again about which plane should equip the two aircraft carriers being built. First, it was decided that the carriers would carry the F-35B vertical-takeoff version of the US-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Problems with its procurement forced them to shift to the pure F-35C naval version, but that meant installing catapults and arresting gear. Despite "I-told-you-so's" from the Labour party opposition, it now looks as though it will be no catapults but some jump-jets. Another background reason for the decision: the F-35C's are too heavy to land on the French Navy's carrier Charles de Gaulle.
The uniform head of the Royal Navy admitted that the government took a chance (a "punt" as he put it) when it demobilized HMS Ark Royal, its only carrier, and sold off its fleet of Harrier jets. A carrier strike ability will not be available to the Brits until some time in the 2020's, he admitted. One can imagine long rows of crossed British fingers, all hoping that Argentina does not get feisty about the Falkland Islands again. A $3.5 million floating barrier or boom at Halifax, installed in 2007 to protect warships from terrorist attacks, hasn't been able to withstand the harbor's stormy conditions, particularly during the tropical storms that somehow reach the Maritimes, or the buildup of marine organisms. Structural deficiencies coupled with lack of a comprehensive maintenance program resulted in serious damage and the boom was removed last winter for repairs. The boom's specifications called for a minimum 15 year operating life.
The military-industrial complex occasionally comes through! The nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN- 782) was delivered to the US Navy 363 days ahead of contract schedule and more than $60 million below target cost.
WHITE FLEETS
Damaged by an engine room fire earlier this year, the Costa Allegra, one of the Costa company's smallest and oldest vessels, is to be sold as is or scrapped after a fire that left it and its passengers drifting in the Indian Ocean. The small expedition cruise ship Plancius, built in 1976 as a Dutch oceanographic research vessel, broke down while moored at Grytviken on South Georgia Island in the Antarctic South Atlantic some 2150km east of Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of South America. Its seventy bird-watching passengers were taken to Montevideo on the small passenger vessel Ushuaia and a tug assisted the stricken vessel to a repair port. Although the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia is under 24/7 surveillance and the ship's bell was in 25 feet of water, it disappeared. (Obviously, an inside outside job!)
THOSE THAT GO BACK AND FORTH
In Myanmar, the Pathein Thu sank as it was about to dock at a jetty near the town of Ngapuda in the Irrawaddy Delta. Seventy- two people were rescued, ten died, and others were missing. In Japanese waters, a high-speed ferry, traveling at about 80kph, probably collided with a whale off Kagoshima Prefecture and five people were slightly injured while the vessel was disabled and had to be towed. News reports made no mention of the whale's condition.
The Bass Strait ro-ro/passenger Spirit of Tasmania had a fire in the overhead of the Galactica games centre. A fire party in full breathing kit removed ceiling panels and killed the fire.
LEGAL MATTERS
At Los Angeles/Long Beach, customs officials found twenty bricks of cocaine in the sidewall of an empty reefer container. The container originated in El Salvador with vessel stops in Guatemala and Mexico, and had returned to the terminal after delivering a
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