds of global coking coal exports, which are needed to make steel.

About 200,000 people scattered across an area the size of France and Germany combined have been affected by the flooding in Queensland. Damage from the floods, the worst in the state in 50 years, has been estimated at $5 billion (£3.2 billion).

London-listed Anglo American, one of the nation's top four miners of steel-making coal, said it was preparing to pump water out of its flooded mines but that it was too early to say when its collieries could resume operation.

"Our focus is currently on mobilising our people and other resources and de-watering flooded coal pits, which we estimate will take some weeks," Seamus French, head of the group's metallurgical coal division, said in a statement.

Anglo has about seven coal mines in Queensland, which accounts for most of Australia's coking-coal exports.

Read more...

Photo Reuters - Daniel Munoz

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Thursday's Quote !

“Try and fail, but don't fail to try.”
Stephen Kaggwa

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STX Finland delivered a car-passenger ferry for P&O Ferries from Rauma shipyard

STX Europe -

Today on Wednesday 5 January 2011, car-passenger ferry NB 1367 the Spirit of Britain, was delivered by STX Europe's Rauma shipyard to P&O ferries. Her sister ship, the Spirit of France, will be delivered from Rauma Shipyard in September 2011.

The Spirit of Britain will be the largest ferry operating in the English Channel. The 47,600-gt vessel is 213 meters long and has a capacity of 3,746 lane meters (lm) for trailers, cars and other cargo.

In addition to space for approx. 180 freight trucks and 195 passenger cars, the vessel can accommodate 2,000 passengers.

STX Rauma shipyard specialises in designing and building state-of-the-art car-passenger ferries. The hull of the Spirit of Britain has been optimised for the vessel's specific route to ensure maximum performance and good manoeuvring characteristics. The latest and most advanced technology was applied in the design and construction of this vessel.

Special attention was paid to environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solutions and safety. The vessel delivered from STX Rauma shipyard is the first car-passenger ferry in the world to meet IMO's Safe Return to Port requirements and comply with the requirements of the Green Passport of classifying society Lloyd's Register.

Tank leak, section of Houston Ship Channel closed

United States Coast Guards -

The Coast Guard and the Texas General Land Office are responding to a tallow spill in the Houston Ship Channel early Tuesday evening.

Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston received a report from the National Response Center at 3:49 p.m. that a shore-based storage tank was breached, causing approximately 250,000 gallons of beef tallow (animal fat) to spill. An estimated 15,000 gallons entered the Houston Ship Channel via a storm drain.

Roughly three quarters of a mile of the channel is closed from City Dock 16 up to the Buffalo Bayou Railroad Bridge - the most northern portion of the Houston Ship Channel.

The owner of the damaged tank, Jacob Sterns and Sons, has been notified and is working with the Coast Guard and Texas General Land Office. Garner Environmental Services has been contracted to conduct cleanups. Six boats are currently on scene to deploy boom around the affected area.

There is currently no inbound or outbound traffic being delayed and no refineries have been impacted. Due to the nature of the product, the environmental impact is expected to be minimal.

The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.

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Two Jensen-designed tugboats commissioned at workboat show in New Orleans

Jensen Maritime Consultants -

Two Jensen Maritime-designed tugboats, the Elizabeth B and Beverly B, were commissioned into the E.N. Bisso & Son Inc. fleet during last month’s WorkBoat show in New Orleans.

The tugboats, which measure 96 feet in length and 34 feet in beam, are the fifth and sixth hulls of this class of tugs to enter service with Bisso. These Rolls-Royce US205MK2 Z-drive tugs are powered by twin Caterpillar 3516-C Series II main engines that produce a total of 4,000 BHP – driving Schottel ASD propulsion units – and are fitted with a Markey hawser winch forward and a Markey capstan aft.

"We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to Bisso," said Jonathan Parrott, Jensen’s vice president of new design. "We are confident these vessels will suit the needs of the company and will have long and productive service lives."

Fishermen reach $3.6M settlement over oil spill

San Fransico Chronicle -

Commercial fishermen have reached a $3.6 million tentative settlement with the owner and operator of a cargo ship that caused a massive oil spill in San Francisco Bay, an attorney for the fishermen announced.

Hong Kong-based firms Fleet Management Ltd. and Regal Stone Ltd. agreed to the settlement to be split among about 120 fishermen affected by the November 2007 spill, according to plaintiffs attorney Stuart Gross.

The deal is pending approval by a San Francisco Superior Court judge, and a separate judgment is being requested for attorney's fees.

"They fought us hard but ultimately came to the table and agreed to a very fair and adequate settlement," Gross said Wednesday.

Joe Walsh, an attorney representing Fleet Management and Regal Stone in the case, did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

05 January 2011

The new international buoyage system

John Konrad -

Despite the availability of satellite navigation systems, and ships that are awash with electronics, maritime buoyage still matters, particularly in pilotage waters where visual aids provide the best possible way of marking a channel or identifying obstructions.

These days, buoys can be “intelligent” in that they have radar reflectors to help them show up on ship radars, possibly fitted with electronic beacons that show up on electronic charts and even made individually identifiable through their own Automated Identification System signatures. Buoys still remain very useful indeed.

It is the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) which provides the global pattern for the maritime buoyage system. It established an internationally-accepted system in 1970 which set the colours, shapes, topmarks , lights etc for buoys, so that seafarers can use them around the world, even though there remain some differences between the two geographical zones with which history has left the industry.

The mariner uses buoys much as he always has, as an indication of his position and to show him the extent of a navigable channel, or to mark an isolated hazard, such as a wreck over which his ship should not pass. Buoys use distinguishing colours, marks and shapes to assist the navigator in their use. The new system provides for a newly designed wreck marking buoy, and clearer distinguishing marks, along with provisions for more use of electronics and some ingenious new methods of lighting.

Australia floods cause "catastrophic" damage

Daniel Munoz -

Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its coal mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt, Queensland's premier said on Wednesday.

The worst flooding in decades has affected an area the size of Germany and France, left towns virtual islands in a muddy inland sea, devastated crops, cut major rail and road links to coal ports, slashed exports and forced up world coal prices.

"Seventy-five per cent of our mines are currently not operating because of this flood, so that's a massive impact on the international markets and the international manufacture of steel," Premier Anna Bligh told local television.

The Australian floods, which have cut off 22 towns, have been caused by a "La Nina" weather pattern, which produces monsoonal rains over the western Pacific and Southeast Asia.

The La Nina saw Australia record its third wettest year on record in 2010 and is expected to last another three months, the nation's weather bureau said on Wednesday.

Queensland state is the world's biggest exporter of coal used in steel-making.

"Queensland is a very big state. It relies on the lifelines of its transport system, and those transport systems in some cases are facing catastrophic damage," said Bligh.

"Without doubt this disaster is without precedent in its size and its scale here in Queensland. What I'm seeing in every community I visit is heartbreak, devastation."

The flood disaster, say analysts, is forecast to shave around 0.4 percentage points off GDP, which equates to just over A$5 billion of Australia's annual output of A$1.3 trillion (£837 billion).

Read more...

Photo Reuters - Daniel Munoz

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Divers call for Cirkewwa marine sanctuary

Elaine Attard -

The Maltese diving community has begun circulating a petition and is organising an awareness-raising campaign urging the authorities to declare Cirkewwa a marine sanctuary.

Experienced diver Antonio Anastasi, who is leading the initiative, told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the area inevitably attracts both divers and fishermen because of two important wrecks − the P29 patrol boat and the Rozi tugboat, which attract large numbers of fish to lay their eggs there.

Although Cirkewwa automatically became a protected area when Malta joined the EU, divers still have to resort to calling the Police Force’s Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) unit to deal with infringements on an almost daily basis.

“Unfortunately, illegal fishing activities take place even during the night. Illicit fishing includes activities like spear fishing, as well as the laying of trammel nets (pariti) among others,” said Mr Anastasi.

“And the law does not protect this area as a no take zone. The law states that only spear fishing and the laying of trammel nets in the demarcated area of wrecks is prohibited, leaving huge gaps for other infringements such as the taking of sea urchins, octopus or lobster with one’s bare hands, or divers lifting souvenirs from the seabed,” he continued.

Other illegalities include dynamite fishing and the use of fishing gear including bottom lines, gill nets, entangling and encircling nets, demersal pots and traps.

Apart from destroying the habitats on which fish stocks depend, these activities can cause serious or even fatal accidents to divers in the area.

The diving community is calling on the government to declare Cirkewwa a marine protected area, with all types of fishing from boats banned, angling allowed only to the south of the dive site and stricter and constant law enforcement through a greater ALE presence.

It suggests that signs are erected informing people about infringements and related fines to deter illegalities, and that the area is declared a “no take zone” for both live and dead marine creatures, including shells.

Boy, 8, dies from hot pool burns

NZ Herald -

The 8-year-old boy who fell into a geothermal pool as hot as 100C on Boxing Day has died.

The boy fell into one of the pools at Rotorua's Kuirau Park and suffered severe burns to his face and body.

He was rushed to Rotorua Hospital and later airlifted on life support and a ventilator to the intensive care unit at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.

A hospital spokeswoman last night said the 8-year-old died from his severe burns yesterday afternoon. She said his family were traumatised.

Authorities do not know which of the pools the boy fell into or how he fell, and are relying on his family to fill in the blanks. It is not yet known where he is from. But a hospital spokesman said on Wednesday that he was of Pacific Island heritage and his family did not speak English.

Anna Kare, who was at the park when the boy fell but did not see the incident, said he was burned head to toe and screaming in agony as a teenager carried him to his parents.

She said witnesses began pouring cold water on his body and his family called 111.

"There was screaming and yelling - it was just horrible. He would say, 'My feet, my feet,' then after the water he was saying, 'My face, my face,' then back to his hands again."

Read more...

Photo APN

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Planning a 'polar bear plunge' ? How your body reacts

Kristin Kalning -

While the rest of us are bleary-eyed and horizontal on New Year’s Day, 56-year-old Tom “Iceman” McGann of Brooklyn, N.Y., plans to charge into the frigid Atlantic Ocean wearing nothing but a bathing suit. McGann and hundreds of other (totally insane) people will gather at the boardwalk on Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge. It’s one of many similar dips taking place on New Year’s Day and throughout the winter. Most raise money for charity, and most usually draw plenty of “are they crazy?” media coverage.

Immersing your scantily-clad body in ice-cold water may give you serious bragging rights. But does it pose any risks -- or offer any benefits -- for your health? The Finns (and Norwegians, and Russians) sure think so. All over Northern Europe, folks like to finish off a stint in the sauna with a plunge in any icy lake, touting the benefits the cold water has on the immune system, the complexion --even the libido.

Dr. Alan Steinman, one of the country’s foremost experts on hypothermia and cold-water survival, is dubious about those claims. “I don’t know of any definitive medical studies that have been done to measure the health benefits of cold-water swimming,” he says.

What’s more, plunging into cold water has some real risks, says Steinman, who served as the Coast Guard’s director of health and safety from 1993 to 1997. When the body is suddenly immersed in icy water, there’s a sudden gasp, an inhalation, rapid breathing and the inability to hold your breath, “which can be a problem if your head’s underwater,” he says. For that reason, it’s better to “plunge” gradually, from shallow water, and not off a dock or a boardwalk.

Winds in Cayman Islands delay scuttling of ship

Bloomberg -

The scuttling of a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship to create an underwater attraction for scuba divers and snorkelers has been postponed because of windy weather.

Project manager Nancy Easterbrook says winds off Grand Cayman were too strong Tuesday to sink the USS Kittiwake, an old 2,290-ton (2,077-metric ton) submarine rescue ship.

Easterbrook says they will sink the vessel as an artificial reef on Wednesday if there is a break in the weather.

Plans call for the Kittiwake to be sunk on the north end of Seven Mile Beach, providing divers with a year-round diving destination.

The Cayman Islands, a three-island Caribbean grouping that is an offshore finance haven, already is well known among divers around the world.

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Huge coral reefs discovered off Puerto Rico

Our Amazing Planet -

A new discovery of thriving coral reefs off the coast of Puerto Rico may offer hope for other shallower reefs.

Scuba diving scientists discovered sprawling and diverse coral reefs at 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 meters) below the ocean surface within a 12-mile (19-kilometer) span off the southwestern coast near La Parguera, Puerto Rico.

With the overall health of shallow coral reefs and the abundance of reef fish in Puerto Rico in decline, this finding brings hope that deeper fish stocks may help to replenish stocks on shallower reefs.

These mesophotic ecosystems — 'meso' for middle and 'photic' for light — are the deepest of the light-dependent coral reefs. Too deep for exploration with traditional scuba gear, these reefs have until recently remained largely unexplored because of the cost and technical difficulty of reaching them. Advances in diving techniques allowed scientists to safely dive and conduct the new survey.

"We had no idea how extensive, vibrant and diverse these mesophotic coral ecosystems are off La Parguera," said Richard Appeldoorn, the study team leader from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez.

Read and see more...

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East Polynesia colonized faster and more recently than previously thought

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa -

New research by an international team of scholars shows early human colonization of Eastern Polynesia took place much faster and more recently than previously established.

The team of scholars describe their discoveries in a December 27 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition article titled "High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid colonization of East Polynesia." The study is co-authored by UH Mānoa professor of anthropology and director of the UH Mānoa Honors Program, Terry Hunt; team leader and paleoecologist Janet Wilmshurst of Landcare Research in Lincoln, New Zealand; Carl Lipo, associate professor of anthropology at California State University, Long Beach; and Atholl Anderson, professor of prehistory, archaeology and natural history at Australia National University's College of Asia and the Pacific in Canberra.

The study was based on an analysis of the validity of more than 1,400 radiocarbon dates from 47 islands in the region collected from their own and other researchers' published studies.

Polynesian ancestors settled in Samoa around 800 B.C., then much later moved to colonize the region in two distinct phases—earliest in the central Society Islands between A.D. 1025 and 1120, four centuries later than previously assumed. Then, between 70 and 265 years later, dispersal continued in one major ‘pulse’ to all remaining islands including New Zealand, Hawai`i and Easter Island (Rapa Nui) between A.D. 1190 and 1290. The timing and sequence of this remarkable event has been highly debated and poorly resolved, precluding the understanding of cultural and ecological change that followed.

"This is an amazing feat of Polynesian sea voyaging and discovery, and represents a rate of dispersal unprecedented in oceanic prehistory,” Wilmshurst said. “It’s even more incredible given that these isolated islands are spread across a vast area of the Pacific Ocean from the subtropics to the sub-Antarctics. Nearly all of the 500 or so islands were discovered, despite being scattered across an area of ocean the size of North America." The team noted that the voyagers probably benefited from improved canoes and sailing vessels as well as favorable winds resulting from frequent El Niño weather conditions.

Over the last decade, Hunt, joined by Lipo, has done extensive field research on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), where their work revealed that the timeframe of its earliest colonization was similar to New Zealand, which had been studied in depth by Wilmshurst and Anderson. The four researchers met in Hawai`i last spring to collaborate on this new study.

Wednesday's Quote !

“Kissing is like drinking salted water: you drink and your thirst increases”
Chinese Proverb

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