MARITIME NEWSThursday, March 6, 2014

International maritime news for seafarers

Electronic charts to boost maritime safety in PacificNew Zealand has successfully completed the process of making electronic navigational charts for the south-west Pacific island, which will help boost maritime safety. The development of these charts is part of an initiative funded by the New Zealand Aid Programme to improve maritime safety in the region.

"Maritime safety has long been a concern in the south-west Pacific, with many charts no longer meeting the needs of shipping in the area. The problem has worsened recently through the increase in large cruise vessels navigating in the poorly charted region," Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson said.

Under the Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea, the IMO had set 2012-18 as the deadline for passenger vessels, tankers and other large ships to transform from paper-based navigation to the sole-use of electronic charts.

Pacific Island Affairs Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga said: "Until now these areas have relied on paper charts only, and New Zealand's aid commitment to support tourism made it imperative they be converted to electronic form."

The new charts have limitations as the original old data is no longer authentic. The New Zealand authorities are conducting "hydrographic risk assessment" to prioritise areas for survey, which will determine the nature and scope of chart improvements. (with inputs from Xinhua)

SAFETYMalaria: an infectious disease among seafarers

London P&I Club has drawn attention to malaria, a life-threatening disease to which seafarers are particularly at risk due to the very nature of their employment.

The WHO recommends the use of oral anti-malarial medication chemoprophylaxis, which is usually to be taken in advance of entering high risk areas.

It is recommended that medical advice be sought when deciding the drug, its quantity, combination of medication, dosage and duration.

Risk awareness and forward planning by ship managers and crew is therefore of vital importance in ensuring timely implementation of precautions.

Other practical preventative measures include encouraging crew members to restrict exposure of bare skin, application of insect repellents and keeping the accommodation closed down, particularly between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

Malaria is prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical zones around the world, with the majority of cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

The first symptoms are fever, headache, chills and vomiting. Since these symptoms may be mild it is often difficult to recognise them as malaria.

A log of all anti-malarial drugs administered to and taken by individual crew members should be maintained.

Source: London P&I Club

Tanker allides with lock, bulk carrierA tanker allided with the side and middle wall of the Southern Lock while entering the lock of Kiel Canal in Brunsbuettel on March 5 evening.

The Gdansk-bound tanker, which left Kattwyk Terminal in Hamburg on March 5 afternoon, tried to enter the lock without tug assistance and got perpendicular to the basin.

Then, the ship ran into the stern of a bulk carrier.

Lock was closed for traffic to undergo underwater survey.

The cargo ship reportedly resumed voyage, while tanker was towed and docked at the Brunsbuettel terminal.

Israel intercepts Iranian ship carrying rockets for GazaThe Israeli special forces on Wednesday intercepted an Iranian ship in the Red Sea that ferried missiles for militants in the Gaza Strip, capping an intelligence operation that lasted months.

Naval commandos raided the vessel on the maritime border between Sudan and Eritrea, approximately 1,500km from the Israeli coast, while it was en route to Port Sudan, the military said.

A search on board the Panamanian-flagged vessel yielded dozens of Syrian-made M-302 surface-to-surface rockets that were concealed under cement bags, the military said. It noted that Hezbollah fired this type of rocket into northern Israel during the 33-day war in 2006, Xinhua reported.

Lt Col Peter Lerner, an Army spokesman, said the operation, code-named "Full Disclosure," was launched several months ago when Israeli intelligence agencies identified that the rockets were flown from Damascus to Tehran, an unusual route that sought to throw Israeli intelligence off track.

Ten days ago, they were loaded onto the cargo ship at the Bandar Abbas Port in southern Iran, from where the vessel sailed to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr and continued its journey to Port Sudan, where it was scheduled to dock on Thursday.

Coal firm to pay record fine for water pollutionOne of the America's largest coal producers will pay a USD 27.5 million fine and spend USD 200 million to reduce illegal toxic discharges into hundreds of waterways across five Appalachian states, according to a proposed settlement on Wednesday.

The agreement includes the largest fine ever for violations of water pollution permits, with many of the violations reported by the company to state environmental officials. The Associated Press obtained details about the settlement before it was filed on Wednesday in federal court in West Virginia.

The discharges occurred at mines and coal processing plants in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

"This is the largest one, period," Cynthia Giles, head of the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement office, told the AP. "It's the biggest case for permit violations for

numbers of violations and size of the penalty, which reflects the seriousness of violations," he added.

The government said that between 2006 and 2013, Alpha Natural Resources Inc and dozens of subsidiaries violated water pollution limits in state-issued permits more than 6,000 times. They discharged heavy metals and other contaminants harmful to fish and other wildlife from nearly 800 outfall pipes directly into rivers, streams and tributaries, according to the government. There is no evidence that any of the violations contaminated drinking water, EPA officials told AP.

ENVIRONMENTSnow, ice cover will boost Great Lakes levelsWater levels in the Great Lakes are expected to continue a steady recovery this year, courtesy of widespread ice cover that is slowing evaporation and snowfall that has approached record amounts in some cities, federal experts said on Wednesday.

The siege of polar air that has gripped the region this winter has caused the most extensive freeze-over of the lakes since the record-setting year of 1979, when nearly 95% of their surface area solidified. On Tuesday, the ice cover reached its highest point since then - 91%, said George Leshkevich, a physical scientist with the federal Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.

Meanwhile, the towering snowpack rimming the watershed will melt this spring and much of the water will flow into the lakes or the streams that feed them. The runoff is expected to be so bountiful that some areas will be in danger of flooding, a prospect that could be worsened by ice jams on swollen rivers.

"Any additional rainfall on top of that snowpack would add to that flood threat," said Keith Kompoltowicz, hydrology branch chief with the US Army Corps of Engineers district office in Detroit. "We're certainly paying very close attention to the weather in the next few weeks," he added.

Great Lakes levels dropped sharply in the late 1990s and have remained mostly below normal since. Scientists blame a warming climate, which promotes evaporation and limits ice cover and occasional dry spells, AP reported.

The drop-off was most severe on Lakes Michigan and Huron, which hydrologists consider one water body because they are connected and at the same height above sea level. They fell to the lowest point on record in January 2013, while the three other Great Lakes - Superior, Erie and Ontario - were well below average.

SECURITYTurkey permits US warship to transit Bosphorus to Black SeaTurkish has allowed a US warship to pass through the Bosphorus Strait in the next two days amid a growing tension between Russia and Western countries over Crimea, local Daily News reported on Wednesday.

A Turkish diplomatic source confirmed that a US warship had got permission to pass the strait, but it would not be a nuclear aircraft carrier as suggested in some media. The US warship meets the standards specified by the 1936 Montreux Convention in terms of weight, the source added.

According to the Montreux Convention, the total weight of military ships of the non-littoral states to pass through the Bosphorus Strait cannot exceed 45,000 tonnes.

Previous report said the USS George H W Bush nuclear aircraft carrier would transit the strait en route to the Black Sea.

Earlier on Tuesday, two Russian warships passed through the Turkish strait of Bosphorus, heading toward Ukraine, Xinhua reported.

The Ukrainian crisis, which originated from protests against President Viktor Yanukovych's decision last November to abandon an association agreement with the EU and instead seek Russian aid, took an abrupt turn in the past two weeks following bloody clashes between protesters and police. Yanukovych then fled Kiev.

USCG rescues dog from ice on Lake St ClairThe crew of a US Coast Guard (USCG) cutter that rescued a dog from ice on Lake St Clair has given the animal an appropriate name: "Lucky".

Chief Petty Officer Alan Haraf said the 140-foot cutter Bristol Bay was heading on Monday to help another vessel stuck in ice when the dog was spotted. Three crew members suited up in weather-resistant gear, he said and left the ship to help retrieve the dog.

The crew, which is handling ice-breaking in the Great Lakes region, hoisted the dog aboard and gave it food and care before taking it to an animal shelter. The dog was 4½ to 5 miles from land off the Detroit suburb of St Clair Shores, AP reported.

"The dog was cold, weak and tired," Haraf told the Detroit Free Press, adding: "He may have been out there for a couple of days or so."

The dog, which initially was spotted with what appeared to be a group of foxes in the distance, had a harness and collar but no identifying tag, the USCG said. The other animals scurried away, Haraf said.

"They noticed three burrows the dog tried to dig for itself for protection," Haraf said. "They said the paws were bleeding and the nails were pretty much down to nothing," he added.

SHIPPING DATABALTIC EXCHANGE

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WORLD TRAVELNAMIBIA

Namibia is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. The country has vast swathes of the most remarkable desert scenery. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east.

Getting aroundTourists may enter Namibia for up to 90 days.

By plane: Hosea Kutako International Airport, located 45 minutes east of Windhoek, is the main entry point for air traffic. Air Namibia operates flights from Frankfurt, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Victoria Falls and Maun to the international airport. Flights between the smaller Eros Airport and Cape Town are also available.

By road: The most popular way to get around is by road, with an inner network of decent roads being safe to self-drive and connecting the popular attractions such as Sossusvlei and Etosha. The very best locations are those truly wild areas. which lie out of range of self-drivers, such as Skeleton Coast North, Kaokaland West, Damaraland North and Namibrand, which are more often accessed by light aircraft.

By bus: The most convenient international bus service into Namibia runs from Cape Town and Victoria Falls.

By train: The regular overnight train from Upington in South Africa to Windhoek, operated by TransNamib, has been discontinued. It is no longer possible to get into or out of Namibia by train.

Top attractionsNamib Desert - It stretches for nearly a 1000km along the Atlantic coast. Sossusvlei is the most accessible part of the desert and is a magical place with its towering dunes that shift hues as the sun rises and sets.

Fish River Canyon - It is one of the largest canyons in the world. Stretching for 160km, it reaches 27km across at its widest and nearly 550m down at its deepest.

Skeleton Coast National Park - In the north of the country is the empty and mostly inaccessible Skeleton Coast National Park. It's a seemingly barren expanse of stone and sand famous for its fog and the number of shipwrecks along the coast.