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Iran has inaugurated a new Naval base at port of Jask on October 27. Port of Jask is located closer to eastern end of the Strait of Hormuz. The Persian Gulf countries - Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates produce about 28 percent of the world’s oil and they hold about 55 percent of the world’s crude oil reserves. Other than oil, the Persian Gulf region exports roughly 18 percent of natural gas and  holds  about 41 percent of total proven world’s gas reserves.

Some of the interesting features of Strait of Hormuz are:

• 600 miles long and its narrowest point is only 21 miles wide.
• plays a vital role in transporting the oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf countries to the rest of the world by sea.
• roughly 40 percent of oil produced pass through this sea route.
• oil and natural gas supplies go east to Asia including Japan, China, and India.
• oil and natural gas supplies go west via the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to Western Europe and the United States.

Presently there are only few alternate routes to the Strait of Hormuz for exporting Persian Gulf oil and natural gas. Even those routes need repairs and upgrades or are closed due to political, economic, or geopolitical issues in the region.

Here are the pie charts showing oil and natural gas supplies from the Persian Gulf countries.

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On October 28, the chairman of International Mariners Management Association of Japan (IMMAJ) has stated that Filipino seafarers are the top choice of Japanese ship managers and owners. It is a fact that one-third of the world’s seafarers are Filipinos. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) shows that 266,533 Filipino seafarers were deployed all over the world in 2007. Out of this, more than 50,000 Filipino seafarers work on Japan’s 3,000 merchant ships. This indicates that roughly 65 percent of Japan’s maritime personnel are Filipinos.

Also Hellespont, an European shipping company having a manpower agency in Manila, has been hiring all-Filipino crews for its tanker fleet since 2004. This confirms that Filipino seafarers are the most sought seafarers in the global shipping industry. In fact, Filipinos are in demand to man ships at sea - from luxury cruise ships to giant tankers and container ships.

Why most of the shipping companies prefer Filipino seafarers ? How they exploit them ?

Here are some reasons:

1.Seafarers by Nature: Philippines has vast coast line of 36,289 km, that is more than USA (19,924 km), UK (12,429 km), China (14,500 km), France (4,668 km) except Russia (37,653 km) which is almost equal. As the Philippine archipelago is made up of 7,107 islands,  Filipinos have natural mariner’s instincts and always work cheerfully despite their months of separation from their families. They never show that they are homesick. While on shore leave, instead of going to the nearest bars to waste their earnings, they prefer to spend their time more at Internet cafes, writing e-mails or chatting online with their loved ones in the Philippines.

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Awareness about global warming is increasing. Also as fossil fuels are depleting, all countries are switching over to renewable energy sources, specially offshore wind farms. Interestingly Germany wants to phase out nuclear power plants by the year 2020. In Germany the share of renewable energy was 14 percent in 2007 and is expected to increase to 30 percent by 2020.

To augment the share of renewable energy, Germany has commissioned its first offshore wind farm on October 28.

Some of the interesting features of Germany’s first offshore wind farm are:

• The pilot site at Hooksiel will generate five megawatts of electricity and feed into the gas and electrical station in the coastal city of Wilhelmshaven, enough to serve 5,000 households.
• The pilot wind farm is installed near the Hooksiel outer harbour where water depth is between 2 to 8 metres depending on the tide.
• The wind turbine is 90 metres above water level and the rotor diameter is 122 metres.
• 80 such offshore wind turbines are expected to come up, 100 kilometres off the coast of the North Sea island of Borkum and the construction is expected to begin early next year.
• The offshore wind farm of 400 MW, named as ‘BARD Offshore 1’ will be installed by BARD Engineering GmbH.
• BARD has already ordered a special purpose vessel for the maintenance and provisioning of the offshore wind farms even in rough sea conditions.

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The 49th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is ready to start on October 30. You can see vessels ranging from folding boats to motor yachts for cruising, fishing, sunbathing, skiing. Show exhibitors will be offering you everything from electric and hybrid boats to chemical-free boat cleaners, safer building materials and other environmentally friendly products and services.

Some of the interesting features of this Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show 2008 are:

• presented by Ginn sur Mer.
• to display more than $3 billion worth of boats, yachts, super yachts, electronics, engines and accessories from major marine manufacturers and builders worldwide.
• to take place at six locations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Locations are
  • Bahia Mar Yachting Center
  • Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center
  • Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club
  • Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel & Marina
  • Hall of Fame Marina
  • Las Olas Marina
• the Boat Show uses more than 3 million square feet of space, both on land and in water.
• to conclude on November 03.

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Euronaval 2008, a biennial event of ‘International Defence and Maritime Exhibition and Conference’, is presently going on at Paris. The 21st edition of Euronaval is the world’s leading trade show for naval defence and maritime safety. The first trade show started in 1968 as an exhibition of equipment for naval forces by French exhibitors. Later in 1994, the scope of the exhibition further expanded to include participation of European exhibitors and was called as ‘Euronaval’. From 1996 onwards, Euronaval has become an international event.

Euronaval 2006, was attended by 31,090 professional visitors and 85 official delegations. Products and services of 345 exhibiting companies from 27 countries were displayed.

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Russian Akula II Class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine has commenced sea trials at Primorye Territory in southeastern Russia. Sea trials of this submarine is a significant development for the Indian Navy because,

• As per media reports the submarine is expected to join the Indian Navy on 10 years lease in mid 2009 with an option to buy at the end of the leasing, though the Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has denied this report.
• The Akula class submarine on lease is necessary for the Indian Navy to prepare for the induction of the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), India’s indigenous nuclear powered submarine which is expected to go for sea trials in 2009.
• As India has already tested undersea launch of nuclear capable missile in February, Indian Navy has to accelerate the realization of ATV project.
• Further, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has already pointed out that the operational availability of Indian submarines is as low as 48% due to an ageing fleet and prolonged refit schedules.
• In the past India leased a Charlie I class nuclear submarine from the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991.

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The world’s longest tunnel aquarium was opened on October 26 at Chiang Mai of Thailand. Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat presided over the opening of the tunnel aquarium at Chiang Mai Zoo’s aquarium. The aquarium is expected to boost tourism of Chiang Mai. The project is a joint venture by Zoological Park Organization and the public company MarineScape, Thailand. MarineScape will be managing the aquarium for a period of 20 years under a profit-split agreement.

Some of the interesting features are:

• covers an area of 13,895 square metres of land.
• has both freshwater and ocean sections each 66.5 metres wide.
• has 8,000 metre viewing walkway and can handle 1,000 visitors at any one time.
• set up at a cost of 600 million Thai Baht.
• houses about 8,000 aquatic animals of 250 different species.
• Marinescape has global presence in tunnel aquarium projects for more than 24 years.

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Sailors Radio, an interesting website gives you nautical jokes also.

Here is one of their jokes that tells us how a captain was successful at sea.

Once upon a time there was a famous sea captain. This captain was very successful at what he did; for years he guided merchant ships all over the world.

Never did stormy seas or pirates get the best of him. He was admired by his crew and fellow captains. However, there was one thing different about this captain. Every morning he went through a strange ritual. He would lock himself in his captain’s quarters and open a small safe.

In the safe was an envelope with a piece of paper inside. He would stare at the paper for a minute, then lock it back up. After, he would go about his daily duties.

For years this went on, and his crew became very curious. Was it a treasure map? Was it a letter from a long lost love? Everyone speculated about the contents of the strange envelope.

One day the captain died at sea. After laying the captain’s body to rest, the first mate led the entire crew into the captains quarters. He opened the safe, got the envelope, opened it and…

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The first edition of Port and Ship International India 2008 (PSI) exhibition was inaugurated at Mumbai today. PSI is an international exhibition and conference to promote shipping, shipbuilding, ship technology, maintenance and repair, ocean engineering, marine offshore technology, port and terminal technology and equipment.

As Indian Maritime Industry is heading for a sea change, PSI is exploring global opportunities for marine, shipping, shipbuilding, ports and logistics, manufacturers and service providers.

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On August 28, an Ordinary Seaman (OS) of Danish registered ‘Ann Rousing’ general cargo vessel severely injured his right hand, while preparing to go to sea. The accident happened while closing the hydraulically operated hatch covers of cargo hold. On hearing about the accident, the Master of the vessel immediately called an ambulance and the Chief Officer accompanied the injured OS to hospital. It was found that the OS suffered an open fracture and was back home after six days in hospital.

The Division for Investigation of Maritime Accidents of Danish Maritime Authority has come out with an occupational accident report.

As per the report

• the injured OS had placed his right hand on the hatch coaming for support while standing on one foot, to operate the lever with the other foot.
• the position of the lever operating the hatch was inappropriate, because it allowed the operator to put a hand on the hatch coaming while closing the hatch.
• written work place instruction was not followed. According to the instruction, a crew member should have been standing by at the emergency stop while operating hatch cover.
• there was not sufficient control to ensure that written work place instruction was followed.

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Ball Pyramid is the world’s tallest sea stack. This amazing Ball Pyramid is the remains of a shield volcano formed millions of years ago.

Some of the interesting features of Ball Pyramid are:

• Discovered by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball of the Royal Navy in 1788.
• The stack is 562 metres high and measures only 200 metres across.
• Located 20 km southeast of Lord Howe Island.
• Lord Howe Island is in UNESCO World Heritage List and lies approximately 600 km northeast of Sydney and southeast of Brisbane, Australia.
• Climbing on the stack is now not permitted and can be viewed closely from cruise boats.
• World class diving and fishing spot.

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Strait of Malacca linking the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean plays an important role in global sea trade. Oil from Persian Gulf countries and West Africa pass through Strait of Malacca to all Asia Pacific countries including Japan and China. Also Strait of Malacca is known for high risk of piracy.

On October 21, during the launch of Centre for the Strait of Malacca (CSOM), a new research centre for the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) , Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Y.A.B. Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak has told that

• the number of vessels passing through the Strait of Malacca have to be capped to ensure safe navigation.
• the number of ships would have to be jointly determined by the littoral states and the set limit must not be exceeded.
• the strait was not international waters and the sovereign rights of Indonesia and Malaysia should be appreciated.
• in addition to the existing Traffic Separation Scheme, Mandatory Ship Reporting System known as STRAITREP and Vessel Traffic Monitoring System, an exclusive Marine Electronic Highway was being planned to integrate current maritime safety technologies with marine environment management and protection systems.

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Sri Lanka Navy successfully foiled a LTTE suicide attack on two merchant ships carrying humanitarian assistance to the Northern Sri Lanka. This happened in the Northern seas of Sri Lanka at 0510 hours local time on October 22.

This sea borne terrorism of LTTE, to attack on merchant ships exclusively chartered for humanitarian purposes deserves to be condemned by seafaring community.

Some of the interesting features of the Sri Lanka Navy’s operation are:

• ‘MV Nimalawa’ and ‘MV Ruhunu’ were carrying essential supplies to the Tamil civilians caught in the battle affected northern part of  Sri Lanka.
• Three LTTE suicide boats attempted to ram on the merchant ships to sink the ships. The aim was to disrupt essential supplies to the Tamil civilians caught in the battle.
• The alert Sri Lanka Navy sailors, providing security onboard, targeted the suicide boats with machine gun fire and destroyed two of the boats before ramming on the ships.
• Out of the two boats destroyed, one exploded in close proximity to ‘MV Nimalawa’ causing a considerable damage to the ship’s hull.
• Third suicide boat was captured by the Sri Lanka Navy patrol craft in the area.
• The Navy suffered no casualties during the incident.

Here are some photographs of the Sri Lanka Navy’s operation:

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The first conference on the EU project “Zemships - Zero Emission Ships” is going to be held, as future ships are going to be powered from Hydrogen Fuel Cells. The conference as part of H2Expo 2008: 7th International Conference and Trade Fair on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies is ready to start on October 22 at the CCH-Congress Center, Hamburg. In addition, H2Expo will conduct a symposium and three workshops.

Presently the world is working fast to use Hydrogen as a source of energy as fossil fuels are running out. Researchers are proceeding at full pace to extract Hydrogen from water and also directly from bio-waste, organic residues and even from sewage. The two days event will focus on technical innovations in the individual fuel cell types, their applications, hydrogen production from renewable energy sources, storage and infrastructure. About 60 speakers from 11 countries are expected to participate.

Zemships conference is going to be held on October 23 and the following interesting topics are going to be discussed.

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PlanetSolar, the fully solar powered biggest boat is getting ready for circumnavigation of the globe in 2010. The Swiss based PlanetSolar is being designed and developed by an international team of physicists, engineers, boat builders and other people related to renewable energies and environmental protection by considering various parameters like: propulsion, solar panel design, energy storage, materials, boat’s hydro and aerodynamics and the external environment.

Some of the interesting features of PlanetSolar are:

• 30 metres long catamaran with revolutionary hull design.
• uses 470 square metres of photovoltaic solar panels.
• being constructed by Knierim Yacht Club, in Kiel, Germany.
• can accommodate up to fifty people during the promotional trips planned at each port of call.
• to create awareness about PlanetSolar project, the first solar powered navigation of the globe will be preceded by a ‘PlanetSolar Village’ touring exhibition. PlanetSolar Village exhibition
  • will travel ahead of PlanetSolar’s all ports of call.
  • will conduct educational programs and conferences to promote solar energy and sustainable development.
  • is scheduled to be inaugurated at Yverdon-les-Bains in Spring 2009.
  • entry will be free to public.
• the circumnavigation will be East to West along an equatorial route where the maximum amount of sunlight is available.
• more technical data of the boat are at PlanetSolar.

Here is the proposed route map of circumnavigation:

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