The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/142553
waterfront business in brief… Drunk driving New submarines for Israel A FIFTH GERMAN-made Dolphin Class submarine named INS Rahav has been delivered to Israel, sparking concern that Israeli submarines cannot be intended solely for defence purposes. No sea-based threat exists for Israel according to Jeremy Corbyn, the British MP and deputy head of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Germany has paid a large amount of money toward Israel's defence costs by subsidising the development and delivery of the submarines. "One just wonders if this isn't part of a wider European military involvement in North Africa and the Middle East region. It is a very bad day for the development of a peace process across the Middle East." Said Corbyn, also commenting that if converted, the submarines could be used to deliver nuclear weapons. Bruce Gagnon, an anti-nuclear campaigner in the United States, also does not believe that the submarines are intended only for defensive purposes, saying that it is impossible to make advances on nuclear disarmament with Israel and the United States refusing to admit that Israel has nuclear weapons. "The international community must continue to shine a light on Israel's possession of nuclear weapons, something they don't want to talk about, something the US doesn't want to talk about," said Gagnon. Thunder Struck – Australia collaborates with southeast Asia ATTEMPTS BY AN illegal foreign fishing vessel, the Thunder to offload millions of dollars worth of illegal catch in southeast Asia, were thwarted by a strike force team made up of Australian, Malaysian and Indonesian authorities. The boat had been using the alphabet technique – changing its name and flag – to deceive authorities and avoid detection. Australian authorities were able to track the vessel to southeast Asia, warning authorities and requesting that the boat be denied access to port. After being refused access to the Malaysian port of Penang, the boat then tried to dock in Indonesia where it was boarded by Indonesian authorities assisted by officers from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. AFMA's General Manager of Operations, Peter Venslovas, said that this is an excellent result in combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing. In the last six years the AFMA has www.skipper.co.nz promoted and engaged with a network of ten countries including Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to share information and deny port access to vessels suspected of being involved in IUU activity. Venslovas said that this strong regional co-operation has made a big difference in creating an international deterrence for illegal foreign fishing operations. Since 2004, no IUU boats have been detected in Australian southern waters but a threat remains from vessels undertaking IUU fishing outside of Australian waters. These vessels fish in the southern ocean and use southeast Asian ports to unload their illegal catch and re-supply. The operations are highly organised, mobile and elusive. In 2012, four IUU vessels were denied entry into ports in Singapore and Malaysia. Three other IUU vessels in the region are currently being monitored in case they seek to access ports. There is no law against driving a boat while intoxicated, but authorities seized the oars of a drunken boatie after he was seen rowing to shore from his yacht off Canterbury's Sumner Beach in April. "Intoxicated people were on a boat going round and round in circles and an intoxicated man had rowed to shore on a dinghy," a police spokesperson said. Police alerted the Coastguard and a crewman confiscated the oars from the 65-year-old. "It was pretty rough out there and he probably wouldn't have made it back, especially in a dinghy." The two people on board the yacht were advised to anchor in a more sheltered area. Smoke pouring from the Sanford cold store fire in Timaru Sanford fire A fire at Sanford Limited's Timaru plant caused major damage to its cold store on May 12. Smoke was spotted by a watchman who called the Fire Service but no employees were on site at the time of the fire. The fish processing plant which is located at a separate site was not affected. Investigations into the cause of the fire found that the blaze appeared to have started in an electrical switchboard. The recovery of some 1300 tonnes of frozen product remains unconfirmed. US maritime rules protect right whales NOAA Fisheries is seeking to make permanent the temporary rule that keeps vessel speeds in United States' eastern coastal waters to 10 knots or less at specific locations and times of day in order to reduce the risk of right whales being struck by ships. Right whales, one of the world's most endangered species, are particularly vulnerable to ship collisions and the NOAA's longstanding rules are set to expire in December this year. Vessel speeds are known to be a factor in incidents of brydes whales being struck by ships on New Zealand's northeast coast and the Hauraki Gulf. July/August 2013 Professional Skipper 41