Maritime News Around the Globe - July 23rd 2007
New Zealand Captain Fined For "Almost having an Accident"
The news hasn't been to crazy lately, but I found somethings that I thought were cool or weird. A ferry captain in New Zealand was fined $750 plus court costs for failure to report a 'near incident'. I found myself thinking about all of the near incidents I have had and was thinking about how much money that would add up to.
I am not really sure what rules govern the seas in New Zealand, but I think dragging a Ferry captain for getting too close to some rocks, but not actually hitting them is a little insane. When I was dredging we used to get right next to the rocks. I could have jumped off of the bridge wing and landed on the rocks. I would say that my number of near misses would range in the hundreds. That is if you go by the New Zealand Maritime standards. I guess it all depends on what you consider 'reportable' - but I probably would have blown this off too.
"The conviction was welcomed by MNZ general manager of maritime operations John Mansell said." I personally think that it is ridiculous and the nanny state crap needs to stop. Having the 'autorities' get involved when there was no accident is just crazy. There was no property damage, no loss of life and they are raking this poor captain over the coals.... no wonder it is getting hard to keep people in the business.
Here is the article so you can read the whole thing... this just blows my mind.
China Launches Maritime Satellite Mobile Phone Service
July 23, 2007
China Transportation Telecommunications, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Communications, has announced the launch of a maritime satellite mobile phone service in Beijing.
The service will enable users to make calls with a mobile phone in deserts, in the sea or on high mountains where a GSM or CDMA signal is unavailable. With a size close to that of common mobile phones, the maritime satellite mobile phone only weighs 210 grams. The mobile phone has all of the new functions of the latest mobile phones available for GSM or CDMA networks.
At present, only a few developed countries in the world have opened this service, according to Michael Butler, president and chief operation officer of Inmarsat. Yang Kongyi, director of CTT, has told local media that the service covers Asia and the most part of Africa and it is expected to cover the entire world by 2008. Repost of the article at chinatechnews:
July 23, 2007
China Transportation Telecommunications, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Communications, has announced the launch of a maritime satellite mobile phone service in Beijing.
The service will enable users to make calls with a mobile phone in deserts, in the sea or on high mountains where a GSM or CDMA signal is unavailable. With a size close to that of common mobile phones, the maritime satellite mobile phone only weighs 210 grams. The mobile phone has all of the new functions of the latest mobile phones available for GSM or CDMA networks.
At present, only a few developed countries in the world have opened this service, according to Michael Butler, president and chief operation officer of Inmarsat. Yang Kongyi, director of CTT, has told local media that the service covers Asia and the most part of Africa and it is expected to cover the entire world by 2008. Repost of the article at chinatechnews:
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/07/23/5662-china-launches-maritime-satellite-mobile-phone-service/
Just another way that China is whooping our ass at the international shipping business. I wish that we could compete with them on the price point of products, but when you have an unlimited supply of labor that is extremely cheap- I guess that sets you apart from the competition. I think that the US should impose strong tariffs againt Chinese companies for the substandard labor standards- bordering on slavery- and for the problems we have had with chinese goods in this country in recent times. - I personally am very leary of any food products for myself or my pets that have been in contact with any chinese companies. (But it is hard to know which products get their supplies from china...)
Octopus helps unearth ancient pottery
Posted 20 minutes ago
South Korean archaeologists say they have discovered a sunken vessel packed with ancient pottery, in an exploration prompted by an octopus which attached its suckers to a plate.
The National Maritime Museum says the 12th-century wooden vessel was found buried in mud flats off Taean, south-west of Seoul. It says more than 2,000 pieces of 12th-century bowls, plates and other types of pottery were heaped inside the 7.7 metre vessel. "I believe the pottery might have been made for royals and the ruling elite of the Koryo Dynasty," which ruled the peninsula from 916 to 1392, museum head Seong Nack-Jun said. The exploration began in early June after shards of celadon pieces were found attached to the suckers of several webfoot octopuses, which a fisherman had netted. The museum has since retrieved about 540 pieces, which were scattered around the vessel.
-AFP
Posted 20 minutes ago
South Korean archaeologists say they have discovered a sunken vessel packed with ancient pottery, in an exploration prompted by an octopus which attached its suckers to a plate.
The National Maritime Museum says the 12th-century wooden vessel was found buried in mud flats off Taean, south-west of Seoul. It says more than 2,000 pieces of 12th-century bowls, plates and other types of pottery were heaped inside the 7.7 metre vessel. "I believe the pottery might have been made for royals and the ruling elite of the Koryo Dynasty," which ruled the peninsula from 916 to 1392, museum head Seong Nack-Jun said. The exploration began in early June after shards of celadon pieces were found attached to the suckers of several webfoot octopuses, which a fisherman had netted. The museum has since retrieved about 540 pieces, which were scattered around the vessel.
-AFP
And the Somali pirates are asking for $1.5mil for the return of the Danish ship and it's crew. The vessel Danica White with five crew members was hijacked on June 2, about 240 nautical miles off the Somali coast while heading to Kenya's Mombasa port to deliver construction material. "We were informed yesterday that the pirates are demanding $1,5-million (about R14-million) in order to release the vessel," said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme. Three other vessels - one from Taiwan and two from South Korea - are also currently held by pirates off the coast of war-torn Somalia. Recently, a Panama-flagged cargo vessel was reported to have gone missing in Somali waters. The International Maritime Bureau said this year had seen at least seven pirate attacks off Somalia's 3 700km of unpatrolled coastline.
I would reccommend to anyone of my friends sailing in these waters or other hostile territories- to make sure you have some type of weapon with you on the vessel you sail on.
1 comment:
Yes. We need some sort of weapon on board. Beter if less than lethal weapons like LRAD.
noruscai.co.uk
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