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Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane flight ET- 409 with 90 people on board crashed into the Mediterranean Sea about two kilo metres from the sea shore shortly after take-off from Beirut airport on January 25. Eye witnesses report that the aircraft crashed into the sea as a ball of fire. Nobody has survived and rescue operations are going on to recover the dead. Divers are trying to recover the black box of the aircraft.

The aircraft Boeing 737-800 with registration number ET-ANB involved in the accident had undergone regular maintenance service last on December 25, 2009 and was declared safe and fit to fly. The pilot of flight ET409 had over 20 years of experience in flying various aircrafts over the expanded network of the airline.

Some disturbing reports available regarding the crash are:

• Ethiopian flight ET- 409 bound for Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) lost contact with the Lebanese air controllers shortly after take off from Beirut (Lebanon). The flight departed at 02:35 Lebanese time from Beirut International Airport.
• Aircraft carried 82 passengers and 8 Ethiopian Crew members. Out of the total passengers 23 are Ethiopian, 51 Lebanese, 1 Turkish, 1 French, 2 British, 1 Russian, 1 Canadian, 1 Syrian, 1 Iraqi nationals.
• A team comprising of 14 people from Ethiopian’s Safety & Emergency Response department, Medical Unit, Flight Operations, Maintenance & Engineering, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation and Ethiopian’s Chief Airline Security office has reached Beirut to provide additional support to the team in Beirut.
• The Lebanese Government is providing all support for the rescue operations carried out by Ministry of Transport including Lebanese Navy and the UN peace keeping force in the region.
• A team of Aircraft Accident Handling and Crisis Management experts will be traveling to Beirut from London. The team consisting of 8 people from BLAKE Emergency services is proceeding from London to Beirut to assist with the rescue mission and establish a family assistance center to help the families.

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October 24 is an international day of climate action.

Here is the message from 350.org.

Dear World—

This is an invitation to build a movement—to take one day and use it to stop the climate crisis.

We are a group of people from around the planet—young and old, scientists and writers and activists—who have one thing in common. We know the most important number on earth: 350. And we know how to use that number to finally get global action on the worst crisis humans have ever faced. But we can only do it if you help.

A year ago, our greatest climatologist—NASA’s James Hansen—and his team produced a landmark series of studies. They showed that if we let the amount of carbon in the atmosphere go above 350 parts per million, we can’t have a planet “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”

The bad news: We’re already past that number—we’re at 390 parts per million, which is why the Arctic is melting, why drought is spreading across the planet, why people are already dying from diseases like dengue fever and malaria occurring in places where they’ve never been seen before.

The good news: that number gives us a target to aim for. When the world’s leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to reach agreement on a new climate treaty, we need them to go farther than they’ve planned to go: we need to make sure they’ll pay attention to the latest science and put forward a plan that gets us back to safety.

So here’s the plan. On October 24, we need you to organize an action in the place where you live, something that will make that most important number visible to everyone. People in more than 1000 communities around the globe have already announced plans—they’ll be school children planting 350 trees in Bangladesh, scientists hanging banners saying 350 on the statues on Easter Island, 350 scuba divers diving underwater at the Great Barrier Reef, and a thousand more creative actions like these. At each event, people will gather for a big group photo that somehow depicts 350—and upload that photo to the web 350.org. As actions take place around the world, we’ll link all the pictures together electronically via the web–by the end of the day, we’ll have a powerful visual petition linking together the entire planet that we can deliver to the media and world leaders.

So far more than 150 nations are taking part—it’s shaping up to be to be the biggest day of grassroots action on global warming ever. But we need it to be much larger—we need you, in your village or town or city, to take part. It’s not hard—we can help you with materials and ideas. But you need to take the first step, by registering an action and starting to let your friends and neighbors know about it.

Involve groups that you’re in—everything from your church, mosque or synagogue to your local bicycle group. People want to help, especially if they see the chance for something that might actually matter. This is even more important than changing your lightbulb—this is your chance to help change the way the whole world operates. October 24 comes six weeks before those crucial UN meetings in Copenhagen. It’s a great chance to take a stand—maybe the last great chance, given what the scientists tell us about the momentum of global warming.

It can only happen with the help of a global movement—and it’s starting to bubble up everywhere. Farmers in Cameroon, students in China, even World Cup skiers have already helped spread the word about 350. Churches have rung their bells 350 times; Buddhist monks have formed a huge 350 with their bodies against the backdrop of Himalayas. 350 translates across every boundary of language and culture. It’s clear and direct, cutting through the static and laying down a firm scientific line.

This is like a final exam for human beings. Can we muster the courage, the commitment, and the creativity to set this earth on a steady course before it’s too late? October 24 will be the joyful, powerful day when we prove it’s possible.

Please join us and register your local action today.

Onwards,

Bill McKibben – Author and Activist- USA Vandana Shiva – Physicist, Activist, Author – India David Suzuki – Scientist, Author, Activist – Canada Bianca Jagger – Chair of the World Future Council – UK Tim Flannery – Scientist, Author, Explorer -Australia Bittu Sahgal – Editor of Sanctuary magazine – India Andrew Simmons – Environmental Advocate, St. Vincent & The Grenadines Christine Loh – Environmental Advocate and Legislator – Hong Kong

P.S.—We need you to do something else, right away, that’s pretty easy. Please forward this message to anyone you know who is even remotely appropriate.

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World’s first ever underwater cabinet meeting was held in Maldives on October 17. The underwater meeting is part of world wide campaign by international environmental NGO 350.org. to bring atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide to the safe threshold of 350 parts per million (ppm) from the present level of 387 ppm.

Some interesting features of the underwater cabinet meeting in Maldives are:

• Meeting to draw global attention to the pressing issue of climate change.
• Meeting held about four metres below sea level at Kaafu atoll, Girifushi.
• President Mohamed Nasheed signed a declaration calling for global action on climate change. The statement will be presented at the landmark UN climate change talks in Copenhagen this December.
• Prior to the meeting, ministers took scuba diving lessons from Divers Association Maldives (DAM). President Nasheed is already a PADI Advanced Open Water diver.
• President Mohamed Nasheed and his ministers dressed in scuba suits used hand signals and slates to communicate underwater during the meeting.
• The signed wet suits of the ministers are being auctioned to raise money for coral reef protection in the Maldives.

Here are some more photographs of the underwater cabinet meeting.

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Medals are presented ceremoniously in the parade ground. But for Petty Officer Andy Coulson, a Royal Navy diver it was something different. He received his medal underwater.

Some interesting features of this medal presentation are:

• Petty Officer Andy Coulson of Southern Diving Unit 2 (SDU2), received his 15 year Long Service and Good Conduct Medal underwater.
• The citation and medal was presented by his Officer in Charge SDU2, Lieutenant Simon Leightley at the bottom of a military outdoor swimming pool.
• Petty Officer Andy Coulson joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16 as an Air Engineer Mechanic and he was transferred to the diving branch 11 years ago.

Here is the amazing photograph from the Royal Navy.

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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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After ten years of intensive underwater search, Swedish and Finnish divers have successfully located the wreckage of a Soviet Second World War Russian submarine.

Some interesting features of this underwater search are:

• The Type-S, diesel powered medium submarine, unofficially dubbed Stalinets, as a wreckage was located near the Aland islands, Finland in the Baltic Sea.
• The submarine sank on January 2, 1940 after entering a minefield during the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland (November 1939-March 1940).
• All 50 of her crew members died.
• The submarine was on a mission to hunt ships laden with ore and was last seen and later explosion heard by the Maerket lighthouse staff.
• The diving team started the search for the submarine more than a decade ago in April 1999.
• The sighting of wreckage has finally settled a long standing dispute between Sweden and Finland regarding the ownership of the war archives of the sunken submarine.
• It is interesting to know that, during the war the Type-S submarines, sank 82,770 gross registered tons of merchant shipping and seven warships.

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Air France (AF) Flight 447, that took off from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France with 228 people (216 passengers and 12 crew members) suddenly disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on June 01.

Swift search operations were launched by Brazil Navy and Air Force to locate the missing aircraft on June 01. As Brazil Navy ships have found the bodies of two men and debris of the aircraft on June 06, it is clear that the aircraft has crashed in the Atlantic Ocean. Further 15 more bodies were recovered from the sea, 600 miles off Brazil’s northeastern coast on June 07.

From the automated messages received from the aircraft just before the crash, information available are

• 15 minutes before the crash, the aircraft passed through a zone of stormy weather with strong turbulence.
• Subsequently in the aircraft
  • autopilot disengaged
  • onboard computer switched to an alternate power system due to electrical faults
  • experienced loss of air pressure
  • experienced total electrical failure

The world is awaiting eagerly to know

• What actually happened to the aircraft ?
• Why and How the aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean ?
• What happened to the passengers and crew ?

Answers to all the above questions are available in the Black Box of the aircraft that has crashed.

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66 year old ex USS Gen H.S.Vandenberg (AGM 10, ex-MC 702, AP 145) is on the final stages to become an artificial reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The vessel reached her final destination Key West, Florida under tow on April 22. The vessel is getting ready to be sunk at a site about 6 miles south-southeast of Key West in 140 feet of water. About $8.5 million has been spent for preparation and cleanup operations to convert her as an artificial reef.

Now preparations are going on to sink the vessel by cutting holes to admit water evenly and to vent air when the ship is sunk. Sinking of the vessel is expected between May 21 and June 1 depending on completion of work, weather/sea conditions and harbor traffic.

Some interesting features of USS Vandenberg 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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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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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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Canadian Navy’s Commander Josee Kurtz assumed command of HMCS Halifax (FFH 330) on April 06. She is a Navigator and has previously completed her tenure as Executive Officer of HMCS Ville de Quebec from 2007 to 2009.

Here is the profile of Commander Josee Kurtz, from the Canadian Navy:

Commander Josée Kurtz (née Boisclair) was born in Joliette, Québec.  She joined the Canadian Forces in 1988 under the Officer Candidate Training Programme after completing a college diploma in Humanities.

Following initial naval training, Commander Kurtz was posted to HMCS PROVIDER where she was awarded her bridge watchkeeping certificate in 1991.  She then specialized in navigation, completing both the Destroyer Navigation Officer course (1992) and the Maritime Advanced Navigation Officer course (1995), and navigated HMC Ships NIPIGON, VILLE DE QUÉBEC, as an officer of the commissioning crew, and the deep draught PROTECTEUR.  She also had the privilege to share her interest and knowledge in navigation during two separate postings to VENTURE, The Naval Officer Training Centre, first as navigation instructor (1994-96), and subsequently as Fleet Navigation Instructor and Head of the Navigation Department (2000-02) where she led broader issues related to standards, equipment and policy.

Commander Kurtz attended the year-long Operations Room Officer Course in 1997. On completion, she joined HMCS VANCOUVER performing the duties of Weapons Officer and Combat Officer.  She completed her tour as Executive Officer of HMCS VILLE DE QUÉBEC from 2007 to 2009.  During this period the ship deployed with the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 and was diverted on short notice for an anti-piracy escort mission with the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver much needed food aid to Somalia.  Commander Kurtz’ staff experience includes the duties of Analyst in the Directorate of Grievance Administration and Chief of the Maritime Staff’s Desk Officer for international operations, at National Defence Headquarters.

Commander Kurtz holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ottawa (2005), a Masters in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada (2007) and is a graduate of the Joint Command and Staff Programme at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto.  She assumed command of HMCS HALIFAX on 6 April 2009 and is extremely proud to lead the ship during the Canadian Naval Centennial.

During her free time, Commander Kurtz enjoys family activities with her husband John, a retired naval officer with 20 years of service, their daughter Dominique, and dog Morgan.

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Indian Army has launched Bison Blue Waters Expedition on March 22, from Agatti island in Lakshadweep. Major General Rajesh Singh, General Officer Commanding, Bison Division flagged off the expedition in the presence of civil and military officials, citizens and school children. Yacht Trishna is also part of this this expedition. Yacht Trishna has the distinction of sailing around the world with an all-army crew from September 1985 to January 1987.

Some of the interesting features of this Bison Blue Waters Expedition expedition are:

• the six weeks expedition is being conducted in two phases.
  • first phase: will be full of island based activities to increase the maritime awareness of the armed forces and to educate the local people to conserve the coral reefs in the island.
  • second phase: the ‘Bisons’ will sail in yacht Trishna from Mumbai to Lakshadweep Islands and return via Kochi and Goa over a period of three weeks.
• the adventure team consists of six officers and fifty four other ranks of the elite Bison Division, an amphibious warfare formation of the Indian Army.
• the event started with a beach marathon by army personnel with active participation by local school children.
• thereafter the team demonstrated power rafting, scuba diving and para-motoring.
• the expedition team leader Col Vivek Jaswal said that the team was trained at the premier training institutes of the Indian Army.
• these events will also be held at Kavarati on March 24 and at Bangaram on March 26.
• a special drive would be organized on March 26 to make the youth aware about the recruitment procedures of the Armed Forces.
• a special medical camp would be organized for the benefit of the local population.
• the expedition team will also interact with the people of Lakshadweep Islands, spread awareness about the Army and the need to preserve the fragile ecology of their Islands.
• the expedition is bound to bring the local population closer to the men in uniform.
• representatives of the World Wildlife Fund India and National Geographic are also part of this expedition.

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U.S. nuclear powered Submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) and Amphibious Transport Dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18), collided in the Strait of Hormuz on March 20. An oil spill of approximately 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel marine is reported.

This incident has happened within a week, after fire broke out on the flight deck of USS Boxer (LHD 4) while refueling an AH-1W Super Cobra in the Gulf of Aden.

The U.S.Navy press release on collision is given below:

From Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) — A U.S. Navy submarine and U.S. amphibious ship collided in the Strait of Hormuz March 20, 2009.
The collision between USS Hartford (SSN 768) and USS New Orleans (LPD 18) occurred at approximately 1:00 a.m. local time (5:00 p.m. EDT, March 19).
Fifteen sailors aboard the Hartford were slightly injured and returned to duty. No personnel aboard New Orleans were injured.
Overall damage to both ships is being evaluated. The propulsion plant of the submarine was unaffected by this collision. New Orleans suffered a ruptured fuel tank, which resulted in an oil spill of approximately 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel marine. Both ships are currently operating under their own power.
The incident is currently under investigation.
Both the submarine and the ship are currently on regularly scheduled deployments to the U.S. Navy Central Command area of responsibility conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO).
MSO set the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment as well as complement the counter-terrorism and security efforts of regional nations. MSO deny international terrorists use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons, or other material.

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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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