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India launched Radar Imaging Satellite RISAT-2 on April 20. Most of the media reported RISAT-2 as a spy satellite, because the satellite’s clear imagery can also be used for military applications.Shocked by sea based attacks at Mumbai on November 26, 2008 India has accelerated the launch of RISAT-2 before the launch of RISAT-1 which focuses on agricultural application.

India launched its first operational Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellite, IRS-1A on March 17, 1988. IRS satellites were designed to provide data in the visible and near infrared region of Electro Magnetic spectrum. Electro-optic imaging sensors working in this spectrum, can only collect data during day time and can not penetrate through clouds and fog to collect data.

To ensure non stop collection of remote sensing data, RISAT-2 was launched. RISAT uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) working in microwave bands. The atmosphere is very transparent to microwaves irrespective of day,night,cloud and fog conditions.

Some interesting features of RISAT-2 are:

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The University of Greenwich is offering, MBA in Maritime Management through E-learning. You can complete the course by studying at your home or in your workplace and at convenient time to you.

The course is scheduled to commence in September 2009.

Some of the interesting features of ‘MBA in Maritime Management’ course are:

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“Combating Piracy 09” is going on at London from April 28.

The three day event will focus on:

• How to effectively coordinate with Naval Forces ?
• Ensure early identification of suspect vessels and learn how discourage attack.
• Recognise and extract factual worldwide information available to reduce risk.
• Examine the most recent piracy trends and tactics.
• Protect the safety of your staff, contracts, assets and reputation.
• Understand the legal implications when under attack.
• Minimise risk to hostages and discuss ransom negotiations.
• Discuss the challenges in evaluating available protection.
• Identify future training, contingency planning and insurance needs.

The interesting topics under discussion are:

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News reports are coming that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran

• may escape from Sri Lanka through a mini submarine kept standby by putting on a diver’s outfit to be towed behind the mini submarine at night. After getting out of the sight of Sri Lanka Navy, he is further expected to board a seaplane to leave the country.
• may not escape through a mini submarine due to his poor health and fight till his death in Sri Lanka.

Even if he tries to escape, it may not be possible to hide himself from the Sri Lanka Navy’s well-fortified Naval blockade of the entire sea facing the Mullaitivu coastline with their Fast Attack Craft (FACs), Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), Fast Gun Boats (FGBs), the Rapid Action Boat Squadron (RABS) and the Special Boat Squadron (SBS).

In January, Sri Lanka Navy has captured enough boats and mini submarines that were in possession of LTTE. The largest underwater vehicle captured was about 35 feet in length and armour plated (Photo of mini submarine above is from DOD, Sri Lanka).

From where these mini submarines have come ?

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The PLA Navy of China was founded on April 23,1949 at Taizhou,Jiangsu with 9 warships and 17 boats.

Between 1955 and 1960, the PLA Navy established the Donghai (East Sea) Fleet, Nanhai (South Sea) Fleet and Beihai (North Sea) Fleet, successively. On April 23, China celebrated 60th anniversary of PLA Navy. 21 naval vessels from 14 countries and delegations from 29 countries participated in the anniversary.

Here is a map showing the present PLA Navy, from: Military Power of the People’s Republic of China by DOD, U.S.

Spare your time to view these amazing video clips to know the past,present and future of PLA Navy.

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U.S. special operations snipers on the USS Bainbridge shot and killed three Somali pirates on April 12, off the Somali coast to save Capt.Richard Phillips of the U.S flagged Maersk-Alabama cargo ship.

During the rescue, the life of the captain was in imminent danger on a lifeboat where he was kept as hostage for five days.

Do you have the skills of U.S.Navy snipers to take on Somali pirates?

Test yourself, by playing this interesting online free video game to save Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates.

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The Malabar exercise is the bilateral exercise usually conducted between the U.S. and Indian navies. This year the Indian Navy has invited the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) also to participate.

Some interesting features of Malabar 2009 are:

• To be conducted from April 26 to May 03.
• Ships, aircrafts and submarines from the three navies are to take part.
• To be conducted off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.
• The at-sea training will include
  • Anti-submarine warfare
  • Surface warfare maneuvers
  • Gunnery training
  • Air defense
  • Visit, Board, Search and Seizure
• The participants will also conduct personnel exchanges and professional discussions at sea and ashore.

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Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse(age 18), is facing the following charges for hijacking of the Maersk Alabama container ship in the Indian Ocean on April 08, and the subsequent taking of the captain of the ship as a hostage.

1. Piracy under the law of nations (carries a mandatory term of life imprisonment)
2. Conspiracy to seize a ship by force (carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison)
3. Discharging a firearm, and aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm, during and in relation to the conspiracy to seize a ship by force (carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment)
4. Conspiracy to commit hostage taking (carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment)
5. Brandishing a firearm, and aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm, during and in relation to the conspiracy to commit hostage taking (carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment)

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People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy) of China was formed on April 23, 1949. Today PLA Navy completes 60 years.The PLA Navy mainly comprises of submarines, surface ships, aircrafts, Marine Corps and coastal defense wings. Since 1985, the Chinese Navy has sent more than 40 warships to more than 30 countries on goodwill  visits, and received more than 100 ships from 30 foreign countries.

Admiral Wu Shengli, Commander-in-Chief of the PLA Navy has said that the navy will develop weaponry such as large combat warships including aircraft carriers, submarines with longer range and stealth capability, supersonic cruise aircraft, more accurate long-range missiles, deep-sea torpedoes and upgraded information technology.

On this occasion,

• The grand anniversary is being celebrated for four days from April 20 at Shandong province’s Qingdao city and off its coast.
• Multinational Naval Symposium (MNS) was held in Qingdao on April 21 with the theme ‘Peaceful Ocean’, calling for more intimate and harmonious oceanic safety, cooperation between countries.
• International Naval Review (INR) is being held at Qingdao, on April 23.
  • 21 naval vessels from 14 countries are taking part.
  • Delegations from 29 countries are also taking part. Some of them are from: Brazil, Bangladesh, Portugal, South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia and New Zealand.
• China will display its nuclear powered submarines for the first time in history during a fleet parade.
• Magnificent performance by military bands of 7 nations. View photographs from Xinhua News.
• The Chinese mainland’s space-tracking ship Yuanwang VI will arrive in Hong Kong on April 29 for a six-day visit, to celebrate the 60th anniversary.
• The Naval Museum in Qingdao, will undergo an extension within 2009 at a project cost of 500 million yuan (US$73 million) and take two years to complete.

Some of the ships attending the international fleet review are:

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India’s General Elections 2009: 15 states and two union territories with over 143 million eligible voters went for first phase of polling in 124 Lok Sabha constituencies. The voter turnout is reported to be only 58% to 62%.

World renowned sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik has appealed for 100% voter turnout in the remaining four phases of polling. To motivate the voters, he has carved sand sculptures of Indian politicians set against the backdrop of the parliament at the Puri beach in Orissa.

View an amazing video clip: Sand sculptures to motivate Indians to vote.

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April 22 of the year is Earth Day.

Earth Day is celebrated to renew our commitment to building a safer, healthier and cleaner world for all of us. On this day let us remember that we need not to wait for April 22 to help out the Earth. Earth Day is every day, to protect our environment on a year-round basis.

This year on the occasion of Earth Day,

• NASA plans to telecast a special High Definition (HD) feed from NASA Television on Earth Day, April 22, that will feature views of Earth captured by cameras aboard the International Space Station.
  • The space station and its crew orbit Earth once every 90 minutes from an altitude of approximately 220 miles.
  • It can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.
  • The orbiting outpost travels at a speed of approximately 17,500 miles per hour, and the crew experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.
  • The station has been continuously occupied since the first crew arrived in November 2000.
• The special Earth views HD feed can be seen April 22 from 6 to 9 a.m., noon to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. EDT.

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The Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) has initiated an online petition in the form of an open letter to Governments, International Organizations, and the Maritime Industry to protect merchant mariners from piracy—before, during, and long after an attack.

It is worth noting that the 1.2 million merchant mariners operate 100,000 merchant vessels to deliver more than 90% of world trade to their markets and destinations. They face the risk of pirate attacks worldwide.

Here is the text of the petition :

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Sri Lanka Navy is on special rescue mission in North-eastern seas. On April 20, as the mass exodus of trapped Tamil civilians has started, Sri Lanka Navy rescued 2167 fleeing Tamils in 103 boats.

• A total of 1965 Tamil civilians in 92 boats were escorted into Point Pedro.
• Another 202 Tamil civilians in 11 boats were safely brought ashore at Pulmudai.

Naval personnel and vessels along with stand-by rescue and medical teams are on special deployment for this humanitarian assistance mission in the North-eastern seas.

Here are some photographs, from Sri Lanka Navy.

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Polling for the General Elections 2009 is going on for the world’s largest democracy, India. Election Commission of India is conducting the polls in five phases. The first phase of polling commenced on April 16.

To know the election schedule for the remaining phases, click the map below:

Post in MarineBuzz on this day a year before:

Water Proof Your iPod with H2O Audio Accessories

A boat from Indonesia carrying Afghan asylum seekers exploded and sank near Ashmore reef, Australia in the early morning of April 16. The boat designated as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel 36 (SIEV 36) was carrying mostly 47 Afghan asylum seekers and two Indonesian crew members. The explosion occurred two nautical miles from Ashmore Reef.

Some of the developments on SIEV 36 are:

• The small wooden vessel was detected on the night of April 15 by HMAS Albany at location: 600 km north of Broome and 840 km west of Darwin.
• The explosion happened when the boarding party of HMAS Albany was checking identification documents in the SIEV 36.
• The boarding party observed the smell of petrol vapour and reported an ‘agitation’ or disturbance on the boat about five minutes before the explosion occurred.
• It is believed that petrol was deliberately introduced into the bilges by the boat crew to cause in-board explosion.
• Five people are dead and 51 injured, including four Australian Navy personnel.
• The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has provided all necessary support to evacuate injured survivors to the mainland for treatment.
• Investigation is going on by the Northern Territory police as the explosion happened in their territorial waters.
• The boat, the sixth to arrive this year, had apparently left Indonesia late last week.

Here is the photograph of SIEV 36 explosion, from video file of Department of Defence, Australia.

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