Please Note
Downhill till the weekend ………..!!
Regards
Snooper
-------------------------------------
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.
====================
Further tales from our long haired solo sailor !
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Cape Town Update - Dad
Photos courtesy of Jen Edney ©2009
It's been nearly a week since I arrived in South Africa to meet up with Zac. I think I can safely say that I am not the only one relieved to have Zac in port at the V & A Marina here on the waterfront in Cape Town - compliments of Wiltel Marine. Fortunately, as you know, the trip from Durban to Cape Town was quite uneventful weatherwise - just the way we like it. Special thanks to David Morris, Rob Jordan, Bryan Mitchell and my beautiful wife for their expertise and diligence with watching the weather. The Clearpoint High Definition Weather proved invaluable during these legs.
Zac had met many great, helpful and friendly folks as he made his way around from Durban to CT. Rounding Point Agulhas Intrepid slowed to 2 knots battering into headwinds and counter current. Zac tacked SW to give himself a better angle on the wind as it was predicted to shift in his favor to help bring him around Danger Point and the Cape of Good Hope. And yes we all had good hope as we went out to meet him. I drove down to Point Agulhas to see Intrepid as she passed by but unfortunately Zac was far out to sea. The following day I headed for Cape of Good Hope and saw Intrepid having a delightful sail in 10-15 knots with flat seas. Although later that changed to 30 knots. Later that day I hooked up with Geoff from Wiltel Marine who took us out in Bavaria 33 to meet Zac. Eric Bjerring had been in contact with us for some time following Zac's progress and invited Zac to moor Intrepid at the docks in the V & A Marina. Willie Truter managing director along with all of the staff at Wiltel Marine have been very generous and accommodating. Zac will be racing with Erik from Wiltel on the Wednesday night races which he is looking forward to.
A quick survey of the vessel above and below the waterline has left us with about a week of repairs to do before Zac heads out into the Atlantic. I'll give details of these on my return to the US. Time is pushing and I should have been down on Intrepid one hour ago but wanted to say g'day to all.
Cheers,
Laurence
posted by Zac at 9:33 PM
---------------------------------------
Visit www.zacsutherland.com
YouTube Videos http://www.youtube.com/zacsvideos
Blog http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/
Email zacsworldadventure@yahoo.com
--------------------------------------
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.
Lemon Bobbing - 27 01 09
Another slow day as the high continues to chase me east. It looks like it’ll keep doing so for about another 36hours - until it moves away and decides to pester someone else!
At times I’ve been sitting like a becalmed lemon bobbing up and down, going nowhere. Every now and then a very slight breeze of around four knots has appeared for thirty minutes or so, blowing me gently in a south-easterly direction.
Hopefully, in the next twenty-four hours I’ll be able to break free of this party-pooping high and find some stronger downwind conditions to carry me across and up to Cape Town. In fact, it’s just picked up to six knots, so fingers crossed this will continue and - dare I say it - increase.
The upside of course is that my TLC of Totallymoney.com continues! At this rate she’s going to look better than when she left Portsmouth. I’ve scrubbed the cockpit with my deckbrush ‘til it gleamed, rinsing away all the tiny specks of dirt that have built up over the last month. I also used rust remover on a few screws that weren't looking as attractive as the clean white bulkhead below them! Now they’re glinting in the sun and I’m happy with another job well done, listening to my iPod on shuffle, blasting through the boat speakers. Life’s pretty good! More wind and it’ll be just perfect…
http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
Visit : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/
Blog : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
===================
Australian navy chief meets Pak forces’ chiefs
* Canadian chief of defence meets CJCSC
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Royal Australian Navy Vice Admiral Russ Crane on Monday met the country’s air and naval chiefs to discussed various issues of mutual interest.
A statement by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said that Vice Admiral Crane met Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed at Air Headquarters and discussed various professional issues.
The Pakistan Navy said the Australian navy chief visited the Naval Headquarters and met Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir.
Meanwhile, Canadian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Walters J Natynczyk met General Tariq Majid, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), at the Joint Staff Headquarters Chaklala.
The two leaders exchanged views on the regional security situation and matters related to bilateral defence cooperation.
Acknowledging Pakistan's invaluable role in combating terrorism, the Canadian CDS endorsed the need for a comprehensive regional approach, besides mobilisation of international support to assist Pakistan in meeting its security challenges.
General Tariq appreciated the contributions rendered by the Canadian armed forces in efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and reiterated Pakistan's resolve to continue working with its international partners for restoring regional peace.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C01%5C27%5Cstory_27-1-2009_pg7_30
----------------------------------
Stiff fine for fishing crimes
2009/01/27
AN EAST London deep sea charter boat owner who was caught in possession of prohibited species and who contravened marine laws was fined thousands of rands last week in the Kei Mouth Magistrate’s Court.
Greg Clur, owner of the fishing boat Extreme, was arrested on January 10 by police and marine coastal management inspectors following reports of transgressions by community members in Kei Mouth.
Clur, who pleaded guilty to the charges, was fined R6000 or six months in jail – half of which was suspended for five years – for two counts of being in possession of a prohibited species and for having filleted the fish before returning to land.
On a count of catching more threatened red steenbras than quotas allow, he was fined R5000 or four months in jail, half of which was suspended for five years.
And for being in possession of undersize threatened yellowbelly rockcod , he was fined R4000 or 90 days in jail, also with half the sentence suspended for five years.
The entire case was taken together and Clur was required to pay an R8000 fine or face a jail term on all counts.
“I made a mistake and I’m not going to do it again,” Clur said afterwards. “I’ve paid the fine and I’m not planning on breaking the laws again.”
Commenting on the sentence, environmental officer John Rance of the Border Deep Sea Angling Association said they were satisfied the matter was on court record.
“Hopefully this will act as a deterrent,” said Rance. “We believe the magistrate made it sufficiently clear regarding the seriousness of the offences and we believe future transgressions will not be tolerated.”
Rance said marine reserves along the coastline had played a significant role in restoring fish stocks, a resource which had been severely depleted in the late seventies and early eighties due to overfishing.
“The Border Transkei coast is something of a Mecca for sport fishermen and the industry is growing all the time,” he said. “The tourism potential is huge and we need to vigorously protect our resources from environmental plunderers.”
Bruce Mann, a senior scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban, said overfishing was a real problem that needed to be sorted out.
Mann said red or copper steenbras, black steenbras or black musselcracker, and dageraad were three endemic species that spent the centre of their adult life in the Eastern Cape. “They all have life history characteristics which make them extremely vulnerable to over fishing.”
Siani Tinley, curator of the East London Aquarium said the importance of any one species to the environment was great.
“Removing or losing any one species affects a number of other species that form part of that ecosystem or food web.
“This ecosystem or food chain does not only include other fish or bait organisms, but includes whales, dolphins, penguins and other sea creatures.
“ Nature will not be able to re-balance what we remove and we may lose certain species for good as well as affecting our daily livelihoods.” - By ANDREW STONE, Senior Reporter
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=288759
----------------------------------
Nigeria arrests seven for stealing oil in delta
Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:24am GMT
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's anti-corruption police arrested six Ghanaians and a Nigerian for stealing millions of dollars worth of crude oil in the restive Niger Delta, the agency's spokesman said on Sunday.
The suspects were taken into custody after their vessel, carrying a cargo worth around 330 million naira, was seized in Chanomi Creek in southern Nigeria's Delta state in late December.
"The vessel was loaded with 4,000 metric tonnes of petroleum product suspected to be crude oil," said Femi Babafemi, spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Nigeria and its partners, including international oil firms such as Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, lose a sizeable chunk of revenues each year to oil theft, known locally as "bunkering".
Some estimates put the amount of crude stolen from the region at 100,000 barrels per day, equivalent to around $4.6 million daily or $1.7 billion a year at today's prices.
Bunkering is part of a network of highly organised crime which can often involve collusion between mafia-like gangs, local government officials, international shipping agents and members of the armed forces, security experts say.
Thieves drill into pipelines or hijack barges loaded with oil, often using militant attacks as cover, before shipping the spoils out of Nigeria to be sold on the international market.
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE50P01N20090126
----------------------------------
Climate may cause 'dead zones'
26/01/2009 14:14
Paris - Global warming may create "dead zones" in the ocean that would be devoid of fish and seafood and endure for up to two millennia, according to a study published on Sunday.
Its authors say deep cuts in the world's carbon emissions are needed to brake a trend capable of wrecking the marine ecosystem and depriving future generations of the harvest of the seas.
In a study published online by the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists in Denmark built a computer model to simulate climate change over the next 100 000 years.
At the heart of their model are two well-used scenarios which use atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, as an indicator of temperature rise.
Under the worst scenario, CO2 concentrations would rise to 1 168 parts per million (ppm) by 2100, or about triple today's level.
Under the more optimistic model, CO2 would reach 549 ppm by 2100, or roughly 50% more than today.
Several factors
The temperature rise that either would yield depends on several factors: when the peak in carbon emissions is reached and how quickly it falls, and whether the warming unleashes natural triggers, or tipping points, that enhance or prolong the warming in turn.
Taking such factors into account, the scientists predict a possible rise of around five to seven degrees Celsius (nine to 16 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times under the worst scenario. Under the other scenario, there would be warming of roughly between two to four °C.
Either scenario spells bad news for the ocean, said Jens Olaf Pepke Pedersen, a physicist at the Technical University of Denmark.
Under the worst scenario, warmer seas and a slowdown of ocean circulation would lower marine oxygen levels, creating "dead zones" that could not support fish, shellfish and other higher forms of marine life - and may not revive for 1 500 to 2 000 years.
"They would start slowly by the end of this century, it's not something that would happen tomorrow or in the near future but over the next few generations," Pedersen told AFP.
'Inertia in the sea'
"But because of the inertia in the ocean, once you have the process going, it's not feasible to reverse it again just like that, so it would continue for hundreds of years.
"Even if after a hundred years, if you stopped all carbon emissions, the ocean would still need hundreds of more years to cool. These low-oxygen areas would continue to expand and they would peak around 2 000 years from now. The ocean would then slowly recover as it cools."
Even under the less gloomy scenario, there would still be significant, long-term expansion of oxygen-starved zones.
Marine "dead zones" already exist today, in shallow areas next to the coast, where runoff from agricultural fertiliser causes an explosion in oxygen-gobbling algae.
Wide oxygen depletion of the ocean, though, poses a far greater threat, touching at the heart of biodiversity, the paper warns.
Around 250 million years ago, a chemical change of the seas led to a massive wipeout of marine species.
Long-term adverse effects
Lead scientist Gary Shaffer of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen said it was unclear, in the grim light of this study, whether future generations could look to the oceans as a major reserve of food.
"Reduced fossil-fuel emissions are needed over the next few generations to limit ongoing ocean oxygen depletion and acidification and their long-term adverse effects," he said.
Since 1900, the mean global atmospheric temperature has risen by 0.8 °C the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in 2007.
It forecast warming of 1.8-4.0 °C by 2100 over 1980-99 levels, but said "positive feedback" triggers that could amplify warming remain unclear.
- AFP
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2458841,00.html
----------------------------------
Fishing for a solution
2009/01/27
ANGLING, despite the recreational aspect of it, is an emotional issue. Some years ago a number of subsistence anglers, who frequented the East London harbour wall, voiced their dismay with the entrance ban which the port authorities imposed as a result of the September 11 attack on New York’s Twin Towers.
The anglers made a good case, arguing that the restrictions threatened their daily livelihood, but the port authority was faced with a global ultimatum: jack up port security or lose international shipping traffic.
Likewise, the arrest by police and marine coastal management inspectors and conviction last week in the Kei Mouth Magistrate’s Court of East London deep sea charter boat owner Greg Clur, who was caught in possession of prohibited species and who contravened marine laws, may sound to recreational anglers too harsh.
Border Deep Sea Angling Association environmental officer John Rance admits that certain transgressions such as fishing without a licence are contraventions of the law, and that few people would regard this as a serious “crime”.
But, he says, the regulations which Clur contravened were environmental regulations designed to attempt to restore the stocks of fish species which are severely over-exploited, depleted and therefore endangered.
Rance says there is morally little difference between poaching critically over-exploited terrestrial species such as rhino and poaching over-exploited marine species like “seventy-four” or red steenbras. “Both offend the ethic of ‘environmental sustainability’ and exploit the attempts by conscience-driven people to redress past excesses which negatively affected our environment.”
Bruce Mann, a senior scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban, also feels that overfishing is a real problem that needs to be sorted out.
Perhaps the environmental authorities, who safeguard our fishing stock, should heed the message contained in a May 2008 report that scientifically determined the overall economic impact and strategic value of sport and recreational angling in South Africa.
Researchers Marius Leibold, a professor in international business management, and Dr Colin J van Zyl, an environment and tourism specialist, said that in the previous year 2.5 million anglers participated in sport and recreational angling, creating a total economic impact of R18.8 billion, making its total economic impact at least 80percent larger than that of commercial fishing in South Africa. Due to the increasing number of public and private sector stakeholders it had become critically important to determine the total economic impact and strategic value of this industry.
It seems a very good idea, which will also protect our endangered fish species.
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=288981
----------------------------------
Giant climate test OKd
Germany dropped its opposition on Monday to a controversial experiment to dump iron sulphate in the South Atlantic to see if it can absorb greenhouse gases and possibly help to halt global warming.
"After a study of expert reports, I am convinced there are no scientific or legal objections against the ... ocean research experiment LOHAFEX," Research Minister Annette Schavan said in a statement.
"I have therefore decided ... to begin the experiment," she added.
Berlin had previously been cool to the expedition which set sail from Cape Town in South Africa on 7 January and is poised to drop six tons of the dissolved iron over 300 square kilometres of ocean.
Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel reportedly told Schavan in a letter that the experiment "destroys Germany's credibility and its vanguard role in protecting biodiversity".
Scientists on board the Polarstern research vessel hope the release of iron will cause an exponential growth in phytoplankton, which will then absorb more carbon dioxide — the main greenhouse gas — through photosynthesis.
But opponents of the plan fear the consequences could be catastrophic. They are concerned it could cause the sea to become more acidic or trigger algal blooms that would strip swathes of the ocean of oxygen.
Once written off as irresponsible or madcap, geo-engineering schemes such as LOHAFEX are getting a closer hearing in the absence of political progress to roll back the greenhouse gas problem.
Other, far less advanced, projects include sowing sulphur particles in the stratosphere to reflect solar radiation and erecting mirrors in orbit that would deflect sunrays and thus slightly cool the planet.
Green groups worry that such projects could cause more problems than they resolve. They also say these schemes' financial cost is unknown — and possibly cost far more than reducing emissions in the first place.
AFP
09:21am 27 Jan 2009
http://technology.iafrica.com/news/science/1476521.htm
----------------------------------
French ship faces green protest
2 hours ago
HARTLEPOOL, England (AFP) — Local green campaigners are protesting the imminent arrival of an asbestos-tainted French aircraft carrier here, where it is to be dismantled after being rejected by India.
But others argue the task of taking apart the Clemenceau will provide much-needed work, at a time when jobs are being cut across the country due to the global slowdown.
The ageing carrier, a former flagship of the French navy now known simply as hull Q790, could be towed within the next week to Hartlepool, northeastern England, where shipbreakers Able UK plan to finally dismantle it.
The vessel is waiting for calmer weather to make its final journey from Brest, northwestern France, where it has been since an embarrassing 11,200-mile journey to western India in 2006.
The saga may not be over. Green group the Friends of Hartlepool is still hoping to mount an eleventh-hour effort to sink the plans.
The group has failed to secure a legal ruling preventing the Clemenceau's transfer to Hartlepool, but its lawyers are examining whether an appeal can be filed under laws regulating the export of toxic waste.
Their opposition stems from the fact that the vessel contains around 700 tonnes of materials contaminated by asbestos, a highly carcinogenic substance.
"We don't want the Clemenceau," 70-year-old Jean Kennedy of the Friends of Hartlepool, which has received 15,000 signatures to a petition against Able UK, told AFP.
"We already have a lot of polluting industries for a town this size," he said, adding that Hartlepool, which has 92,000 inhabitants, "already has the highest cancer and asbestosis rate of the country and an average life expectancy 13 years lower than the national average."
Able UK chief executive Peter Stephenson said it's all a fuss over nothing.
"Since 1985, we have been dismantling oil and gas platforms that have the same type of waste as these ships," he said. "We've been doing it without a single complaint from anybody in all those years."
-- Clash over dismantling ship is not the first --
This is not the first time that Able UK and the Friends of Hartlepool have clashed -- in 2003, the company won a contract to dismantle more than 10 American naval ships, though only four made the trip to Able's shipyard.
The company did not even begin dismantling them until the mid-2008, the process having been delayed by litigation.
"We don't want to become the final destination of the toxic ships coming from all over the world," Kennedy said, adding: "The whole Russian fleet is waiting to come."
But the Hartlepool group has struggled to find major supporters. Even globally-known environmental groups such as Greenpeace prefer ships like the Clemenceau be dismantled in Western countries.
Before Able UK was awarded the contract to dismantle it, the Clemenceau was to be taken apart in India -- but that plan was torpedoed after critics said it would endanger the lives of scrapyard workers there.
Its return to France was hailed as a major victory by environmentalist groups, who had fought tooth and nail to block its transfer to Alang on India's west coast, home to the world's largest shipbreaking yard.
The aircraft carrier, named after France's World War I prime minister Georges Clemenceau, was decommissioned in 1997. It saw action in the Lebanese civil war of the 1980s and the 1991 Gulf war.
Among Hartlepool's residents, opposition to Able UK's plans is hard to find. Of 20 people interviewed on the city's streets, half were not even aware of the controversy.
For Jerry Drewitt, the harbourmaster at Tees and Hartlepool port authority, the controversy surrounding the dismantling of the Clemenceau is a non-issue.
"The Clemenceau is not outstanding," he said. "Even if her shape is unusual, she's not larger than the ships that we handle every day and that have on board lots of cargo that are hazardous to people, like chemicals and oil."
"Why has tonnes of asbestos become a problem? We built these ships, we have to recycle them properly."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hLDMp9cXbVbkbZWxgGAMamERbAqw
----------------------------------
Royal Navy in largest deployment of recent years
Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 11:03
THE Royal Navy is preparing to set sail for one of its largest deployments of recent years with the biggest RN Task Force to deploy to the Far East in more than a decade - headed by Plymouth's HMS Bulwark.
Taurus 09 aims to maintain the Royal Navy’s fighting capability as well as develop the UK’s 'capacity to operate with key partners and allies'.
The Task Force will conduct a wide range of activities including maritime security operations and exercising amphibious and anti-submarine warfare.
The Task Force comprises 12 ships, including a US Navy destroyer and a French Navy frigate, two nuclear powered submarines, Royal Marines from 40 Commando in Taunton, the Fleet Diving Unit, Assault Squadron Royal Marines from Plymouth, elements of 820 and 857 Naval Air Squadrons (NAS) from RNAS Culdrose, 847 NAS and Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) Sea Kings based in Yeovil and Support Helicopter Force Chinooks from 18 Squadron, RAF Odiham.
It will be joined by ships, troops and aircraft from other nations and at its height, 3,300 personnel will take part in the 20,400 mile round-trip deployment, interacting, training and building relations with 17 nations.
Minister of State for the Armed Forces Bob Ainsworth MP said: "In addition to the Royal Navy’s contribution to current operations, exercising its open ocean and amphibious capability is vital to demonstrating its global reach and maintaining its capacity to deliver maritime security.
"This deployment illustrates the Navy’s versatility. It is a world class service and deploying this task group will hone its warfighting skills."
Phase One will involve amphibious training with nations in the Mediterranean, culminating in a series of amphibious landings in Turkey.
Phase Two will see part of the Task Group deploy through the Suez Canal, culminating in a multi-national training package in the jungles of Brunei. River training will also be conducted with the Bangladeshi Navy, the first such interaction in more than a decade.
Spearheading the deployment from his Command Ship, Devonport's, HMS Bulwark, is Royal Navy Commodore Peter Hudson CBE ADC, Commander UK Amphibious Task Group.
He said: "Taurus is a great opportunity for the Royal Navy to demonstrate and practice a wide range of skills, specifically anti-submarine and amphibious warfare.
"Everybody involved is looking forward to this deployment, which has real opportunities for all.
"Deploying a maritime force across the globe for prolonged periods defines a premier Navy’s capability. It is what we do and we do it well. It is important for UK defence that we can take such a commitment in our stride."
The Task Force is expected to return in August.
Ships involved in TAURUS 09 are:
Landing Platform Dock (LPD) HMS BULWARK*
Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) HMS OCEAN*
Type 23 Frigate HMS ARGYLL
Type 23 Frigate HMS SOMERSET*
United States Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS MITSCHER*
French Navy Georges Leygues-class Frigate FS DUPLEIX
RFA MOUNTS BAY
RFA LYME BAY
RFA WAVE RULER*
RFA FORT AUSTIN
2 x Trafalgar Class submarines
Exercises will be conducted with countries including Malta, Gibraltar, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Royal-Navy-largest-deployment-recent-years/article-646992-detail/article.html
----------------------------------
Japan's navy to prepare for Somalia mission
January 28 2009 at 06:28AM
Tokyo - Japan on Wednesday ordered its navy to start preparations for possible deployment on an anti-piracy mission in waters off Somalia to protect Japanese vessels and nationals.
"The issue of the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia is a threat to the international community, including Japan. It has to be dealt with quickly," Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada told top military brass.
Prime Minister Taro Aso still needs to give a final order, which reportedly would take at least one month, before any deployment. - AFP
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=nw20090128053506667C746425
----------------------------------
Cape whales face new threat
YOLANDI GROENEWALD | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Jan 28 2009 06:00
PetroSA's plan for a liquid natural gas mooring facility in a known whale-breeding site on the Western Cape coast has stirred up an environmental hornet's nest. Environmentalists warn that the facility, planned for the serene location of Vleesbaai, near Mossel Bay, will disrupt marine life.
The bay is a favourite stop-off point for migrating whales and attracts many whale-watchers. It is considered one of the Western Cape's last pristine marine areas. Vleesbaai's residents are against the planned facility, announced in October last year.
"PetroSA's facility is ill-conceived, short-sighted and environmentally damaging, "said Mareo Bekker, chair of the Rescue Vleesbaai Action Group. He said the plan involved the effective rezoning by stealth of Vleesbaai into an industrial area.
PetroSA says the move is justified because gas reserves off the Mossel Bay coast are dwindling. To prevent the closure of its gas-to-liquids operation it has to bring in additional supplies.
Most of the gas will be used to power Eskom's Gourikwa power station, which was expanded last year. But critics insist PetroSA's existing rig could be developed so that gas could be piped from there to the Mossel Bay refinery.
Locals angrily claim that PetroSA has already struck the deals required for the project. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) is still in its infancy, yet allegations are rife that it is window-dressing.
"The EIA process is fatally flawed and should start anew," Bekker said. "PetroSA has already entered into contracts for the supply of gas and erection of the facilities. We fear the EIA is a smoke screen to appease the public."
Coastal ecologist Allan Heydorn said he is gravely concerned about the planned facility. Noise and light pollution would affect the whales and dolphins that frequent the bay and also subject them to the risk of entanglement in underwater cables. A fire or explosion would have "catastrophic long-term consequences", Heydorn warned.
"In the event of either slow and insidious pollution and littering or a catastrophic event, the entire inter- and sub-tidal ecosystem and the near-shore marine food webs will be placed at risk. This would have serious consequences for the coastal ecology and the livelihood of people in terms of fishing."
Warning that indigenous gas reserves would fall below economic production levels by 2010, PetroSA spokesperson Thabo Masabo said the Mossel Bay refinery would close if the project was thwarted, with the loss of 2 000 jobs.
The project would boost production at the refinery, allowing PetroSA to continue exploring South Africa's southern and western coasts.
Masabo said the project would boost the economy by delivering much-needed fuel and would bring in R428-million annually to the fiscus. He said PetroSA was aware of the environmental concerns but that the EIA would give a full picture of the impact.
PetroSA was negotiating for the supply of liquid natural gas and the infrastructure, but nofinal investment decision had been taken.
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-01-28-cape-whales-face-new-threat
----------------------------------
Submariners - Evac’s New Quiet Flush Toilets
1/27/2009 9:57:34 AM
One of the main complaints from passengers onboard cruise ships and cruise-ferries relates to the noise generated by the flushing of vacuum toilets, which can cause considerable disturbance, especially at night-time. Helsinki-based Evac Oy has come up with a solution to this problem with its recently launched Evac 910 vacuum toilet.
As the result of the incorporation of a new patented quick relief valve, which cuts discharge noise by around 4dB(A) and peak noise by approximately 8dB(A), the Evac 910 vacuum toilet is much quieter than previous generation vacuum toilets. Recent testing carried out by an independent research center has demonstrated that the sound level of the Evac 910 is around 5-8dB(A) lower than other vacuum toilets on the market.
The Evac 910 has also been designed to facilitate onboard maintenance and repairs. An integrated mini check valve makes servicing easier, and reduces the spare parts requirement compared to the earlier generation Evac 900 vacuum toilet. The inclusion of a new by-pass valve also facilitates servicing work and allows a complete toilet flush to be carried out manually from the shaft area.
The Evac 910 has been designed so that all servicing can be carried out from the shaft area, making life easier for maintenance staff. The complete backplate can be removed either through the service space or the cabin simply by removing two screws.
Other features of the Evac 910 include a vacuum guard unit which ensures there is sufficient vacuum in the pipes to carry out efficient flushing and which prevents blockages occurring in the piping. If the level of the vacuum is too low, an integrated flush memory unit waits until there is enough vacuum in the pipes.
The unit is equipped with a fully pneumatic flush mechanism, and designed to minimize water consumption and withstand the rigours of use at sea. The toilet has been tested for a lifecycle of 300,000 flushes.
http://sname.marinelink.com/snamestory.aspx?stid=214280
----------------------------------
Port engineer to address next CT exporters’ club meeting
Port development is on the menu at the next meeting of the Cape Town Chapter of the Exporters’ Club to be held on February 3.
Transnet National Ports Authority's Magenthran Ruthenavelu, port engineer of Cape Town, will address the Club on 'Capacity development sticking the course'.
Venue is Transnet NPA House at 17h30 for 18h00.
For further information email: noreendurand@absamail.co.za.
Story By : Joy Orlek
Date :1/28/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7314
----------------------------------
Malaysia Receives First Scorpene Submarine
1/28/2009 1:17 AM ET
(RTTNews) - Malaysia has taken delivery of its
first submarine as part of the it's plan to establish a fleet of the vessels amidst opposition allegations of commission being paid in brokering the deal, media reports said.
French company DCNS said in a statement late Tuesday the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) received the Scorpene submarine in the French port of Toulon after the sub completed its final sea trials in December, including the successful firing of torpedoes and missiles. A second is scheduled for delivery in late 2009.
The sub's delivery again raised opposition claims that a 540-million ringgit ($149.50m) commission was paid to a close associate of deputy premier Najib Razak in brokering the deal, when the latter was defense minister.
The deputy premier, who is expected to take over as prime minister when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi steps down in March, has denied any irregularities in the deal. But senior opposition leader Lim Kit Siang called on Malaysia's new anti-corruption commission to investigate the allegation.
by RTT Staff Writer
http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=836230&SMap=1
----------------------------------
Cyber Warfare - Mistory Virus Hits 15 Million Computers
Several Sri Lankan Companies are in Trouble…..
28 January 2009 11:05 am
Chandana S. Jayakody, Sinhalaya News Agency, Colombo, Sri Lanka:
A worm known as Downadup, Conficker or Kido have reportedly contaminated more than 15 million computers around the world during the past three days alone, states computer specialists.
“Conficker” is reported to be one of the largest botnets created because 30 percent of Windows computers do not have the Microsoft Windows patch released in October 2008.
The U.K. Ministry of Defence reported that some of its major systems and desktops are infected. The worm has spread across its’ administrative offices, various Royal Navy warships and Royal Navy submarines, and Hospitals.
Experts say it is the worst infection since the SQL slammer computer worm.
News reaching Sinhalaya News Agency reveals that several top level Sri Lankan Companies including a well known accounting body have become victims of this virus infection.
http://www.sinhalaya.com/news/eng/2news2lanka2.php?go=fullnews&newsid=93
----------------------------------
Iran protests to Egypt over stopping Iranian aid ship to Gaza
13:43, January 28, 2009
Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the head of Egyptian Interest Section in Tehran, Amr Ahmed Abd el Meguid El Zayat, on Tuesday to hear Tehran's protest to Cairo over stopping Iranian relief aid ship to Gaza, the official IRNA news agency reported.
In the meeting with El Zayat, an Iranian official presented Iran's strong protest to Egyptian government's reluctance to issue the necessary licenses for the Iranian ship to approach the Gaza Strip to deliver its aid supply to the people of Gaza, the report said.
"Iran's ship has been waiting in the international waters close to Gaza port as well as Egyptian waters for a long time," the unidentified Iranian official said, urging Egypt to "inform Iran of its final decisions regarding the issue the soonest possible."
Earlier in January, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chief of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security Commission, said that Saudi Arabian and Egyptian positions on Gaza issue was not acceptable.
Another Iranian lawmaker, Kazem Jalali, called on Egypt to compensate for its negligence in Gaza case.
Hamas and its militants in Gaza, which are strongly backed by Iran, are considered as the threat to the security and stability of the region by Egyptian officials.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6581743.html
----------------------------------
Home port to welcome new warship
1 hour ago
The Royal Navy's newest warship is to sail into its home port for the first time.
HMS Daring, the world's most advanced destroyer, was officially handed over to the Navy last month after work was completed at the BVT Surface Fleet's Scotstoun shipyard on the Clyde in Glasgow.
The 7,350-tonne ship will be the first of the Royal Navy's series of six Type 45 destroyers.
Daring will be met at Portsmouth Naval Base in Hampshire by families and friends of the ship's company, with fly-pasts by Royal Navy and RAF aircraft.
The ship features the latest propulsion, anti-aircraft weapon and stealth technology.
The Type 45 destroyers will have nearly twice the range - about 7,000 miles - and are 45% more fuel-efficient than the Type 42 destroyers they are replacing in the £6 billion project.
The ship was launched from BVT's facility in Scotstoun by the Countess of Wessex in January 2006.
Since then it has undergone three sets of contractor sea trials.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hpyOFt52AJEmiOFcEBHLRXeRIeJg
----------------------------------
Modus Operandi software to help Navy enhance intelligence data analysis aboard submarines
MELBOURNE, Fla., 27 Jan. 2009. Software developer Modus Operandi in Melbourne, Fla., won a U.S. Navy contract to improve submarine signal processing for analyzing intelligence data.
The $70,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract -- known as Wave System of Systems (Wave SOS) -- calls for Modus Operandi to develop a semantic service-oriented fusion framework to integrate submarine sensor data to help on-board analysts quickly interpret sensor data.
Modus Operandi will use its Wave Exploitation Framework, a semantic enhancement for service-oriented architectures such as the Navy SOA reference implementation, to accelerate the discovery and fusion of relevant multi-source intelligence and submarine sensor data.
To counter advanced threats, the Navy is designing and retrofitting submarines with improved sensors, weapons, and communications systems. Modus Operandi software will represent and fuse submarine sensor information and provide decision support.
"Our part in supporting the Navy's requirement is to provide the semantic glue needed to fuse multi-source sensor data in a meaningful way, allowing system users to recognize adversarial activities within the context of diverse Navy missions." says Richard Hull, vice president and chief scientist at Modus Operandi.
For more information contact Modus Operandi online at www.modusoperandi.com.
http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/351533/32/ARTCL/none/EXECW/1/Modus-Operandi-software-to-help-Navy-enhance-intelligence-data-analysis-aboard-submarines/
----------------------------------
Oil tanker loses power in San Francisco Bay
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A 741-foot oil tanker lost power in San Francisco Bay on Tuesday night and was briefly stranded near the Golden Gate Bridge.
There were no reports of injuries or pollution in the bay because of the incident, Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said.
The tanker, the Overseas Clelimar, was leaving the Port of San Francisco for Ecuador when it lost power at around 5:30 p.m. The crew dropped its anchor within 10 minutes to stabilize its position before being grounded.
The tanker was able to regain power and was helped back to port by tug boats.
The tanker had no cargo after previously unloading its oil in Martinez, Read said.
A preliminary inspection by the Coast Guard showed no signs of oil in the bay and no damage to the hull of the vessel. There were also no injuries reported by the 32 crew members.
Alcohol tests of crew members conducted by the Coast Guard turned up negative.
More tests will be conducted Wednesday to make sure there is no pollution in the bay and to try to determine the cause of the incident.
Just over a year ago another ship ran into trouble in the bay. The Cosco Busan crashed into a Bay Bridge tower in November 2007, leading to a major oil spill.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/27/state/n195309S09.DTL
---------------------------------
CG Commissions Intelligence Unit
January 27, 2009
U.S. Coast Guard
ALAMEDA, Calif. - The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned a new unit at Coast Guard Island called the Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Pacific (MIFC PAC) . MIFC PAC was embedded in a staff element of PACAREA, known as PACAREA Intelligence Division. The commissioning of this independent unit will improve operational effectiveness and will create a consistent organizational structure within the intelligence program as the Coast Guard modernizes.
The mission of MIFC PAC will be to produce predictive all-source national and law enforcement intelligence in general support of Coast Guard operational forces to shape planning, decision making, and mission execution.
The staff of MIFC PAC will be committed to developing and delivering timely, actionable, multi-mission maritime intelligence and situational awareness that drives operations in the Pacific, Arctic, Southern, and Indian Oceans and supports related intelligence requirements of the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Intelligence Community and their law enforcement and international partners.
MIFC PAC will employ a total of 98 people; 63 active duty Coast Guard members, 16 reservists, and 19 civilians.
http://www.military.com/news/article/coast-guard-news/cg-commissions-intelligence-unit.html?col=1186032366581
----------------------------------
US offers maritime security help
Web posted at: 1/28/2009 6:51:4
Source ::: IANS
New Delhi: India’s “vast coastline” posed a “very large challenge” and the Indian and US navies can “share an understanding of process” to secure the country’s territorial waters, a top American military commander said yesterday
“When we look at maritime security and information sharing, there is a technical and operational challenge to better understand what is in the water,” Admiral Robert F Willard, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, told reporters here.
“When we think of India’s vast coastline, there is a very large challenge and our two navies can share an understanding of processes (to secure the country’s territorial waters),” Willard, who is on a visit here, contended.
In this context, he noted that the inking of an agreement to enable the two militaries communicate on a common platform would aid the information sharing process.
The Communications Inter-operability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) is one of three pacts with the US that have been pending for long. The other two are the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) under which the two militaries can refuel ships and aircraft in cashless transactions that are balanced at the end of the year and an end-user agreement on the sale of US military hardware to India.
Of these, the third is proving to be the most contentious since it involves annual inspections by US officials of the use to which the equipment is being put.
Indian officials have often said that “a way out” can be found to avoid physical inspections but Willard said the agreement was “language specific and not open to interpretation.
Willard termed the Mumbai terror attacks “outrageous” and hoped Pakistan, whose nationals India has blamed for the carnage, would quickly take action against the perpetrators.
“The attacks were outrageous by any standards. I hope and pray the perpetrators will be found and action taken against them and also corrective action taken (to prevent the recurrence of such attacks,” he maintained. “It is important to get the investigations concluded and initiate action against those responsible,” he added.
“The US has been urging restraint on the part of India and action by Pakistan,” the admiral pointed out.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=January2009&file=World_News200901286514.xml
----------------------------------
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Nigeria's maritime industry groaning under unsteady leadership
By David Ogah
NIGERIA is naturally a maritime nation. Her vast coastline of about 853 kilometres and the abundant human resources are enough indications that the country ought to be a practical maritime nation of repute in the world.
The fact that Nigeria accounts for over 60 per cent of cargo and vessel traffic in the African region is enough to qualify her as a maritime nation. The country, therefore, is supposed to be a hub of maritime activities in West and Central Africa.
Despite the enormous opportunities available in the country's maritime sector, there have been challenges in area of capacity building in order to maximise the benefits from the opportunities available.
The country is yet to be instigated by the saying that he who has the ships controls world trade and the wealth of nations as over 90 per cent of world trade is carried out across waters using ships.
Our maritime sector today is sleeping, and we need somebody to wake it from slumber because the country is a billion miles away from the maritime world, which is also on the fast lane. The country is looking for how to catch up, meet up with this world.
Many sectors in Nigeria are today very near their world. The telecommunication, drug administration, standard organisation are said to be doing well. They can compete favourably with their counterparts of equal status anywhere in the world.
This has been so because these sectors have enjoyed stable leadership as managers have been allowed to stay long enough to complete their dreams. If Professor Dora Akunyili, former NAFDAC boss, now information minister, had been removed many years back and after serving only one or two years, she would not have been able to perform creditably well. Her fight against fake drugs was successful and the nation as a whole has been better for it, because she had enough time to actualise herself in her dream for a better Nigeria in terms of drugs administration.
The Nigeria telecommunication is another example of a sector that have experienced tremendous growth because the technocrats were raised and have hitherto been allowed to nurture the fastest growing sector of the economy.
In the maritime sector, the reverse has been the case. The managers of maritime agencies continue to change in line with the change in the political managers.
There is always the tendency to change the management of the agencies whenever there is a change at the Ministry of Transport, especially whenever there is a change of minister. The changes have always come with personal interest and not in line with professionalism . Many ministers have come to the transport ministry and have gone. We only hear later that they have become governors or ministers. They came only to use the maritime sector as a veritable ground to actualise their political ambition. They were only interested in appointing the men who will help them actualise their future ambition.
The Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the National Inland Water Ways Authority (NIWA) and the Nigerian Shippers Council have all been victims of these changes.
Two years ago the Association of Nigerian Ship Owners cried out to say that the incessant change of agencies' management was impeding the steady growth of the maritime sector. Such change, they said had truncated laudable programmes that ought to have, by now, moved the entire maritime sector forward.
The new Minister of Transport, Alhaji Ibrahim Bio is about the six minister of transport in the last 10 years. That means each of the previous ministers spent an average of two years in office. This is in itself not good for a sector that needs experienced political and professional managers to move it forward.
When the ministers are appointed to be political head of the technical ministry, before they could settle down to learn and study the industry, they have been removed. This has been the pattern also at the agencies under the ministry.
In December, when Bio was appointed, the first thing he did was the suspension of NIWA Managing Director, Mr. Zubairu Yakubu. His removal has been controversial as the minister had been accused of high handedness . His critics said that he failed to observe due process while dealing with the NIWA boss, even if it was obvious that he erred.
This singular act sent jitters down the spines of maritime stakeholders who are now saying that Bio came with a clandestine agenda which they said was capable of truncating the laudable programmes meant to elevate maritime in the country.
There is no doubt that Bio is a politician, an ardent one for that matter with huge ambition, but they said that he should now begin to work very hard to make an impact in the maritime industry as the political terrain in the country is fast changing
They said that there was need to maintain stability of leadership in the sector by allowing the present maritime administrators to remain or at least complete their tenure for them to be able to complete their various programmes aimed at bringing the sector nearer the entire maritime world.
The port concession concluded about four years ago is just beginning to yield gains. Although efficiency of port operations have been enhanced, the port reforms have initiated some teething problems which only an insider with perfect knowledge of port operations can solve. The lingering port congestion is one of the challenges besides the need to bring up a technical and commercial regulators that would checkmate the concessionaires that have continued to milk Nigerians dry.
The Nigerian Ports Authority has initiated many dredging projects. The dredging of the Lagos, Warri, Bonny and Calabar channels have started and should be completed in an attempt to make Nigeria a hub of maritime activities in the West and Central African sub-region.
The country has also initiated the establishment of Inland Container Depot (ICD) also known as dry ports to divert the pressure away from Nigerian Ports. The ICDs are being established in each of the nation's six geo-political zone. The idea behind their establishment is that containers or consignments could be moved to them as soon as they arrived the ports . The goods would then be cleared at the ICDs. This alone could cause an end to the perennial congestion at the ports.
The nations maritime administration has been making steady progress in an attempt to place Nigeria in the world maritime map. Two years ago the nation was made proud when in conjunction with Transport Ministry won a seat for the country at the council of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The election is to be conducted again in November this year and there is the need for Nigeria to retain that same seat or go for a more prestigious seat as envisaged. This alone is a challenge that required experience and expertise to overcome.
The nation's maritime administration has also made progress in the area of coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) policy implementation. The cabotage vessel financing account has swollen from the mere N729 million of about two years ago to N5 billion while the entire revenue generating capacity of the administration has also increased. It rose from N15 billion of 2006 to N24 billion last year. The projection for this year is N30 billion while that of cabotage financing fund is N7 billion, up from N3.3 billion of last year.
This is a specialise and technical department like the NPA, NIWA and Shippers' Council. They all required persons with technical knowledge to be able to achieve the desired success.
Chief Isaac Jolapamo, the chairman of the Nigerian Ship Owners Association captured the need to ensure stability in the maritime industry recently when the association organised its end of the year party and award ceremony for the nation's pioneer ship owners.
Hear him: "We call on our supervising ministry (Ministry of Transportation) to ensure leadership stability in the entire maritime industry," adding, "that is the only way his members and the entire maritime industry can derive the gains of most of the on-going programmes by the various government agencies."
Making particular reference to the nation's maritime administration, Jolapamo said: "Our members are eagerly looking forward to the commencement of the disbursement of Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) and vessel maintenance subsidy. Change of baton now may not augur well to achieve this."
The ministry through NIMASA is currently trying to help in the actualisation of a component of the present administration's seven points agenda, job creation for the youths, with its Seafarer's Development Programme aimed at creating job opportunities for the Nigerian youths in the nations maritime sector.
Under the programme, the government through its specialised agency is about to commence training for 25 youths from each of the states of the federation in foreign maritime institutions. They are expected to be employed to fill the existing vacancies in the sector especially on board vessels. The initiators of the programme have come a long way, a lot of energy, experience have been expended and the programme could easily be truncated by a new person who may jettison it for lack of vision and patriotism.
The reasons why there should be stability of leadership in the maritime industry are overwhelming. Only the enemy of maritime and Nigeria at large will at this point in time do anything that is capable of truncating all these laudable programmes by these agencies.
The dwindling oil revenue in Nigeria is enough inspiration for the maritime industry to occupy its rightful position in the country's economy. This cannot be achieved if we begin to allow our personal interest to override national interest by appointing those who we thought could be loyal to us and help us actualise our political goals.
We can achieve success in our future political endeavour by winning the heart of Nigerians through hard work, patriotism, by introducing people oriented programmes and by achieving success in whatever we find ourselves doing today.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/maritime/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=280109&ptitle=Nigeria's%20maritime%20industry%20groaning%20under%20unsteady%20leadership
----------------------------------
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Lagos ports congestion
SINCE the last quarter of 2008, the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos have witnessed perhaps the scariest congestion in recent times. The ports have literally been choked with cargoes and turned into a nightmare for importers, manufacturers and other stakeholders. The problem is daunting and the end is not in sight except some drastic measures are applied.
The congestion is said to be more acute at the container terminal. There are, at this location, large backlogs of containers waiting to be cleared. They cannot be removed to create space for more containers to be offloaded from the ship or for empty containers to be returned. And, new containers cannot be offloaded from the vessels.
The result is that ships at sea have no space to berth. The long delay leads to huge demurrage paid by the owners of the goods. The cost is in turn transferred to the final consumers. There is fear that importers whose goods are trapped run the risk of bankruptcy given the rising bank interest rates. This is a shameful development at a port that is supposed to be a shipping hub in the West African sub-region.
The congestion at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports raise questions of efficiency, functionality and policy implementation at the nation's premier port. The fact that Lagos ports are still experiencing severe congestion clearly shows that all is not well with the entire port system. The recent port reforms carried out by the Obasanjo administration were ineffective. Six terminals at the Apapa Port Complex were handed over to four managers for a period of 25 years. The managers were AP Moller, ENL Limited, Dangote Group and Flour Mills of Nigeria. The primary aim was to improve efficiency and reduce congestion to the barest minimum.
Before the concessionaires were engaged, the ports had sunk deeply into decay. There was a dearth of operational equipment, poor infrastructure, long turn-around time of vessels, stealing, vandalisation of cargoes and massive corruption. Congestion became hydra-headed and forced many importers to divert their cargoes through the neighbouring port of Cotonou in Benin Republic. Consequently, government lost huge revenue.
As a way out, the federal government decided to concession some critical operations at the ports. The new managers were supposed to tackle the problem of operational efficiency. They were expected to carry out physical re-development of the ports and effect necessary changes in infrastructure. It is now obvious that concessioning has not helped matters. For this reason, the Senate Committee on Marine Transportation has since promised to review the exercise. A number of issues are involved. The review should seek to establish why there seems to be no perceptible change after the concessioning.
The Lagos port was not originally built to handle containers. The port at the early stage handled mainly agricultural commodity exports. But the transformation of Nigeria from an export to import-oriented economy automatically changed the nature of operations at the ports. Besides, there is no room for further expansion.
It is most unfortunate that the congestion that is reported is not due to industrial production within the country, resulting in massive exports. Because there is little or no export of commodities, the congestion is almost entirely caused by the importation of finished goods and second hand materials that have found a safe haven in our destitute economy.
What is important is how to reduce the embarrassing congestion that is damaging Nigeria's image abroad. Bureaucratic impediments that have for long hindered speedy clearance of cargoes are still very much in place. The number of agencies at the ports should be reduced. Extortion of trailer drivers at the gates is still rampant. Government should summon the political will to mandate the Customs to clear goods at the ports within 48 hours as was promised recently.
Abandoned cargoes should be auctioned. Customs officials should work round the clock to clear the congestion at the ports. More off-dock terminals should also be licensed so that more containers can be moved out of the port as soon as they are offloaded from the ship. There is need also to divert some cargoes to other ports in the country which are relatively idle. Besides, additional ports should be established at the Lekki and Badagry axis. The committee set up by the Nigerian Customs Service to handle the crisis should be diligent and honest in addressing the issues at stake.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/editorial_opinion/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=280109&ptitle=The%20Lagos%20ports%20congestion
----------------------------------
January 28, 2009
Russian military a 'paper tiger' despite symbolic comeback, says IISS
Michael Evans, Defence Editor
Russia may be flexing its military muscle once again, sending warships into international waters and dispatching long-range bombers on reconnaissance trips, but the former superpower remains a paper tiger, according to a respected London think-tank.
The recent naval manoeuvres in the Mediterranean and Latin America were symbolic gestures – the former maritime giant was able to deploy only a small number of ships, while the rest of the fleet was anchored at home without enough money to keep it at sea, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) says.
In February last year a naval force led by the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov completed a two-month deployment, including a period in the Mediterranean – one of the longest of its kind since the Cold War, the IISS said in The Military Balance, its annual assessment which was published yesterday.
An exercise with the Venezuelan Navy took place in October and a Russian warship joined the antipiracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.
However, Oksana Antonenko, a senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the institute, said: “In military terms it was all very modest. This is not a major military comeback, it was just a symbolic deployment.”
She cast doubt on the ability of Russia to project force and said that the victory of Russian troops in Georgia in August merely exposed the Army’s shortcomings. She predicted that the Russian defence budget next year would suffer from an even greater deficit.
The Navy plans to build six carrier battle groups, but the publication said: “The Russian military has a long way to go to recover from 20 years of mismanagement and neglect.
“Only 12 nuclear-powered submarines, 20 major surface warships and one aircraft carrier remain in service with the Russian Navy, the last of which is routinely followed by two tugs in case of breakdown,” it added.
According to the institute’s estimate of Russian defence expenditure, the percentage of GDP devoted to military spending dropped from 5.25 per cent in 1998 to 3.9 per cent in 2007.
The assessment is contrary to the high-profile foreign policy approach adopted by Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister.
There was not enough money for Russia to achieve what it wanted in military terms, Ms Antonenko said. There was also a lack of consensus in the Russian armed forces. Some sections of the Army want to remain focused on territorial defence and the nuclear establishment insists on training for work beyond Russia’s borders.
The Military Balance said that national pride in Russia’s military forces was being restored, however.
Russia remained sensitive to the enlargement programme of Nato, particularly since Georgia and Ukraine had been put on the list of potential new members of the alliance, Ms Antonenko said.
She added that there was no clear understanding in Moscow of what Nato was trying to do with its enlargement programme and she called for a different dialogue between Russia and the alliance.
Ms Antonenko said there were signs of a better working arrangement, with the announcement that Russia was willing to consider allowing Nato to use a northern corridor through its territory for delivering supplies to alliance troops in Afghanistan.
John Chipman, the director-general and chief executive of the IISS, said that since the conflict in Georgia the Russians had announced plans for radical reforms, including turning the Army into a fully professional force.
“This restructuring could make Russian armed forces more capable to operate against modern threats and potentially better interoperable with Western forces,” he said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5599603.ece
----------------------------------
Intelligence - Used MP3 Player Comes With Secret Military Files
Ian Paul
Jan 27, 2009 4:14 pm
Apparently you can pick up outdated U.S. military files for less than $10. That's what happened to New Zealand's Chris Ogle when he bought a used MP3 player for $9 in Oklahoma. The 29 year old then took his new device home and synced it to his computer, only to discover that it contained U.S. military personnel lists that included social security numbers and cell phone numbers of soldiers stationed overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq. The files, most of which dated from 2005, also contained details of equipment inventories from U.S. bases in Afghanistan, and one mission briefing.
"The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should be!" Ogle told TVNZ's ONE News. While the discovery may prove embarrassing to U.S. officials, the outdated files seem to be of little consequence to national security. However, personal information like social security and phone numbers could have put individual soldiers at risk for identity theft and personal harm.
A similar situation was uncovered in Afghanistan in 2006 when U.S. investigators bought stolen flash drives with military information outside Bagram base--a major U.S. military outpost in Afghanistan.
In November 2008, the U.S. Department of Defense banned the use of USB storage devices to prevent leaks like this from happening again. This was shortly after DoD computers were infected with a worm capable of downloading malware onto the Department's computers. The McCain 2008 campaign also experienced a similar issue when a reporter purchased a Blackberry at the campaign's fire sale that contained secure information.
These issues highlight the bigger problem of keeping sensitive data secure in any large organization. How, for example, does the Obama Administration plan to keep data secure as it works toward a more open and transparent government? Don't forget that even the President is not immune to Internet security problems: Hackers recently took advantage of the social networking features on the President's campaign website my.barackobama.com to lure unsuspecting visitors to download malware.
During the election hackers also infiltrated the sites for both presidential candidates, Alaska governor Sarah Palin's Yahoo account was hacked during her vice presidential run, and there are security concerns around the President's new super-secure Blackberry. With malware on the rise and increasing calls for more effective policing of the World Wide Web, this year promises to be another big year in the fight between hackers and Internet security firms.
As for Ogle's MP3 player, it's unclear how the data ended up on the device, and as of this writing the government has yet to release a statement on the issue. For his part, Ogle says he intends to hand over the device to U.S. officials upon request.
Worried about your own digital security? Check out PC World's guide to 17 high-risk security threats and how to fix them.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/158380/used_mp3_player_comes_with_secret_military_files.html
----------------------------------
Pirate Attacks Cut Dramatically by Navies, U.S. Admiral Says
By Gregory Viscusi
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- An increased naval presence has “dramatically” cut piracy off the coast of Somalia, said the commander of a U.S.-led fleet aimed at securing the world’s most dangerous waters.
There have been four successful pirate attacks in or around the Gulf of Aden since the start of December, Rear Admiral Terry McKnight said in a telephone interview today from the USS San Antonio in the Gulf of Aden. There were at least 12 successful attacks in November alone, he says.
“The pirates can look out and see a lot of navy ships out there and it’s been a deterrent,” he said. “This is a coalition of many nations. We are out there and we are working together.”
Choppy seas and effective self-protection measures by merchant ships have also reduced attacks, he said.
There are about 20 warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden, an unavoidable transit point for any of the 50 ships a day that use the Suez Canal, the U.S. naval commander said. About a tenth of world trade passes through the canal.
McKnight commands Task Force 151, created Jan. 8 to concentrate solely on piracy. It has three ships: the San Antonio, the USS Mahan, and Britain’s HMS Portland. Other countries are expected to join, McKnight said.
The European Union’s Atalanta mission, the first naval mission ever created by the 27-member bloc, started operating in early December with six ships.
Russia, China, Malaysia, and India also have sent their own warships to protect shippers, and Japan, Taiwan, and Iran say they will do the same.
Efficient Deployment
The ships are constantly in touch to ensure they are best deployed throughout a 1,000 kilometer (590 mile) protected corridor, the commander said.
“This is one of the most coordinated international efforts I’ve ever been part of,” McKnight said.
Last year, pirates attacked 165 ships and seized 43 off the coast of Somalia, up from 58 attacks and 12 seizures in 2007, the French military says. So far this month, pirates have released Turkish, Danish, South Korean and Liberian boats, as well as a Saudi oil tanker, after their owners paid ransoms. The pirates, who operate out of lawless regions of Somalia, still hold 10 boats.
The U.S. signed an agreement Jan. 16 with the Kenyan government allowing it to hand over captured pirates for prosecution. The French and Danish navies in the past have handed pirates over to Somali authorities.
A Dec. 2 United Nations Security Council resolution gives naval forces the right to use “all necessary means to suppress piracy,” both in Somali and international waters, and to destroy the pirates’ ships and weapons. While another Security Council resolution Dec. 16 allows pursuit onto Somali soil, McKnight said his mission “is purely maritime.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Brussels at gviscusi@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: January 27, 2009 10:20 EST
----------------------------------
France arrests Somalian pirates in Gulf of Aden
Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:18pm EST
PARIS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A French frigate has arrested nine Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, an army spokesman said on Tuesday, part of international efforts to fight gangs that hijack commercial vessels in busy shipping lanes.
Including Tuesday's arrests, France has captured 57 pirates in seven such operations since last April, spokesman Christophe Prasuk said. Previous captives have been handed over to French or Somali authorities, and France has yet to decide how to proceed with the nine, he added.
Acts of piracy jumped 11 percent in 2008, driven by an unprecedented series of attacks by Somalis in the Gulf of Aden, the International Maritime Bureau said earlier this month.
The attacks have sent insurance costs for ships soaring and have prompted the United States and the European Union to deploy air and naval forces. Around 20 warships from 14 different countries are now patrolling the area. (Reporting by Sophie Hardach; editing by Elizabeth Piper)
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLR542383
----------------------------------
Kenyan Foreign Minister Shed Light on U.S.-Kenya Piracy Agreement
By James Butty
Washington, DC
28 January 2009
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula has been giving details about an agreement between his country and the United States for Kenya to detain and prosecute pirates captured by the U.S. military off the coast of Somalia.
He told VOA that while Kenya is committed to combating piracy in the Horn of Africa, the agreement does not mean that Kenya would be a dumping ground for all captured pirates.
"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. and UK (United Kingdom) where in practical situations pirates captured at the Indian Ocean shipping line area can be tried in Kenyan courts. But it would be dealt with on a case by case basis. It is not an open door for dumping pirates onto Kenya soil because it will not be acceptable. We have a bill in parliament that is coming up and it is going to strengthen the punishment against piracy, from the current legal provision of 10 years in jail to life imprisonment. And I believe it will provide some form of deterrence," he said.
Foreign Minister Wetangula praised U.S. President Barack Obama for his decision to close down the U.S. terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where a Kenyan, Abdulmalik Mohamed is among the detainees.
"I want take the opportunity to congratulate President Obama because the Guantanamo Bay saga has brought blood on the image of your country, and I think that he should do the same with Abu Ghraib (prison in Iraq). I don't know if it is still open. You know the images from Abu Ghraib were horrendous. So we hope that the fresh air that is being felt all around and the feel good factor that President Obama has brought to the world stage will be sustainable so that we get a better world to live in," Wetangula said.
The Kenyan foreign minister hope President Obama would said the United States should take the lead in world development by reducing armed conflicts around the world.
"I think America must take the lead to reduce international armed conflicts so that the trillions of dollars that are spent on a daily basis on armament and armed conflicts can be diverted to human development. That way we will be able to wipe out poverty overnight. And I hope President Obama will take the lead in not only ending the war in Iraq and Afghanistan but showing the way that conflicts anywhere in the world are unacceptable because they don't help the cause of humanity," he said.
Wetangula said Kenya, which has played host to a number of negotiations aimed at forming a government in Somalia said Kenya was still committed to bringing about peace in Somalia.
"The situation in Somalia is very volatile; Ethiopia has completely withdrawn; the U.N. is still dragging its feet in helping us put together troops for Somalia. We (the Inter-governmental Authority on Development, IGAD) in Addis from tomorrow, and the issue of Somalia will take center stage. Kenya like all other members of IGAD states is committed to bringing normalcy and peace and security to Somalia. It's not easy. Somalia is a failed state for the last 20 years," Wetangula said.
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-01-28-voa4.cfm
----------------------------------
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
U.S. to back India's anti-piracy proposal under U.N. flag
New Delhi (PTI): The U.S. would back an Indian proposal for an U.N.-sponsored multinational effort to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden where over 50 ships were attacked by Somalian bandits last year.
A U.N.-sponsored anti-piracy effort "would be terrific to the extent that the U.N. endorsed the kind of operations and facilitated it," U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Robert F Willard told reporters here on Tuesday.
Asked whether he would support the Indian suggestion of a U.N.-mandated international anti-piracy operation, Admiral Willard, who is in India on a four-day visit beginning January 25, said "I think so....Yes."
Thus far, the Admiral said, the U.N. had very methodically introduced discussion on how to deal with piracy.
"The resolutions that have been passed were moderated. But that leap (a joint effort under its flag) has not been taken by the U.N. yet," he said.
Pointing out that the U.N. was likely to get "more and more responsive" in the future, Willard, who commands the world's largest navy fleet, said it would happen if the international community continued its demand for action against the pirates.
Noting that piracy was a complex problem and the U.N. was right now grappling with the issue of how to handle it, Willard said there have already been organised efforts to coordinate international endeavours to fight the menace.
Willard also said the recent Mumbai terror attacks have thrown up opportunities for U.S.-India naval cooperation on maritime security and information sharing under a bilateral agreement.
Noting that piracy was a complex problem and the U.N. was right now grappling with the issue of how to handle it, Willard said there have already been organised efforts to coordinate international endeavours to fight the menace.
"There is territorial waters to be contended with and the merchant traffic in international waters. Somalia is a relatively ungoverned state and the Horn of Africa is a very difficult location for this to be occurring. The U.N. is now discussing resolutions that will authorise how to tackle the issues," he said.
To a query on the Chinese sending their warships to the region, the U.S. Admiral said the ships had transited through the Arabian Sea to the Gulf of Aden and was currently operating a three-ship task force for anti-piracy operations.
"We endorse that (Chinese anti-piracy efforts), as should India. There is an international effort to try and grapple with the issue of pirates in the Somali region and the Horn of Africa.
"And when China chose to engage in that activity, they did so alongside many other navies including the Russians, Koreans, Japanese navies, and certainly the Indian Navy and the other bulk of navies in the region," he said.
Noting that the U.S. was maintaining an anti-piracy presence for several years, Willard said the menace had in the past year or so migrated to the north of Horn of Africa, nearer to Gulf of Aden and the Malacca Straits area, which are the choke points of the region.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200901281212.htm
----------------------------------
Gates says US ready for any China "threat"
The Associated Press
Published: January 27, 2009
WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday assured lawmakers that the United States is ready to handle any Chinese military threat, even as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for increased U.S. engagement with Beijing.
Gates, speaking at a Senate hearing, said that U.S. forces "have the capability in place to be able to deal with any foreseeable Chinese threat for some time to come."
Clinton, meanwhile, told reporters at the State Department that the Bush administration's dialogue with China "turned into an economic dialogue," referring to former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's Strategic Economic Dialogue, high-level discussions that have been held twice a year starting in late 2006.
"We need a comprehensive dialogue with China," Clinton said. Economic engagement, she added, is "a very important aspect of our relationship with China, but it's not the only aspect our relationship."
The Obama administration is "going to be working together in the government across our agencies to design a more comprehensive approach that will be more in keeping with the important role that China is playing and will be playing," Clinton said.
Trade ties between the United States and China often are tense. President Barack Obama's treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, said recently that Obama believes China is manipulating its currency, which American manufacturers say Beijing does to make its goods cheaper for U.S. consumers and American products more expensive in China.
But while the United States has pushed China to live up to what the Bush administration considered its duties as an emerging global superpower and a veto-holding member of the U.N. Security Council, Washington and Beijing find themselves increasingly intertwined in a host of crucial economic, military and diplomatic efforts.
A key worry in U.S.-China ties is Taiwan. China and Taiwan split in 1949 during a civil war, but Beijing considers the self-governed island a part of its territory and is determined to get it back, by force if necessary. The United States supplies Taiwan with weapons.
Beijing has in past years lobbed missiles in an attempt to intimidate Taiwan. China also maintains double-digit annual percentage increases in the budget for the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army.
Gates said the Defense Department is making good progress on developing a "number of programs" meant to counter Chinese technological advances that could "put our carriers at risk."
He did not elaborate on those programs. But he said U.S. forces are well positioned in the region, mentioning the nuclear-powered USS George Washington — a floating air base with 67 aircraft and an armory carrying about 4 million pounds (1.8 million kilograms) of bombs, which has a new home port in Japan.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/27/america/NA-US-China.php
----------------------------------
New £1bn Warship Is Making Waves
6:28am UK, Wednesday January 28, 2009
Geoff Meade, defence correspondent
Britain's first entirely stealth warship - and the Royal Navy's most expensive surface vessel - is set to join the fleet.
HMS Daring is steaming towards Portsmouth and a VIP welcome from the home base of the new destroyer flotilla.
But at over £6bn for just half a dozen of the new super-ships, some in the Navy, and beyond, question whether Britain can afford, or even needs them.
The ship's futuristic, angular lines, with decks and superstructure kept clutter-free, are shaped to look no larger than a fishing boat on enemy radar screens.
But the biggest destroyer the Navy has ever had will still show up massively in Britain's hard-pressed defence budget.
In tough-times, it may be difficult to justify such spending.
Service chiefs insisted this is the force they need to confront emerging maritime rivals.
"The Royal Navy recognised that there is a need for an insurance policy," the flotilla commander, Commodore Mike Mansergh, said as he gestured across a Type 45's high-tech and spacious bridge.
It is important that we have the capability to meet the challenges of technology in other weapons systems and potential adversaries.
Commodore Mike Mansergh
The ship is intended to defend carriers against air attack and that has brought the fiercest criticism.
Many contend it robs money that could build many more, less complex vessels, to fight pirates and terrorists. The blame is being put on admirals blinded by technology.
"It's the Navy putting a huge amount of resources into a ship that can only do one thing," protested Lewis Page, a former RN officer-turned-defence-pundit.
"It's a very unlikely thing. It will probably never happen and if it does, these ships can't do the job very well."
The hi-tech fleet is getting smarter and smaller. Six of these will have to do the work of eight current destroyers.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/HMS-Daring-Royal-Navys-1bn-Stealth-Warship-Joins-Fleet-Amid-Row-Over-Spending/Article/200901415211360
----------------------------------
Mumbai terror attacks may lead to share maritime information
Jan 28
US says that the Mumbai terror attacks have thrown up opportunities for cooperation with India to share maritime information under a bilateral agreement . It said that the agreement could help secure the vast coastline .US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Robert F Willard ,who is on a four-day visit to India, told reporters in New Delhi that the two countries need to evolve processes for accessing information on what is happening on both the territorial and international waters. The US Admiral said that he favoured New Delhi and Washington signing the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) which provided for technical cooperation in this regard.
The CISMOA is one of the three important bilateral agreements that the US has been hoping for long that India would sign. The other two agreements are the Logistics Support Agreement and the End User Verification Agreement .
http://www.newsonair.com/news.asp?cat=international&id=IN6674
----------------------------------
Norovirus Outbreak on Hawaiian Waters
By Ron Mizutani
Story Updated: Jan 27, 2009 at 5:46 PM HST
A highly contagious virus sickened dozens of passengers during a recent cruise aboard the "Pride of America."
The United States Food and Drug Administration confirms Norwegian Cruise Lines reported a Norovirus outbreak on a cruise in Hawaiian Waters. Sources tell KHON more than 67 of the 1,837 passengers aboard the "Pride of America" between January 17th and the 24th were stricken by the virus.
"Norovirus is something that is always a problem in a confined environment where there are multiple different people coming together," said Dr. Alan Tice, infectious disease consultant. "Sometimes the diarrhea can be so bad that it is serious and occassionally people have to be hospitalized for it and it can be very miserable."
The Norovirus is a short-lived infection but the virus has shown up in stool samples taken eight weeks after an outbreak. State health officials could not comment on the case because it is a federal investigation but acknowledged it is assisting the F-D-A. They add all islands are on alert.
"And I think that's an error on the part of the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration -- these matters are serious they should be taken care of -- they should be addressed to the public in a timely fashion," said Carroll Cox of Envirowatch. "Things fall through he cracks because of bureaucracy."
The Pride of America is currently on another inter-island cruise. N-C-L did not return our calls.
"The procedures for Norovirus are pretty clear in terms of cleaning they have special cleaning agents in general that they use," said Tice. "They go around and general do an extraordinary job cleaning anywhere from door knobs, to carpets, to whatever that may be affected pools etc. where this virus can persist for a matter of often days."
In November 2007, about 400 out of 25-hundred passengers were stricken with Norovirus aboard the Pride Of Hawaii, the largest epidemic on a cruise ship of that size in '07. State health officials encourage anyone diagnosed with the virus to wash their hands after using the bathroom. Critics say that's not enough.
"This incident occurs and no transparency -- the public is not informed," said Cox. "If the state health department is involved -- than the state health department has a responsibility to inform the public."
In addition to the 67 passengers, 14 employees were also sickened by the virus.
http://www.khon2.com/home/ticker/38513139.html
----------------------------------
Russia, India start joint naval drills in Indian Ocean
19:08
27/ 01/ 2009
NEW DELHI, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and Indian navies have started joint naval exercises in the Arabian Sea off the Indian coast, an Indian military source said on Tuesday.
INDRA is a biennial Russian-Indian exercise aimed at practicing cooperation in enforcing maritime law and countering piracy, terrorism and drug smuggling. INDRA-2009 is the fourth such exercise since 2003 and will involve a number of live-fire drills.
"The first stage of a PASSEX type exercise involves practicing combat interoperability and communications drills," the source said.
Russia's Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser from the Northern Fleet and the Indian guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi are taking part in the first stage, which will last until January 29.
Following the first stage, the Russian cruiser will visit the port of Marmugao in the Indian state of Goa on January 29-31 before heading to the Somali coast to participate in the second stage of the drills, which involves practicing joint anti-piracy operations.
The Pyotr Veliky will join up with a task force from Russia's Pacific Fleet, comprising the Admiral Vinogradov, an Udaloy class destroyer, a tugboat and two fuel tankers, which are carrying out anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.
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/20090127/119829443.html
----------------------------------
Japanese boat seized by Russia off Sea of Japan
By MARI YAMAGUCHI – 14 hours ago
TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese fishing boat carrying 10 crew members was seized by the Russian coast guard Tuesday off Japan's northern coast.
The crab fishing boat No. 38 Yoshimaru was caught at night off the northern coast of the Noto peninsula in an area believed to be outside Japanese territorial waters, Foreign Ministry official Kotaro Otsuki said.
Otsuki said officials have asked the Russians to provide an explanation.
A Coast Guard official, speaking on condition of anonymity citing policy, said the vessel's exact location when it was seized was not immediately known.
He said the ship and its crew were being taken to an unspecified location in Russia for investigation. Kyodo News agency reported they were headed to Russia's far eastern port of Nakhodka.
There is a possibility the Japanese boat might have entered Russian waters without permission to fish, the official said.
Seizures of Japanese fishing boats by Russian authorities in disputed waters between Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and the Russian-held Kurils are not uncommon.
Russia captured the small islands at the southern end of the Kuril chain — known as the Northern Territories in Japan — during the closing days of World War II. Tokyo has demanded Russia return the islands surrounded by rich fishing grounds. The dispute has kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending war hostilities.
In August 2006, Russian patrol boats fatally shot a Japanese fisherman and seized a vessel in disputed waters.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzrNMBi34jqiu9Dc53OmaMwj1_1QD95VL02G0
----------------------------------
USS Nashville Visits Naval Station Rota as Part of Team APS
Story Number: NNS090127-01
Release Date: 1/27/2009 6:23:00 AM
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Martine Cuaron, Africa Partnership Station 2009 Public Affairs
ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- USS Nashville (LPD 13), along with its embarked Africa Partnership Station staff, arrived in Rota, Spain, Jan. 25 after a 10-day transit across the Atlantic Ocean.
Nashville is serving as the flagship for African Partnership Station (APS) 2009, an international initiative designed by Naval Forces Europe and Naval Forces Africa to foster enhanced maritime safety and security in west and central Africa. After the visit to Rota, the APS team will depart for its first African port visit in Dakar, Senegal.
"Making port in Rota, Spain, is not only critical for on loading APS mission materials, but also to our Spanish Navy partners who are joining our international staff to assist our efforts in Senegal and beyond," said Capt. Cindy Thebaud, commander of Africa Partnership Station.
The stop in Rota allowed the crew a chance to restock supplies on the ship before heading down to the coast of West Africa.
"This crew will be hard charging Africa Partnership Station mission for the next three months," said Nashville's Commanding Officer Capt. Tushar Tembe. "For them to take a few days off, to relax and enjoy the sights is important. I have no doubt that Naval Station Rota will provide outstanding service in preparing this ship for our APS deployment."
Resupplying the ship isn't the only thing Nashville Sailors will be doing in port. The stop in the Spain will also give APS Sailors time to relax and to take in some of the heritage Rota has to offer.
"Visiting Rota for first time will be a very exciting experience for me," said Gunner's Mate 1st Class Benjamin West. "I plan to take in the sights and try the food Spain has to offer, but more importantly, I want to relax and visit the exchange so I can stock up on supplies before heading to West Africa."
Besides Senegal, the APS team will make port calls in four other West African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon. Along with numerous humanitarian and civic outreach opportunities, APS training will include professional exchanges on seamanship, environmental stewardship, fisheries management and maritime awareness.
For more information regarding Africa Partnership Station 2009, visit www.c6f.navy.mil/aps_web/index.htm.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=42085
----------------------------------
Weekly Piracy Report 20 January 2009 - 26 January 2009
Suspicious crafts
None reported
Recently reported incidents
22.01.2009: 2050 LT: Pampallia port, Peru.
A chemical tanker, at berth was boarded by an unknown number of robbers, while cargo operations were in progress. The deck security watchman was found to be beaten up and tied up. Upon searching, no robbers were found onboard. Authorities were informed and a coast guard boat arrived and conducted an investigation. Ship’s stores were stolen. Injured crew was sent ashore for medical treatment and later returned to vessel.
19.01.2009: 2300 LT: Tema roads, Ghana.
Robbers boarded a container ship at anchor. They broke into a container and escaped with its contents and other ship's stores.
17.01.2009: 2200 LT: Posn: 04:10N - 007:14E, bonny offshore terminal, SPM-1, Nigeria.
Robbers armed with automatic weapons and explosives boarded and attacked a line tug being used by a tanker undergoing loading operations. The line tug captain was killed in the attack. The robbers later approached the tanker and threw grenades which luckily did not hit the tanker. Robbers gained entry into the accommodation by firing on one of the accommodation doors. The crew locked themselves in the engine room for safety. Crew and ship's property was stolen by the robbers. The attack lasted nearly one hour. All crew are safe.
11.01.2009: 0255 LT: Guanta port, Venezuela.
Four robbers armed with long knives boarded a container ship during cargo operations. They broke open one reefer container and stole contents from it. Upon seeing the watchman, the robbers escaped. Port police informed.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=308:weekly-piracy-report&catid=32:weekly-piracy-report&Itemid=10
----------------------------------
Bumbling ‘pirate’ fails to leave harbour
Jan 27 2009
Wales Online
A WOULD-BE pirate attempted to steal a fishing boat – only to realise he didn’t know how to sail it.
The bungling thief was quickly picked up by police after he repeatedly crashed the 17ft boat into the harbour wall at Porthcawl just moments after he had started the engine and let go of the mooring.
The boat had to be recovered by lifeboat workers while police caught the 17-year-old as he scrambled up the harbour steps in broad daylight.
Porthcawl Lifeboat operations manager Philip Missen said the novice was lucky he could not operate the boat because he could have been killed in dangerous sea conditions.
Mr Missen said: “This incident would have been far more serious had the thief made it out to sea. We may well have been searching for a body.”
Porthcawl RNLI’s Giles lifeboat was launched just after 4pm on Sunday to go to the aid of the failed boat-jacker.
Boat-users, crew members and Sunday afternoon walkers watched in amazement as the teenager – dressed in a red fisherman’s suit – boarded the boat.
Witnesses saw him take off the boat’s covering, throw his fishing gear into the cabin, untie the moorings and attempt to start the engine.
But RNLI spokesperson Ian Stroud said that once he started the engine, he did not appear to know how to put it into gear.
The craft was seen to hit the harbour wall several times as the rising tide sent waves crashing across the harbour.
Genuine boat-owners challenged the youth, who claimed he was the owner.
But when he eventually realised he was not going to get away with the theft, he scrambled up the harbour steps and attempted to escape.
Police were called and were able to catch and question the youth. Meanwhile, the lifeboat crew, with Aileen Jones at the helm, recovered the drifting boat.
Crewman Tim Morgan, whose own boat is moored in the harbour, was landed on board and secured it back to its moorings.
Mr Stroud said: “The person was in some ways lucky that he had not been able to steal the craft.
“With the rising tide and large seas off Porthcawl on Sunday afternoon it is almost certain he would have got into difficulties.
“The boat could easily have capsized once outside the shelter of the breakwater”.
A South Wales Police spokesman said: “We were called to a report that a male was on the boat in the harbour.
“It appears it had drifted away from its moorings. A 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of taking a conveyance. Following consultation with the CPS, he was released with no further action. We are not investigating at this stage.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/01/27/bumbling-pirate-fails-to-leave-harbour-91466-22789727/
Regards
Snooper
NNNN
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment