Please Note
Weekend gone ……. Slaving at Work !
Regards
Snooper
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THE ZAC SUTHERLAND UPDATE
Zac's Blog
My name is Zac Sunderland and I am 17 years old. I departed 14th June 2008 from Marina del Rey, California in an attempt to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world alone by yacht.
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Further tales from our long haired solo sailor !
Photo : Jen Edney,
Photo : Jen Edney,
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Cape Town Photos
All photos courtesy and copyright to Jen Edney:
On board Intrepid
The repairs have been going very well. Today we are having the engine serviced and doing some more rigging work.
Hanging out with our South African worker
This weekend we did take it easier on the work side of things and had some fun: Friday we went out to dinner with Erik Bjerring from Wiltel Marine and his family in Houte Bay. We did some work on the boat on Saturday and then went back to Jed's house and went to a party. I got right in with Jed's group of Pinlanders (Pinland is a town about 10 minutes from Cape Town). My dad and Jen went to a braai, the South African word for BBQ (pronounced (Bry).
Jed and I onboard Intrepid
We had an awesome night and I stayed over at Jed's only to have my dad come by at 7:30 am to pick me up for an interview for Mike's documentary. I did that and then it was off to church. After a spirited sermon we all went over to Jed's dad's condo and crashed for a couple hours before lunch with Mike and his dad. We went down to the yacht club and met Mike and his dad, had some lunch and swapped stories of weather and places of the world. After lunch we went down to Mike's Open 50 and got the tour. It is a crazy boat built for speed and was actually smaller inside than mine. It was great to meet Mike and I wish him all the best.
Mike and I aboard his awesome Open 50
Mike had just come in from being 5 weeks at sea and he was tired from dodging the fishing boats all the previous night (I know his pain) so Jed, Jen and I went to an afternoon concert. We were as close to the stage as you can get without being on it and had a great time.
We stayed at Jed's that night and in the morning my dad picked me up and we did some work on the boat. I did an interveiw with two girls for a school paper and then it was back to Jed's for dinner.
Jed's house has become my home away from boat!
Seth, Jed, Kathy (Jed's mom) and Dad talking to the family back home on Skype
We had a good evening with Jed his brother Seth, Jen, my dad and Jed's mom Kathy. I've got to get back to work here but I'll shoot out another blog again on my Thursday.
Until then.
Peace,
Zac
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Visit www.zacsutherland.com
YouTube Videos http://www.youtube.com/zacsvideos
Blog http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/
Email zacsworldadventure@yahoo.com
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Mike Perham aged 16, the youngest person to sail across the atlantic solo now has his eye's on an even more adventurous challenge.
To become the youngest person to sail around the world solo in an open 50 racing yacht.
Meeting Zac - 03 02 09
Sorry about the sudden lack of blogs but it's been all systems go as soon as I hit the deck yesterday!
At around 4am on the morning of my arrival, I crossed the continental ridge and boy, did the number of fishing boats suddenly increase! Thirty minutes after I’d seen the first, I had 28 more in my sights. It was quite a nerve-wracking feeling to see all those lights up ahead! Luckily I only had to alter course twice and after about an hour I’d passed them all.
The sunrise was spectacular; in the distance I could make out the incredible silhouette of Table Mountain and Cape Town gradually came into view. I'd made it!
I entered the harbour at 10.30am and went to drop the main but, to my surprise, it wouldn't come down! There was no wind, so as the tension dropped off the main halyard one of my batterns caught on my back stay shock cord, the spreader and the lazy jacks. Eventually, I had to cut down one side of the lazy jacks as it was just never going to come down in so little wind without me climbing the mast to free it.
Once berthed in the Royal Cape Yacht Club (with its fantastic facilities) it was time to meet Zac Sunderland and his Dad. We had lunch together and it was so great to have my first meal on land with them. We have so much in common, they’re such down-to-earth people and we shared several funny stories. I showed Zac around Totallymoney.com and I hope to have a look around Intrepid, Zac's boat later this week.
We spent the afternoon working on my rapidly growing to-do list and, after going through this with the shore team, Dad and I left the boat for some great R&R.
We also met up with Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty a Vendee Globe sailor who's in Cape Town after retiring due to auto pilot problems (I knew just how he felt!). Jean-Baptiste has been really kind; he even gave me some of his food, as this trip is taking a little longer than expected. I was in awe when I took a look around his fantastically powerful boat. Afterwards we went out for a couple of drinks and some dinner, had a long chat and a few laughs.
Today we were up and on the boat bright and early to start meeting the wonderful people who’ve signed up to help with everything. Their assistance has been top notch. After meeting up with a specialist for the rudder bearing, we now know we need to crane the boat out of the water, as it's likely that we’ll have to replace both the top and bottom bearing. Fingers crossed that this will go smoothly!
Visit : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/
Blog : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
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Somali pirates announce immediate release of Ukrainian ship
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-03 16:10:37
NAIROBI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Somali pirates who have been holding a Ukrainian ship with military weapons on board have announced their intention to immediately release the ship along with its 20 crew members.
Andrew Mwangura, East Africa's Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) said the pirates may very soon release the MV Faina which was captured in September with its 20-man crew and a cargo of Soviet-era T-72 tanks.
"We have heard that the pirates are willing to release the ship.This may be possible because the pirates are in direct contacts with the ship owners," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday.
The development came after Ukraine's foreign ministry urged theowner of the Faina vessel to publicly report on progress made in the talks to free the crew.
The Ukrainian ministry said the ship owner is in talks with the pirates and is informed of the details of the negotiations.
The MV Faina is currently moored off Somalia's coast close to the town of Hobyo. There have been conflicting reports of where the Faina and its cargo were destined.
Kenya has insisted that the shipment was destined for its military. But regional diplomats said it was bound for the autonomous government of south Sudan, in possible contravention ofa peace accord.
The waters off the Somali coast are considered to be some of the world's most dangerous. Pirates have hijacked several ships last year and attacked many more.
Most attacks have been in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and north Somalia, a major route leading to the Suez Canal linking Europe and Asia.
Editor: Yang Lina
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/03/content_10757263.htm
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Japan’s Cooperation for the Programme to Dismantle Decommissioned Nuclear Submarines in Russian Far East
08:01, 02.02.2009 | Приморский край
Hajime Sasaki: The Administration of the Far East appreciates the importance of dismantlement of Nuclear Submarines
VLADIVOSTOK. February 2. VOSTOK-MEDIA – The Administration of the Far East appreciates the importance of dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear Submarines in Russian Fra East. The issue was raised at the plenary meeting of the Third International Ecological Forum ‘Nature Without Borders’ by Hajime Sasaki, Secretary-General, Technical Secretariat of the Committee on Cooperation to Assist the Destruction of Nuclear Weapons Reduced in the Russian Federation.
Here’s the text of the report of Hajime Sasaki.
“Thank you very much for your kind invitation to The Third International Ecological Forum: Nature Without Borders. The question of dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines is now one of the topics for the first time in this Conference.
It is needless to say that projects on the dismantlement of nuclear submarines are closely linked to marine and coastal environment in not only Primorsky Territory, but also Russian Far East as a whole. From this point of view, I would like to pay tribute to the insight of the Administration of Primorsky Territory to discuss this important issue in this Forum.
Japan’s cooperation to Russia dates back to Munich Summit held in 1992.
In 1991, the former Soviet Union collapsed and the safe elimination of nuclear weapons left behind in the former Soviet Union and the solution of ecological problems accompanied with the elimination of nuclear weapons became a matter of serious concerns in the international community.
Under these circumstances, G7 leaders inclusive of Japan decided to render assistances to the former Soviet countries for the solution of the problems.
The Government of Japan concluded the bilateral Agreements with Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus for the cooperation. Japan concluded the above Agreement with Russia in October, 1993.
The first big project under the bilateral Agreement between Japan and Russia was a provision of “Suzuran” (“Landysh”), a floating facility for processing of low-level liquid radioactive waste. After being obvious that the Russian Navy dumped liquid radioactive wastes into the Sea of Japan in 1993, the Japan- Russia Cooperation Committee provided “Suzuran” in November, 2001. The activities of “Suzuran” directly linked to the coastal and marine environment of the Primorsky Territory and the Sea of Japan which is one of the main theme of this Conference.
“Suzuran” is now moored in the Bolshoy Kamen Bay and the quality of liquid waste released into the sea after the treatment is below the safety level defined by the international standards, such as IAEA, EC, etc and not harmful at all to the marine environment in the Primorsky Territory. After the provision of ”Suzuran”, liquid radioactive waste generated from the dismantlement of nuclear submarines are all treated and therefore, significance of our cooperation has been substantiated and our cooperation is highly appreciated by the authorities concerned.
On top of it, the Facility is capable to treat all liquid radioactive waste generated in the Russian Far East. Our experts are now engaged in their post evaluation study on the Facility. It is already confirmed that “Suzuran” has already attaind its original objectives and promoted the current cooperation, which also led the establishment of relevant Russian laws and regulations consistent with the international standards.
Next, I would like to explain Japan’s cooperation for dismantling decommissioned nuclear submarines. The dismantlement programme of the decommissioned nuclear submarines was named “Star of Hope” after the Zvezda Shipyard by the Former Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi.
In December, 2004, we completed our pilot project, the dismantlement of Victor III class submarine.
Then, on the occasion of then President Putin’s visit to Japan on November 21, 2005, the Implementing Arramgement on the dismantlement was signed for additional five decommissioned nuclear submarines (one Victor I class (Hull No. 614), three Victor III class (Hull No. 271, 308, 333), and one Charilie I class (Hull No. 714)).
Of the five submarines, the first Victor-I class submarine, is already dismantled in August, 2007.
With regard to the Victor-III class nuclear submarines, the dismantlement work of the first one (Hull No. 333) out of the three is now completed. The remaining two submarines will be dismantled in order, when the dockyard becomes available.
The Charlie-I class submarine is now under the dismantlement at the North Eastern Repair Centre (NERC) in Kamchatka. All dismantling works which the Japan-Russian Cooperation Committee has assisted to date were carried out at the “Zvezda” Shipyard located in Bolshoy Kamen and therefore, the dismantlement of Charlie-I class submarine is the first project implemented in Kamchatka under the Japan-Russia cooperation framework.
In connection with our Japan-Russia cooperation, Australia and the Republic of Korea (ROK) made financial contributions to the dismantlement of the Victor-I Class nuclear submarine (Hull No. 614), while ROK and New Zealand rendered financial assistances to the dismantlement of the Victor-III Class nuclear submarine (Hull No. 333).
Their financial contributions are their responses to the appeal of the G8 Global Partnership which was agreed at the Kananaskis Summit in 2002 and indicate their strong commitment to G8GP. Their contributions are deserving of our high esteem and sincere gratitude.
I am very much honoured to introduce their cooperation on this occasion.
Russia is now constructing the long term on-shore storage facility for the reactor compartment units of dismantled submarines which have been temporarily stored in Razboinik Bay since 1992.
Considering the safe storage of reactor compartment units and enviromental protection, it is the most desirable to keep them in the onshore facility. From this point of view, Japan decided to assist the Project with the supply of one floating dock, two jib cranes and one tugboat. We have now completed our basic design study on these three items and I hope the Implementing Arrangement on the Project will be signed in the near future.
It is our sincere hope that both the safe management of reactor compartment units and environment preservation shall be secured as soon as possible through the earliest possible operation of the Facility.
On April 15, 2008, our Foreign Minister Koumura had a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.
On that occasion, Foreign Minister Lavrov expressed his appreciation to the Japanese cooperation to our joint endeavour to date. And both Ministers welcomed the prospect that the dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines in the Russian Far East will be completed by 2010.
Both Ministers also agreed to consult the ensuing cooperation after 2010 and the details will be discussed between two Governments in due course.
It is indeed pleased to identify not only from the perspective of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the fight against the nuclear terrorism, but also from the environmental viewpoints that the dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines in the Russian Far East are in good progress by the Japanese-Russian cooperation, the financial cooperation from Australia, ROK and New Zealand through the Japanese-Russian cooperation channel, and Canadian and Russian cooperation, on top of US-Russian cooperation.
Now I am the Secretary General of the Secretariat for the Japan-Russia Cooperation Committee. But I worked in the International Environmental Technology Center (IETC) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from 1996 to 1998 in Osaka, Japan.
At that time, IETC focused its activities on fresh water and urban environment issues and therefore I am very much interested in various environmental issues being discussed in this Forum apart from the question of dismantling decommissioned nuclear submarines.
While working at the IETC, UNEP always sent a very important message to the international community. The message is that all stakeholders should participate in decision makings and management processes of environmental issues.
I firmly believe that this message is, even today, true of tackling the environmental problems in the Primorsky Territory. It is my sincere hope that the sustainable development in the Primorsky Territory will be promoted widely through the sound management of fresh water, forests, solution of urban environmental issues and the preservation of marine and coastal environment by the participation of all stakeholders inclusive of citizens, citizens groups, industries, academics and local governments.
Hoping the successful outcome of the Conference, I close my presentation.
Thank you for your attention.”
http://www.vostokmedia.com/n35363.html
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U.S. Navy Retires Last Lockheed Martin S-3B Viking From Fleet Service; Carrier-Based Multi-Mission Aircraft Completes 35-Year Career
NAS JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. Navy retired the last Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) S-3 Viking from fleet service in ceremonies here this morning, closing out the aircraft's distinguished 35-year Naval career.
Development of the S-3 began in August 1969, and first flight occurred on January 21, 1972. Sea Control Squadron 41 (VS-41), the S-3 training unit known as the Shamrocks and the first operational S-3 unit, received its first aircraft in February 1974. A total of 187 S-3s were built (eight test and 179 operational aircraft) between 1971 and 1978. Over its career, the Viking served with 18 Navy squadrons and accumulated approximately 1.7 million flight hours.
"The S-3 Viking was known as the 'Swiss Army Knife of Naval Aviation' and served the U.S. Navy well in a wide variety of roles over the course of its operational service life," said Ray Burick, Lockheed Martin vice president of P-3/S-3 programs. "The Viking has played a critical role in carrier-based anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, as well as overland operations, refueling, targeting, and electronic surveillance. And of course Lockheed Martin is proud of the role it will continue to play in support of these critical Navy carrier-based missions, as many of these missions will eventually be carried out by the F-35C Lightning II."
The first S-3 was built at the then-Lockheed Aircraft Co. plant in Burbank, Calif., and was trucked to the company's facility in Palmdale, Calif., for first flight. Company pilots John Christiansen and Lyle Schaefer were at the controls, kicking off a 26-month test program. Among its notable firsts, the S-3 was the first antisubmarine warfare (ASW) platform to have a computerized acoustic system.
Sea Control Squadron 29 (VS-29), known as the Dragonfires, made the first S-3 deployment aboard the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-67) in July 1975. The S-3 fleet surpassed 100,000 flight hours less than two years after that first deployment.
Several variants of the S-3 carried out a range of missions for the U.S. Navy. Seven aircraft were modified to US-3A Carrier Onboard Delivery aircraft, capable of carrying 4,250 lbs. of cargo. The ES-3A Shadow was designed for fleet electronic surveillance, replacing the EA-3B. Sixteen aircraft were modified to ES-3A configuration, and the first mission capable Shadow flew in May 1991. Development of a KS-3A tanker variant began in 1979; although the KS-3A was never produced, it did prove the concept of "buddy tanking" (aerial refueling using a wing-mounted pod), which most S-3s later performed. At the height of combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom, S-3 crews transferred nearly eight million pounds of fuel to Coalition aircraft.
The significantly improved S-3B was developed in the early 1980s to better detect quiet Soviet submarines, identify targets and carry standoff weapons. The S-3B flew for the first time in prototype form in September 1984. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, an S-3B from VS-38, the World Famous Red Griffins, carried out the first S-3 attack mission, disabling Saddam Hussein's ocean-going yacht with a laser-guided Maverick air-to-surface missile. In 2003, an S-3B from VS-35 became the first aircraft ever to have the Navy One call sign when it carried former President George W. Bush to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).
Under the S-3 Integrated Maintenance Program (IMP), Lockheed Martin and Navy personnel worked side-by-side to perform scheduled depot maintenance and repairs on the S-3s to return the Vikings rapidly to the operational fleet. The program began in 2001, primarily as a means of reducing the backlog at Naval Aviation depots. IMP increased S-3 aircraft operational availability by 53 percent and reduced maintenance tasking by 47 percent over the depot-level maintenance plan. IMP also resulted in significantly reduced costs to the Navy. A total of 149 aircraft were processed through the IMP inspections, and nearly all of the aircraft were redelivered to the Navy on or ahead of schedule. The program concluded in 2007, as the Viking fleet was being drawn down.
"The S-3 Viking will long be remembered for its mission capability, its flexibility and its reliability," said Burick. "The aircraft has served the U.S. Navy admirably for more than three decades. We salute all who have flown and supported the Viking."
The NASA Glenn Research Center near Cleveland, Ohio, currently has four S-3B Vikings, performing aircraft icing research missions. It is likely that four S-3Bs will remain in Navy service, although in a support role providing range surveillance at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at Point Mugu, Calif.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/01-30-2009/0004963746&EDATE=
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RAF suspects plane’s tyres burst causing it to overshoot runway
Probe launched after Nimrod incident
By Heather Baillache
Published: 02/02/2009
A full investigation has been launched after a Nimrod at a Moray RAF base overshot the runway and came to a halt yards from a field.
It is believed the spy plane’s tyres burst as it was coming in to land at the Kinloss base, causing it to skid and leave the runway. No RAF personnel on the ground or in the aircraft were injured.
The Nimrod was left on the edge of the tarmac for two days until specialist inflatable equipment could be brought in from another RAF base at St Athan in south Wales yesterday to move the aircraft. It was towed into a hangar, where it will undergo thorough checks to determine the cause.
An RAF spokeswoman said: “We suspect that this was caused by tyres bursting on landing but a full investigation is under way. The runway will be operational again by Monday.”
Questions over the safety of the Nimrod fleet were raised after 12 Kinloss personnel, and two other servicemen, were killed over Afghanistan in 2006.
Oxfordshire coroner Andrew Walker had said the aircraft were not airworthy, pointing to a design fault which led to the XV230 exploding minutes after air-to-air refuelling. The crash resulted in the heaviest loss of life suffered by British forces in a single incident since the Falklands conflict.
At the start of 2008, Defence Secretary Des Browne ordered a new safety review of the RAF’s fleet after an official inquiry into the disaster identified a series of failings.
The RAF Board of Inquiry (BoI) report published in December 2007 revealed the crash was “probably” caused when fuel overflowed from a tank following mid-air refuelling and spilled on to a super-hot air pipe in an empty chamber between the fuselage and an engine on the wing.
The report admitted the age of the Nimrod fleet was a possible factor, as well as persistent fuel leaks on board and the lack of fire-suppressant systems.
A large section of roof at the mountain rescue centre at RAF Kinloss was blown off on Saturday night. A strong gust of wind lifted part of the roof off the building, which was erected in 2006. Again, no personnel were injured.
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1057958?UserKey=
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2,000 say goodbye to USS Kitty Hawk
More than 2,000 people gathered to say goodbye to the USS Kitty Hawk, a 48-year-old aircraft carrier, today in Bremerton.
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter
ABOARD THE USS KITTY HAWK — If this country ever needed a crew of loyal sailors, ready and more than willing — if not all quite as able — to take up their posts again, the former crew members of the USS Kitty Hawk would answer the call.
"If they needed me, I'd be there in a second," said Dan Hemrich, of Everett, who attended a ceremony today at Bremerton Naval Station to honor the Navy's oldest active warship and its nearly five decades of service.
More than 2,000 former and current crew members, their families and dignitaries gathered to bid the aircraft carrier goodbye.
"Hell, yeah, I'd be there," said his crewmate, Danny King, of Austin, Texas.
William Dobbins, of Grass Valley, Calif., was among the original crew that first sailed the ship out of Philadelphia, around the tip of South America and into her first homeport at San Diego. He, uses a wheelchair now. But he, too, would serve if called.
"To me, she still looks like she's ready to go to sea," he said with a catch in his voice.
Miss Kitty, as she was sometimes called, took part in more combat missions in Vietnam than any other carrier, and in recent years participated in missions off Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Navy's last fossil-fueled aircraft carrier, the Kitty Hawk is being retired, moved from Pier 6 at the Bremerton Naval Station to the shipyard next door, where it will ultimately be decommissioned.
"You should be immensely proud," Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said at Saturday's ceremony.
"You understand how powerful a symbol of national sovereignty this is: 75,000 tons of sacred American influence going where we need," Keating told the current and former crew members. "Your names will be written in gold in the pages of history for your sacrifice and your service."
After the ceremony, visitors gathered, looked at old yearbooks, photos and other memorabilia, and recalled their adventures.
"I was just a farm kid from Kansas and this is where I saw the world and learned to be a man," said Dobbins, who was in the Navy from 1940 through 1970.
He talked about how the whole ship would grieve when a pilot and a plane were lost; how they rejoiced together and endured fear. "When I saw her again, it was like coming home," he said.
Other former crew members recalled their forays to the Philippines and Vietnam. They talked about watching the sky light up from the flight deck during a nuclear test off the coast of San Francisco, about going to Cuba during the missile crisis, about the time a near-riot broke out onboard while the ship was docked in Brazil.
That time, a Brazilian ship had broken loose from its moorings while the Kitty Hawk had 10,000 visitors aboard. As the vessel drifted toward the carrier, the crew was told to pull up the anchor and get underway.
The visitors onboard thought they were being kidnapped, said former machinist mate Jim Strahl, and it took members of the Brazilian army, who were also onboard, to restore order.
Aviation boatswain's mate Brandon Reyes said it has been an honor and an education to be on the ship's final crew.
"It's been awe-inspiring to see how many people showed up" at the ceremony, Reyes said. "But she's an old ship. When the seas are rough, she takes a beating. She's paid her dues and it's time to let her rest."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008694101_webkittyhawk31m.html
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29 January 2009
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Sweden to send naval vessels to Somalia
The Government decided today to request the permission of the Riksdag to place Swedish armed forces at the disposal of the EU maritime operation off the coast of Somalia, Operation Atalanta.
Operation Atalanta was launched in December 2008 and is intended to protect deliveries of humanitarian aid from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and to deter, prevent and repress acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast. The operation, which is clearly grounded in international law through the Law of the Sea, has a mandate from the United Nations Security Council and is taking place at the invitation of the Transitional Government of Somalia.
"Sweden's participation is a response to the UN request for protection and security for WFP deliveries of food aid to Somalia. In addition, the operation will help combat the increasing number of acts of piracy off the coast of the country," says Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt. "Swedish participation in the operation would also complement and strengthen our broad and long-term involvement in Somalia."
The proposed Swedish contribution to Operation Atalanta will be provided by the International Corvette Force. The force will be made up of two corvettes, one support ship and a security force. The armed Swedish force involved in Operation Atalanta will have an estimated strength of about 160. The requested personnel capacity includes resources for reinforcement and unforeseen evacuation needs.
Sweden's participation in the operation is intended to begin in the first half of 2009 and last for a maximum of four months. The focus will be on the task of protecting WFP deliveries of humanitarian aid, which are vital to the people of Somalia.
At present more than 90 per cent of WFP aid deliveries are transported to Somalia by sea. In 2008 about 60 ships delivered a total of 260 000 tonnes of food aid, enough to feed an estimated 3.2 million people for a year. An interruption in WFP food aid deliveries would have devastating consequences for the people of Somalia.
http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/11367/a/119535
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Sub-standard back-up for submarine rescue
Cameron Stewart | February 02, 2009
Article from: The Australian
ALMOST every Australian submariner knows the story of "the note". Many can recite passages from it and some might even be haunted by it.
They will tell you that it was written in freezing darkness at the bottom of the Barents Sea in August 2000 by Russian Navy Lieutenant-Captain Dmitry Kolesnikov.
Trapped inside his crippled submarine, Kursk, and fast running out of air, the sailor scrawled a message to his wife and to the outside world.
"It's too dark to write here, but I will try to do it blindly," he wrote. "It looks like there is no chance - 10 to 20 per cent. Here is a list of personnel who are in the ninth section and trying to get out. Hello to everyone, do not despair."
The note was later displayed next to Kolesnikov's coffin at his funeral. Kolesnikov was one of 23 of the 118 crew who survived an initial on-board explosion and sat stranded on the seabed awaiting a rescue that never came. The haunting tale of the Kursk is one the Royal Australian Navy vowed would never happen to it.
Just as Australia had built and operated its own unique fleet of Collins class submarines, this country would create and manage its own submarine rescue service.
History tells us that the Collins class boats, after some big initial problems, are a success and form a critical plank in the nation's defence.
But the story of the submarine rescue service is far less glorious.
As things stand, there is no deep-sea rescue (between 180m and 500m) available for submariners in Australia, 13 years after the federal government promised it would develop an effective indigenous rescue system.
It is a scandalous tale of mismanagement, which has failed to attract the political attention it deserves only because Australia has been fortunate enough not to have experienced an incident such as the Kursk.
If an Australian submarine was stranded on the seabed today, the navy would have to ask Britain to fly one of its ageing LR5 submarine rescue vehicles to Australia.
By the time a mother ship was found to carry the LR5 and sail to the site of the accident, it is highly likely the crew, which would have only about five days of air and supplies, would have perished.
How did it come to this, that in 2009 the lives of Australian sailors are being placed at such unnecessary risk?
The story began in 1994 when the Australian Submarine Corporation in Adelaide was tasked with acquiring an Australian-owned rescue system that was compatible with the then new Collins class submarines.
The proposal involved designing the world's first remotely operated rescue vehicle, which could attach itself to a disabled submarine lying at an extreme angle and rescue up to six sailors at a time.
This 16.5 tonne vehicle, which was designed, built, tested and delivered in 1995, was named the Australian Submarine Rescue Vehicle Remora, after the sucker fish that attach themselves to sharks.
It was designed to give submariners the best possible chance of surviving an accident, even though all submariners know the chances of a successful rescue are modest at best.
Aside from the obvious danger of leaks, the force of an accident often creates noxious fumes or carbon dioxide, greatly reducing the amount of breathable air.
Damaged submarines may also land on the seabed at a sharp angle, making it near impossible to mate with the rescue vehicle.
And then there is the question of depth.
At depths of 180m of less, submariners are trained to escape from the submarine themselves using free ascent from an airlock.
But in deeper waters of between 180m and 500m, Remora is needed to save the crew.
These relatively shallow depths are only found on Australia's coastal shelf, which extends about 30km from the submarine west-coast base at HMAS Stirling and even less in the waters off Sydney.
In deep waters beyond a coastal shelf, a stricken submarine will be crushed by water pressure long before it hits the bottom.
Perhaps the most famous modern example was the loss of the nuclear attack submarine, USS Thresher, after an accident during deep-sea trials in 1963.
The crippled submarine, carrying 129 crewmen, sank in 2560m of water and imploded somewhere between 400m and 600m, killing all on board instantly.
This would have been the fate of the 55 Australian crew of Collins class submarine HMAS Dechaineux, which came within seconds of sinking in the Indian Ocean following an on-board flood in February 2003, an incident that remains the most serious yet involving a Collins class boat.
"It would have been like crushing an empty Coke can in your hand," said Dechaineux crew member Geordie Bunting of the water pressure that would have collapsed the vessel. "We were too deep to hit the bottom alive."
The grim fact is that while more than 200 submarines have been lost through war or accident in the past century, there has been only one successful submarine rescue, that of the USS Squalus in 1939.
During exercises, the Squalus suffered an on-board flood and sank in 74m of water off the US east coast, leaving 33 crew alive on the seabed in total darkness and in freezing temperatures.
Twenty-eight hours later a large steel rescue bell was lowered from a surface vessel to cover the submarine's escape hatch allowing the trapped submariners to climb aboard.
While accepting that successful submarine rescues are a rarity, Western navies believe they have a moral duty to have a fully functioning rescue system available in cases where rescue is possible.
But Australia's ambitions to develop its own rescue solution for the Collins class fleet have failed. (Before 1995 the Navy's Oberon class submarines had a standing agreement with the US Navy to use a US-based rescue vehicle, an arrangement whereby prospects of a timely rescue were extremely slim).
Almost from the moment Remora entered service in 1995, the new home-grown submarine rescue system was mismanaged.
A draft version of a soon-to-be-released audit of submarine escape and rescue services by the Australian National Audit Office, obtained by The Australian, states; "The Defence Materiel Organisation is responsible for the management of the submarine escape and rescue services contract.
"A number of significant issues have occurred in the management of this contract, including unapproved works and configuration changes that affected the design integrity of the rescue vehicle, the Remora, and the launch and recovery winching system for this vehicle," the draft ANAO report states.
By 2004 alarm bells were ringing. The international marine classification body Det Norske Veritas expressed concern about
the operation of the Remora's launch and recovery system known as LARS (the winches and cables that lower Remora from a mother ship).
A subsequent DNV review uncovered structural defects in the LARS.
The following year the navy ordered a physical audit of Remora which found "a number of obsolescence issues that compromised the reliability and function of the Remora. In particular, the telemetry system was identified as obsolete with a high risk of failure during operations".
In 2006, the navy ordered sea trials for the Remora despite being warned by its contracted operator that testing after repairs had not been completed.
A near disaster ensued in December 2006 when the winch connecting Remora to the mother ship failed, leaving two men trapped for 12 hours at a depth of 140m off Perth.
The men were rescued but Remora was left on the seabed for four months before being sent to Canada for an overhaul.
In December 2007, with the Remora still under repair, the DMO commissioned a safety case report to summarise safety issues related to the submarine rescue service.
It found "a robust safety management system is not in place" and that maintenance of rescue equipment was inadequate. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse.
Twenty months after it sank, Remora is languishing in a Perth warehouse awaiting sea trials before it can gain full certification.
In any case Remora cannot be used because the LARS system has not been given a safety certificate because of new safety requirements imposed by DNV.
DNV has told the Australian navy it will need to strengthen the structure and include automatic controls on the LARS before it will grant a safety certification.
Because this would cost millions of dollars, the navy admits it is now exploring options for a completely new submarine rescue system.
"Navy is presently considering options to meet its operational requirements for submarine rescue," a defence spokesman said.
But any new Australian-based rescue system would not come into operation for at least another year, if not longer.
Not only has the Department of Defence bungled its submarine rescue capability, it has also mismanaged its capacity to give submariners the escape training they need.
In 1985, Defence constructed a $25 million submarine escape training facility in Perth, which the navy's website describes as "the most advanced of its kind in the world today".
"It has been purpose built to provide submariners with the theoretical knowledge, practical skills and confidence needed to escape safely from a stricken Collins class submarine, in water depths of up to 180m," the navy boasts.
"The practical part of the Escape Training Course takes place in the facility's six-storey-high submarine escape simulator, which replicates the escape compartments found inside a submarine. The five-day course culminates in each submariner having to perform a successful escape from the simulator."
What the navy's website does not tell you is that submariners can no longer get this pressurised escape training at this facility because of a bungled tender deal, which means there is no one contracted to operate the centre.
A deal between navy and the Australian Submarine Corporation to operate the centre collapsed last year due to disagreements over the contract.
So despite the ready availability of training staff and a state-of-the-art training facility in Perth, the navy is flying 100 submariners across the world in coming months to do escape training on the east coast of Canada.
The Canadian training is costing the Department of Defence at least $2.3 million. Defence denies this is a waste of taxpayers' money, saying the costs of flying 100 submariners to Canada's east coast are "offset" by not conducting the training at SEFT in Perth.
Defence insiders refute this, describing it as "desperate spin" by their superiors to try to avoid responsibility for the mismanagement of the whole affair.
At all levels, Defence's submarine escape and training is in disarray at a time when the navy is desperate to recruit submariners.
Unless greater political will is brought to bear on this issue, it could be many years before Australia has a workable and reliable submarine rescue system. That would be cold comfort for any Australian submarine crew stranded on the sea bed, waiting for a rescue vehicle to be flown in from Britain.
At least, like Kolesnikov, they would have ample time to write a note to their loved ones.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24992924-2702,00.html
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Feb 1, 2009 0:41 | Updated Feb 1, 2009 6:27
Israel Navy eyes advanced US warship
Ahead of a decision on navy procurement plans, a number of top officers from the IDF sailed recently on Lockheed Martin's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in the United States.
In July, the IDF - seeking to upgrade its sea-based capabilities - received permission from the Pentagon to purchase the LCS, under development by Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics.
Designed for speed, maneuverability and amphibious operations, the LCS was built according to US Navy specifications and as a "brown water" ship meant to operate in shallow waters along coasts and in depths where there are combined threats from land and sea.
OC Navy Adm. Elazar Marom dispatched a number of officers to the United States two weeks ago to sail on the LCS and test its capabilities. The officers returned home and reported back to Marom ahead of an expected decision on the type of ship the navy plans to buy by the end of the year.
In addition to reviewing the LCS - whose price has soared over the past year and now reportedly reaches $500 million - the navy is also considering downgrading its procurement plans and purchasing more Sa'ar 5-class missile ships.
Navy sources said the decision would be made in the coming weeks. After the decision is made, it will be presented for approval to the General Staff.
"There are a number of possibilities and they are under review," one source said. "There are other possibilities such as more Sa'ar 5s, an upgraded Sa'ar 5 that would be called Sa'ar 5.5, or to wait for the LCS's price to go down."
Israel currently operates three Sa'ar 5 corvettes - Eilat, Hanit and >Lahav - which were built by General Dynamics in the early 1990s per Israeli specifications. The ships are equipped with three missile systems - Barak, Harpoon and Gabriel.
If acquired by the navy, the LCS would enhance Israel's long-arm capabilities and could be potentially used in a conflict with Iran. The ship, capable of carrying special forces and larger infantry units, can also carry midsize vehicles as well as two helicopters. The ship would also likely be outfitted with the Barak anti-missile defense system and would be able to intercept incoming missiles.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304645674&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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EPA: "No Anomalies" Found After Sub Leak
Written by Stefan Sebastian
Tuesday, 03 February 2009 17:26
Guam
Guam--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has completed an initial round of sampling in Guam's waters as part of a search for nuclear contamination after the Navy last year discovered a submarine based here had leaked radioactive water.
In a press conference today, USEPA scientist Samuel Poppell said that environmental researchers over the last 10 days have collected scores of sediment and water samples. After reviewing the samples and data gathered even before the leak, Poppell says his early findings suggest there is no cause for alarm. Researchers collected the samples in the area around Apra harbor, where the submarine docked. Navy officials last year said the amount of material that leaked was miniscule and unlikely to cause serious environmental harm.
Poppell adds that the final results of the sampling will be available after testing is completed in about 90 days.
http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5906:epa-qno-anomaliesq-found-after-sub-leak&catid=34:guam&Itemid=141
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Using science to save the albatross
03-02-2009
Alan Tate; www.aabirdpix.com
The sighting of a Critically Endangered Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremite from New Zealand reminded ATF crew of the importance of their work.
The crew of the Albatross Task Force last week took a brief break from their work on the high seas to attend the Task Force’s first ever workshop.
Delegates from the Task Force countries (South Africa, Namibia, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Chile) visited the Chilean fishing port of Coquimbo.
From an initial start in South Africa in 2006, in less than three years the task force has been expanded to seven priority countries where albatrosses are known to die in hugely unsustainable numbers in longline and trawl fisheries.
During a hectic schedule, delegates learnt from one another sharing best practice about their successes. A significant part of the programme was also devoted to carrying out research on three pelagic longline vessels from Coquimbo.
Dr Ben Sullivan - BirdLife Global Seabird Programme Coordinator - who developed the Task Force, said: “We are very proud that in a very short time, the Albatross Task Force has become globally recognised by conservationists and fisheries as a highly effective body finding ways to stop the needless deaths of albatrosses and petrels.
“…the Task Force’s remit will increasingly include an emphasis on at-sea research…” —Dr Ben Sullivan, BirdLife Global Seabird Programme Coordinator
“With many successes already under our belt, the Task Force’s remit will increasingly include an emphasis on at-sea research to develop practical measures to save the lives of albatrosses before it is too late.”
Currently, 18 of the world’s 22 species of albatross are facing extinction, with four of those species being regarded as Critically Endangered, meaning these species are facing an extremely high risk of global extinction.
In longline fisheries albatrosses die when they try to steal fish bait from hooks. In trawl fisheries, albatrosses are increasingly dying when the birds collide with fishing gear.
A key way to prevent the deaths of albatrosses is to encourage vessels to deploy bird-scaring or tori lines. These lines, complete with streamers suspended from the lines, deter albatrosses and other seabirds from approaching the boats too closely. The deployment of such measures saves the lives of albatrosses and petrels.
Although longline fisheries target fish beyond the diving depth of albatrosses, the birds are vulnerable until the bait sinks. During a packed week of research, the Albatross Task Force has teamed up with two of the world’s most eminent seabird scientists: Graham Robertson of Australian Antarctic Division and Ed Melvin of the Seattle-based Washington Sea Grant. Both scientists, and the Task Force’s manager Ben Sullivan, conducted experiments to explore whether it’s possible to get the bait to sink faster, denying more birds a potentially costly meal.
“The sighting of a Chatham Albatross from the other side of the Southern Ocean inspired our teams and reminded them of the importance of our work” —Dr Ben Sullivan, BirdLife Global Seabird Programme Coordinator
The Task Force members, who work in some of the harshest conditions on earth, are all committed to the conservation of the world’s threatened seabirds. During the week, the Task Force members signed a declaration, committing themselves to a programme of research to help ensure the future of the world’s most awe inspiring birds.
During the sea voyage, the lucky crew of one vessel spotted a Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremite from New Zealand. One of the world’s Critically Endangered species. Ben Sullivan added: “The sighting of a Chatham Albatross from the other side of the Southern Ocean inspired our teams and reminded them of the importance of our work. This day the albatross was safe, but on another day, it might have drowned on a longline. We must do everything in our power to prevent the needless slaughter of these birds: we have lost too many albatrosses in the past we are determined not to lose many more.”
Over the next few months, the Albatross Task Force teams will conduct a series of experiments, the results of which will be presented in a series of papers at next year’s meeting of ACAP: the Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2009/02/ATF_chile.html
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Suspect vessel still being held in Greece
By Anna Hassapi
WHILE Cyprus is embroiled in a diplomatic crisis over Monchegorsk, the suspected arms ship held in Limassol Port, a second vessel heading for Iran, suspected of involvement in the illegal arms trade has been held at a Greek port since December.
According to Eleftherotypia, suspect vessel Suzanna arrived at Elefsina Port in Greece on December 10, and has since been docked at port due to an investigation on whether its cargo is illegal.
The vessel started its journey in November from a Slovenian port, with Iran as its final destination. The ship first stopped at the notorious Gioia Tauro port at Calabria in Italy, and then arrived at Elefsina, where it was held based on information that it was carrying illegal arms cargo.
Following a search of the cargo, Greek authorities found it was carrying four containers, weighing 20 tonnes each, of CK22 – a material that can be used to construct missiles and liquid fuel tanks for missiles. Described as ‘hot-rolled carbon steel plates’, the material can also be used in legal commercial production.
Following the information received by the UN, which warned Greece that the suspect ship would be arriving, Greek authorities are holding the vessel, for three main reasons: the content of its cargo, the fact that the vessel followed a popular illegal arms trade route, and that the Iranian company which ordered the cargo is suspected of illegal arms trade, as provided in a relevant UN resolution.
The vessel is expected to remain at Elefsina until investigations, including a lab analysis, are completed.
One of the most suspicious elements of the vessels’ journey, was reportedly the fact that it stopped at Gioia Tauro port. Italian investigators estimate that 80 per cent of Europe’s cocaine arrives from Colombia via Gioia Tauro’s docks. The port is also allegedly involved in the illegal arms trade. These activities are reportedly controlled by a syndicate of Calabrian crime families known as the ’Ndrangheta.
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=43854&cat_id=1
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Nigeria – Strangulation
February 3, 2009: Gangs are now targeting key Nigerian employees of oil companies, and kidnapping them. Ransoms of $50,000-100,0000 are demanded, and the oil companies pay in order to maintain morale among their skilled Nigerian workers. Foreign oil company employees are heavily guarded, as are foreigners in general. So more Nigerians are being taken. Recently, a Catholic priest was grabbed, which was a first for the Niger delta. Clergy are usually left alone. But crime in general is on the increase in the delta, as money from stealing oil puts guns into the hands of more young men.
Increased attacks on oil company ships has reduced the rate at which oil can be pumped. Last year, there were 68 attacks on offshore oil facilities (ships and rigs), In 2007, there were 31. In addition to the greater police and military presence in the area, the oil companies have increased their own security spending (which has increased oil production expenses by 30 percent in the last few years), to about $3 billion a year (for civilian security guards and security systems.) As a result, oil companies have delayed drilling more offshore wells. Thus the Niger delta unrest has not only cut current production by 20 percent, but prevented expansion of potential production.
January 31, 2009: The rebel group MEND has declared its ceasefire over, and threatens to shut down oil production if the government does not release their leader, and withdraw military forces from the Niger delta. The government won't, and MEND won't. But MEND might try.
January 23, 2009: In the Niger delta, pirates attacked two oil company boats. In both cases, the gunmen in speedboats looted the captured ships and robbed the crews. There was no attempt to hold the captured ships for ransom, because the pirates have no secure base where they can stash hijacked ships.
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/nigeria/articles/20090203.aspx
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Somali Pirates On A Roll Again
February 2, 2009: When foreign warships began to heavily patrol the Gulf of Aden in late 2008, the Somali pirates found their operations disrupted. While 42 ships were taken in 2008, the trend turned against the pirates as more warships entered the area. But the pirates appear to be adjusting their tactics in response to all those warships. January began well enough, with far fewer attacks, and no ships seized. But by the end of the month, three ships were taken, and a total of fifteen attacks for the month.
For all of 2008, there were 115 attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden (where over 80 percent of the attacks occurred off the Somali coast last year.) Pirates were successful with 46 of these attacks, most of them in the last five months of the year. During the first seven months, there were only 24 attacks, but ten of them (42 percent) succeeded. Then things got worse. In August there were ten attacks, seven of them successful. In September, there were twenty attacks, nine of them successful. In October, there were 18 attacks, five successful. November had 27 attacks, 11 successful. In December, the impact of protective measures (by the ships, and the arrival of over a dozen warships into the area) saw attacks decline to 16, with only four successful.
By the end of 2008, merchant ships had adapted. This included posting more lookouts, moving at higher speed, and often travelling in convoys through the Gulf of Aden, escorted by a warship. The international anti-piracy patrol (now called Task Force 151) heavily patrols a corridor through the Gulf of Aden, which has rushed to the scene of over half a dozen attacks and driven off the pirates. The fourteen nations with warships there, all have different rules for handing pirates. Most of the warships are allowed to kill the pirates, but most are forbidden from taking pirates prisoner (except temporarily, before releasing the thugs without their weapons). Even the United States Navy had to practice "catch and release" until recently, when the U.S. government made arrangements to have Kenya prosecute any pirates captured.
The pirates have also adapted, and apparently carefully watch the warships, and cooperate to detect merchant ships that are far enough from warships to allow for a successful attack. It's all about timing. Most of these attacks failed because a warship was able to get an armed helicopter on the scene before the pirates were able to get aboard the merchant ship. Once the pirates are on board, and able to take the crew prisoner, it's almost impossible to get them off. In the last two years, there have only been two cases where the crew successfully fought back. That, and the presence of an armed helicopter or warship, was enough to drive away the pirates, or get them killed or captured. But most merchant sailors are advised to not resist, and most of them don't.
There are only guesstimates on the amount of ransom paid in 2008. Over thirty ships were released in 2008, and the highest known ransom was $3 million. Most 2008 ransoms appear to be closer to a million dollars, with several (for smaller ships) being less than that. So the ransom total is probably in the range $30-50 million for all of Somalia.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20090202.aspx
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Business Times - 03 Feb 2009
Daewoo's Q4 profit jumps fivefold
Net income increased to 293b won, from 53.1b won a year earlier
(SEOUL) Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co, the world's third-largest shipyard, said fourth-quarter profit jumped more than fivefold to a record after building more vessels at higher prices.
Net income increased to 293 billion won (S$319.3 million) in the three months to Dec 31, from 53.1 billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
Sales rose 69 per cent to a record 3.67 trillion won.
South Korean shipyards are still working on orders they received in 2006 when prices rose as much as 22 per cent to a record, helping spur earnings.
Daewoo Shipbuilding won US$11.8 billion of contracts in 2008, the first decline in six years, and hasn't received a new order since September except for a submarine from the South Korean navy.
'Earnings will be better this year considering their backlog,' said Cho In Karp, an analyst at Good Morning Shinhan Securities Co in Seoul. 'But the slump in demand for new vessels still remains a concern.'
Daewoo Shipbuilding gained 3.6 per cent to close at 21,500 in Seoul trading. The stock is the third-best performer among 50 largest companies traded on Kospi index.
Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, jumped more than fivefold to a record 567.4 billion won. That helped widen the margin to sales to 15 per cent from 4.8 per cent a year earlier. Margins at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, the world's largest shipbuilder, was 11 per cent in the quarter and Samsung Heavy Industries Co, the world's No 2 shipyard, was 6.4 per cent. Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co's margin was 9.9 per cent. That helped counter a doubling in prices of steel plates used to make the hulls and the single biggest material expense.
Raw material costs softened in the last quarter as the recession sapped steel demand from carmakers and builders.
That prompted Dongkuk Steel Mill Co, South Korea's third-largest steelmaker, to lower prices of steel plates by 18 per cent on Jan 19, the first decline in more than two years. 'We were able to achieve better earnings despite a surge in raw material costs because we are building more vessels that bear higher prices such as gas carriers and drill ships,' Daewoo Shipbuilding said yesterday.
Daewoo Shipbuilding plans to deliver about 75 vessels this year, 67 per cent more than the 45 it handed over to clients in 2008. That is expected to help increase annual sales to a record of more than 13 trillion won.
Hyundai Heavy said on Jan 29 it expects record sales of 22.9 trillion won this year, 15 per cent higher than in 2008.
Even so, orders for new vessels have slumped since the third quarter as the economic recession may cause global trade to shrink 2.1 per cent this year, the first drop since 1982, according to the World Bank forecast.
New contracts in terms of tonnage dropped an 'alarming' 90 per cent in the fourth quarter from the previous three-month period, according to London-based Clarkson Plc, the world's biggest shipbroker.
In December, only 0.2 million deadweight tons were ordered, which is 'unheard of in recent years', and compares with 24.9 million tons contracted in the same month a year earlier, Clarkson said. A total of 153.6 million deadweight tons were ordered last year, 43 per cent less than in 2007, Clarkson said in its monthly shipbuilding report. That is the lowest since 2006\. \-- Bloomberg
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,317074,00.html?
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New Technologies Protecting Australian Ports And Harbours
Technologies being tested during the trial include diver detection sonar, underwater warning systems, imaging sonar, Remotely Operated Vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles used for hull, pier and seabed searches.
by Staff Writers
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Feb 03, 2009
Sydney Harbour will be scene of simulated attack from boats, divers and underwater vehicles in this week's Kondari Trial, the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, announced Monday.
The Kondari Trial is a test run of new technologies designed to protect Australia's ports, naval bases and ships from terrorist attack.
Organised by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the Royal Australian Navy at Garden Island Naval Base from today until 13 February, the Trial will explore emerging technologies designed to strengthen underwater force protection.
"It has been shown around the world that maritime facilities are vulnerable to attack," Mr Snowdon said.
"Australian ports and harbours are vital to the country's trade and economy, and as such, the Australian government is taking strong measures to ensure their protection."
The Australian Federal Police, NSW Police and Sydney Ports are participating in the trial which has also attracted international defence experts from UK, Canada, New Zealand and USA, including the US Coast Guard.
Technologies being tested during the trial include diver detection sonar, underwater warning systems, imaging sonar, Remotely Operated Vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles used for hull, pier and seabed searches.
"The trial will evaluate the capabilities of these technologies against real scenarios in complex environments and provide a better understanding of the operational issues affecting these systems," Mr Snowdon said.
"The participation of our coalition partners, industry and State authorities in the trial should ensure that Australia is well prepared and equipped with the right technologies to counter threats against our maritime assets."
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/New_Technologies_Protecting_Australian_Ports_And_Harbours_999.html
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South African dockworkers announce ban on Israeli ship
FREE PALESTINE! ISOLATE APARTHEID ISRAEL!
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) launch Week of Action for Palestine supported by the Young Communist League and other progressive organisations
February 3, 2009 -- In a historic development for South Africa, South African dock workers have announced their determination not to offload a ship from Israel that is scheduled to dock in Durban on Sunday, February 8, 2009. This follows the decision by COSATU to strengthen the campaign in South Africa for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against apartheid Israel.
The pledge by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) members in Durban reflects the commitment by South African workers to refuse to support oppression and exploitation across the globe.
Last year, Durban dock workers had refused to offload a shipment of arms that had arrived from China and was destined for Zimbabwe to prop up the Mugabe regime and to intensify the repression against the Zimbabwean people. Now, says SATAWU’s General Secretary Randall Howard, the union’s members are committing themselves to not handling Israeli goods.
SATAWU’s action on Sunday will be part of a proud history of worker resistance against apartheid. In 1963, just four years after the Anti-Apartheid Movement was formed, Danish dock workers refused to offload a ship with South African goods. When the ship docked in Sweden, Swedish workers followed suit. Dock workers in Liverpool and, later, in the San Francisco Bay Area also refused to offload South African goods. South Africans, and the South African working class in particular, will remain forever grateful to those workers who determinedly opposed apartheid and decided that they would support the anti-apartheid struggle with their actions.
Last week, Western Australian members of the Maritime Union of Australia resolved to support the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, and have called for a boycott of all Israeli vessels and all vessels bearing goods arriving from or going to Israel.
This is the legacy and the tradition that South African dock workers have inherited, and it is a legacy they are determined to honour, by ensuring that South African ports of entry will not be used as transit points for goods bound for or emanating from certain dictatorial and oppressive states such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Israel.
COSATU, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the Young Communist League and a range of other organisations salute the principled position taken by these workers. We also take this opportunity to salute the millions of workers all over the world who have openly condemned and taken decisive steps to isolate apartheid Israel, a step that should send shockwaves to its arrogant patrons in the United States who foot the bill for Israel’s killing machine. We call on other workers and unions to follow suit and to do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine is free.
We also welcome statements by various South African Jews of conscience who have dissociated themselves from the genocide in Gaza. We call on all South Africans to ensure that none of our family members are allowed to join the Israeli Occupation Forces’ killing machine.
In celebration of the actions of SATAWU members with regard to the ship from Israel, and in pursuance of the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, and our call on the South African government to sever diplomatic and trade relations with Israel, this coalition of organisations has declared a week of action beginning on Friday, February 6, 2009. The actions will be organised under the theme: FREE PALESTINE! ISOLATE APARTHEID ISRAEL! Activities that have already been confirmed for this week will include:
Friday, February 6: A protest outside the offices of the South African Zionist Federation and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, 2 Elray Street, Raedene, off Louis Botha Avenue. Both these organisations unquestioningly supported the recent Israeli attacks against Gaza, and supported the massacre of civilians and the attacks on schools, mosques, ambulances and UN refugee centres. Protesters will be addressed by, among others, SATAWU General Secretary Randall Howard, and ex-minister Ronnie Kasrils. Protest starts at 14:00.
Friday, February 6: A picket outside parliament in Cape Town. COSATU members and solidarity activists will be joined by a number of members of parliament. Picket starts at 09:30.
Friday, February 6: A mass rally in Actonville, Benoni, at the Buzme Adab Hall. The rally will be addressed by, among others, COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, PSC spokesperson Salim Vally, South African Council of Churches General Secretary Eddie Makue, and ex-minister Ronnie Kasrils. Rally starts at 19:30.
Sunday, February 8: A protest at the Durban Harbour mouth, off Victoria Embankment [Margaret Mncadi Avenue]. Protesters will be addressed by, among others, COSATU President Sdumo Dlamini. Protest starts at 10:00.
Sunday, February 8: A mass rally in Cape Town at Vygieskraal Rugby Stadium. The rally will be addressed by, among others, COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, and Allan Boesak. Rally starts at 14:30.
http://links.org.au/node/888
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Senegalese Officers Help APS Nashville Sailors Prepare for First African Port Visit
Story Number: NNS090203-02
Release Date: 2/3/2009 8:54:00 AM
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd David Holmes, Africa Partnership Station Nashville Public Affairs
USS NASHVILLE, At Sea (NNS) -- To assist the Africa Partnership Station (APS) Nashville team in preparing for its upcoming port visit to Dakar, Senegal, two international staff members from the Senegalese Navy presented Sailors with a cultural awareness briefing aboard USS Nashville (LPD 13) Feb. 2.
The Norfolk-based amphibious landing transport dock ship is deployed as a part of APS, an international initiative developed by Naval Forces Europe and Naval Forces Africa which aims to work cooperatively with U.S. and international partners to improve maritime safety and security in West and Central Africa.
On the eve of APS Nashville's first African port visit to Dakar, Senegal, Senegalese naval officers Lt. Cmdr. Omar Wade and Lt. Jean Pierre Tine covered topics on local culture, geography and social values, among additional factual information regarding their country.
Tine noted he was excited to have the opportunity to address the crew about his home country.
"It was the best opportunity I've gotten so far," said Tine. "I was very entertained by the crew and the questions they asked."
With a coastline of more than 354 miles, Dakar, Senegal –the westernmost point of African coast – is a fitting first stop for APS Nashville, Tine said.
"I think this is a great institute for all the African partners, including Senegal, and we're very happy to participate," said Tine. "We are very much looking forward to the training because we have been planning for a long time and hope for the best benefit."
During APS Nashville's visit to Dakar, topics on small boat maintenance, leadership, search and rescue, oil spill scenarios and force security will be covered. With the preparation Tine and Wade provided APS Nashville through their briefing, the crew and staff of APS Nashville are well equipped to embrace their first stop on their African deployment.
"I think they are ready to go to Dakar and have fun and discover another cultural difference," said Tine. "The culture is different, but we still live on the same planet, and we are all friendly and looking forward to working together for another millennium."
To learn more about Africa Partnership Station and its mission, visit www.c6f.navy.mil/aps_web/index.htm.
For more news from COMNAVEUR/COMSIXTHFLT, visit www.navy.mil/local/naveur/.
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Durban - Drugs bust – latest
A Croatian man, arrested last week at Durban harbour in connection with a major drug bust, briefly appeared in court on Monday.
Branimar Orac, 31, was arrested after police seized 230kg of cocaine, which has a value of more than R300-million, off a ship in the Durban port following a tip-off from police in South America. The vessel, the M/V Senator, which had anchored in Durban, was en-route from Argentina in South America to Namibia before heading for Europe. It had docked in Durban for repairs.
According to police the blocks of cocaine were found hidden in Orac’s cabin on board the vessel.
Orac, who has very little understanding of English, appeared in the Durban Regional Court on charges of drug dealing. He was remanded in custody until next Monday when he is expected to apply for bail.
In the meantime, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is consulting with laywers to determine if they can seize the vessel, which remains detained.
Sars spokesman Adrian Lackay said the arrest of the M/V Senator sent a strong message to shipping lines to ensure that all goods on board have been declared and that details of crew are correct.
If Sars does seize the ship it will in all probability be auctioned off.
Story By : Liesl Venter
Date :2/4/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7372
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Round-world sailor presumed dead
04 February 2009 (08:28)
A 72-year-old Slovenian aiming to become the oldest man to sail non-stop around the world is presumed dead after his yacht was found abandoned off Australia's west coast, authorities said on Wednesday.
Jure Sterk set off from New Zealand in his nine-metre (30-foot) yacht in October 2007, hoping to make history both as the oldest man to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and in the smallest boat without an engine.
He kept contact with amateur radio enthusiasts, and last reported in early January when he was believed to be 1,900 kilometres from the west Australian coast, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.
Sterk encountered some bad weather around December 26, but told ham radio contacts he was not in danger, an AMSA spokeswoman told AFP.
A month later a merchant vessel spotted the badly-damaged yacht abandoned and without its lifeboat 1,200 kilometres from the coast.
"The yacht was in very bad repair and looked like it had been abandoned," AMSA spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins said of the January 26 sighting.
"Crew from the merchant vessel couldn't board (Sterk's) vessel because it was so small and weather conditions precluded that from happening, and they couldn't raise (Sterk) on the yacht," she told AFP.
Medical experts advised AMSA that there was no chance of him surviving the period since his last radio contact in open seas, and Jiggins said he was now presumed dead.
He never activated his emergency distress beacon, and his fate would remain a mystery, she added.
Jiggins said that the yacht was so badly storm damaged it was now likely to have sunk, while the distance from shore made it impossible to send a search helicopter.
Sterk had sailed around the world once previously, over three years from 1991. Slovenian authorities had been informed of his presumed death, Jiggins said.
http://www.supersport.co.za/xtra/article.aspx?id=286879&headline=Round-world%20sailor%20presumed%20dead
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Idle containerships still growing in numbers
The idle containership fleet now stands at 800 000 TEU capacity (6.5% of the cellular fleet) and still increasing, according to the latest Alphaliner figures.
The figures are the highest recorded in containership history, said the report, twice the 3.2% recorded in March 2002 and even above the 5% or so reached in 1986 when the whole fleet of US Lines was frozen in the wake of this leading carrier’s bankruptcy. At that time, USL owned the world’s largest container ships.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :2/4/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7386
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Maersk's biggest routed via Cape
Ship-watchers had a rare treat yesterday (February 3) when the largest ever Maersk Line vessel sailed past Duikerpunt in Cape Town. Regarded as one of the most environmentally friendly container vessels yet built, the 11 000 teu Elly Maersk was en route from Europe to Asia - the first time the line has routed this service via Cape Town..
Maersk has chosen to sail eastbound via the Cape of Good Hope to Asia for six weeks to save costs and ensure its services are sustainable in the present trade environment. Despite the longer voyage - seven to 10 days longer than the Suez route - the savings on the Suez Canal crossing fee are substantial, a Maersk spokesman told Cargo Info News. And while the longer journey will result in additional bunker consumption compared to the route through the Mediterranean, this will be limited because the vessel will slow steam from Algeciras as far as the Asian ports, he said. Maersk says it is not planning bigger vessels than the Elly Maersk at this stage, pointing out that vessel size is not determined by shipbuilding design and capability but rather by port and inland infrastructure capacity constraints. "There is a continuous need for smaller and midsized ships, especially to support global networks that include multiple smaller ports."
Story By : Joy Orlek
Date :2/4/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7373
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Arab ship missing in Somali waters
February 03 2009 at 09:05PM
Nairobi - A ship owned by Al Rashid Shipping Dubai is reportedly missing in Somali waters, a Kenyan maritime official said on Tuesday.
"It has been reported that the vessel is missing or has been detained in Somali waters on account of a commercial dispute between the owner and other interested parties," Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme said.
"The vessel is reported to be manned by 14 Indians." - Reuters
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=nw20090203182629543C286465
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Latest “multi-millionaire” port figures
Though in 2008 the number of members remained the same, Kaohsiung fell out of the ranking of the exclusive club of multi-millionaires (ports handling over 10 million TEU), and saw its position taken over by Ningbo.
Dubai overtook Rotterdam, where growth stagnated, and moved into sixth position.
In total, the eight ports handled just over 150-million TEUs, 5.1% more than the previous year.
The latest figures from Dynaliner (some still partly indicative) show:
1 Singapore – growth 7.2% - TEUs handled: 29.9-million in 2008 compared to 27.9-m 2007
2 Shanghai – growth 7.1%; 28-m, 26.15-m
3 Hong Kong - 1.0% - 24.248-m, 23.998-m
4 Shenzhen - 1.5% - 21.4-m, 21.08-m
5 Busan - 1.1% - 13.42-m, 13,27-m
6 Dubai - 12.1% - 12-m, 10.7-m
7 Rotterdam - 0.1% - 10.8-m, 10.791-m
8 Ningbo - 13.2% - 10,6-m, 9.36-m.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :2/4/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7385
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Google Earth goes under the sea, back in time, into space
Tuesday, 03 Feb 2009 14:20
Google Earth has received its biggest upgrade for two years after being expanded into the world's oceans.
Users will also be able to go back in time to see older views of certain locations, while a 3D map of Mars has also been launched.
Google said the web application had been made "much more complete... it now has an ocean".
Up until yesterday, the world's oceans had been just a big blue expanse with low-resolution shading on Google Earth.
But they had now been upgraded to a detailed bathymetric map, allowing users to drop below the surface and explore the seafloor in 3D, including videos and images of ocean life.
"With this latest version of Google Earth, you can not only zoom into whatever part of our planet's surface you wish to examine in closer detail, you can now dive into the world's oceans that cover almost three quarters of the planet and discover new wonders that had not been accessible in previous versions of this magical experience," former vice president, Nobel prize laureate and Oscar winner Al Gore said at upgraded Google Earth launch in San Francisco.
As well as the new ocean feature, which was developed through collaboration with scientists, academics and the US navy, Google Earth users can also move back and forth to reveal imagers from years and decades before.
"Try flying south of San Francisco in Google Earth and turning on the new time slider to witness the transformation of Silicon Valley from a farming community to the tech capital of the world over the past 50 years or so," Google said.
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/science/technology/google-earth-goes-under-sea-back-in-time-into-space-$1265898.htm
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Dock workers to follow 'legacy'
3 February 2009, 15:24
Durban dock workers are expected to refuse to off-load an Israeli ship as part of a week of action against "apartheid" Israel, Cosatu and the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) said on Tuesday.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven and PSC spokesperson Salim Vally said dock workers would refuse to off-load the ship arriving on Sunday, February 8, as part of a refusal to support oppression and exploitation across the globe.
SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) general secretary Randall Howard said the union's members were committed to not handling Israeli goods.
Last year, Durban dock workers refused to off-load a shipment of arms from China that was destined for Zimbabwe.
The arms would have been used to "prop up the Mugabe regime and to intensify the repression against the Zimbabwean people", Craven said.
"In 1963, just four years after the Anti-Apartheid Movement was formed, Danish dock workers refused to off-load a ship with South African goods.
"When the ship docked in Sweden, Swedish workers followed suit. Dock workers in Liverpool and, later, in the San Francisco Bay Area also refused to off-load South African goods," he said.
Western Australian members of the Maritime Union of Australia supported the "campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions" against Israel and had called for a boycott of all Israeli vessels and all vessels bearing goods arriving from or going to Israel.
"This is the legacy and the tradition that South African dock workers have inherited, and it is a legacy they are determined to honour, by ensuring that South African ports of entry will not be used as transit points for goods bound for or emanating from certain dictatorial and oppressive states such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Israel."
Cosatu called on other workers and unions across the globe to follow suit and to do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine was free.
The week of action would include a protest in front of the South African Zionist Federation and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies in Johannesburg on Friday, a rally on the same day in Actonville on the East Rand and a picket in front of Parliament in Cape Town.
The protest would be addressed by Satawu general secretary Randall Howard and former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, Craven said.
The rally on Friday would be addressed by Vally, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, South African Council of Churches general secretary Eddie Makue and Kasrils.
A protest at Durban harbour and a rally in Cape Town were planned for Sunday February 8, Craven said. - Sapa
http://www.capetimes.co.za/?fSectionId=271&fArticleId=nw20090203151841698C517466
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'Deal with illegal trading at our ports'
February 03 2009 at 12:56PM
By Rivonia Naidu
A Croatian national recently arrested in connection with the country's biggest drug bust made a brief appearance in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Branimir Orac, 31, who was arrested when police seized cocaine valued at about R300-million from the M/V Senator docked at Durban harbour, appeared apprehensive in the dock when Magistrate Thobeka Nomvungu postponed his case.
Orac has been charged for dealing in, and possession of drugs.
State prosecutor Sasha Jacobs told the court that Orac was a Croatian national and that the state and police had made arrangements with an official from the Croatian Embassy to interpret the court proceedings.
Jacobs requested that the matter be postponed until February 9 for legal representation and for consideration of bail.
"The interpreter informed me that the family has organised a lawyer," she said.
When asked by the magistrate if his family would have his attorney present at the next court appearance, Orac said, with the help of his interpreter, they would "try their best".
Last Thursday provincial police officers and SA Revenue Service (SARS) officials swarm-ed aboard the Liberian-registered M/V Senator, in Durban harbour.
The joint operation between the crime intelligence departments, the provincial organised crime unit and the Pietermaritzburg organised crime unit led to 200kg of cocaine being seized and Orac's arrest.
The ship, which had travel-led from Argentina and was destined for Walvis Bay, Namibia, was searched using police dogs and divers.
On Monday police spokesperson Dir Vish Naidoo said investigations were still at an early stage and police would not be able to say if more arrests were imminent.
Ashika Pillay, senior manager of Durban SARS customs and excise, said the vessel on which Orac was arrested was still being detained at the port.
"This is the first time we are testing the legal provisions for such matters. We need to set a precedent on how we deal with illegal trading at our ports," she said.
Nomvungu said Orac would be detained at Camperdown Police Station cells until his next court appearance, when bail would be considered.
This article was originally published on page 2 of Daily News on February 03, 2009
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20090203122013961C419760
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Former aircraft carrier Clemenceau has left Brest
(04 February 2009) The former French aircraft carrier Clemenceau has left the harbour of Brest at noon on Tuesday. Its transfer to the recycling facility of the British company Able UK at Able Seaton Port on the river Tees in northern England is expected to take around four days. The vessel, now known as Q790, has a gross tonnage of 32,780 tonnes. Breaking this ship will be "the largest project so far handled by any European yard", according to Able UK. The company reports that once the vessel has been delivered, the cofferdam will be completed which will allow it to drain the dock and undertake the recycling work in controlled dry dock conditions. The dismantling work on the Q790 and other vessels is scheduled to begin after Easter.
http://www.euwid-recycling.com/news_single.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=203&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=13&cHash=1264fe9162
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40 arrested en route to Australia
Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police arrested 40 Afghan and Pakistani citizens Tuesday as they tried to pass through Bau-Bau waters in Southeast Sulawesi on their way to Australia.
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji said along with the refugees - comprising of 15 Afghans and 25 Pakistanis - they also detained four Indonesian citizens accused of having smuggled the migrants into the country.
"We have detained the four men on suspected charges of people smuggling while the refugees are now in police custody, in coordination with the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees)," he told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The four Indonesians, identified only as Taher, TN, LN and HU, are now being detained at the Bau-Bau police office for further questioning, Sisno said.
"We need to find who is behind this operation so we can crack the whole syndicate," he said.
Sisno said only 33 of the 40 refugees were carrying passports at the time.
"These people were on their way to Australia. Now we need to coordinate with officials from the UNHCR in regards as to what must be done next," he said.
The three-star general said police had discovered six of the 40 foreigners had also been deported from Indonesia in the past.
"Once again they have tried to pass through Indonesia toward Australia," he said.
Indonesia has become a favorite transit point for people smugglers because of its vast territory and limited security patrols.
Sisno said human traffickers used a number of tactics to cover their tracks and avoid arrest.
"They often pretend to have run out of fuel or claim their ship is sinking in an attempt to escape charges," he said.
Indonesia has long been used as a transit point for people escaping impoverished, often war-torn countries in the hope of entering Australia to begin a new life. In recent years, the majority have come from Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, typically into Indonesia before continuing onto Australia aboard overcrowded and dangerous vessels.
Australia has intercepted at least five boats carrying dozens of refugees headed by Indonesian crews since September last year. The refugees were mainly from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Sri Lanka.
Lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari criticized the government's method of handling refugees, saying she often received reports from refugees claiming they were treated poorly while in Indonesia.
"We should treat these people, whether they are being smuggled or trafficked, as victims, not criminals. This means we have to provide proper and humane facilities while they are being detained in this country. Apparently, the government continues to fail them," she told The Jakarta Post.
She said if refugees refused to return home after being rejected by the country, the government must provide an alternative option.
http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20090204.G02&irec=2
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Chinese Submarine Patrols Doubled in 2008
By Hans M. Kristensen
Chinese submarines conducted 12 patrols in 2008, the highest ever.
Chinese attack submarines sailed on more patrols in 2008 than ever before, according to information obtained by Federation of American Scientists from U.S. naval intelligence.
The information, which was declassified by U.S. naval intelligence in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Federation of American Scientists, shows that China’s fleet of more than 50 attack submarines conducted 12 patrols in 2008, twice the number of patrols conducted in 2007.
China’s strategic ballistic missile submarines have never conducted a deterrent patrol.
Highest Patrol Rate Ever
The 12 patrols conducted in 2008 constitute the highest patrol rater ever for the Chinese submarine fleet. They follow seven patrols conducted in 2007, two in 2006, and zero in 2005. China has four times refrained from conducting submarine patrols since 1981, and the previous peaks were six patrols conducted in 2000 and 2007 (see Figure 1).
While the increase is submarine patrols is important, it has to be seen in comparison with the size of the Chinese submarine fleet. With approximately 54 submarines, the patrol rate means that each submarine on average goes on patrol once every four and a half years. In reality, the patrols might have been carried out by only a small portion of the fleet, perhaps the most modern and capable types. A new class of nuclear-powered Shang-class (Type-093) attack submarines is replacing the aging Han-class (Type-091).
Few of the details for assessing the implications of the increased patrol rate are known, nor is it known precisely what constitutes a patrol in order for U.S. naval intelligence to count it. A request for the definition has been denied. It is assumed that a patrol in this case involves an extended voyage far enough from the submarine’s base to be different from a brief training exercise.
In comparison with other major navies, twelve patrols are not much. The patrol rate of the U.S. attack submarine fleet, which is focused on long-range patrols and probably operate regularly near the Chinese coast, is much higher with each submarine conducting at least one extended patrol per year. But the Chinese patrol rate is higher than that of the Russian navy, which in 2008 conducted only seven attack submarine patrols, the same as in 2007.
Still no SSBN Patrols
The declassified information also shows that China has yet to send one of its strategic submarines on patrol. The old Xia, China’s first SSBN, completed a multi-year overhaul in late-2007 but did not sail on patrol in 2008.
The first of China’s new Jin-class (Type-094) SSBN was spotted in February 2008 at the relatively new base on Hainan Island, where a new submarine demagnetization facility has been constructed. But the submarine did not conduct a patrol the remainder of the year. A JL-2 missile was test launched Bohai Bay in May 2008, but it is yet unclear from what platform.
Two or three more Jin-class subs are under construction at the Huludao (Bohai) Shipyard, and the Pentagon projects that up to five might be built. How these submarines will be operated as a “counter-attack” deterrent remains to be seen, but they will be starting from scratch.
http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2009/02/patrols.php
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKn5XY2enyo0NFMXtRj7T0SVtFCA
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Anti-Whaling Group Says it Has Located Japanese Fleet
By VOA News
01 February 2009
The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says its chase ship has located Japan's whaling fleet near Antarctica and is in pursuit.
In a statement Sunday, the U.S.-based group said that after a week of searching their vessel was 11 kilometers from the Japanese mothership Nisshin Maru and two harpoon vessels and was closing in on them.
Japan has called the Sea Shepherd activists "pirates" and "eco-terrorists" because of their use of aggressive tactics, such as boarding, stink bombs and collisions. But the activists say the whalers are the real "pirates" because their hunt violates international law.
Last month, Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd founder and captain of the Steve Irwin, which has been harassing this year's whale hunt, said the group would halt their pursuit of the Japanese fleet next season if Australia takes legal action against Japan.
Australia's Labor government promised during its 2007 election campaign to begin legal proceedings against Japan at the International Court of Justice. But the government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd now says it wants to see what progress can be made through diplomacy.
Japan claims that its annual hunt is necessary scientific research permitted under a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Opponents say lethal methods are unnecessary and claim the expeditions are a cover for commercial whaling. Most of the meat from the hunt ends up on grocery store shelves.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-01-voa15.cfm
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Boeing eyes jump in India deal
10:15PM Wednesday February 04, 2009
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co is looking to bid for defence projects worth up to $31 billion over the next 10 years in India, as strategic ties between the two countries deepen.
"It is a $31 billion market for us to bid in the defence sector and rising," Vivek Lall, India country head of Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), said.
"There is a tremendous growth prospect in India and it is no longer about buying and selling, it is now about being a fabric of the country, being a partner and a preferred partner," Lall said in an interview in New Delhi.
The company has also submitted a bid for six medium range naval warfare aircraft contract, weeks after it signed a $2.1 billion contract for eight P-8I warfare planes.
"It is a P-8I derivative and is a good fit for the navy to consider it," Lall said.
The Indian Navy is keen to replace its ageing fleet of aircraft with state-of-the-art fighters with latest technology.
Lall said the P-8I contract was the perfect example of how India is getting the latest technology for its defence forces.
"It is a shining example of something unprecedented, we have the US Navy and the Indian Navy receiving the aircraft at the same time," Lall said.
Boeing plans to make inroads into the South Asian defence market and has already submitted a bid for a contract to supply India with 126 multi-role fighter jets, potentially worth more than $10 billion.
Lall said Boeing's India projection for defence projects could get revised as the defence sector opens up further, following a landmark Indo-US civilian nuclear deal signed last November.
The deal gave New Delhi access to civilian nuclear fuel and technology on the international market for the first time in three decades, helping boost business confidence in India.
"The bridging of the Indo-US relationship has really helped us. Things that are happening in the defence sector now, we could not think about it a few years ago," Lall said.
India, fast becoming one of the world's biggest arms importers, wants to modernise its air force, the fourth largest in the world, to cope with possible security threats in the region, security experts said.
India is looking to spend $30 billion on imports over the next five years to modernise its largely Soviet-era arms by introducing new weapons systems.
Separately, Boeing is focusing on the services sector in India in 2009, by providing spare parts and software to India along with its subsidiary companies.
The company has already submitted a detailed proposal to the Indian government to help build the country's aerospace industry and transfer defence technology to meet government conditions for defence contracts.
"We want to establish a strong India footprint, regardless of the platform sales and that is a very important dimension to our company in 2009," Lall said.
From just one office in 2005, the company now has nine offices in India and will expand further, Lall added.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/2463822
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Aid ship heads to Gaza from Lebanon
February 03 2009 at 11:11AM
Tripoli, Lebanon - An aid ship bound for Israeli-blockaded Gaza and loaded with medical supplies, food, clothing and toys left the port city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon early on Tuesday.
On board the "Brotherhood Ship" were eight people including the former Greek-Catholic archbishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, who left Jerusalem in the 1970s after serving time in an Israeli jail for membership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
"We have decided to go ahead with this mission in solidarity with the people of Gaza so that they don't feel cut off from the world," organiser Hani Suleiman said before the boat left Tripoli at around midnight.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=nw20090203110001310C622302
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How to fend off pirates
03/02/2009 09:00 - (SA)
Portland - With an alarming number of tankers and cargo ships getting hijacked on the high seas, US maritime academies are offering more training to merchant seamen in how to fend off attacks from pirates armed not with cutlasses and flintlocks but automatic weapons and grenade launchers.
Colleges are teaching students to fishtail their vessels at high speed, drive off intruders with high-pressure water hoses and illuminate their decks with floodlights.
Anti-piracy training is not new. Nor are the techniques. But the lessons have taken on new urgency - and more courses are planned - because of the record number of attacks worldwide in 2008 by outlaws who seize ships and hold them for ransom.
At the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, California, professor Donna Nincic teaches two courses on piracy. Students learn where the piracy hotspots are and how they have shifted over the years.
"If I've done anything, I've shown them that this isn't a joke, it's not about parrots and eye patches and Blackbeard and all that," Nincic said. "It's very real and it's a problem without an easy solution."
Emily Rizzo, a student at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, worked aboard a 230m cargo ship last year as part of her training. As the vessel sailed the Malacca Straits in Southeast Asia, she served on "pirate watches", learned to use hoses and took part in drills with alarms indicating the ship had been boarded.
The training "brought to light just how serious it is", said Rizzo, 22. "The pirates can get on board these huge ships and they know what they're doing. It's not like the old days."
Piracy hotspots
The International Maritime Bureau reported 293 piracy incidents in 2008, an increase of 11% from the year before. Forty-nine vessels were hijacked, and 889 crew members were taken hostage. Eleven were killed and 21 reported missing and presumed dead, according to the bureau.
Piracy hotspots have been identified off East Africa and in Southeast Asia, South America and the Caribbean.
Typically, small numbers of pirates - as few as two and up to 15 or 16 - draw up alongside ships in motorised skiffs and use grappling hooks and rope ladders to clamber aboard. Some of the biggest ships might have no more than two dozen crew members.
Often the pirates are armed with knives and guns. Pirates off the coast of Somalia have taken to firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
In the old days, ships were armed with cannons to guard against pirates. But nowadays, crew members for the most part do not carry guns. And maritime instructors say that arming crews is not the answer.
It is illegal for crews to carry weapons in the territorial waters of many nations, and ship captains are wary of arming crew members for fear of mutinies, Nincic said. Also, some worry that arming crew members would only cause the violence to escalate.
Instead, the best defence is vigilance, Nincic tells students.
New anti-piracy course on non-lethal defence
"If you demonstrate a culture of awareness, that you look like you know you're in pirate waters and are clearly standing watch, patrolling, etc, the pirates know you're going to be more difficult to board and are possibly going to wait for the next ship and board the one that's easier," she said.
The Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, is putting together a new anti-piracy course on non-lethal defence for ship crews, said Ralph Pundt, chairperson of the school's marine transportation department.
The course would teach how crews can use observation techniques, lights, fire hoses and evasive action. The best way to combat pirates, Pundt said, it to keep them from boarding in the first place.
Michael Durnan, a 42-year-old student at Cal Maritime, was working on a tanker filled with soybean oil in 2001 when he confronted four pirates standing on the ship's stern in the Bay of Bengal off Bangladesh.
Durnan approached the men with a wooden plank, but they threw some equipment overboard and then jumped over themselves, escaping into the darkness in small fishing boats.
"They take everything and sell everything," he said. "Anything on a ship can be sold to somebody for something."
- AP
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2463176,00.html
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Turmoil in shipping: claims and arrests rise
At the height of the economic boom the going rate for charters of the largest bulk carriers ("Cape Size") reached startling figures of up to 120,000 US dollars a day. The market downturn saw this plummet to as low as $3,000 a day. Although this rate has since risen (reportedly to the region of $20,000 a day) it is still a far cry from last year and players in the industry are hurting.
The result is that on a daily basis chartering companies are going to the wall or simply trying to redeliver (hand back) ships on charter to them, says Shepstone & Wylie's Shane Dwyer, a partner in the International Transport, Trade and Energy Department and an expert in the shipping field.
He referred to a recent Lloyds List report which said arbitrators estimate that appointments have surged by as much as 25% since last year.
It went on to quote Mark Hamsher, a committee member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association, as saying that he was seeing claims for non-performed contracts with losses of, say, $5m per month or a calculated loss over several years of $ 100m.
The big question is how do you get your money back? How do the innocent parties get security for their claims, or having obtained a judgment or award in their favour, execute on it?
Dwyer has been invited to shortly join British, French and US experts in an international video conference, arranged by the London Shipping Law Centre and Holman Fenwick Willan that will discuss the various international options of securing or enforcing maritime claims.
Shepstone & Wylie is currently receiving on average two to three calls a day asking for advice on arresting ships or other assets, so that monies owed can be recovered or security obtained for pending proceedings abroad, says Dwyer.
South Africa and France have advantageous jurisdictions to arrest ships for this purpose, while the US has developed a procedure called a Rule B attachment. This procedure enables a court order to be obtained to attach money being remitted in US dollars through the New York banking system, to an owner or charterer and freeze it as security.
While there has been considerable Rule B activity in the US recently in consequence of the credit and trading crisis, says Dwyer, charterers and ship owners are finding ways around this, and legal observers suggest the use of this procedure to attach assets has become increasingly contentious, with defendants being more prepared to contest proceedings or lodge counter-claims.
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2009_02_3_2008.html
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Boeing, US Navy Deliver Proposal To Equip Brazil's Air Force With Super Hornets
The Super Hornet is the first operationally deployed strike fighter incorporating next-generation capabilities, including the Raytheon-built APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, which the U.S. government released to Brazil as part of the Super Hornet offering.
by Staff Writers
St. Louis MO (SPX) Feb 04, 2009
Boeing and the U.S. Navy on Feb. 2 delivered a proposal to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) offering the advanced, multirole F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as part of Brazil's F-X2 fighter aircraft competition.
The Super Hornet was one of three aircraft selected by the FAB in October 2008 to be evaluated in the Request for Proposal phase of the F-X2 competition. Brazil's stated requirement is for 36 aircraft; final contract award is expected in late 2009.
"We are pleased to offer the Brazilian Air Force the advanced combat capability the Block II Super Hornet delivers," said Bob Gower, vice president of F/A-18 and EA-18 Programs for Global Strike Systems, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
"We believe this proposal will meet the Brazilian Air Force's operational requirements and reflects the U.S. government's decision to release Super Hornet technology.
"Boeing is looking forward to the opportunity to establish long-term partnerships with the Brazilian Air Force, Brazilian industry and the government of Brazil," Gower added.
The Super Hornet, with core strengths in both performance and technology, is the most advanced multipurpose strike fighter in production today, with a proven performance record through more than 500,000 hours of flight time.
It is operated by the U.S. Navy and is currently being built for the Royal Australian Air Force. The Super Hornet program has continued to add capability to the aircraft while decreasing cost over its lifetime.
In addition, the Super Hornet is the first operationally deployed strike fighter incorporating next-generation capabilities, including the Raytheon-built APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, which the U.S. government released to Brazil as part of the Super Hornet offering.
Boeing has delivered more than 380 Super Hornets to the U.S. Navy, all on or ahead of the original production delivery schedule. Australia is procuring Super Hornets to bolster its fleet of F/A-18 Hornets. Boeing is in discussions with several other international customers about their interest in procuring the Super Hornet.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Boeing_US_Navy_Deliver_Proposal_To_Equip_Brazil_Air_Force_With_Super_Hornets_999.html
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World’s first FDPSO heads for the Congo
The world’s first FDPSO – that’s Floating, Drilling, Production, Storage and Offloading for the uninitiated – is on her way from the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore bound for the Republic of Congo, where the large vessel will go to work for Murphy West Africa in the deep-water Azurite development in the Mer Profonde Sud Block.
Unlike standard FPSOs the AZURITE, as this one has been named, comes equipped with a modular drilling rig that can be removed for use elsewhere once production wells have been drilled. Normal FPSOs are brought in after the wells have been drilled and recovery of oil is underway.
Azurite has a storage capacity of 1,4 million barrels of oil and a process capacity of between 40,000 and 60,000 bpd and will operate in waters at a depth of 1,400 metres.
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2009_02_3_2008.html
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Business Times - 04 Feb 2009
Greek farmers in fresh clashes with police at port
(ATHENS) Greek riot police clashed with protesting farmers at the port of Piraeus for a second day yesterday, firing tear gas to disperse crowds trying to push through a police blockade.
About 500 farmers who arrived at the country's biggest port from the island of Crete on Monday were joined by more farmers who came on boats early yesterday to protest against low produce prices and subsidies.
'Some farmers charged at police who had formed a cordon at the gates of the port and started throwing chairs, tables and other objects. Police responded by firing tear gas,' said a police official who declined to be named.
'We came with our tractors but police would not let us leave the port,' said Giorgos Goniotakis, a farmers' representative, on Monday.
'We want the same support measures given to other farmers to apply to us in Crete as well. We are staying here.'
Protesting Greek farmers had caused 11 days of travel chaos by setting roadblocks across the country but most gave up last week after the government pledged 500 million euros (S$967 million) in aid. Blockades continue on- and-off at the border with Bulgaria.
Most of Greece's farming sector, which makes up roughly 5 per cent of GDP, is made up of small-scale farmers who rely on subsidies to survive. Greece must seek approval from the European Union before handing out any aid.
The conservative government, clinging to a one-seat majority and sliding in opinion polls, has to balance big budget deficits with the need to offer relief as the global crisis bites.
Deputy finance and agriculture ministers met farmers' representatives late on Monday in an effort to convince them to return home, but no agreement was reached.
Some sailings mainly to and from Crete, Greece's biggest island, were disrupted. Farmers broke through fences surrounding the port and briefly blocked surrounding roads. There were no immediate injuries or arrests\. \-- Reuters
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,317285,00.html?
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Piracy update – Turkish ship released
Unconfirmed reports state that Somali pirates have released the Turkish-owned dry cargo ship BOSPHORUS PRODIGY (3,062-gt, built 1985) along with her crew of eight Ukrainians and three Turks. The ship has been in captivity since December off the Puntland coast.
There is no indication whether a ransom was paid although this is assumed.
In another incident being reported yesterday, a Comoros-registered ship JAIKUR II has disappeared somewhere off the Somali coast and while piracy cannot be ruled out it is thought possible that a commercial dispute may have led to the ship being ‘detained’ by other interested parties.
Jaikur II had recently completed the delivery, under escort of the French naval patrol frigate FNS FLOREAL, of a World Food Programme consignment to the Somali capital and main port of Mogadishu. On arrival in Mogadishu on 24 January the French warship departed the scene while the stevedores got on with the discharging of Jaikur II’s cargo. Once this was complete there has been no reports of the ship.
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2009_02_3_2008.html
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Business Times - 04 Feb 2009
Open season for seamen
For pirates to prey on seafarers is unfortunate but understandable; what is not acceptable is for politicians to hold seamen to ransom
By DAVID HUGHES
FEW people in shipping will not have heard of the 'London Greeks', a UK-based expatriate community that has long been prominent in the tramp trades and shipbroking.
Its roots in London go back well into the 19th century, but since 1935, it has been represented by the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee (GSCC), initially to run a minimum-freight rate scheme for the Argentina-UK trade. Subsequently, the GSCC continued to function as the voice of Greek shipping interests in London.
While there is talk about the Greek shipping community in London moving away, usually because of unfriendly moves by the UK Treasury, there are still about 100 Greek shipping offices in the British capital.
GSCC publishes a monthly newsletter, the Bulletin, which is always a good read for two reasons. One is that GSCC is one of the best sources of information on European Union (EU) maritime policy, mainly because the Greek owners usually oppose what EU proposes.
The other thing about GSCC is that it has no hesitation in supporting unfashionable arguments and swimming against the tide of political opinion where it believes it is right.
But things run a bit deeper than that. The Greek owners are close to the operational side of the industry - to their ships and their seafarers, in ways you don't always find elsewhere.
That common feeling with seafarers, or 'seamen' as the non-politically correct GSCC prefers to call them, is very evident in the organisation's latest Bulletin.
It has spoken out forcefully against an appeal ruling by European Court of Human Rights in the case of Apostolos Mangouras, master of the ill-fated tanker Prestige, and more generally against the increasing 'criminalisation' of seafarers. Recent times, GSCC complains, have been 'open season on seamen'.
'For pirates to prey on seamen is, of course, extremely unfortunate. But at least, it is expected and understandable,' GSCC says with a stoicism that would elude most of its counterparts in shore-based industries.
'However,' it continues, 'for politicians to hold seamen to ransom in order to further their own political interests is totally reprehensible and unacceptable.
'That they are allowed to do so with the blessing of the European Court of Human Rights is incomprehensible. This, however, seems to be the case.'
GSCC notes that the court has ruled that the 83-day pre-trial imprisonment and bail of three million euros (S$5.8 million) set for the former master was not a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and was not excessive, given the seriousness of the pollution incident.
The Greek owners complain: 'As is well known, Captain Mangouras was arrested immediately upon arrival ashore, after battling for days to save the crew and the 81,000 deadweight tonne Prestige, which broke apart and sank off the coast of Spain in 2002.
'Neither his heroic efforts to save the crew and the ship, nor the fact that the Spanish authorities had earlier refused his request for a place of refuge but, instead, sent the ship out to sea in gale-force winds, thus ensuring its ultimate demise, were taken into consideration.'
GSCC also refers to the Hebei Spirit case. 'Then,' it continues, 'we have the cases of the masters and first officers of the Astro Saturn and the B Atlantic, professionals to a man, languishing in Venezuela, because smugglers decided to attach drugs to the hulls of their ships, and the Venezuelan government needed to be seen to be 'doing something'.'
In my view, GSCC is absolutely right. There is, though, another case that could be mentioned - and that is of the treatment of the master, mate and bosun of the reefer ship Coral Sea by the Greek criminal justice system.
Last November, the global shipping community was greatly relieved when the conviction of the master, Kristo Laptallo, was overturned and he was freed from jail and allowed home.
Sad to say, however, there has been an even darker side to this horrible affair playing out quietly behind the scenes. The mate, Konstantin Metelev, died in hospital in his home town of Klaipeda, Lithuania, on Jan 23.
Basically, he lost his mind in the face of drug smuggling allegations that defied common sense. He retreated into a world of his own and went on a hunger strike, which he continued after he was released from prison. He was too ill to return home to his family and never left hospital.
An International Transport Workers' Federation spokesman said: 'We consider him another victim of the undeserved criminalisation of seafarers.'
Unfortunately, he is unlikely to be the last one.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,317301,00.html?
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K Line goes west
Japanese carrier K Line has announced the launching of a new service which will operate between Cape Town and West Africa.
The service which commences in April will make use of four ships in the 1,000-TEU range and will operate as an independent service for K Line calling at Cape Town, Tema, Lagos, Cotonou, and Cape Town.
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2009_02_3_2008.html
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Business Times - 04 Feb 2009
US shipping sector runs short of young sailors
(TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan) Long a symbol of romance and adventure, the seafaring life is attracting fewer young adults these days, creating a worsening personnel shortage for those hauling cargo across oceans and the Great Lakes of North America.
Some shipping companies have told the US Maritime Administration that the problem has forced them to dock or even sell vessels. Others said that it has kept them from expanding fleets, or caused delayed voyages and lost contracts.
A cross-section of the maritime industry has been affected to varying degrees, from oil tankers and bulk cargo haulers to tugs, barges and ferries.
'It's not limited to any region or any nation. It is a global challenge,' maritime administrator Sean Connaughton said.
That includes the Great Lakes, where ships carry iron ore, coal and limestone to factories and pick up mid-western grain for transport overseas.
'We look to hire four to six new officers every year, and every year we can't get them,' said Ed Wiltse, vice- president of operations for Grand River Navigation, which has five cargo haulers.
Mr Wiltse prefers officers trained especially for the Great Lakes, but sometimes must hire saltwater vessel operators on a short-term basis. 'We've had to fly in people at the last minute from Florida or Seattle and get them to a ship so it can leave,' he said.
The situation has been developing for years and has many causes.
Some point to licensing and training requirements that have gotten tougher, along with beefed-up safety standards and greater use of computers and other technology.
'The days of people just being able to jump on a ship and get a job are long gone,' said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers Association, a trade group representing Great Lakes shippers.
With international commerce picking up, more goods are being transported by water, so there are more job openings. Stepped-up offshore oil exploration is boosting demand for ships and crews.
And the work force is gradually ageing, as veteran mariners retire and fewer young people get aboard. Many in the industry say that going to sea has less allure for youths than in previous generations.
One turn-off is spending months at a time away from home.
A one-time attraction - lengthy, entertaining stopovers in exotic ports - is mostly a memory, because of automation and greater efficiency.
'In New York, 50 years ago you could go right into Manhattan and tie up at the Chelsea Piers and spend a week loading or unloading,' Mr Connaughton said. 'Now you go to the container yard at Port Elizabeth (New Jersey), out near the Meadowlands. Nothing's there but the port, and 10 hours later you're gone anyway.'
Yet a seafaring career still has plenty to offer.
For one thing, as the unemployment rate climbs, the maritime industry is hiring.
It has taken a hit from the downturn, like other sectors of the economy. But the maritime administration says that about 10,000 replacements are needed in the greying officer corps, and a US Coast Guard study predicts shipping trade will double or triple by 2020.
Pay and benefits can be generous. The Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, which trains prospective officers for civilian and commercial vessels, says that it has a 100-per-cent placement rate for graduates in positions with starting salaries averaging US$10,000 per month.
Great Lakes mariners typically are on the water only six to eight months a year, so they can spend the rest of their time at home - or working elsewhere.
Tom Orzechowski, a vice-president of the Seafarers International Union based in Algonac, Michigan, said that the industry and government should do better at recruiting youths - especially those considering the military. 'We're a strong alternative to joining the armed services,' he said.
Recruitment and apprenticeship initiatives are under way. The Seafarers union started a 20-week programme several years ago to help unlicensed seamen earn promotions to mate.
The Great Lakes academy, overlooking Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay, is one of six state schools for officers. Enrolment this semester is 116, but there's room for more than 200, Superintendent John Tanner said.
Cadets train as deck officers - responsible for navigation and cargo handling - or engineering officers, who deal with engines, maintenance and equipment\. \-- AP
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,317300,00.html?
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Regards
Snooper
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