Mike Schuler
U.S. Marines Take Back Hijacked Ship Off Somalia
Earlier today, a team of U.S. Marines from the 5th Marine Expeditionary Unit successfully boarded and seized the German owned M/V Magellan Star after it was boarded and siezed just a day earlier off the Somali coast. The incident is reportedly the first in which U.S. military forces have staged an action to board a commercial vessel in which pirates were on board with hostages. The U.S. Navy tells us in a release:
At approximately 5 a.m. local time, Sept. 9, 24 U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime Raid Force (MRF) aboard USS Dubuque (LPD8) operating under Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), boarded and seized control of Antigua-Barbuda-flagged, German–owned vessel M/V Magellan Star from pirates who attacked and boarded the vessel early Sept 8.
This successful mission by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) secured the safety of the ship’s crew and returned control of the ship to the civilian mariners. Nine pirates are currently under control of CTF 151, pending further disposition. This ship’s crew has not reported any injuries or casualties. There were no reported injuries from the U.S. Maritime Raid Force. Keep Reading
According to additional reports, 11 crew members were on board the vessel and were locked in a safe room when the operation took place. No shots were fired and the pirates surrendered “within minutes”.
We only hope the U.S. Navy will release some cool helmet-cam footage of the operation, like the Dutch Marines did when they took back the M/V Taipan back in April. Check out the video HERE.
Wonder what it’s like to have Somali pirates approaching your ship? Check out THIS VIDEO of an attack on the U.S. flagged M/V Liberty Sun.
[Image source: US Navy]
gCaptain.com Welcomes Rob Almeida to The Team
Originally from Orr’s Island, Maine, Rob graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1999 with a B.S. degree in Naval Architecture. As a junior officer, he earned his surface warfare officer’s qualification on board USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) and subsequently served as Training Officer on board USS Antietam (CG 54). Rob’s last tour in the Navy was at the Naval Academy where he coached the offshore and intercollegiate sailing teams, and directed the Basic Seamanship Training Program.
At the end of 2005, Rob’s parent’s were halfway through their 10-year circumnavigation on board Calypso, a Bob Perry-designed Valiant 40. Having recently resigned from the US Navy, he soon found himself on a one-way flight to the Sri Lankan port city of Galle.
Two months and 3000-miles later, Rob secured a Sudanese visa and disembarked in Port Sudan. Upon flying to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, he then spent the next two weeks making his way through the desert to the airport in Cairo to catch a flight on to Kyrgyzstan in central Asia. The next two weeks were spent backpacking, climbing, and camping in the Tien Shan mountains, but with funds running low, and rioting in Kathmandu, he decided to postpone the next leg of his journey and returned to Annapolis, Maryland.
Over the next 6 months, Rob pursued a number of different career ideas, but finally settled in Fort Lauderdale as a Maritime Recruitment Consultant with Faststream Recruitment. Over the next two and a half years, his business quickly evolved and he found significant success as a consultant to technical professionals within the maritime and offshore oil and gas industries.
In 2009, Rob accepted an opportunity to train as a Rig Manager-Performance within Transocean’s Accelerated Operations Management Program and for the past 12 months, he worked as a Roustabout, Floorhand, DPO, Derrickhand, and Assistant Driller on two of Transocean’s newest 6th Generation Drillships.
In late August 2010, Rob signed on with gCaptain.com to manage business development and marketing efforts as Partner / Chief Marketing Officer.
“Skandi Aker” named ‘ship of the year’ at SMM
Aker Solutions’ new deepwater intervention vessel, Skandi Aker, has today been announced winner of the coveted international “Ship of the Year 2010″ award.
The award was presented today to Stig Antonsen, VP Marine in Aker Solutions, by Rikke Lind, state secretary of the Norwegian Ministry for Trade and Industry, at the SMM 2010 trade show in Hamburg, Germany.
Skandi Aker is the most advanced vessel of its kind. It is a multi-purpose vessel designed to perform riser-based well intervention services – along with subsea construction and installation activities – at water depths up to 3000 metres. Other existing well intervention vessels are limited to operations at approximately 800 metres water depth.
“Essentially, Skandi Aker is able to perform deepwater well intervention services that oil companies previously needed drilling rigs to conduct. More importantly we do it quicker and at a fraction of the cost. This, in turn, enables us to free up scarce and expensive rig time, which allows the rigs to perform more drilling operations while we carry out the intervention work,” says Karl Erik Kjelstad, EVP Oilfield Services & Marine, Aker Solutions.
“We are proud to receive the Ship of the Year-award. It is a prestigious award which is an excellent recognition of Skandi Aker’s unique deepwater well intervention system and capabilities as well as the ship itself.”
Skandi Aker is the first intervention vessels to classified according to DNV.s WELL-Notation, meaning the vessel is able to take oil on board. As a result, the vessel can perform well-testing and clean-up, flaring off hydrocarbons through a flare at the stern. The vessel can also perform through-tube rotary drilling with coil and downhole motor, and managed-pressure drilling.
The 157 metre long ship is the largest monohull subsea well intervention vessel built, boasting a large deck space, heavy capacity subsea cranes, excellent sea-keeping performance, all interventions using dynamic positioning system, and 18 knots transit speed. She is equipped with a module handling system and a 400-ton AHC crane.
“A unique feature about Skandi Aker is her multi-functionality. When she is not performing well intervention work she can perform subsea installation and construction work, handling 225-ton structures down to 3000 metres water depth,” adds Kjelstad. Skandi Aker is currently performing subsea construction and installation work offshore West Africa.
Skandi Aker has been built at STX Norway Offshore’s yard in Søviknes, Norway. The vessel is owned by Norwegian company DOFCON ASA.
The prestigeous Ship of the Year-award is instituted by the major Nordic shipping magazine Skipsrevyen. Prize candidates are nominated by the readers of the magazine, but the final election is the responsibility of a jury consisting of the former managing director of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, Mr. Rolf Sæther, the managing director of the sales and marketing organisation Norwegian Shipyards, Mr. Birger Skår, and publisher of Skipsrevyen, Mr. Asle B. Strønen.
[Source: Aker Solutions, Image Source: offshore-mag.com]
VIDEO: Cruise ship Pacific Sun hits rough seas
For those of you that have been following this blog long enough know that cruise ships + foul weather = bad news for the passengers and crew. Although the video has just hit the web, the incident occurred in August 2008 when P&O’s Pacific Sun cruise ship encountered 23ft. seas and 50 knot winds about 400 miles off the coast of New Zealand.
Having worked a brief stint in the hotel business myself, I can only imagine the complaints that must have been flying in… but the real question is who secured the ship for sea? 23′ seas in not uncommon and mariners on the north atlantic run frequently see wave heights twice that size with little to no carnage to report. Do cruise ships just expect to avoid in-climate weather 100% of the time? Where they acting reckless by not securing for sea? LEave your answers (and heavy weather sea stories) in the comments section below.
For some more of gCaptain’s coverage of cruise ships in rough weather, CLICK HERE.
(Via Scuttlefish)
Yachting in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert
This photo comes to gCaptain via Burning Man 2010, the annual week long art event ending on Labor Day on a dry lake bed in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Burning Man, for those of you unfamiliar, is an annual gathering 50,000 or so people that set up a “temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance”, and culminates with the burning of a wooden effigy on Saturday night. The owner of this beaut, according to sources, drove this rig around the entire event, not to mention how he got it there in the first place.
The wooden hulled, er, yacht, was completely fitted onto a a trailer and was driven (not towed) by the “captain” who could steer the vessel right from the wheelhouse. When asked if she would float, the owner simply replied: “not likely”.
[Image source: "wolfy"]
Hurricane Tracks Seen From Space
Click image for high resolution
A few weeks ago we showed you ship tracks seen from space. Here is another interesting image of hurricane and tropical storm tracks, well, plotted on an image of the Atlantic. According to the image summary:
This map shows the tracks of all Atlantic hurricanes which formed between 1851 and 2005. The points show the locations of the storms at six-hourly intervals and use the color scheme shown to the right from Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
Blue = Tropical depression; Red = Category 5 hurricane
Ship Photo of The Week – NYC Tugboat Race
Click image for high resolution
This weeks ship photo comes to us from the 18th annual running of the Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition held at Pier 84 in New York City this weekend. Shown here is the tug parade just prior to race on September 5, 2010.
Fifteen to 20 tugboats participated in the event on the Hudson River Sunday morning, as they competed to be named the fastest boat in their class. And it’s is not just limited to the fastest tug. Tugs also challenge each other in nose-to-nose pushing duels and the line toss competition, where captain and crew get a chance to show off their skills and coordination.
The race is organized by the Working Harbor Committee in collaboration with Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises at 42nd Street. The WHC is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating people about the rich history, current vitality and future potential of the New York/New Jersey Harbor. The organization also provides Hidden Harbor Tours® and runs an extensive youth educational program.
As for the results of the race….? You’re just going to have to check back as we await official word.
For gCaptain’s coverage from previous years, click HERE.
[Image credit: Bernard Ente]
Portfire 40 Launches! Who do you think should make the list?
The Portfire 40, a new shipping industry list of the most influential and alternative thinkers and thought provokers, is in the works. An open and growing list, based on submitted candidates and decided by a board of judges, the Portfire 40 is here to recognize those wielding a different kind of power in the maritime industry.
Created as an alternative to the Tradewinds Power 100 list released this summer, where the focus repeatedly falls on big money, ship owners, and corporations, the Portfire 40 is designed to focus on the other side of influence, where the emphasis lies in new ideas, creativity, and improvement of the overall maritime industry.
From shipping podcasts to blogs, the names and notions represented in the Portfire 40 will vary, branching out to evoke the true nature of how vast the maritime world is. These 40 names will include the personalities believed to be making the biggest impact on the industry and their colleagues, through change and new thought, media and alternative press. In as much, the Portfire 40 is to be a list not recognizing those who are currently involved in the status quo, but rather will be a list encompassing the individuals of the future of the maritime industry. Here the significance lies on leadership, innovation, personality, or the ways in which some are enriching society.
One of the judges, Ryan Skinner, of 5956N, was quoted as saying, “The Portfire 40 is a list of those shipping personalities who haven’t inherited a shipping empire but rather carved out a significant change in the industry with passion and pride.”
The list will be determined by votes and a panel of judges, with those involved in the maritime industry nominating and submitting names to make the list.
Backers for the Portfire40 include John Konrad of gCaptain, Ryan Skinner of 5956N, James Tweed of Coracle Online, the ClayMaitland.com team, Peter Mello of Sea-fever, Bob Coutie of Maritime Accident Casebook, Humphrey Hill and Sam Ignarski of After Office Hours, Steven Jones of Shiptalk, Ken E. Beck of Kennebeck Captain. and Ben Strong from Amver.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks as the list begins to take shape and to hear what others are saying about it, check out the links above.
Do you have a recomendation for the list? Let us know! Leave a comment below or send an email with your candidate’s name, employer and why you think he/she belongs among the Portfire40.
Maritime Monday 230: Do Not Adjust Your Set
We thought we would provide this week’s Maritime Monday a few hours early, as we are so excited to just put last week behind us! Again, we sincerely apologize for the unexpected downtime experienced. We have been working tirelessly all weekend to get everything back up and running as soon as possible, and we’ll have another update for you all shortly. Thank you for you patience and without further ado, Maritime Monday 230: ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set’ edition.
Maribor at Kakinada, India; June 2007 via SHIPSPOTTING – (SEE BIGGY)
The Ships of Jonathan Atkin AKA ShipShooter: Beautiful Rena on the Columbia River »
Woopsie! A Chinese cargo vessel is sinking after it collided with a French oil tanker off the coast of east China’s Zhejiang Province on Tuesday. Photo: CFP
6 Missing after Oil Tanker & Cargo Ship Collide off ChinaUPI – Six people are missing after a French oil tanker collided with a Chinese cargo vessel off the coast of east China’s Zhejiang Province Tuesday, local authorities said. All seven people aboard the Chinese vessel fell into water after the collision that took place at about 11:10 a.m. near Ningbo City, and one was rescued, a spokesman with the Zhejiang Maritime Safety Administration said.
No oil spill was reported as the French vessel FLANDRE was not carrying oil when the accident happened. The vessel was traveling to the United Arab Emirates from a harbor in Ningbo, the spokesman said. Rescuers are searching the area for the missing person, he said. Local maritime affairs authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, the added.
Bitter End Gets the Short Arm InspectionWhat’s great about random drug testing is that it is indeed random. With only one week left in the summer season, yesterday was my day to visit the local clinic for a test. I asked if it was ok to snap a few shots with ye ole iPhone.
Another Oil Rig Explosion, and The Science of DispersantsBig Ups to our buds over at Deep Sea News! Last week’s series on dispersants (posted here) got snagged by the inimitable maven-of-nerd-core blog, Boing Boing. Congrats one and all!
Another oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded today. All crew members survived. Right now, nobody knows whether or not the explosion caused a leak in any of the seven wells that the rig collects from. There have been reports of an oil slick on the water near the fire, but that could just as easily be from the finite amount of oil stored on the rig—which would still a spill, but a significantly less problematic one.
Other than that, there’s not really much information out about this right now. If anybody’s learned anything from Deepwater Horizon it seems to be that you’re better off, PR-wise, if you don’t have to correct everything you say two days later.
In case you missed it:
- Part 1: How effective are dispersants on real oil spills?
- Part 2: How toxic are dispersants?
- Part 3: Do dispersants really promote degradation of oil?
New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) – BP removed the failed blowout preventer from atop its plugged well deep below the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Friday. The device was detached at 1:20 pm, BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said, and a vessel was slowly raising it from its position thousands of feet below the surface.
The removal “appears to have gone very smoothly and as planned,” Beaudo said. He added that steps also are being taken to reposition a drilling rig over the well site, in preparation for attaching a replacement blowout preventer on the well.
End of WWII–65 Years Ago TodaySailors aboard the battleship Missouri watch as Allied and Japanese representatives meet to have Japan formally surrender on Sept. 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay.
Mighty Mo - On September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay, a Japanese Imperial delegation signed the instruments of surrender before the Allied Forces bringing World War II to its conclusion on the deck of the Missouri. Since 1998, the Missouri has been anchored in Pearl Harbor adjacent to the USS Arizona Memorial »
Something Different (SD) is a joint venture of tugster and coldisthesea.
Appropriation of Maritime Symbolism: Doesn’t the yellow rattlesnake flag so common in recent political rallies have a maritime history?What IS that maritime history?
These yellow flags with rattlesnakes you may have started seeing everywhere… they are not new. I trace them back to the contrarian from Pennsylvania who played with lightning, yes… Benjamin Franklin. He also extolled the health benefits of skinny-dipping and created bifocals, without which we older folk couldn’t exist. His wit generated such gems as “fish and visitors stink in three days” and “beer is evidence that God loves us.”
Franklin liked rattlers, even proposed they become our national symbol because they were honorable beasts who –if they felt tread upon—would communicate, would rattle a warning of an impending strike if said-treading continued.
Cold is the Sea, here. By the way, I just couldn’t let the opportunity pass to link you to Kate Beaton’s excellent take on Ben Franklin’s conception of the Gadsden flag’s predecessor, the “Join or Die” political cartoon »
A piece of pottery at Coastal Carolina University on Monday, Aug. 30, 2010. The pottery was found in an archaeology dig near Kingston Presbyterian Church finding evidence of a naval stores industry that dates to the early 1800s. Photo by Janet Blackmon Morgan Coastal Carolina University Dig Unearths Shipbuilding History
Work at Government Shipyard of Conwayborough stopped when the steam-driven vessel Maggie burned up at a dock on the Waccamaw River during an early May night in 1897.
The ship fire, which started around midnight, spread to some of the nearby warehouses as well as the shipyard. Reports from the time record the end of the Maggie, a Waccamaw Line ship that hauled cargo and passengers.
“We see this all over the world,” said Cheryl Ward, director of the Center for Archaeology and Anthropology at CCU. After evidence of a fire is found at an archaeological site anywhere on the globe, there typically is evidence in the soil layer above the charred layer that the destruction has been cleaned up and those using it have converted its use to something different.
Ward also does maritime archaeology and speaks with pride of the reconstruction of an Egyptian vessel discovered at a site she has worked in Egypt for decades. The Waccamaw, she said, contains what’s left of any number of vessels that sank in the county’s early English history.
Cosco Pacific Boosts First-Half Profit 82% as Economic Rebound Spurs TradeCosco Pacific Ltd., Asia’s third- largest container-terminal operator, said first-half profit rose 82 percent on recovering world trade and the sale of a stake in a logistics venture.
Bloomberg – Net income rose to $189.9 million, or 7.96 cents a share, from $104.5 million, or 4.66 cents, a year earlier, the terminal operator said today. The company made an $84.7 million gain from selling its stake in Cosco Logistics Co. to its parent.
Cosco Pacific’s container traffic rose 19 percent in the period as a revival in consumer spending prompted retailers to restock Asian-made goods. Global container port volumes may rise 12 percent this year, with growth led by China, according to Alphaliner, a shipping-data provider.
- more »
- HANDY SHIPPING – Another Container Shipping Line Posts Profits; COSCO follow Maersk With First Half Gains »
The Maritime Executive and Canada.com reported about the recent grounding of the Amver participating cruise ship Clipper Adventurer. According to reports, the Clipper Adventurer was sailing in the Northwest Passage when it struck an uncharted rock near Nunavut on Friday August 27, 2010. The Canadian Icebreaker Amundsen was diverted to ferry the passengers to Kugluktuk.
Daewoo Targets Boom in Offshore Wind PowerKorean shipbuilding giant becomes latest engineering firm to set its sights on fast-expanding wind energy market
South Korean ship building giant Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has announced that it is aiming to generate a third of its sales from wind power by 2020 as global demand for alternative energy continues to climb.
According to Bloomberg reports, the company is looking to diversify its revenue stream and generate sales of up to $7.5bn a year from its emerging wind energy operations by 2020.
Meeting the target would represent a remarkable performance from the firm given that it currently derives almost all of its revenues from shipbuilding and offshore equipment, with its wind energy businesses boasting annual revenues of just $25m.
EPA Rules Will Bar Ships from Discharging Sewage Near California CoastEPA officials say the new rules taking effect next year prohibit cruise and cargo ships from releasing about 20 million gallons of sewage into coastal waters every year.
August 26, 2010 / Los Angeles Times – New federal regulations will bar cruise vessels and large commercial ships from discharging sewage within three miles of California’s coastline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.
Officials say the new rules, which take effect next year, will amount to the nation’s largest ban on sewage discharge and will keep some 20 million gallons of sewage out of coastal waters every year.
- more »
- Intnl Business Times – No more dumping in California waters »
If you read InvestigateWest‘s piece on the cruise industry this month, or our own coverage of the industry , you know that what happens below deck ain’t nearly as pretty or clean or fun as what happens on deck.
But there was good news for the California coastline on Wednesday, when the EPA announced it is putting a spine into a spineless 2005 law that set out to restrict how and where ships can release pollutants–including untreated sewage–into the state’s shoreline and its waters, which extend three miles from the coast.
• more »
Failed Search Deepens Mystery of Vanished ExplorersCanadian scientists’ announcement Monday that they failed to find the final resting place of British naval hero Sir John Franklin deepened one of the most enduring mysteries of the Arctic.
In May 1845, Franklin set sail from England with 134 men aboard two ships, the Terror and Erebus, to search for the fabled Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic to the Pacific Ocean. Five sailors left the ship in Greenland. The rest were never heard from again.
Last week, a six-man government survey team, supported by the Canadian Coast Guard vessel the Sir Wilfrid Laurier and its near 50-man crew, surveyed hundreds of square miles of frigid sea floor hoping to succeed where some 100 other expeditions failed—discovering the fate of the ships and a crew whose demise has been attributed to factors from lead poisoning to cannibalism.
Film Prop Becomes Work Boat for UK Oyster FarmA landing craft used in the 2010 film adaptation of the Robin Hood legend has found its way to Bailiwick waters.
Pinewood Studios was selling off the boat just as the Herm Oyster Farm was looking for such a vessel. Chris Allsopp, from the company, said it became the perfect boat for the job but only after a lot of work.
He said: “It was matt black with wood panels and a castle turret and oar holes… It had sheepskin rugs over the seats and arrows in the side of it.”
On April 29, 1975, as Saigon was falling to Communist North Vietnamese forces, a small U.S. Navy destroyer escort ship, the USS Kirk, played a dramatic but almost forgotten role in rescuing up to 30,000 South Vietnamese. Here, a member of the USS Kirk’s crew tends to a Vietnamese baby.
Forgotten Ship: A Daring Rescue As Saigon FellFirst of three parts
August 31, 2010 – For Americans, the lasting image of the end of the Vietnam War came from the nightly news. On April 29, 1975, television showed the evacuation of Saigon as U.S. Marine helicopters swooped down to the U.S. Embassy and the roof of a nearby CIA safe house to rescue the last 1,000 Americans in the city and some 6,000 Vietnamese and their families who worked for them.
But there was another evacuation that didn’t get as much attention. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese found other ways to escape in those frenzied few days. They left in boats and helicopters and headed to the South China Sea. They didn’t know if North Vietnamese jets would sink their boats or shoot the helicopters out of the sky.
They did know that the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet was out there, somewhere, and they headed out to the ocean hoping to be rescued. One of those U.S. Navy ships was a small destroyer escort, the USS Kirk. As the evacuation began, the Kirk’s military mission was to shoot down any North Vietnamese jets that might try to stop the Marine helicopters. The North Vietnamese planes never came.
The approximately 260 officers and men of the USS Kirk weren’t prepared for what happened next…
- Part I: audio & more »
- Part 2: 35 Years On, Vietnam Heroes Reunited, Decorated »
- Part III: At War’s End, U.S. Ship Rescued South Vietnam’s Navy »
‘There was no argument’
With the full might of a Royal Navy destroyer looming over it, the skipper of this little yacht had little choice but to surrender.
DAILY MAIL – HMS Gloucester had been called in to intercept the yacht in the mid-Atlantic which was carrying £4million worth of cocaine. The destroyer, which was diverted to assist while heading south to the Falklands, was helping a law enforcement team from Cape Verde in the early hours of Friday.
Japanese Cars Delivery FailENGLISH RUSSIA – This is the way how used Japanese cars are being imported. Sometimes the greed of the owners can’t make them stop to get just a few more cars on board and here’s the result…
- more »
- See also: Inside the Mysterious UVB-76 Station »
There was a big buzz lately about Russian station UVB-76 which was known as a “buzzer” transmitting repeating beeping signals for as long as 30 years, and then lately a few times those were interrupted with strange coded voice messages. Now you can have a rare chance to see the place from where all those are coming from.
Light Traffic on NJ-Boston Marine HighwayWorkBoat.com – When Columbia Coastal Transportation announced last week that it would end its short-sea shipping services between New Jersey and Boston, it made me wonder: What might this signal for the future of such “marine highway” projects across the country?
For the past 20 years, the company had been providing weekly service between Elizabeth, N.J., and Boston, moving containers by tug and barge. Columbia Coastal officials told The Journal of Commerce that container traffic between Boston and New Jersey ports had dropped significantly over the past three years due to a decline in trucking rates. Another factor was the development of international carrier service to Boston.
- more »
- See also: Built in America at U.S. shipyards by Ken Hocke
August 30, 2010For many years now I’ve heard people say that the trouble with the U.S. is that the country doesn’t build anything anymore. Those people are looking back at Detroit, Pittsburgh and Chicago of the mid-20th century. They’re not looking at the workboat industry in 2010. And I’m not talking about cruise or container ships. Those are built overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor costs and many are built in government subsidized yards. I’m talking about supply boats and crewboats, and tugs, barges and towboats — built in America by Americans who are paid a fair wage and given decent benefits. more »
This weekend in watery Venice, Italy, MIT scientists will demonstrate a creation called Seaswarm, a fleet of autonomous swimming bots intended to skim the water’s surface; each bot would drag a sort of mesh net to collect the crude sitting there. According to their creators, the machines will be able to find oil on their own and talk to one another to compute the most efficient way to tidy it up.
The Seaswarm robots, which were developed by a team from MIT’s Senseable City Lab, look like a treadmill conveyor belt that’s been attached to an ice cooler. The conveyor belt piece of the system floats on the surface of the ocean. As it turns, the belt propels the robot forward and lifts oil off the water with the help of a nanomaterial that’s engineered to attract oil and repel water [CNN].
Mammoth Ship Visits Georgia PortSAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) Savannah welcomed the largest cargo ship that’s ever visited its bustling seaport. The French-flagged ship CMA CGM Figaro traveled the Savannah River to the nation’s 4th largest port Friday.
The mammoth vessel is nearly 1,200 feet long and can carry up to 8,500 cargo containers more than twice the carrying capacity of most ships that use the Savannah port. Port officials say the ship is so large that it can only navigate the Savannah harbor at high tide.
Meet the Portfire40!59° 56′ N / By Ryan Skinner – This summer TradeWinds published a list of the 100 individuals and/or teams that they find most powerful or influential in shipping. They called it the Power 100.
Shipowners and scions topped the list. Even if TradeWinds ran away from the idea, the Power 100 parallels the Shipping Wealth 100. Wealth may be equivalent to power or influence, as these can be bought. What’s to admire about that? Lloyd’s List has already announced more or less the same thing.
NASA’s Stunning Hurricane Pics Via Plane, Space Station & Satellite80 Beats – These photos from the ISS were taken by an Expedition 24 crew member on Monday. They show Hurricane Earl (at this time a category 4 storm) as it passed just north of the Virgin Islands.
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(left) Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight (1835) at the National Gallery of Art. This is not the bog-standard snap-shot of the slug and slog of the industrial revolution that the title might suggest, no sir. Instead, under Turner’s touch, a night-time of toil is transformed into an addictive vision of lush loveliness.
Permanent Collection: Turner’s Keelmen Heaving in Coals by MoonlightI was just in London and found time for Trafalgar Square, to see what was sitting on top of the famous Fourth Plinth. In recent years, this erstwhile empty pedestal (it was made in the 1840s to exhibit an equestrian statue that was never completed).
This year has seen another sea change with the current Plinth commission, which is called Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle. It’s a model of the HMS Victory, Admiral Horatio Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, by British artist Yinka Shonibare and the first Fourth Plinth piece to tap into the historical currents of its context. Fifteen feet long and eight feet tall, the bottle (complete with giant cork; above right) was made by aquarium specialists in Rome.
Recommended Viewing: Edward Burtynsky’s Aerial Oil Spill PhotosFlavorwire just posted aerial photographs of the Gulf Oil Spill by Edward Burtynsky, whose Oil series explores the effects of the substance on our daily lives. The images, taken during Burtynsky’s trip to the gulf in May, are just striking.
Premiering at Nicholas Metivier Gallery in Toronto, the photographer’s hometown, on September 16, photographs from the Oil Spill series share space at the gallery with Burntynsky’s Pentimento images, which documents the crude process of dismantling massive ships by hand on the beaches of Bangladesh.
- more »
- See also: Art Made by Guantamo Detainees »
So, guess who’s jumping on the bandwagon and starting their own blog, too. Okay, I’ll give you two guesses… No, it’s not Bill Murray, though I’m sure that would be interesting.
Instead, it’s me, Fairlane, starting my own blog which features, well, so far, some pretty ugly looking, beat-up ships…wait a second, I’m just ripping somebody off here…
Well, not really, the point of this blog is to take what at first glance may just seem to be a random, unexciting vessel, and uncover what sets it apart. Was that longliner fishing boat once a spy ship? Did a famous author once sail aboard that tugboat? Did that bulker once participate in a major news story?
Tidbits like these, and many more are all what I’m setting out to uncover as I spy a variety of unassuming vessels, so join in on the search for these random facts at ShipSpot.
S.Korea and US to Stage Joint Naval DrillSEOUL — South Korea said Tuesday it will stage a joint naval exercise with the United States next week, the latest in a series of drills aimed at warning North Korea after its alleged attack on a warship.
The anti-submarine drill will take place in the Yellow Sea from September 5 to 9, a spokesman for Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.
“Now we’re coordinating final details with the United States,” he said, declining to say which ships would be involved.
Yonhap news agency, quoted an unidentified military official, said the exercise would involve two US Aegis-class destroyers and a 1,200-tonne submarine plus South Korean corvettes and destroyers, but no aircraft carriers or nuclear submarines.
KOREA TIMES – Preconditions for Talks: Action-for-Action Approach Advisable for Korean PeaceNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il has expressed willingness to resume the six-party talks and his stance to adhere to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Preconditions for resuming the talks: First, Pyongyang must apologize for its clandestine sinking of the South Korean warship which killed 46 sailors. It should pledge not to repeat the same hostile actions.
Second, it must take voluntary steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons. Third, it should also promise not to conduct nuclear tests or fire missiles while the talks are under way.
There is little possibility that Pyongyang will honor the preconditions.
South Korean Cargo Ship Accused Of Sinking Chinese Fishing Boat9/2/2010 – The Chinese Foreign Ministry says a Chinese fishing boat sank in the Yellow Sea after a collision with a South Korean cargo vessel. The incident occurred in waters west off west-Gyengnyelbi islet, South ChungCheong Province, on Wednesday afternoon.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that inclement weather made it difficult for China’s emergency response team to carry out rescue efforts. South Korean Coast Guard has sent a patrol vessel and a helicopter in search of the missing fishermen.
Ship Graveyard in Chittagong, Bangladesh, being from the blog for Intermediate Unit 3 at the Architectural Association, School of Architecture in London. MORE »
SteelGuru: Update on Ship Breaking Activity Last WeekMost pundits in the recycling industry expected the negative outcome from Bangladesh (Chittagong yards remaining closed until October), to soften prices in India and Pakistan.
GMS said “While we did see a loss of confidence in these markets, no sales took place at lower prices.” It said “Supply of tonnage dried up this week as sellers began delaying their sales in anticipation of a Bangladesh comeback, end of Ramadan period and return of firmer prices. “
Ctg Ship-Breaker Fined for Ignoring Workers’ SafetyThe Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday fined a ship-breaking yard at Sonaichhari under Sitakunda upazila Tk 7 lakh for ignoring workers’ safety and environmental pollution.
A team led by DoE Director (Enforcement) Munir Chowdhury fined Messrs Sultana Ship-Breaking. This is the first time a ship-breaking yard was penalized.
Munir said one worker was killed and four others were injured in a fire on July 12 while cutting an oil tanker of a ship at the ship-breaking yard.
Study: Antarctica’s “Achilles’ Heel” Ice Sheet Once CollapsedSimilar populations of seabed-rooted animals separated by 1,500 miles of ice, researchers say, could mean that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet was once a trans-Antarctic seaway. This surprising find has also led researchers to wonder if a warming planet could again cause the thick ice sheet to collapse and give way to a swath of open water.
The team, which published their study in Global Change Biology, found similar but separated bryozoans–creatures also called moss animals–in both the Ross and Weddell Seas while conducting the Census of Antarctic Marine Life. Given that bryozoans don’t move all that much, lead author David Barnes suggests that the isolated populations came from the same, connected habitat.
Tallship Tenacious’ Decade with Jubilee Sailing TrustSouthampton-based charity, the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the maiden voyage of the tall ship Tenacious.
Tenacious was the largest wooden tall ship in the world built during the last century. Its onboard facilities enable people with various physical disabilities to enjoy sailing.
Since 2000 the ship has sailed over 170,000 miles (275,000km), including six voyages across the Atlantic Ocean.
Thomas Over at 70.8% Describes in Moderate –Though Far from Complete Detail– His Recent Maine Quickie: Part 1; The Landing SchoolAfter going Down East, the intrepid small-craft enthusiast came in for a soft landing in Arundle, Maine. He spent the day running his hands over some lovely, smooth hulls and seemed especially enraptured with the hand-tooling. While he has admired many a fine craft in his many, many years, the one that day towards whom he felt the strongest and most mysterious pull, proved too great a strain on his trailer hitch.
‘Tis much the pity, Mr. Armstrong, for certainly the lovely lasses of Maine were hoping to glimpse you glide astride the breaking surf and heave your keel securely and exhaustedly upon the drenched and rocky shores. Anon, they were left disappointed. That’s ok, they need something to yearn for as they stride the windswept cliffs. Prostrate, wan, and inconsolable until you return, Cracker Jack!
Travelogue: Lock Up Your Daughters, It’s Whitby!Ever since I read Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula I had wanted to visit the pretty North Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby. The small fishing port – romantically positioned between a sometimes tragic North Sea (a teenager drowning off Whitby’s cruel waters the week after my departure) and the Brontesque Yorkshire Dales – features in the book as the eerie village in which the dastardly Count sucks the life out of poor Lucy Westenra before jumping the overnight sleeper to King’s Cross. Stoker visited the town a number of times, his account of Dracula’s dramatic arrival reputed to be based on a real incident in which the ship Demetrius ran aground on Whitby’s shore…its gruesome cargo of occupied coffins discovered by the local townsfolk in the first morning light.
The modern Whitby still manages to maintain a romantic atmosphere, the ruined skeleton of its clifftop abbey (below bottom – destroyed by Vikings in 867) dramatically silhouetted high above the harbour. The East Cliff’s atmospheric old cemetery and the historic, jagged-roofed fisherman’s cottages underneath endow the restless shore with a sense of mystery, danger and a strange other worldliness.
From The Whitby Seagull: Bram Stoker »
Much has been written about the importance of the town of Whitby. Tourists flock there to see the magnificent ruins of Whitby Abbey; the memorial to Caedmon (“the father of English poetry”), the magnificent monument to Captain James Cook who set sail from Whitby for the South Seas, and – of course – to sample the world-famous Whitby fish and chips.
Whitby has an additional claim to fame, albeit one that has led to a few misgivings and a healthy plate of misinformation: Dublin-born author Bram Stoker visited the town while working on his novel Dracula (published in 1897) and set three important chapters of his book (6-9) in the seaside town. The exact nature of this visit and the impact it had on his novel can be ascertained through an examination of two primary sources: Stoker’s working notes for Dracula (published in 2009) and the novel itself. keep reading »
Underwater Cities: 12 Sci-Fi Visions & Real Design IdeasWhether it’s adventure or necessity that ultimately propels us to venture beyond our shores and build new communities in the sea, we’ve got plenty of space to work with: over 70% of the Earth is covered with water. The world’s oceans can provide a dreamy setting for all manner of submerged societies, from self-sustaining utopian cities to ultra-modern inverted ‘skyscrapers’ and museums. These 12 ideas range from science fiction to theoretically achievable projects, possibly leading to the world’s first permanent aquatic abode.
USS Harmon, First Navy Ship Named After an African-American, Is Commissioned Today in 1943When trouble’s cooking on the high seas, who better to come to the rescue than a mess attendant? Mess Attendant First Class Leonard Roy Harmon, who worked in the kitchens on the USS San Francisco, earned several posthumous honors for his bravery during the Battle of Guadalcanal, including a naval ship named in his honor. The USS Harmon, commissioned today (Aug. 31) in 1943, was also the first Navy ship named after an African-American.
Harmon was born Jan. 21, 1917, in Cuero, Texas. He enlisted in the Navy in 1939 and trained at the Navy Mess Attendant School in Norfolk, Va. At the time, this was the only Navy career path available to African-Americans and people of Asian-Pacific Island heritage. All job categories were opened up to all applicants regardless of race a few years later in 1942.
After completing his training, Harmon was assigned to the USS San Francisco, where he worked his way up to mess attendant first class. It wasn’t until the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942, however, that Harmon was able to demonstrate what he was truly capable of.
Used Tire Art: The Rubbery Mutants of Ji Yong HoKorean artist Ji Yong Ho uses pieces of used tire to create rubbery artworks he refers to as mutants.
According to Ho, recycled tires help capture the spirit of the animals because “rubber is very flexible, like skin, like muscles.”
These tires are just the beginning of Betsabeé Romero‘s body of work. You owe yourself a visit to the site to check out all the tires, car
parts, photography, etc. Nice, nice stuff, and unusual.
via DudeCraft »
Wouldn’t it be cool to have those artists take a stab at ship fenders and dock bumpers?
Photo by Stuart Pearce (link) – May the Scientific Method be with You
During construction (of the whale model), workmen left a trapdoor within the whale’s stomach, which they would use for surreptitious cigarette breaks. Before the door was closed and sealed forever, some coins and a telephone directory were placed inside — this soon growing to an urban myth that a time capsule was left inside. The work was completed — entirely within the hall and in full view of the public — in 1938. At the time it was the largest such model in the world, at 28.3 m in length, though the construction details were later borrowed by several American museums, who scaled the plans further. (Wikipedia) more »
Death in Space by Mary Roach:
The U.S. has plans for a manned visit to Mars by the mid-2030s. The ESA and Russia have sketched out a similar joint mission, and it is claimed that China’s space program has the same objective. Apart from their destination, all these plans share something in common: extraordinary danger for the explorers. What happens if someone dies out there, months away from Earth? more »
Devastator AM-318 Photo Scrapbook Images
Monkey Fist is a smack-talking, potty mouthed, Yankee hating, Red Sox fan from Portland, Maine. In addition to compiling Maritime Monday, she blogs about nautical history, marine science, art, current events, and coastal New England life on Casco Bay Boaters blog & Tumblr. (NEW!)
Submit story ideas, news links, photographs, or items of interest to her at MM@gcaptain.com. She can also out-belch any man.
Photo of The Week – U.S.C.G. shows off at Red Bull’s Flugtag
U.S. Coast Guard photo by PA2 Matt Schofield
This week’s photo is brought to us by members from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles. Here they watch as their rendition of an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter flies off the flight deck during the 2010 Red Bull Flugtag held on Aug. 20, 2010 in Long Beach, Calif.. The Flugtag, which means “flying day” in German, challenges participants to build and pilot homemade flying machines.
While the mock HH-65C Dolphin did not make it far before plunging into the waters, the USCG was able to show off the real thing by performing an over flight and rescue demonstration with a real MH-65 Dolphin in front of the 105,000 spectators.
Team Coast Guard included LTJG Josh Murphy, AET1 Damon Miller, AST1 Stephen Nicoll, AET3 Dal Blocker and AET3 Corey Mason.
More on this event can be found at the USCG’s official blog, the Coast Guard Compass.
USCG launches Merchant Mariner Certificate printing service
Ask and you shall recieve! As reported earlier, the USCG has been working on a service allowing mariners to download a traditional 8×11 paper license that is suitable for printing and framing. Well now it’s here! U.S. Licensed Merchant Mariners can now go to the USCG Homeport website to download their very own paper license, just like we used to do in the old days (circa May 2009!).
Since the release of the Merchant Mariner Credential final rule, which consolidated the previously issued licenses, Merchant Mariner Documents and STCW certificates into a single passport-style Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC), licensed mariners have not been able to recieve the traditional paper license as a symbol of ones professional achievement and status.
You can now download you Merchant Mariner Credential by following THIS LINK to the USCG Homeport webisite.
While this new service seems to be a step in the right direction, there is one catch; the printouts are suitable for display only!
UPDATE:
Our Co-Founder, John Konrad, did a test run of the service today and was not able to print, or even, view his license. Instead he got a chance to print the following error message:
MS Amsterdam to go around the world in 112 days
Forget around the world in 180 days, this is the future.
Today, Holland America announced that, departing in January, the MS Amsterdam will set sail on a 112-day circumnavigation of the globe, its seventh in just over a decade. According to the Holland America website, the voyage, leaving from Fort Lauderdale, includes stops in the Carribean and parts of South America, before heading around Cape Horn and down to Antarctica. Then west to Tahiti, followed by Australia, the Far East and Indian Ocean, before transiting the Suez Canal, to the Mediterranean and back to South Florida.
What’s the price tag for such a voyage? A mere $23,799 per person. Then again you can always try getting a job.
More HERE
[Image credit: Holland America Line]
X-rays machines, lasers, used to restore the world’s only remaining wooden whaling ship
Historians at the Mystic Seaport Museum are turning to advanced new technologies in order to restore the world’s last remaining wooden whaling vessel, the Charles W. Morgan. The whaleship, built in 1841, has been on display at the Connecticut museum for nearly 60 years and, for the first time, is being retrofitted to once again sail on the highseas. The New York Times has the details on the technology used in the restoration:
To learn as much as possible about the old ship and ensure its successful restoration, the specialists here are turning to the art and science of imaging.
They are deploying lasers and portable X-ray machines, laptops and forensic specialists, cameras and recorders, historians and graphic artists to tease out hidden details of the ship’s construction and condition. The project, begun in 2008, is producing a revealing portrait. It shows the exact placement and status of many thousands of planks, ribs, beams, nails, reinforcing pins, wooden pegs and other vital parts of the Morgan, giving shipwrights a high-tech guide for the rebuilding of the historic vessel.
…
In a more sweeping assessment, specialists have sent laser beams racing across the Morgan, inside and out, seeking to record inconspicuous details and form a digital archive of exact measurements. The laser scans can track details as small as an eighth of an inch and have swept the entire ship across its 114-foot length and 28-foot width — once a cramped home to a crew of 35.
The scans have produced “millions of points of information” and a wealth of three-dimensional images, said Kane Borden, research coordinator of the restoration. “The results are pretty spectacular to look at.” Keep Reading
[Image credit: Harry R. Feldman, Inc. via New York Times]
Piracy charges dropped for men accused of attacking U.S. Navy ship
Six Somali men suspected of attacking the USS Ashland in April were dismissed on charges of piracy in a US federal court in Virginia today. While the men face seven other charges for the April 10 attack, Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that the piracy charges be dropped since the group did not rob, board or take control of the vessel. BBC News tells us:
The piracy charges, which would have carried a minimum penalty of life in prison if proven, were brought under a nearly 200-year-old statute in a courtroom in Norfolk, Virginia.
Prosecutors argued that any unauthorized armed attack or violent act on open waters should qualify as piracy.
But the judge ruled that broader acts like these fell outside the charges.
“The court finds that the government has failed to establish that any unauthorized acts of violence or aggression committed on the high seas constitutes piracy as defined by the law,” Judge Jackson said in his ruling. Keep Reading
The April 10 attack on the USS Ahland occurred 330 nautical miles off the coast of Djibouti when the men, aboard a small skiff, began firing at the USS Ahland. The Ashland returned fire, sinking the skiff and forcing the men into the water. Ashland then deployed a visit, board, search and seizure team to rescue the suspects from the sea.
[Image courtesy: US Navy]
Wind Turbine Installation Vessel Taken to New Depths
Image Source: Keppel Corporation
The offshore wind energy sector is set to make waves in the launch of a new, environmentally friendly vessel. Keppel FELS Limited’s multi-purpose self-elevating platform (MPSEP) design has been chosen by the Seafox Group as the basis for a new-generation wind turbine installation vessel, made possible through the joint venture of Keppel FELS and Seafox.
When compared with existing wind turbine installation vessels, and the majority of those being constructed, this new 220 million dollar MPSEP is designed for operating in deeper waters, reducing downtime and providing a potentially longer operational window. With its large carrying capacity of up to 12 turbines at a time, the MPSEP enhances the efficiency of constructing offshore wind farms and will withstand harsher offshore environmental conditions all year round. The MPSEP, to be named SEAFOX 5, will as well support a wide range of related activities such as accommodation, well intervention, maintenance, construction and decommissioning.
With its distinctive ability over other existing vessels to install and maintain heavy wind turbine foundations, SEAFOX 5 will function as the jacket and tripod type, especially in deeper waters. In addition to being well suited for servicing offshore wind farms, it also meets all the stringent operating regulations of the offshore oil and gas industry.
With their target set at producing 40 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2020 and 150 GW by 2030, The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) expects to install some 8,000 offshore wind turbines in the next decade. In doing so they hope to meet their goal of delivering 15% of the UK’s electricity needs through wind energy by 2020.
Of these 8,000 turbines, it is estimated that some 2,700 of them will be required to be in water depths greater than 45 meters. The SEAFOX 5 vessel is among the first on order worldwide that is capable of fulfilling this water-depth requirement.
“The offshore wind energy market holds good potential for installation and maintenance vessels that can operate over long periods in deeper waters beyond 45 meters”, Mr. Wong Kok Seng, Executive Director of Keppel FELS said.
Upcoming wind farms are expected to move further offshore for development and into harsher environments and deeper waters. In as much that offshore winds tend to flow at greater speeds than onshore winds, thus allowing turbines to produce more electricity, these new locations will be more efficient. Where wind speeds are higher, constant and thereby requiring more robust solutions, there is an increasing need for heavier wind turbines with larger capacities.
“The KFELS MPSEP will offer significant advantages in terms of safety, operations, time and cost to operators working in these harsh environments”, Mr. Wong added. “By overcoming the typical limitations of the existing fleet in the market, this advanced vessel will redefine the way in which offshore wind farms are installed and maintained across the world.”
Mr. Keesjan Cordia, Managing Director of Seafox Contractors BV, added, “When completed, this ground-breaking vessel will address and overcome critical technical and safety challenges faced in the construction and maintenance of wind farms in deeper waters and carve a critical niche for Seafox and Keppel.”
Founded in 1991, Seafox is a leading provider of self-elevating accommodation and maintenance support units. The Seafox Group services a global range of customers with a primary focus on the Southern North Sea in Europe. Their extensive experience operating and managing assets are known for meeting stringent rules and regulations and working in difficult environments.
Keppel FELS, a subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), is a leader in offshore rig design, repair and construction, ship repair and conversion and specialized shipbuilding. Integrating the experience and expertise of its yards worldwide, the group aims to be the provider of choice and partner for solutions for the offshore and marine industry.
“In working with an experienced fleet owner and operating partner such as Seafox to launch our design”, says Wong, “we will have a good head start in developing our track record as the choice solutions provider for the emerging offshore wind energy sector”.
The KFELS MPSEP vessel is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2012, and will be managed and operated by Workfox BV, a member of the Seafox Group. The vessel is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of Keppel Corporation Limited for the current financial year but is instead set to provide a highly versatile and cost-efficient solution for the offshore energy industry.
Greenland’s Peterman Glacier calves large iceberg – PHOTOS
The ASTER instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft captured this image of a massive iceberg from Greenland’s Petermann Glacier on Aug. 12, 2010. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Click HERE for high resolution)
On Aug. 5, 2010, a massive island of ice, roughly 97 square miles (251 square kilometers) in size or 4 times the size of Manhattan, broke off the Petermann Glacier, along the northwestern coast of Greenland. Scientists from the Canadian Ice Service project the chunk of ice to be moving toward the Nares Strait, which separates Greenland’s northwestern coast and Canada’s Ellsemere Island. While the iceberg poses no immediate threat, it could eventually threaten Canada’s offshore platforms in the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and major shipping lanes. The Canadian Ice Service however estimates that the journey could take one to two years and it’s likely to break up as it weathers and moves through warmer waters.
Icebergs calving off the Petermann Glacier are not unusual. Petermann Glacier’s floating ice tongue is the Northern Hemisphere’s largest, and it has occasionally calved large icebergs. The recently calved iceberg is the largest to form in the Arctic since 1962, said the University of Delaware.
Keep reading after the jump for more pictures released by NASA.
Above image taken at 17:15 UTC on July 28, 2010
Above image taken at 18:05 UTC on August 5, 2010
Above image credit: NASA
Japanese tanker targeted in terrorist attack
This framegrab image provided by the SITE Intelligence group shows Ayyub al-Taishan who the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam claimed was the suicide bomber who attacked the oil tanker M. Star in the Straits of Hormuz on July 28, 2010. (AP Photo/SITE)
The UAE said Friday that the Japanese tanker M. Star was indeed the target of a terrorist strike after she suffered damage while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on July 28th. The AP has the alarming details:
The report — which came days after an al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility for attacking the vessel — raised fears about the vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for many petroleum exporting countries.
It was the latest in what has been a series of conflicting accounts of what happened to the M. Star supertanker, which was damaged as it entered the Strait of Hormuz, a transit point for about 40 percent of oil shipped by tankers worldwide.
Al-Qaida has carried out attacks on oil infrastructure on land in nearby Saudi Arabia, as well as a 2002 suicide bombing of the Limburg off the coast of Yemen and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden.
But if the UAE report is confirmed, the July 28 incident would be the first militant attack in the strait, a narrow chokepoint between Oman and Iran. For years, fears have been high that the waterway could be the site of conflict between the United States and Iran, but the reported attack underscored concerns that militant groups could target civilian vessels to foment economic instability. Keep Reading…
M Star was sailing from Qatar to Japan and reportedly carrying two million barrels of crude when an explosion went off shortly after midnight. One member of the crew was injured in the attack.
Interesting Ships of The Week – Blue Dolphin and HOS Centerline
This weeks interesting ships are none other than the Blue Dolphin and HOS Centerline, the two vessels used to supply drilling mud to the Q4000 as part of the Static Kill procedure to secure the blown out Macondo well. The two vessels and their crew were challenged with an extraordinary task but performed just as they were built and trained to do. We would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to them and all the mariners working around the clock to put an end to (and cleanup) this catastrophe.
Keep reading after the jump for some details on these two exceptional vessels.
HOS Centerline:
Hornbeck Offshore Services HOS Centerline is the world’s largest and most capable supply vessel. The Jones Act qualified 370′ multi-purpose support vessel (MPSV), designed with an 8,000+ deadweight-ton capacit,y represents the largest and most diverse DP-2 classed offshore supply vessel available today. The HOS Centerline is the only vessel in the world to have received certifications by the United States Coast Guard allowing operations as a supply vessel, industrial/construction vessel and as a petroleum and chemical tanker.
Added to Hornbeck’s fleet in February 2009, the HOS Centerline has the capacity to transport more than 30,000 barrels of liquid drilling mud and fuel to and from exploration, development and production projects. Positive displacement pumping systems allow the vessels to provide a consistent transfer of product even at installations with large air gaps. The HOS Centerline boasts a self-contained mixing and cleaning system that significantly reduces the risk of drilling fluid collapse as well as reduces the time necessary to clean storage tanks, which is a cost normally borne by its customers. Mud mixers utilize low inertia paddles to reduce the fall-out of the mud and provide for a consistent mix. The vessel’s significant size, 8,400 kw of available propulsion, power and DP-2 capability allows it to continue cargo transfer operations during sea and weather conditions that prevent smaller vessels from working.
Blue Dolphin
BJ Services Company’s Blue Dolphin is an ABS® class-certified, dynamically positioned (DP-2) well stimulation vessel capable of servicing a variety of deepwater and ultra-deepwater operations throughout the Gulf of Mexico, including multizone single-trip fracturing, acidizing and sand control projects.
The vessel is equipped with eight state-of-the-art Gorilla™ pumping units that provide 23,000 hydraulic horsepower; 20,000-psi pumps and service iron; and three Coflexip* treating lines that allow up to 80 bbl/min pumping rates. Advanced instrumentation and control systems with broadband satellite communications are also available to allow real-time, remote data transmission.
Happy Birthday USCG!
Today, the United States Coast Guard celebrates 220 of service!
“Coast Guardsmen are agile, adaptable and multi-missioned,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert J. Papp, Jr. “Born as revenue cuttermen, lighthouse keepers, steamboat inspectors and surfmen, we have expanded to meet the maritime needs of our nation. As Coast Guard men and women, we share a bond of pride in our rich heritage and a common purpose to uphold our honorable traditions.”
The Coast Guard began its service to America in 1790 within the Treasury Department as the Revenue Marine, later renamed the Revenue Cutter Service. The Revenue Cutter Service joined with the U.S. Lifesaving Service in 1915 to create the Coast Guard. The U.S. Lighthouse Service was added to the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939, followed by the Steamboat Inspection Service in 1946. The Coast Guard transferred from the Treasury Department to the Department of Transportation in 1967 and to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.
“We are still keepers of the lights, but we also now patrol far more distant waters,” said Papp. “We readily go wherever there are important, difficult and dangerous maritime duties to be performed.” Source
Shown above, Lieutenant John Titchen, Petty Officer 2nd Class Mike Franco, Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Granquist, Petty Officer 2nd Class Bonnie Wysocki, Master Chief Petty Officer Mark Moore, Petty Officer 1st Class Tom Carry, Petty Officer 2nd Class David Tonon, and Petty Officer 1st Class Mike Brennan are celebrating by participating in the Coast Guard Day 5K in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
What are you doing to celebrate?
What happened to all the oil? – Answered
Click HERE for high resolution graph
In more news from the Gulf, a report released by an interagency team of scientists assembled by the National Incident Command has details on what has happened to the oil that has leaked from the blown out Macondo well. The figures, based on an estimated 4.9 million barrels leaked, states that only 26% of the oil remains in the Gulf. As for the remaining 74% – 25% has evaporated or dissolved, 16% has naturally dispersed and 33% has been either been recovered, burned, skimmed or chemically dispersed through Unified Command Response Opertions.
These estimates were derived by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI), who jointly developed whats known as an Oil Budget Calculator, to provide
measurements and best estimates of what happened to the spilled oil.
Our first thoughts were that these numbers are good, but after doing the math – 26% of 4.9 million barrels is still a lot of oil. What do you think – do these figures surprise you?