Please Note
Where has the Week gone ???
Regards
Snooper
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THE ZAC SUTHERLAND UPDATE
Zac's Blog
My name is Zac Sunderland and I am 17 years old. I departed 14th June 2008 from Marina del Rey, California in an attempt to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world alone by yacht.
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Further tales from our long haired solo sailor !
Photo : Jen Edney,
Caption : Well, that be ME !!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Mossel Bay
I just pulled into the anchorage off of Mossel Bay after 40 some hours of sailing from Port Elizabeth.
I pulled out with 2 other boats also hopping around the coast at around 8pm. When I got out of the breakwater the wind was blowing around 15 knots. I pulled up the sails and headed around to the point. About and hour after I left, I cruise ship left the harbor and proceeded to bear down on me at 20 knots. I turned on the spreader lights and hailed them on the VHF radio. I made contact with them and they said that they would pass a few hundred yards from me. Ten minutes later I was looking up at a massive cruise ship that was higher than my mast. Quite a start!
After that I set my course out to sea and sailed through light winds and a lot of ships - my first sleepless night. The next day the wind filled in and I was running down wind with about 20-25 knots going about 6-7 knots. The sailing was good but the shipping was a pain because they were so close they would stay on the radar so I couldn't set the alarm. They were going slow for some reason as well. I had to stay up and watch them constantly trying to figure out which way the lights were moving. For some reason they never have their nav lights on. They have a light on the bow and sometimes a light on deck.
I sailed through the next night through heavy winds and pumping sea and at around 3am I tacked and started heading in to port. I was off the entrance to the harbor around 9am and after making contact with Port Control and the the Mossel Bay Yacht Club found out that there were no moorings available. I went to an anchorage on the other side of the harbor and have been rolling around here ever since. The weather window should be opening up in the next 24 hours or so and I plan on heading out then. For now it is good to catch up on some sleep in preparation for the last leg of my trip around the Cape of Good Hope.
Cheers,
Zac
posted by Zac at 9:42 AM
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Visit www.zacsutherland.com
YouTube Videos http://www.youtube.com/zacsvideos
Blog http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/
Email zacsworldadventure@yahoo.com
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Mike Perham aged 16, the youngest person to sail across the atlantic solo now has his eye's on an even more adventurous challenge.
To become the youngest person to sail around the world solo in an open 50 racing yacht.
The First Albatross - 21 01 09
The front passed through last night, leaving me with some very variable winds. I was hoping that it would last a little longer because Totallymoney.com was making fantastic progress east. Right now there’s 1.4knots of wind so our speed has dropped considerably. Today’s 24-hour run will be the worst yet this trip, I'm sure!
I have to be patient with this wind as I know that in two days’ time, another very strong front will pass over us as another tropical low moves in from the north-west. As I’ve been writing, the wind has shifted from northeast to the southwest, the total opposite! Currently I'm heading north east as there's a bit more wind that way and that's what I really want right now.
Making the most of the light winds this morning I dropped the main to replace three lashings on the main sail and also add another car onto the track to give one of the batterns some extra support.
This took three hours in total as I had to move every single lashing on the mainsail down one car, which is effectively disconnecting the main from the mast and attaching it back on. I accidentally dropped my best deck knife while doing this and sure enough it slipped straight down through the deck and over the side. Very, very annoying! Oh well, I have a few spares, so there's no shortage. Finally, after the 20minutes it took to hoist the mainsail again I finally had some much-needed lunch at 3pm.
Today’s the start of another food bag so once again I have a fantastic new choice. I generally eat my favourite meals first, but I always save a good curry for the last day. I also have to resist the temptation not to eat all the snacks in the first three days, as there's no corner shop I can quickly visit to stock up from!
I’ve been kept company today by our first albatross from the Southern Ocean; what magnificent birds they are. A huge wingspan and such grace in the air. Even in less than a knot of wind they glide effortlessly around Totallymoney.com, dipping in and out of the air currents, never faltering for a moment.
My little island has now grown to the size of a cup and it hasn't stopped growing...(see blog from 20/01/09)
Visit : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/
Blog : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
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APS Marines embark on African mission to boost safety, foster new partnerships
Posted by SOF Editor on January 21st, 2009
Marines with Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group left aboard the USS Nashville Thursday to begin their deployment to the West Coast of Africa in support of Africa Partnership Station.
This initiative creates an opportunity for the United States to partner with the host nation security forces and foster regional maritime safety and security.
The host nations will receive a variety of training from Marines who came from a variety of units across the U.S. but mainly from 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment. This diverse group of Marines will teach skills tailored to the country’s expressed needs. The trainer advisors will teach combat lifesaver skills, patrolling, Marine Corps Martial Arts, radio operations, and many other areas of expertise. This training is an opportunity for both the host nation and the MCTAG trainer advisors.
“I think myself along with the Marines bring a variety of experience,” said Lance Cpl. John M. Allen, trainer advisor, MCTAG. “We all have different seniority levels, jobs and ability groups but it all groups together and brings a collaborative effort to the team. The different levels of experience can help us with our weaknesses and give us strength to accomplish our mission.”
This mission is not just the training of a few countries but it is an effort to strengthen partnerships and prevent wars. The Marines understand the effect they may have and are excited to be a part of the unique experience.
“I think it’s a way for us to build camaraderie with different services other than the U.S. services,” said Sgt. Alvin F. McLean, trainer advisor, MCTAG. “I think it’s more like a handshake between the countries. I’m very excited. I’ve been in the Marine Corps 14 years and to have this opportunity where I can be in the fight, go on ship for the first time, and go across the ocean and help people is great.”
This deployment is a win-win situation for the Marines because they have the chance to help others and also see the world.
“I think a lot of these countries, these areas are places that I would never go to on my own, and one of the reasons that people join the Marine Corps is to see different areas of the world,” said Maj. Hiel, officer-in-charge of the team. “I feel it’s a good opportunity to do that, and I think that being at sea and getting back to our maritime roots is a good aspect of it as well … so it’s good to do that and get back to some of the Marine Corps traditions.”
Participating in maritime operations is not the only tradition the Marine Corps is displaying during this operation, so is lending a helping hand. These Marines are ready to meet their host nation counterparts and do just that.
“I think it is important,” said Allen. “I’d like to see more of these missions and not just in Iraq and Afghanistan. I would like there to be peacekeeping type missions but not strictly humanitarian missions either.”
The APS mission involves not only Marines and Sailors training foreign military but also non-governmental agencies such as U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Project Hope and the U.S. Agency for International Development. They will be providing assistance in regards to medical outreach and fisheries management and patrolling. The training the host nations receive from the NGOs paired with the military-to-military training will give these African nations a holistic approach to building a safe and prosperous region. That is the end goal and one that everyone is happy to be participating in.
The months spent training will teach everyone something about themselves and others and how we can successfully interact on a global scale. This mission is one of building safety and security but also building esprit de corps.
“Every time I’ve done this in the past I’ve always come out with new relationships, new friends,” said Hiel. “I’ve always enjoyed it. I think the big thing is that you can learn things from these guys as well as teach things. I expect to come back a better rounded Marine. I think all these Marines will.”
http://www.sofmag.com/wp/2009/01/21/aps-marines-embark-on-african-mission-to-boost-safety-foster-new-partnerships/
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Updated: Wednesday January 21, 2009 MYT 1:17:57 PM
Malaysia - Confiscated foreign vessels to be scuttled
By R.S.N.MURALI
KUALA TERENGGANU: The state Maritime Enforcement Agency is ready to sink 32 foreign fishing vessels that were confiscated off the Terengganu coast, over the last couple of years.
The agency’s chief Syed Mohd Fuzi Syed Hassan said 32 vessels seized during operations would be turned into artificial reefs by submerging into shorelines close to Redang, Perhentian, Kapas and Susu Dara islands.
The vessels will be submerged in phases so that they would be able to function as artificial reefs to promote the growth of marine lives, he said on Wednesday.
He said the agency faced space constraint to moor the seized vessels at its wharf as the number of seizure kept escalating with the intense operations embarked by the agency, recently.
Syed Mohd Fuzi said the last year alone 26 foreign fishing vessels were seized for encroaching into Malaysian waters.
He said the number of vessels confiscated had in 2008 had increased 70% compared to the achievement made by the agency in 2006 and 2007.
Syed Mohd Fuzi noted that the Vietnamese fishermen were the highest numbers of encroachers followed by Thai fishermen.
He also attributed the success of the agency in thwarting the illegal fishing activities in Malaysian shores to local fishermen.
“Local fishermen provide us with accurate information on the location of these illegal vessels by detailing the longitude that made the task our officers more efficient,” he added.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/21/nation/20090121123706&sec=nation
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22 bodies retrieved from sunken trawler in Bangladesh
By Indo-Asian News Service on Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Twenty-two bodies were retrieved by rescuers Tuesday from a sunken trawler in Bangladesh’s southeastern Chandpur district, officials said.
A trawler carrying 50 labourers capsized on the Meghna River, some 115 km from here, early Monday. Around 25 people swam ashore, while the rest were missing.
A massive search operation was launched to retrieve the missing people.
By Tuesday afternoon, rescuers had retrieved 22 bodies from the river, while three people were still missing, an official of Bangladesh’s Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), said.
BIWTA divers pulled out the bodies from inside a cabin of the sunken trawler, the official said. The operation was delayed due to dense fog.
http://www.freshnews.in/22-bodies-retrieved-from-sunken-trawler-in-bangladesh-115961
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Future of Nigeria’s maritime sector
• Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009
The Maritime sector can be generally referred to as the gateway to the nation’s economy, and this is so because very large volume of goods both for import and export go through the maritime industry.
Several stakeholders or agencies such as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Customs Service, Importers, Freight-Forwarders, Shipping Companies, NIMASA, Ports Concessioning, Immigrations and other agencies operate at Nigerian ports.
Some challenges have faced the real development of the maritime sector over the years, but the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua-led Government in 2008 introduced several measures with which to move the nation’s maritime forward.
Even though the present government inherited the Ports Concessioning where the operations of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have been sold to private investors from the past administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yet it had been the desire of the present administration to institute changes, and such that will make Nigeria one of the big maritime Nations of the world.
This desire of President Yar’Adua led to the enthronement of the policy of 48 hours cargo clearance in the early life of his administration, and to that extent, a committee to implement programmes that will facilitate the realisatin of these goal was inaugurated in 2008.
48 hour cargo clearance was readily embraced by most maritime operators who have been so troubled by the problems of ports congestion. Particularly at the Western Ports, where importers spent several weeks or months to get their cargoes cleared.
Several efforts were made by the federal government towards ensuring that Nigeria hits a remarkable position in the decision making body of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council seat.
The Federal Ministry of Transport, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency among other organisations in early 2008 spearheaded this course as they lobbied several African countries to support the Nigeria’s cause for the IMO Council seat.
This paid-off, when in the second quarter of 2008, Nigeria was elected into the category ‘C’ of the IMO Council Seat which is a deep decision making body of the IMO.
That victory along gave Nigeria access to be part of the policy maker of the IMO where policies that will be of interest to Nigeria could be projected.
The year 2008 recorded another shake-up in the administration and management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), as the two independent administration of the Western and Eastern Ports were merged to one central administration again by the present administration.
Before the separation of the ports by the former Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration, the NPA had only one central administration in Marina Lagos, but the eastern ports with headquarters in Port Harcourt became fully autonomous, having its own Managing Director (M/D) Mr. Obvude, while the western ports had Malam Abdul Salami as its MD.
The intervention of the National Assembly on the matter of separation of NPA brought to focus the disadvantages of having the two autonomous ports named after the Western and the Eastern Ports, as it was alleged that the Northern members of the National Assembly claimed that they were left out of the whole arrangement, and insisted that the whole issue be returned to status quo.
The order was later given in later in first quarter of 2008, while officers that made up the new groups were redeployed to their central unit, Mallam Abdul Salami became the substantive Managing Director of NPA with headquarters still in Marina, Lagos.
In Rivers Ports in the year under review, activities at the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) reared up with the rehabilitation of the office structured at the command. This second to rekindle the zeal of officers to work, while their welfare was gradually handled.
The Port Harcourt Area One Customs Command also witnessed facelift in their staff canteen, medical centre as well as the data capture center for the processing of import document, which were absent in past years.
On the part of the two concessionaires that operate at the Port Harcourt Wharf; the ports are Terminal Operators Limited (PTOL) and the BUA Port and Terminal Limited, remarkable improvement were recorded.
For BUA operator, a new cement factory was opened, while more dock labour were formally recruited and the number of vessels increase in BUA operation by over 60 per cent in 2008.
The PTOL on their part has constructed a modern storey building to serve as customs unit office, while some warehouses were reconstructed as well, and the quarry apron where vessels berth; that is berths one to three have been reconstructed for greater efficiency.
The PTOL Public Relations Officer, (PPO) Mr. Joe I. had said that these moves was geared towards repositioning the Port Harcourt Port to favourable compete with other ports on general cargo operation which is to start any moment in 2009.
Meanwhile the NPA authorities have installed electronic security devices at various points of the wharf, to control influx of people, as well as meet the International Standard Ports Security (ISPS) the port manager, Mr. Alabi had stated.
Already, the Port Anti-Corruption Sub-Committee had unched a suggestion complaint box in 3rd quarter of 2008 who an attempt to tackle corrupt and sharp practices at the port.
Also, the Onne Port security has been properly beefed up, as many changes have already taken place, while some shipping line, which temporarily redirected operations in the wake of the militant attacks, have returned to the Onne Port base measures being put in place.
In all, the maritime industry recorded some progress and development in 2008, and certain basic foundations have also been laid, especially on the 48 hours cargo clearance, and Nigeria’s membership of the IMO Council Seat.
http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=01/21/2009&qrTitle=Future%20of%20Nigeria%E2%80%99s%20maritime%20sector&qrColumn=BUSINESS
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Updated : 9:00 AM, 01/21/2009
Norwegian car carriers handed over after local refurbishment
The Hyundai Vihashin Shipyard Co., Ltd (HVS) officially handed over the Hoegh Trader, a seagoing vessel designed for the transport of automobiles, to Norway’s Leif Hoegh & Co. Shipping Association on January 20.
The Hoegh Trader is the sixth of a total of eight vessels which HVS has agreed to upgrade for the Norwegian company, following the signing of a US$72 million contract in 2008.
According to HVS’ management, the Vietnamese company is refitting the car carriers to increase their holding capacity from 6,125 to 7,352 automobiles.
HVS is continuing to upgrade the remaining two car carriers to fulfill the terms of the contract, with the last of the vessels scheduled to be handed over in April 2009.
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Norwegian-car-carriers-handed-over-after-local-refurbishment/20091/101295.vov
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Nigerian ship owners floats N1b shipping firm
MEMBERS of the Nigerian Indigenous Ship Owners Association have registered a shipping company, to enhance their competitiveness in the maritime business.
They are also planning to equip the new outfit with necessary shipping infrastructure before the end of the fist quarter of the year.
The company is to acquire two crude carriers and four product vessels before the end of the same period.
The Chairman of the association, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, told newsmen at Apapa recently that the shipping outfit would be named ISAN Shipping Company Limited for which a Director-General has been appointed.
"We have established what is known as ISAN Shipping Company Limited with a share capital of N1 billion, and all members of the association will be shareholders and we hope to acquire at least two crude carriers and about four products carriers before the end the first quarter of this year," he said.
Jolapamo, who is also the Managing Director of Morlap Shipping Company Limited, said the vessels would be procured with the assistance from some Nigeria financial institutions
"We have at least seven banks that are in serious discussions with us and they are willing to provide all necessary funding to make ISAN Shipping Company achieve its aims," he assured.
The Guardian had published two years ago that some Nigerian ship owners were planning to form a consortium with the aim of establishing a shipping company of national carrier status.
The source said then that Nigerian seafarers would be provided the opportunity to acquire the necessary seatime training, beside job placement for Nigerian seafarers.
"Nigeria could also boast of increased tonnage if the shipping line could be nurtured to maturity, to be able to play dominant role in the nation's shipping industry.
"Since the collapse of the Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL), cadet seafarers have suffered a serious set back as they hardly find a vessel on board which they could acquire seatime experience.
"But if this company could be floated and given opportunity to grow and own ships, that problem would be over.
"The seafarers, who have been roaming the streets would also be gainfully employed and before you know it, Nigeria would be exporting seafarers to improve its foreign earnings.
"I have seen people even in high places, people with little maritime experience and because of their short time public appointment in public maritime parastatals, advocating the training of youths in the Niger Delta as seafarers.
They are right, but they forget that training and ship acquisition by Nigerians are complementary," one of the ship owners told The Guardian then.
He added: "If you train and you don't have vessels for their seatime training, the training is is not complete. That is what we have been experiencing. That is why we continue to beg foreign ship owners to have our cadets on board their vessels but how many of them are co-operating with us.
"But if these ships are owned by Nigerians, the story will not be the same. They would be willing to take their fellow Nigerians on board for practical training and even employ them at the end."
Meanwhile, the association will at the weekend honour four Nigerians who pioneered indigenous ship ownership in the country.
Those on the honours list of ISAN are 96-year-old Pa John Adewunmi Shodipo, who is the first Nigerian to acquire a ship; the late Chief Henry Fajemirokun, the late Alhaji Iyanda Folawiyo and Olorogun Michael Ibru.
Jolapamo, who disclosed this in Lagos over the weekend said the founding fathers would be honoured at the association's New Year Party billed to hold at the weekend at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
He disclosed that Governor of Niger state, Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu would be the chairman of the event, while Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola is expected as the Special Guest of Honour.
"It is our tradition in ISAN to gather like this every year to not necessarily to make merry but to reflect and focus attention on critical issues affecting indigenous tonnage in the sector", Jolapamo said.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/business/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=210109&ptitle=Nigerian%20ship%20owners%20floats%20N1b%20shipping%20firm
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Nigeria - Port congestion: National Assembly vows to revisit concession exercise
By David Ogah
THE National Assembly has promised to review the port concession exercise concluded about three years ago by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), saying the programme has failed to yield the required dividend.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, said in Abuja over the weekend that there was the need to revisit the entire port reform exercise that led to the handing over of the port to private concerns because of the wrong approach that was applied.
Saraki, who spoke with The Guardian in her office in Abuja few days ago, said the senate has no intention, however, to scrap the concession but to correct things that were done wrongly during the exercise. She said the Senate would have to question the BPE on the whereabouts of the revenue generated from the concession of the ports.
"The way they went about port concession was wrong, there was no standardisation in the exercise," she said.
"Some people paid noting for their terminal while others paid several millions of naira. The seven per cent surcharge they are collecting at the ports is an illegal thing, which started during the military. The Nigerian Ports Authority is collecting four per cent of the surcharge. It seems the government is milking the people.
"The charges are too many and we need to find a way to simplify the charges to stop diversion of Nigerian cargoes to other countries. We have to revisit the port concession. We are not saying we want to scrap it, but when then is BPE going to wind up? They have finished selling, so when is BPE going to fold up? We are going to have an interactive session on port concession and we are going to find out where they kept the money they collected."
The Senate Committee on Marine Transport had earlier summoned the Transport Minister, Ibrahim Bio, to explain the protracted port congestion and efforts so far made to address it. As the senators were not satisfied with the reasons he gave, they concluded that the port concession programme had failed because government came up with the initiative to develop capacity that could have made congestion alien to the Nigerian ports.
One of the senators, who listened to the details of the ministers' briefing on port congestion, said it was obvious that the programme has failed to produce the necessary dividend. Senator Ayogu Eze said: "All we are saying here is the admittance of the failure of port concession. It is a failure. I think the concessionaires are supposed to develop capacity and avoid all these problems.
"There has to be policy summersault in the port concession programme. They sold our family silver and we are suffering for it."
Bio had earlier attributed the congestion at the ports to lack of space due to city encroachment, lack of cargo handling equipment by the terminal operators, importation of contrabands by Nigerian importers and the poor state of navigational equipment at the Lagos port approach. He also said the problem was seasonal as some importers were in the habit of rushing in goods at the end of the year for fear of policy change and the lack of honesty on the part of the Nigerian importers.
According to the minister, importers turned the ports to warehouse for empty and laden containers even when there was multiplicity of agencies at the ports. He appealed to the Nigerian Customs Service to relax some of its directives on revenue collection to allow the issuance of Debit Notes on consignment with discrepancies. To decongest the ports, the minister said three committees would be set up to look into discrepant importation, overtime cargoes and empty containers.
Meanwhile the NPA was said to be considering the diversion of vessels from the Lagos ports to outer ports as a way out of the embarrassment the congestion is causing to the country. The NPA Managing Director, Mallam Abdul Slam, who went round the ports over the weekend, said a meeting has been scheduled with the shipping companies and other stakeholders to conclude the arrangement.
"Though ship diversion is not ideal, but the Lagos ports have been very busy while Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri ports are not," the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Abdul Salam as saying.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/maritime/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=210109&ptitle=Port%20congestion:%20National%20Assembly%20vows%20to%20revisit%20concession%20exercise
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Overview of Australian “Maritime’ Transport Security 2009
Tuesday January 20, 2009
Ports and ocean freight account for 99 percent of Australia's trade by volume and 76 percent by value.
Screening of containers arriving by sea, however, takes place in low proportions.
This compares with Australian Customs air cargo inspection of over 70 percent.
The Australian Government is evaluating technology and equipment to enable much higher rates of container screening.
Australia’s increased security in the maritime industry has concentrated on security regulated port and ships rather than addressing supply chain security, which the Federal Government considers a more difficult issue.
Maritime Security
Following the attacks of 9/11, the international community resolved to implement a system to secure the maritime transport sector against the threat of terrorism.
The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code was developed through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in December 2002.
Australia also introduced a number of measures to increase maritime security.
In 2003, the Australian Government developed its own Maritime Transport Security Act to implement the ISPS Code in Australia. The Act came into effect in 2004.
In 2004, an Australian Taskforce on Offshore Maritime Security identified the need to regulate the security of Australia’s strategically important, and vulnerable, oil and gas industry.
This resulted in the Maritime Transport Security Act becoming the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act.
The Act requires all security regulated ports, port facilities, offshore facilities, and ships to undertake risk assessments, and to implement security plans to address identified risks posed by deliberate threats.
These entities must prepare and implement a maritime security plan, and provide information on their security measures to other industry participants conducting operations within security-regulated ports.
All maritime workers now undergo a background screening process before being issued with maritime security identification cards.
Port corporations are increasing port security and safety in the areas of physical safety of vessels, both in transit and at moorings; electronic surveillance; anchorages, and berthing.
Before ships can enter Australian ports, they must supply comprehensive details, including the vessel’s name; route information; cargo (if hazardous); displacement, propulsion, and contact details of both the shipping agents and stevedores.
There has been an increase in the use of database and security management systems to process and store the information.
Port authorities are interested in vessel tracking systems, with the Sydney Ports Corporation pioneering the use of a Vessel Traffic Service for its harbor zones.
Bidding for the system closed in December, and Sydney ports have conducted trials with several potential suppliers systems, including an American-made system.
http://www.aircargonews.com/090121/FT090120.html
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ATC Receives $500,000 in LRAD Orders
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
American Technology Corporation (ATC) (NASDAQ: ATCO), a provider of directed sound products and technologies, announced it has received new long range acoustic device (LRAD) orders from the U.S. Army and a commercial shipping customer. The orders, totaling approximately $500,000, are scheduled to ship this
quarter.
The U.S. Army ordered the additional LRAD 500X systems for deployment and for operational testing and evaluation as part of its Acoustic Hailing Device (AHD) program. In May 2007, ATC won a competitive proposal to supply a next generation AHD for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army’s small vessels and vehicles. The LRAD 500X exceeded the voice transmission requirements of the joint project team and is the only device that meets the performance, weight, and size requirements for both armed services.
The commercial shipping customer purchased additional LRAD systems for their Gulf of Aden transits after two years of successful LRAD 1000 deployments operating on ATC’s proprietary Scram Carts.
“Commercial shipping customers frequently order one system per vessel and, after the utility of LRAD is proven, additional units per vessel are subsequently purchased,” said Scott Stuckey, ATC’s vice president of business development. “With the swarming tactics being used by pirates, this customer required simultaneous LRAD coverage along multiple threat axes of their vessels. Many of our commercial maritime customers have successfully used LRAD to help deter pirate attacks on multiple occasions off the Horn of Africa.”
“Our Scram Cart provides a mobile mounting platform, power supply and charging station for LRAD and accessories such as high candle power lights and lasers,” continued Stuckey. “This wheeled system enables a single operator to rapidly move a mounted LRAD and provides enough power to remotely operate the system for over six hours on battery and indefinitely when connected to the ship.”
ATC developed its proprietary LRAD product line to assist military and security forces in determining the intent of potential threats at safe distances, providing authorized personnel time and distance to scale their response based on a threat’s actions. LRAD is uses directionality and focused acoustic output to clearly transmit critical information, instructions and warnings at distances in excess of 1000 meters. LRAD can be manually operated or integrated into a remotely controlled security network’s command and control center. Through the use of powerful voice commands and deterrent tones, LRAD can create large safety zones, resolve uncertain situations, and potentially save lives on both sides of the device.
“Over the past two years, ATC has made a significant investment in internally funded research and development to establish a leading position in providing the U.S. Military and maritime companies with products and solutions that meet their stringent requirements,” said Tom Brown, president and CEO of ATC.
See : http://www.atcsd.com/site/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_range_acoustic_device
http://science.howstuffworks.com/lrad.htm/printable
http://marinelink.com/en-US/News/Article/ATC-Receives-$500-000-in-LRAD-Orders/329412.aspx
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Updated Jan.21,2009 11:16 KST
Korea Cabinet Approves Navy Dispatch to Somalia
The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday approved the dispatch of the Korean Navy to Somalia to protect Korean ships from rampant piracy there. The government will put a bill to the extraordinary session of the National Assembly in February. If it passed, it will be the first time ever that the Korean gunboats are sent abroad on a military operation.
The bill allows Korea to send up to 310 soldiers and a ship to the Gulf of Aden until Dec. 31. Korea will retain the leadership of the Korean naval forces, but when participating in operations by the Combined Maritime Forces, the local commander will take over. The Navy will focus mainly on fighting off pirates but also preventing transactions of arms and drugs.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200901/200901210020.html
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Anti-whaling activists offer to end protests
Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:28am EST
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Anti-whaling activists are prepared to end aggressive protests against Japan's scientific whale cull if Australia or New Zealand agree to challenge the hunt in an international court, protesters said on Wednesday.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, blamed for collisions with the Japanese Antarctic whaling fleet in recent years, as well as high-seas boardings and stink bomb attacks, said it was willing to "back off" for a season if either country acted.
"Take them to court, and if that fails, if the Japanese refuse to appear, if they refuse to abide by any legal decision, Sea Shepherd could then return with a much more aggressive approach," captain Paul Watson said in a statement.
Watson's flagship Steve Irwin docked in the Australian island of Tasmania at the weekend to refuel and the crew planned to head back to the Southern Ocean later on Wednesday, remaining there until March to harass the Japanese fleet.
Australia's center-left government last year sent a customs patrol ship to Antarctica to gather photo evidence of the Japanese cull to use in a possible International Court of Justice challenge, sparking diplomatic protests from Tokyo.
While Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the government is keeping open the option of court action, it has sought a diplomatic solution to avoid damaging its $35 billion trade relationship with Japan.
Garrett's office did not comment on Watson's offer.
Don Rothwell, an international law expert at the Australian National University, said this week Australia would have a "very strong, arguable case" that Japan's scientific cull breached a bar on commercial whaling in Antarctic waters.
Canberra could also argue that under the Antarctic Treaty protecting the continent, whaling posed an unacceptable environmental risk through refueling at sea and the disposal of whale offal, Rothwell said.
In New Zealand, a government spokesman told the NZPA news agency that foreign ministry officials were looking into whether a legal challenge was possible and were preparing advice for Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.
Japan's whaling fleet is in the Antarctic region for an annual hunt aimed at catching about 900 whales.
Although Japan officially stopped whaling under a 1986 global moratorium, it continues to take hundreds of whales under a loophole allowing whaling for research purposes.
Much of the meat ends up on supermarket shelves and dinner tables.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE50K0NQ20090121
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Ministry of Defence - The Indian Navy Commissions first helicopter base
13:54 IST
The Indian Navy will be commissioning its first helicopter base, INS Shikra, today (22 Jan 09). An impressive commissioning ceremony is planned at Mumbai to usher in the first helicopter base. The Air Station, will be commissioned by the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), Admiral Sureesh Mehta, PVSM AVSM VSM. Captain Philipose G Pynumootil is the first Commanding Officer of INS Shikra and will read out the Commissioning Warrant.
The Air Station, which first commenced air operation in 1964 with setting up of a small Helicopter Maintenance Unit, today, provides maintenance and flying support to a diverse range of helicopters operating from naval ships at Mumbai. Operations from here include Sea King, Kamov 28, Kamov 31 and Chetak helicopters. The station also provides Air Traffic Control services to all civil and military helicopters operating in South Mumbai.
The location of the air station close, to Naval facilities, makes it ideally suited to support ship-borne helicopters of the Western Fleet as also their maintenance and training requirements. In addition, the proximity of the air station to Mumbai High and Saurashtra region on the West Coast, makes it the preferred site to provide effective air support for protection and security of the national assets, at short notice. The Commissioning of INS Shikra, will provide a shot in the arm, to the growth of Naval Aviation. The commissioning is symbolic, of the recognition of the important role played by naval helicopters in the maritime capability of our nation.
Shikra, after which the Air Station is being named, is a small aggressive raptor with short broad wings and tall tail adapted for manoeuvrability, agility and speed. The crest of the air station depicts a bolt of lightning in the talons of a Shikra, symbolising the strike power of the aircraft. The red and grey body depicts spirit of the men of "blood and steel" who man the unit and constantly strive for excellence.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=46874
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We Should Build a Bigger Navy
By Seth Cropsey
Weekly Standard | Wednesday, January 21, 2009
About a decade ago the foreign policy establishment was busy dismissing China's efforts to build a powerful, modern military. Writing in the Washington Post in 1997, Michael Swaine, a China specialist then at the RAND corporation, declared that the "enduring deficiencies in China's military logistics system call into question its ability to operate [naval and aviation] weapons over a sustained period, particularly outside China's borders." Well, right now, Chinese naval vessels are deploying in the Gulf of Aden to assist in the international anti-piracy mission. It's 4,000 miles from China to the Gulf of Aden.
Swaine further predicted that China "will remain at least a full generation behind the world's leading military powers." In January 2007, Beijing used a ground-based medium range ballistic missile to destroy one of its own aging weather satellites--an impressive technological accomplishment that only two other nations, the United States and the Soviet Union, have ever achieved.
In 1999, the Brookings scholars Bates Gill and Michael O'Hanlon concluded in an article--"Power Plays While There's Less to the Chinese Threat than Meets the Eye," also in the Washington Post--that China's "ballistic missiles will be hard-pressed to defeat Taiwan's military or sink nearby U.S. ships." Yet the Defense Department's 2008 assessment of China's military noted that "PLA planners are focused on targeting surface ships at long ranges from China's shores. One area of investment involves combining conventionally-armed ASBMs [anti-ship ballistic missiles] based on C4ISR [DoD-speak for command, control, communication, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] for geo-location and tracking of targets, and onboard guidance systems for terminal homing to strike surface ships or their onshore support infrastructure." China's effort to threaten U.S. ships at sea is taken seriously today, as is shown by the debate over whether the Navy's next generation of carrier-based aircraft has sufficient range to accomplish their missions without forcing U.S. carriers to sail within areas of the Pacific to which China seeks to deny access.
A 1998 Foreign Policy Research Institute article written by Avery Goldstein asserted that Beijing was so far behind other advanced industrial states that "successful modernization will leave China with forces by the second or third decade of the next century most of which would have been state of the art in the 1990s." This observation retains some validity, but there is nothing primitive about China's effort to deny the U.S. Navy access to large strategic swaths of the Western Pacific. Indeed, the last few weeks have produced the prospect of another particularly important advance in the Chinese military's steady transformation into a modern, serious, powerful force.
On the last day of 2008, the Asahi Shimbun reported that China is planning to begin construction of two medium-sized aircraft carriers--a contemporary navy's most flexible instrument of power projection--in its Shanghai yards this year. They are scheduled for launch in 2015. The article also repeated widely circulated information that the shipyards in the Yellow Sea port of Dalian are putting the finishing touches on a refurbishment of the 55,000 ton Soviet-built Kuznetsov-class carrier, the Varyag, a vessel that a Chinese company with connections to the People's Liberation Army purchased in 1998 and then towed to China from the Black Sea in 2002.
The Soviet carrier was a good platform to learn--in established Chinese tradition--the architecture, design, and gross characteristics of the aircraft carrier. As a training platform, the Varyag will provide indispensable experience for future carrier pilots and support personnel in the demanding business of naval carrier aviation. China should have three operational aircraft carriers to add to its submarine and surface fleets around the midpoint of the next decade.
All this tracks with the Pentagon's 2008 evaluation of Chinese military power, which noted: "China has an active aircraft carrier research and design program," and "if the leadership were to so choose, the PRC shipbuilding industry could start construction of an indigenous platform by the end of this decade." In November, the director of the foreign affairs office of China's defense ministry, Major General Qian Lihua, told the Financial Times that "the question is not whether you have an aircraft carrier, but what you do with your aircraft carrier." The following month China's defense ministry spokesman, Huang Xueping, offered similar public comments, observing that the protection of national interests required China to undertake carrier aviation.
Aircraft carriers are not only important as a symbol of a great or growing military power. They are useful and tremendously adaptable instruments of force. We are still only witnessing the beginning of China's naval build-up, but the carriers will have a profound impact on her ability to project military force as disputes with its neighbors, including Japan, over potentially energy-rich sea beds and islands in the South and East China Seas fester. The carriers will also give China greater control over the passage of oil from the Middle East and increase Beijing's military influence in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. They will support possible future Chinese claims to Asian hegemony. They will force Japan to consider construction of similar instruments of naval force. The successful operation of the midsize carriers China envisions would lay the operational, logistic, command and control, and tactical foundation for building vessels with the--much greater--striking power and range of the U.S. Navy's Nimitz-class carriers.
That's not all, though. The initial focus of China's carriers is likely to be to the south and west, but the vast Pacific lies immediately beyond the chain of islands and land formations that extend south from Japan through the Philippines. The wide but penetrable moat between these islands and the Chinese mainland offers bastions for her growing force of nuclear-propelled, intercontinental ballistic missile-carrying submarines, as the islands themselves shield China from the open ocean. But the eventual passage of her carriers eastward, beyond the moat, re-establishes the potential for naval competition in the Pacific that disappeared with the defeat of the Imperial Japanese navy in 1945.
This challenge did not appear suddenly like a dragon from the mists of China's famous stone forests. The Chinese have been working towards a naval aviation capability for many years. A summer 2008 Congressional Research Service report noted an Indian naval analyst's observation that the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been planning for large naval combatants like carriers and amphibious vessels for a quarter of a century.
A safe and effective naval aviation capability requires mastery of a host of design, operational, logistic, training, and command skills. China has been addressing these deliberately and methodically. Courses for future carrier and amphibious ship commanding officers began at the Guangzhou Naval Academy in 1985. Two years later, the same academy, in sensible imitation of the U.S. Navy's tradition of selecting qualified pilots to command aircraft carriers, initiated a program for young PLAN pilots to prepare them to command ships. These officers are reaching the correct seniority, level of experience, and age to become the PLAN's first carrier commanders. Negotiations with European companies for construction of large amphibious ships took place in the late 1990s. A little over two years ago, the Russian press reported that China was negotiating to purchase as many as 48 SU-33 fighter aircraft, which are built to be launched and recovered by aircraft carriers and can be refueled in flight. In September 2008, an article in Jane's Defence Weekly reported that 50 students had begun a course of study at the Dalian Naval Academy intended to prepare them to become the PLAN's first fixed-wing aircraft carrier pilots.
The Chinese carriers will build on one of the PLAN's most significant accomplishments: the creation of a fleet of attack and ballistic missile submarines. This began, as the carrier program did with the Varyag, with the purchase of Russian subs in the 1990s, specifically the Kilo-class conventional-powered attack submarine of which China now possesses 12 (the Chinese have also acquired powerful surface combatants from Russia). The PLAN's submarine force continues to experience significant growth, in both size and capability, as several new classes of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines armed with rockets of increasing range are being added to its force.
If we assume the year 2020 as a reasonable target for China's gaining genuine competency at naval aviation--particularly the joint operation of carriers with the rest of a fleet--it will have taken just 35 years for China to transform its navy from a large collection of aging World War II landing ships, patrol boats, shore-based aircraft, and submarines with very limited range into a modern naval force with an offensive ballistic missile capability. It will be able to project power and will offer the U.S. Navy a serious challenge in the Pacific. The span is about the same amount of time that it took Japan to turn its coastal defense navy into the battle fleet that destroyed a Russian rival at the Battle of Tsushima Strait in May 1905.
There are numerous similarities between China's and Japan's rise as naval powers. Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward isolated and impoverished China--leaving it with a technologically backward military--as two centuries of Tokugawa rule had isolated and impoverished Japan. Both countries looked abroad for help. China depended initially on Russian naval technology. Japan looked to Holland, France, and especially England to acquire large modern ships as a precursor to developing their own naval industrial base. Both countries depend heavily on the seaborne delivery of critical natural resources. China and Japan--at different times, of course, and at significantly different degrees of national assertiveness--looked to naval forces as the symbol and instrument of broader regional and international ambitions. Japan built a world-class navy in three and a half decades with large strategic consequences for America and the world. China is well on its way toward a similar accomplishment, with the potential for similar consequences.
The U.S. Navy's response to the PLAN's deliberate and steady progress has been diffident. Dismissive of increasing Chinese naval capabilities at first, U.S. naval commentators have lately adopted a more harmonious position as the gulf between the PLAN's reach and grasp has narrowed. Admiral Dennis Blair, former commander of the U.S. Pacific Command and now in line to become the new administration's director of national intelligence, wrote in 2007 that "China is on a positive trajectory" and argued that "the U.S. should offer to involve China in bilateral and multilateral military operations for the common good." Thomas Barnett, a researcher and a professor at the Naval War College until 2004, urged in a 2005 article ("The Chinese Are Our Friends") in Esquire that the president stop the "rising tide of Pentagon propaganda on the Chinese 'threat' and tell Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld .??.??. that our trigger pullers on the ground today deserve everything they need to conduct counterinsurgency operations."
Whether or not it shares these views of Chinese benignity, the Navy has drifted in recent years. At about 280 combatants, fleet size today is less than half its level during the Reagan administration. The Navy says it needs an additional 33 ships to carry out its various global missions, but the needed increase eludes its leadership. The costs of shipbuilding have increased without effective restraint, and one new class of large surface combatants--the Zumwalt class of destroyers--was cancelled. Another--the Littoral Combat ship--saw overruns double the cost of the first ship and the number to be purchased fall by nearly a fifth. (The price remains stratospheric for a vessel whose most immediate mission would be to chase speedboat-borne pirates.) The programs to replace aircraft carriers as they reach the end of their useful service lives are in irons as a result of a clash between previous DoD decisions that restrict the size of the next carrier and the expansive requirements of the critical systems planned for the next generation of carriers.
Even without the likelihood that China's next large step in developing its navy is the addition of aircraft carriers, the United States needed to increase its combatant fleet. Continued missteps that result in a diminishing U.S. Navy at the same time that China's naval force grows are an invitation to change the balance of power in Asia, the Pacific, and the world.
The Obama administration should use part of its proposed economic stimulus package to begin a naval restoration program that will increase the combatant fleet by at least 15 percent before 2016, and the program should not be relegated to future budget years, which are as changeable as the weather. A Naval Recovery Act should include an immediate advance in the schedule for constructing a new carrier, thus eliminating the undesirable possibility that the Navy will be short one for several years. Similar efforts should aim at drawing Japan closer, developing our connections with the Indian navy, reestablishing a naval base in the Philippines, and building a relationship with Vietnam that could eventually support a U.S. naval presence. Offsetting China's efforts to deny the United States access to our Western Pacific friends and allies requires thoughtful statecraft as well as effective naval forces.
Allowing the current U.S. naval slippage to continue will result in a combat fleet of a size we haven't seen since 1911. Combined with the parallel growth in the Chinese navy and the certainty that Beijing's leadership will use it to fill the vacuums created by a diminishing U.S. naval presence, this would be more damaging and strategically far-reaching than any of the Bush administration's mistakes. The PLAN's likely entry into carrier aviation is interesting for what it says about China's long-term strategy and objectives. How we respond is far more important.
Seth Cropsey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. He served as deputy undersecretary of the Navy in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, as well as in the U.S. Navy.
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=C2D75DAE-D6CE-4538-BB02-D58ADFEAAE69
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UK - RESCUE? … (Please Wait) ….WE MUST FILL IN FORM FIRST
Rescuers fear wasting vital time
21st January 2009
By Josh Layton
COASTGUARDS have been told to fill in a form before setting off on rescues.
Britain’s 400 lifesaving units must complete “vehicle pre-journey risk assessments”.
Bosses want the teams to describe the type of rescue and journey they are about to undertake.
The forms ask for the date and time, reasons for journey and any risks they might encounter.
Rescuers have to fill in “actions taken to mitigate risk”, before deciding if the risk is “acceptable”. One coastguard said: “When we were first told about this, we simply couldn’t believe it. When we get a call asking us to go out and rescue someone, we need to go there without delay.
“But they are asking us to waste time in the office filling out this stupid form. Also, none of us really knows what we are realistically meant to fill in.
“I mean, how are we meant to know what risks there might be before we get there?
“And do they expect us to get a full weather forecast before we go out? It’s ridiculous. All we want to do is save lives.
“The impression we get is that the bosses are doing everything they can to make sure their hands are legally clean if there is any kind of problem.”
The form has been issued for use in land rescues involving Land Rovers.
It is the latest in a series of health and safety drives by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Britain’s 3,200 rescuers were banned from using flares at night as they could cause injury.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/66600/Rescue-We-must-fill-in-form-first/
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It was scary, says Sirius Star Saudi sailor
By Donna Abu-Nasr
RIYADH – It was a sunny November morning with a calm sea. Saudi sailor Hussein Al-Hamza was napping after his night shift on the brand new supertanker Sirius Star, loaded with two million barrels of oil as it crossed the Indian Ocean.
But the sound of the alarm shook Al-Hamza awake, and he rushed to join his fellow sailors on the deck.
“I looked down and saw eight Somali pirates in two boats, each about 18-feet-long,” Al-Hamza told The Associated Press in a brief phone interview late Monday, a couple of hours after his return to Saudi Arabia following the pirates’ release of the ship on Jan. 9.
“They looked scary,” added Al-Hamza.
That was the beginning of an 8-week ordeal for the crew of the Sirius Star, which was seized by Somali pirates on Nov. 15 in an escalation of the wave of piracy off the turmoil-plagued nation’s coast. Until that November morning, the pirates had never seized a ship as huge as the Sirius Star – at 1,080 feet (329 meters), it is the length of an aircraft carrier – or one so far out to sea.
The seizure of the massive tanker, 500 miles (800 km) away from the shore, was simple. Al-Hamza said no one attempted to challenge the bandits, who scaled about 30 feet (nine meters) from the water to reach the deck.
“They had rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.
The ship was loaded with oil,” he said. “Imagine the catastrophe had weapons been fired.”
The pirates took the Saudi-owned vessel to a Somali port known as a pirates’ den and held it there during ransom negotiations. They released it reportedly after receiving $3 million, dropped by parachute.
Al-Hamza, the only Saudi among the mostly Filipino crew, said eight pirates captured the tanker, but during the long captivity, their numbers grew to more than 30.
“I put my life in God’s hands,” said Al-Hamza, 27.
“There were moments of fear, especially when a gun was put to my head.” He would not elaborate on that.
But most of the days on board were “boring,” he said.
His high moments were the couple of brief calls he was permitted to make to his family in Qatif in the Eastern Province.
After the release, the tanker was taken on Saturday to the port of Fujaira, in the United Arab Emirates, and the crew was given medical checkups. “We had eaten all that Somali food,” joked Al-Hamza. “They wanted to make sure we were OK.”
The crew also met with their bosses, he said. Vela International Marine Ltd., the marine company that operated the Sirius Star for the Saudi oil company Aramco, is based in Dubai, another UAE emirate.
On Tuesday, P.S. Shetty, senior supervisor for Kanoo Shipping Agencies, a Dubai-based company handling the Sirius Star, said the ship is currently anchored 10 nautical miles off Kalba, a UAE port on the Gulf of Oman south of Fujaira.
The crew held by the pirates has been replaced, Shetty said, and the ship was scheduled to depart on Wednesday. He would not disclose the ship’s destination. While the remaining crew headed home to the Philippines, Al-Hamza flew to Dammam on Monday evening. He was met with applause and ululation from relatives at the airport. A fish dinner – his favorite food – awaited him at home, which overflowed with relatives and well-wishers.
Asked if he had had any worries before the voyage, Al-Hamza said: “Before leaving, while chatting with my friends, I would tell them, ‘There are pirates,’ and they would say dismissively, ‘Yes, in the 19th century.’ Looks like I have a sixth sense,” he added. “God has granted me a new life.” – AP
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009012127257
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US urged to repair military ties, stop selling weapons to Taiwan
By Cui Xiaohuo and Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-21 07:44
China Tuesday urged the US to take concrete steps to put bilateral military ties back on track after relations were derailed because of Pentagon's arms sales to Taiwan last year.
The Barack Obama administration should clear the way for improved military ties, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
Announcing the publication of the sixth defense white paper since 1998, Hu Changming told a news briefing: "The US president-elect Obama will take office in a few hours and current US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will keep his job ... At present, when bilateral military ties face difficulties, we urge the US Defense Department to remove obstacles and take action to create favorable conditions for the healthy development of ties."
"Only when both countries respect each other's core interests can we consolidate the political base of our military relations," he said.
China suspended high-level military contact with the US in October in protest against Pentagon's $6.5-billion arms sales to Taiwan, which included 30 Apache attack helicopters and 330 Patriot missiles.
It was the largest arms sale to Taiwan since China and the US signed the August 17 Communiqu in 1982, in which the US agreed to gradually reduce sale of weapons to the island.
Last month, though, Obama said Sino-US military exchanges should continue. He said he even wanted to "resume laboratory-to-laboratory exchanges that were terminated in the 1990s".
US Navy Admiral Timothy Keating, who commands forces in Asia and the Pacific, said last month that he hoped the two countries would resume military contacts after China sent three of its navy ships to tackle pirates off Somali waters.
The defense white paper says China's security environment "continues to improve" with cross-Straits relations having "taken a significantly positive turn". But it criticizes US arms sales to the island, saying it is "seriously harming Sino-US relations, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits".
China is worried over the US' increased "strategic attention to and input in the Asia-Pacific region", the paper says.
The country is committed to peaceful development, the paper says. Despite the increase in military spending, China's per capita expenditure is much less than that of the US, Britain, France or Russia.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-01/21/content_7415943.htm
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Somali, Djibouti Smugglers’ Boats Capsize Off Yemen; 15 Dead
By Jason McLure
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- At least 15 people died and a dozen are missing after smugglers’ boats carrying 270 people from East Africa to Yemen capsized over the weekend, the United Nations refugee agency said.
On Jan. 18, a vessel carrying 120 people from the northern Somali town of Murera capsized off the Yemeni coast, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in an e-mailed statement today. Nine bodies have been recovered by a local aid agency, while 12 people are still missing, it said.
On Jan. 16, another boat carrying 150 passengers from the town of Obock in Djibouti capsized in deep water off the Yemeni coast after its engine failed. Yemeni officials have recovered six bodies and 32 survivors. Another 112 are believed to have reached land, though their whereabouts are unknown, UNHCR said.
“The Yemeni coast guard is still searching for survivors,” Leila Nassif, head of the UNHCR office in the Yemeni port of Aden, said in the statement. “We are providing medical aid and food to the survivors at our reception centers along the Yemen coast.”
More than 50,000 people, mostly Somalis fleeing war and drought in their homeland, crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen in 2008. At least 590 drowned or were killed by people traffickers, and another 359 are reported missing, according to the UN agency.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aypXkETeEQZQ&refer=africa
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USS Green Bay to make history
Last Edited: Tuesday, 20 Jan 2009, 5:35 PM CST
Reporter: Mark Leland
GREEN BAY - The USS Green Bay represents part history, and part public relations for the city that bears its name.
"It is kind of like a sister city relationship where we have this floating community that we now care about," said Chamber of Commerce president Paul Jadin, who welcomes the name "Green Bay" attached to any Navy ship. He sees it as great visibility to promote all the city has to offer, especially this week with its much publicized commissioning along the California coast.
"There is no question about it. The mere fact that the military saw fit to name another ship after Green Bay is good for the community because it raises our image in the eyes of the rest of the country if not the world," said Jadin.
One of the largest groups to make the trip from Green Bay to Long Beach for the commissioning is from Lombardi Middle School. 52 students and 16 chaperones will take part in this educational field trip of a lifetime.
"This is really a once in a lifetime experience for anybody who has a Green Bay connection to be able to see the ship commissioned," said Nancy Croy, Lombardi Middle School principal.
For the students, being a part of history is a school lesson in itself. History can also be found on the USS Green Bay at the Neville Public Museum. Curators have put together a display on the amphibious transport docking ship to give visitors, not able to make it to the commissioning ceremony, a better understanding of what the military now has in its fleet.
"It's actually been in the water for two years and the commissioning is the final incorporation of it into the U.S. Navy it's then an active ship," said John Jacobs with the Neville Public Museum.
Both the community and the ship named after Green Bay will share a common bond for many years to come. The USS Green Bay is expected to be in service for at least 40 years...sharing its name and making history where ever it goes.
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/news_wluk_green_bay_uss_green_bay_200901191730_rev1
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For military, bad economy aids recruiting
By (AP)
Published: 2009-01-20 16:10:04
Location: WASHINGTON
Uncle Sam wants you, and in a poor economy, you might want Uncle Sam, too.
The Pentagon is hiring, and having less difficulty doing so than in flush economic times. The Army and each of the other branches of the military are meeting or exceeding their goals for signing up recruits, and attracting more qualified people.
Last year was the first since 2004 that all active-duty and reserve forces met or passed recruiting goals. That's particularly notable for the Army, the service hit hardest by combat casualties in Iraq and by long and repeated overseas assignments that began in earnest in 2004. That was the first full year of combat in Iraq and the year that it became clear that the war would be much longer and bloodier than the Bush administration had expected.
Figures released last week suggest that as President-elect Barack Obama takes office the trends that make military careers more appealing will continue. Besides the sagging employment figures in a recession, those factors include Obama's campaign pledge to pull combat forces out of Iraq in 16 months and the drop in violence there. Obama has said he will add forces in Afghanistan, but that war is unlikely to strain military manpower and money as the Iraq conflict did.
For December, the Army signed 860 new active-duty soldiers, 115 percent of its target number of 750 enlistees. The Army also met or passed goals for October and November, meaning it has done so for the entire first quarter of budget year 2009.
The Army figures are still smaller than those for other services, in part a reflection of the much more difficult task that is Army recruiting. An Army recruiter generally talks to dozens, sometimes hundreds, of young people before signing up a willing and qualified recruit.
The Navy signed 2,306 new active-duty sailors in December; the Marine Corps signed 2,392 and the Air Force signed 2,967. All six National Guard and reserve forces also met or exceeded their December recruiting goals.
"The success of our all-volunteer force begins with recruiting. Recruiting is always a challenge, but a tighter job market provides more opportunities to make our case," said Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Almarah Belk.
The military offers competitive salaries, plus good education benefits and job skills for a civilian career, she said.
"Regardless of the economy, the quality of our troops remains high, and we expect that to continue."
For several years, as the Army in particular struggled to meet its recruiting needs, military officials have cited a strong economy as one obstacle to attracting young people looking at their employment options. It is one reason that over the past year the Army and Marine Corps felt compelled to pay more than $600 million, combined, in bonuses and other financial incentives to entice recruits.
Another negative factor: Parents and others who influence the decisions of enlistment-age men and women have, since the outset of the Iraq war, become less inclined to recommend military service.
"We do benefit when things look less positive," in the civilian economy, David Chu, the Pentagon's personnel chief, told reporters when announcing the 2008 success last year.
"What more difficult economic times give us, I think, is an opening to make our case to people that we might not otherwise have," Chu said. "And if we make our case, I think we can be successful."
The military needs any break it can get on recruiting, particularly since it is in the midst of a push to substantially increase the size of the nation's ground forces _ a decision driven by an urgent need to reduce the strain on troops and their families from repeated deployments to Iraq.
Plans are to boost the active-duty Army by 65,000 soldiers to a total of 547,000 by 2010.
The Marines are aiming to grow from 175,000 to 202,000 by 2011.
http://www.southernledger.com/ap/223009/For_military_bad_economy_aids_recruiting
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'Ship riders': Tackling Somali pirates at sea
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Date: 20 Jan 2009
As a result of the growing piracy threat, UNODC has proposed a number of measures to deter, arrest and prosecute pirates in the Horn of Africa to the United Nations Security Council in December 2008. The most immediate of these is to put forward international agreements allowing law enforcement agents from the Horn of Africa region to join warships as a 'ship riders' - as these are known - to circumvent legal impediments to arresting pirates on shared waters.
Traditionally used to combat drug trafficking and illegal fishing, shiprider agreements are designed to remove policing barriers in international maritime boundaries, and to stop smugglers and other criminals from taking advantage of shared territorial waters for illegal activities. The practice has been employed successfully in the Caribbean to fight drug traffickers.
This proposal - endorsed by the Security Council in a resolution passed in December 2008 - is an immediate response to the growing threat of piracy in the Horn of Africa. Somalia, in particular, has developed into a breeding ground, with almost 100 attacks on vessels by Somali pirates reported in 2008 alone. The disintegration of the government has resulted in the total breakdown of the justice system, and there is little hope that the country can establish a functioning system of administrative justice in the near future.
"Ideally, suspects should be tried in the country where they came from, or in the country that owns the seized ship", says UNODC's Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa, "but the Somali criminal justice system has collapsed, and countries like Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands - where many of the ships are registered - do not want to deal with crimes committed thousands of miles away".
Shiprider agreements would make use of existing functional criminal justice systems in the region to be able to arrest and try pirates. "We must engage neighbouring States - where legal instruments deriving from current international agreements on piracy and transnational organized crime are in place and functioning - if pirates are to be brought to justice." Subject to a special agreement, a shiprider arrangement would allow a law enforcement officer from, from example, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania or Yemen, to join a warship off the Somali coast, arrest the pirate in the name of their country and have them sent to their national court for trial.
Although shiprider agreements offer remedial action to tackle pirates at sea, they are not a permanent, long-term solution to the problem in the Horn of Africa. This would require greater and sustained investment in strengthening the capacity of regional criminal justice systems in the affected countries to be able to effectively investigate and prosecute piracy cases. The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), of which UNODC is the guardian, offers powerful provisions on international cooperation to fight most cases of piracy and its accompanying crimes, and UNODC can help States strengthen their legal systems to address this crime in the long term.
Recently, an international Contact Group on Somali Piracy was formed. At a meeting in New York, the Contact Group established four working groups to tackle different piracy-related issues. Working Group 1 will address activities related to military and operational coordination and information sharing and the establishment of the regional coordination centre, and will be convened by the UK with the support of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Denmark will convene Working Group 2 to address judicial aspects of piracy with the support of UNODC. The US will convene Working Group 3 to strengthen shipping self-awareness and other capabilities, with the support of IMO, and Egypt will convene Working Group 4 to improve diplomatic efforts on all aspects of piracy.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7NGU2Q?OpenDocument
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Australians take over
COMMAND of an international task force that patrols the Gulf has been handed over to Royal Australian Navy Commodore Bruce Kafer.
He takes over from US Navy Rear Admiral Frank Pandolfe as head of Combined Task Force (CTF) 152.
It is the first time the Royal Australian Navy has taken the helm of CTF 152, which is dedicated to tackling terrorism and other illegal activities at sea.
"My primary objective, while in command of CTF 152, is to enhance maritime security in the Arabian Gulf and to assist the protection of GCC nations' maritime infrastructure," said Commodore Kafer.
"I will also be engaging the military leadership of regional nations to encourage them to integrate their maritime forces into the operations of the Combined Maritime Forces."
CTF 152 was established in 2004 to respond to any crisis inside the Gulf.
"Our long-term goal is to enhance the ability of regional maritime forces to limit illegal activities and defeat destabilising activities in the Arabian Gulf," said Commodore Kafer.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=240693&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=31307
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Russian destroyer visits Yemen for supplies
13:28
21/ 01/ 2009
ABU DHABI, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian destroyer made a scheduled visit to Yemen's largest port of Aden on Wednesday, according to Yemen press reports.
The Admiral Vinogradov has been patrolling the waters off Somali within the framework of the international mission against piracy. The destroyer will remain in Aden for a few days to replenish supplies, Yemen's Saba news agency reported.
Once supplies are replenished, the Russian destroyer will return to duty off the eastern coast of Africa.
In January, the Admiral Vinogradov replaced the Baltic Fleet's Neustrashimy missile frigate escorting civilian vessels through areas where Somali pirates are active.
Pirates have been increasingly active in the waters off Somalia, where over 110 ships were attacked in 2008, with 42 vessels seized and 815 crew members abducted. Up to 20 warships from the navies of at least 10 countries are involved in anti-piracy operations off the coast of the lawless East African nation.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20090121/119731939.html
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New Delhi accelerates acquisition of Israeli defence platforms
Coastal defence now a priority
By Aharon Etengoff in San Francisco @ Wednesday, January 21, 2009 7:22 AM
New Delhi has accelerated its acquisition of Israeli defence platforms in an effort to secure India's vulnerable coastline against Mumbai-style terror attacks.
"We will be buying five balloon-mounted radars," an anonymous naval official told IANS. "Two radars will be deployed on the western coast and three on the eastern coastline."
The tethered EL/M-2083 phased array radar, which can hover up to 13,000 feet, was developed and manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries' (IAI) Elta Systems Group (IAI/Elta). According to IAI, the system detects approaching aircraft from long ranges, especially those flying at low altitudes. A single EL/M-2083 aerostat unit is capable of providing three-dimensional low-altitude coverage equal to at least 30 ground-based radars.
The Indian Air Force has also bolstered its defensive capabilities by purchasing a number of Israeli Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS).
The first of three Russian Il-76 aircraft is currently based at Agra Air Force station, in close proximity to New Delhi. The system will allow the Indian military to execute tactical surveillance missions over a 400km radius while collecting data on Pakistani military movements. Indeed, an AWAC flying over Amritsar can immediately detect the launch of enemy F-16 fighters from Sargodha.
As IT Examiner previously reported, bilateral relations between India and Israel have increased significantly in recent years, with both nations experiencing a convergence of interests on a range of issues. A number of Indian firms have signed lucrative deals with Israeli defence companies, including Tata, which has agreed to jointly develop missiles, UAVs, radar and electronic warfare systems with IAI.
The IAF has also awarded Rafael a lucrative $260 million contract for the sale of Spyder missiles, while the Indian security cabinet recently approved a staggering $1.5 billion deal with IAI to develop and upgrade the Barak surface-to-air missile. The new projectile will eventually replace the Pechora (SA-3 GOA) presently deployed by the air force.
In addition, Israeli counter-terrorist training is viewed by both the political and military echelons as having made a significant impact on the effort to curtail terrorist infiltrations along the Jammu-Kashmiri line of control. It should be noted that a number of insurgents have crossed the border by cutting barbed wire fences under the cover of Pakistani army fire. As a result, Tel Aviv has decided to help New Delhi refine its anti-infiltration strategy and urban-warfare techniques. The IDF is planning to conduct specialised counter-terrorism exercises for Indian troops in various topographical locations, including jungles, mountains and highly populated urban zones.
http://www.itexaminer.com/new-delhi-accelerates-acquisition-of-israeli-defence-platforms.aspx
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Two hurt as waves hit cruise ship
Two passengers have been taken to hospital with broken bones after a cruise ship from Kent was hit by 50ft waves in the Bay of Biscay.
They were on board a Fred Olsen cruise liner which docked in the Spanish port of La Coruna after setting sail from Dover last Saturday.
The company said the passengers were injured when they fell over as the ship endured rough seas and winds of 60mph.
The vessel, Balmoral, is due back in Dover on 27 January.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/7841214.stm
Published: 2009/01/20 21:05:28 GMT
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Wednesday, 21 January 2009
A security culture in our society
Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne
Studies have shown that stringent measures, when adopted against a particular type of crime belonging to a generic group (such as hijacking in the spectrum of unlawful interference against civil aviation) would be effective enough to reduce that particular type of crime.
However, it might give rise to increase in other forms of crime belonging to that generic group. Called the spill over effect, this pattern has applied to civil aviation, as seen in the decrease in offences against aircraft after the events of 11 September 2001.
In order that basic strategies are employed for preventing crime and to combat crime when prevention is impossible, crime prevention strategies adopt two methods of combating crime.
The first method is to prevent or stop potential criminal acts. The second method is to apprehend and punish anyone who commits a criminal act. These methods follow the philosophy that the prevention of crime can be achieved by increasing the probability of apprehension and applying severe penal sanction to a crime.
Security measures must also be capable of being strengthened
For example, it was thought that installation of metal detectors at airports increases the probability of detecting and apprehending potential hijackers or saboteurs. This is all well and good except for the fact that we have to go a step further, and have the awareness that most explosives used are made of plastic and we should have means of detecting plastic explosives.
Theoretically the high risk of being apprehended decreases the potential threat and the stringent penal sanction that may apply consequent to such apprehension compound the ominous quality of the preventive means taken.
Intelligence gathering
The gathering of reliable intelligence remains the first line of defence. Although modern technologies clearly aid terrorists in terms of weapons and targets, technology can also be used against terrorists. Governments endowed with the necessary technology can keep track of terrorist organizations and their movements with the aid of computers.
At the same time, electronic collection methods and signals intelligence afford the possibility of eavesdropping on and intercepting terrorist communications, leading to better predictions of their operations. One of the instances where intelligence gathering has worked well to prevent terrorism occurred in September 1984, when the Provisional IRA spent an estimated œ1.5 million in the United States on a massive shipment of seven tons of arms.
With the help of an informer about a forthcoming shipment of weapons, including rockets, to the Provisional IRA from the United States, the FBI informed British intelligence, who in turn contacted the Irish, and the ship carrying the arms was tracked by a US satellite orbiting 300 kilometres above the earth. The satellite photographed the transfer of the arms to a trawler.
Finally, two Irish Navy vessels intercepted the trawler and British security forces arrested the crew. This incident shows that intelligence gathering with the help of high technology can cut off the transfer of missiles and other weapons to terrorists.
A risk based approach?
Traditionally, responses to terrorist acts which cause death and injury to persons and acute damage to property have been reactive rather than proactive. Aviation is a good example.
When terrorists attacked several aircraft on 11 September 2001, the security response was to secure the cockpit doors of aircraft and screen passengers prior to take off. Of course these are excellent measures to ward off similar attacks. But how far have we thought of new and emerging threats?
It is reported that Juval Aviv, an Israeli security expert has pointed out some example of reaction. Aviv has pointed out that after a person with criminal intent had tried to light his shoe on fire on board an aircraft now everyone has to take off their shoes at the security checkpoint before departure.
When a group of conspirators had tried to bring aboard liquid explosives, the reaction of the security community was to ban liquids on board aircraft. He says he is waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; at which point, security will have us all travelling naked!
A key principle towards more risk-based security is the idea that addressing all risks at the same level, regardless of their severity, is actually less efficient than concentrating the bigger part of one’s resources on the most severe risks. Governments must carefully weigh the options, which present themselves to them, and make the right decisions.
The primary role of the authorities must be to centralise intelligence and threat information. Airlines are major interested parties and need to be informed in due time. Assessing and prioritising the different risks is a typical government duty.
A certain risk can be addressed or mitigated by a number of possible measures. Here the role of governments should be to assess which of these options will pose the lesser impact on industry and society. This impact can be operational as well as financial.
Security management systems provide an effective tool that would ensure a risk-based approach to security. Within a security risk management environment, consideration is given to threats that are often ill defined, constantly evolving and the result of deliberate and intentional actions.
In addition specific security threats must be considered unpredictable and likely to be indiscriminate in nature. For example while intelligence and law enforcement agencies involved in preventing terrorist activity may uncover information suggesting pending attacks, it is necessary and prudent to assume they may not be able to identify and stop all possible threats all of the time.
A prepared society
At the central focus of a security culture is society itself and its members must be made aware of the risks they face. Education is crucial, of the threats posed by abandoned suitcases, suspicious looking characters and crowded places such as hotels, supermarkets and airports.
For instance, the entrance to an airport and check in area are extremely attractive for terrorists and therefore pose a serious threat to society. Members of a vigilant society must know all the odds they face and be prepared, avoiding identified risk areas.
Aviv cites the example of citizens of Israel who are so well ‘trained’ that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by citizens who know how to shout publicly, ‘Unattended Bag.’ The area will be quickly and calmly cleared by the citizens themselves.
Security measures must also be capable of being strengthened quickly at any time as a result of increased levels of security risk. In addition, by virtue of their nature, they are usually highly visible and intrusive and may often conflict with the facilitation measures and needs that require ready access to facilities and services to expedite the functions of a society.
This is not the case with the vast majority of controls in a safety environment.
These factors require recognition and assessment when specific preventative security controls and associated regulatory standards are considered and developed. Recognising these factors, the need exists for an integrated systems managed approach within various organisations, at both regulatory and industry level, that have responsibilities relating to the delivery of safety and security outcomes.
Such an approach has the ability to offer a range of benefits including: integration of existing organisational quality management systems into a comprehensive and aligned organisational structure and culture that ensures a more cohesive and standardized approach to how security processes should be implemented with overall better and more uniform standards of service delivery.
From what is going on around us in every corner of the world, we could deduce that this is as good a time as any to be prepared.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/01/21/fea03.asp
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Surface Forces - Remote Weapons Stations At Sea
January 21, 2009: South Africa has sold several Sea Rogue remote weapons stations for installation on UAE (United Arab Emirates) patrol boats. The Sea Rouge is a navalized version of the Rogue weapons station used on South African armored vehicles.
The Sea Rogue can be armed with a 12.7mm machine-gun or a 20mm autocannon. The system uses a vidcam and a thermal imager (for night and fog operations). The weapons station is stabilized, do that accurate fire can be delivered when the vessel carrying it is moving, even in rough seas.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/articles/20090121.aspx
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Somalia - The Land Of The Larcenous, Ungrateful And Trigger-Happy
January 21, 2009: With Ethiopian troops gone from Mogadishu, a number of clan and Islamic gangs are now fighting for control. The original Islamic Courts movement has split into several factions, some of them mostly fighting each other. The clans that were expelled from Mogadishu by the Ethiopians (one of the few forces in the region able to fight and defeat the Somalis) are now returning and reclaiming their abandoned property. In some cases, other clans took over that property, leading to more disputes. Some of the Islamic gunmen have turned their attention to the 3,400 AU (African Union) peacekeepers. These troops mostly guard their camp, the air port and public buildings like the presidential palace. All came under attack, but little damage was done.
The Transitional National Government (TNG) is pretty much destroyed. The organization was always an uneasy, and unnatural, alliance between hundreds of clan leaders and warlords. These people did represent about two thirds of the people in central and southern Somalia (the self-declared statelets of Somaliland and Puntland control the north). But they could not agree, and more ill will was created. Now, at least six senior TNG officials have fled to Kenya or Yemen, to wait for things to cool down.
The clan and warlord militias that comprised the TNG are still active, and violence continues all over the country. In Mogadishu there are daily gun battles between various clan, Islamic and warlord militias. This has taken some of the heat off the AU peacekeepers, who tend to keep to themselves, and are more heavily armed than the Somalis. But the peacekeepers are unlikely to get any reinforcements. The UN has been unable to recruit a relief force, so Burundi and Uganda are making plans to pull their troops out of Mogadishu.
Meanwhile, the pirates are having a hard time up north. Only two ships have been captured so far this year, and many more attempts were interrupted by foreign warships (or their armed helicopters). Pirates have been killed by the interruptions, and the anti-piracy patrol is growing larger and smarter in their attempts to shut down the Somali pirates. There are now believed to be at least nine gangs of pirates operating in Puntland, all under the protection of a clan that dominates most of the coast. The clan leaders keep the Puntland government from interfering (despite enormous pressure from foreign aid donor nations.)
Meanwhile, down south, the UN struggles to prevent over three million Somalis from dying of starvation. Bandits and warlords, meanwhile, keep demanding higher payoffs (protection money) from the aid organizations (who make louder demands for peacekeeper troops to defend them), But few foreign nations want to send troops to Somalia, the land of larcenous, ungrateful and trigger-happy people.
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20090121.aspx
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Russia indefinitely puts off delivery of nuke subs to India
Vinay Shukla Moscow, Jan 21 (PTI) In what could be a major set back for India's defence preparedness, Russia has 'indefinitely' postponed the delivery of "Akula-II' class Nerpa nuclear submarine, citing that sea trials were still incomplete.
"The pre-delivery trials have been postponed by the Amur Shipyard as it has no trial crew and is running short of cash," Far Eastern edition of Kommersant daily reported today.
The Amur Shipyard is yet to constitute a new trial team for these class of nuclear submarines after November 8 accident in which 20 members of the trial team were killed during the subs sea trials in Sea of Japan, the paper said.
It said the new team will not be ready before March and would have to undergo up to one year long refresher course before it could be authorized to resume pre-delivery trails.
Under the larger Gorshkov package with Russia, the Indian Navy was to get first of the two Shchuka-B project nuclear submarines on lease last year. But later the Russians revised the delivery schedule to August 2009.
The submarines are being acquired to train the Indian crews for the indigenous submarines being developed under Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project.
"Some members of the trial team, which was on the submarine during last year's accident have died, some are medically unfit, while some others have refused to go to the sea due to psychological reasons," Gennady Bagin, Director of 'Vostok'- a unit of the Amur shipyard, was quoted as saying by the daily. PTI
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/947C64D07D6AE24365257545003B041F?OpenDocument
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Special Operations - SOCOM Sub Goes Down In Flames
January 20, 2009: Three years ago, the U.S. Navy SEALs were told that they were not going to get their six ASDS (Advanced Seal Delivery Systems). After a decade of development, the ASDS had too many technical problems, and construction of the other five was cancelled. Only the first one remained, and it sort of worked, But last November, the sole ASDS caught fire, and burned for six hours. The navy is reluctant to repair the vessel. Instead, another attempt is going to be made to develop a similar vessel, using components of the ASDS that did work.
The ASDS was a 65 foot long, 60 ton mini-submarine. Battery powered and with a crew of two, the ASDS could carry up to 14 passengers (fewer if a lot of equipment is being brought along, the usual number of passengers is expected to be eight.) With a max range of 200 kilometers, top speed of 14 kilometers an hour and max diving depth of 200 feet, the ASDS operates from one of the seven nuclear submarine equipped to carry it on its deck. The ASDS is equipped with passive and active SONAR, radar and an electronic periscope (that uses a video camera, not the traditional optics.)
While a nice piece of engineering, each ASDS cost over $300 million. Fortunately for the navy, SOCOM (Special Operations Command) was paying for the ASDS boats. That means that army rangers and marine recon troops would also train to use ASDS. Delta Force was to try them out as well. Little is said publicly about how often, and where, ASDS would be used. The types of missions ASDS was designed for are often kept secret for a long time.
The ASDS first production boat underwent testing in Hawaii and the Persian Gulf for three years, before being declared ready for service and in 2004. But problems kept cropping up, until the production of the other five was cancelled in 2006. Apparently there was not a big demand for something like the ASDS, as there was no urgent request for a replacement design.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsf/articles/20090120.aspx
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US Marines - Sad Sack LPD Sent After Pirates
January 20, 2009: The U.S. amphibious ship USS San Antonio has arrived off the coast of Somalia, to serve as the flagship of the anti-piracy Task Force 151. The San Antonio is an LPD 17 type vessel. It displaces 24,900 tons and is 684 feet long. It has a crew of 360, and normally 720 marines and all their equipment are carried. For the anti piracy mission, there are only a few hundred specialist personnel embarked, including a platoon of American marines and a platoon of army military police. There is 25,000 square feet for vehicle storage and a 24 bed hospital, with two operating rooms and the ability to set up another hundred beds in an emergency.
Onboard weapons include two Bushmaster II 30mm Close In Guns and two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers to defend against anti-ship missiles. The ship is designed to carry and use two LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion vehicle), and 14 of the new AAAV (Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle), or the current AAV. The MV-22 (Osprey tiltrotor aircraft), as well as current helicopters, can operate off the ships flight deck. Each LPD 17 costs about $800 million. The LPD 17 class replaces four other classes of amphibious ships (LPD 4, LSD 36, LST 1179 and LKA 113).
Apparently, only three HH-60H helicopters (a seagoing Blackhawk) are on board, and none of the usual amphibious vehicles or hovercraft. However, the San Antonio could handle any of the helicopters used by the 15-20 warships in Task Force 150, as well as UAVs. The San Antonio also has an extensive and very modern CIC (combat information center) for use by Task Force commanders. Communications are excellent as well, including a satellite Internet link. The well deck could accommodate small patrol boats or USVs (unmanned surface vessels used for patrolling).
San Antonio was the first of the class, and had many teething problems. The builders did a sloppy job, and it took a year, and several hundred million dollars, to get everything fixed. San Antonio became available for service late last year. The anti-piracy duty is the first assignment for the San Antonio.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htamph/articles/20090120.aspx
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Indian Home Brew Horrors
January 20, 2009: Indian military leaders are complaining about the delays and poor quality resulting from the national policy of developing the ability to develop and build high-tech weapons. India already has 39 defense related factories. These provide jobs for nearly 600,000 workers, and provide a wide array of military services. But not always on time, or effectively.
The latest embarrassment is the attempt to refurbish a Russian made Kilo class submarine. Russia does this for Indian subs, and takes about two years. But five years ago, India decided to refurbish one of those Kilo class boats, the INS Sindhukirti, itself. The sub is still sitting in a shipyard, and it's expected to remain there another five years before the work is done. The navy is not happy about losing the services of one of its most modern subs for a decade, to do a job that takes the Russians only two years. Worse, there are three other Indian subs that are stuck in this shipyard hell. Slow shipyard work results in only seven of Indias 16 subs being available for service at any one time. Ten of these subs will reach the end of their service lives by 2012. No subs are being built in India, even through a submarine building yard in Mumbai have been idle for twelve years. The admirals are very unhappy with all of this, but the government insists that Indian firms be used for an increasing amount of military work. .
The Indian defense industry has long been known as inefficient. Some of the factories date back to 1947, when the British colonial government left. Others were built with Russian assistance. More recent ones were built with the help of Western firms. Quality has long been a problem with the state run factories, and the military has forced the government to procure more essential weapons and equipment from foreign suppliers. Israel has picked up a lot of business because of this, partly because both countries are prime targets for Islamic terrorists. India also believes they will get higher quality assistance in building domestic weapons building expertise using Western sources. The Russian stuff is good, but the Russians are less efficient, and effective, than their Western counterparts.
Then there is the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), which is supposed to design new weapons for all three services. DRDO has 40,000 scientists and technicians, but takes decades to produce systems that never seem to work right. The politicians are under pressure from the military to revamp DRDO, and make the organization more responsible, and responsive. But those demands have been made for over a decade, and so far the bureaucrats are holding their own.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20090120.aspx
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Navy Frigates Deploy to Med and Gulf
UK Ministry of Defence | Jan 21, 2009
Royal Navy frigates HMS St Albans and HMS Richmond both sailed from Portsmouth Naval Base this morning to conduct maritime security patrols in the Mediterranean and the Gulf respectively.
HMS St Albans will join a NATO Task Group in the Mediterranean and conduct maritime security patrols protecting busy shipping trade routes and providing a visible presence in the region.
Joining the NATO-led 'Operation Active Endeavour', the frigate will help monitor illegal maritime and air activity throughout the Mediterranean. Actively providing maritime and air patrolling and surveillance since October 2001, the NATO security operation has proved an effective deterrent to terrorist-related illegal activity, significantly improving security in the Mediterranean.
Commander Adrian Pierce, Commanding Officer of HMS St Albans, said:
"After successfully completing our operational sea training in December and enjoying some well-deserved Christmas leave, we have worked really hard these last two weeks to be fully prepared and equipped to face any eventuality at sea during the next few months in the Mediterranean. There is a real buzz of anticipation around the ship and we are all looking forward to getting back to sea, working closely with our NATO allies, the shipping industry and the civil authorities, to make a real difference with our presence."
The NATO Task Group plans to conduct a wide range of activities including participation in Operation Active Endeavour and other joint/maritime exercises that will be conducted in the Mediterranean area.
HMS St Albans will also play a role as part of the NATO Response Force (NRF) providing an immediately available capability to be deployed anywhere that NATO decides there is a mission for the NRF. The ship will also have a varied port visit programme, highlights among the many port visits will be visits to Majorca, Italy and Egypt.
HMS Richmond deploys to the Gulf on Operation Telic as part of the UK's contribution to the international coalition of warships conducting maritime security in the region. The frigate will relieve her sister ship HMS Lancaster which will return to Portsmouth at the end of February following a six-month deployment.
Commander Mark Southorn, the Commanding Officer of HMS Richmond, said:
"HMS Richmond will depart on Monday ready in all respects to make a genuine contribution to the security of the Gulf region; having had extensive training tailored to our mission I am confident that HMS Richmond and her ship's company are able to deal with any eventuality."
Both warships will focus on selected maritime contacts of interest, tracking and monitoring suspect vessels to determine their operations. Vessels may be boarded by Royal Navy teams and full inspections of cargo, documentation and crew may be carried out.
Powerful and versatile, the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates form 50 per cent of the total frigate/destroyer force in the Royal Navy. Originally designed for the principal task of anti-submarine warfare, they are multi-purpose ships with the capability to operate anywhere in the world.
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/navy/Navy_Frigates_Deploy_to_Med_and_Gulf120016939.php
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USCG Watches Ships from Venezuela
1/20/2009
Journal of Commerce
As of Jan. 23 the U.S. Coast Guard is imposing conditions of entry on vessels arriving from Venezuela.
Under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, Homeland Security can impose conditions of entry for vessels arriving from ports that are not maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures.
Ships that visited ports in Venezuela during their last five port calls must, among other actions, report security measures to the Coast Guard; post guards at vessel access points, and implement measures per the ship’s security plan equivalent to Security Level 2.
Vessels are also subject to inspection by the Coast Guard, which may require armed private security guards while the ship is in U.S. ports.
http://www.trafficworld.com/newssection/ocean.asp?id=49485
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Korea Development Scraps Daewoo Ship Sale to Hanwha (Update2)
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Korea Development Bank rejected Hanwha Group’s 6.3 trillion won ($4.6 billion) offer for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and said it plans to re- invite bids for what could be the industry’s biggest acquisition.
Hanwha’s fundraising plan for a 50.4 percent stake in the world’s third-largest shipbuilder was insufficient, Chung In Sung, senior executive director at Korea Development Bank, said today at a media briefing in Seoul. The bank will try to resell the shares depending on market conditions, he said.
Hanwha, with 1 trillion won in cash, struggled to arrange funds after the global financial crisis eroded the value of the Daewoo Shipbuilding stake and made banks reluctant to lend. Failure of the sale may disrupt the South Korean government’s efforts to sell stakes in companies including Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co.
“It could take Korea Development Bank some time to resell the shares given the value of the stake has fallen and the financial market conditions still look uncertain,” said Lee Jae Won, an analyst at Tong Yang Securities Inc. in Seoul.
Hanwha Chemical Corp., which led the group’s bid, gained 4.4 percent to close at 7,770 won in Seoul. Hanwha Corp. rose 11 percent to 28,550 won. Daewoo Shipbuilding fell 4.4 percent to 19,350 won.
“The reason this deal collapsed is because of funding difficulties and Hanwha’s will to take over Daewoo Shipbuilding weakened,” Chung said. “If Hanwha took over the shipyard, it would have put a lot of financial burden on both companies.”
No Installments
The group sought to renegotiate terms agreed in November with Korea Development Bank and offered to pay in installments, which was unacceptable, Chung said.
Korea Development Bank won’t return the more than 300 billion won Hanwha paid in deposit for the acquisition, Chung said. Hanwha will seek to get the money back and will focus on overcoming the current financial crisis, it said today in a statement.
The stake being sold by Korea Development Bank and Korea Asset Management Corp. is worth 1.87 trillion won based on today’s closing price. They became shareholders of Daewoo Shipbuilding after swapping debt for equity in December 2000, rescuing the company from near collapse.
Korea Development Bank will look at all options to find a way to make Daewoo Shipbuilding attractive to sell later, Chung said.
Beating Hyundai
Hanwha, with interests from explosives to shopping malls, won the bid for Daewoo Shipbuilding on Oct. 24 as part of a plan to extend its construction and energy businesses to oil tankers and deep-see drilling structures. It beat Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s biggest shipbuilder, in the auction.
Posco, South Korea’s largest supplier of steel to shipbuilders, isn’t interested in Daewoo Shipbuilding should the stake be reoffered, Posco Chairman Lee Ku Taek said on Jan. 15. Posco was eliminated in the earlier bidding.
Daewoo Shipbuilding’s labor union has been opposed to the sale, saying it would weaken the shipyard’s financials along with Hanhwa. Since October, the workers blocked the group from carrying out due diligence.
“The value of the stake will definitely be lower in the next round given the shipbuilding industry is in a downturn,” said Ahn Ji Hyun, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul.
Order Slump
Daewoo Shipbuilding is facing a slump in orders as the crisis has made it difficult for shipping lines to secure funds to pay for new vessels and existing contracts. Global trade is expected to shrink for the first time in almost three decades, according to the World Bank.
The shipyard won $11.8 billion worth of orders in 2008, the first decline in six years as demand plummeted since September. It hasn’t received any contracts since that month, except for one from South Korea’s navy in December for a submarine.
Operators of bulk ships have been hit the hardest from the financial crisis, with about 63 percent of the global orders for that type of vessel canceled, according to Ryu Jae Hyun, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co. in Seoul.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akZ_yYgT_bDs&refer=home
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French Navy to convert EXOCET MM40 Block2 in Block3
The DGA notified MBDA of a contract to convert 45 EXOCET MM40 Block2 missiles. (Photo: MBDA)
10:19 GMT, January 21, 2009 At the end of December 2008, the DGA (Délégation Générale pour l'Armement) notified MBDA of a contract to convert 45 EXOCET MM40 Block2 missiles in service with the French Navy to the new MM40 Block3 standard, MBDA today announced.
The EXOCET MM40 Block3 long range anti-ship missile system is the latest generation of this highly successful family of missiles and fully compatible with existing MM40 launchers.
MM40 Block3 has a significantly extended range out to 180km and will feature open ocean, littoral and coastal land attack capabilities. It is available for surface ships and coastal batteries.
Since entering service in 1972, 3,500 EXOCET missiles, in all configurations, have been sold to 35 countries.
EXOCET MM40 Block2, 70 km class, is in service with the French Navy and many other navies worldwide.
MM40 Block3 has been ordered by the French Navy and will equip its variant of the Franco-Italian FREMM frigate. It has also been ordered by two export customers.
In April 2007, MM40 Block3 successfully carried out its final qualification firing.
http://www.defpro.com/news/details/5001/
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US customs report fast falling container throughput
Container throughput at US ports fell by -4.7% in 2008 against 2007, with last year's sharpest decline recorded in the fourth quarter at -7.3% compared to the same quarter a year earlier, according to US Customs data.
The results showed that container traffic decreased in 11 out of 12 months during 2008 when compared to 2007, reported NBC news.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :1/22/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7257
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Obama to Invest in a 21st Century Military
13:18 GMT, January 21, 2009 President Obama and Vice President Biden will invest in a 21st century military to maintain our conventional advantage while increasing our capacity to defeat the threats of tomorrow. They will ensure our troops have the training, equipment and support that they need when they are deployed.
Invest in a 21st Century Military
Rebuild the Military for 21st Century Tasks: Obama and Biden believe that we must build up our special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, and other units and capabilities that remain in chronic short supply; invest in foreign language training, cultural awareness, and human intelligence and other needed counterinsurgency and stabilization skill sets; and create a more robust capacity to train, equip, and advise foreign security forces, so that local allies are better prepared to confront mutual threats.
--Expand to Meet Military Needs on the Ground: Obama and Biden support plans to increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000 Marines. Increasing our end strength will help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments and decrease the strain on military families.
--Leadership from the Top: President Obama and Vice President Biden will inspire a new generation of Americans to serve their country, whether it be in local communities in such roles as teachers or first responders, or serving in the military to keep our nation free and safe.
--Lighten the Burdens on Our Brave Troops and Their Families: The Obama-Biden Administration will create a Military Families Advisory Board to provide a conduit for military families' concerns to be brought to the attention of senior policymakers and the public. Obama and Biden will end the stop-loss policy and establish predictability in deployments so that active duty and reserves know what they can and must expect.
Build Defense Capabilities for the 21st Century
--Fully Equip Our Troops for the Missions They Face: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we must get essential equipment to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines before lives are lost.
--Review Weapons Programs: We must rebalance our capabilities to ensure that our forces can succeed in both conventional wars and in stabilization and counter-insurgency operations. Obama and Biden have committed to a review of each major defense program in light of current needs, gaps in the field, and likely future threat scenarios in the post-9/11 world.
--Preserve Global Reach in the Air: We must preserve our unparalleled airpower capabilities to deter and defeat any conventional competitors, swiftly respond to crises across the globe, and support our ground forces. We need greater investment in advanced technology ranging from the revolutionary, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities, to essential systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refueling aircraft, which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power. [See note at bottom—Ed.]
--Maintain Power Projection at Sea: We must recapitalize our naval forces, replacing aging ships and modernizing existing platforms, while adapting them to the 21st century. Obama and Biden will add to the Maritime Pre-Positioning Force Squadrons to support operations ashore and invest in smaller, more capable ships, providing the agility to operate close to shore and the reach to rapidly deploy Marines to global crises.
--National Missile Defense: The Obama-Biden Administration will support missile defense, but ensure that it is developed in a way that is pragmatic and cost-effective; and, most importantly, does not divert resources from other national security priorities until we are positive the technology will protect the American public.
--Ensure Freedom of Space: The Obama-Biden Administration will restore American leadership on space issues, seeking a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites. They will thoroughly assess possible threats to U.S. space assets and the best options, military and diplomatic, for countering them, establishing contingency plans to ensure that U.S. forces can maintain or duplicate access to information from space assets and accelerating programs to harden U.S. satellites against attack.
--Protect the U.S in Cyberspace: The Obama-Biden Administration cooperate with our allies and the private sector to identify and protect against emerging cyber-threats.
Restore the Readiness of the National Guard and Reserves
--Equip, Support, and Modernize the National Guard and Reserves: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will provide the National Guard with the equipment it needs for foreign and domestic emergencies and time to restore and refit before deploying. They will make the head of the National Guard a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to ensure concerns of our citizen soldiers reach the level they mandate. They will ensure that reservists and Guard members are treated fairly when it comes to employment, health, and education benefits.
Develop Whole of Government Initiatives to Promote Global Stability
--Integrate Military and Civilian Efforts: The Obama-Biden Administration will build up the capacity of each non-Pentagon agency to deploy personnel and area experts where they are needed, to help move soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines out of civilian roles.
--Create a Civilian Assistance Corps (CAC): Obama and Biden will create a national CAC of 25,000 personnel. This corps of civilian volunteers with special skill sets (doctors, lawyers, engineers, city planners, agriculture specialists, police, etc.) would be organized to provide each federal agency with a pool of volunteer experts willing to deploy in times of need at home and abroad.
Restore Our Alliances
--Engage Our Allies in Meeting Our Common Security Challenges: America's traditional alliances, such as NATO, must be transformed and strengthened, including on common security concerns like Afghanistan, homeland security, and counterterrorism. President Obama and Vice President Biden will renew alliances and ensure our allies contribute their fair share to our mutual security.
--Organize to Help Our Partners and Allies in Need: The Obama-Biden Administration will expand humanitarian activities that build friendships and attract allies at the regional and local level (such as during the response to the tsunami in South and Southeast Asia), and win hearts and minds in the process.
Reform Contracting
--Create Transparency for Military Contractors: President Obama and Vice President Biden will require the Pentagon and State Department to develop a strategy for determining when contracting makes sense, rather than continually handing off governmental jobs to well-connected companies. They will create the transparency and accountability needed for good governance, and establish the legal status of contractor personnel, making possible prosecution of any abuses committed by private military contractors.
--Restore Honesty, Openness, and Commonsense to Contracting and Procurement: The Obama-Biden Administration will realize savings by reducing the corruption and cost overruns that have become all too routine in defense contracting. This includes launching a program of acquisition reform and management, which would end the common practice of no-bid contracting. Obama and Biden will end the abuse of supplemental budgets by creating a system of oversight for war funds as stringent as in the regular budget. Obama and Biden will restore the government's ability to manage contracts by rebuilding our contract officer corps. They will order the Justice Department to prioritize prosecutions that will punish and deter fraud, waste and abuse.
http://www.defpro.com/news/details/5002/
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MOL drops its own Asia-SA-South America run
The Japanese shipping line Mitsui OSK Line (MOL) has announced it is suspending plans to start its own Asia-to-South America east coast service, and instead will to revise the rotation of its old CSW service it operates with Singapore carrier Pacific International Line (PIL).
The company's liner manager TK Konishi told Shipping Gazette that the revised coverage will make an additional call at westbound Durban and cancel the Shenzhen (Yantian) call.
The revised port rotation is: Kobe, Yokohama, Nagoya, Busan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Durban, Santos, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paranagua, Sao Francisco Do Sul, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Kobe.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :1/22/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7255
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Regards
Snooper
NNNN
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