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The largest maritime exercise Northstar VI is ready to commence at Singapore on May 23. The aim of Northstar VI is to evaluate the operational readiness to carry out mass evacuations at sea in case of fire in ships. The interesting features of the exercise are:

• 13 agencies from public and private sector are going to participate.
• simulated fire exercise is planned to be conducted on board the luxury cruise liner SuperStar Aquarius of Star Cruises.
• to be conducted three kilo metres offshore.
• about 1,000 passengers will be evacuated on 40 vessels of the Navy and Coast Guard.
• Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and Marina South Pier will be used to land survivors and casualties.
• Changi General Hospital will be used to meet medical emergencies.
• air lifting of severely injured passengers will be done by Super Puma helicopter.

Here is the map showing the locations.

More details are here at channelnewsasia, yahoo.

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Speedboat ‘The Final Fling’ got airborne on May 12 due to waves from another vessel and landed in Loch Lomond Golf course at Dunbartonshire. The skipper abandoned the speedboat and was finally spotted by Clyde coastguard. Luckily no one was hurt.

Here is the photograph from dailymail.

More photos and more information are here at dailymail and telegraph.

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Photo Source:Stewart Allen, news

On Mother’s Day today, it is nice to know about Joanne Lucas who has saved a stranger from shark attack on May 10 at Middleton Beach, Australia.

• 37 year old Jason Cull, school teacher was swimming with dolphins about 80 metres from shore in the morning on May 10.
• He was attacked by a four metre white pointer shark while swimming and chunks of leg muscle was eaten by the shark.
• On hearing the cries for help from Jason Cull, 50 year old Joanne Lucas mother of three who came there for surfboat rowing practice jumped into the sea risking her life. She swam and physically pulled Jason Cull back to shore.
• Thereafter Jason Cull was taken to hospital for treatment and he is now safe.

Read more from theage.

OldSailor salutes this great mother on Mother’s Day.

Update: May 12

Here is some more information and a video clip at news.

Update: May 14

WA Premier Alan Carpenter plans to nominate Ms Joanne Lucas for an Australian Bravery Decorations Council award. Read more from theaustralian.

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Cyclone Nargis which was initially centred 390 miles east of Chennai on April 27 has missed Orissa, Bangaladesh and finally battered Myanamar on May 02 and 03. On April 28th itself it was predicted that the cyclone was heading towards Myanmar coast. It is not clear why Myanmar has failed to take preventive actions to face the cyclone. Unimaginable damages caused by the cyclone are being reported now. The last damage due to cyclone in the region was in Bangaladesh by Cyclone Sidr in November 2007.

Rough estimates of cyclone damage:

• loss of lives are reported as more than 10,000
• 100,000 are homeless
• a state of emergency has been declared in cyclone ravaged area
• detailed estimates on damages are yet to come

Cyclone relief work:

• International Aid agencies have commenced relief work.
• The U.S. has approved $250,000 for Myanmar’s relief and Myanmar is yet to accept the aid.
• In some areas Buddhist monks, who revolted against the government earlier this year, were cleaning up debris and pulling away fallen trees.
• Two Indian Navy ships with relief material are proceeding to Myanmar for relief work.

Here is the map showing location of Cyclone Nargis from April 27 to May 02

Continue Reading…

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Photo:Ion Boyle, simplonpc

Luxury cruise liner Mona Lisa has run aground in the Baltic Sea’s Irben Starit off Latvian coast on May 04.

• 984 passengers onboard, mostly Germans are safe
• ship was en-route from Poland’s Gdansk to Latvia’s Riga
• ship was built in 1966, 173 metres in length
• no damage to the ships hull or fuel tanks is reported
• Latvian coast guard is monitoring the situation

The vessel has a track record of running aground nine times in the past. More photos of Mona Lisa are here at simplonpc. More details are here at topix.

Update: May 05

Efforts to refloat the vessel have failed. Passengers have been evacuated to port of Ventspils. More details are at newstin.

Update: May 06

Evacuated passengers head to their homeland. Read more from earthtimes. A video clip of the grounded ship and the passengers evacuation is here at rian.

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Vittorio Malingri has set a solo record to cross Atlantic from Dakar, Senegal to Guadeloupe, Antilles. Vittorio left from Dakar on Tuesday, April 15 and completed a total of 2,545 miles aboard Royal Oak, a 6.09 meter non habitable catamaran in 13 days, 17 hours and 48 minutes.

Here is the map showing the locations.

Continue Reading…

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David Blaine, 35 year old has set a new world record on April 30, to hold breath underwater for 17 minutes, 4.4 seconds. The previous record is for 16 minutes, 32 seconds. Before going underwater David Blaine inhaled pure oxygen for 23 minutes to fill his lungs. Why 23 minutes ? 23 is his mother’s date of birth whom he loves and respects.

Image source:oprah

How could he achieve this record ? Here are the tips.

• he reduced his body weight more than 40 pounds by eating small meals, running, lifting light weights. Lesser the body weight lesser the oxygen requirement to survive.
• he practiced to sleep in reduced oxygen content environment to increase his red blood cell counts.
• he practiced breath holding technique by free diving up to 200 feet.
• he could switch over his body to survival mode at his will by controlling his body through his mind. By this he could make the blood to flow towards his heart and brain more, than to other parts of his body.
• he could shrink his lungs almost by 30% to reduce oxygen requirement.
• he could reduce his heart beat by mind control to reduce oxygen use

More details and video clip are here at oprah.

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Image source:royal-navy

A week long drama of finding, misplacing, relocating and detonation of World War II German bomb by The Royal Navy has come to an end. Here are the events.

April 21:

A 500 kg German bomb of Second World War,was found when a contractor working on sea defences off the Felixstowe coast. The bomb is believed to be mostly of TNT dynamite mixed with about 30 % aluminium powder to make it lethal and is one of the largest ever washed up on British coastline. The bomb was powerful enough to flatten a large area of the seafront and cause collateral damage up to about half-a-mile inland. More than 1,000 residents were temporarily evacuated from their seaside homes.

April 22:

A team of Royal Navy bomb disposal squad towed the bomb out to sea to safely detonate it. A sea exclusion zone was then set around the bomb to protect local shipping. The Navy team had planned to carry out a controlled explosion of the bomb, but strong tidal currents made it impossible for divers to attach an explosive charge. In the process due to bad weather and strong currents the bomb was temporarily misplaced in the sea through mechanical and technical mishaps.

April 23:

The ten men diving team carried out 14 dives using sonar and GPS but due to bad weather the bomb could not be traced. The bomb was about two miles offshore in 10 to 12 metres of depth in water. The divers were on a dangerous mission to locate the bomb in absolutely nil visibility and were searching for the bomb with just their hands and fingertips.

April 25:

Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), Remus with side scan sonar was deployed to locate the bomb and search efforts were doubled.

April 29:

Remus was deployed twice daily for the last five days to conduct a meticulous and comprehensive search of the sea-bed and has covered 14 nautical miles within the 2km x 1km search area during optimum tidal windows. The bomb was located and was successfully detonated. Detonation occurred at 1940 after an earlier misfire at 1915. Hundreds of people braved strong winds and heavy rain to witness the event.

Video clip is here at news.bbc. Finally Royal Navy has succeeded in their mission.

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On receiving a call from the cruise ship Explorer of The Sea on April 26, US Coast Guard successfully medevaced 83 year-old female passenger suffering from internal bleeding. The medevac took place 245 miles east of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and a C-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., carried out the task.

Read on for more details and to view a video clip of medevac.

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Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Weblog helps to reveal the hidden treasure of marine bloggers as a weekend surprise. Listing is done alphabetically. I could not cover all the bloggers to keep the list short. They may find out from here.

$17,500.74

$44,598.66

$91,455.48

$66,051.18

Continue Reading…

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Image Credit:Jim Burkett, Earthrace

Earthrace skipper, Pete Bethune is now ready to set a new world record for a powerboat to circle the globe. The 78 foot Earthrace uses 100% sustainable biodiesel fuel for propulsion with a net zero carbon footprint. The voyage is ready to commence on April 27 from Sagunto, Spain, and is expected to complete in less than 65 days. The present record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe is 74 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes set by UK boat ‘Cable & Wireless Adventurer’ in 1998.

Here is the race route.

Continue Reading…

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Boat Asia 2008 is now going on at the newly opened  Marina at Keppel Bay , Singapore from 24 to 27 April 2008. Boat Asia 2008, is branded as a leading boat and luxury waterfront lifestyle event and during the last year Boat Asia 2007, more than 130 exhibiting companies from 18 countries exhibited 33 boats on water and 13 were displayed on land. Marina at Keppel bay is just a few minutes drive from Singapore’s central business district.

The following products and services are on display:

• Motor boats and yachts
• Sailing boats and yachts
• Small boats
• Engines/Technical Fittings
• On-board instruments
• Marina equipment and services
• Boat equipment
• Boat building materials
• Emergency equipment
• Water sports clothing
• Windsurfing equipment
• Water skiing and Wake boarding
• Water tourism, charters
• Waterfront properties
• Marinas Associations
• Angling

Click here for more details.

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As a step towards strengthening bilateral relations, India and Sri Lanka are planning to share electricity through undersea power cables.

The interesting features of the project are:

• Indian power circuit
  • Indian power grid from Madurai to feed Rameswaram through an overhead transmission line
  • From Rameswaram undersea cable would be laid to connect Talai Mannar, Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan power circuit
  • Talaimannar to feed to Anuradhapura through an overhead line to connect to Sri Lankan power grid
• could be completed in 42 months
• cost of the project is Indian Rupees 2292 crores
• power cables would be laid in seabed like telecom or internet cables
• to have built in safety to address electrocution on both sides in case of undersea cable damage
• an optical fibre cable also would be laid along with power cables to monitor power cables and to enhance communication facilities on both sides
• to start with, power sharing would be of 500 MW and later can be enhanced up to 1000 MW

Here is the map showing the proposed power link

Read more from timesofindia

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The third edition of Indo-UK joint Naval Exercise ‘Konkan-2008′ is currently going on in the Arabian Sea. The exercise has commenced on April 21 and is expected to conclude on May 02, 2008. For Royal Navy this is part of UK’s Orion 08 Deployment.

The ships from Indian Navy are under the tactical command of the Flag Officer Commander Western Fleet, Rear Admiral Anil Chopra. The ships participating in the exercise are:

• Guided-missile destroyers INS Mysore,INS Rajput
• Guided missile frigate INS Gomati
• Fleet Replenishment Tanker INS Aditya
• Submarine INS Shishumar
• Sea Harrier aircraft operating from Goa

The ships from Royal Navy are commanded by Commodore Tom Cunningham RN, Commander Carrier Strike Group. The ships participating in the exercise are:

• Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious with six Merlin helicopters
• Guided missile frigate HMS Westminister
• Fleet Replenishment Tanker RFA Wave Knight
• Afloat Stores Ship RFA Fort Austin
• Hunter-killer nuclear-powered submarine HMS Trafalgar

Embedded units during ‘Konkan-2008′ are USS Cole and French Stealth Ship FS Surcouf.

The exercise would be covering

• Combined maritime operations including tactical manoeuvers
• Exercises between the submarines
• Intermediate and advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare
• Maritime Interdiction Operations
• VBSS (Visit, Board, Search and Seizure) procedures
• Naval Gunfire Support
• Clearance Diving

A joint press conference by the two navies is expected at 1030 hrs on April 23 on board INS Mysore in Goa. Royal Navy Task Force units would also visit Goa later this month. During the harbor phase, both the Navies are to participate in lectures on professional and contemporary maritime issues. Also both the Navies would participate in sports and cultural activities at Goa.

Update: May 04

Why there was no media coverage of the exercise ? Indian Express reports that USS Cole’s observer role in the exercise was not communicated to the Indian Government by the Indian Navy in time. Read more from Indian Express.

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Today, April 22 of the year is the Earth Day. The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970. Earth Day is an event to create an awareness to develop a safer, healthier and cleaner world for all of us. On this day let us not forget that we have to handover this Planet Earth to our younger generations in the same way (if not better), we received from our older generations. Last month global participation was there for Earth Hour.

Here is Google way of celebrating Earth Day

This Earth Day, use Google Checkout to donate to an environmental non-profit organization on behalf of your friends and family and watch your generosity spread.

Interesting video clips on Earth Day are here and here.

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