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
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BEYOND THE HORIZON CONTINUED… rough weather and high waves between Ambon and Namrole in Indonesia. LEGAL MATTERS New Zealand may reclaim part of its international reputation when the government introduces legislation that will no longer permit foreign fishing vessels to fish in New Zealand waters after a four year transition period. There have been too many complaints of physical and sexual abuse of crews, slow or missing wage payments, illegal fish dumping, grossly unsafe vessels, etc. The FCV's are chartered, often from Korean fishing companies, by a dozen NZ companies, and the fishing crews usually come from the poorest Asiatic countries. NATURE Is high-speed ferry traffic near Hong Kong forcing the Chinese white dolphin to move elsewhere? One wildlife group thinks so, citing a local-waters drop in numbers of the rare subspecies from 158 in 2003 to 78 last year. In Sweden south of Öland, Greenpeace activists boarded the icebreaker Nordica to protest Shell's plans to drill oil wells in the Far North. The Nordica, under contract to Shell, was heading to Alaska to join sister ship Fennica in supporting the drill ships Kulluk and Noble Discoverer that will drill five exploratory wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Sea levels along the US East Coast are rising three to four times faster than globally, with a 600 mile stretch from Cape Hatteras, NC to north of Boston being a hotspot. We're talking about two to four millimetres per year vs an average global 1mm rise. The hot- spot may be due to slowing of Atlantic Ocean circulation. US Navy scientists have developed a solar cell that works in thirty feet (nine metres) of water. Sunlight does not penetrate far into water so ordinary solar cells using crystalline silicon are of little use. The Navy's cells use gallium indium phosphide, which works best for wavelengths between 400 and 700 nanometers, the typical range of light found underwater. A British university is designing the world's first 100 percent fossil fuel-free sailing cargo ships. The propulsion system would use an engine fueled by waste-derived liquid methane and the square-sailed DynaRig system as used on superyachts such as the Eos earlier in this column, and the 290 foot (88m) Maltese Falcon. It has rotatable masts, fixed yards, and sails that furl into the mast. The traditional sail names are still used, with the Courses on the bottom, then the Topsails, the Gallants, and finally the Royals. METAL-BASHING Salvage of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia has started and a salvor boldly stated, "We aim to get it upright at the start of FULL TIME MARINE ENGINEERS WANTED! In this role you will be responsible for the For this role you will need to have: WWW.FULLERS.CO.NZ VIP.S87 36 Professional Skipper September/October 2012 (09) 367 9112. If you wish to apply now, please submit http://careers.fullers.co.nz under this winter and refloat in early 2013." The rock imbedded into the side of the wreck will be removed and made into a memorial to the 32 who died. Asiatic ship scrappers are busy enough that prices offered are low: several dry vessels only fetched prices in the mid-to-high $300s per ldt, with tankers fetching $20 or $30 more up to $400 per ldt. REFUGEES A small Haitian wooden boat carrying US-bound illegal migrants capsized to the south of Hawksbill Key in the Bahamas. Only five of 28 Haitians survived. The dead included the captain's five children. A Sri Lankan refugee boat carrying perhaps 200 people issued a distress call and then capsized off Australia's remote Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. At least ninety people drowned but the few survivors were wearing lifejackets. A week later, a similar refugee boat sank off the northwest of Australia, 107 nautical miles from Christmas Island and about 13 nautical miles from the previous sinking, and ten died. In the first six months of this year, 62 vessels carrying 4484 boatpeople were intercepted off Australia. NASTIES AND TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVES Piracy attacks fell for the first time in five years but the number of seafarers dying tripled in the last two years. In March, the European Union Naval Force defined its coastal- attack policy: "We concentrate on beaches where pirates have known dumps. We want to do all we can to make life difficult for pirates…" (?!) A recent coastal attack may have hit skiffs taking supplies to Albedo, a Malaysia-owned container ship that is still being held off the coast of Somalia even though $2.9 million had been raised for its release. The pirates threatened to kill hostages if they were attacked again. It was not a good month for regional piracy-fighters. When the UAE government suddenly withdrew funding, a private firm providing training departed and the UN-encouraged Puntland Maritime Police Force, an armed counter-piracy militia operating inside the Somali state, ceased operations. Over 600 Somali soldiers had been actively targeting pirate activity. In a protest over pay, the Yemeni Coast Guard, trained by Royal Navy personnel in recent years, blocked four main ports, including Aden and the Red Sea ports of Mokha, Hodeidah, and Saleef. Three organizations use ships from about 36 nations to fight piracy in the Combined Maritime Forces; EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta, and NATO Operation Ocean Shield, incorporating both NATO, and non-NATO ships. Warships range from US aircraft carriers to a Seychelles' coastguard patrol boat. ODD BITS China's research submersible Jiaolong descended below 7000 meters. Breaking the 7000m mark means China has obtained the capability of exploring 99.8 percent of the deep ocean with manned submersibles. Only twelve operational manned submersibles throughout the world can descend to 1000m and even fewer can dive deeper. At Port Newark in New Jersey, a Coast Guard boarding team on the Ville D'Aquarius heard knocking. It continued for six hours, gradually fading until it stopped. More than 160 containers were unloaded and searched by humans, dogs, and an X-ray machine but no stowaways were found and the ship was released to sail to Norfolk. Its last stop had been in Egypt.