Welcome to this 196th edition of Maritime Monday.
You can find last week’s edition here »
Notes From the Wooden and Iron World: The Friends of Falls of Clyde held a New Year’s Eve get-together at Pier 7. Splendid view of the Aloha Tower Marketplace fireworks from the poop deck of Falls of Clyde!
Rusting Hulks in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (MARAD photo) See story below
The 2009 Darwin Award Winners have been Announced »
Australia: 1st Images of Sunken Torpedoed Hospital Ship Centaur Received
“It is incredible to think that these are the first images any human being has seen of this tragic ship in over six and a half decades.”
BYM INDUSTRY NEWS – The AHS Centaur was sunk without warning by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine on 14 May 1943, about 50 miles east north-east of Brisbane. Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived.
The wreck location is approximately 30 miles due east of the southern tip of Moreton Island (27 deg 16.98′ South, 153 deg 59.22′ East) at a depth of 2,059 metres.
Awesome Octopi: Cephalopods from Outer Space
Right: A diver gets acquainted with one old and wise specimen in the Japan Sea, Primorie, Russia; a 23-foot Giant Pacific Octopus Doflein.
Still not satisfied that Earth can produce creatures crazy and alien-looking enough to come out of some nightmarish imagination?
Blackwater’s Anti-Piracy Ship for Sale
Maritime Memos: The notorious Blackwater Corporation, now called, mysteriously, Xe, is out of the anti-piracy business. So maybe that wasn’t such a great idea, after all: it seems that the pirate-fighting ship rarely left Norfolk. Life on board, described in the Virginian Pilot here, appears to have been more like that on an old-time pirate ship than on an anti-piracy ship. Anyway, the ship, the former NOAA survey ship McArthur, built by Norshipco in 1966, is for sale.
The asking price is $3.7 million. See the ad on Yachtworld.com here »
Book Shelf: Sunday is for Reading… “Pirate Latitudes”
BOAT BITS: Being something of a buff on the historical side of the age of piracy, books and films on things piratical are more likely to piss me off rather than entertain me and it is not unusual to hear the sound of book being thrown against bulkheads…
Not so much with the late Michael Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes which mostly gets it right. No mean feat in a genre that mostly gets it wrong and where source material is more than likely to be an amusement ride in a theme park rather than history.
BOING BOING: Britain is unusually warm for its latitude because of the gulfstream. This week, however, the gulfstream is on vacation in Greenland. So this is what Britain is like without the gulfstream.
Cold is the Sea: Hong Kong Liberty and the Purpose of Sketchblogging
This is a sketch I did a few weeks ago during a particularly slow day at work. My source material came from somewhere on the USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt (CVB-42/CVA-42/CV-42) website which has a great trove of photos.
I recently read a review on Peter Kuper’s Diario de Oaxaca by Brian Heater on The Daily Cross Hatch and he wrote a pretty good explanation of what a sketchbook is- which also explains my idea behind keeping this blog…
A Course Correction for Magnetic Compasses
THREE SHEETS NORTHWEST – The magnetic compass has been with us on the water for a thousand years or so. Recently, though, it has often been overshadowed by the near magic of GPS. For the serious sailor, however, it is the most basic and the most essential navigation instrument. When all else fails—the engine, the electrical system or the GPS itself—the compass still works, showing us the way to safety.
Coast Guard Icebreaking Season Kicks off on Hudson River
NEW YORK – The Coast Guard has commenced icebreaking operations on the Hudson River as temperatures continue to fall and waters begin to freeze.
A fleet of five cutters will help maintain waterways open to commercial vessel traffic in the port of New York/New Jersey to Albany from now until the middle of March, which is vital for upper New York’s residents and the area’s economy.
“An average of 300 vessels transit the Hudson River during the winter months, carrying over 5 million barrels of petroleum products to the communities of this northern region,” said Lt. Cmdr. Edward Munoz, Coast Guard Sector New York’s Chief of the Waterways Management Division for the New York region. “This includes home heating oil, which impacts hundreds of thousands of people in our area.”
DankeschÃ¶n, Darlin’ DankeschÃ¶n: Farewell to Loran C
iCommandant; The Web Journal of Admiral Thad Allen: Following certifications by me that LORAN C is not required for maritime navigation and the Secretary of Homeland Security that the LORAN C infrastructure is not required as a back up to Global Positioning System (GPS) and required public notification in the Federal Register, LORAN C operations as a system will cease operations on February 8, 2010 in U.S. waters. This will mark the end of an era. For many years this system provided precision navigation services but has now been overtaken by the more capable and precise GPS.
The decision to terminate Loran C was not taken lightly and was thoroughly reviewed beforehand. We determined last fall that termination of Loran C would not adversely affect navigation because there are sufficient aids to navigation in place to serve the mariner should GPS service be unavailable for any reason.
Deep Water Writing Sees Sea Snow by the Seashore
Something that has been fascinating me lately is watching the camera feed from the ROV as it surveys the cable before and after repairs as well as cutting and gripping the cable for retrieval if need be. I have always been intrigued by what lives and grows and drifts about under the surface of water and there is no place in the world I love more than under the ocean. Seeing a live view of what’s beneath our hull as we work up cables, which happen to encourage marine growth, is mesmerizing.
Add to that the suspense generated when the ROV operator is working two manipulator arms to cut and grip a section of cable and I’m right entertained.
Derecktor Delivers Supertug Independence to Boston Towing and Transportation
MarEx: The tug, meant for the critical job of assisting LNG tankers, incorporates a number of features never before combined in a U.S. built tug, making it a genuinely unique vessel on the U.S. scene.
Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the tug boasts 5400hp from two 16v4000 series MTU engines driving Rolls Royce Z-drives with controllable pitch propellers. This propulsion package provides great efficiency and increased vessel speeds, along with tremendous power, evidenced by the 73.5 standard ton bollard pull measured during trials.
Dhaka: Committee Formed to Prepare Ship-Breaking Policy
In a briefing after the meeting, Hasan Mahmud said the prime minister in the light of the High Court order asked the ministry to formulate a new rule for flourishing ship breaking industry without causing any damage to environment.
The HC in an order on March 17, 2009, gave eight directives to the government to make the ship breaking industry environment friendly and make all ships free from dangerous chemicals before import.
Dragnet: “Deadliest Catch” Star Joshua Tel Warner Arrested for String of Brazen Bank Heists
EUGENE, Ore. (CBS/AP) For “Deadliest Catch” fans, cast member Joshua Tel Warner is well known for his confrontations with crew members of the fishing boat the “Wizard,” but to Oregon law enforcement he’s just a fugitive bank robber that finally got caught.
Police in Eugene, Ore., said Dec. 31, that Warner was wanted for a series of bank robberies including an Oct. 19, 2007 hit on a Washington Mutual Bank, an April 3, 2009 grab at Pacific Continental Bank and another robbery at the same bank just three weeks later.
Eight Bells: Coast Guard Hero Dies at 88
December 31, 2009: New York – Seymour Wittek, 88, of Ossining, N.Y., a World War II veteran who, with fellow shipmates, extinguished a fire aboard a ship laden with explosives that threatened people and property in New York City in 1943, died in the company of his family.
Wittek, a Seaman 2nd Class at the time, and Coast Guard comrades voluntarily boarded the burning S.S. El Estero – a freighter destined to re-supply U.S. troops in the European Theater – which was carrying 1,365 tons of high explosive block buster bombs, depth charges and various other explosives, after it caught fire while moored in Bayonne, N.J., April 24, 1943.
Falcon Catamaran Refit Stretches to Fit its Next Life
ALL AT SEA – Falcon started life on St. Kitts in 1985 when an Australian flight attendant, who had a love for the sea and sailing, commissioned her build as a lightweight semi racer. Unfortunately, the flight attendant disappeared after a down payment of $10,000 – just enough for builder, Doug Brookes, of then Brookes Boatyard, to set up and buy plywood and glue. Luckily, a friend of Brookes’ sister-in-law heard about the boat and put up the money to finisher her.
Falcon, a 53-foot sailing catamaran, was indeed designed for speed. Though Falcon’s assets and advantages as a racer were obvious, her new owner Dennis Berridge sailed her north to St. Maarten where she became a workhorse in a day charter trade, plying the waters between Phillipsburg and St. Barths…
Federal Maritime Commission Complaint Filed against Port of Oakland
Bryant’s Maritime Blog – The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued a notice stating that SSA Terminals (SSAT) has filed a complaint asserting that the City of Oakland, acting by and through its Board of Port Commissioners, has violated the Shipping Act of 1984.
The complaint alleges that the Port has entered into a lease agreement with a competing terminal that is more favorable in terms of rental and use of marine terminal facilities than those provided to SSAT. Docket No. 09-08
Financial Times: Tanker Owners Given Cold Comfort
The freezing conditions in recent weeks across much of the northern hemisphere have brought welcome relief to one group that saw lacklustre earnings or losses throughout 2009 – the world’s oil tanker owners.
Owners of tankers for refined oil products were the first beneficiaries after North American demand for heating oil from Europe started to surge in December. Dahlman Rose, a New York-based investment bank, said medium-range product tankers were able to command rates of $18,582 per day between Europe and the US east coast on Friday.
gCaptain forums have been hopping with all the news this week
- Armed vs Unarmed Merchant Vessel Protection
- Maritime Engineering Laboratory Training Equipment
- STCW BST and Pell Grant
- Broadband Radar – What Is It?
- 7th Annual Ocean Film Festival in SF
Global Slump Hits Singapore’s 2009 Container Traffic
AFP — Singapore, one of the world’s busiest ports, said it handled 13.5 percent less container traffic in 2009 from the previous year as the global downturn squeezed world trade.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement released late Thursday the city-state handled 25.9 million standard six-metre (20-foot) container units last year, down from 29.9 million in 2008. Total cargo tonnage fell 8.9 percent to 469.6 million tonnes, the port authority said.
Great Lakes: Shippers See Worst Year in Seven Decades
BREAKBULK INDUSTRY NEWS – With the lowest cargo volume in 71 years for iron ore and the worst in 77 years for coal, the two chief backbones of U.S. Great Lakes shipping, fleet leaders are expecting better shipping in 2010 – but only mildly better.
The third biggest item for Great Lakes shipping, limestone, was down to its lowest level in 25 years, since the recession year of 1984, to 23.5 million net tons.
A Happy New Years to All, & Please Go Easy on the Wrens
OLD SALT: There is an old sailor’s superstition that if a sailor wears the feather of a wren killed on January 1st, he will not drown at sea. This was based on the story of mermaid who lured sailors to their deaths and who changed into the form of a wren when pursued. The mermaid was ultimately condemned to appear as a wren on New Year’s Day every year and thus to be hunted by the sailors who were once lured to their death by her song.
Hawsepiper; The Longest Climb: Ever See a Grown Man Cry?
What a tragedy! What a damn shame!
This afternoon I bunkered up a Russian bulk carrier. She stank to high heaven (the ship, I mean). The ship was discharging about 20,000 tons of cocoa beans, which smell exactly like feet, as it happens. Imagine the smell of 20,000 tons of feet trapped in a steel box for 3 weeks. Yeah.
Anyhow, the tragedy came at the end, when the engineer gave me a little package along with my paperwork. Such ‘gifts’ are common everywhere but here in the US. In the package were three cans of coke and three extremely cold and impossible to import bottles of Bohemia beer, the good stuff brewed in Amsterdam which ain’t exported…
Jakarta: Ship’s Crew Saved by Passing Fisherman
A fisherman rescued seven members of a ship’s crew after they had been floating in the open sea for almost a day following an accident, a police official said on Sunday. Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said the crew of KLM Muara Amanat was found floating on a raft east of Sebira Island, the northernmost of the Thousand Islands archipelago at around 5:30 p.m on Saturday.
Joisey: Reflecting on Rescue of Flight 1549 in the waters of the Hudson:
ASBURY PARK PRESS: The ditching of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River by Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger only began the Miracle on the Hudson.
The emergency water landing also relied on a massive rescue effort by crews from the NY Waterway commuter ferry service — led by Capt. Alan Warren, a Hazlet resident — to produce a happy ending.
RIGHT: The ferry Thomas Jefferson sits in the water behind Capt. Alan Warren of Hazlet, vice president of operations for NY Waterways. The ferry was first on the scene to rescue passengers from U.S. Airways Flight 1549 when it landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15. Warren directed the rescue effort.
See also: vhf harbor prose: salvage of the plane »
Kenya Shipping Container and Freight Truck Corruption Allegations Persist
Handy Shipping Guide – Kenya has long struggled to lose the image of a corrupt society which clings to it so persistently. The past month or so has seen an increase in the arguments over corruption, particularly in and around the Port of Mombasa with regard to mis-declaration of imported shipments in the thousands of shipping containers which pass through the docks. Now certain sections of the media have even hinted at possible links between the port and the increasing number of pirate attacks launched from neighbouring Somalia. keep reading »
Last Norwegian Kon-Tiki Raft Member Knut Haugland Dies
IceNews – The last surviving member of the famous balsa wood Kon-Tiki raft, which traversed the Pacific Ocean in 1947, has passed away at the age of 92. Knut Haugland, one of six members of the Norwegian crew, died in Oslo hospital of natural causes on Christmas Day.
Haugland was a famed WWII resistance fighter who was a national hero long before he joined Thor Heyerdahl’s legendary expedition from Peru in order to demonstrate that Polynesia may have been settled by South Americans. The Kon-Tiki sailed 8,000km across seas thought too treacherous to navigate at the time, particularly by a wooden raft based on drawings dating back to the Conquistadors.
The Mayon Volcano smolders with some fireworks of it’s own, answering those heralding the new year in Legazpi city, Albay province, south of Manila. The volcano has been spewing ash, burning mud, and rocks for more than two weeks. THE BIG PICTURE; NEW YEARS AROUND THE GLOBE »
Maersk Hires War Ship to Protect Tanker:
COPENHAGENPOST.com: Danish shipper A.P. Moller Maersk has hired out soldiers and a warship from Tanzania to protect its fleet in pirate-ridden waters off the coast of Africa, and now other shippers are expected to follow suit.
Maersk hired the warship through former special forces soldiers working for firm Guardian GBS security in December 2008. The ship was charged with protecting the Brigit Maersk tanker from pirates. It is unknown how much the shipping company paid for the service.
MARAD: More Mothballed Ships Anchored in Suisun Bay Headed for Dismantling
Vallejo Times-Herald: As a ship recycling company eyeing Vallejo continues to wade through environmental regulation permit red tape, three more World War II era-ships have been targeted for dismantling in Texas.
Contracts to clean and recycle three Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, or “mothball fleet” ships — the Rider Victory, the Winthrop Victory and the Mission Santa Ynez — were announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration.
The three new disposal contracts, worth more than $3.4 million collectively, come on the heels of two other ships removed last month.
Maritime Workers Strike for Big Pay Rise
Western Australia – About 200 employees of Farstad Shipping began a 48 hour strike early this morning after the company yesterday lost a last minute bid to have the industrial action deemed illegal. Chris Cain from the Maritime Union says after two days, workers will return to work for a day, before striking again
“The feeling among maritime workers at the moment, they are very, very, very angry,” he said. “My members haven’t had a wage rise for 13 or 14 months.”
Mexico ICA Consortium Awarded Panama Canal Contract
MEXICO CITY – A consortium including Mexican construction leader Empresas ICA SAB (ICA) was awarded Thursday a $260.8 million excavation project, the last major contract in the Panama Canal expansion.
The consortium included Spain’s Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC.MC) and Costa Rican construction firm Meco, officials at the Panama Canal Authority said.
The contract is the second-largest in the canal expansion plan after a $3.12 billion tender to build two new sets of locks–one on the Pacific side of the canal and one on the Atlantic.
Navy to Set Bid Terms Soon for New Warship
REUTERS: Rear Admiral Jim Murdoch, program manager for the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship, acknowledged the Navy was running about a month late with its revised acquisition procedure, but said: “It’ll be out soon. We are resolving a number of industry questions.” He said the new terms for the competition to build more LCS ships should be out within weeks, not months.
Murdoch spoke during a tour of the USS Independence, the first LCS ship completed by General Dynamics Corp, which is due to be commissioned on January 16.
New Cunard Cruise Liner Floated for First Time in Trieste
The new Cunard cruise liner Queen Elizabeth, the successor to the QE2, has been floated for the first time in a ceremony in an Italian shipyard
Just before the dry dock was opened, a bottle of prosecco was smashed against the side of the ship by Florence “Dennie” Farmer, 79, the widow of Willie Farmer, who served as chief engineer on both the original Queen Elizabeth and QE2.
She acted as “madrina” – or godmother – for the occasion, observing an Italian tradition for the “float out” of large ships, which entails opening floodgates at the entrance of the dry dock at the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste where the ship was welded together. Mrs Farmer’s presence and a 1938 half crown welded beneath the mast were nods towards the heyday of the 1930s of cruising with Cunard marketing its latest ship as an unashamed exercise in nostalgia.
New Shipping Industry Blog Group Aims at Higher Safety & Environmental Standards
Maritime Executive – January 7th, 2010: At a press conference in London, Clay Maitland, a noted maritime executive and commentator, warned that ship quality standards are at risk due to financial cost-cutting during the present recession.
At the meeting, Mr. Maitland announced the start-up of a new website: claymaitland.com focusing on stimulating a dialogue on the environmental standards generally described as “quality issues.”
Nova Scotia: Sydney Marine Group forms Alliance with Ports of Philadelphia and Delaware
CAPE BRETON POST – Considered unique among North American ports, the agreement will push for the construction of a deep-water container terminal at Sydport capable of accommodating giant post-Panamax vessels of a type and size unable to enter existing continental ports except in Norfolk, Virginia.
Jim Wooder, chair of Sydney Marine Group, said the alliance complements a plan started almost three years ago that identified a number of opportunities for Sydney related to coal export and import, break bulk and project cargo, and more recently shipbuilding and ship repair.
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center to Provide Greater Lead Time in Watches and Warnings
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami will issue watches and warnings for tropical storms and hurricanes along threatened coastal areas 12 hours earlier than in previous years. According to NHC experts, advancements in track forecasts are making it possible for forecasters to provide greater lead time.
NYPD to get Response Boat Medium – C
MARINE LOG: Kvichak Marine Industries, Seattle, Wash., is currently constructing a 44.5 ft X 13.7 ft Response Boat Medium – C for operation by the New York City Police Harbor Unit. This vessel is a sistership to the highly successful U.S. Coast Guard Response Boat Medium and has been adapted to meet the mission requirements of the NYPD Harbor Unit.
The boat will be named at a special dedication ceremony in New York City honoring an officer killed in the line of duty.
NZ: Wright Keeps Watch on the Waterfront
Otago Daily Times – The compact office of his home is an archive of details about ships and trains that have come and gone for more than half a century. It has floor-to-ceiling files and shipping registers and boxes full of black and white and colour prints and negatives.
He wanted to be an electrician, but such jobs went to servicemen returning from the World War II. So, he went painting, first for Love Construction and later for the Union Steam Ship Company. That involved painting the interiors of cabins and the hull “draught marks” on ships in the dry dock, a job that sometimes produced a bonus…
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Returns Historic ‘Mighty Mo’ to Battleship Row
Nearly 100 Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard men and women undocked Battleship Missouri Jan. 7 to support the return of the floating naval museum to her Ford Island berth on Battleship Row next to the USS Arizona Memorial.
As the 54,889-ton ship glided over the sill of Dry Dock 4 at noon, the “Mighty Mo” entered the harbor waters for the first time in two and half months. Missouri had been dry-docked at the Shipyard since Oct. 14 for $18 million of extensive maintenance and preservation work. It was the first time since 1992 the Missouri was serviced in dry dock.
Port of Oakland: Air Board, Port Truckers Agree on Upgrading
SF CHRONICLE: A last-minute deal between California air pollution regulators and Port of Oakland truckers Monday will allow hundreds of big rigs to operate at the port for two weeks while they work to meet stricter requirements on diesel emissions that officially took effect for the new year Friday. keep reading »
Preservation Alliance Announces 7th Annual Endangered Properties List
Philadelphia Weekly Press – The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia has announced its 7th annual Endangered Properties List, highlighting 14 significant historic resources in the region that are threatened by neglect or redevelopment proposals. The sites range from vacant church properties like Christ Memorial Church in West Philadelphia and St. Boniface Church in Norris Square to William Penn High School on N. Broad Street and the Cruiser Olympia at Penn’s Landing.
Known for its service in the Spanish-American War, this 1892 steel warship needs significant hull repairs in dry dock to ensure that it will remain afloat. keep reading »
THE PRICE WAS RIGHT: Five million dollars for an anti-whaling ship? Bob Barker says “Come on Down!” Barker donated that amount to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which named its new 1,200-ton Norwegian-built Antarctic harpoon vessel and now, anti-whaling ship after the former game show host and animal activist. See Bitter End’s COLREGS breakdown of the events »
Putin Estimates $5bln for Shipbuilding in Russian Far East by 2020
RIANOVOSTI Business – The program of civilian shipbuilding development in the Russian Far East stipulates financing estimated at $5 billion, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
The Russian premier said that the plan involved orders from major Russian companies, including energy giant Gazprom, state-run oil company Rosneft, the largest shipping company Sovkomflot, and the production of fishing boats and specialized craft.
The first project stipulates the construction of a new shipyard for the production of drilling platforms at the Chazhma Bay near Vladivostok in a joint venture with Singapore, Putin said.
Rowing the Atlantic – Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean
OCEAN NAVIGATOR – Roz Savage is true testimony to determination and self sufficiency. At 36 and unhappy with her life she wrote two versions of her own obituary — “the one that I wanted and the one I was headed for. They were very different.” She chose the former.
Turning her back on an 11-year career as a management consultant and facing a failing marriage she reinvented herself. She invested all she had in an ocean rowboat she named Sedna Solo in honor of the Inuit goddess of marine animals and became the first woman to enter the 2005/2006 Atlantic Rowing Race solo from the Canary Islands to Antigua.
Search Still Continuing for 4 Missing Crew Members of Ocean Lark
SINGAPORE NEWS: The search is still continuing for the four missing crew members of the Singapore-registered tugboat which sank off Pedra Branca early Wednesday morning. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said diving operations were hampered by bad weather conditions on Saturday.
It added that MPA will continue to inform all vessels passing the vicinity of the incident site to keep a lookout for the missing persons. Seven bodies have been recovered. Two seamen were found alive about five hours after the boat sunk. All crew members are Indonesians.
The tugboat, called Ocean Lark had left Batam, Indonesia and was headed to Matak, Indonesia, when the incident happened.
Seattle: Shipwreck Remains Found at Washaway Beach
NORTH COVE, Wash. — Washaway Beach, the sandy area between North Cove and Tokeland that is infamous for rapid erosion that causes whole houses to tumble into the ocean, now has a second reason for fame. Coastal storms in late December and early January have unearthed the remnants of a shipwreck.The large wooden piece, measuring close to 100 feet in length, contains dozens of iron spikes jutting out of the sand, just south of Warrenton Cannery Road.
Based on its location, Rex Martin, executive director of the Westport Maritime Museum said the piece is likely part of the freighter Canadian Exporter that wrecked at the mouth of Willapa Harbor in August of 1921, while en route to Portland from Vancouver, B.C., to complete loading some lumber bound for Asia.
Show Me the Money: Shipbuilder gets boat-load of help from stimulus
One of the largest local grants received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Southern Indiana totaled $2.3 million and was awarded to Jeffboat LLC.
The grant was designated as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s Assistance to Small Shipyards program, for repair of a slipway and aerial lifts for the company.
“[The program] will help create and preserve jobs, provide valuable employment training and make much needed improvements to shipyards across the country,” said the Recovery.gov Web site.
Tashmoo Trippers: Detroit, Michigan, circa 1900. “Excursionists on steamer Tashmoo.” 8×10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company.
Three Sheets NW has the backstory on the 2010 Jack Tar calendar:
Though she worked in the traditionally male-dominated maritime industry, the Northwest native realized she was routinely crewing alongside women who were not just strong and accomplished, but downright sexy.
Taking a cue from the countless steamy calendars of firefighters, cheerleaders and other objects of desire, Carver rounded up some of her female friends working in the maritime industry around Seattle and photographed them in various stages of undress, on ships and in other locations.
And soon, the Sexy Women of Maritime Calendar was born…
Tim’s Times – It’s not a great time of year to be trading in the North Sea or indeed any latitude North of Gibraltar.
The picture is taken off the coast of Norway, Utsira to be precise and we had a hell of a night that went on and on. Rolling and sliding, the picture captures the moment fairly well. I wasn’t sick in the vomiting sense, but by Jaysus I was tired. Some of the boys were looking a bit green around the gills after the longest of nights, each battling his own private battle in his cabin, trying to sleep, moving onto the daybed or lying on the deck wedged into a corner, meanwhile outside the sea was boiling and churning and the sky was full of snow.
UK: Brown Hails Thames Port Project
MSN MONEY – Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that a Middle Eastern developer’s decision to go ahead with the creation of a new deep sea port on the banks of the River Thames is a “massive vote of confidence in the UK’s economic recovery”.
Mr Brown said the development of the London Gateway port on the north bank of the Thames near Thurrock, Essex, would bring jobs growth and prosperity. Developer DP World – the port arm of Dubai World – said it was pressing on with the £1.5 billion project.
Wall Street Journal: Loaded – Freighters Ready to Shoot Across Pirate Bow
Some Cargo Ships Break Maritime Tradition by Taking Up Arms that Many Carriers Fear That Will Threaten — Not Improve – Safety
Freighters that ferry goods in the pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia have a new and unusual cargo: armed guards.
Shipping firms in the modern era have resisted packing heat even in areas where attacks are common. Their reasoning: A firefight leading to lawsuits, damaged goods or a sunken ship could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, a sum far exceeding the few million dollars in ransom that pirates usually demand.
Will Shipping Stocks Sail In 2010?
SeafarerBlog.com – It often pays to be a contrarian when making investment decisions. Looking at investing in areas most others are abandoning can often lead to very rewarding investment candidates. After a terrible 2008, shares in dry bulk shipping stocks began to look cheap. As we look back on 2009, shares have not participated in the rally to the extent that others have.
Wind Company Wades into Shipbuilding with Zero Emissions Ship
Brit wind energy company B9 unveils a zero-emissions cargo schooner; is this for real?
Environmental catharsis + economic meltdown = Plenty of innovation. The latest figure in the right-hand side of that equation is a wind energy company delving into shipping.
B9 Shipping is no wild, shot-in-the-dark kind of operation. This is an outfit with experience in ship design, wind power, biogas and offshore installation project management. As their managing director David Surplus stated in an interview: “We believe we are in a unique position to develop the first fossil fuel free ships of the new century”. I believe he’s right.
Wind Turbines and Birds: The Cuisinarts of the Skies?
SkepticBlog – The main argument against wind turbines by environmentalists is that the spinning blades kill birds. When I heard this, I was skeptical.
Digging through the Intertubes, I found that it’s true. Each large, commercial wind turbine in the United States kills an average of about two birds per year. This varies a lot based on where the wind farm is. Some are right in bird migration paths, and some aren’t. But the average is about two per year per turbine. In 2001 there were 3,500 operational wind turbines in the U.S., for a grand total of 6,400 birds killed.
Wooden Ships on the Water
World’s 3rd Largest Yacht: Al Said
Ranking as number three in the Top 5 Yachts of the World is the 508′ (156m) mega yacht, Al Said. Built in 2006 by LÃ¼rssen Yachts of Bremen, Germany, the Al Said reportedly cost USD $109 million and is owned by Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the Sultan of Oman. Although many of the Al Said amenities still remain a secret today, let’s take a closer look at the third ship in our list of the Top 5 Largest Yachts in the World today, the Al Said.
Founded in 1875, LÃ¼rssen Yachts has manufactured over 13,000 vessels since its inception including some of the most beautiful yachts in the world including the 377′ award winning Pelorus, 457′ Al Salamah, 260′ MadSummer, the 453′ Rising Sun and the 414′ Octopus.
World’s Largest Supply Vessel Goes to Work
MARINELOG: Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. has introduced the HOS Centerline, a Jones Act qualified, 370 ft multi-purpose support vessel (MPSV) to its fleet. It says that this HOS 370 design, with an 8,000 plus deadweight-ton capacity is “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.
WorkBoat Watch: Congress “Engaged” in the Maritime Industry
The first session of the 111th Congress was “engaged” when it came to maritime issues, according to the American Waterways Operators. Anne Burns, AWO spokeswoman, said that since the Democrats took over both houses of Congress, “there has been a steady increase in legislative activity affecting the maritime industry…”
Yemen Navy Charges $60,000 for Safe Passage in Pirate Waters
The Australian: YEMEN’S navy is charging commercial vessels up to $US55,000 ($60,800) each to guarantee transit through the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden under a deal that has reaped about $US30 million over 18 months.
The hiring of Yemeni military came as al-Qa’ida flourishes in the Arabian Peninsula nation, and was agreed without the apparent knowledge of Yemeni government officials or international anti-piracy military forces.
European governments and the US have vowed to boost counter-terrorism funding, intelligence-sharing and training for Yemen’s coastguard and defense forces to fight extremists.
See you next week!
WINTER BOATS: Port of Hamburg by horstdesign
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