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DP World Nhava Sheva, India’s first privately managed container terminal is also the first container terminal to get ISO 28000:2007 certification in supply chain security management systems.

Some of the interesting features of DP World Nhava Sheva are:

• Part of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mumbai.
• JNPT entered into a license agreement in July 1997 with M/s. Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT) a consortium led by M/s. P & O Ports, Australia, for construction, operation and management of a new 2 berth container terminal on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis for a period of 30 years.
• The container terminal set up at a total cost of US $250 million is fully operational from July 2000.
• The terminal is already certified for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 27001 management systems.
• The ISO 28000:2007 certification was given by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and the announcement regarding certification was made on December 23.
• DP World Nhava Sheva is now the 15th terminal of their 48 terminals operating worldwide, to get the distinction.

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Year-end Review 2008 of Indian Ports and Shipping issued by Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways through Press Information Bureau press release dated December 29 is given below.

SHIPPING SECTOR

The approval of the Parliament for setting up of Indian Maritime University in Chennai, ‘Navratna’ status to the Shipping Corporation of India, steps to protect seafarers, acquisition of three new ships by SCI, setting up of four new lighthouses along with automation of 30 lighthouses, steps to set up National Maritime Complex, approval of cruise shipping policy and declaration of new National Waterways marked the main activities of the Shipping Sector.

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Indian Coast Guard on December 27, rescued 102 Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals off Andaman and Nicobar islands who were adrift for 12 to 15 days. It is reported that around 412 Bangladeshi and Myanmar nationals had left for Malaysia few weeks ago. According to survivors, they were intercepted and chased away by the Thailand Navy.

Coast Guard ships ‘Varad’ and ‘Bhikaji Cama’ took part in the rescue operations.The fate of remaining 310 people is not known and search is going on to trace them.

The Regional Headquarters of Coast Guard, Andaman & Nicobar Region is located at Port Blair. Presently the Region is commanded by Inspector General  SP Sharma, PTM, TM. The Coast Guard has a force level of one OPV, two FPVs, three IPVs, two Dornier aircraft and two Chetak helicopters in this region.

Read more about the activities of Coast Guard, Andaman & Nicobar Region here.

Here is the map of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

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Three amazing German Navy Calendars for 2009 are available for free download. As the website is in German language, I have translated through Google Translate. Only cover photos of the calendars are shown below. Calendar for each month is available for download.

Calendar-Men 2009:

Images of soldiers in action - on land, sea and air. The images provide a glimpse into the varied activities of the naval forces.

January: Two soldiers in a canoe

February: Ambulance soldiers lined

March: Combat soldiers in action

April: Maintenance of the ship’s machinery

May: A boarding soldier

June: Two German Navy divers

July: Marching of Soldiers

August: Soldiers at sunset

September: An officer candidate during training

October: Ready to throw a mine

November: Helicopter training by staff

December: Soldiers of the curfew watch battalions

Calendar-Aircrafts 2009:

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Indonesia has now a reliable German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS). The GITEWS is in operation from November 11. The necessity to have a reliable warning system was strongly felt after the December 26, 2004 tsunami that generated waves of up to 15 metres in height and even hit Somalia at a distance of about 4500 km from its epicenter near the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. In Banda Aceh province of Indonesia alone, more than 140,000 people died and in total approximately a quarter million people lost their lives in Indian Ocean Region.

Some of the interesting features of GITEWS are:

• This system is tailor made to suit Indonesia and differs from other Tsunami Early Warning Systems as it uses new scientific procedures and technologies.
• Should a tsunami occur in Indonesia, the waves, in an extreme case, will reach the coast within 20 minutes and only very little time remains to warn the areas at risk. This factor was taken as the prime consideration when developing the concept for the entire system.
• As more than 90% of all tsunamis result from strong earthquakes, the system uses SeisComP3 software programme to determine within two minutes, the location and the magnitude of an earthquake. The entire seismological network in Indonesia currently avails of over 120 stations. SeisComP3 software is also used in the Indian Tsunami Early Warning System. Further this software is also used in Maldives, Pakistan, Thailand and in South Africa.
• Also the system uses
  • Tide gauges integrated with GPS receivers to receive sea level data (vertical and horizontal displacement) from nine locations in the Indian Ocean.
  • GPS Buoys to work independently as measuring instruments for tsunami detection and as relay stations from planned 10 locations.
  • A new software TsunAWI to simulate and synthesize an overall picture of the situation by comparing with the data base.
  • Decision Support System (DSS) that compiles all available data, information and modeling flow to reach a decision on whether a tsunami warning is to be disseminated or not.
• On the basis of the available information, the responsible person on-duty in the Warning Centre can very quickly get an overview of the situation and generate suggestions to take a fast and reliable decision.

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German Navy Frigate Karlsruhe, on December 25, saved an Egyptian bulk carrier from Somali pirates. The frigate Karlsruhe sailed out on December 23, from Djibouti to take part in the Operation Atalanta launched by European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) on December 09. This is Operation Atalanta’s first pirate engagement.

Some of the interesting features of the operation are:

• Egyptian bulk carrier MV Wabi al Arab, with 31 crew was sailing from the Suez Canal to Asia.
• When the vessel was off the coast of Yemen, pirates opened fire with automatic weapons at 1100 hours local time.
• One of the crew was injured by gunshots during the attack.
• The vessel raised a distress call and the frigate Karlsruhe responded immediately by dispatching an armed helicopter to the area.
• When the helicopter fired warning shots, the pirates withdrew their attack.
• The injured seafarer was picked up by another helicopter, treated for leg injury on board Karlsruhe and was later flown ashore to hospital where his condition is reported to be stable.

Here is the photograph of Frigate Karlsruhe (F212) of the Fourth Frigate Squadron of the German Navy based in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven.

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Merry Christmas to all. Santa Claus is presently at Golden Beach of Puri in India to celebrate Christmas. Artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created this sand image of Santa Claus on Christmas eve on December 24. Thanks to Times of India to bring out this amazing photograph today.

Also India celebrates Christmas with a 32 feet high massive cake at Kochi. The cake in 33 layers weighs 550 kilograms and it took 15 days to complete at Peter’s Bakery.

Here is the photograph of the cake from Xinhua News.

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India is the second-largest fruits importer from Australia. Also India is considered as the booming market place for Washington Apples. During the last season 1.6 million boxes of Washington apples were sold in India and Chennai city alone accounted for consuming more than 60 per cent of the imported apples. It seems that consumers are paying more for the imported fruits. The Chennai importers pay bribe to port officials to clear perishable goods on the same day of arrival and the bribe paid by the importers is definitely passed on to the consumers.

Here is a disturbing news report that explains the magnitude of corruption taking place in Chennai port. Chennai port health officer V V Sairam Babu was arrested on December 20, while taking bribe of Rs 6000 from an importer. Was it only Rs 6000 ? Not at all.

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Rolls Royce waterjets are going to power the Dubai Water Taxis. The Dubai Water Taxi project was announced by the Road Transport Authority (RTA) in March this year, to improve transport infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates.

Some of the interesting features of this project are:

• Started on May 15, 2008.
• Project Cost: 30 Million DHS.
• Water Taxi (Technical specification):
  • Hull : Catamaran Low Wash.
  • Length : 10.8 metres.
  • Width : 4.1 metres.
  • Speed : 35 knots.
  • Engines : Water Jet.
  • Number of passenger : 11 passengers.
  • Number of boats : 10 boats for phase 1.
  • Operation Zone : all water surfaces within Dubai.

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Damage caused to three undersea cables on December 19, has disrupted internet connectivity between Europe, Middle East and Asia. Cable damages are taking place almost every year. Cableship C/S Raymond Croze from France Telecom Marine is expected to reach the location to inspect and to undertake cable repair. It may take about 7-10 days for completion of cable repair.

Some of the disturbing features of undersea cable damages are:

• Cables damaged are:Sea Me We 4 (SMW 4), Sea Me We 3 (SMW 3) and FLAG EA.
• Damage is reported to be under the Mediterranean between Italy and Egypt.
• Around 75 million people from 14 countries are affected by the current problem.
  • Maldives: 100% out of service
  • India: 82% out of service
  • Qatar: 73% out of service
  • Djibouti: 71% out of service
  • United Arab Emirates: 68% out of service
  • Zambia: 62% out of service
  • Saudi Arabia: 55% out of service
  • Egypt: 52% out of service
  • Pakistan: 51% out of service
  • Malaysia: 42% out of service
  • Taiwan: 39% out of service
  • Yemen: 38% out of service
  • Syria: 36% out of service
  • Lebanon: 16% out of service
• In the past damages have taken place on January 20, 2007 due to Taiwan Earthquake and on January 30, 2008 in Mediterranean Region.

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Floating sunglasses are very useful to seafarers and water sports enthusiasts. Here are floating sunglasses from Fish Gillz.

Some of the interesting features of Fish Gillz floating sunglasses are:

• lightweight, polarized floating sunglasses for comfort, styling and protection.
• micro filter lenses reduce glare reflecting off the water surface.
• provides distortion free view.
• protects from harmful UV sunlight.
• suitable for: wind surfing,jet skiing,fishing,sailing,boating,kayaking,water skiing.

Here is an interesting video clip on Fish Gillz floating sunglasses.

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The first Emirates Boat Show International (EBSI) was held at the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) in the UAE for five days from November 25. It is reported that the boat show performed beyond expectations.

Some of the interesting features of the boat show are:

• Boats displayed were more than 200.
• Over 13,000 visitors attended and over $15m in sales were recorded.
• Organized by Knotika Holding.
• Marine products exhibited and exhibitors profile are here.

Here are some photographs from EBSI.

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Seafarers of Chinese Ship Zhenhua 4, used all resources available on board to fight back when the vessel was attacked by Somali pirates. The seafaring community appreciates the brave fight put up by Chinese seafarers.

Some of the interesting features are:

• Nine Somali pirates armed with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns attacked Zhenhua 4 owned by China Communications Construction Co. on December 17.
• For almost four hours, the 30 crew members used all resources available onboard like water cannon, homemade incendiary bombs, beer bottles and other missiles to prevent the pirates from boarding the vessel.
• Despite tough resistance from the crew, the pirates managed to board the vessel. The crew members locked themselves in their accommodation area to avoid themselves to be taken as hostages and also radioed for help.
• Immediately the Royal Malaysian Navy’s warship and her armed helicopter from the multi national coalition force came for rescue. On seeing the helicopter firing warning shots, the pirates disembarked from the vessel and went back in their speed boats.
• The operation came to an end after five hours with no injury or death to ships crew.

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Here is an interesting website ‘World Port Source’ to locate your ports in Google Maps region-wise. World Port Source provides interactive satellite images, maps and contact information for 3,086 ports in 189 countries around the world.

I have listed here, 64 Indian Ports marked in the website (Ports are alphabetically listed). Click the map below, to get more information on Indian Ports.

A’s: Alleppey, Azhikkal (2)

B’s: Bedi Bunder, Belekeri, Beypore, Bhavnagar, Bheemunipatnam (5)

C’s: Calicut, Calingapatnam, Cannanore, Chennai, Cocanada, Cochin, Coondapur, Cuddalore (8)

D’s: Dahej, Dhamra, Dholera (3)

E’s: Ennore (1)

G’s: Gopalpur (1)

H’s: Haldia, Honavar (2)

J’s: Jafrabad, Jawaharlal Nehru (2)

K’s: Kakinada, Kandla, Karwar, Kasargode, Kolkata (Calcutta), Krishnapatnam (6)

M’s: Machilipatnam, Magdalla, Malpe, Mandvi, Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, Munambam, Mundra (9)

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There are many ports to get ISO 9001 certification for Quality and there are few ports to get ISO 14001 certification for Environment.

But, Port of Houston Authority (PHA) is the first port authority in the world to receive ISO 28000:2007 certification for Port Police and the perimeter security operations. Further PHA, with Orsus’ Situator - a User-Friendly Situation Management System is in the process of integrating hundreds of cameras and access points, plus other devices in port authority’s public terminals to enhance the capabilities in security operations.

With Orsus’ Situator, the PHA can integrate incident reporting, simulate security-related events for training purposes and integrate system analysis tools to provide a comprehensive security approach. Also, it enables the port authority to improve risk management, minimize vulnerability and comply with security regulations governing port facilities.

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