Skip to main content

MEDIA DRAMA

Pine Island Glacier

Reference navigation book


More usual World maritime routes



Showing Antarctica and infrequently used southern maritime routes



 
It is NAUTICAL LOG believes fair to say that the Media have become "news creators" rather than just reporting accurately what has happened in the World as news.  Examples of this are seen daily, in fact hourly, particularly when criminal activity is involved, as the various Media groups led by CNN and FOX rush to be "in with it first" this they well may be  - but is it accurate?  Unfortunately the answer is it is not.  The Boston Marathon bombing reporting is a prime example of the rush to be first -  inaccurately.

Taking just our own profession about which we seafarers do know what we are talking about reports of maritime incidents and events are usually scrambled, do not use the correct maritime terminology, a fine example are reports of cruise ship incidents, which is not that difficult to become familiar with or Google® for the correct term to use thus enhancing the report.

Just this month there was a report of an iceberg separating from Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica which was variously described, depending no doubt on where the reporter resided, as being the size of Manhattan, NY or Singapore.  (See the photo above.)  Some of the reports then went on to say that it posed a hazard to shipping.  Well now of course if one was in Southern Ocean above 70° South Latitude it is theoretically possible that there is some degree of danger.  However these icebergs are tracked and regularly reported to shipping and what vessels are in these high southern latitudes? Most likely during the season are the Japanese Whaling Fleet and of course the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society trying to spoil the spoils of the whaling.

Even vessels on regular passage around Cape Horn, Chile which is at 58° South Latitude, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa which is at 35° South Latitude, and Stewart  Island, NZ which is at 47° South Latitude should be quite safe as these are not really in the high latitudes of the Southern hemisphere.  So it would seem that regular maritime shipping trading routes and vessels would not be much affected. (See the maps above.)

Once again the drama of the Media and its inaccurate news creating are cause for persons not paying to much attention to particular news groups which have a built in bias that is certainly not fair, accurate and unafraid as one of them claims. 

Good Watch.

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