Skip to main content

FRIDAY UPDATE

Well it seems  we are still connected with piracy; comes the publication this month of BMP 4.  This is the handy Pocket Piracy Guide by ABS Classification Society.  The pre-publishing blurb states that it is laminated and written in easy-to-read format.  It would seem that ABS does not consider seafarers to be particularly well educated - is NAUTICAL LOG just particularly touchy today?  It lists areas of piracy, actions to be taken in the event of an attack, and suggests scenarios for training and drills.  Well now since arming ourselves and extreme response is NOT encouraged by International Maritime Authorities perhaps we could use the BMP4 to beat the thugs over the head as they board - it is after all laminated so should stand up to the abuse.  You're quite right NAUTICAL LOG is really pissed off and very touchy today!!


On another topic there seems to be a conspiracy amongst naval architects to design ships as ugly as possible.  The cruise ships coming off the assembly lines, with very few exceptions, have all the elegance of human container vessels.  Of course in reality this is exactly what they are.  The oil industry workboats are equally ugly, however in their case it is possibly justified by functionality.



PX 105 PSV - Chinese built
Then there is this one which we are given to understand is a seismic exploration vessel.  NAUTICAL  LOG is quite sure these designs have been 'nautically-scienced' to death and tank tested to exhaustion however their final - could well be too - test will come when they are caught at sea in very heavy weather with no handy shelter to head for.  Lots of fun to berth alongside and bunker too!!
Ramform seismic vessel

Good Watch.


Still hoping that other maritime themed Blogs will finally join us in commenting after Posts we ask that this 9/11 weekend you also remember your fellow seafarers, some 400, held captive by pirates both ashore and off the coast of Somalia.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PAINT LOCKER FIRES

The photographs above are revealing in several ways, lets have a look. Clearly the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) vessel JS "Kurama" impacted the Korean container ship MS "Carina Star" just aft of the turn of the fo'cs'le on the Starboard side. Please note that's the Starboard side, thus it appears JS "Kurama" would have shown "Carina Star" the red port sidelight and "Carina Star" would have shown JS "Kurama" the green starboard sidelight. This impact point would tend to suggest that JS "Kurama" was the 'stand-on' vessel and the MS "Carina Star" is the 'giving-way' vessel. Until there is a complete plot of the tracks made good of both these vessels and the position in the Kanmon Strait of the point of collision no determination can actually be made. As a result of this impact there was severe bow damage to JS "Kurama" and in addition a massive f

HOW TO WEAR A LIFEJACKET

A popular U.S.-based cruise ship style A popular European ferry style Several times during the year NAUTICAL LOG has had visitors searching for lifejacket instructions. With two just over Christmas we decided to publish something for everybody to see and read. Choose a Coast Guard approved life-jacket and make sure it is undamaged. Make sure life-jackets are readily accessible, never locked away. Check the fit, there are adult, child and infant sizes, the correct one MUST be used. Choose bright colour life-jackets so as to be seen easily by Search and Rescue (SAR). Put your life-jacket ON BEFORE you leave the berth. Make sure you have a light and whistle attached AND they BOTH WORK. Good Watch

BOUILLABAISSE

TAAF Service vessel operated by CMA CGM TAAF Regional flag Well now let us see if here at NAUTICAL LOG we have got a grasp on things simmering in the pot. It seems that when the anti-whaling campaign started out some years ago it was between Greenpeace, the Sea Shepherds and the Japanese whaling fleet. The Australians came down to their own Southern Ocean Territory in a chartered civilian vessel one year. Beyond taking photographs and returning some Sea Shepherds to their ship the MS "Steve Irwin" not much was accomplished. The Greenpeace crowd then dropped out and Animal Planet boarded the MS "Steve Irwin" to shoot 'reality TV' and so Whale Wars came into being. This resulted in some deplorable behaviour on all sides and some appalling exhibitions of seamanship - or rather total lack of seamanship by the Sea Shepherds. But now there was money coming in which could be spent on - well nobody really knows what the money is spent on. New Zealand made it q