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NLIN #3 - 2014

The following M - Notices are available at www.dft.gov.uk if you have problems call 023 8032 9391 MIN 475 (M+F) UNESCO Commemoration of the First World War Centenary. MGN 501 (F) Codes of Practice for Fishing Vessels of 24 metres and over - Standards which may be used to prepare for your MCA Surveys. MGN 502 (F) The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels - Standards which can be used to prepare for your MCA Inspection. MGN 505 (M) Human Elements Guidance - Part 1 Fatigue and Fitness for Duty: Statutory Duties, Causes of Fatigue and Guidance on Good Practice. Good Watch.

C S I (CONTINUED)

Passenger Boat Drill with Officer checking off those assigned to his Boat As the second day of the NTSB hosted cruise ship safety forum continued cruise line executives described what steps have been taken for safety.  NTSB Chairperson Deborah Hersman asked how would this work in real life?  It is a much needed question which past experiences by NAUTICAL LOG , a former cruise line Safety Officer and the industry itself in more recent times has shown not too well.  The attempted abandon ship when the MS Costa Concordia was put on the rocks through careless navigation being a recent example with the loss of 32 persons both passengers and crew. During the second day NTSB Deborah Hersman pointed out this evacuation did not even begin until the ship was listed.  Most passengers managed to escape, some in lifeboats and life rafts some by jumping into the water and swimming ashore.  She asked the question: "Do we have the capability to evacuate, launch and rescue the number

CRUISE SHIP INSPECTIONS

  Always of interest in South Florida is the Cruise Ship Industry and of particular interest to NAUTICAL LOG is cruise ship safety.  As a result of numerous incidents in the Carnival Group vessels not least of which was the tragedy of the MS Costa Concordia the Harmonized Verification Program (HAVEP) was initiated for passenger ships.  This program was carried out between January 01, 2013 and December 31, 2013.  The results showed that: Two passenger ships were detained over the 12 month period as a direct result of HAVEP for deficiencies related to operation control and emergency preparedness. While the results of HAVEP indicate reasonable overall compliance with SOLAS requirements for passenger ships, both from an operational point of view and hardware it should be noted that: in 19 out of 232 inspections a deficiency was recorded against a fire drill in 20 inspections a deficiency was recorded against an abandon ship drill The objective of HAVEP was to obtain a v

MEDIA MADNESS

With the tragedy of flight MH 370 the Media has had flights of fancy indeed at times madness led by CNN which has nonstop 24/7 coverage.  There are a few experienced pilots who try to give accurate information.  This is almost immediately overridden by some bimbo reporter determined not to be educated by the professionals.  So the most incredible speculation has taken place since there is nothing else available. To this is added the incompetence of the Malaysian Government which does not normally have either press conferences or a public relations department as usually the Malaysian Media uses only the government press handouts since all media is government controlled. This Ad from Malaysian Airlines introducing the Boeing 777 two years ago landed on my desk this morning and it is to say the least unfortunate.  It is an example of carefully wording an advert so as not to find oneself in this awkward position at a later date.  However a further e-mail from a resident in France i

FLIGHT MH 370

  For those of you who are following the at present very confused search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 here is a list of United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) marine navigational charts covering the apparent area of searching.  Since NAUTICAL LOG is not familiar with aeronautical chart numbers these can be researched on Google®.   However for this type of search tracking NAUTICAL LOG believes the nautical charts of the 4700 Series would be more practical to use. There is a link in our list of blogs to the UKHO website which has full information about their products.  It also has some excellent links to its other websites and partner websites well worth a look. Sailing Charts: (these cover broad areas) UKHO 4706   Bay of Bengal UKHO 4707   Maldives to Sumatra UKHO 4708   Indian Ocean Australia West Coast UKHO 4710  Cape Leeuwin to Southeast Indian Ridge (this one covers the debris area) UKHO 4713   Ile de la Reunion to Ile Saint-Paul UKHO 4714  

UNTIL NEXT YEAR

The Southern Ocean whaling season of 2014 is over.   JWF factory ship MS Nisshin Maru   As the weather conditions decrease the Japanese Whaling Fleet (JWF) has left for its home port in Japan with the MS Nisshin Maru seen on AIS crossing 60° South latitude at just after 0200 AEDT March 13, 2014. As to the number of whales slaughtered this season as of yet there is no published count. However it would seem to be a from the Japanese point-of-view a reasonably successful season.  The anti-whaling efforts were less than effective with a poorly led, highly confused, disorganized, preventative operation.  One of the anti-whaling vessels left early and is already berthed in Australia with the other two still at sea on passage.  NAUTICAL LOG has learned from a source within the anti-whaling community that there was strong conflict between the ships captains as to the leadership of the anti-whaling operation.  No doubt in the weeks ahead as those on board the vessels talk to

NLIN #2 - 2014

M-Notice Notification The following M-Notices are now available at www.dft.gov.uk/mca If you have any problems call 023 8032 9391 for assistance. MIN 474 (M) Training and Certification - Changes to IAMI Officer of the Watch Written Examinations. MIN 476 (M+F) Codes of Practice for Controlling Risks due to Noise and Vibration on Ships. MGN 504 (M) Maritime Passenger Rights: Role of the National Enforcement Body. Good Watch.

INDIAN POWER

Many times when one needs assistance or help with computer problems one finds oneself talking to India.  They are always most gracious and helpful though it often takes rather a long time to get things solved.  Understand however that their concept of the computer hardware may just be a little different than our concept of computer hardware and feeding power.  So to help you understand here are three photos sent to NAUTICAL LOG this morning with that in mind.  They may also explain that while the software may come from India the hardware thankfully does not. Good Watch.    

THE WRONG SIDE

Amongst the Ukrainians fighting in the streets of Kiev to change their government and the violence between the elected government and the protesters there were many groups each with their flags of which most noticeable were the black and red of the OUN and UPA .  Then finally Russian troops without insignia entered the Crimea with the clear support of most of the peninsula residents.  These Russian troops were supported by local defence forces and the Cossacks.  Now it seems the Crimea will return to the Russian Federation where it actually belongs.  It was in a political moment given to the Socialist Republic of the Ukraine by the Soviet Union under Khrushchev for economic reasons in 1954.  The current United States Administration should step back from its current position on the politics of this region.  In fact if they have any real understanding of its history they will realize they may well be on the wrong side.  The history of the Ukraine is one of changing sides in mid-st

A MAN OBSESSED

  When Pope Benedict resigned as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church a year ago there was great surprise outside of the Vatican.  Not so within the Vatican.  With the election of this Argentine Jesuit who became Pope Francis in a great rush within two weeks of Pope Benedict's Resignation  there was great excitement outside the Vatican.  Once again no so within the Vatican. Amongst many of the clergy and lay persons of the Roman Catholic Church there is a wariness of this too quickly elected Pope.  There is also a realisation that Pope Benedict did not Abdicate, still wears the Papal white and is now Pope Emeritus.  As it turns out today, this second day of Lent, thankfully so.  Recently when the new Cardinals were chosen to replace those retiring from electing a Pope, when this next becomes necessary, to observe Canon Law both Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis were present together. The man Francis is so obsessed at being popular that it seems he will go to sensational

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

A pathetic picture of total ignorance In complete disgust at this picture of total ignorance on how to wear a uniform and the shameful misuse of rank insignia NAUTICAL LOG will cease to publish any further Posts about the activities of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. One supposes for most of you this will be a huge relief but for those few of you who like to read our Posts about the SSCS enough is enough.  Being of any assistance to this now quite useless anti-whaling group is abhorrent.  If you really do want to read about them visit their website. NAUTICAL LOG never though we would say this but we actually miss " Wats-his-name " at least his bombastic propaganda was consistent and did make some sense. Good Watch.

REPETITION

Stating the obvious this year is 2014. Stating the not so obvious it is the hundredth (100) anniversary of the start of World War 1 from 1914 to 1918.  Our family being Europeans were of course caught up in this with pride of nation being the war cry of the day volunteered to fight in the trenches of France and Belgium. It all started with the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria who was the heir presumptive of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  He and his wife Sophie were shot dead on the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina by a group formed of Serbian military, various nationalists and anarchists.  By July 1914 the various European powers were aligned against each other sabre rattling which led to what became known in Europe as the "Great War" and the "War to end all Wars" - it was and did neither.  When growing up this war was always referred too as "The Great War" in our family, there were photos, some with medals attached, of fam

WEEKEND PROPAGANDA

UPDATE: Dated March 04, 2014 and published under the title " Captain Hammarstedt Responds to Greg Hunt " there is on the SSA website the supposed exchange with Minister Hunt.  NAUTICAL LOG does not have a second source to confirm if this exchange actually took place.  Considering the propaganda published over the weekend the veracity of information coming from SSA sources is to put it mildly suspect.  One may visit and read the website and make a personal assessment as to its truthfulness.  It is the further opinion of NAUTICAL LOG that even the most loyal Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) supporter must be at least somewhat suspect of the information currently coming from the Sea Shepherd Australia (SSA) vessels and published on the SSA website. One might further point out this is a Swedish citizen telling an Australian government Minister how to act in running his government department.  If the situation was reversed and an Australian citizen was telling a Sw

PRIME SAFETY ISSUE

The prime safety issue at sea is the prevention of fire.  All the monitoring systems whether they be closed circuit TV or physical inspections throughout the ship by patrols are designed with that one purpose in mind.  Whatever the size of the vessel or whomever operates it must train the crew in this prime safety issue, then train them to respond and fight a fire in any part of the vessel whatsoever should an alarm be raised. In the last decades ships generally have increased in size and crews whenever it can be done by the operators have been reduced.  In some cases to levels which are inherently dangerous because there are not enough personnel to properly mann the response when an emergency occurs. During the last few years there have been numerous fires in various parts of passenger ships which have in some cases been quite quickly extinguished but in other cases have been major disasters fully covered in every detail by the Media with CNN in the forefront of this coverage. J