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NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC) in Italy conducted the CATHARSIS2 sea trial from October 5-20 in the waters near Elba Island, Italy to investigate underwater object detection technologies. On October 20, harbour security demonstration for local military and civilian authorities was conducted at La Spezia, Italy. For the first time, U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Fleet Systems participated in these exercises.

Some interesting features of U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Systems (MMS), NURC and CATHARSIS2 sea trial are:

• U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Fleet Systems
  • Assigned to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group ONE (EODGRU ONE).
  • Uses dolphins and sea lions to find and mark the location of underwater objects.
  • Dolphins with their exceptional biological sonar can detect objects in the water column and on the sea floor.
  • Sea lions have very sensitive underwater directional hearing and exceptional vision in low light conditions.
  • MMS MK 4, MK 7 and MK 8 use dolphins.
  • MMS MK 5 uses sea lions.
  • MMS MK 6 uses both dolphins and sea lions.
  • MMS can be deployed rapidly within 72 hours of notice through ship, aircraft, helicopter, and land vehicles anywhere in the world and they regularly participate in major Fleet exercises.

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Indian Navy and the Royal Navy are conducting Exercise Konkan 2009 in U.K waters for the first time. Sea phase of Konkan, has commenced on June 20. Four exercises have been conducted so far since 2004.
Some interesting features of Konkan 2009 that commenced last week are:

• Conducted every year as a bilateral exercise to build maritime interoperability and mutual understanding.
• Indian Navy ships reached Portsmouth on June 17 to take part in the exercise.
• Indian Navy Ships participating in the exercise
  • INS Delhi (D 61), Indian built Delhi class destroyer
  • INS Brahmaputra (F 31) Indian built Brahmaputra class frigate (Type 16A), after goodwill visit to Israel.
  • INS Beas (F 37), Indian built Brahmaputra class frigate
  • INS Aditya (A 59), Indian built oil tanker
• Royal Navy Ships participating in the exercise along with an RAF Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft
  • HMS Westminster ( F 237), Type 23 Duke class frigate
  • HMS Northumberland (F 238), Type 23 Duke class frigate
  • HMS Trafalgar (S 107), Trafalgar Class (SSN) Fleet Submarine, nuclear powered
  • RFA Mounts Bay, Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary) of Royal Fleet Auxiliary
  • RFA Fort Rosalie, Fleet Replenishment Ship

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Here you can have webcam view of underwater penguins of New England Aquarium.

Click the image below to have webcam view.

Post in MarineBuzz on this day a year before:

Arabian Sea to Witness First Indo German Joint Naval Exercise

Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, known as ClassNK or NK, is a ship classification society of Japan. ClassNK is dedicated to ensure the safety of life and property at sea, and the prevention of pollution of the marine environment. This is possible only when ships are safe at sea and, ships can be safe only by carrying out good maintenance onboard. To keep the ships safe and seaworthy, ClassNK has published in February 2009, “Good Maintenance Onboard Ships: Maintenance Checklist for the Master”. This 74 page pdf document of 2.14 MB, is the revised edition of the first edition, brought out in June 1994.

Some of the interesting features of this e-book are:

• “Advice to Masters”
• Checklist I : For Routine Maintenance (in Seventeen Tables)
• Checklist II: For Port State Control (PSC) Inspection (the most common deficiencies)
• Checklist III: For Safety Management System
• Checklist IV: For International Ship and Port Facility Security
• Appendix: Photos of the most common deficiencies

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Whole world knows that terrorists from Pakistan came through sea route to attack Mumbai on November 26, 2008.  But after three months, two different statements are coming from Admiral Noman Bashir, Pakistan Navy Chief within two days. It is a surprise to see the Admiral making two different statements on the same subject.

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What the marine species at Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) of New England Aquarium are doing now ?

To find out, have a webcam view here or click the image on right.

Some of the interesting features of GOT and New England Aquarium are:

• The Aquarium was founded in 1969 and is a global leader in ocean exploration and marine conservation.
• Located at Boston.
• Attracts over 1.3 million visitors a year and is a major public education resource.
• Four storeys tall and holds 200,000 gallons of salt water.
• Holds more than 630 individual animals representing more than 130 species, including three sand tiger sharks and several rays.
• Divers spend hours swimming with the animals in the GOT to feed the animals, help provide medical treatment and clean the exhibit.

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Celebrate Valentines Day by booking Seawings LLC’s special package ‘Valentines Fly and Dine Special’. 

Some of the interesting features of the package are:

• Fly in Seawings Seaplane to view Jebel Ali Palm, Jebel Ali Port, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, Burj Al Arab Hotel, Jumeirah, Burj Dubai  and The World Islands.
• Flight Duration: 30 minutes “Dock to Dock”
• Further includes the following:
  • 30 minute Seawings Pearl city tour
  • 5 Course menu at the La Traviata Restaurant, Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa
  • 1 Bottled Beverage
• Booking Type: Couples
• Price Per Couple: AED 2,500 (United Arab Emirates Dirham)

The offer is valid up to February 28.

View here an interesting video clip of Dubai through Seawings LLC seaplane.

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An MIT/WHOI graduate student, Stephen Licht has built an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) called Finnegan. Unlike conventional underwater vehicles that use propellers, Finnegan uses flapping foils to maneuver. The idea to develop this AUV with flapping foils has come from Myrtle, a 500-pound, at least 70 years old, green sea turtle at the New England Aquarium.

Here is the photograph of Finnegan, underwater robot turtle from WHOI.

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Indian Maritime University (IMU) was inaugurated on December 31, at Chennai. IMU is the first central university to be set up by the Department of Shipping through an Act of Parliament. The Act was notified in the Government of India’s Gazette on November 11, 2008. IMU is bound to improve the quality of marine training further, to help Indian seafarers to compete globally and to increase from about 6% representation in the worldwide seafarers.

Maritime education was so far under the control of the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), India through the Indian Institute of Maritime Studies (IIMS). The Institutes under IIMS are:

• T.S. Chanakya, Navi Mumbai.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri College of Advanced Maritime Studies and Research, Mumbai.
• Marine Engineering and Research Institute (MERI), Mumbai.
• Marine Engineering and Research Institute (MERI), Kolkata.

In addition

• National Maritime Academy (erstwhile National Institute of Port Management) is at Chennai under the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India.
• National Ship Design and Research Center (NSDRC) is at Visakhapatnam under the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India.
• The Indian Institute of Ports Management (IIPM) at Kolkata.

Further there are around 120 private marine training institutes, approved by DGS and spread over India.

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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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The largest aquarium of Japan, Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is located in Ocean Expo Park in Motobu cho, Okinawa. (Three hours drive from Naha airport)

Some of the interesting features of the aquarium are:

• aquarium is in four floors.
  • first floor: journey in to the deep sea
  • second floor: journey to the Kuroshio (black current) sea
  • third floor: journey to a coral reef
  • fourth floor: invitation to the great sea
• huge (7m long) whale sharks along with numerous other fish can be seen in the tank.
• exhibits are housed in an acrylic window of 8.2 metres high, 22.5 metres wide and 60 cm thick, one of the biggest in the world.
• breeding of whale sharks by housing several whale sharks in the same tank for the first time in the world.
• manta rays, the largest of all the rays can also be seen.
• the corals of Okinawa and large-scale reproduction of coral.
• electric and manual wheelchairs are available for the physically challenged persons.
• there is a ocean view restaurant facing the East China Sea.
• there is Blue Manta museum shop.

Here is a video clip of Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. More details of the aquarium are available here.

Who is this ?

He is Australian Lungfish called Granddad at Chicago’s John G. Shedd Aquarium. Graddad has joined the aquarium in 1933 and has completed 75 years. Granddad is the world’s oldest living aquarium fish and age is possibly 80 plus.

Click here to read more.

Here is the MK-82 500 lb, Free Fall, General Purpose Bomb.

Dimentions: Lenght 7 ft. 6.2 in., diameter 18 in.

Image source:af.mil

Here is the decommissioned bomb as an aquarium.

Click here for more details.

What to do with unused Phone Booths ?

Here is a innovative method to use unused phone booths as aquarium.

Read further here.

Google welcomes Chinese New Year in their unique style. Chinese Lunar New Year is starting today, February 07 and is the Year of the Rat. Chinese Lunar Calender is based on phases of moon. The New Year starts somewhere between end January and early February.

As part of New Year celebrations, a South American Rat Fish joins Shanghai Ocean Aquarium.

Seafarers view the rats in a different way.

Rats in the ships:

• In the airconditioned spaces of the ships, false ceilings are provided. Above the false ceilings lot of electrical cables that interconnect different equipments are laid. Most of the electrical equipment malfunctions are due to electrical cable cut by the rats.
• Rats cause many diseases through urine, droppings, or saliva.
• Hence, derating is routinely carried out in ships.

Rat menace in Islands due to shipwrecks:

• There are many islands infested with rats in Alaska due to shipwrecks.
• One of Britain’s most important bird sanctuaries in Scottish island, St Kilda, need to be protected from rats as a ship ran aground early this month.

Click here to know how to keep ships rat free.