MarineBuzz.com

An island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island in the Pacific Ocean ?

It may be confusing to find out, what it is all about. Read more to find out.

It is nothing but Taal Volcano.

Here it is more clear:

• The island in the Pacific Ocean is Luzon Island of Philippines.
• The lake on the Luzon Island is freshwater, Taal Lake , located about 50 km from the capital, Manila.
• The island on the Taal Lake is Volcano Island.
• Within the Volcano Island is Crater Lake, about 2 km across.
• Within Crater Lake is another small volcanic island, called Vulcan Point (Taal Volcano).

Here it is. Vulcan Point is the world’s largest island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island.

Here is the aerial photograph of Taal Volcano.

Continue Reading…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

How to wake up with a silent alarm clock during the weekend ?

Here is a silent alarm clock to ensure that only you wake up and not others nearby.

Some of the interesting features of silent alarm clock are:

• No irritating loud sound.
• Simply wear a wireless rubber ring.
• Wireless rubber ring gives gentle vibrations to wake you.
• Snoozing is possible by shaking your hand.
• Successive snoozing needs more movement of your hands and this ensures you wake up.
• Multiple alarms can be set from the base clock.

Interestingly you can keep this clock at your office also, to give you silent reminders to keep up your time schedules.

On the similar concept of silent alarm clock, here is Alarming Ring.

For more about silent alarm clock, log on to Yanko Design.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Port of Fujairah is the second largest bunkering port of the world. The first is Singapore and the third is Rotterdam.

Here are some interesting features of Port of Fujairah:

• Port of Fujairah is located on the Eastern Seaboard of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), approximately 70 nautical miles from the Straits of Hormuz.
• Construction of the Port was started in 1978 to develop UAE and full operations of the port commenced in 1983.
• Port of Fujairah is dredged to 15 metres.
• Port of Fujairah acts as a centre to meet the requirements of shipping community in the Middle East and the surrounding region.
• Port of Fujairah offers the following services:
  • Container Handling
  • General Cargo
  • Bulk Cargo
  • Ro/Ro Services
  • Livestock
  • Marine Service
  • Fujairah Anchorage
  • Bunkering, Marine Supply, Ship Repair
• Port of Fujairah Anchorage can accommodate up to 100 vessels at any time.
• Services such as Bunkering, Ship supplies, Ship Repair, Spare Repair, Spare parts and Inspection are provided as “One Stop Shop” service to vessels at Anchorage.
• Crew changes to and from the Anchorage has reached an average of 2,500 personnel monthly. Also ‘Flying Angel’ the World’s first floating seafarers’ centre is available on full time service in the Port of Fujairah.
• Port of Fujairah Anchorage has a fleet of 80 independently owned and professionally operated Supply vessels.
• On shore tank capacity was not less than 1.8 million cubic metres as on year 2003.
• Port of Fujairah Anchorage is totally safe and secure with regular patrol and policing.
• More than 25 years old single hull tankers, regardless of their GRT are not allowed to call at Fujairah Offshore Anchorage Area for cargo operation. This includes Oil & Chemical Tankers and LPG & LNG carriers carrying oil products.
• International Airport is located 5 kilo metres from Port Gate.

Here is an interesting video clip of Port of Fujairah.

More information on Fujairah is here and on Port of Fujairah is here.

Update: August 30

During the Holy Month of Ramadan (approximately September 1- October 1, 2008), the Port of Fujairah working hours will be revised. Details are here at PortWorld.

Also amazing photographs and interesting information on Fujairah is available at Fujairah In Focus blog.

Update: September 09

Port of Fujairah has signed an agreement allowing it access to a $245 million (900 million Dirhams) credit line to carry out port expansions. Read more from Port World.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Eighteen sailors of the Royal Navy from HMS Liverpool were tested positive for cocaine during routine medical test. It may be noted that the UK Ministry of Defence conducts Europe’s largest compulsory drug testing program to reduce drug misuse among service personnel.

Some more highlights are:

• HMS Liverpool is the tenth of the Type 42 Destroyers and the seventh ship to bear the name.
• HMS Liverpool is on mission to fight against international drugs smuggling and is nearing her completion of seven month deployment in the South Atlantic.
• HMS Liverpool with her 240 crew onboard regularly patrols the Falkland Islands.
• The test was carried out after the crew had a “run ashore” on a break at port of Santos in Brazil.
• As the Royal Navy is viewing this incident seriously, all the 18 sailors on board HMS Liverpool are expected to be removed from the ship, flown back to the UK and discharged from service.

Only consolation about this incident is that in UK, drug misuse is almost 20 times more common in civilian workplaces than in the Navy.

More information on HMS Liverpool is here at Royal Navy.

Here is a video clip that shows the emotion and tragedy of cocaine abuse and addiction.

Here is a website to treat crack cocaine addiction.

Read more about this incident from BBC News, Mail Online.

Update: September 12

Eighteen sailors who recently tested positive for cocaine onboard HMS Liverpool have now been discharged from the Royal Navy. Read more from Royal Navy.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Bog snorkelling is an interesting and funny annual sporting event that takes place every August Bank Holiday (last Monday in August) at Waen Rhydd peat bog, near Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales, Britain. The championships were started in 1985 as a fund raising initiative. All proceeds from this sporting event are donated to charities in the region.This event is different from Mountain bike Bog Snorkelling Championship or Bog Snorkelling Triathlon.

This year championship was held on August 25 with high turnout possibly due to Olympics syndrome. Among 170 participants, the winner is Conor Murphy, 23, from Leicester. He completed in 1 minute 38.9 seconds.

Here are some highlights of the event:

• participants have to complete two consecutive lengths of 60 yards (55 metres) water filled trench cut through a peat bog.
• participants are required to use snorkels and flippers to complete the course without using conventional swimming strokes, relying on flipper power alone.
• lifting of the head is permitted only to find out the direction or orientation.
• wet suits are not compulsory, but are usually worn.
• each participant’s time is recorded, compared with others to announce the winner.
• the winner is the one who completes the course in shortest time.
• minimum age for participation is 14 and there is no upper age limit.
• anyone under the influence of alcohol can not participate.
• there are four categories in total: world, women’s, junior and local champions.
• the world record was set in 2007, by Joanne Pitchforth with 1 minute 35.18 seconds.

Here are 10 amazing photographs covering this year’s event from Time.

Video clips of last year event are here, here.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

The 48th Brisbane International Boat Show (BIBS) is ready to start. The five days BIBS is expected to be a great family day out in addition to a regular boat show.

BIBS is

• an ideal location who look for new boat, jet ski, fishing rod.
• for parents who want to take their kids out for fishing and teach them about fishing.
• even for those who want to find a job in a marine industry.

When ?

August 27-31, 2008

Where ?

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank, Brisbane, Australia.

Event Highlights:

• List of Exhibitors is here.
• The Fishing Expo 2008: Program details are here.
• Kids Marine Zone: Free entry. Program details are here.
• Marine Careers Showcase: Sponsored by the Australian Defence Force & the QLD Government Department of Tourism, Regional Development & Industry. Details are here.

For more details, log on to Brisbane Boat Show.

Update: August 31

It is too early to say about the number of visitors attended the show. Read more from Marine Business News.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Here is a live example of a shipping company not permitting a seafarer to blog while working for them.

Reason ? Security risk.

The reason given by the shipping company is very strange and difficult to understand the security risk involved from a blogger.

Here are some more details:

• The seafarer is Dan, his profile is here.
• His blog is Kiwi at Sea.
• The shipping company is Cemex.
• Dan was working in “Sand Fulmar” of Cemex.

The shipping company fails to understand that

• marine bloggers share their professional experience in the cyber world.
• most of the bloggers are employed and their employees never stop them from blogging.

Still time is there for Cemex to reconsider their views about bloggers.

Read more from Dan about “Maritime Bloggers Beware” in his post. What is your view on this ? Feel free to comment.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

It has been a disturbed week for seafarers in Gulf of Aden. By this weekend, Somali Pirates have managed to hijack four ships in forty eight hours in the vital sealane linking Asia and Europe.

Here are some highlights:

• A Malaysian ship, ‘Bunga Melati Dua’ of MISC Berhad carrying about 32,000 tonnes of crude palm oil, worth $2.5 million, with 39 crew (29 Malaysians and 10 Filipinos) on board was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on August 20. It is also reported that there has been a casualty onboard involving one of its Filipino crew members during the boarding of the vessel by the hijackers. More details are here, here and here.
• An Iranian bulk carrier and a Japanese operated Panama registered chemical tanker ‘Irene’ (with 19 crew) were hijacked on August 21. More details are here and here.
• A German cargo ship with nine crew on board were hijacked again on August 21. More details are here and here.
• The four hijacked ships are having a total of 96 crew on board.
• It is interesting to note that Somali pirates are no more poor and they have attained near-celebrity status in their area. Now Somali pirates own expensive homes,cars and have more wives due to high ransoms received from the ship owners of the hijacked ships.
• It is sad to note that all the above piracy attacks took place in the presence of Naval forces from the United States, France, Germany, Pakistan, Britain and Canada operating in the Gulf region.
• Interestingly, Canadian Warship HMCS Ville de Quebec came within about 25 kilometres of two hijacked vessels and the warship was under orders to stay away from vessels that have already been seized by pirates as any intervention by the warship may harm the crew of the hijacked vessels.

In view of this development, International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has issued a fresh piracy warning to all vessels sailing in the Gulf of Aden.

Update: September 01

One more chemical tanker Bunga Melati 5 of MISC Berhad with 41 crew and 30,000 tonnes of petrochemicals was hijacked on August 29. Read more from PortWorld.

Meanwhile, U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain announced the establishment of a Maritime Security Patrol Area in the waters between the coasts of Somalia and Yemen; the area will be patrolled by allied naval forces under Combined Task Force 150 to stop Piracy. Read more from NavyTimes.

Update: September 03

MISC Berhad has decided to stop sending vessels into the Gulf of Aden until additional security measures are in place to protect vessels and crews from piracy. Meanwhile Somali pirates are demanding a huge amount of $4.7 million for release of the two Malaysian vessels. Read more from Marine Log.

Update: September 29

The hijacked Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Melati 5 on August 29, has been released by Somali pirates after taking ransom of $2 million. Read more from Thaindian News.

Update: September 30

Somali pirates have released the second Malaysian oil tanker after the government paid a ransom of $2 million. The MT Bunga Melati 2, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen Aug 19, was released on September 29. That means for both the vessels a total of $4 million was paid. Read more from Thaindian News.

Update: October 11

Fifteen Filipino seafarers on board a Japanese-operated chemical tanker MT Irene were freed by Somali pirates on October 08, 49 days after they were abducted in African waters. Read more from GMA News.

Also, all the crew members including three Indians of an Iranian cargo ship MV Iran Deyanat, hijacked by sea pirates off the Somalian coast on August 21 were set free on October 10. Read more from Hindustan Times.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

The new generation first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 1), USS Freedom is getting ready for commissioning on November 08 at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Milwaukee.

Some of the interesting features of USS Freedom (LCS 1) are:

• The ship was in drawing board stage just 64 months back.
• In May 2004, the U.S.Navy awarded a $423 million contract for design and construction of up to two Flight 0, to a Lockheed Martin led team.
• The ship builder is Marinette Marine Corporation of Lockheed Martin.
• The ship’s keel was laid on June 02, 2005.
• Freedom was christened on September 24, 2006.
• The ship commenced her Builder’s Trials on July 28 at Lake Michigan.
• The ship
  • is designed for flexible operation in the littoral or “green water” coastal areas.
  • is further designed to turn 360 degrees in less than eight lengths at top speed and to accelerate to full speed in less than two minutes.
  • is 377 feet long with a beam of 57 feet.
  • has amazing speed of 45 to 60 knots, depending on her load.
  • can operate in less than 20 feet depth of shallow waters.
  • can be reconfigured for antisubmarine warfare, mine warfare, or surface warfare missions as 40 percent of ship’s space is flexible for this purpose.
  • can act as a platform for launch and recovery of manned and unmanned vehicles.
  • has a highly automated engineering plant and water jet propulsion.
  • has Mk 46 30 millimeter gun system: a two-axis stabilized chain gun that can fire up to 200 rounds per minute. The gun system interfaces a forward-looking infrared sensor, a low light television camera and laser rangefinder with a closed-loop tracking system to optimize accuracy against small, high-speed surface targets.
• USS Freedom will be manned by one of two rotational crews, blue and gold.
• Cmdr. Michael Doran is the prospective commanding officer of Gold Crew.
• After commissioning the ship will undergo operational testing at Norfolk.
• Ship will be based at San Diego.

The second ship of the class, Independence, is being built at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.

Here are some photographs of USS Freedom (LCS 1) from U.S.Navy website:

Continue Reading…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Indian Navy is preparing to conduct joint naval exercise off Mumbai coast with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces (JMSDF).

Some of the interesting features of the exercise are:

• three JMSDF ships would be visiting Mumbai from August 23 to 26.
• the visiting Japanese ships are
  • JDS Kashima (TV-3508): 5000 tonnes Training Vessel with 115 Midshipmen trainee officers of JMSDF.
  • JDS Asagiri (DD-151/TV-3516): 2500 Tonnes destroyer, commissioned in 1988, based at Kure.
  • JDS Umigiri (DD-158): 2500 Tonnes destroyer, commissioned in 1991, based at Kure.
• a Delhi class destroyer and a Corvette from the Indian Navy are expected to participate in an advanced Passage Exercise (PASSEX) on August 26.
• the PASSEX would involve OOW Manoeuvres, Flying Exercise, Cross Deck Flying, Photo Exercise, Underway Replenishment, Jackstay and Steam Past.

Interestingly during this week, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta is on five-day visit to Japan from August 20-24 and then he will go to South Korea on a two-day visit.

Here are the photographs of the visiting JMSDF ships:

Continue Reading…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Accidents in Singapore shipyards are not under control.

Here is one more news report of shipyard related accident that has taken place on August 15.

• Japanese registered oil tanker ‘ Eneos Breeze ‘ is presently undergoing repairs at the Keppel Shipyard in Tuas, Singapore.
• On the morning of August 15, dead body of a shipyard worker was found at the bottom of the ship’s 21 metre deep water tank.
• The unfortunate worker is reported to be a 21 year old Indian national Sathiyamoorthy Siva and it is believed that he has fallen into the tank.
• Sathiyamoorthy Siva was working for ‘Harvest Marine Service’ a subcontractor of Keppel Shipyard.
• The preliminary findings indicate that Sathiyamoorthy Siva’s work did not require him to enter the tank. How did he die then ?
• Further investigations are going on by Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to find out the cause of the accident.

It is disturbing to know that nine workers have died and eighteen workers were injured in Singapore shipyards in the last three months. Last month on July 17, the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC), with MOM organized a WSH Council Forum on Raising Shipyard Safety Standards.

Read more from The Straits Times and The Times of India.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Here is a graphical presentation of Top Ten Deep Lakes of the World. Name of the lake and depth in metres are shown below.

Click the image below, for interactive response.

To know the location of the lakes in Google Maps, click below.

Continue Reading…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Here is a good news to Indian youth to join Merchant Navy. The age limit is now twenty five to join pre sea courses.

The reason ? Here is an interesting news report from Live Mint which highlights:

• Presently Indian seafarers are about 82,000 including about 26,900 officers and 55,000 ratings.
• Every year, 15% of 1.18 million global seafarers quit seafaring profession to take up shore based jobs.
• Due to this, there is going to be an estimated global shortage of 27,000 marine officers by 2015 from the present shortage of about 10,000.
• Seafaring profession is no more attractive to Indian urban youth.
• Age limit is now increased to facilitate the youth from rural areas to join the seafaring profession.
• Unfortunately, the maritime education fee currently ranges from INR 2.5 lakh to 10 lakh, depending upon the course and the college, though education loans are available from banks.

As per Director General of Shipping, Training Circular No.19-TR(4)/2008 dated 7th August 2008, the maximum age limit is now upto 25 years for admission in the following pre-sea courses:

Continue Reading…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Indian Navy hosted Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in February this year to bring together about 28 out of the 33 navies in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), to enhance cooperation and to improve Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). As a follow up of the IONS, ships from Indian Navy are on goodwill visit.

Here are some interesting features of the visit:

• Four Indian Navy ships are on two month deployment to West Asian and African countries in the IOR.
• Ships on goodwill visit are:
  • INS Delhi - Indian built destroyer, a hybrid of Soviet and Western technology.
  • INS Talwar - Russian built frigate.
  • INS Godavari - Indian built guided missile frigate.
  • INS Aditya - Indian built replenishment & repair Ship.
• Ships from Western Naval Command left India in end of July and are expected to be back in mid September.
• INS Delhi and INS Talwar have already visited Red Sea Port Safaga in Egypt in the first week of this month.
• INS Godavari and INS Aditya have sailed to Refaet-al-Assad in Syria.
• Ships are further expected to call on Mombasa in Kenya, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Madagascar and Mauritius.
• Ships will also take part in exercises with French Navy in the Gulf.

The goodwill visit is expected to improve Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and share realtime intelligence in the IOR to counter terrorist and maritime threats such as piracy, smuggling.

Read more from India Defence, IBN Live.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Here are some tips for this weekend.

Set amazing marine wallpapers from National Geographic for your PC.

• here is : Underwater Wrecks - nine wallpapers
• here is : Underwater Exploration - seven wallpapers
• here is : Underwater Creatures - eleven wallpapers
• here is : Translucent Creatures - fifteen wallpapers
• here is : Colorful Sea Creatures - ten wallpapers
• here is : Coral Reefs - five wallpapers
• here is : Oceans - seven wallpapers
• here is : Discovering the Titanic - nine wall papers
• here is : Milestones in Underwater Photography - ten wallpapers
• here is : more underwater wallpapers and screensavers

For more updates, log on to National Geographic.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!