Professional Skipper - Free Sample issue (July/Aug 2011)

BEYOND THE HORIZON US UPS SUBMARINE CONSTRUCTION BY HUGH WARE U p to 1000 workers may be added to Newport News Shipbuilding's Virginia class attack submarine construction programme as production increases to two per year. But the United States Navy suspended the authority of its Norfolk command to oversee the repair of Navy ships by private contractors, citing missing and flawed reports. A senior officer will provide technical oversight until confidence is restored. The Navy relieved the commanding officer (a female) of the USS Ponce for poor leadership and failure to follow u sailors hazing other sailors. She was also charged with improperly handling a oaded weapon, thus endangering some of her crew handling a loaded weapon, thus endangering some ofl up reports of her crew.. The executive officer (a male) was relieved for failing to support her. Both officers were "mustangs," having started their naval careers as enlisted personnel. The Royal Navy's latest £1.2 billion nuclear submarine, HMS Astute, continues to attract trouble. She was towed to the Faslane Naval Base after suffering "a technical issue with hydraulics" that could have killed the entire crew. The hydraulics are said to have controlled the sub's diving planes. At Singapore, a civilian sub-contractor working on one of the ship's boats on the Australian replenishment oiler HMAS Success fell 13m into the water. Three Navy sailors dived in to bring the unconscious man to the surface but he died a few hours later from his injuries. WHITE FLEETS The cruise fleet operator Carnival Corp has filed a lawsuit in Louisiana in the United States seeking damages for "economic losses and damages" it claims to have suffered as a result of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit named just about every firm or organisation and person connected with the spill. In the Bahamas, a passenger from the Carnival Sensation was killed and another seriously injured in a shore-side jet-skiwas killed and another seriously injured in a shore-side jet-ski e accident. How hygienic is your typical cruise ship? The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention rigorously inspects each vessel and assigns a sanitation rating. Anything below 86 is a fail. The Norwegian Epic got a 100 in her first test. No cruise ship has failed since the Albatross, a private vessel, earned a 69 back in February 2010, although a few have got close. Standards seem high. Dipping a pot in a hot sanitising mix for less than 30 seconds is a typical no-no, as is storing strawberries in a plastic bag in the same chest freezer as raw meat. THEY THAT GO BACK AND FORTH In Libya, the passenger ro-ro ferry Red Star came under rocket r attack from government forces while helping to evacuate people from Misrata. At least five people died and there was widespread panic among those trying to board. The Red Star, chartered by the International Organisation for Migration, had waited offshore for several days because of the continuing fighting. In Bangladesh, the double-decker ferry Bipasha was operating at night on the Meghna River with 200 on board, well over her 30-person capacity, when she struck a submerged wreck and sank. About 60 people swam to shore but more than 30 died Se eral incidents occ rred in the Cook Strait or d. Several incidents occurred in the Cook Strait or r Wellington. ellington Passengers on an unidentified Cook Strait ferry (probably either the Aratere or the Kaitiaki) were distressed to watch a cow in a trailer parked on the top vehicle deck become distressed and then collapse and die. Another cow was later found dead in the same trailer. The 36 Professional Skipper July/August 2011 r stock company explained it had transported 20 loads a week for 50 weeks a year and had had no problems in the last three years. While en route from Wellington, the Interisland Line ferry Monte Stello veered off course (possibly due to the helm being put the wrong way) and collided with an "object" just inside the Tory Channel. A company spokeswoman acknowledged a brief grounding had taken place, the starboard propeller had been damaged and the ferry had continued to Picton on one engine. There were truck drivers on board but no other passengers. In a third incident, the ferry Santa Regina was pushed by strong winds onto a berthed fishing boat at GlasgowW winds onto a berthed fishing boat at Glasgow Wharf in Wellington. The fishing boat had been for sale for many months and no-one seemed concerned about any damage, but the ferry suffered a long dent on her stern quarter and was taken out of service for repairs. In the United States, determining a safe passenger load for a ferry was legally based on an average body weight of 72.5 kilos, but a deadly accident or two as demonstrated humans now tend to weigh somewhat more, so the US Coast G uard has raised the figure to 84 kilos. Wh IMPORTS At least 25,000 Africans have used small boats to escape the troubles in North Africa in search of a better life (ie, a job) but many have died in their attempts. A small and overcrowded boat carrying 300 African immigrants sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya's coastline only an hour after sailing and at least 16 people died. NASTIES AND TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVES Somalian piracy is getting nastier. Executions (including beheadings) and torture are now not uncommon, although they do tend to reduce the ransoms paid. In an example of spite, pirates held eight Indian seamen after their ship, the asphalt carrier Asphalt Ventur Venture, was freed after was freed after a $3.6 million ranso million ranso om was paid. The pirates said they were mad at the Indian Navy for capturing pirates and putting them on trial in India. A pirate spokesman said: "India has not only declared war against us but also has risked the lives of many hostages." METAL BASHING The Brazilian iron ore-mining giant Vale SA took delivery of the apacity Vale Brasil. building & Marine world's biggest ore carrier, the 400,000 tonne ca She was built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipb Engineering Co and is the first of seven ore carriers ordered by Vale from the yard. ODD BITS… The main function of the replenishment ship US SNS Walter S Diehl is to refuel warships while they steam alongside, so her after structure bears two captions. They may bewilder foreign warships but the port side caption reads Full Service, while the matching caption to starboard reads Self Service. Russia launched an urgent rescue mission after the nuclear- powered icebreaker Taimyr developed a nu r uclear leak in the frozen Kara Sea about 2000km east of Norway and was forced to abandon her mission The e ent registered a zero on the seven- to abandon her mission. The event registered a point International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, but the incident was serious enough to force the Taimyr to head to Murmansk using only her diesel engines. Another icebreaker helped her back to port. r

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