Please Note
Weekend gone ……. Thursday is gone …. Welcome to the Weekend !!!
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,
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cape Town Log - Laurence
Excerpt from Laurence's log:
So here I am on the 747 400 Lufthansa flight on my way home. I'm torn between leaving Zac and saying our farewells and missing the rest of the family back in the USA. What a great trip it has been full of great experiences, much work, and great achievements. I’ll give a quick run down of the highlights.
I know that many of you are intrigued to know the details of the Mike and Zac meeting. Both Mike and Zac have far too much in common to be arch rivals. Both are matured well beyond their years and displayed a healthy respect for one another exchanging the many varied experiences that they have encountered along the way. I can’t help thinking about the magnitude and chance of this great encounter of two of the worlds' youngest solo circumnavigators meeting by happenstance or by divine appointment on their quests to be the youngest to circumnavigate the globe.
This is truly one of the greatest days and inspirations for young sailors world wide. We had lunch together and whilst the lads had much to discuss Peter, Mike's father, and I had equally as much in common and a bond of respect, knowing that we had both been through a similar paths in supporting and managing similiar campaigns to date. After lunch Mike and Zac, along with Jed and Jen, went to look at Mike's boat. We all had a great time though in the backs of our minds was the thought of the pending work that still needed to be carried out on both vessels to see them through their next legs safely. It was time to say our farewells and get back to work. Both young lads have come a long way and have vast distances to cover before either one accomplishes his goal. Please be mindful of their well-being and pray for both.
Jed, a young lad that Zac had met and became fast friends with in Cocos Keeling, lives in Cape Town and was eager to show Zac around. Kathy and Richard, Jed's parents, offered their beachfront condo to us to help offset our expenses. Seth, Jed's brother who lives in the condo, and I took it in turns to make some culinary delight as our evening meal. We didn’t manage to poison one another and I think Jen may have put on a few pounds which means our cooking must have been a success. It was very generous and much appreciated and many thanks to Richard and Kathy.
The V&A Waterfront Marina is a very special place to be moored: not only is it a very beautiful location, close to all the important amenities, it is also very safe . Eric and Jeff from Wiltel Marine and the local Bavaria & Aicon dealership have really been very accommodating and a great help in many different aspects. It has meant that we could really achieve a great deal of work and have Intrepid in the best shape she can be in for the Atlantic Ocean.
The work list was varied and extensive see list below
1/ Run new main halyard
2/ Change out broken U-bolt on bow
3/ Caulk deck fittings
4/ Change broken camera aft.
5/ Change mast boot
6/ Run lazy jack lines
7/ Tape up mast steps (halyards keep getting stuck behind them)
8/ Inspect camera monitors aloft and get them working
9/ Service engine
10/ Tune Rig
11/ Locate all charging equipment for cameras
12/ Repair life lines
13/ Run new jack lines
14/ Check all ground tackle (anchor, chain, lines etc)
15/ Troubleshoot solar panels - not charging properly
16/ Pick up courtesy flags, charts and guides for next legs
17/ Fuel vessel
18/ Provision vessel
19/ Clean vessel inside and out
20/ Wash all boat covers
22/ Glass-in delaminated tape on lower shroud bulk head
23/ Clean all metal work
24/ Lubricate and clean salt off all running rigging
25/ Engineer auto pilot to work off of wind monitor
This is the majority of the work list which we were able to knock out. Intrepid looks like the majestic vessel that left Marina del Rey back in June. Now with some 16,000 nautical miles under her keel she is ready to come home.
The excitement keeps on mounting in Cape Town. I’ve just learned that Minoru Saito, who also is attempting a non-stop solo circumnavigation will be stopping in Cape Town. Zac will delay his departure by a few days to meet Minoru who is attempting to be the oldest person to solo circumnavigate. He is an amazing person. For more info on Saito-san check out his web site at http://www.saito8.com/ The '8' in his web address stands for this being his eighth solo circumnavigtion!
It is no surprise that Cape Town has earned a reputation as being a yachting mecca where you can just about get anything done to a yacht that you can think of. It was also Cape Town where half of the Vendee Globe fleet limped into after taking a beating in the Southern Ocean.
Cape Town certainly appears to be a very spectacular place with quite a diverse culture.
We worked long and hard days only stopping for those media engagements. We enjoyed the very spectacular backdrop of Table Mountain which was occasionally coverd by the 'table cloth'. When a north easterly blows it covers the flat topped mountain in a cloud. It is really quite a spectacular sight to behold. Unfortunately, there was no time for a trip to the top of Table Mountain. The one afternoon we had free Zac decided to visit one of the local missions and bless them with a donation of food which was aboard Intrepid and would not be used. It proved to be quite a humbling experience. Many of the young folks either had TB or HIV and a short life expectancy. It was very sobering but we were all grateful for being there and being able to give a little.
I really wanted to see Mike and Peter Perham before leaving but as the day for my departure drew near I had a few curve balls to deal with that brought my time in South Africa to a close. I left for the airport knowing I’d given my best. Now it is time for Zac to say his farewells as he ventures out into Atlantic Ocean.
Cheers,
Laurence
posted at 4:43 PM
From Mom :
Zac will be staying for a few more days as the oldest solo circumnavigator is coming to CT on Friday. His name is Minaru Saito. www.saito8.com
Zac will stay to greet and visit with him and take of in a few days.
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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.
No Update.
Visit : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/
Blog : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
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India Loves Krivak
February 10, 2009: India is ordering more Krivak IV class frigates from Russia. Twelve years ago India ordered the first three. Then, in 2004, three more Krivak IVs (now Talwar class) frigates were ordered. All of these are export versions of the Russian Cold War era Krivak III class ships, which the Russian navy cannot afford to buy for itself.
The first three Talwars entered service in 2003-4, the second batch will arrive in 2011-12. There were some teething problems with these ships, the first of a new class. But the Indians were finally satisfied, when Russia made good all deficiencies. There was one major shortcoming with the Talwars, the Indian supplied sonars are not working. That's an Indian problem, however, and not a bad reflection on the Russians.
The 4,000 ton Talwar's are 386 feet long, carry 24 anti-aircraft and eight anti-ship missiles, four torpedo tubes, as well as a 100mm gun, close in anti-missile guns, a helicopter, anti-submarine weapons (depth charges and missiles). The ship has a very complete set of electronics gear, except for the troublesome Indian sonar. There is a crew of 180. The price of these ships has risen from about $350 million each for the first three, to over $600 million each for the latest order. All of the Talwars are being equipped with eight BrahMos anti-ship missile each.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/articles/20090210.aspx
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Surface Forces - The $6 Billion Destroyer Fades Away
February 9, 2009: A year ago, the U.S. Navy ordered the first two DDG 1000 destroyers. This is the "Zumwalt" class, and each of the first two was to cost $3.3 billion. At that point, the navy was only planning to buy seven Zumwalts. Since then, the buy has been reduced to three ships, and the cost (partly because R&D had to be spread over fewer ships) escalated to $6 billion a ship. That's about what a 100,000 ton Nimitz class aircraft carrier costs.
Cutting the buy to seven ships, and then to three, was partly due to the escalating cost of the ships, and partly because the Zumwalts were seen as the wrong ship, at the wrong time. For one thing, the navy was eager to build more of the older, and cheaper, DDG 51s, which had proven highly capable, especially when they underwent an inexpensive modification that gave them the ability to shoot down ballistic missiles. There is now talk of tweaking the DDG 51 design a bit, and forgetting all about DDG 1000.
Compared to the previous class of American destroyers (the DDG 51s), the Zumwalts are very different. The DDG 51s displaced 9,200 tons and had a crew of 360 sailors. The DDG 1000s displace 14,000 tons and have a crew of 142. The DDG 1000s are stealthy and carry a larger gun (two automated, long range 155mm weapons). It also has 80 vertical cells for anti-aircraft, land attack and anti-ship missiles. It can carry one or two helicopters, plus three RQ-8A helicopter UAVs. The DDG 1000s are highly automated and are crammed with the latest electronics. After the first two are built, the next five are expected to cost about $2 billion each. The first DDG 1000 will enter service in 4-5 years.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/articles/20090209.aspx
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New Scanning Sonars & Profilers unveiled at Subsea 2009
Subsea 09, 11-12 February 2009, Booth A9
10:56 GMT, February 11, 2009 The Kongsberg Maritime Ltd booth (A9) at Subsea 09 will play host to two new sonar products from Kongsberg Maritime's specialist sonar division, Kongsberg Mesotech Ltd. The 1171 Series is a complete range of multi-frequency, fast scanning obstacle avoidance imaging and profiling sonars offering unrivalled resolution, from an industry leader in sonar technology.
The 1171 Series of sonar heads have been developed to meet the requirements for both shallow and deep ocean applications. As well as the choice of operating frequencies, the new sonar heads feature faster scanning rates, improved range resolution and even clearer, sharper images, all in a more compact lighter housing.
1171 Series - Obstacle Avoidance Imaging Sonar Heads The dual transducer design allows optimised operational configuration for both long range obstacle avoidance and shorter range imaging detail. The transducer is protected within an oil-filled, pressure compensating dome.
The telemetry is RS485 and RS232 compatible and is automatically sensed and configured at start up to match the telemetry link used. The sonar head operation is configured and controlled using the MS1000 Software Processor.
Other features include:
-Dual transducers for multi purpose obstacle avoidance and inspection use
-Multiple frequency capability (330 to 400 kHz and 450 to 700 kHz)
-Improved range and scanning rate
-Improved sampling resolution & beam foot print resulting in clearer, sharper images
-Improved Range Resolution
-Lighter 4000m depth rated design
-Optional Ethernet telemetry interface
1171 Series - Multi Frequency Profiling Heads The Multi-Frequency design allows optimising of the profiling configuration for different applications. Like the sonar head, the transducer is protected within an oil-filled, pressure compensating dome and the telemetry is automatically sensed and configured at start up to match the telemetry link used. The sonar head operation is also configured and controlled using the MS1000 Software Processor.
-Multiple frequency capability (675kHz to 1.35 mHz)
-Improved range and scanning rate
-Clearer, sharper images and a >0.5 cm range resolution
-Sample resolution of > 0.5mm
-Lighter 4000m depth rated design
-Optional Ethernet telemetry interface
http://www.defpro.com/news/details/5477/
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Logistics - Several Servrons For Somalia
February 11, 2009: The U.S. Navy has assigned one of its T-AKE supply ships to serve as a floating prison, helicopter base and, presumably, supply source for the anti-piracy Task Force 151 operating off northern Somalia. The USNS Lewis and Clark has had its crew reduced from 158 to 118, and accommodations for 26 prisoners were improvised. Any captured pirates will be turned over to Kenya, which has agreed to prosecute them.
Each T-AKE ship costs about half a billion dollars. The ships are built mostly to commercial standards, which keeps costs down, and speeds up construction. Currently, six are in service and eight are on order. The fourteen T-AKEs will replace 16 existing supply (separate ammo, cargo and fuel) ships that are reaching the end of their 35 year service life this year. The T-AKE is a 41,000 ton (displacement) ship that is 689 feet long and move along at 32 kilometers an hour. The basic crew consists of 99 civilians and eleven military personnel. There are berths for 209 people on the ship. The ship can carry 7,000 tons of cargo and 2,380 tons of fuel (nearly a million gallons). Two helicopters (CH-46 or MH-60) can be carried. The first ship of the class is the "Lewis and Clark."
The T-AKE is the grandchild of the Servron. Developed out of necessity during World War II, because of a lack of sufficient forward bases in the vast Pacific. There, the service squadrons (Servron) became a permanent fixture in the U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy ships still sometimes stay at sea for up to six months at a time, being resupplied at sea by a Servron. New technologies were developed to support the effective use of the seagoing supply service. Few other navies have been able to match this capability, mainly because of the expense of the Servron ships and the training required to do at sea replenishment. When a Servron is not available, ships must return to port for fuel and other supplies. Off Somalia, several nations have sent supply ships to keep their warships serviced while conducting anti-piracy patrols. In some cases, local shipping firms are contracted to bring supplies out to the warships. Passing the supplies while underway can be tricky, and those navies that practice this a lot (like the U.S. Navy) can do it most quickly and efficiently. The World War II Servrons also provided special services, similar to the T-AKE acting as a prison ship.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htlog/articles/20090211.aspx
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Submarines - Tripping On Some Trash
February 11, 2009: The lead ship of the French LeTriomphant class SSBNs (ballistic missile nuclear submarines) had a little accident. Earlier this month, LeTriomphant submerged near the port of Brest, and promptly clipped something near where the bottom should not be. The uncharted object was apparently a shipping container, and it damaged the sonar dome on the front of the boat. The LeTriomphant surfaced and returned to port for repairs. The damage was light and there were no injuries to the crew.
Uncharted underwater obstacles like this are increasingly common, especially around busy shipping lanes and ports. Brest is a port that frequently hosts container ships that sometimes come in through nasty weather, which often results in containers being blown overboard.
Last year, France launched the fourth (and last) of its new Le Triomphant class SSBNs, the "Le Terrible". This boat will enter service next year. The Le Triomphant class boats displace 12,600 tons, have a crew of 101 and carry 16 M51 ballistic missiles (weighing 56 tons each, carrying six warheads and with a range of 10,000 kilometers).
The other three Triomphants, already in service, carry the older M45 missile (weighing 35 tons each, carrying six warheads and with a range of 6,000 kilometers). These boats will get the M51 after the "Le Terrible" enters service. The Triomphants replace the six SSBNs of the Redoutable class, 9,000 ton boats that entered service in 1971 and were retired in 1991. Each of these boats carried sixteen of the shorter range (5,000 kilometers) M4 missiles.
The French Nave announced that it always has two SSBNs available for duty, so that if one is unexpectedly put out of service, another is available to go out on patrol. Sea based, nuclear armed missiles are a deterrent to other nuclear nations only if you have one of your SSBNs at sea at all times.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/articles/20090211.aspx
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SSQ-62E Sonobuoy Systems for US and Pakistan Navy
US Department of Defense | Feb 11, 2009
Undersea Sensor Systems, Inc., Columbia City, Ind., is being awarded a $34,777,470 firm fixed price contract for the procurement of 4,195 AN/SSQ-36B sonobuoys for the U.S. Navy (4,150) and the Government of Pakistan (45); 30,454 AN/SSQ-53F sonobuoys for the U.S. Navy (30,104) and the Government of Pakistan (350); and 8,302 AN/SSQ-62E sonobuoys for the U.S. Navy.
Work will be performed in Columbia City, Ind., (90 percent) and Halifax, Nova Scotia, (10 percent) and is expected to be completed in Feb. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured by electronic request for proposals and two offers were received.
This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy, ($34,517,590; 99.25 percent) and the Government of Pakistan, ($259,880; .75 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-09-C-0040).
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/navy/SSQ-62E_Sonobuoy_Systems_for_US_and_Pakistan_Navy120017073.php
http://www.sonobuoytechsystems.com/products.htm
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2009 an “annus horribilis” for European cargo traffic
The head of airports body ACI in Europe told Reuters that 2009 would be an "annus horribilis" after both passenger traffic and freight loads dropped in December.
The organisation is particularly worried about freight traffic, which fell 21.4% year-on-year in December and is seen as an indicator of the strength of international trade.
The chances are that January figures will be even worse, with Lufthansa already having announced that its cargo traffic dropped by 24.3% for that month.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :2/12/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7479
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Container cargoes at US ports slumped in 2008
The volume of cargo handled at major US retail ports in 2008 slumped by 7.9% against the previous year, with container cargo expected to drop at an even faster pace during the first half of 2009 as the economic recession continues.
The total volume handled in 2008 amounted to 15.2-million TEUs compared with 2007's volume of 16.5-m TEUs - the lowest total since 2004, when 14-m TEUs moved through the ports, according to the monthly Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :2/12/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7478
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Dar shifting container stockpile to ease port congestion
Since January 26 more than 2 400 stockpiled containers have been transferred from the Dar es Salaam port to designated inland container depots in a bid to ease congestion at the port.
President Jakaya Kikwete instructed stakeholders to implement such action in a directive that called for "speedy intervention to decongest the port," said the Dar es Salaam Citizen.
Depots chairman Ashraf Khan told reporters they have been moving an average of 230 to 250 containers each day since the special operation began – and that, at any given time, there are between 9 000 and 10 000 containers at the port.
Khan said the target of moving 18 000 containers in three months would require a minimum of 200 containers to be moved each day.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :2/12/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7477
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Three ships collide with bridge, no casualties
Surat (PTI): Three under-construction shipping vessels of ABG Shipyard Ltd collided with the Magdalla-Hazira bridge after their anchors snapped, setting them adrift in open waters near Magdalla port here on Wednesday, district officials said.
Though there were no casualties because of the incident, the impact damaged around 100 mts of railing and footpath of the bridge, they said, adding that a team of structural engineers and technical experts are examining the bridge.
District Collector Dilip Raval said that his officials are looking into the cause of the incident which could have been the result of high-tide on Tuesday, because of which the anchors might have snapped.
He, however, said that actual cause will be known after thorough investigation into the incident. Rawal said that the primary inspection by the structural engineers of the local Roads and Building (R & B) Department, have shown that there was no structural damage to the bridge.
He said a team of technical experts from the state capital have already arrived here and are inspecting the bridge. Their report is expected soon, Rawal added.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200902111675.htm
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Strong comms aid pirate-hijacked tanker
Tonya Garcia
February 11, 2009
The standoff between a group of Somali pirates and the shipping company whose tanker they had hijacked came to an end in late January when a plane carrying more than $1 million in ransom set off for the Gulf of Aden, nearly two months after the ordeal had began. The crew was released unharmed, but during those 56 days of captivity, the chief executive of the Connecticut-based Industrial Shipping Enterprise, which owns the intercepted MV Biscaglia tanker, needed to keep a number of audiences apprised of the situation.
In the hours after the pirates hijacked the ship on November 29 last year, shipping company president and CEO James Christodoulou placed a number of phone calls, including one to long-time friend Thomas Rozycki, Jr., SVP with CJP Communications. Christodoulou hired the firm to help develop a communications strategy that focused on four main audiences: global media captured by the recent resurgence of pirate activities; government agencies in the US and abroad; the seafarer's union; and, moreover, the families of the 28 crew members who were taken hostage.
In an interview with PRWeek, both Christodoulou and Rozycki stressed the importance of communications with the families of the captive crew, who consisted of Indian and Bangladeshi nationals.
“We knew from the get-go that keeping the families informed and constantly communicating with them was going to be core to success because the minute you shut them out is the minute they start to panic and think that nobody cares or something's gone awry,” Rozycki says.
While the negotiations with the pirates continued to drag on, the crew members' families had daily contact with either CJP or the ship's technical manager in Mumbai, even if there was nothing much to report. Christodoulou also made a trip to India on January 6 for a five-hour, town-hall-style meeting with the families. By building that relationship, Rozycki says they were able to deter the families from going to the media with their concerns.
“What we didn't want was mixed messages getting out through any other conduit,” Rozycki says. “When the owner of the ship went to meet with them on their turf and convey that the safe return of their families was his only priority, it renewed their faith in the process. Our 28 families never broke ranks.”
Christodoulou says the crew and their families “are all in excellent mental and psychological health,” and he contributes a “huge part of that” to the communications team's efforts to both educate and listen to the families. “That was the wild card we had to get our arms around,” he notes.
In addition to the families, the team had to handle media that followed the modern-day pirate's tale to its conclusion. Rozycki called the coverage largely appropriate given the arresting nature of the situation.
“To be fair, there is a degree of sensationalism that comes with the territory; this is crime on the high seas,” he says. “If there's a degree of sensationalism in the mainstream press... I think I have to excuse it because it's interesting.”
While Rozycki was consumed with communications matters, Christodoulou was involved in direct negotiations with the pirates. He says he worked closely with Rozycki throughout the entire process, but notes that it was important for him to stay focused on talks with the captors, so having a separate communications team in place was vital.
With the hostages returned, the company is aiming to take a leadership position in raising awareness about piracy.
“Going from crisis management to issues management is very important in this day and age,” Rozycki says. “What [Christodoulou] brings to the table through first-hand knowledge is what the shipping world is facing, and he has the opportunity to call attention to that so it won't happen again.”
From the February 16, 2009 Issue of PRWeek
http://www.prweekus.com/Strong-comms-aid-pirate-hijacked-tanker/article/127176/
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Nigeria - NPA to Revoke Properties in Ports
11 February 2009
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Property in any port in the country risks revocation if such property is not put to proper use.
The Managing Director of the NPA Malam Abdul Salam Mohammed who gave the warning in Calabar over the weekend said the Organizations are expected to add value to the properties leased to them and not to leave them in any idle and dilapidated condition.
Malam Abdul Salam was speaking when he visited the premises of the Bailey Bridges Nig. Ltd at the NPA Dockyard Calabar. The company has since last year been awarded a five year lease for the Slipway at the yard. No visible activity has been taking place at the premises since it was handed over to the company.
There are two other such short term lease in Calabar. They include: Fort Stuart slipway, leased to Tikko Marine Services (Honeywell Oil & Gas Ltd.) and Mciver Jetty leased to Addax/Shoreline Logistics. The two leases commenced in 2005 and 2008 respectively and for a period of five (5) years each.
At the Bailey Bridges Nigerian Ltd. premises, the Managing Director who expressed his displeasure on what is happening with the Slipway frowned at the inabilities of the company to add value to the fortune of the place.
He directed an official of the company Mr. Enefiok Okon to inform the Management of the company to either live up to the expectations of the Management or face the consequences, adding that the company should be seen to be adding value to the potential of the Slipway.
"Tell your superiors that we were here. Tell them that I said I am not happy with what I saw. Tell them that I said if they are not going to put this place into proper use and add value to it, then the Management shall know what to do", he told Mr. Okon.
At the workshop in the dockyard, the Managing Director also expressed dismay at the way condemned and serviceable machineries were being kept. He therefore directed that the storage procedure for the machineries should be streamlined, in such a way that only serviceable machineries are kept in the workshop.
During his inspection tour of the port facilities within Calabar, Malam Abdulsalam and his entourage toured facilities in terminals A and B being managed by Intels Ltd. and Ecomarine respectively, as well as selected jetties being managed by Addax, Mciver and Inland Waterways.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200902110261.html
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Submariner describes escape from fire
Submariner Petty Officer Richard Holleworth has spoken of the terrifying moments when he was trapped in suffocating smoke that killed his two comrades.
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:26PM GMT 11 Feb 2009
He was praised by the father of one of the dead victims on board HMS Tireless for risking his life trying to save the sailors after the accident in Arctic waters in 2007.
An inquest heard the sailor was close to death when he was motivated by the thought of never seeing his unborn son to find emergency breathing equipment after an oxygen processing machine had blown up filling the submarine compartment with choking white smoke and buckling the hatches.
Mr Holleworth was working at his computer when his two colleagues Leading Mechanic Operator Paul McCann and Operator Mechanic Anthony Huntrod are thought to have operated a Scog (Self Contained Oxygen Generator) oxygen candle.
He was hit by the device which set his arm on fire and filled the room with white smoke.
"I was patting myself down to put out the flames, and breathing in the atmosphere so I stretched out my arm to try and find the emergency breathing apparatus, but it was not there."
He struggled to the forward escape compartment where he found OM Huntrod.
"Tony was making noises and I could see he was on fire. I started hitting at the flames with my forearms. Then he fell to the floor and I used my feet to put out the flames as well."
Still breathing the choking smoke, he attempted to kick open the escape doors.
"But it was futile. I had a moment of clarity that I was trapped in there. I knew I was going to die.
He reached forward and grabbed LMO McCann's hand and sat with him on the floor.
"My head was spinning and I was beginning to accept my fate.
"I suddenly thought of my fiance who was seven or eight months pregnant back at home.
"It was like a sudden bolt of rage smashing through. I thought he is not going to see his Dad."
Guided by the light of instruments glowing on a control panel, he staggered to an oxygen relay point and pulled on a mask and passed out.
He was roused approximately 40 minutes later by the ship's crew he finally managed to break into the compartment.
He told the inquest many of the Scogs on board HMS Tireless were battered and dented and looked "well used".
The inquest heard that in the commanding officer's investigation report PO Holleworth was commended for his personal courage.
LMO McCann's father, Brian McCann, told the inquest: "I would like to commend Richard for his courage.
"Our family hope today will be the first step towards a full recovery and that you, Lisa and your children can now begin a new chapter in your lives."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/4594032/Submariner-describes-escape-from-fire.html
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US Navy wants to employ dolphins and sea lions as security guards
10:49 PM PST on Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By OWEN LEI / KING 5 News and KING5.com
SILVERDALE, Wash. - The U.S. Navy may be nearing completion on plans to use sea lions and dolphins to catch underwater trespassers along the Hood Canal.
Wednesday night in Silverdale, they held the first of two public meetings to hear what citizens have to say about the latest plans.
The U.S. Navy already has sea lions that can restrain unknown swimmers. They've trained dolphins to attach lighted beacons to potential threats.
But for years, they've been unsuccessful in bringing those animals to the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.
"It's extremely important in terms of base security that a new system be put in place," said Tom Lapuzza, U.S. Navy Marine Mammals Program.
Animal rights activists are worried dolphins will suffer in the cold waters and environmentalists worry the local habitat may suffer from the droppings of these patrollers.
At the public meeting Wednesday, Navy officials said their plans will protect both.
Two years of research and public hearings have led them to four options: sea lions and dolphins, just sea lions, unmanned vehicles, or combat swimmers.
The Navy would prefer a combination of trained California sea lions and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins to guard against swimmers breaching the base's water perimeter.
Trained dolphins would be used at night and would be accompanied by handlers in small boats. The dolphins would alert the handler if they noticed an intruder. The handler would then place a strobe light on a dolphin's nose, and the creature would return and bump the intruder, causing the light to come free and float to the surface. Guards would then find and subdue the intruder.
Sea lions would be trained to carry in their mouths a special cuff attached to a long rope and clamp the cuff around the leg of a suspicious swimmer, who then could be reeled in for questioning.
The Navy will be listening to public again but they do have to make a decision by October.
The Navy's hoping the public stands behind option one.
"We're able to do this right now if we need to do that. The other alternatives would take us time and money and research before we'd be able to put them in place," said Lapuzza.
At least Silverdale, they are getting support.
"I was curious to see how they were approaching their environmental impact statement and it looks like they've done a really good job of covering their bases," said Tom Aho.
"These animals are going to be well cared for, they're going to be safe, and in my judgment, they'll probably be happy," said Dr. Pete Schroeder, marine mammal veterinarian.
But even the Navy admits they may not get this reception elsewhere. They just hope their prep work can win over the doubtful.
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_021109WAB-bangor-dolphins-KC.9860225.html
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Nigeria: Strike - Ships Divert to Neighbouring Ports
Adelanwa Bamgboye
11 February 2009
Just as shipping lines have continued to divert their cargoes to the neighbouring countries, the Port Industry Anticorruption Standing Committee (PIACSC) has condemned the strike action embarked upon by Clearing Agents, describing it as 'diversionary'.
Chairman of the Committee Mr. Val Usifoh said that the strike action will only succeed in worsening the congestion at the Lagos ports. Some Terminal Operators and Shipping Lines have also expressed concern that rather than taking advantage of the large waivers offered by them, some agents have continued to paralyze the ports.
As a result of the strike by a section of the agents, most of the terminals have had to stop berthing vessels as their storage yards are full and trucks have not allowed in clearing agents to evacuate containers.
Dependable sources told Daily Trust that the strike action has sent an alarming signal to the international shipping community as shipping lines have started to deviate from Nigerian ports to neighbouring countries to discharge their goods.
As a result of the strike action which brought the ports to their knees, essential import cargos are being delayed.
Experts also said that the action is capable of bringing production plants in the country to a stand-still while waiting for their imported raw materials which are stuck inside the ports due to the strike action.
"The cost imposed on Nigeria by this action is huge, and it is imposed by the one party who has no cargo ownership and who has no investments in the port - the clearing agent", a shipping agent said.
Since the beginning of the year, several measures have been instituted to tackle congestion at the ports. The Nigeria Customs Service has made efforts to allow re-declaration of containers that have discrepancies.
NPA is has been moving overtime containers out of the port, Shipping lines are waiving demurrage and Terminal operators are waiving storage, Daily Trust can report.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902110255.html
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Somalia: Puntland Leader Strikes At Pirates, Human Smugglers
11 February 2009
The new president of Somalia's Puntland regional administration authorized a police raid in a fishing village renowned as a hub for pirates and human smugglers, Radio Garowe reports.
Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole," Puntland's new leader, was accompanied by the vice president, Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire, and the deputy interior minister, Yusuf Ahmed Kheir, as security forces stormed the site and a group of suspected pirates fled away on a speedboat.
The village of Marero has been a major site for human trafficking from East Africa to the Middle East by crossing the Gulf of Aden, a dangerous sea journey that kills tens of thousands of people each year.
Puntland President Farole speaks to reporters in Bossaso/GO
Government forces successfully captured two speedboats, seven motors that power boats, barrels of fuel, food, ladders and ropes. The equipment and other materials seized during the police raid on Marero were shown to local media.
President Farole told a press conference in the port city of Bossaso Wednesday evening that the raid is a "first step" against criminal activities along the Puntland coast.
"My government will fight pirates and human smugglers, and we have a plan to defeat them," Puntland's president vowed.
Mr. Kheir, the deputy interior minister, called for international support as the regional authority tackled security challenges, including piracy, which has aggravated the world community in recent months.
Puntland's new government came to power on January 8, 2009, as the region held a peaceful election and an orderly transition to power.
President Farole campaigned to improve security and economic conditions, although many challenges still face the new president.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200902120005.html
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Indian Defence spends won’t be cut: Antony
IAF plans to buy 126 fighter planes for $10 b.
Bangalore, Feb. 11
Defence expenditure towards modernising the Armed Forces will continue to get priority, regardless of the economic downturn that is now showing up in the country, the Defence Minister, Mr A.K. Antony, said at the inauguration of Aero India 2009 here on Wednesday.
Programmes to acquire modern military equipment would go on, he said. The country’s military spend is now at 2.5 per cent of the GDP. “In spite of the recession, there will be no scaling down of this expenditure because of our security concerns,” the Minister said.
Mr Antony observed that this was the fastest growing defence market. Because of the Mumbai attacks and the unchanging security environment in the region, “We need to modernise our forces. Defence and modernisation will get the maximum priority,” he said.
The 2008-09 defence outlay of Rs 1 lakh crore puts the nation among the top ten military spenders, according to the Institute of Defence Studies & Analyses. It also forms 14 per cent of the Central expenditure.
Major acquisition plans
The statement comes amidst some major acquisition plans, the hottest among them this decade being the 126 fighter planes that the IAF plans to buy. This deal alone is estimated at $10 billion (Rs 47,000 crore) and has six global defence manufacturers swooping in on the opportunity.
The fighters would be selected purely on merit, without favour or negative decisions and all the bidders would get a level playing field, Mr Antony said. The IAF is expected to conduct field trials in a few months.
The Minister said, “India has emerged as an attractive market and a key outsourcing hub for global aerospace firms due to low-cost, skilled engineers, good organisations, software and technology”. Action is also being taken to ensure that gradually 70 per cent production will be in India, replacing the imports.
US VERIFICATIONS
Two first-time purchases from the US are said to have been decided: eight of Boeing IDS’s maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8-Is for the Navy at nearly Rs 10,000 crore and six of Lockheed Martin’s transport planes, the C-130Js. To questions later at a media conference on exposing Indian end-user facilities to US verification according to the US defence norms, Mr Antony said negotiations were going on.
He said, “I am excited to see our own LCA (light combat aircraft) doing manoeuvres. When I took over, two things were important, to make LCA and the main battle tank realities. I hope that both the products will be inducted within two years.”
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/12/stories/2009021251600300.htm
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Guinea-Bissau - Ex-navy chief vows to return
11/02/2009 11:16 - (SA)
Bissau - Guinea-Bissau's former navy chief, who fled to Gambia last year after being accused of attempting to overthrow the government, on Tuesday told AFP he would return to prove his innocence in a court of law.
"I have decided to return on my own initiative on Friday, February 13 in order to present myself before a court from Monday 16 February," he said.
"I have been accused of wanting to overthrow President (Joao Bernardo) Vieira. I want to come back to show that that is nothing but a lie," he said.
"I have asked my lawyer to contact the court. I expect to lift the doubt about this affair," he added.
Tchuto fled to Gambia last August after the authorities said he was behind a coup attempt earlier that month. No arrest warrant, however, has been issued for him.
He was arrested in Gambia several days after his arrival but later released.
According to a judicial source, the former military chief had "become very rich very quickly, without any plausible explanation". He has been accused of involvement in cocaine trafficking.
Guinea-Bissau has become a key transit point for South American cocaine en route to Europe, undermining already weak state institutions.
A new government took office last month in the West African country, one of the poorest in the world, which has suffered repeated political unrest and coups since its 1974 independence from Portugal.
Last September, Tchuto's lawyer said the former Rear Admiral had asked for asylum in Gambia, but it was not clear if his request had been granted.
- AFP
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2467530,00.html
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Marine sampling vessel on its way to Cape Town
By: Liezel Hill
Published on 12th February 2009
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A marine sampling vessel contracted by Montreal-based Afri-Can Marine Minerals, has departed from Singapore and is sailing for Cape Town, the firm announced on Wednesday.
The Explorer will remain in Cape Town for about two months, while the sampling tool and mineral recovery plant are installed, and to carry out some sampling and recovery tests.
The sampling tool and the recovery plant are completed and ready to be mounted on board the vessel, which will be used to delineate diamond resources on Afri-Can's Block J marine diamond concession in Namibia.
Editor: Liezel Hill
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/marine-sampling-vessel-on-its-way-to-cape-town-2009-02-12
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Feb 12 2009 8:35AM
Partners sought for wreck salvage
2009/02/12
THE Cambodian government has asked foreign partners to help salvage a centuries-old vessel discovered by divers off the southwestern coast in 2006.
The wooden sailing ship – laden with pottery and other artifacts – is believed to be Chinese and was sunk in the 15th or 16th century, said Chuch Phoeung, deputy Minister of Culture and Fine Arts.
A number of Chinese ships have been found in Southeast Asian waters in recent decades, with many yielding a wealth of artifacts and information about China’s seafaring history.
The 30m long, 8m wide ship has not been identified but Chinese characters were found on some of the 900 pieces of pottery that have been recovered from it.
The minister said a museum will eventually be built to house them.
So far, there have been attempts by two salvage teams – one Chinese and one Russian – but they apparently lacked the 1million (about R10m) to complete the job.
The shipwreck was discovered in February 2006 by divers, at a depth of 32m, 210km south- west of the capital Phnom Penh. — Sapa-AP
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=293084
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The USA’s New Littoral Combat Ships (updated)
11-Feb-2009 12:36 EST
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is the U.S. Navy’s newest surface combatant class. Optimized for shallow seas and operations within 100 miles of shore, but deployable across the ocean, LCS ships are a centerpiece of the USA’s new focus on littoral warfare. They will help to counter growing “asymmetric” threats like coastal mines, quiet diesel submarines, global piracy, and terrorists on small fast attack boats. They will also perform intelligence gathering and scouting using helicopters and UAVs, offer some ground combat support capabilities, and share tactical information with other Navy aircraft, ships, submarines, and joint units. Swappable “mission modules,” UAV robot aircraft, and robotic UUV and USV vehicles will give these small ships the specialized capabilities they require for each of these roles – and the quick-replace adaptability they need to keep up.
At present, 2 teams are competing for the final LCS design, in a program that could be worth more than $30 billion when all is said and done. The General Dynamics team is offering a futuristic but practical high-speed trimaran based on Austal designs and experience. The Lockheed Martin team offers a high-speed semi-planing monohull based on Fincantieri designs that have set trans-Atlantic speed records. Team Lockheed’s efforts have run into serious trouble, including cancellation of the contract for their second ship. The General Dynamics/Austal team hit the same rocks soon afterward, in part because of the US Navy’s unusual proposal for future business arrangements.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/the-usas-new-littoral-combat-ships-updated-01343/
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Saab Leverages India for Gripen Next Generation Development
Saab AB | Feb 12, 2009
Saab and TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) partnered Aeronautical Design and Development Centre (ADDC) has been awarded its first contract by Saab to participate in the aerostructural design and development for Gripen Next Generation.
This will enable ADDC to play a pivotal role in development activities in different Saab products. The announcement of ADDC’s first contract was made on a well attended press conference held in Bangalore in India yesterday.
In September 2008, Saab and TCS, part of the TATA group, signed a Letter of Intent to set up an aeronautical development and design centre in India, called ADDC. The ADDC is a long term relationship with Saab undertaking to transfer technology and competencies in the aerospace sector.
The ADDC is set up with an aim to provide engineering, services and solutions, and to address market opportunities in areas such as structures, systems, avionics and after market support. The ADDC will address the requirements of the global and Indian aerospace and defence markets.
The ADDC allows Saab to set a footprint in India together with TCS to capture opportunities emerging in the aerospace and defence sector.
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/airforce/Saab_Leverages_India_for_Gripen_Next_Generation_Development100017092.php
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Nigeria: Strike - 93 Ships Stranded At Lagos Ports
11 February 2009
Lagos — Ninety-three ships are waiting to berth at the Lagos ports as the ports remain closed for the third day running.
The shipping position issued by the Nigerian Ports Authority in Lagos yesterday showed that 55 of the ships were oil tankers carrying petrol, diesel, bulk gas, base oil, aviation fuel and kerosene. The remaining 38 ships are laden with bulk cement, used vehicles, fish, and containers.The ports are still expecting additional 75 ships before the end of this month
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the activities at the ports had been paralysed since Monday, following a strike action embarked upon by clearing agents over allegations of high port charges, among others.
Spokesman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents at the Tin-Can Island Port, Mr Bola Oladipo, told NAN that the strike action would continue until the Federal Government intervenes.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200902120113.html
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Russian, Indian navies complete joint naval exercise
Malaysia Sun
Thursday 12th February, 2009
(IANS)
Moscow, Feb 12 (RIA Novosti) Russian and Indian naval ships have completed the final stage of the joint naval exercises, practising anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, Russia's Navy commander said.
INDRA is a biennial Russian-Indian exercise aimed at practising cooperation in enforcing maritime law and countering piracy, terrorism and drug smuggling.
INDRA-2009 was the fourth such exercise since 2003 and involved two stages, held in the Indian Ocean.
'The second stage of the INDRA-2009 exercise was held off the Somali coast and was primarily dedicated to anti-piracy operations,' Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said Wednesday.
Russia was represented by the Pacific Fleet's Admiral Vinogradov destroyer and the Northern Fleet's Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser, Admiral Levchenko destroyer and several support ships. India sent the Tabar missile frigate.
'The Russian and Indian warships that took part in the exercise practised escorting commercial ships in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden,' he said.
The admiral added that the warships made extensive use of deck-based aircraft to locate and monitor the movements of small boats that could have presented potential threats to commercial shipping.
'There were no attempts to seize commercial ships in the area during our exercise,' Vysotsky said.
Russia's Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser and the Indian guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi took part in the first stage of INDRA-2009, which included a PASSEX type exercise practising combat interoperability and communications drills, and lasted from Jan 26 to Feb 1.
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/465505/cs/1/
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Nigeria: Nigerian Firm, Dubai to Build New Port in Lagos
11 February 2009
Lagos — A Nigerian firm, Sifax Group of Companies, is discussing with Dubai Ports Authority, on the establishment of a modern port complex in Lagos.
Managing Director of Sifax Group, Dr Taiwo Afolabi, told newsmen in Lagos that the Dubai authority had shown great enthusiasm in the proposed venture. Afolabi said the port would on completion, be the first direct response of an indigenous company to the Federal Government's call for development of green fields, to decongest existing ports.
Afolabi expressed regrets that lack of space, slow cargo delivery and government's inability to establish new ports were major causes of the present congestion at the ports.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Ports and Terminal Multi-Services Ltd, a subsidiary of the Italian shipping giant - Grimaldi, built the new Roll On/Roll Off (RORO) Port inaugurated in 2006, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Afolabi said a subsidiary of Sifax - Port and Cargo Handling Services Ltd, operators of Terminal 'C' at the Tin-Can Island Port, had added value to the nation's economy by investing about N15 billion, since it took over the terminal in 2006.The terminal operator pointed out that in addition to the huge investments, the subsidiary employed about 3,000 Nigerians.
He said the company had four gantry cranes and 22 cargo handling equipment procured at the sum of $50 million, adding that to ease the pains of congestion, especially for its numerous clients, the company had procured 35 new trucks for transferring containers to bonded terminals, and that additional 100 trucks would soon be bought.
He, however, observed that with the take over of port operations by the port concessionaires, there had been efficient service delivery at the ports.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200902120100.html
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Shark attack diver in Australia loses hand
2 hours ago
SYDNEY (AFP) — An Australian navy diver who fought off a shark in a rare attack in Sydney Harbour was in high spirits despite losing a hand and facing the prospect of losing a leg, his family said Thursday.
Able Seaman Paul de Gelder, 31, was taking part in a defence exercise near an upmarket residential area of the harbour in Australia's largest city when he was attacked Wednesday.
"As a result of the attack Paul has lost his right hand above the wrist and may lose his right leg, however he is in high spirits," de Gelder's family said in a brief statement issued through the Australian Defence Force.
The family thanked surgeons at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital and the fellow divers and paramedics who stabilised de Gelder after the attack and then rushed him to hospital.
The attack took place near the Garden Island Naval Base in Woolloomooloo Bay, which is lined with seafood restaurants and celebrity apartments.
The diver was taking part in a trial of new technologies to protect ports and ships from underwater attack but was on the surface when the shark struck, officials said.
A hospital spokeswoman said de Gelder was in a serious but stable condition after surgery.
Officals said Wednesday that he had punched the predator, believed to be a bull shark, before it swam away.
While shark attacks are not uncommon off Australia's vast coastline, experts said no one had been bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour for more than a decade and the last fatal attack was in 1963.
The diver's mauling follows a spate of attacks on swimmers off Australian beaches last month, sending a shiver through summer holidaymakers. Three swimmers were attacked and injured within 24 hours just two weeks after a snorkeller was killed.
But, with 194 deaths through shark attacks recorded in Australia over the past two centuries, researchers point out endlessly that more people die from bee stings and lightning strikes.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMSpO8qnFJWSyXNt8S6gT2e8INAQ
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Obesity in US military doubled since 2003
1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Since the start of the Iraq War in 2003 the number of overweight and obese US military has doubled, in keeping with the national trend but also due to the stress of deployment, a Pentagon study said.
"In the past decade among active military members in general, the percent of military members who experienced medical encounters for overweight/obesity has steadily increased; and since 2003, rates of increase have generally accelerated," said the report published in January.
In 1998, the number of military personnel diagnosed overweight or obese stood at 25,652, or 1.6 percent of the entire armed forces. In 2003, it increased to 34,333 (2.1 percent), and from then to 2008 the number doubled to 68,786 (4.4 percent of the total).
A 2005 poll of the US military established that "stress and return from deployment were the most frequently cited reasons for recent weight gain," the report said.
The US military has shown signs of overall exhaustion after years of deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And beside weight gain, the US Army has seen a sharp increase in suicides that hit a record 143 in 2008, compared to 115 the year before.
The weight increase of US servicemen and women reflects the weight-gaining tendency of the general US population, where 20 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds are considered obese.
As with the civilian population, the rise in obesity among the military is largely blamed on fast food and physically passive recreational activities including videogames, television and movies, the study said.
"Overweight/obesity is a significant military medical concern because it is associated with decreased military operational effectiveness ... and both acute and chronic adverse health effects," the Pentagon report said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iuccASpzDverHmEbja4AU8Hrv3HQ
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Russia cuts military spending: chief of staff
Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:49pm GMT
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is cutting military spending amid a deepening economic crisis but this will not affect purchases of new weapons and ammunition, the head of Russia's military said on Wednesday.
"We have revised a number of items," Army General Nikolai Makarov, the armed forces' chief of general staff, told Reuters after closed-door hearings on army reform in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma.
"But I believe that on the issues we had wanted to resolve first, in particular, (new) weapons and ammunition, we will be fully covered. We will keep them at the planned level."
Communist deputy Viktor Ilyukhin told Reuters the government aims to cut the 2009 military budget by 15 percent. He said Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov did not tell deputies which spending items would be trimmed.
Russian business daily Vedomosti said the original 2009 budget, now being revised, had set the Defense Ministry's budget at 1.376 trillion troubles ($38.31 billion).
"Probably not a single ministry would agree to trim its spending," Makarov said. "But judging by the real economic situation of the country ... if there is just no cash, we simply cannot ask for it."
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said Russia plans to spend more than 4 trillion troubles ($111.4 billion) in 2009-11 to purchase new weapons, and the bulk of the sum will be spent to modernize the armed forces.
The move was apparently prompted by Russia's five-day war with neighboring Georgia last August when Tbilisi tried to retake its rebel South Ossetia province by force.
Russia repelled the Georgian attack, but the war exposed a Soviet-style army with obsolete equipment, poorly coordinated command, outdated communications and a lack of spy drones and high-precision bombs.
Addressing Russia's leading arms designers and producers later on Wednesday, Putin said budget cuts would not affect this year's planned purchases of new weapons for the armed forces.
(Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Additional reporting by Aydar Buribayev; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/gc07/idUKTRE51A59L20090211?sp=true
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Military recruitment surges as jobs disappear
As the U.S. economy continues to shed jobs, recruits swarm to the military, despite wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: February 10, 2009: 2:21 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Fresh recruits keep pouring into the U.S. military, as concerns about serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are eclipsed by the terrible civilian job market.
The Department of Defense said Tuesday that all branches of the armed forces, including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, met or exceeded their active duty recruiting goals for January, continuing a trend that began with a decline in the U.S. job market.
This is despite more than 4,800 American soldiers, Marines and sailors dying in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
It wasn't always like this. In the past, when the economy was strong, the military struggled to fill its ranks. But since fiscal year 2006, the DOD has consistently met or exceeded its recruitment goals. This occurred even as the Navy, Marines and Air Force raised the bar on their goals.
The military acknowledged that weakness in the U.S. economy, which lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008 and another 598,000 in January, has made the armed services more appealing to potential recruits.
The military isn't necessarily the only hope for the jobless. President Obama intends to create or save up to four million jobs through his stimulus package of more than $800 billion. And some areas - namely health care and education - are currently hiring.
But the dismal civilian job market is not expected to improve any time soon. The Conference Board estimates that the economy could lose two million jobs this year. The military is confident that it will continue to meet its recruitment goals.
"Recruiting is always a challenge, but a tighter job market provides more opportunities to make our case to young men and women," wrote DOD spokeswoman Eileen Lainez, in an email to CNNMoney.com. "The military offers competitive salaries, hefty compensation packages, extraordinary education benefits and valuable job skills and leadership training."
Staff Sgt. Jimmy Spence, a 2006 veteran of the Iraq war and a career planner for the Marines, said, "You're not going to get these kind of benefits out there in the civilian world, with the job security that you're guaranteed."
Spence, who is married with a young daughter, said the health benefits are among the biggest draws for service members with children. He also said that re-enlistment bonuses, as large as $38,500 for a first-term sergeant, have helped to bolster the ranks.
At a Manhattan recruiting center on Monday, a 23-year-old construction worker said he was considering a military career to provide health benefits for his two children.
The construction worker, who would not provide his name, also said he was nervous about the layoffs occurring in his industry. In the military, he intends to study architecture and engineering.
When asked about the possibility of serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, he replied, "I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried about my kids."
First Published: February 10, 2009: 1:01 PM ET
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/10/news/economy/military_recruiting/?postversion=2009021013
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Analysis: U.S. can't afford its military
by Shaun Waterman
Washington (UPI) Feb 11, 2009
With the combined cost of the economic stimulus package and the Wall Street bailout now projected by some estimates to top $2 trillion, and the federal deficit spiraling, U.S. officials are fretting that current levels of defense spending may be unsustainable.
Moreover, military leaders argue that they will need more money in future years to repair or replace equipment worn out or destroyed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; transform the force to fight modern wars; and invest in new generations of high-tech weaponry.
"The spigot of defense spending that opened on Sept. 11 is closing," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a hearing last month of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, defense spending currently constitutes more than half of U.S. domestic discretionary spending -- that is, the part of the federal budget that is not spent on mandatory items like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. That is about 4.5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product -- more than double the proportion of national wealth most other industrialized countries spend on defense.
In absolute terms, the CBO says, Fiscal Year 2008 defense spending, adjusted for inflation, is now 20 percent more than it was in 1985 -- at the height of the Cold War military buildup -- and has risen 43 percent since its lowest post-Cold War level in 1998.
Yet although the military is much smaller than it was at that time, service chiefs projected last year that they will need continuing annual growth to maintain force readiness -- even accounting for the gradually falling cost of smaller U.S. deployments in Iraq.
"Quite bluntly," analyst Stephen Daggett of the non-partisan Congressional Research Service told a little-noticed hearing of the House Budget Committee last week, "the cost of everything we have been doing in defense has been accelerating upward too fast even for growing budgets to keep up."
Daggett in his prepared testimony listed several reasons for the explosive growth in the cost of the U.S. military.
First, personnel costs have spiraled. The "average military service member is about 45 percent more expensive, after adjusting for inflation, in Fiscal Year 2009 than in FY 1998," he said. Figures he presented showed that, although congressionally mandated increases in pay and benefits have grown by 30 percent more than inflation in that period, fully one-third of the total increase is down to the expanding costs of healthcare for military retirees under the "TRICARE for life" program.
And in the future, J. Michael Gilmore of the CBO told the same hearing his agency projected "needed funding for the military medical system (including care for both veterans and serving personnel) is growing seven, eight times more than rapidly than Â… costs as a whole" for the Defense Department -- and will more than double to $90 billion a year by 2026.
Daggett also identified two elements related to the ballooning costs of major weapons systems, like the Air Force's new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, or the Navy's controversial DDG-1000 multibillion-dollar destroyer: intergenerational cost growth and systematic underestimation of acquisition costs.
"The growing price of weapons does much to explain why the expense of maintaining even a smaller force structure than in the past has climbed so high," he said.
Intergenerational cost growth refers to the fact that military weapons systems, unlike almost every other category of high-tech equipment, are more expensive than they were 20 years ago.
As an example, Daggett cited the comparative costs of the F-35, which the Air Force considers its "low end" fighter, and the F-16 it will replace.
The F-35 is now projected to have a "flyaway cost" of $83 million each, compared with the inflation-adjusted cost in today's dollars of $30 million for the F-16 when it was developed in 1985.
"Look at any part of the civilian sector," he told lawmakers, according to a transcript of the hearing, "not just electronics, but automobiles or aircraft Â… the (cost) trends are not as good in (the Department of Defense) and sometimes they're going in the opposite direction Â… from what's going on in the civilian sector."
Daggett said the reasons for this were "a matter far beyond the scope of this brief survey" but did proffer some thoughts, including that developers often sought the highest possible performance -- what Gates has referred to as the 99 percent solution, vs. a much more affordable 75 percent solution.
"The bottom line on it is seeking performance," Daggett said. "What drives it here is when you're developing a weapons system, what are you looking for? You're looking for performance, and you're trying to push the envelope in a lot of cases."
Another driver of escalating weapons costs, he added, was a requirements development process that tended to produce systems with multiple capabilities, and he cited the DDG-1000 as an example.
The new destroyer will be half as large again as the DDG-51 it will replace, because it has state-of-the-art capabilities on so many different fronts, including air defense, anti-submarine warfare and communications -- not to mention the ability to carry helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and a Marine Corps or Special Forces detachment.
"In short, it is all things to all requirements writers," he said, adding the result was a ship "that is now projected to cost between $3.5 (billion) and $4 billion each, and that cannot, therefore, be afforded in substantial numbers."
The DDG-1000 also illustrated Daggett's second factor in the spiraling costs of weapons systems -- the systematic underestimation of acquisition costs.
Figures he presented showed that, between 2000 and 2007, the cost growth of major weapons systems between first estimate and delivery rose from 6 percent of total costs to 27 percent, while delays in delivery rose from an average of 16 months to 21 months in the same period. In other words, major systems are now, on average, costing more than a quarter more than they were budgeted for, despite being nearly two years overdue.
Gilmore said such overspending was in large part the result of unrealistic initial estimates.
He said the initial estimate of $1.5 billion in today's dollars for the DDG-1000, then called the SC-21, "would've made it the cheapest surface combatant (vessel) ever built. Â… There were a lot of people in the building -- I was in the building at that time -- who knew that initial estimate was unrealistic."
He said that when initial costs are lowballed in such a fashion, "no program manager in the world is going to be able to manage the program in such a way that the costs will not grow."
"It's not so much cost growth as cost realism setting in," he concluded.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysis_US_cant_afford_its_military_999.html
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Swords and Shields: Russian nuke cuts
by Ariel Cohen
Washington (UPI) Feb 11, 2009
The Obama administration plans to negotiate an unprecedented strategic nuclear arms reduction initiative with Moscow. The drastic proposal, greeted by Russia, may result in cutting the American and Russian nuclear stockpiles by some 80 percent to 1,000 warheads each.
As previously reported by UPI, in December 2008 former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited Moscow on behalf of President-elect Barack Obama for secret negotiations with the Kremlin's leadership to secure support for the proposed nuclear reduction deal.
According to numerous statements of his advisers, President Obama is also ready to compromise with Moscow over the deployment of the ballistic missile shield in Europe. It is unclear to what extent the United States may continue the Bush administration's push to bring the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia into the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
These moves would give another strategic win to Moscow after NATO failed to extend its Membership Action Plan to Kiev and Tbilisi in 2008, and after Moscow recognized the independence of breakaway Georgian provinces Abkhazia and South Ossetia without significant diplomatic repercussions.
The nuclear talks with Russia are topping the U.S. agenda as the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty -- START-1 -- is expiring in December 2009. The treaty resulted in the two states cutting their nuclear stockpiles from some 10,000 to 5,000 each over the seven-year implementation period.
Overall, Russia possesses an estimated 702 nuclear delivery systems and 3,081 to 3,155 warheads, carried by submarines, heavy bombers or intercontinental ballistic missiles. According to Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, in January 2009 Russia had 426 operational intercontinental ballistic missile systems of four types capable of delivering 1,586 warheads.
These systems include 75 RS-20s (NATO designation SS-18 Satan) carrying 10 warheads each; 97 RS-18 (NATO designation SS-19 Stiletto) with six warheads each; 189 single-warhead Topol systems (NATO designation SS-25 Sickle); 50 silo-launch Topol-M systems (NATO designation SS-27); and 15 mobile Topol-M systems. The United States has an estimated 1,255 delivery systems and 4,200 deliverable warheads.
Defense experts on both sides of the Atlantic are analyzing the merits of Obama's initiative. The White House has not had time to strategize on how the remaining nuclear arsenal -- including which types of weapons -- would ensure the security of the United States and its allies. Besides, the proposal must elaborate clear standards for verification and enforcement.
Another important factor to consider here is the current state of the strategic nuclear arms and related infrastructure in both countries, and the defense budgets available for their maintenance, security and disposal.
The state of Russian military infrastructure, including strategic nuclear forces, has been deplorable for decades. On the U.S. side, the Pentagon has reported the decline of the nuclear weapons infrastructure. Recently, Defense Secretary Robert Gates described the long-term outlook of the nation's nuclear force as "bleak."
Therefore, the Obama administration should agree upon a vision for the endgame nuclear posture, develop a coherent strategy, and proceed with caution when negotiating a new strategic nuclear agreement with Russia.
(Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow in Russian and Eurasian studies and international energy security at the Catherine and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute at The Heritage Foundation.)
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Swords_and_Shields_Russian_nuke_cuts_999.html
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High-level Indian Navy delegation inspects Nerpa
Sandeep Unnithan
New Delhi, February 10, 2009
A high-level Indian naval delegation is currently inspecting the Russian Akula-II nuclear powered attack submarine-the Nerpa anchored at a Russian naval base near the far eastern city of Vladivostok.
The four-member delegation led by Vice Admiral K.N. Sushil, the navy's Inspector General Nuclear Safety left the capital on Sunday for a two-day fact finding mission to physically inspect the submarine and see whether it can actually be delivered to the navy this year.
The Nerpa (to be rechristened the INS Chakra) was set to arrive in India by August 15 this year but Russia's Amur shipyard, which built the Nerpa recently expressed doubts if it could be inducted in time following the November 8 accident last year which killed 20 crew. Sea trials of the submarine have been halted as the shipyard cited difficulties in reconstituting another pre-delivery trials team.
The Indian naval delegation is to present a report on the induction of the submarine following the accidental triggering off of a fire fighting system on board the submarine which killed 20 shipyard personnel and Russian crewmen during sea trials in November last year. The delegation will also lay flowers on the wreath of the dead shipyard workers and naval crew.
Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta recently expressed confidence that the navy would induct the Nerpa on time. The submarine is being leased to the Indian Navy as the Chakra for a ten year lease under a $ 650 million deal signed in January 2004. The submarine was to be earlier inducted on August 15 last year but delayed due to technical glitches.
http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27811§ionid=4&issueid=92&Itemid=1
Russian submarine K-152 Nerpa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The K-152 Nerpa (Russian: К-152 «Нерпа») is a 8,140-tonne (8,010-long-ton) Project 971 Shchuka-B (NATO: Akula II) type nuclear-powered attack submarine. Construction was started in 1993, but suspended due to lack of funding. K-152 Nerpa was launched in October 2008 and was planned to be leased to the Indian Navy in 2009 as the recommissioned INS Chakra.
While K-152 Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan on 8 November 2008, an accident caused the deaths of some twenty sailors and injury to twenty-one others. A fire suppression system discharged gas in the bow of the sub, suffocating civilian specialists and navy crew members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-152_Nerpa
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BAE Systems Seeks Indian Partners to Build Military Vessels
By Vipin V. Nair and Sabine Pirone
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s biggest defense company, is in talks with Indian shipbuilders as it seeks to win contracts for surveillance vessels as the country beefs up coastal security after terror attacks in Mumbai.
BAE has held discussions with India’s state-owned shipyards and private builders to explore opportunities, said Julian Scopes, president of the London-based company’s Indian unit, in an interview. BAE can offer designs and technologies, or build warships with partners, Scopes said in Bangalore yesterday.
India’s government has pledged to boost surveillance at sea after terrorists infiltrated the financial capital in boats in November and killed 164 people. BAE’s push to win naval work comes as India seeks to reduce its reliance on Russia as its main military supplier.
“The Indians would like to broaden out their supply base,” said Steven Zaloga, a senior analyst at Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based consultant. “India has a fairly active domestic shipbuilding program, but when they have bought overseas, they tend to buy from the Russians.”
At least 10 terrorists arrived in Mumbai on an inflatable dinghy after hijacking an Indian fishing boat off the west coast and killing its crew, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said. They attacked the main railway station, two five-star hotels, a Jewish center and a hospital with automatic rifles, grenades and explosives.
Vulnerability
The attacks highlighted the vulnerability of India’s coastline, and the government will create a coastal command for overall supervision of maritime and coastal security, Chidambaram told parliament Dec. 11.
“They can take one of our designs and build them in India or we may have a joint design center,” Scopes said. “It’s for building ships more efficiently and effectively and cheaper.”
Separately, India and Russia haven’t agreed on conditions over the sale of the Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov due to differences regarding costs. The Indian Navy agreed to buy the Gorshkov for $1.5 billion five years ago.
Under the terms of the agreement, Russia was to overhaul the 44,500-metric ton carrier and supply 28 MiG-29K fighter jets and other components. It subsequently raised the asking price by $1.2 billion, saying refit costs had increased.
“They had a certain amount of difficulty with the Russians and I am sure that is why BAE is speaking with them,” Zaloga added.
Russia has been India’s principal supplier of fighter planes and equipment in the past. Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., the largest U.S. military contractors, made their first military sales to India only within the past 12 months.
Armored Vehicle
Scopes said BAE plans to make its joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle maker, a base for exporting armored vehicles in Asia.
BAE will hold 26 percent of the venture and Mumbai-based Mahindra & Mahindra will own 74 percent. The partnership will build a version of BAE’s RG-31 mine-protected vehicle in India.
The RG-31 is an all-steel, welded-armor vehicle designed to protect occupants from explosions by antitank mines. The joint venture will have headquarters in New Delhi with an initial workforce of 50 to 60 people, and operations are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2009, BAE said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEmKdEWJZB7Y&refer=home
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First delivery of P-8I for Navy in 48 months, says Boeing
Published: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 at 21:46 IST
Bangalore, Feb 11 : Leading American aircraft manufacturer Boeing today said the first delivery of P-8I maritime reconnaisance aircraft designed specifically for the Indian Navy would take place within 48 months since the agreement was signed in January this year.
"The first aircraft has to be delivered within 48 months after signing the agreement in January", Rick Buck, Programme Manager International Programme, Airbase Anti-Submarine Warfare, ISR, told the media here.
The last delivery of the aircraft would take place in 2015, he added.
The P-8I has advanced multi-mission capability in anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence surveillance and reconnaisance. It offers speed range advantage with a cruise speed of 445 knots and patrol speed of 230 knots, said Rick.
Talking about the P-8 MRA, he said it was competing to bag an order for six aircraft required by India. An evaluation team would evaluate the aircraft, he said.
The maritime reconnnaissance aircraft would provide the Indian Navy with advanced maritime patrol capability, anti-surface warfare and secondary mission capability.
http://www.samaylive.com/news/first-delivery-of-p8i-for-navy-in-48-months-says-boeing/608110.html
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China - Circling Mauritius
C. Raja Mohan
Posted: Feb 11, 2009 at 0316 hrs IST
President Hu Jintao’s four-nation African tour beginning this week will conclude in Mauritius, a geopolitically sensitive Indian Ocean island state that has strong political and security ties with New Delhi. That this is the second African tour for Hu in less than three years underlines the extraordinary amount of political capital that Beijing is investing in Africa. After hosting China’s first Africa summit in Beijing during 2006, Hu went on an extended tour of eight nations that culminated in the tiny Seychelles.
The Indian navy, of course, had no reason to see Hu’s interest in Seychelles as driven by the island’s tropical beaches. Nor would South Block want to believe Hu’s sojourn in Mauritius as a relief and recreation stop at the end of a long African safari. It might not be accidental that Hu’s two trips to Africa are ending in Indian Ocean island states that are rather close to India.
As one of the strongest supporter of the Chinese naval aspirations, Hu understands the importance of the Indian Ocean islands states for Beijing’s new maritime strategy. Amidst China’s growing dependence on imported natural resources, both energy and mineral, and its massive export of manufactured goods to foreign markets have made the protection of sea-lanes in the Indian Ocean a high priority for Beijing and a major justification for the rapid modernisation of its naval forces.
It is also not difficult to see why the Chinese navy would want long-term political and security arrangements with the Indian Ocean littoral states. Without special arrangements for access, its navy’s ability to operate in the Indian Ocean would be severely constrained.
Unlike the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the entry into the Indian Ocean for extra-regional forces can be denied at various choke point like the Malacca straits. If China’s quest for access in the eastern Indian Ocean has been focussed on Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, in the western part of the littoral, Seychelles and Mauritius are of natural interest to Beijing. Hu’s visits to Seychelles and Mauritius in quick succession might be about laying foundations for a long-term strategic presence in these two island states. India, which has strong security arrangements with both these states, would be unwise to these for granted in the face of tempting Chinese overtures to Seychelles and Mauritius.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/circling-mauritius/422011/
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New Anti-Piracy Coalition Makes First Arrest in Gulf of Aden
By VOA News
11 February 2009
The U.S. Navy says it has detained seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
The detentions are the first made by a multi-national force patrolling the waters off Somalia.
Seven men suspected of trying to pirate a tanker
raise their hands before their arrest in the Gulf of Aden.
The Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says the suspected pirates were detained Wednesday after a merchant ship sent a distress call.
The Navy says the crew of the Marshall Islands-flagged ship Polaris reported that gunmen had tried to board the vessel from a skiff.
The Navy says a team from the USS Vella Gulf, a guided missile cruiser, intercepted a skiff matching the description given by the merchant vessel and detained the seven men on board.
It says the suspects will be transferred to a temporary holding facility on a military supply ship.
Last month, the Navy announced the formation of the multinational task force designed to combat piracy in the region.
The International Maritime Bureau says there was a dramatic increase in piracy last year, with pirates attacking more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-11-voa54.cfm
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Singapore to join anti-piracy efforts in Gulf of Aden
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 12 February 2009 1322 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore will be joining the international community with its anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden.
Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean told Parliament on Thursday that Singapore will be deploying a Landing Ship Tank, with two Super Puma helicopters for a period of three months this year.
The ship will work with the newly-formed multi-national Combined Task Force 151 to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden.
The LST will be deployed once the operational arrangements have been made.
Minister Teo explained that Singapore's involvement is because as a maritime nation, the country shares the concerns of the international community regarding piracy.
It is also committed to supporting international efforts to keep the sea lanes safe and secure.
He stressed that it is not possible for any country, including Singapore, to protect its own shipping in all the key sea lanes of the world.
Hence all countries have to depend on international cooperation to secure the sea lanes for everyone's use and that means littoral states, user states, and the international community have a role to play.
Minister Teo said there was an upsurge of piracy attacks recently in the Gulf of Aden.
In the past year, over 100 ships have been attacked by pirates, who have raked in an estimated ransom of US$120 million.
And in recent months, NATO, the European Union, the US, as well as countries such as China, India, Malaysia and Russia, have contributed to anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden.
Other countries, including Japan and Turkey, have announced their intention to send naval vessels.
- CNA/ir
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/408523/1/.html
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Maritime piracy an international concern
By: Aqeel Al-Halali For the Yemen Times
SANA'A, Feb. 10 –– Delegates, diplomats and commanders of navy forces from the Gulf of Aden and European Union countries called for stepping up efforts and vigilance in combating the growing threat of piracy in one of the world's most important sea paths.
At the Regional Maritime Security Conference which ended yesterday in Sana'a, Yemen demanded that the international community strictly tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Arab Sea, confirming that the phenomenon has recently increased in an unacceptable way.
“Maritime piracy acts will increase world financial problems due to the high cost of maritime transportation and ship insurance fees,” said Minister of Interior Mutahar Rashad Al-Masri.
He pointed out that the region of the Gulf of Aden is of vital importance in world navigation due to its strategic location between Asia, Africa and Europe.
Yemen established in 2002 a Coast Patrol Authority to restrict organized crime and terrorism in the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, Al-Masri said.
He pointed out that Yemeni government is currently discussing implementing the second phase of the coast monitoring system with Italy in the region of the Arab Sea.
The Yemeni minister said that establishing infrastructure for a coastline which is over 2,200 kilometers long is a complicated process that "needs a huge budget and long period."
Participants in the conference said that security will not be achieved in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden without stability in Somalia and helping it to combat piracy off its shores.
Commander of the French Joint Forces in the Indian Ocean Vice-Admiral Gerard Valin said that security and stability in Somalia is "a long-term target." He also said the international community needs to help the region improve its capability to combat piracy.
The British Ambassador to Sana'a Tim Torlot, in his word that he delivered on behalf of donor countries of Horn of Africa countries, stressed the importance of regional and international cooperation to combat piracy and find solutions to the problem.
The ambassador denied in a statement to the Al-Jazeera news channel accusations that great countries that have military presence in the region aim to dominate the Gulf of Aden.
"We want to control piracy through our presence in international waters only. We will not enter regional waters of countries in the region," he said.
Officials and diplomats from Yemen, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Italy, France, Germany, Britain and the United States attended the two-day gathering that concluded on Wednesday.
Somali pirates carried out 42 maritime piracy operations and attempted a further 69 last year in the international waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. These acts resulted in 815 passengers and crew members being taken as hostages, 592 of whom were released. There are still 11 ships held by pirates, according to official sources.
http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1233&p=local&a=3
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"We Are the Somali Coast Guard"
Somali pirates active in the busy Gulf of Aden shipping lanes. (defpro)
An Exclusive Interview with a Somali pirate
08:29 GMT, February 12, 2009 Piracy off the Somali coast has become a highly-organized, lucrative, ransom-driven business. Somali pirates have captured three boats so far in 2009, after taking a record 42 last year in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes. Anarchy and an Islamist insurgency onshore have fuelled the upsurge of piracy.
Somalia does not have a Coast Guard or Navy because it has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, reducing Somalia to anarchy and chaos.
Amongst the many negative results of this appalling national disaster, with no patrols along the shoreline, Somalia's tuna-rich waters were soon plundered by commercial fishing fleets from around the world - so putting the local fishermen out of business.
The exact relationship between the crisis of local fishing and the source of piracy could be a matter for interesting sociologic studies - not unlike the general subject of the link between poverty and crime. What is certain, though, it that at least some pirates have quickly learned to use this argument to put themselves and their activities under a more favourable light.
In an exclusive interview with a Somali who calls himself Hussien Musse Waddani, a pirate who currently lives in Garowe, the headquarter of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Somalia, defpro's Special Correspondent for Somalia, Jamal Osman learned that as a response to illegal fishing, Somali started to arm themselves to guard the Somali sea and to protect their fishing business. Here the piracy industry of Somalia started. Soon the huge payoffs attracted gunmen from across the country and the pirates are thought to now number in the thousands.
The following interview with Hussien Musse Waddani was recently done by Special Correspondent for Somalia, Jamal Osman.
Jamal Osman: Hello Hussain, welcome to defpro.com.
Hussain: Thanks Jamal.
(Q) The first question is, what type of life were you living before becoming a pirate? What caused you to become a pirate?
(A) I was a fisherman and I was fishing peacefully in my area off the coast until these huge trawlers arrived in my area. These fishing vessels not only destroyed our fishing nets, they also threatened to kill us if they saw us in the sea. We said we were fishermen and when these vessels denied us our right to fish we did not have another choice. We decided to protect our sea from these illegal fishing vessels.
(Q) How much money have you personally made as a pirate?
(A) Much more than I used to get from fishing.
(Q) How much?
(A) it is a lot and enough for me and my family. I don’t want to say more than that.
(Q) What was your best coup?
(A) My best coup was when we hijacked the MV Bosporus Prodigy which belongs to Turkey.
(Q) Where do your speedboats and weapons come from? Who gave them to you?
(A) This is an easy question… nobody gives us anything, we , the special guards of the Somali coast buy from Bosaso (the headquarters of northeastern province) and some of the boats include our former fishing boats. You can get weapons everywhere in Somalia.
(Q) It has been suggested that some high value vessels could soon have armed security guards onboard. How would you react if, when approaching a ship, you were met with a credible armed threat? Would you pursue the attack and fight the security personnel in order to take the ship or would you just escape?
(A) We don’t care if it is armed or if it is unarmed… we try to seize the ship and then take the ransom. If it escapes from us, we shall wait for another time or take other ships like it. And if we take control of the ship, we try not to harm the crew and we make contact with their families when they need it.
(Q) What happens when you board a ship? Does the crew always give the ship up without fighting, or in same cases do you meet resistance?
(A) Some of them may try to resist us, but we usually will be successful because they know they have violated our seas.
(Q) As you know, the EU, NATO and the US have launched joint anti-piracy missions in the waters off Somalia and other nations such as India and China have also sent warships there. Are you scared by these measures?
(A) No, this has absolutely not scared us. We know they have well armed forces on the ships, and they stay in the waters off Somalia protecting ships from what they call pirates. We know they are taking our resources and dumping toxins in the water, but someday we shall find a solution…. as we found solutions for past illegal fishing in our seas.
(Q) Are you planning to remain a pirate for the rest of your life? If not, what are your future plans?
(A) As I told you, I am not a pirate, we are the special guards of the Somali coast. Until there is an effective government I will perform my duty for my people and my country.
(Q) How do you and your fellow pirates divide the bounty among yourselves? Can you keep all the money for you, or must you pay a share to someone above you?
(A) Mostly we share it equally, but there are other friends who stay on the shore who receive less than what we take.
(Q) My last question is how do you know which ship to take? Do you just look at the first ship you see or do you have more detailed information?
(A) We take any ship that violates our waters. We don’t target one type of ship.
Thank you Hussain Musse Waddani
http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/244/
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NOL new buildings delay to save $250m
Marcus Hand, Sinapore - Tuesday 10 February 2009
NEPTUNE Orient Lines has delayed the delivery of all eight of its 10,000 teu newbuildings, and some chartered-in tonnage, as part of plans to save at least $250m in 2009 as it sinks into the red.
NOL said that it had delayed the delivery of both newbuildings ordered directly by the company and some it contracted on charter from other shipowners.
“We have successfully delayed some of the ship deliveries,” NOL chief financial officer Cedric Foo told a briefing for its annual financial results.
Company officials declined to reveal exactly which vessels had been delayed citing confidentially agreements with both owners and shipyards.
“It’s across the spectrum of the ships we have coming. We’ve been fortunate to have relationships with the owners we have ships coming from,” said NOL chief executive Ron Widdows.
However, a comparison of vessel delivery commitments in NOL’s 2008 results presentation compared to a similar data a year earlier showed that delivery of all eight of its 10,000 teu container vessels had been delayed from 2011 to 2012.
The eight vessels were NOL’s first venture into the 10,000 teu class vessel and ordered at a total cost of around $1bn from Korean shipyards in June 2007, and were earmarked to join the Asia-Europe trade on delivery. The order was reported by brokers to be split equally between Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
The move comes as many containership owners try to negotiate with yards to delay deliveries, although little in the way of success has been reported so far.
Data showed that NOL had also delayed the delivery of two 5,000 teu to 6,999 teu class vessels from 2010 to 2012, and at least two further vessels from delivery in 2009-2010.
The delivery delays form part of a raft of measures which Mr Widdows would said would save it “considerably more” than $250m in 2009 as it plunged into the red for the fourth quarter of 2008.
NOL reported a fourth quarter loss of $149m, compared to a profit of $196m a year early as trade volumes collapsed in the wake of the global financial crisis. The fourth quarter result was further hit by $72m in restructuring charges relating to its lay-off of 1,000 staff announced in November.
For 2008 as whole the Singapore liner company reported a net profit of $83m, down 84% year-on-year, while revenues were up 14% at $9.3bn.
NOL’s liner arm APL is continuing to remove large amounts of tonnage from the major liner trades. It is cutting a further 20% of capacity from the Transpacific trade this year, having already announced a capacity cut of 20% in October last year. It is currently cutting an additional 3% of capacity from the Asia-Europe trade following a 25% in October last year.
Part of the company’s cost savings is to lay-up vessels. According to Eng Aik Meng, president of NOL subsidiary APL, it has laid-up 15 vessels so far, split roughly evenly between hot and cold lay-up. Further lay-ups will depend on market conditions.
The company is also trying to renegotiate charter contracts, and a company official said it had had “some success” in this area.
As part of cost saving initiatives NOL also said it would be returning expired charters and offhiring vessels. Through expiry of charters it can remove seven vessels from its fleet in 2009 and 2010, totaling around 60,000 teu in capacity.
One measure NOL will not be taking to save costs is diverting vessels from sailing from the Suez Canal to going via the Cape of Good Hope to save on fees for transiting the canal.
“We don’t plan to do that,” Mr Widdows said. “I think that has a bit to with a desire to see the Suez Canal fees come down. I think if you had very many very, very large ships you might be incentivised to do something like that.”
In an effort to stem losses on the Asia-Europe trade APL is planning a rate increase although the levels have yet to be decided. A spokesman said the increase was planned for March 15 eastbound and April 1 westbound.
http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/nol-newbuildings-delay-to-save-250m/20017616742.htm
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Saudi Arabia's U.S. Oil Plan to Hurt Supertankers: Chart of Day
Thursday, 12 February 2009
A strategy by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude-oil exporter, to cut supplies of the fuel to the U.S. threatens to sap the revenue of supertanker owners. The CHART OF THE DAY shows the cost of hiring supertankers moves inversely to the discount or premium Saudi Arabia charges for crude relative to the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate grade. The desert kingdom has raised the premium to a record $1 a barrel to deter U.S. refiners from importing the fuel and spur them to absorb a domestic surplus that is depressing oil prices.
"We might have fairly dismal conditions over the next couple of months," Finn Engelsen, managing director of Oslo- based shipbroker Lorentzen & Stemoco AS, said by phone. The tanker market may "sink" as Saudi Arabia seeks "to cut off exports or to discourage anybody from taking the barrels."
The premium, the first in at least a decade, will ensure Saudi Arabia is the biggest contributor to a cut in Middle East shipments to the U.S. of 500,000 barrels a day, Engelsen said. It will lower demand for tanker capacity by as much as 7 million deadweight tons, or about 5 percent of the fleet, he added.
Since January 1999, Saudi Arabia has charged an average of $4.81 a barrel less than West Texas Intermediate to its prized U.S. client.
The cost of supplying Middle East crude to the U.S. climbed to a record $8.29 a barrel in December 2007, according to data Bloomberg compiled. That was the same month that Saudi Arabia offered record discounts on its Arab Light crude oil.
Source: Alaric Nightingale, Bloomberg
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35784&Itemid=95
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Maersk shuts China headquarters
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipping firm, has closed its Greater China headquarters in Beijing and halved the number of its mainland sub-regional offices to streamline operations amid slowing demand, the South China Morning Post reported. The reorganisation had largely been completed and no significant lay-offs were involved. He refused to disclose the headcount at the Beijing office or the number who opted to resign.
Maersk's six sub-regional offices, in Qingdao, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, would be merged into three – in Qingdao, Shanghai and Hong Kong – to cover north China, east China and south China.
Maersk Line's operations in Greater China would be grouped under the north Asia regional office, headquartered in Hong Kong.
The mainland headquarters of Maersk Group, which also has terminal operations and logistics services, would remain in Beijing.
Maersk Line earlier reshuffled its 14 regional offices, merging the northeast Asia, Greater China, Southeast Asia and Oceania offices into two – north Asia and Asia-Pacific.
The company said the restructuring was not aimed at cutting costs.
Source: CargonewsAsia
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35869&Itemid=79
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World shipping tonnage capacity hits 1.12 billion deadweight
Thursday, 12 February 2009
THE world merchant fleet increased astronomically between 2007 and 2008, according to the review of maritime transport by the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). According to the United Nations trade organ, the world merchant fleet expanded by 7.2 per cent in 2007 to 1.12 billion deadweight tonnes (dwt) at the beginning of 2008. By that percentage increase, the organisation said there was a gain of 82 million dwt over the corresponding period of previous year.
The organisation attributed the increase to the historical high demand for shipping capacity that was responded to by the world shipping industry by ordering new tonnage, especially in the dry bulk sector.
The UNCTAD review of Maritime transport, copy of which was mailed to The Guardian few days ago, said vessel orders were at their highest level ever, reaching 10,053 ships with a total tonnage of 495 million dwt, including 222 million dwt of dry bulk carriers.
According to the organisation, the tonnage of dry bulk ships on order at the end of 2007 was 72 times higher than it was in 2002. It said since mid 2007, dry bulk orders outstrip those of any other vessel type.
The influx of new tonnage into the world fleet, said the organisation, over the recent years has contributed to the decrease in the average age of the world fleet to 11.8 years.
The tonnage of oil tankers increases by 6.5 per cent while that of dry bulk carriers increased by 6.4 per cent. These two major type of ships together represent 71.5 per cent of the world total tonnage, a slight decrease from 72.0 per cent in January 2007. The fleet of general cargo ships increased by 4.5 per cent in 2007. This growth rate was below the world total growth rate. This category's share of the total world fleet has further declined to 9.4 per cent.
The UNCTAD's review of maritime transport said the fleet of containerships increased by 16.3 million dwt, or 12.7 per cent, and now represents 12.9 per cent of the total world fleet. This high growth rate, according to the UNCTAD review, reflected the increasing share of trade in manufactured goods, which was further enhanced by its continued containerisation.
In 2008, only 1.1 per cent of the dry bulk fleet were combined ore/bulk/oil carriers, a further decreased from 1.5 per cent share of one year earlier. In spite of the high fluctuations in vessel charter rates, both for oil tankers and for dry bulk carriers, the building cost differential between purely dry bulk carriers and carriers still deterred investment in the more versatile combined carriers.
Among other types of ships, in 2007 there was a strong growth of liquefied natural gas carriers, which rose by 11.5 per cent reflecting the growing use of LGN in global energy supply.
The world fleet of fully cellular containerships continued to expand substantially in 2007. By the beginning of 2008, there were 2.276 ships with a total capacity of 10.76 million TEUS.
This represented an increase of 9.5 per cent in the number of ships and 14 per cent in TEU capacity over the previous year.
According to UNCTAD's review of maritime transport released recently, ship sizes also continued to increase, with average carrying capacity per ship growing from 2,417 TEUS in January 2007 to 2,516 TEUS in January 2008.
The average vessel size of new cellular containership that entered into service in 2007 was 3,291. Behind the increase in average vessel sizes was a growing spread between the largest ship deployed on the main east west routes, and the smaller containerships use for interregional and feeder services.
In 2007, the largest new fully cellular containerships were five 12.508 TEU vessels built in Denmark for the Danish Company Maersk, and the smallest new deliveries were 136 TEU ship built in Viet Nam for the Danish company Erria and two Indonesian built and operate 241 TEU ships.
The average age of the total world fleet continued to decrease since 2007. In 2007, the average age of vessel reduced to 11.8 years. By the vessel type, the youngest fleet continued to be that of containerships with an average age of nine years. 37.3 per cent of tonnage on containerships are younger than five years and only 12.4 per cent is 20 years and older.
The average age of tankers increased marginally to 10 years, the average age of bulk carriers decreased slightly from 12.9 to 12.7 years and general cargo vessels continued to be the oldest vessel type, with an average age of 17 years and 55.9 per cent of tonnage are 20 years and older. Only 12 younger than five years reflecting the trend that general cargo is increasingly containerised.
Further maritime transport analysis by UNCTAD recalled that developed countries have the youngest vessels as their vessels on the average age of 10 years old in 2008 followed by developing countries which vessels are on the age average of 13 years. The transit economies have vessels that are about 16 years old.
Replacement of general cargo vessels by containerships has been particularly noticeable in the fleets registered in developing and transit economies. In these country groups, containerships were introduced later than in the developed market economies fleets. As a consequence, in developing economies, 39.2 per cent of containerships are younger than 5 years old, as against only 12.1 per cent of the general cargo vessels in the group.
The continue increase in the world fleet has since caused a dip in freight rate globally according to the review of maritime transport.
International seaborne trade in 2007, driven by emerging and transition economies, surpassed a record 8 billion tons, the review of maritime transport reports.
Strong demand for shipping services helped push to unprecedented high the cost of moving dry bulk commodities internationally, as echoed by the Baltics Dry Index (BDI) through the first quarter of 2008. The BDI is a composite of shipping prices for various dry bulk products such as iron ore, grain, coal, banxide/alumina and phosphate and is a useful indicator of price movement.
More recently, the BDI has declined more than 11 fold from 11,793 points in May 2008 to 891 as at early November. This shows that the unfolding financial crisis has spread to international trade with negative implication for developing countries, especially those depending on commodities.
The immediate effect of declining freight rates for the developing worlds is mixed. Lower freight costs lead to lower prices for delivered traded goods. Both exporters and importers of food and other commodities thus benefit from lower freight costs, and inflationary pressures are eased. For most commodities shipped in bulk, freight rate account for a higher portion of the final value of the goods. Shipments with lower value of weight ratios are more sensitive to variations in transport costs. Because developing countries trade is dominated by trade in commodities or Low-value manufactured goods such as steel products), a drop in shipping rates benefits their trade under normal circumstances.
However, a rapidly falling BDI is also accompanied by reduced demand for shipping services, increasing the effects of the financial crisis and global demand for goods. This will negatively affect many developing economies.
Global merchandise trade had grown by 5.5 per cent in 2007, almost two per cent points higher than the growth of the world's gross domestic products (GDP) for the year. Dynamic emerging developing and transition economies drove the increase in international seaborne trade up by 4.8 per cent in 2007. In terdem with economic and trade expansion, demand for shipping services increase to reach 32,932 billion tonne mile, a 4.7 per cent jump. World container throughput grew by an estimated 11.7 per cent to reach 485 million TEUS in 2007, said UNCTAD in the 2007 review of maritime transport.
Source: Guardian
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35780&Itemid=79
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Address root cause of piracy: WSC chief
Thursday, 12 February 2009
WORLD Shipping Council (WSC) president and CEO Christopher Koch has told a US Congress committee that pirate attacks on commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden are a serious threat that can only be answered by a coordinated and sustained effort by various international bodies and the maritime industry. In a statement to the sub-committee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transport, Mr Koch highlighted the importance of commercial shipping. 'Liner shipping is the heart of a global transport system that connects American companies and consumers with the world,' he said.
'More than 50 per cent of the US$1.8 trillion in US ocean-borne commerce is transported via liner shipping companies. The international liner shipping industry has been determined by the Department of H`omeland Security to be one of the elements of America's critical infrastructure'.
Mr Koch also pointed out that liner shipping generates more than one million jobs and US$38 billion in annual wages for Americans. On top of this, other expenditure creates an industry that contributes more than US$100 billion a year to the US economy.
WSC commended the US government, the European Union, the United Nations and the governments of other nations that are helping counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
However, it said: 'The long-term solution to this regional breakdown of law and order requires the continuation of international cooperation, including the support of the US government.'
WSC reiterated that 'the US - the largest trading nation in the world and a nation that has a long tradition of protecting the freedom of navigation - is working with the UN Security Council, setting up Combined Task Force 151 comprising naval assets from over 20 nations and partnering with the EU naval force ATALANTA and MSC-HOA'.
'The solution to the problem will require coordinated, sustained efforts by the US, EU, UN, other nations and the maritime industry to protect ships from being hijacked, while simultaneously addressing the root causes of the piracy itself, namely the presence of the failed state of Somalia in the region,' Mr Koch said.
The attacks have brought into focus the increasingly globalised nature of trade and the role of containerships as the conduit of much of this trade.
The random nature of the attacks and the many parties involved have made the need to find an international solution more urgent.
Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has become a scourge. It is estimated that since early 2008, more than 200 hijack attempts have been made on vessels in the region.
Of these, about 50 have been hijacked and almost 1,000 crew members taken hostage. Enhanced naval patrols have helped alleviate the problem, but attacks still take place.
Source: Business Times
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/alltheheadlines/0,4985,1234382340,00.html
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Enjoy the Weekend !!!
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Snooper
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