POZNAN, Poland, Dec 3 (AlertNet) - The humanitarian community is overwhelmed by rising weather-related disasters and tens of billions of dollars are needed each year to reduce the risks from global warming, aid officials at U.N. climate change talks said on Wednesday.
The number of natural disasters had doubled in the past 20 years from around 200 to 400, Kasidis Rochanakorn, director of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, told journalists.
There were 200 floods in 2005 compared with 50 in 1985, and they were damaging larger areas, he said. "Floods, droughts, storms do not have to end in disaster, they don't have to kill, people don't have to die. They die because they are not prepared," he said. "The problem today is that capacity has been overwhelmed because of the frequency and intensity of natural disasters." He called on governments negotiating a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol on global warming to provide more support for the humanitarian community to improve its ability to prepare and respond.
Maarten van Aalst of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre said it was not clear what proportion of the increase in weather-related disasters was due to global warming, but "we do know that climate change is already playing a role". The U.N. climate change panel has predicted that rising global temperatures will bring more heatwaves, droughts, heavy rains and stronger storms.
Reid Basher, policy coordinator for the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), warned that harmful development practices - such as stripping forests, destroying wetlands and poor construction - are making disasters more likely just as the impact of climate change begins to bite. "We are making things worse for ourselves and really putting almost like a time bomb there, waiting for climate change to reveal the hazards and the risks that we have been developing over many years," he said.
Basher said a large proportion of the estimated $50 billion needed each year to cover the cost of adapting to climate change would be required to cut the risk of disasters. The humanitarian community knows how to help people prepare for increasing disasters - including giving them better climate information and strengthening early warning systems - but there is a lack of capacity to put this into practice on a large enough scale, he added. José Riera, policy adviser for the U.N. refugee agency, said aid agencies and governments should sit down and work out how to deal with the increasing number of people who will be forced to flee their homes by climate change. "Climate has always been one of the reasons forcing people to move ... but what we risk seeing in the coming months and years is climate suddenly becoming the main driver of population movements," he said. Riera said climate change could increase the number of displaced people by around 6 million per year.
Statistics from the refugee agency show that 67 million people were uprooted around the world at the end of 2007, 25 million of them because of natural disasters. The aid officials called on the international community not to treat climate change only as an environmental issue but to focus on the needs of vulnerable people. "They know that disasters are coming with more intensity, more severity, they want to be supported, and governments around the world ... have to consider seriously the humanitarian aspects, because in the final analysis people matter," said Bekele Geleta, secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Dalyellup resident Jaco Bosman snapped this image of a water spout forming off the coast of Bunbury on Saturday afternoon.
A DALYELLUP resident in the right place at the right time witnessed a marvel of Mother Nature on the weekend – a waterspout off Bunbury’s coast.
Jaco Bosman was driving past Dalyellup Beach on Saturday evening when the meteorological phenomenon caught his eye.
Mr Bosman pulled over and watched the water spout for about a minute or two before it disappeared out of sight.
“I just caught the last of the show,” he said.
“It is the kind of thing you see on the Discovery Channel.
“I didn’t expect to see it happen in real life.”
A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud.
Waterspouts have long been recognised as serious marine hazards and history is filled with examples of ships being destroyed or damaged by them.
Meteorologist Joe Courtney said the waterspout formed due to unstable weather conditions on Saturday and rotating columns of air.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Lockheed Martin Corp. has scored a $1.1 billion U.S. contract to build the country's next-generation of weather satellites, beating out rivals Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. in a three-way race.
In a news release late Tuesday, Bethesda, Md., Lockheed (LMT) said it would build two generation-R spacecraft for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. The deal also provides for an option to build one additional craft.
The first satellite is scheduled for delivery in 2014 with the second satellite's delivery a year after that. Launch of the first satellite is planned for 2015.
(NOC) had built the most recent generation in series.Shares of Lockheed were up a fraction at last check to $73.92. Shares of Boeing Boeing Co. (BABA) slipped 2% to $39.80 and Northrop fell 1.3% to $38.70, trending the wider market.
GOES satellites circle the Earth at 22,300 miles above the surface and scan for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms, and hurricanes. The first in the series was launched in 1994.
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the new generation of GOES satellites will result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts, directly affecting public safety and ultimately, economic health and development.
The contract value includes options. Last year Lockheed sales were $41.9 billion.
OPENING IMO's Maritime Safety Committee meeting this week the body's secretary general Efthimios Mitropoulos has expressed concern at the number of seafarers killed at sea this year, mainly in domestic ferries and small vessel, and at the prospect of the economic crisis leading to dangerous practices.
He said that there are grounds for genuine concern over a number of issues, one of them being the overall safety record of certain sectors of the shipping industry. He continued: “While the recent delivery of many new ships built to the highest IMO standards has injected a welcome element of youth into the age profile of the world merchant fleet and, as a consequence, a higher degree of safety, we cannot ignore the fact that, since the beginning of the year, well over 1,600 seafarers are estimated to have lost their lives in accidents mainly involving ferries in domestic service and small cargo ships caught up in adverse weather conditions.”
Mr Mitropoulos said: “I find these figures both disturbing and unacceptable – a real setback at a time when so many efforts are being made to enhance safety at sea and so many endeavours are coming to fruition, including the International Safety Management Code, the first phase of which entered into force 10 years ago.”
“Also of concern,” he said, “is the current financial crisis, which analysts predict will continue for some time to come and which is already negatively impacting on economies worldwide, triggering fears of a global recession. A prolonged crisis of the sort we have been experiencing since the summer will leave no sector unscathed and, along with the world trade, it has already affected the shipping industry. The situation may be exacerbated by the release of new tonnage into the market place from the recent years’ unprecedented world order book, which, in spite of the anticipated withdrawal of further single-hull tankers in 2010, may lead to a substantive imbalance between supply and demand of shipping capacity worldwide forcing ships to lay up.”
He cautioned: “In this difficult time ahead, when it will be prudent to seek economies to face the storm, it would also be necessary to guard against measures that may have a negative impact on the safety of ships and shipping operations. While recommending that we should all exercise patience and perseverance in weathering the crisis, I would advise against adhering to savings and practices that might play a contributory part in any decline in the safety record of shipping and in the efforts of the maritime community to protect and preserve the marine environment.”
The Antarctic cruise vessel MV Ushuaia has been successfully refloated. The ship grounded December 4 at position 64¼35.5'S 062 ¼25'W, at the entrance of Wilhelmina Bay near Cape Anna in the NW Antarctic Peninsula. On board were 82 passengers and 42 crew.
Two diesel tanks were punctured and/or damaged (tank Nr.4 port side, and Nr.5 center), and spilled MGO.
The passengers, who may have gotten a little more adventure than they signed on for, were transferred to Chilean Naval Vessel Achiles next day using Zodiac landing craft from the MV Ushuaia and from another Anarctic tourist vessel, the MV Antarctic Dream, which had been standing by. The crew of the Ushuaia remained on board.
On the afternoon December 7, the crew of the MV Ushuaia and the crew of the Chilean Naval Tug Lautaro started to transfer 120 cu.m of diesel from MV Ushuaia to storage tanks on the Lautaro and 100 cu.m of fresh water was discharged into the sea. This was done to improve the buoyancy of the MV Ushuaia. Transferring fuel off the vessel also reduced the potential for additional spillage should anything go wrong with the refloating.
Efforts to refloat the vessel began at high tide (approximately 0400UTC/0100LT). The vessel was fully free at 0545UTC/0245LT. Escorted by Lautaro, MV Ushuaia began making way under its own steam towards Paradise Bay. No oil has been seen leaking from the vessel while underway; however, this could be due to wind and wave action causing any fuel leaked to be rapidly dispersed. To minimize any further oil spill, fuel from the damaged tanks is being transferred into tanks that are not compromised. Once the MV Ushuaia is in the relatively sheltered waters of Paradise Bay, a further inspection of the hull will take place.
You can read a blow by blow account of the incident from the International Association of Arctic Tour Operators HERE
You can get a somewhat different perspective on the incident from the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition HERE.
The Ushuaiia is the former NOAA vessel Baldridge, which was retired from the agency in 1996 and which was originally delivered to NOAA as the Researcher from American Shipbuilding, Toledo, Ohio in 1978.
The 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially comes to a close on Sunday, marking the end of a season that produced a record number of consecutive storms to strike the United States and ranks as one of the more active seasons in the 64 years since comprehensive records began.
A total of 16 named storms formed this season, based on an operational estimate by NOAA's National Hurricane Center. The storms included eight hurricanes, five of which were major hurricanes at Category 3 strength or higher. These numbers fall within the ranges predicted in NOAA’s pre- and mid-season outlooks issued in May and August. The August outlook called for 14 to 18 named storms, seven to 10 hurricanes and three to six major hurricanes. An average season has 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
“This year’s hurricane season continues the current active hurricane era and is the tenth season to produce above-normal activity in the past 14 years,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
Overall, the season is tied as the fourth most active in terms of named storms (16) and major hurricanes (five), and is tied as the fifth most active in terms of hurricanes (eight) since 1944, which was the first year aircraft missions flew into tropical storms and hurricanes.
For the first time on record, six consecutive tropical cyclones (Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike) made landfall on the U.S. mainland and a record three major hurricanes (Gustav, Ike and Paloma) struck Cuba. This is also the first Atlantic season to have a major hurricane (Category 3) form in five consecutive months (July: Bertha, August: Gustav, September: Ike, October: Omar, November: Paloma).
Bell attributes this year’s above-normal season to conditions that include:
An ongoing multi-decadal signal. This combination of ocean and atmospheric conditions has spawned increased hurricane activity since 1995.
Lingering La Niña effects. Although the La Niña that began in the Fall of 2007 ended in June, its influence of light wind shear lingered.
Warmer tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures. On average, the tropical Atlantic was about 1.0 degree Fahrenheit above normal during the peak of the season.
NOAA's National Hurricane Center is conducting comprehensive post-event assessments of each named storm of the season. Some of the early noteworthy findings include:
Bertha was a tropical cyclone for 17 days (July 3-20), making it the longest-lived July storm on record in the Atlantic Basin.
Fay is the only storm on record to make landfall four times in the state of Florida, and to prompt tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings for the state’s entire coastline (at various times during its August lifespan).
Paloma, reaching Category 4 status with top winds of 145 mph, is the second strongest November hurricane on record behind Lenny in 1999 with top winds of 155 mph).
Much of the storm-specific information is based on operational estimates and some changes could be made during the review process that is underway.
“The information we’ll gain by assessing the events from the 2008 hurricane season will help us do an even better job in the future,” said Bill Read, director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center. “With this season behind us, it’s time to prepare for the one that lies ahead.”
NOAA will issue its initial 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Outlook in May, prior to the official start of the season on June 1.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
A DALYELLUP resident in the right place at the right time witnessed a marvel of Mother Nature on the weekend – a waterspout off Bunbury’s coast.
Jaco Bosman was driving past Dalyellup Beach on Saturday evening when the meteorological phenomenon caught his eye.
Mr Bosman pulled over and watched the water spout for about a minute or two before it disappeared out of sight.
“I just caught the last of the show,” he said.
“It is the kind of thing you see on the Discovery Channel.
“I didn’t expect to see it happen in real life.”
A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud.
Waterspouts have long been recognised as serious marine hazards and history is filled with examples of ships being destroyed or damaged by them.
Meteorologist Joe Courtney said the waterspout formed due to unstable weather conditions on Saturday and rotating columns of air.
The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas issued anews release stating that an oil tanker firm an additional $3 million fine after pleading guilty to additional charges relating to false entries in the oil record book of one of the company’s tankers. Prosecutors previously credited the company’s self-disclosures, cooperation, and compliance measures by proposing fewer charges and reduced criminal fines. (11/24/08).
The IMO issued a circular forwarding an agreement between Australia and New Zealand on search and rescue (SAR) regions and coordination. SAR.6/Circ.31 (10/21/08).
THE REMAINS OF THE KURSK
The scrapping of the Kursk. Special Thanks to Bud Shortridge U.S. Naval Ship Research Hobbiest
The K-141 Kursk sank on August 12, 2000 in the Barents Sea with all hands. These photo's below are from the salavge of the K-141 (Kursk).
The bow of the Kursk was sawed off with a diamond rope while she sat on the bottom of the Arctic Sea. You can see the antiship missiles still in their launchers all foamed in. And there is a nuclear power plant in in the wreckage.
The K-141 Kursk was a Russian nuclear cruise missile submarine which was lost with all hands when it sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000. It was named after the Russian city Kursk, around which the largest tank battle in military history, the Battle of Kursk, took place in 1943.
The Kursk sailed out to sea to perform an exercise of firing dummy torpedoes at Pyotr Velikiy, a Kirov class battlecruiser. On August 12, 2000 at 11:28 local time , the missiles were fired, but an explosion occurred soon after on Kursk. The only credible report to-date is that this was due to the failure and explosion of one of Kursks new/developmental torpedoes.
The blast from the explosion registered 2.2 on the Richter scale. The submarine sank to a depth of 108 metres (354 feet), approximately 135km (85 miles) off Severomorsk. Severomorsk is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia and is located about 25 kilometers (16 mi) north of Murmansk along the Kola Bay. This is the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet.Severomorsk has the largest dry dock in the Kola Peninsula.
A second explosion occured on the K-141, 135 seconds after the initial event and measured between 3.5 and 4.4 on the Richter scale, equivalent to 3-7 tons of TNT. Either this explosion or the earlier one propelled large pieces of debris far back through the submarine. The Kursk was eventually raised from her grave by the Dutch team, Smit International. using the barge Giant 4, and 115 of the 118 dead were recovered and laid to rest in Russia .
Russian officials have strenuously denied claims that the sub was carrying nuclear warheads. When the boat was raised by a salvage operation in 2001 there were considerable fears moving the wreck could trigger explosions.
Never Ending Voyage: Henk De Velde about when lightning strikes (TheOceans.net) Lightning can indeed strike twice; and listening for thunder will make you miss up to 40 per cent of lightning strokes. In US, about 100 people are killed by lightning each year, more than by tornadoes or hurricanes!
Interestingly, in spite of all kinds of weird weather and many years out there - ExWeb's founders have never experienced lightning storms on the Arctic Ocean or at Antarctica. Neither on the Atlantic Ocean and only once high up on Everest!
Yet thunder storms happen often enough at sea (often close to shore) and also on lower mountains (such as the Alps and the Rockies). While bigger boats can have elaborate systems; ocean rowers, budget sailors, campers and climbers remain unprotected.
The other week, ExWeb made a call for simple solutions. Henk de Velde heard us but following 30 years at sea; his experience still comes down to - rubber boots.
A tractor
Writes Henk:
"The safest places for a person outdoors in a thunderstorm are inside a metal-bodied car or lying flat on the ground. I can give an example of both."
"My brother in law, a farmer, was in the middle of an open field. When a thunderstorm approached, he went under his tractor. Don't ask me why but I think he also wanted shelter from the rain."
"The tractor was struck. He told me that he was laying there under the tractor flat on the ground for several seconds surrounded by fire. I think he was lucky to have survived."
A steel boat
"Another example happened to me. In thunder, a steel boat is the safest. I was sailing Campina about 700 miles north of the Hawaii islands, on my way to the Aleoutian Islands when lightning struck."
"I still remember what the sky looked like. I saw lightning strike the water around me and reefed sails. I went inside for protection when suddenly I heard a big boom. I thought the mast had fallen. All electricity failed."
"For a minute or shorter, a ball of fire danced through the saloon. It was ball-lightning. I never felt any heat, but my muscles went stiff and ached for more than half an hour. After the fireball was gone, I checked on the boat."
"The mast was good. All electronics were saved, with fuses blown. But all battery chargers burned, and wiring from the wind generator in addition to two other battery chargers had melted. I had to return to Hawaii to have it fixed. The battery chargers were toast beyond repair."
Grounding
"Lightning is dangerous. You can protect your boat by means of grounding but whatever you do, you can never be sure about not getting struck or not getting damage."
"On my first boat, a plywood Wharram cat, I would at times use a cable from the rigging to the water. As the mast was wood and the rigging was attached to the mast by rope lashings, I was never sure of the efficiency and on my next three catamarans, all racing boats with aluminum or later carbon masts, a mast to water grounding system didn't exist. Campina was a steel vessel and the perfect Faraday cage."
"My current Juniper is a wood/epoxy trimaran with two wooden wingshaped rotating masts. The boat, including mast, is built by her designer Chris White (www.chriswhitedesigns.com) with a lightning protection included."
"A wire extention points like an antenna from the free-standing top of the masts. This steel wire is connected to a cable inside the mast running to aluminium hounds on which the wire rigging is attached, going to chain plates in the floats and from there a wire leads to a grounding plate on the outside of the underwater floats."
"All instruments are grounded to a grounding plate in the main hull, as is the SSB radio which has an antenna wire through the mizzen mast. This is the best grounded boat I ever had."
"But what will happen with the new carbon mast? Carbon is a conductor. If I get a synthetic rig, I'll have to run a heavy cable from the bottom of the mast through the beams to the floats for the same protection. I'm not so sure about this as it will lead the high voltage a long distance through the boat."
St Elmo's fire and Ball lightning
"In all my 30 years of sailing I have only been struck once, but there was another event that I will never forget."
"I sailed Wharram off the coast of Panama with huge thunderstorms mounting above land. A noice sounded from the masthead and the wooden mast looked as if it was on fire - the top burned like a Xmas sparkling-light."
"I was frightened at first but then I realized this was St Elmo's fire - a luminous electric discharge that may appear on pointed objects during heavy storms. It is usually seen on steeples (tips of aircraft wings), the mastheads of ships, and sometimes near the head of a person or the horns of cattle."
In the end: keep your fingers crossed and off the rigging
"After all, statistically the chance of getting struck is very small even when you see lightning hitting the water around you. Lightning does not always search the highest spot."
"In a steel boat, you are safest inside and I would say this goes for all boats. If you have to be on deck - wear heavy rubber boots. Don't walk barefoot and don't touch the mast or the rigging."
Earlier this year, Henk De Velde arrived Argentina without a mast and a broken propeller. Henk plans to stay in the area for the rest of the year, waiting for the new mast and a new sailing season. Currently in Colonia in Uruguay, 300 miles from Mar del Plata, Henk is painting his decks and writing booklets such as "God and Grace" and "Resistance, Hope and Beauty" (not about sailing) and a travelbook titled "Nowhere is a place." After fixing the boat, Henk plans to explore the country on the cheap and hike the Andes. After all, it is a A Never Ending Voyage.
Henk de Velde was born in Holland January 12, 1949. His childhood dream was to become a captain and explorer. From the age of 10 until 14, he read all the books he could find on the subject. Starting out as deckhand at age 15, Henk worked in the Merchant Navy for 13 years and made Captain in 1978, with a master license for all ships in the Amsterdam Nautical Collage. "But after becoming a Captain I had to become an explorer," he told ExWeb.
Henk married Gini who also took part of his first journey. Their son was born in 1981 on Easter Island; the couple divorced 1984 in South Africa. Henk wrote 7 books, all in Dutch. He made two documentaries for Dutch TV. Austrian TV also produced 'Fire and Ice - the Flying Dutchman'.
Henk's other hobbies include riding motorbikes; he started with a 440 cc chopper and ended with a ZZR 1100 road bike. He gives lectures and talk shows about voyaging and life, with the message "Choose your own goal."
Henk first made waves on ExplorersWeb September 3, 2004 when disaster struck his Campina: "Ice floes clashed against each other constantly with a power enough to crack my ship," He reported. "Around 4 hours before darkness fell, the ice berg that we had been anchored to broke. We maneuvered Campina to a larger ice berg, between the floes."
"Then the flow twisted and a heavy iceberg pressed the boat against the wall of ice. We were crooked 10 degrees. The iceberg pressed the boat onto underwater ice. I heard an enormous cracking. We tied her up with long lines to the ice." Henk and his ice lots Boris, 72, were stuck in the ice wall of the Laptev sea.
The Northwest Passage proved impossible indeed, but Henk De Velde's "Impossible Journey" won a special mention in the 2004 ExWeb awards for his battle to the bitter end.
Henk de Velde had previously sailed around the world four times, three times non-stop and solo. The first trip lasted between 1978 and 1985… so Henk is known to take his time when out exploring. "The reason for traveling like this is to experience new things and enjoy life to the fullest," Henk said already back then.
After returning home from his "Impossible Journey" in 2004 - a sail attempt around the world via the "impossible" Northern seaway along the North East Passage above and along Siberia, Alaska, Cape Horn and Antarctica - Henk has now decided to go back out there - and stay.
Cherry Scott wasn't expecting to see a waterspout when she walked out of her kitchen door Sunday afternoon. But there it was, a funnel of water and spray over Lake Michigan
A PHOTO of a waterspout taken by Cherry Scott of Northport shows a funnel descending from clouds over Lake Michigan.
Marty and Cherry Scott enjoy rural life on their Black Sheep Crossing Farm on Kehl Road in northern Leelanau Township, which sits about three-quarters of a mile from Lake Michigan. She said it was it was an unusual circumstance that had her looking in the right direction to see the waterspout starting to form over Lake Michigan.
“I just happened to look at the right spot at the right time. If I had come out of the house a minute later, I would have missed it,” she said. Scott grabbed her new digital camera and hustled out the door in the stocking feet to capture the image.
“I ran out into the cow pasture, it was kind of exhilarating. There wasn’t any noise, except right before it happened there was a tremendously loud crack of thunder,” Scott said.
Scott wasn’t the only person who saw the waterspout. Susan Shively was at her home on Lighthouse Point Road, about a half-mile north of the entrance of Cherry Home Shores Subdivision, when she saw the fully-formed tunnel of water as it moved north along the shoreline.
“I wasn’t sure at first what we were seeing. I thought it was a small tornado, but we learned later on it was a waterspout,” Shively said. According to Shively, the waterspout traveled north along the shoreline though she wasn’t sure how far out on Lake Michigan it was located. “We watched it for 15 minutes and then it just disappeared,” she said.
Shively and her husband have lived in northern Leelanau Township for 10 years. It was the first time they saw a waterspout.
“It was very exciting,” she said.
Both Scott and Shively captured the natural phenomena in pictures, and contacted the Enterprise. Other waterspout witnesses called Greg McMaster, chief meteorologist for TV 7&4. He said he received four calls about waterspout sightings Sunday, and received pictures from Elk Rapids.
“It was not surprising we received so many photos. Conditions were good for waterspouts Sunday afternoon,” McMaster said.
Another view of the waterspout was submitted by Barbara Robbins of Leelanau Township.
Jeff Lutz with the National Weather Service’s Gaylord office said he received reports of waterspouts from three miles north of Elk Rapids, near Lake Charlevoix, and in Grand Traverse Bay. Lutz said waterspouts occur when relatively cool air moves over warm water and there is a low-pressure system nearby.
“It is similar conditions for producing lake effect snow or rain. With the clockwise spin of a low pressure system you get water spouts and cold-air funnels,” he said. The wind speed can’t be too fast, either, he said.
“Once it hits land, though, a waterspout will dissipate,” Lutz said.
Both Lutz and McMaster predicted an “interesting” time of year for weather is upcoming, especially on the Great Lakes.
“There are two seasons on the Great Lakes, the stable and unstable time of year. The stable time of year is when you have cold water and warm air, like winter going into spring. There is no cloud development and things are relatively stable,” Lutz said.
He said the instability begins when fall nears and land temperatures start dropping while water temperatures remain warm.
“The unstable time typically runs from late summer through most of winter. It’s an exciting time to be a meteorologist,” Lutz said.
TRAVERSE CITY -- Day after day, ships longer than three football fields depart Great Lakes ports after picking up or delivering loads of iron ore, coal and other cargo. Reaching open water, crews wash the decks with high-powered hoses.
It's called "cargo sweeping," because residues that spill onto decks during loading and unloading are swept overboard. The U.S. Coast Guard estimates that 1 million pounds of such debris is washed into the lakes every year.
The longstanding practice would appear to violate clean-water laws and regulations enacted in recent decades. But federal officials have given cargo residues a series of exemptions since the early 1990s. Now, the Coast Guard is deciding whether to continue them.
The agency is scheduled to issue a new rule by the end of this month. Several options are on the table, including a ban on cargo sweeping. But regulators also could let it continue, while requiring stepped-up record keeping so they can learn more about effects on the aquatic environment.
Canada's federal government altered its shipping law in 2007 to allow cargo sweeping and is considering amending a fishing law to do likewise, said Mark Mattson, a Toronto-based investigator for the Waterkeeper Alliance. His coalition is among conservation groups that want cargo sweeping halted, saying it's just another form of littering.
But shippers say requiring them to collect the residue, move it onshore for treatment and flush it into municipal wastewater systems would impose ruinous costs. A Coast Guard report last month estimated the price tag at $51.8 million up front, plus $35.7 million a year -- more than the annual profit for the entire industry.
"What some are proposing could mean the end of Great Lakes shipping and the movement of cargo by more expensive and less eco-friendly modes of transportation," said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers Association, which represents U.S.-flagged freighters on the Great Lakes.
The Coast Guard report said cargo sweeping apparently does little if any ecological damage. Jim Weakley, president of the lake carriers group, likened it to "hosing down your driveway."
But environmental advocates say the jury is still out. More study is needed of potential long-term effects -- particularly on bottomlands that provide habitat for fish and macroinvertebrates at the base of the food web, said Joel Brammeier, vice president for policy with the Alliance for the Great Lakes in Chicago.
"It's just common sense that throwing garbage into the Great Lakes is wrong and will cause harm," Mattson added.
Cargo sweeping has been standard operating procedure since the earliest shipments of iron ore from Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the 1850s mineral rush, says the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, an industry coalition.
Bulk dry cargo hauled across the lakes consists primarily of iron ore, coal and limestone, but also includes smaller quantities of cement, salt, sand and grain. In most ports, the freight is moved on conveyor belts between a ship's cargo hold and onshore storage facilities.
As that happens, bits and pieces spill onto the deck or tunnels beneath. Besides contaminating other types of cargo, the residues and dust create unsanitary conditions and slippery surfaces, Weakley said. So the material is flushed overboard from the deck or pumped from tunnels in the lower hull.
In its environmental impact report, the Coast Guard said ship residues can be found on lake bottoms, although in small concentrations.
"The effects of over a century of ... discharges on sediment quality or biological resources are barely detectable," it said. "Consequently, it would be difficult to project the effects of a single (cargo debris) discharge or even a full year of discharges."
Environmentalists contend some of the residues contain mercury and other metals that can harm fish habitat, but Weakley said mercury from coal is released only after it is burned and deposited in a gaseous form on waterways. The Coast Guard said it would not allow dumping of toxic or hazardous materials.
The study lists five policy alternatives, including prohibiting cargo sweeping or letting it continue under certain conditions. Shippers could be required to keep more extensive records, which would provide data for possible future regulation.
They also could be ordered to reduce the amount of debris swept into the water by making operational, mechanical or structural changes aboard ship or in port.
Weakley said shippers already have developed best-management practices to reduce the volume of cargo washed overboard. They observe no-discharge zones around spawning grounds, marine sanctuaries and other sensitive areas and wouldn't object if others were added, he said.
Brammeier, of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, wants a serious crackdown on cargo sweeping and bristles at the suggestion that it would destroy shippers. Many industries have mended their ways to protect the waterways on which the regional economy depends, he said.
"The future of the Great Lakes depends on protecting and restoring them, not on century-old assumptions that we can stress the system but never reach its breaking point," he said.
Working aboard research vessels in the Atlantic, scientists mapped the distribution of nutrients including phosphorous and nitrogen and investigated how organisms such as phytoplankton are sustained in areas with low nutrient levels.
They found that plants are able to grow in these regions because they are able to take advantage of iron minerals in Saharan dust storms. This allows them to use organic or ‘recycled’ material from dead or decaying plants when nutrients such as phosphorous – an essential component of DNA – in the ocean are low.
Professor George Wolff, from the University’s Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, explains: “We found that cyanobacteria – a type of ancient phytoplankton – are significant to the understanding of how ocean deserts can support plant growth. Cyanobacteria need nitrogen, phosphorous and iron in order to grow. They get nitrogen from the atmosphere, but phosphorous is a highly reactive chemical that is scarce in sea water and is not found in the Earth’s atmosphere. Iron is present only in tiny amounts in sea water, even though it is one of the most abundant elements on earth.
“Our findings suggest that Saharan dust storms are largely responsible for the significant difference between the numbers of cyanobacteria in the North and South Atlantic. The dust fertilises the North Atlantic and allows phytoplankton to use organic phosphorous, but it doesn’t reach the southern regions and so without enough iron, phytoplankton are unable to use the organic material and don’t grow as successfully.”
Professor Ric Williams, co-author of the research, added: “The Atlantic is often referred to as an ‘ocean desert’ because many nutrients, which are essential in plant life cycles, are either scarce or are only accessible in the darker depths of the ocean. Plants, however, need some sunlight in order to absorb these important nutrients and so can’t always access them from the ocean depths. They therefore need to find the nutrients from elsewhere. Now that we are able to show how cyanobacteria make use of organic material we can understand more clearly how life is sustained in the ocean and why it isn’t an ‘ocean desert.’
“These findings are important because plant life cycles are essential in maintaining the balance of gases in our atmosphere. In looking at how plants survive in this area, we have shown how the Atlantic is able to draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the growth of photosynthesising plants.”
The research is published in Nature GeoScience.
The study also involved scientists at the National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The work was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council.
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Meteorologists in Casper believe a strong dust devil is probably what blew over a 1,000-pound shed and killed a South Dakota woman this past week.
A micro burst was initially suspected in the accident that killed Jennifer Job-Massa, of Sioux Falls, S.D.
But National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Jones says a micro burst is usually a mile or more across and would most likely have caused other damage in the area.
Jones says a dust devil, or whirlwind, can have the similar effect of a tornado on a much smaller scale.
Authorities believe the 60-to 80-mph winds in the dust devil toppled the shed Wednesday as Job-Massa likely sought shelter behind it.
DEERFIELD BEACH (CBS4) ― Beachgoers on Deerfield Beach had quite a sight Tuesday morning when a waterspout formed just offshore.
The short-lived waterspout was spotted around 10:00 a.m. It lingered there for a few minutes and didn't move much before it dissipated.
A few showers or storms could make it onshore throughout the morning and early afternoon hours, but no severe weather is anticipated.
Waterspouts can easily overturn boats and create locally hazardous seas. According to the National Weather Service, the best course of evasive action if threatened by a waterspout is to move at a 90 degree angle from its apparent movement. Seek safe harbor immediately.
THE Great Lakes Compact took 10 years to write and pass, generated a thousand adoring news releases, and now goes off to Washington for what the region hopes is quick approval by Congress. Great work, right? Not so fast - let's look past the self-congratulatory press releases.
Advertised as a guarantee of "a future in which the Great Lakes are forever sustained" (Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio), "a strong regional warning to chronically dry regions of the South and West" (Chicago Tribune), and "something that will protect the Great Lakes for generations to come" (Wisconsin state Sen. Scott Gunderson), it's actually a way for bottled-water companies to gain rights to sell Great Lakes water.
What's the problem? Doesn't this pact set standards to limit or deny major Great Lakes diversions? Yes, for the most part through a pipe, but not in small containers. Also not addressed is the connection between groundwater and the Great Lakes. Groundwater is tied to the Great Lakes, supplying much of their flow.
To understand the biggest problem, it's important to remember how the whole thing got started 10 years ago.
In May, 1998, it suddenly became known through media reports that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources granted a permit to a private firm, the Nova Group, that wanted to ship up to 50 tanker vessels of Lake Superior water each year to unidentified private customers in Asia.
Turning Great Lakes water into a product - especially the water of Lake Superior, the purest and coldest of the Lakes - fueled indignation among citizens on both sides of the international border. Chastened after public hearings and media scoldings, the Nova Group gave up its permit, and Lake Superior was given a reprieve.
To prevent the Great Lakes from ever being shipped out as a commercial product, the eight states plus Ontario and Quebec began drawing up a binding agreement to prevent it. But something happened in the 10 years it took to produce that agreement.
Instead of banning the conversion of the Great Lakes to a product, the Compact promotes selling it in small containers. The agreement allows pumping and packaging of Great Lakes water - in the hundreds of millions of gallons per project per year - as long as the packages are 5.7 gallons or less in volume. Michigan has already allowed this practice. Any of the eight Great Lakes states could have closed the loophole within their borders. None have.
It's not an accident that an agreement designed to forbid water exports from the Great Lakes by private entrepreneurs now condones them. The bottled-water industry, not a serious economic force in 1998, burst on the scene, lavished its favors on elected officials, and is now slurping up the benefits.
In the Ohio General Assembly, conservative compact opponents held up the agreement by requiring a vote on a state constitutional amendment that will give more ammunition to private interests who want to draw down Great Lakes and Ohio River groundwater. "The government is being encouraged to take people's property without paying for it," said State Sen. Timothy Grendell. "That is flat-out un-American."
The irony is that the compact and Ohio's proposed state constitutional amendment may confer a new private property right - to Nestle and other giant water-for-sale companies. That's something few Great Lakes citizens, but many Great Lakes lobbyists, can go for.
Under centuries of common law and common sense, water has been regarded as a publicly owned resource, too important for navigation, fishing, and ecology to be privatized. The compact turns that upside down and puts the essence of life up for sale to private parties. That is un-American.
Michigan, the Great Lakes State, generated its share of bubbly news releases when its compact approval and related legislation was signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday. But its water conservation laws remain some of the weakest in the region. They allow the draining of up to 25 percent of a stream, don't subject most major water withdrawals to any state approval, and lack funding for implementation and enforcement. And, for the second time in three years, the state has affirmed that a torrent of water flowing out of Michigan in high-priced containers is not actually an export barred by law.
The Great Lakes won't be lost tomorrow. But they won't be saved by the compact the day after tomorrow. It's time for the people of the Great Lakes region to assert their common ownership and control of the water that feeds them and the lakes. It will take a pitched battle and vast persistence in every state to make it happen.
The clock is ticking. Water is the resource that will bring economic opportunities to the Great Lakes region. The lakes contain 95 percent of U.S. and 18 percent of the world's surface fresh water. It makes no sense to sell them off in boatloads or truckloads of bottles.
One Michigan newspaper said, "Without the compact, the region's water could be put at risk." The problem is that with the compact, the region's water remains at risk and in some ways may be in greater danger than before. The work of assuring that the Great Lakes are not exported and drained is only beginning.
Dave Dempsey is author of "Great Lakes for Sale," published by University of Michigan Press this year. He was environmental policy adviser to Gov. James Blanchard of Michigan from 1983 to 1989.
My opinions of her venture are well known to her, her main sponsor, the United States Coast Guard and the NOAA SAR-SAT Office.
However, after having her latest blog called to my attention, noting the PS by Rita Savage (her mother), I once again will weigh in.
While I (and most other marine professionals) understand the need to challenge the sea for whatever cause one wishes to undertake, the one thing that all professional mariners have.. is a great understanding of, and the utmost respect for, the power of Mother Nature, the Sea and their own limitations -- things that, apparently, Ms Savage either plainly disregards, doesn't respect, or simply doesn't understand.
Ignorance.. and ego.. are not bliss at sea.
All blue water mariners have seen both the beauty of the sea, as well as its awesome power when the sea turns ugly. All blue water mariners prepare both mentally and physically for their voyages and safety is always their utmost priority.
When people like Roz Savage decide to take on a challenge, team work, common sense and safety, all need to be prime directives. This is true especially when one is rowing a 22 foot row boat across an ocean or two. Unfortunately, none of these things are happening with Ms Savage's Pacific voyage.
There is no doubt that anyone who rows across the Atlantic or Pacific can be a inspiration to us all. However in Ms Savage's case, the book to be written should more appropriately reflect on how not to row across the Pacific. Should you take the time to read through her blog, you might also see that she's undermined her own voyage with her haste. Leaving unprepared is not inspiration -- not when her voyage could turn into desperation.
Roz Savage is well known to the United States Coast Guard. So well known that they now have a very special track on her, since they already rescued her last year. The distress call at that time was not made by her.. would probably never have been made by her, as she refused to even acknowledge the fact that she was in trouble. Instead, it was made by someone who read her blog and understood the problems she was having.
Now... in her latest blog , Day 32: Welcome To My World Part 4 - Food. There is a PS by Rita Savage her mom --
"PS from Rita. I have had quite a number of people keen to help Roz in her present situation without a working water maker. Enquiries are being made to yachtsmen to see if anyone would be willing to take her some water about two weeks from now. I do hope that we get a response. However, we need to stress that the situation is not so critical that it needs intervention. Roz does have a professional support team who are constantly in touch with her and each other. Please do not be tempted to take any unilateral action as you would create further problems for Roz and restrict the support team's options. Roz also asks that no large ships should be asked to respond to her inquiry about a re-supply of water. Please use the contact details on this website if you have any suggestions that might be helpful. Thank you for your interest in Roz's venture."
This is a sad commentary. As I noted once before there is no professional support team guiding Ms. Savage. It is more a very loose participation from some of her sponsors who have donated equipment and services to her. There is no chase boat ready to go at moments' notice to render assistance. There is no medical team in place to watch Ms. Savage as she rows. Savage's blog is full of entries that any medical professional could/would/should be concerned with.
The problems that Ms. Savage is now experiencing are not new and instead of being worked out, or replacements sent to her, these problems have gotten worse. No professional support team would ever have allowed these problems to escalate to the stage they have. That is especially true now, as there is a request for a yacht in a couple of weeks to render assistance for fresh water. Yet, Savage does not want a ship to stop.
A few weeks ago Savage reached out to another professional mariner for the same assistance when she was stranded 160nm off the coast of Point Conception, California and her water-maker was first having problems. One has to ask, where was this professional team of hers that is in constant communications with her, back then? Why allow the water filtration unit to come to a screeching halt now, when it could easily have been replaced back then, when she was close to the California coast?
The fact that she has no professional support is obvious. So, again, there is a request for assistance -- in a couple of weeks from now. Well, looks like Savage just might be looking at a potential developing Tropical Depression in the next week or so. If one of these systems develop and intercepts her course, Ms. Savage will have all the water she can handle.
Area 2: Low Probability of Formation (click to zoom)
A SECOND AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER HAS FORMED ABOUT 900 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF THE SOUTHERN TIP OF BAJA CALIFORNIA. SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO AS IT MOVES SLOWLY WESTWARD.
Place your mouse cursor over areas of interest for more information
The fact is that Savage is not keeping safety as her prime directive and I believe that this loose nit team of hers is not being kept abreast of all the details. Savage has a history of not being honest. For example.... Not wanting the United States Coast Guard to have the 15 digit hexadecminal code to her EPIRB. Which to the best of my knowledge is not properly deployed in case of an emergency.
This EPIRB was also outdated as far as contact information. It was another professional mariner who was able to obtain the hexcode, after being told not to give it to the United States Coast Guard by one of Ms. Savages so-called professional support team members, that the contact data was updated. This so0called team member also agreed with Savage not to cut loose her tangled sea anchor in sea states of 8 and 9, because it would be the equivalent to polluting the sea and having a chase boat would also present "political Green problems" for Ms. Savage.
If this is the sign of a professional support team member and/or her team as a whole then stupidity reins free. The warning by Rita Savage, "Please do not be tempted to take any unilateral action as you would create further problems for Roz and restrict the support team's options". Is nothing more than bull-sheet-rock. "Would create further problems for Roz and restrict the support team's options"? Really? You mean like launch a rescue operations ending her daughters voyage? Like the last time? Restrict the support team options? What physcobabble is that? If statements like these do not raise red flags then someone is color blind.
No Rita this unilateral action was done before and your daughter was rescued, even though she refused to see the danger herself and it appears that Roz took offense to those who know better and have concerns for her safety. So if your daughter does not care for her own safety nor the safety of her potential rescuers and wants to row into the after life, its on your request.....
I am now totally convinced that this venture by Savage has very little to do with saving the ocean's or the enviroment and has more to do with her personal fame and fortune at the expense of the environment she claims to want to save........
Fair Winds Roz Savage.... the other type of winds will not be any fun....... by the way, don't whistle while you row.......
The NASA-French space agency Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 satellite launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 12:46 a.m. PDT. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance Full image and caption
PASADENA, Calif. -- A new NASA-French space agency oceanography satellite launched today from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on a globe-circling voyage to continue charting sea level, a vital indicator of global climate change. The mission will return a vast amount of new data that will improve weather, climate and ocean forecasts.
With a thunderous roar and fiery glow, the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 satellite arced through the blackness of an early central coastal California morning at 12:46 a.m. PDT, climbing into space atop a Delta II rocket. Fifty-five minutes later, OSTM/Jason 2 separated from the rocket's second stage, and then unfurled its twin sets of solar arrays. Ground controllers successfully acquired the spacecraft's signals. Initial telemetry reports show it to be in excellent health.
"Sea-level measurements from space have come of age," said Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. "Precision measurements from this mission will improve our knowledge of global and regional sea-level changes and enable more accurate weather, ocean and climate forecasts."
Measurements of sea-surface height, or ocean surface topography, reveal the speed and direction of ocean currents and tell scientists how much of the sun's energy is stored by the ocean. Combining ocean current and heat storage data is key to understanding global climate variations. OSTM/Jason 2's expected lifetime of at least three years will extend into the next decade the continuous record of these data started in 1992 by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, or CNES, with the TOPEX/Poseidon mission. The data collection was continued by the two agencies on Jason 1 in 2001.
The OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft separates from the Delta II rocket's second stage, as seen on NASA TV.
Larger view The mission culminates more than three decades of research by NASA and CNES in this field. This expertise will be passed on to the world's weather and environmental forecasting agencies, which will be responsible for collecting the data. The involvement of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) as mission partners on OSTM/Jason 2 helps establish this proven research capability as a valuable tool for use in everyday applications.
OSTM/Jason 2's five primary instruments are improved versions of those flying on Jason 1. These technological advances will allow scientists to monitor conditions in ocean coastal regions -- home to about half of Earth's population. Compared with Jason 1 measurements, OSTM/Jason 2 will have substantially increased accuracy and provide data to within 25 kilometers (15 miles) of coastlines, nearly 50 percent closer to shore than in the past. Such improvements will be welcome news for all those making their living on the sea, from sailors and fishermen to workers in offshore industries. NOAA will use the improved data to better predict hurricane intensity, which is directly affected by the amount of heat stored in the upper ocean.
OSTM/Jason 2 entered orbit about 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) below Jason 1. The new spacecraft will gradually use its thrusters to raise itself into the same 1,336-kilometer (830-mile) orbital altitude as Jason 1 and position itself to follow Jason 1's ground track, orbiting about 60 seconds behind Jason 1. The two spacecraft will fly in formation, making nearly simultaneous measurements for about six months to allow scientists to precisely calibrate OSTM/Jason 2's instruments.
Once cross-calibration is complete, Jason 1 will alter course, adjusting its orbit so that its ground tracks fall midway between those of OSTM/Jason 2. Together, the two spacecraft will double global data coverage. This tandem mission will improve our knowledge of tides in coastal and shallow seas and internal tides in the open ocean, while improving our understanding of ocean currents and eddies.
CNES is providing the OSTM/Jason 2 spacecraft. NASA and CNES jointly are providing the primary payload instruments. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was responsible for launch management and countdown operations for the Delta II. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
ORLANDO — This will be R. David Paulison's last hurricane season as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he told reporters Wednesday.
But Paulison isn't leaving anytime soon, he said during the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando. He said he plans to stick around at least until the season ends Nov. 30, and if possible will remain until President Bush departs the White House on Jan. 20.
"The only two people who can make me leave are my wife and the president," said Paulison, a former Miami-Dade County fire chief who took FEMA's helm following the agency's disastrously slow response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "Right now, I have no intention to leave."
Paulison and his team may be best remembered for beginning to rescue FEMA's reputation from the air of incompetence that surrounded it after Katrina, Florida emergency management chief Craig Fugate said.
"They took something that this country had absolutely no confidence in, the public had no confidence in, and they started bringing it back," Fugate said. "Dave leaves FEMA obviously better than he found it, when he chooses to leave."
Paulison had held various federal emergency-response posts for four years when he was tapped to replace then-FEMA Administrator Michael Brown, whose handling of Katrina had earned him the much-mocked presidential compliment "heck of a job."
Paulison has a lifetime's experience managing crises, and he recruited other state and local emergency responders to prominent posts in FEMA, Fugate said. In contrast, Brown was a former commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association and had little experience handling emergencies before coming to FEMA.
There were two waterspout sightings this afternoon on the Outer Banks, according to the National Weather Service.
The reports – one near the Wright Memorial Bridge and another near milepost 5 in Kitty Hawk – were likely the same spout, according to meteorologist Hal Austin, who works out of the service’s Morehead City office.
“They could capsize a boat,” Austin said of the danger posed by waterspouts, which appear as tornadoes over the water.
Austin said weather conditions in northeastern North Carolina are expected to be nicer after this evening, becoming hot and dry for the remainder of the week.
Elite new distress beacons will be made mandatory to help search and rescue operations save lives on the seas, Ports and Waterways Minister Joe Tripodi said today.
Mr Tripodi said new laws come into effect on July 1 that require all vessels eight metres or longer to be fitted with a new 406MHz digital distress beacon, also known as an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).
“With the new digital beacons, rescue services can be alerted within seconds of your location, your vessel details and emergency contacts,” Mr Tripodi said.
“The old analogue system takes up to 90 minutes just to transmit a signal and in some cases it was 5 hours before rescue services were alerted.
“The new system can determine the location of a vessel in distress within a 5km radius compared to a 20km radius under the analogue system.
“Accuracy is increased to within 120metres if the beacon is fitted with a GPS.
“406 beacons are the direction of the future. They will help keep boaters safe on our waterways.”
From February 1, 2009, the analogue 121.5MHz signal will no longer be picked up by the international satellite system.
To comply with the new requirement, 406 MHz beacons must also be registered with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and carry a registration sticker.
“Each 406 MHz beacon – registered to an individual person and their craft - carries a unique identification code, transmitted when the beacon is activated,” Mr Tripodi said.
“The unique code provides vital information about the registered boat and its owner – ensuring a faster and more effective search and rescue response appropriate to the vessel size. The analogue beacon provided only a position to rescuers.
One hundred and forty one distress beacons were activated between January and March this year.
One hundred and eight of those signals were inadvertent, malicious or the source could not be located, which wastes precious rescue resources.
In the 1998 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, six sailors died, 55 people were rescued, five vessels sank and 66 boats retired from the race when multiple storms merged and hurricane force winds and waves descended on the fleet.
“Most the yachts were fitted with 121 beacons. If this new technology was available it could have helped with the rescue response,” Mr Tripodi said.
“The advances in technology are outstanding and boaters should take advantage of this,” Mr Tripodi said, “While the changes become law for larger vessels, recreational boaters should also consider making the switch.”
Operators of commercial vessels (Class A, B or C) working in offshore waters must also make the switch to 406 MHz distress beacons under these new rules.
“Boaters must switch to using 406 MHz distress beacons ahead of February next year for safety’s sake.”
Skippers of vessels 8m or larger are required by law to carry a distress beacon – as well as other safety equipment such as a combination of distress flares - when operating two nautical miles or more from the coast.
It is also recommended skippers of smaller vessels heading offshore also carry a distress beacon.
“As an additional safety measure, any skipper going offshore should use their marine radio to alert the volunteer marine radio network with details of the expected journey, and then log off on return,” Mr Tripodi said.
New beacon requirements are the result of an amendment to the Boating (Safety Equipment) Regulation – NSW, under the Maritime Services Act.
Mr Tripodi said NSW Maritime Boating Officers randomly check safety equipment, including distress beacons on vessels. Last year, more than 41,000 checks were conducted on NSW waters.
(Robin's Note: The Aussies are having their problems with the change over to the 406. Aussie law states that any boat sailing over 3 miles offshore, and all boats nornally travel futher than that just to get past the Great Barrier Reef, must have a EPIRB on board. While the Aussies seem to have this under control. There is also a requirement that anyone traveling in the Outback must also have a PLB. Now that change over to the 406 seems to be slow in coming and what I am told stalled due to Aussie politics....)
ONE BRIGHT clear afternoon in 1986, the ship M.V. Doña Josefina sailed from Isabel, Leyte carrying more than 200 passengers. Fifteen minutes later, the ship inexplicably started to list, and, to the horror of the passengers, sink.
The cause of the tragedy: the ship's cargo officer stored too much cargo in the ship's stern, or rear. The fatal imbalance led to the death of 150 people.
One December evening in 1987, a tanker filled with gasoline, oil and other combustible products floated perilously near a ship overloaded with 4,000 passengers. The lookout was missing from the tanker's deck. Minutes later, a collision occurred, and then explosions. The result was the Doña Paz tragedy.
Culled from reports of the Philippine Coast Guard, these major maritime disasters underscore how dangerously ill-trained many of the country's seamen are in steering through major waterways.
The lack of competent seamen, the dilapidated state of many vessels, and the absence of minimal safety navigational aids are the main causes of tragedies in Philippine seas.
These problems continue year after year because of a regulatory environment that keeps passenger and cargo rates artificially low and gives little concern to safety standards.
As government moves to free rates and routes, the shipping industry expects safety standards to improve. But still, many are stressing the need for a vigilant regulator that will ensure minimum standards are met. Many fear that greedy ship owners may take the opportunity to charge more without improving service or safety.
The shipping industry is the most frequently used inter-island transportation of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos. Third class passage on a domestic liner costs less than a quarter of the cheapest airfare, making ships the only affordable means of transport for many.
More than 80 percent of maritime accidents are due to human error committed by ship officers, according to PCG Commodore Carlos Agustin.
Whether by misreading the ship's radar or failing to issue evacuation orders, ship's officers have caused accidents and the loss of lives.
Poorly trained seamen seep through the system because of a testing and registration system that is rife with corruption.
For years, the shipping industry expressed skepticism over the large percentage of students-80 to 90 percent-who passed marine engineer and seamen exams administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
Last year, their suspicions were indirectly confirmed. After the PRC computerized the testing process in July 1992, the number of examinees who passed plunged to barely 20 percent. "This is probably the best thing that happened to the shipping industry," according to Capt. Victor Basco, former Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator and today, a shipping company official.
The low rate of passing reflects on the country's shipping schools. A Norwegian study noted many schools are substandard and lack crucial equipment. And if there are good schools, such as the Philippine Merchant Marine School, almost 100 percent of its graduates choose to work abroad.
The reason: Overseas ships pay their crew as much as 500 percent more than domestic vessels, according to Capt. Herby Escutin of the Maritime Safety Office.
Industry sources estimate that the highest captain's pay in the domestic liner industry is about P20,000 a month. For smaller liners, it can be as low as P6,000. The crew's salary is much lower. Given such pay scales, only few of the competent mariners are enticed to work locally.
But when companies pay their crews well, safety records invariably look up. Basco cites the record of a company that hauls oil products for Shell Philippines. It pays its captain an unheard of sum P35,000 monthly, and charges its clients accordingly. He says the company, so far, has had a sterling safety record.
Hiring competent crew and paying well is just one part of the story. Ship owners also need to enforce more bridge discipline among its crew officers to avoid accidents.
"They shouldn't be singing, entertaining women and playing the guitar while on bridge watch," says Agustin. "The shipping companies are very, very remiss in bridge discipline and organization."
The seaworthiness of vessels is another issue that affects safety at sea. The average age of vessels in this country is between 20 and 27 years old.
Local shipping companies are unable to buy new ships because of the costs involved. One of the most recent acquisitions of William Lines this year was a second hand, 20-year-old vessel from Japan. The cost: $13.8 million or about P300 million.
In itself, age does not necessarily mean that a ship is unsafe for as long as it complies with certain maintenance standards, says Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Paciencio Balbon, Jr. But few vessels in the country can afford to do so.
Filipino safety experts dream of requiring all vessels to be classed by reputable international and local classification societies to ensure seaworthiness, but government officials doubt whether this is feasible.
"We would if we could," says Balbon. "But if we did that, probably two-thirds of the ships would not sail."
Similarly, Agustin asks: "Can we really afford to impose strict safety rules? I don't think we can. If we do that, we will stop the operation of almost all ships. If we stop their operations, the industry will be filled with colorum (illegal) vessels."
Balbon says, "The real culprit here is economics." He explains that little investments have been made by ship owners in hiring the best crew and buying the best ships and maintaining them because passenger and cargo rates have remained so low.
"Even if you give them brand new ships, if they don't earn enough money to maintain them, these ships will deteriorate in five years," he says.
Unattractive returns also appears to be behind the perennial problem of overloading and poor service in the industry.
Overloading is a major safety issue mainly because ships are required to have a number of life rafts and life jackets that correspond exactly to the official passenger and crew capacity of the ship.
But a U.S. Agency for International Development study noted that shipping companies try to compensate for the low rates set by government by overloading with more passengers than allowed.
Third class passage from Manila to Cebu costs about P403 per person. This includes meals, which passengers say consists of scraps of tasteless viands and rice shoveled from large vats.
To make more money, some shipping companies have been known to hold back the sale of tickets during peak season, leading passengers to resort to scalpers, Marina officials say.
But passengers too have been known to be impervious to dangers of overloading. "It is very hard to regulate where there are many violators," says Agustin. In many cases, he says, the Coast Guard inspectors are insulted by angry passengers and threatened by police chiefs and town mayors when they try to prevent an overloaded ship from sailing.
Balbon says that government's moves to deregulate rates, seek cheap financing for shipping companies and help the industry obtain tax incentives from Congress can improve the safety outlook in the industry over the long term.
Many stress, however, the necessity of ensuring strict monitoring of safety standards in the face of deregulation.
Beyond the problem of economics, a culture of neglect and indifference to safety appears to be present in many areas of the industry. Shipping executives say some companies skimp on steel during vessel overhaul, replace parts only when they break down, and leave problems uncorrected if they can get away with it.
The USAID briefly considered the idea of recommending that third class passenger rates be raised during the peak season to allow companies to earn more. But the idea was shelved because the consultants thought the ship owners would merely use it as an excuse to increase fares without improving service or safety.
The US Supreme Court reduced the punitive damages that had been assessed against Exxon Shipping Company as a result of the 1989 EXXON VALDEZ oil spill from $2.5 billion to about $500 million. The opinion is lengthy (61 pages) and complex, with one concurring opinion and three opinions concurring in part and dissenting in part. One Justice (Alito) did not participate because he holds Exxon stock. The Court was equally divided on whether maritime law provides for corporate liability for punitive damages based on the acts of managerial agents (in this case, Captain Hazelwood, the master). Thus, the opinion of the Ninth Circuit allowing for such liability is undisturbed. The Court determined that federal law, including the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), as it existed in 1989 did not preempt punitive damage awards in marine pollution cases. This portion of the opinion may well have been decided differently if the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) had been applicable to EXXON VALDEZ spill.
Finally, the Court examined in detail the issue of whether the punitive damage award against Exxon (originally $5 billion) was excessive as a matter of maritime common law. Because there have been so few examples of such awards under maritime law, the Court also looked to land-based law for guidance. While it recognized that punitive damages are aimed at retribution and deterring harmful conduct, it found that the unpredictability of high punitive damage awards is in tension with their function because of the implication of unfairness that an eccentrically high punitive verdict carries.
The Court ruled that a penalty should be reasonably predictable in its severity and should threaten defendants with a fair probability of suffering in like degree for like damage. The Court then examined various methodologies for determining an appropriate level of punitive damages. After discarding several methods as unworkable, the Court ruled that a 1:1 ratio between compensatory damages and the upper limit of punitive damages was appropriate. Since the lower courts had set the compensatory damages in this case at $507.5 million, the Supreme Court ruled that the same amount should be maximum punitive damages award in this case. The case was remanded to the Ninth Circuit for appropriate action consistent with the opinion. Note: In theamicus curiae brief filed by Chet Hooper of this firm on behalf of the International Chamber of Shipping, the Baltic and International Maritime Council, the Chamber of Shipping of America, Teekay Corporation, and the Bahamas Shipowners Association, he contended that general maritime law does not support the award of punitive damages for vicarious liability (an issue on which this Court was unable to reach consensus) and stated that the Court should (as they have done here) establish clear standards for the award of punitive damages in areas of general maritime law not governed by treaties or statutes.
Justice Scalia, joined by Justice Thomas, concurred, but noted that, in his opinion, the Due Process Clause provides no substantive protection against “excessive” or “unreasonable” awards of punitive damages. Justice Stevens concurred with the initial parts of the Court’s opinion, but felt that any limits on punitive damage awards should be left for Congress to decide. Justice Ginsberg filed a separate opinion, concurring with Justice Stevens. Justice Breyer filed a separate opinion largely concurring with the ruling of the Court, but taking the position that an exception to the 1:1 ratio should be allowed in exception circumstances. He did state, though, that the 1:1 ratio was warranted in the Exxon case. The Court has put off until another day any ruling on whether maritime law allows for vicarious liability. Unfortunately, this leaves the federal court courts divided on this important issue. Overall, though, the broad uncertainty that previously existed with regard to punitive damage awards has been clarified. Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, No. 07-219 (June 25, 2008).Marine Safety Investigation Report - FinalIndependent investigation into the cargo hold fire on board the Chinese registered bulk carrier Jin Hui on 25 January 2008.
Independent investigation into the cargo hold fire on board the Chinese registered bulk carrier Jin Hui on 25 January 2008
At 1230 on 9 February 2008, the Chinese registered bulk carrier Jin Hui berthed in Geelong, Australia. The ship's master had previously informed Australian authorities that there had been a fire in the ship's number three cargo hold. As a result, the emergency services were on standby when the ship arrived in Geelong.
When the number three cargo hold was opened, it was apparent that only two small areas of the cargo (palm kernel expeller) had been affected. These small areas of cargo were still smouldering so they were sprayed with water and then discharged onto the wharf.
At 1530, the local fire authority declared the fire extinguished. The ship's normal cargo discharge was then allowed to begin.
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