NAUTICAL LOG

  Regular readers will have noticed that NAUTICAL LOG now Posts occasionally on religious subjects in addition to nautical subjects.  These are printed in blue script so that those not in the least interested can ignore them and go on with something more important in their lives.  Of course they may have to answer for their decision later on but that is not our problem  NAUTICAL LOG is not in the missionary business just opinion and information. In view of the importance of the Blog subject matter we have an independent Administrator going through the Blog Posts.  She has decided that all comments that came in headed ANONYMOUS should be deleted even if signed at the end.  As a result the Blog now automatically deletes any comment with ANONYMOUS in the 'subject matter' .  So if you wish your comment to be considered it is necessary to fill in the 'subject matter' otherwise it will vanish into cyberspace and you will have wasted your tim...

  Ad majorem Dei gloriam   On his return to Rome from Brazil Pope Francis 1 gave an impromptu Press Conference in the aircraft.  This was to the surprise of the 'V aticanisti ' travelling with him but the contents of his talk were what amazed everybody the most.  It was once again interesting to note the concern on the faces of the Papal entourage ranging from that concern to puzzlement and "please shut-up and sit down".   But no he carried on talking and has thrown a real Papal spanner in the Papal machine which was already in need of a complete overhaul.  As a result the usual Vatican talking heads and those religious commentators of the Media are somewhat lost for words - not completely of course that will never happen - but definitely somewhat lost.   The main point of this quite long conversation with the Media while leaning over the back of the seats was on the sexual orientation and practices of persons and as a result their relat...

Ad majorem Dei gloriam This week Pope Francis 1 who heads up the Roman Catholic Church as against the resigned Pope Benedict 26 who lives in retirement within the Vatican State, made his first overseas trip.  Since it now appears Pope Benedict resigned but did not abdicate, still wears the Papal White he may be regarded as the True Pope by many traditional Roman Catholics both Lay and Clergy.  The Pope Francis visit was to Brazil only, which is interesting in and of itself because Brazil is relatively next door to his native nation of Argentina that he will not visit. The Head of State of the Vatican State is making an Official Visit to Brazil a Sovereign Nation and thus is accorded all the courtesies and protection by both Diplomatic Tradition and International Law.  But what happens?  After his flight by Alitalia from Rome, Italy to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil he is greeted by the usual diplomatic greeting comm...

Panulirus argus   If you are not a resident of South Florida you may not know about the annual " mini lobster season " which are known as "bugs" around here. This does not mean that you can catch mini-lobsters - far from it - it means the season is mini in fact just two days.  It runs from 0001 today Wednesday to 2359 tomorrow Thursday and the Law Enforcement for this mini-season is intense.  On water patrols and shore duty will be the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officers www.MyFWC.com for all the Regulations, Miami-Dade Police both ashore and on the water, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue ashore and on the water, and the USCG.  The Patrols will be both the usual marked vehicles and boats but also unmarked vehicles, boats and Zeus - the hidden lobster finding dog - who is pretty good at his job according to FWC Officer Caitlyn Kirkland. Frankly NAUTICAL LOG ( who is a big seafood fan ) has never seen the point...

The Italian Justice System is just a little hard to understand.  Judging from the behavior of some of the Lawyers after the sentencing of five crew from the MS Costa Concordia it is hard for them to understand as well. While it is understandable that the Italian Bridge Watch Officers at the time of her grounding would receive some punishment it is unbelievable that the helmsman, an Indonesian seafarer named Jacob Risli Bin, would also be punished. The duties of a helmsman are clearly defined by the traditions of the sea as well as in Maritime Law.  They are to steer the ship on a given compass course, shore leading marks, or a point of land in accordance to orders given by the Officer of the Watch (OOW).  In fact until ordered by the OOW or the Master if conning, the helmsman must not alter from that basic heading.  How the Italian Court could even consider punishing the Indonesian helmsman Jacob Risli Bin under Maritime Law or indeed any Law ( even Itali...

So it seems after having a pretty rough time getting a U.S. Passenger Certificate the MS Bimini Superfast sailed this morning.   A lot of her problems were clearly her own fault in not making sure the crew was fully and properly trained.  However she was also put through the grinder by the Chief of Inspection of the USCG-MSO Miami Sector.  MS Bimini Superfast  was scheduled to sail at 0900 and at present 1200 is underway at 27.5 knots towards Bimini, Bahamas. NAUTICAL LOG has added in an AIS link so vessels can be tracked worldwide by those readers interested in doing so. Good Watch.

MS Bimini Superfast  Finally after weeks of delay, many inspections, much pulling of rank, pushing the Port State Inspection parameters to the limit, the USCG-MSO 7th. District Chief of Inspection has cleared the Genting Resorts World vessel MS Bimini Superfast.   Day trips to Bimini, Bahamas from the Port of Miami, Florida will begin on July 20, 2013.  According to the Chief of Inspection the issues involving the fire safety systems and back-up power systems have been resolved.  For now, as suggested by NAUTICAL LOG , the ship will make day trips only departing Miami at 0900 and arriving back in Miami at 1900.  The inaugural 2200 to 0600 overnight trips will begin in early August, 2013.  So the first day voyage will be on Saturday July 20, 2013 from 0900 to 1900 round trip. Good Watch.

On November 08, 2010 the Carnival Group passenger ship MS Carnival Splendor caught fire off the Pacific coast of Mexico.  This caused a series of problems for the Carnival Group which showed an inherent weakness in their safety protocol.  This incident was repeated in the MS Carnival Triumph in February 2013.  Of course an investigation was launched by the United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Office due to the ship sailing from an United States port on a cruise with mostly United States citizens as passengers.  A Report of some fifty-one (51) pages by USCG-MSO of this incident has now been published.  Various summaries of the Report  are available online and the full Report is published on the USCG HOMEPORT website.  NAUTICAL LOG has extracted from the Report the key points to use in this Post. Currently the MS Bimini Superfast is trying to obtain a U.S. Passenger Certificate to operate between the Port of Miami, FL and ...

    UPDATED: July 12, 2013 as to Classification of Steel Ships. Once again there is a report in this morning's The Miami Herald stating that the MS Bimini Superfast has failed a USCG-MSO Inspection and yet another issue raised by Commander Janet Espine-Young, USCG. According to the newspaper, and we quote:  "The 32,000 ton casino boat needs more overhead sprinklers before it can carry passengers to the Bahamanian island resort, where it recently opened a casino.  It is unclear when the 1,500-passenger ship will meet those fire protection standards, said U.S. Coast Guard inspector Janet Espine-Young." Alright all  seafarers would agree that the recent series of incidents in cruise ships sailing from the Gulf Of Mexico and South Florida U.S. Ports warrants serious safety inspections.  However enough is enough, there are limits and this is becoming somewhat ridiculous.  In reply the president of Resorts World Bimini www.rwbimini.com Mr...

  When the MS Bi mini Superfast was operating as the MS Superfast VI in Europe she was under Greek Registry.  So for example if she was on one of the Adriatic ferry runs say from Ancona, Italy to Patras, Greece she would have a Flag State of Greece and a Port State of Italy.  Each of these countries would be responsible to see that she operated safely under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Code of the Seafarer's Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code (STCW).  Both these countries are as European Union Nations members of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). Since in theory all vessels are subject to and follow IMO-STCW this vessel should have arrived here in the United States in a state of readiness to operate after its Port State inspection by our USCG.  The MS Bimini Superfast arrived here in the Port of Miami, FL under the Flag State of the Republic of Panama fully certified by her Flag State to carry passengers on...

Genting Resorts World is becoming one of the best known cruise lines trying to operate out of the Port of Miami, Florida. One says trying because once again it has fallen on its face and once again has to deal with negative PR.  Lets take a look at how it all began. On July 03, 2013 there appeared in The Miami Herald a full page ad in red and blue inks announcing that from July 04 to 07 their ship MS Bimini Superfast would be open to the public from 0900 to 2100 each day.  Frankly on reading this announcement NAUTICAL LOG was amazed as there have not been ship tours open to the public at the Port of Miami since 9/11 due to Federal Port Security requirements.  Again something that comes under the USCG umbrella of responsibility.  Well nothing ventured nothing gained so NAUTICAL LOG headed down to the Port of Miami this morning and after finding parking - a nightmare in itself - we went through security at Terminal "F" only to then find out that the ship...

NLIN #9 - 2013. The following M-Notices are now available at www.dft.gov.uk/mca if an problems call 023 8032 9391 MGN 466 (M) The Rescue Boat Code (The Code of Practice for Open Rescue Boats of Less Than 15 Metres in Length. MGN 493 (M+F) The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work( )Asbestos) Regulations 2010 as amended by the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work) (Asbestos) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. MGN 495 (M+F) Certificate of Competency for Master and Officer of the Watch Tug less than 500GT and 3000GT near coastal and Certificate of Proficiency for Tug Rating. MGN 496 (M+F) Certificate of Competency for Master Workboat less than 500GT unlimited. Good Watch.

    ADDITIONAL NOTES:     No doubt as a result of our Posts on the Genting MS Bimini Superfast NAUTICAL LOG received a request for information this afternoon regarding Bimini, Bahamas and where the MS Bimini Superfast will be berthing.   As far as NAUTICAL LOG can ascertain there is no alongside berthing for a vessel the size of the MS Bimini Superfast at Bimini.  It appears the vessel will anchor close to the Island and tenders ( small vessels ) will transfer the passengers ashore to the marina.  Now when this vessel operated in the Mediterranean a procedure known as a 'Mediterranean Moor' was used.  The vessel backed into the quay and used an anchor and stern lines to secure the vessel in position.  It is actually a pretty neat piece of ship-handling seamanship and examples can be seen on YouTube ® one of which is the MS Superfast VI   the previous name of the MS Bimini Superfast...