The Marine World

Port of Chennai, India

2022-04-28T08:03:00.003+05:30

Formerly known as Madras, the Port of Chennai is called by many the "Gateway to South India." Located on India's southern Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, the Port of Chennai is about 565 kilometers northeast of the Port of Cochin and some one thousand kilometers southeast of the Port of Mumbai. The Port of Chennai is an important cultural and administrative center and the capital of India's Tamil Nadu state. In 2001, over 4.3 million people lived in the city, and over 6.5 million lived in the urban area of the Port of Chennai.

The Port of Chennai is one of the oldest and biggest commercial ports in India. It was an important port for travelers before taking on its role in maritime trade. The Port of Chennai is a vital part of Tamil Nadu's growing economy, particularly for the growth in South India's booming manufacturing sector. Its major industries include factories that produce vehicles, rubber, and fertilizers as well as electrical engineering and a refinery. The major exports leaving the Port of Chennai are iron ore, leather, and cotton textiles. The major imports entering the Port of Chennai are wheat, raw cotton, machinery, and iron and steel.

The region surrounding the Port of Chennai has been an important military, administrative, and economic center since the 1st Century AD under the rule of many South Indian dynasties, including the Pallava, the Pandya, the Chola, and the Vijaynagar dynasties. The Christian apostle Thomas preached in the area between 52 and 70 AD.

The ancient town of Mylapore, which is now part of the Port of Chennai, was an important port for the Pallavan dynasty that reigned from the 6th to 9th Centuries. In 1522, the Portuguese built a port on the site of today's Port of Chennai, naming it Sao Tome after St. Thomas.

The Dutch arrived at Pulicat, some 33 kilometers north of the Port of Chennai, in 1613. In 1639, the British East India Company bought a band of coastline from Peda Venkata Raya, the Vihayanagara King, and the regional ruler, Damerla Venkatapathy, gave permission to the British to build a warehouse and factory on the site. The next year, the British established a colony called Madras and built Fort St. George on the site of the future Port of Chennai.

In 1746, French forces captured and plundered Madras, Fort St. George, and surrounding villages. Three years later, the Port of Chennai and town were returned to the British under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. They then strengthened the fort to defend the Port of Chennai from the French and from the increasingly powerful Sultan of Mysore.

Most of the southern India region had been conquered by the British by the late 1700s, and they established the Madras Presidency with Madras/Chennai as its capital. The future Port of Chennai flourished under British rule, becoming an important naval base and urban center.

At the time, the natural harbor was so shallow that ships had to anchor over a kilometer offshore, and cargo was delivered to and from the Port of Chennai shore in Masula boats. Cargo losses were high, and a 335-meter pier capable of berthing larger vessels was built in 1861. A cyclone destroyed the pier in 1881, and it was rebuilt in 1885.

In the late 19th Century, India's new railways connected the Port of Chennai to other important cities, like Bombay (Mumbai) and Calcutta (Kolkata), in the British colony. With stronger communications and trade routes, the port continued to grow.

In 1904, a new north-eastern entrance was added to control siltation in the basin. New quays were built in the Port of Chennai over the following decades. The South Quay opened in 1913. Five West Quay berths began operating between 1916 and 1920.

The Port of Chennai was the only city to be attacked by the Triple Alliance powers during World War I. A German cruiser, the SMS Emden, shelled the oil depot in 1914, and it raided vessels using the Indian Ocean shipping lanes, disrupting trade.

Between the world wars, the Port of Chennai gained new facilities. In the inner harbor, the North Quay was built in 1931, and South Quay II started operating as the Dr. Ambedkar Dock in 1936.

In 1947 when Indian won its independence, the Port of Chennai was made the capital of the Madras State, which was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969.

In 1961, the Port of Chennai's Jawahar Dock was inaugurated by India's Prime Minister, Bahadur Shastri. The Bharathi Dock was built in the outer harbor to handle vessels with as much as 16.2 meters draft. In 1970, an oil jetty was constructed to handle imports of crude oil destined for the Manali Oil Refinery (today the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited). In 1974, the Iron Ore berth was added to the Port of Chennai for exports to Japan and other countries in the Far East. Another oil jetty was added in 1985 to meet increasing demands for crude oil and petroleum products.

The Port of Chennai began handling containerized cargoes in the 1970s. A container terminal was built at the Bharathi Dock with a 380-meter quay, a 51 thousand square meter container yard, and a six thousand square meter container freight station. In 1991, the Port of Chennai's container terminal quay was lengthened by 220 meters. In 2001, the container terminal and back-up area was privatized through a 30-year concession with Chennai Container Terminal Private Limited. Continually increasing container traffic resulted in another 285-meter extension of the quay in 2002.

In 1996, the city of Madras was renamed Chennai, and the Madras Port Trust was renamed as Chennai Port Trust. In 2000, the Port of Chennai began to handle pure-car-carrier shipments of automobiles.

The 2004 tsunami devastated the shores of the Port of Chennai, taking many lives and permanently changing the face of the coast.

Oxygen Analyser

2017-10-18T15:04:00.002+05:30

Oxygen is vital for life and the presence of ample oxygen is an indicator that a space or tank is safe to get into. At the same time this very oxygen needs to be minimised in other situations. Whatever be the requirement, an oxygen analyzer is a must on board ships. Learn about its working principle

Introduction

There are various types of measuring instruments used on board ships for measuring different parameters such as salinity, ionic purity, pH, speed or depth. An oxygen analyzer is another such important equipment. Many times it is necessary to measure the oxygen content especially during situations of enclosed space entries and tank entry. It is advisable as well as mandatory to follow such procedures for the sake of safety of the human beings which enter these spaces. Oxygen content also needs to be noted during inert gas operations on tankers as well. In this article we will learn about the basic operating principle of a hand held oxygen analyzer.

Oxygen Analyzer

These analyzers come in various makes and models and we will be studying about one such analyzer namely the continuous reading type analyzer. The underlying theory behind the working of this type of oxygen meter is as follows.

The main property of oxygen which helps in its detection and measurement of its percentage in the given sample of air is that of Para-magnetism. Basically this means that oxygen gets attracted towards a magnetic field. The set up for measuring oxygen content using this property can be understood from the image shown below.

As you can see in the sketch there are two platinum resistance wires which are exposed to two different chambers. In the first chamber there is the air in which the oxygen content needs to be monitored plus there is an artificially created magnetic field, while the second chamber there is the same air but there is no magnetic field present in this chamber. The wires form a part of the Wheatstone bridge circuit and if you remember from your study of physics, the Wheatstone bridge is used to measure an unknown resistance by obtaining a balance between two legs of the circuit.

The air whose content has to be noted is supplied at one end and is filtered by passing it through a diffuser and goes on to the two chambers as shown in the picture. Hence while one chamber of the meter attracts oxygen the reference chamber attracts only air. This causes a difference in the temperature of the two wire sets because of the difference in thermal conductivity of oxygen with respect to air. This causes imbalance in the resistance of the bridge legs and the degree of this imbalance is in proportion to the oxygen content in the sample to be measured.

Flammability Diagram

2017-10-18T01:50:00.002+05:30

Fire hazard during a tank operation in vessels poses a major risk to the seafaring community. In this discussion: Flammability Diagram and it's understanding.

Cargo Operations in Tankers involve a lot of pre-planning and discussion to prevent any mishap. Proper procedures are to be followed during loading, unloading, tank cleaning or man-entry.

It is known that for any fire to start, it requires a minimum presence of 3 components: Air, Fuel, and Source of heat.

In the cargo tanks of vessel:

Cargo can play the role of fuel and completes one side of triangle.
Any spark or heat from adjacent compartment(from hot work) or even atmospheric heat can act as source of heat in the tanks.
The atmospheric air containing 21% oxygen serves to provide sufficient oxygen for the fire triangle to complete and a fire hazard to take place.
Removing any one side of the triangle will be an effective step to prevent fire hazard onboard.

Inert gas, which inerts the atmosphere of tank by keeping the oxygen content to a minimum breaks the fire triangle.The oxygen content in inert gas is around 5% and minimum oxygen concentration required for combustion is 8%. Onboard ship, the inert gas concentration is usually kept at 2% - 3%.

To study any tank atmosphere in ship, flammability diagram serves as an important tool.
Before learning how to draw this diagram, lets first have a look at it.

Flammability Diagram

The line AB represents the concentration of a mixture that includes air and hydrocarbon gases only. All the points to the left of the line AB includes the inert gas in the mixture. Those to right of the line AB and on the line AB doesn't include inert gas.

When inert gas is added to the tank atmosphere, the concentration inside the tank changes drastically. So does the upper and lower flammable limit of the mixture. It can be seen from the diagram that the UFL and LFL narrows down to converge at point E when inert gas is added.
It can be inferred that the flammability range of a mixture decreases with addition of inert gas.

Now let's assume a mixture of HC gas, air, inert gas such that it is at point a F in the graph.

If this mixture is diluted with air (Oxygen concentration 21%), then the new concentration of the mixture will follow a straight line drawn from F to the 21% mark on oxygen percentage (X- axis). i.e. Line FA.

It can be seen from the diagram that on diluting F with air, it passes through the flammable range and hence it poses a fire hazard.

To tackle this, we need to first Purge the tank with inert gas. Since inert gas has O2 concentration of around 2%, the concentration of mixture during purging process moves along the line FJ. J is the point of 2% oxygen concentration in inert gas.

The purging is continued till the mixture reaches point H. From H if the mixture is diluted with air of 21% oxygen, it will follow the line HA, which doesn't fall in flammable range. Hence safe condition is maintained throughout the process.

While looking at diagram we come across the term critical dilution limit (Line GA). Let's try to understand this term. The line GA passes by just touching the flammable range portion of diagram. If the mixture F would have been purged any less than point K (lying between F and L), then while diluting the mixture it would pass through the flammable range.

Thus critical dilution limit is the minimum amount of purging required to ensure that the mixture doesn't fall in flammable range while diluting wit hair.

From above, It is well understood that the use of inert gas itself doesn't guarantee the safe environment of tank during tank operations, until inert gas present is above the critical limit of the environment.

To be on the safer side, it is a common practise to continue purging the mixture F even beyond the critical dilution limit, to prevent any fire hazard due to tthe purged mixture passing trough flammable range during dilution with air.

The flammability diagram is an important point to be considered while chalking out strategies of tank operations. An understanding of flammability diagram is hence necessary to prevent any fire risk not only to oneself but also to fellow seafarers onboard

Anglo Eastern & Univan merge to form ‘ANGLO-EASTERN UNIVAN GROUP’

2015-08-15T15:44:00.000+05:30

Univan Ship Management has merged with fellow Hong Kong manager Anglo-Eastern to form ‘Anglo-Eastern Univan Group’.The merged business will be led by Peter Cremers as Executive Chairman, Bjorn Hojgaard as Chief Executive, Marcel Liedts as Chief Operating Officer and Mark Stevenson as Chief Financial Officer,univan said in its press release.

The deal would add around 100 ships to the Anglo-Eastern fleet, putting it close to the top of the global shipmanagement rankings.Describing it as “the largest ever merger of independent, third party ship management companies,” Anglo-Eastern said in press release the merger would create “significant scale advantages”.

Univan Ship Management was started by the late Captain C.A.J. Vanderperre, often referred to as the ‘father of ship management’. Vanderperre had set up Wallem Shipmanagement in the late 1960s as the world’s first dedicated third party manager, before going his own way to found Univan in 1973.When he died at the age of 87 in 2009, his wife decided to continue to run the Univan brand, installing well-known Hong Kong shipping personality Richard Hext at the helm who then poached shipmanagement veteran Bjorn Hojgaard from Singapore’s Thome to take the CEO role.

Started in 1974, the Anglo-Eastern Group was a home grown product and took off as a third party manager soon after a young Belgian executive with a degree in Naval Architecture (Peter Cremers) joined in 1985. Marcel Liedts soon joined Peter on the management team and, under their leadership, the managed fleet steadily grew. The company gained a reputation for first class safety and environmental standards and in 1998 it underwent a management buy-out, followed in 2001 by a merger with Denholm Ship Management, providing a presence in Europe.

The newly merged entity will have:

1,700+ shore based staff
24,000+ seafarers
600 ships under full management
100 ships under crew management only

Reasons Why Deck Cadets and Junior Engineers are Not Getting Jobs

2013-05-31T18:53:00.003+05:30

The recent financial crises have affected everyone in the maritime industry. Ship Jobs are scarce, though everyday you might hear in news that some top-notch company took in five new ships or increased its pool of employees. Strange it might seem to be, the fact remains that the gray clouds of unemployment are still not completely off the marine market place. The top rank professionals will swim smoothly, as they have always; however, those at the bottom has and will have to bear the brunt.

Talk to a freshly graduated junior engineer or deck cadet and I bet the only thing you would hear about is of getting a decent break (or even on any damn shitty ship would also do). They want jobs badly, I mean really bad! And why would they not? There are many who have taken loans for their maritime training and even have mortgages to clear off. In fact, that is what every one of us would do once we pass out from the college. Look for jobs! Right?

Unfortunately, the “situation of crises” has become a breeding ground for job agents and fraud shipping companies to do profitable business. They are charging $2000-$3000 dollars in return for a break; not to mention, one cannot expect it to be in some hot-shot company.

Sadly, these fresh graduates have started to succumb to the situation, and have even started considering shelling out the “asked price”. Result? Some have already received the much desired break, some are looking for sources to finance them, and some have fallen prey to fraud agents and shipping companies, who have taken the money and disappeared in thin air.

It’s a grim situation out there, where no one knows what to do and whom to blame. So, as the blaming-game continues, we try to pen down seven important points that we believe have been the real reason for the present dilemma.

1. Supply & Demand Imbalance

It might sound cliché, but the fact remains that the lack of equilibrium between the supply and demand of fresh professionals in the marine industry is the main reason behind the dearth of jobs, especially for newly graduates. Maritime academies are churning out marine engineers and deck cadets, doing their jobs pretty well and making huge profits, irrespective of the market condition.

However, they can’t be blamed because one cannot shut the institute for one year and then re-open it again whenever the need arises. Today, the need for deck cadets is less, tomorrow it can be more. So who is to blame? Probably the authority that gives the permission to open new institutes every month is at fault. However, the bottom line is until a balance is created between the demand and supply of seafarers, the scarcity of jobs will persist.

2. Inability of the Governmental Authority to take Concrete Steps

Governmental authorities should take concrete steps to solve the issue of unemployment for the fresh graduates. Or else, merchant navy would slowly lose its position as a prospective career option among students (The fact is it has already lost its lustre to a certain extent).

It is high time the government take a stand to help the freshly graduated cadets and engineers for getting placed in decent companies. Until this is done, both agents and shipping companies will not miss a single opportunity to earn profits from maritime professionals. Government needs to intervene and help these professionals with a decent break.

3. Lack of References = No Job Offer

Shocking but true, the trend of getting jobs using references is still a hot favourite method of getting a decent job. There have been several cases wherein average students have got jobs in top shipping companies because they have father or uncle working there as chief engineer or captain; whereas bright students are still jobless because either they don’t have a god father in the industry or lack hundred of dollars to pay as bribe.

Either ways, an unjust and unfair condition is being created which is eventually making the present situation grimmer. Though people might shout slogans against corruption or even get themselves enrolled in a debate against the same, the fact is, when it comes to personal level, the definition of immorality changes, drastically.

4. Shipping Companies Showing No Respect for Fresh Graduates

Let’s face the fact that a certain shipping company hires a fresh graduate with the sole intention and hope to retain him or her as a third officer or a fourth engineer once the necessary certifications are achieved. The companies don’t entertain newly graduates as respect to the degree or training they have. Don’t believe me? Visit a shipping company or a ship and see how the cadets and junior engineers are treated and you would get to know what I mean. We agree that they are fresh and naive, but they are future officers and captains. Give them their due respect.

The moral of the story is until the companies stop treating young professionals as “liabilities”, the loyalty will not have a place in employer-employee relationship, leading to reduction in retaining power of the company. Give respect, and get respect in return.

5. Unwillingness/Inability to Enter a Different Market

Unlike other fields, wherein graduates have options to enter other industries and domains, a seafarer is left with no other choice than to stick with the same field. Merchant navy is a specialized field, where only two types of people are found – one who loves money and one who loves the sea. So once a person shells out hundreds of dollars for his maritime training, he or she is least interested to explore other fields wherein the starting salary wouldn’t be even half of that offered in merchant navy. Moreover, the glamour attached with the field is also something that holds back maritime professionals to explore other domains. Try talking to a dozen of mariners; each one would talk about leaving the field, but I bet none would do so. Probably that’s why they say, “Once a mariner, always a mariner.” Moral of the story- there are several other opportunities as well. One needs to look beyond his or her mental block.

But this is just one side of the story. Most of the fresh maritime professionals won’t be able to land themselves with a decent job on land because the skilled they acquired are of no use on land. A marine engineer might be able to find a way, but a deck cadet will have a tough time making his way through the highly competitive market on land.

6. Improper/Inadequate Training

This might come a bit blunt on the fresh cadets and engineers. But lately there have been a huge lapse in the quality of cadets and engineers that maritime institutes are producing. Ask shipping companies, and they have a list of complains about fresh graduates. Probably that is just an excuse on their part; probably it is true, but the fact is maritime institutes today are more interested in quantity than quality. They believe a certificate is all that one needs to run a ship at sea, irrespective of the kind of training and skills a mariner has.

Though it’s true that experience is the best teacher, a fresh seafarer should have the basic skills to ensure his or her safety on ship. Most of the fresh seamen are still “Alice in wonderland” when on ship, increasing shipping companies belief that they really are nothing but “liabilities”. But the cadets and engineers are not the only ones to blame. It’s the slack policies of institutes that are to blame. And until these institutes tighten the loose ends, the shipping companies will not show their trust in the fresh graduates.

7. Maritime Institutes Flaunting Fake Promises

How often have you seen maritime institutes flaunting one liner such as 100% placement Guaranteed? Always, right? And how often have you seen the same institutes going back on their words when they are not able to provide placements? Same – always! Like every field, institutes in the marine industry have also learned the ropes of the game to allure more students to their courses. They know how to attract students by giving fake promises or showing big starting salary figures, without debriefing them about their future career or life at sea. Every year more and more students are falling prey to this traps and finding themselves stuck in a catch22 situation.

End Result: Dissatisfaction, depression, and of course – the great unemployment!

MV Maersk Alabama Incident

2013-05-19T19:09:00.001+05:30

MV Maersk Alabama (formerly Alva Maersk) is a container ship owned by Maersk Line Limited and operated by Waterman Steamship Corporation.

It has a light-blue hull and a beige superstructure like all Maersk vessels, regardless of their flag of registry. It is noted for its hijacking by pirates near Somalia in 2009, the subsequent hostage rescue, and a second, unsuccessful, hijacking attempt later that year.

April 2009 attempted pirate seizure

On April 7, 2009 the US Maritime Administration, following NATO advisories, released a Somalia Gulf of Aden advisory to Mariners recommending ships to stay at least 600 nmi (1,100 km) off the coast of Somalia. With these advisories well in effect, on April 8, 2009, four Somali pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama when it was located 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) southeast of the Somalia port city of Eyl. With a crew of 20, the ship was en route to Mombasa, Kenya. The ship was carrying 17,000 metric tons of cargo, of which 5,000 metric tons were relief supplies bound for Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya.

On April 8, the destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) and the frigate USS Halyburton (FFG-40) were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to a hostage situation, and reached Maersk Alabama early on April 9. Maersk Alabama then departed from the area with an armed escort, towards its original destination in Mombasa, Kenya, with the vessel's Chief Mate Shane Murphy in charge. On Saturday, April 11, Maersk Alabama arrived in the port of Mombasa, Kenya, still under U.S. military escort, where C/M Murphy was relieved by Captain Larry Aasheim, who had previously been captain of the Maersk Alabama until Richard Phillips relieved him eight days prior to the pirate attack. An 18-man marine security team was on board. The FBI secured the ship as a crime scene. According to Chief Engineer Mike Perry, the engineers sank the pirate speedboat shortly after the boarding by continuously swinging the rudder of the Maersk Alabama thus scuttling the smaller boat. As the pirates were boarding the ship, the crew members locked themselves in the engine room while the captain and two other crew members remained on the bridge. The engineers then took control of the ship from down below, rendering the bridge controls useless. The pirates were thus unable to control the ship. The crew later used "brute force" to overpower one of the pirates, Abduhl Wal-i-Musi, and free one of the hostages, Abu Thair Mohd Zahid Reza. Frustrated, the pirates decided to leave the ship, and took Phillips with them to a lifeboat as their bargaining chip. The crew attempted to exchange this captured pirate, whom they had kept tied up for twelve hours, for Captain Phillips. The captured pirate was released but the pirates refused to release Phillips. After running out of fuel in the ship's main overboard boat, they transferred and left in the ship's covered lifeboat, taking Phillips with them. The lifeboat carried ten days of food rations, water and basic survival supplies.

On April 9, a standoff began between USS Bainbridge and the pirates in the Maersk Alabama's lifeboat, where they continued to hold Captain Phillips hostage. On Sunday, April 12, Phillips was rescued in good condition. Acting under prior authorization from U.S. President Barack Obama, the captain of USS Bainbridge, Commander Frank Castellano, ordered the action upon determining that Capt. Phillips' life was in immediate danger, as provided by US Navy SEAL reports of an AK-47 assault rifle pointed at him. Navy SEAL snipers on Bainbridge's fantailopened fire, killing the three pirates remaining in the lifeboat, including Ali Aden Elmi. A fourth pirate, Abdul Wali Muse, aboard the Bainbridge and being treated for an injury sustained in the takeover of Maersk Alabama, surrendered and was taken into custody. He later pled guilty, and was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison.

November 2009 pirate attack

At 6:30 am on November 18, 2009, the Maersk Alabama was reportedly sailing some 350 nautical miles (650 km) east of Somalia when it was fired upon by four pirates wielding automatic weapons and traveling in a skiff. The assault failed after guards on the ship responded with small arms fire and acoustical weapons. Afterward, a Djibouti-based patrol plane flew to the scene and an EU ship searched the area.

September 2010 Suspicious Approach of Pirate Skiff

29 September 2010, the vessel was targeted by Somali pirates wielding AK-47's. The security force on board the Maersk Alabama repelled a skiff with 5 pirates approximately 950 mi east of Somalia. The incident went unnoticed in the press until November 2010 when CNN reported it.

March 2011 attempted hijacking

8 March 2011, the vessel was again targeted by Somali pirates. A security force on board the Maersk Alabama fired warning shots and turned the suspects away.

May 2011 Attempted Hijacking

Midnight, 14 May 2011, while transiting westbound in the international recognized corridor, Maersk Alabama was approached by a skiff of five pirates on the starboard stern. After turning to follow the ship's wake, the skiff quickly closed in to 30 metres (98 ft), preparing to board via a hook ladder, whereupon the embarked security team fired two shots into the skiff. The skiff quickly broke off and radar contact was lost after 10 minutes.

Film Adaption

The film "Captain Phillips" is an upcoming film directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks which is a biopic of Captain Richard Phillips who was taken hostage by Somali Pirates during the Maersk Alabama hijacking in 2009. It is scheduled to be released on October 11, 2013.

Amazing Facts About Titanic!

2013-02-24T09:36:00.001+05:30

1.The Titanic sank because the sea conditions were too good.

Most ships lost at sea were the victims of huge waves caused by hurricanes or large storms. But it was a lack of waves that contributed to the Titanic hitting the iceberg at 11:40 pm on April 14, 1912, and sinking on the 15th, a hundred years ago. On that night the weather and the sea conditions were perfect -- but for the Titanic, they were too perfect.

There was no wind, and thus there were no waves. It was a flat calm. It was also a dark moonless night, which made it difficult to see an iceberg in the distance. On such a night, waves would have made the iceberg more visible. Even small waves would have caused a bright phosphorescent line around the base of the iceberg, due to the millions of dinoflagellates that migrate to the ocean surface at night.

These tiny plankton glow brightly even with the slightest disturbance. (Sailors had seen this phosphorescence many times as they rowed through such waters, every stroke causing a glow that clearly outlined each oar.) On that night there was not even a gentle swell that could have caused a phosphorescent line around the iceberg.

These were extremely rare conditions for the North Atlantic in April. On almost any other night the huge iceberg would probably have been seen by the lookouts in enough time for the Titanic to avoid hitting it.

2.The Titanic will completely disappear within 20 years.

It seems like the sea just won’t cut the poor Titanic a break. A newly discovered species of aquatic rust-eating bacteria is slowly consuming the 50 000 tons of iron that makes up the sunken liner.

Experts believe that the invasive group of micro-organism will eventually swallow the ship like the ocean did those many years ago. The Titanic has already lasted 100 years but it has been predicted that in 15-20 years it will be nothing but a rust-stain on the bottom of the Atlantic.

The ghostly skeleton of the once magnificent liner haunts the bottom of the oceans as well as our cultural memory. The “unsinkable” ship serves as an ironic warning against overconfidence.

The living survivors of the Titanic are also slowly disappearing. With all this evidence gone, with many kids today not even knowing about the Titanic, is it possible that one day the Titanic will be forgotten as a cultural memory and the few people interested will have to rummage through Jack and Rose’s love story to retrieve a few blessed facts?

3.A Second Officer of the Titanic admitted years later the ship's binoculars were in a lock box that no one had a key to!

Lightoller was a veteran of the sea by the age of 21. He was the second officer and the most senior officer to survive the sinking of the Titanic. He was later a naval officer in World War I and headed sailboats in World War II. Speaking of the Titanic, though, Lightoller actually boarded the ship in Belfast as its first officer for the sea trials. Captain Smith gave Henry Wilde of the Olympic, the position of chief officer. That decision demoted William McMaster Murdoch to first officer and Lightoller became second officer.

This all becomes relevant. So, the late change in staff left the original second officer, David Blair, out of the trip altogether. It was a problem, because Blair was the one with the key to the ship’s binocular case. The crew ended up having no access to the binoculars for the entire trip. Lightoller promised to buy binoculars once they docked in New York. We know that they never made it, and that those binoculars would have been crucial in saving thousands of lives.

4.A man on the Titanic “fortified” himself with alcohol before being going into the freezing water for several hours, and surviving.

Charles John Joughin was the chief baker aboard the Titanic when it set sail in 1912. When the ship hit the infamous iceberg Charles was off duty sleeping. According to his testimony he immediately got up and began launching lifeboats. He also supplied food for those that were hungry and panicking and attempted to calm that crazed crowd.

Because of his help and his position he was offered a spot on a lifeboat, but declined in hopes of aiding more people. Charles was certain that he would die so he decided to ingest “a drop of liqueur,” which was a half full tumbler.

As the ship sank he grabbed hold of a safety rail and rode it down as if it was an elevator and is now officially recognized as the last passenger aboard the Titanic to survive. While in the water he claims he kept paddling and treading water for two continuous hours and, thanks to the alcohol, hardly felt the cold.

He was later rescued after lying aboard a collapsed life boat. While this shouldn’t be an advertisement for the benefits of alcohol, Charles certainly claims it saved his life!

5.In Titanic, the scene showing an elderly couple embracing while the ship sunk was based on a real couple.

They were the owners of Macy's. Their names are Isidor and Ida Straus and their story is quite touching. Raised in the south during the Civil War, Isidor would go on to New York where he would jointly found a store that sold crockery and glassware with his brother.

After becoming extremely wealthy, Isidor married Rosalie Ida Blun, and by all accounts the two were inseparable. When apart they would write letters every single day and tried to always stay in each other’s company. The Straus’ boarded the Titanic on their return trip from Germany to the United States when, on April 14, 1912, the ship struck an iceberg.

The couple made it to a lifeboat, but Ida refused to board proclaiming, "I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so will we die, together." When an officer offered for Isidor to join his wife he refused, instead giving his spot to his wife’s maid.

The couple then proceeded to the back of the panicking crowd and were last seen sitting together in chairs on the deck of ship, calmly holding hands until a massive wave washed them into the sea. Today a memorial for Ida and Isidor can be seen on the main floor of Macy’s Department Store in Manhattan.

6.The only Japanese passenger on the Titanic survived. For this, he lived the rest of his life in shame

Talk about honor. Masabumi Hosono was the only Japanese person aboard the Titanic. He was a civil servant working for the Japanese Ministry of Transport. He was on a mission to Russia and London. It was there that he boarded the Titanic as a second -class passenger. A steward woke him up after the Titanic had already hit the iceberg. He made his way to the deck, where he saw in dismay how lifeboats were running out.

Then, a stroke of good fortune: One of the last boats had room for two more people. He describes the horror of what he saw from the lifeboat that was only 200 feet from the Titanic as it went under: there were "frightful shrills and cries of those drowning in the water." When he arrived in the US, he made his way to San Francisco, where he was dubbed the "Lucky Japanese Boy."

At first magazines in Tokyo were running his story and taking his pictures. Soon, however, he found himself the target of public condemnation. The man in charge of the lifeboat described him as a "stowaway that must have disguised himself as a woman to make it aboard."

The man temporarily lost his job and was condemned as a coward by the press. School textbooks described him as dishonorable and immoral. This is because people in Japan thought he was betraying the Samurai spirit of self-sacrifice. People thought he should have gone down with the ship. `The man lived the rest of his life in shame, and his bad image haunted his family for years to come.

Source : http://www.omg-facts.com/lists/18/6-Things-You-Never-Knew-About-The-Titanic/1

Emma Maersk Incident

2013-02-14T23:57:00.003+05:30

On 1 February 2013, Emma Maersk, Maersk Line’s largest container vessel, experienced ingress of water into the engine room. The vessel had just commenced its southbound transit through the Suez Canal en route to Asia. The captain decided to terminate the planned voyage and go alongside the nearby Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT).

According to Captain Marius Gardastovu, there was never any real danger or panic at any point. “Of course it is a shocking experience when you look back and consider what could have happened,” he says. “But given the circumstances, everything was handled as well as possible because of a close-knit crew who knew exactly what to do.”

She was loaded with containers equivalent to 13,537 TEU of which 6,425 were full. The first step was to identify the cargo onboard. Cargo lists were shared with local Maersk Line customer service agents who have since reached out to all its customers with cargo onboard with the relevant information.

Alternate routings

Alternative arrangements for the cargo have been made whereby sensitive cargo was loaded onto Maersk Line’s existing network shortly after the incident. Further contingencies and schedules have been finalised as part of the cargo was loaded on Maersk Kotka (16B/1301) on 11 Feb, some of the cargo were loaded on CC Medea (3FO/933E) on 12 Feb, and the remaining eastbound cargo will be loaded onto Maersk Kokura (98A/1305) on 18 Feb.

The developments are being monitored continuously to ensure minimal impact to customers. Maersk Line’s operations teams are working in close coordination with the local customer and sales representatives to keep customers updated on the developments.

As far as the vessel is concerned, the leaks have been sealed, and Emma Maersk will soon leave SCCT to be towed to a European port for repairs. This may take months, but Maersk Line is able to reorganise its fleet without chartering replacement tonnage. The 9,660 TEU 48Y-Butterfly will replace Emma Maersk on the AE10 Asia-Europe service until she is ready to re-enter service.

Shell Launches Breakthrough Engine Oil for Shipping Industry

2012-08-02T08:32:00.002+05:30

Shell on July 30 launched Shell Alexia S4, its most innovative marine engine oil in a generation. Unlike conventional cylinder oils, it can be used across a wide range of vessel and engine types, fuel specifications, loads and climates – from the Antarctic to the Amazon to the Suez Canal. This means vessels no longer need to carry multiple oils. Shell Alexia S4 also works effectively at any vessel speed, including slow and ultra slow – especially important to modern ships that have to vary speeds to reduce fuel consumption and meet strict timetables.

“Shell Marine Products has a proud heritage of working with our customers for over 100 years. We have developed a smarter engine oil to meet the evolving needs of the modern shipping industry,” said Surinderdeep Singh, General Manager of Shell Marine Products. “Shell Alexia S4 offers operational simplicity, cost reduction potential and proven performance under tough conditions.”

The new formulation better protects engines, which can reduce maintenance and oil use, and reduces the need to shut down engines for repair. All this can deliver simpler operations and lower costs to today’s vessel operators, facing a competitive market and increasingly tougher emissions regulations.

Shell scientists developed Shell Alexia S4 based on their unique 20 year understanding of oil stress- the factors which degrade lubricants and stop them working. The new formulation, with an innovative combination of additives, went through rigorous testing at Shell’s Marine and Power Innovation Centre in Hamburg, Germany. Tests in laboratory engines under simulated slow steaming conditions demonstrated that Shell Alexia S4 provided up to a 20% improvement in overall engine wear, compared to Shell’s existing cylinder oil and out-performed all other oils tested. It was also extensively tested during more than 25, 000 hours of field trials, by customers and the original engine manufacturers MAN and Wartsila. Here it proved its ability to protect engines running on distillates* and residual fuels containing 0.2% to 3.75% sulphur content in a range of locations and climates, including the Antarctic, the Middle East and South America. With technical support and a switch to Alexia S4, one specific trial showed a 33% reduction in oil feedrate. Alexia S4 will be available to customers from 1 August 2012.

*For up to 1000 hours in certain engines
Courtesy: MarineInsight

Piracy Attacks Decrease In Somalia But Rise In Nigeria

2012-08-01T17:56:00.002+05:30

Piracy in Somalia has fallen sharply for the first half of 2012, while the Gulf of Guinea has experienced a worrying increase in attacks, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s global piracy report has revealed.

Globally, 177 incidents were reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre in the first six months of 2012, compared with 266 incidents for the same period in 2011.

The IMB said 20 vessels were hijacked worldwide, with a total number of 334 crew members taken hostage.

There were a further 80 vessels boarded, 25 vessels fired upon and 52 reported attempted attacks. At least four crew members were killed.

Incidents of Somali piracy activity dropped from 163 in the first six months of 2011 to 69 in 2012. The number of vessels also hijacked by Somali pirates dropped from 21 to 13.

However, this has been offset by an increase in attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, where 32 incidents, including five hijackings, were reported in 2012, versus 25 in 2011.

In Nigeria alone, there were 17 reports, compared with six in 2011. Togo reported five incidents, including a hijacking, compared with no incidents during the same time last year.

The IMB said high levels of violence were also being used against crew members in the Gulf of Guinea. Guns were reported in at least 20 of the 32 incidents. At least one crew member was killed and another later died as a result of an attack.

In Nigeria, three vessels and 61 crew members were taken hostage. Seven vessels were boarded, six fired upon and one attempted attack was reported.

The use of motherships has been a trend several industry commentators have recently remarked upon and the IMB said the fact that attacks by armed pirates in skiffs were occurring at greater distances from the coast did suggest the possible use of fishing or other vessels to reach targets.

On June 30 alone, three vessels were fired upon, including a tanker and a container vessel within a five-minute period, approximately 135 nautical miles from Port Harcourt.

The increase in pirate activity off Togo has also been attributed to Nigerian pirates, according to the IMB.

The five reported incidents all occurred in April, culminating with the hijacking of a panamax product tanker by the month’s end.

The rise in reported incidents in the Gulf of Guinea comes despite concerns that many acts of piracy in the area go unreported, due to fears of reprisal.

Despite an increasing number of piracy intelligence services, the IMB PRC remains the world’s only manned not-for-profit centre to receive and disseminate reports of piracy and armed robbery 24 hours a day across the globe. As part of ICC, it is an independent body set up to monitor these attacks free of political interference.

IMB said it strongly urged all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted and suspicious piracy and armed robbery incidents to the IMB PRC.

“This is an essential first step in the response chain. The statistics and reports of the IMB PRC act as a catalyst to encourage firm response by government and law enforcement,” it said.

While the drop in piracy in Somalia is welcomed, the IMB warned that piracy in the region continues to remain a serious threat. As of June 30, Somali pirates were still holding 11 vessels and 218 crew, 44 of whom were being held ashore in unknown locations and conditions.

“Somali pirate attacks cover a vast area, from the Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Gulf of Oman to the Arabian Sea and Somali Basin, threatening all shipping routes in the northwest Indian Ocean,” said IMB piracy director Pottengal Mukundan.

The report, in part, has attributed the noticeable decline in Somali piracy to the pre-emptive and disruptive counter-piracy tactics employed by the international navies. “There is no alternative to their continued presence,” said Mr Mukundan.

The effective deployment of best management practices, ship hardening and, in particular, the increased use of private maritime security companies, has also contributed to the falling numbers.

Currently commercial armed security teams are not permitted to work in the Gulf of Guinea and PMSCs can only operate there on a consultancy basis.

Elsewhere in the world, the reports of piracy have mainly been armed robberies. Indonesia accounts for almost 20% of the global numbers, with 32 reported incidents compared to 21 over the same period in 2011.

Twenty-eight of the vessels targeted were boarded, including 23 anchored vessels, two berthed and three that were under way. Guns have been reported on one occasion.

IMB further noted that many other attacks may also have gone unreported.

Reference: intermanager
Image Credits: aljazeera

Casualty 'MSC Flaminia' Takes Up Waiting Position

2012-07-31T17:48:00.004+05:30

On 14 July 2012, an explosion in hold 4 started a fire onboard MSC Flaminia while the ship was underway from Charleston, United States, to Antwerp, Belgium, forcing the crew to abandon the ship some 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) from nearest land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Her Majesty's Coastguard received a distress signal at 10:07 (UTC (GMT)) and broadcast an alert to all vessels in the area. DS Crown, a German-owned, Bahamas-flagged oil tanker en-route from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom, was the first to arrive at the scene and rescue 22 crew members and two passengers from a lifeboat and a liferaft. One member of the crew is missing and feared dead. Later MSC Stella changed her course to take four injured crew members onboard and transport them to the Azores. One of the injured crewmen later died from the burns he had sustained while fighting the fire.

After the crew had abandoned the ship, MSC Flaminia was left drifting in mid-Atlantic. Dutch salvage company Smit International signed a salvage contract for the stricken vessel, but the extent of the fire was not known until the first salvage tug, Fairmount Expedition, arrived at the scene on 17 July. According to the reports, the fire was still ongoing in holds 4, 5 and 6, and the ship had developed a list of about 8.5 degrees as a result of the firefighting operations, but the engine room, the superstructure and the stern were not seriously damaged. A second explosion occured onboard the stricken container ship on 18 July, but the salvage efforts were continued shortly thereafter. The ship's own firefighting system was also started and the salvage personnel attempted to find the missing crewman. Another salvage tug, Anglian Sovereign, arrived at the scene later with Cobra cutting extinguisher capable of piercing the containers and extinguish the fire within. On 20 July, Fairmount Expedition began to tow MSC Flaminia towards Europe while Anglian Sovereign continued to cool down the fire. On 24 July, it was announced that the fire on board MSC Flaminia was under control.
The fire onboard MSC Flaminia has again raised concerns about misdeclared cargo. Containers containing explosive or flammable materials are normally carried on the decks for safety reasons, but if the cargo manifest is incorrect or falsified, they might be stowed inside the cargo holds where they create a potential hazard. The shipping company has confirmed that according to the cargo manifest the ship was not carrying calcium hypochlorite, a chemical compound responsible for several container ship fires in the 1990s, in any of the 2,876 containers onboard the ship, but due to the aforementioned reasons it can not be ruled out yet.

Fire-fighting experts are onboard to inspect the situation, while towage ceases as vessel waits 100 miles off the British coast.
A team of firefighting experts has again boarded MSC FLAMINIA. It is as yet unsure when a one-by-one inspection of containers can commence. This inspection aims at eliminating any smoldering fires inside of containers.

Firefighting and shipbuilding experts on site are among other things assessing the stability of the vessel. 
Overall, the situation onboard MSC FLAMINIA continues to improve. According to firefighting experts, almost no smoke generation can be observed from cargo holds 4 and 5. Nevertheless, hotspots inside of individual containers should still be reckoned with.  

A permission to enter a sheltered coastal area will be decided upon by authorities in the coming days.   Once the vessel has arrived at a so-called “sheltered area”, a secure sea area close to the shore, further, more thorough investigations can be continued.

Concrete Work for Panama Canal Locks Begins

2012-07-27T17:33:00.002+05:30

In yet another major milestone for the Panama Canal Expansion Program, permanent concrete work for the Atlantic and Pacific new set of locks recently began – marking one of the most important phases of the construction.

Last March, Grupo Unidos por el Canal S.A. (GUPCSA), the contractor in charge of this project, started pouring lean concrete at both lock sites to level the surface in preparation for the permanent concrete work.

This month, GUPCSA poured structural marine concrete to shape the floor of the upper chamber in Gatun, on the Atlantic side. The concrete was poured into specialized industrial formwork that included a significant amount of rebar (steel bars or rods used to reinforce concrete) to ultimately shape the 100 cubic meter blocks that make up the lock floor.

The concrete mix, designed to guarantee a minimum service life of 100 years of operation to the waterway, was transported to the site using agitator trucks lined with insulating material to ensure a maximum temperature of 12 degrees centigrade at the moment of the pouring. Fifteen of these truckloads are required to pour each one of the blocks.

On the Pacific side, concrete pouring activities also began with the construction of the pit for the first of three lock crossunders or tunnels. Through these crossunders, trays and pipes will carry communication and electricity wires, drinking water pipelines and other components needed to operate the lock complex. Of note, each set of locks will have three crossunders.

Each of the pits is built by stacking 16 blocks made of structural concrete and rebar. Twelve trucks, with capacity to carry 8 cubic meters of concrete, are required to pour each of the blocks. The pits, at a height comparable to that of a 10-story building, will include a series of steps and an elevator that will enable access to the crossunder. Once completed, the crossunders will allow maintenance personnel to conduct their tasks in a safe environment.

Noorul Islam University

2012-07-26T18:15:00.001+05:30

Click to see our HERO!!!

http://www.htcampus.com/college/department-aeronautical-engineering-noorul-islam-university-copy/

30 years on, good ship Hjemkomst still inspires

2012-07-21T20:41:00.002+05:30

MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Sometimes after dreams have been dreamed, they retain their power.

Bob Asp, the builder of the Hjemkomst, a replica Viking ship that 30 years ago sailed into the harbor of Bergen, Norway, knew about that power.

After all, his dreams and conviction brought the ship he named Hjemkomst - "homecoming" in Norwegian - to life: from culling oaks in area farms and parks, to building the tiny ship that navigated Lake Superior and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.

While Asp's aspirations drew laughs early on after he came up with the idea for the ship in 1971, it was the beauty of the completed Hjemkomst, and beating long odds, that made him a folk hero.

Those qualities also turned the Hjemkomst into a symbol of pride for two towns: Moorhead, the ship's resting place, and Hawley, where the dream was nurtured and birthed, The Forum of Fargo reports (http://bit.ly/NRNOLM).

Moorhead's official city symbol - seen on everything from business cards to garbage bins - features the silhouette of the iconic sail-like fabric roof of the Hjemkomst Center, where the ship is displayed.

Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland said the museum's outline is a symbol of the courage and vision Asp's Hjemkomst represents.

"It has become the iconic shape of Moorhead," he said. "The city of Moorhead has embraced the building shape and the dare to dream."

Hawley's city symbol is the stylized outline of the Hjemkomst's classic longship prow juxtaposed against waving wheat. It greets travelers on signs on Highway 10 and from the town's water tower.

Hawley also has Robert Asp Park, built on the site of the potato warehouse dubbed the "Hawley Shipyard," where Asp and his crew built the Hjemkomst.

It's a restful spot, with a model of the ship and tablets describing its history, said Lisa Jetvig, the city's clerk-treasurer.

"The biggest thing that happened in Hawley was the Hjemkomst. It was a big deal," she said.

Voxland said when the Hjemkomst was launched in Duluth for its training cruises, Norwegians and other Scandinavians weren't the only ones celebrating.

"You could really feel, not so much cultural pride, but local pride," Voxland said.

Jeff Solum was the radio operator for 1982's trans-Atlantic voyage.

Solum, who now lives in Shorewood, said he still has contact with his old shipmates and he still thinks about Asp.

"It was a pretty amazing vision he had to build this thing," Solum said.

In the years since he sailed on the Hjemkomst, Solum's seen master craftsmen build similar longships.

"Robert over here was working in a vacuum," Solum said.

"Without learning the craft, I don't know how he did it," even with the use of power tools, Solum said. "That's what's truly amazing. He made it seaworthy enough for us to sail it to Norway."

The crew left Duluth on May 11, 1982, and navigated the Great Lakes on the way to New York.

On June 14, 1982, they set out for Bergen.

Solum remembers the pride that came at being 20 years old and being trusted with the ship on watch. And he remembers the Hjemkomst's speed.

"It didn't have a keel, so it could surf down the waves," Solum said. "When we were going, we were going quite fast."

He said the only reason it took so long to get to Norway was because the ship was damaged in a tropical storm a few days out of New York harbor, and the crew opted for a less stormy southern route instead of the North Sea.

A northern route would have trimmed 14 days from the 34-day trip, Solum said.

The ship arrived in Norway on July 17, but the crew agreed to hold off on entering Bergen Harbor until Monday, July 19, so city officials could guarantee some oomph for the celebration.

With winds up to 50 to 60 knots, the tropical storm provided plenty of excitement, he said.

"When you're in the heat of the moment, just trying to survive, you don't think of it much. You work to keep it together," he said.

The objective?

"Keep the pointy side up. Keep the mast in the air," Solum said.

Chet Gebert, a former Forum reporter, said he got to know Asp well.

"He was a very interesting gentleman," Gebert said. "He had a dream. And he lived to see the dream come true. . He did it his way."

Gebert, of Fargo, said he was on the Hjemkomst when it sailed down New York's Hudson River.

Thanks to being in Norway for the Hjemkomst's early arrival, he was also able to be aboard when it sailed triumphantly into Bergen harbor a couple of days later.

Gebert said he even tried to become a member of the crew, "but the boys thought I was a little too old." He was in his mid-50s.

Gebert and Rose Asp hugged when they saw the Hjemkomst come over the horizon as it approached the coast of Norway.

"We both cried. I'm not afraid to say it, We both cried like little babies," Gebert said.

"We knew that Bob had succeeded, even though he was not around."

The only woman on the 12-person crew was Asp's daughter.

Deb (Asp) Seitz is now a teacher in Northfield, but she was a 20-year-old college student in 1982.

She had to work for her place on the boat. Some elder members of the board of directors for the Hjemkomst at the time said they wouldn't allow a woman to take the trip, passing a resolution against it.

"My brother, Tom, said don't worry about it. This isn't going to be how the crew is going to be selected," he said. It would be selected by who was best at sailing on Lake Superior.

"You couldn't be shy," Seitz said of her time on the ship. "You just focus on the job you have to do."

Seitz remembers the beauty of the nights on the Atlantic.

"There's no lights on. There are so many stars out there that you never see. The sky was more intense than I'd ever seen before and ever seen since. The sound of the ship creaking. And the waves and the swells."
And the pageantry that marked the end of the voyage.
"One of the most memorable days was the day we reached Norway. To be there. To be done," she said. "That was pretty awesome, pretty exciting."

Her adventures didn't stop with the voyage, though.

After she graduated from college, she taught in Asia, which gave her three years to travel extensively in the Philippines, Thailand and Korea.

Seitz looks forward to the crew reunion. She says her father would be impressed, proud and pleased with the final berth for his ship.

"The museum is beautiful and they do a nice job of keeping that story alive and expanding on it with the stave church," she said. "I'm always thinking it's a nice package. A nice job all around."

Solum agrees.

"It's a great centerpiece for a larger vision," Solum said.

"It's just become a small cultural center," he said. "It's been kind of neat to see that all come together. It's a real living museum. I think 50 or 100 years from now, the city will be glad they have that."

Ship wreck in South China kills 12

2012-03-15T18:25:00.000+05:30

Twelve people have been confirmed dead and eight others remain missing after a ship sank in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The passenger ship, from which 28 people have been rescued, collided with a cargo ship loaded with porcelain clay on Sunday on the Xunjiang River in the city of Guiping, vice mayor with the municipal government Zeng Jianqing said on Thursday.

The ship was located by two divers at a depth of 200 meters on Wednesday. Rescuers have been doing salvage work and 10 bodies have been retrieved, Zeng said.

Local authorities are trying to confirm the identities of the deceased and verify the number of those still missing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the preliminary investigation, the cargo ship was out of the scheduled shipping lane before it collided with the passenger ship, and the cargo ship is mostly responsible for the accident, said Tu Jianyou, deputy director with the maritime bureau of Guiping.

Meanwhile, the passenger ship was overloaded at the time of the collision, Tu said. The local government has dispatched various types of rescue teams to search for the missing people, recover the dead bodies and salvage the remnants of the passenger ship.

Tamil Nadu bans Hollywood movie 'Dam 999' release

2011-11-26T11:03:00.001+05:30

The protests in Tamil Nadu against Dam 999, a Kerala director’s Hollywood movie based on a dam-burst tragedy in China, and the ban imposed on its release in that state by the Government of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa have helped the vexed issue of the 115-year-old Mullaperiyar dam get worldwide attention.

“The protests and the ban have given the film and the dam a lot of publicity. Also, the developments in Tamil Nadu have created a feeling that the Mullaperiyar issue should be discussed at world forums. At least that is what the Tamilians and Malayalees here think,” said Radhakrishnan Nair, an engineer, from Dubai where Dam 999 was released on Thursday.

The Tamil Nadu Government banned the movie on Thursday morning, a day before its country-wide release, after Wednesday’s widespread protests in Tamil Nadu by almost all Dravida parties. The Tamil MPs had made noisy scenes in Parliament and petitioned almost all top Central leaders over the movie on Wednesday.

The Jayalalithaa Government banned the movie saying that it was part of an effort to whip up emotions against Tamil Nadu in the Mullaperiyar dam issue. However, the film director said he would meet Jayalalithaa for getting the ban lifted. “I am told that there is a move to ban my film all over the nation,” he added.

“The outage against the film in Tamil Nadu is sure to help Kerala in its campaign over the Mullaperiyar issue. Even my Tamil friends agree on this,” said Nair. “They are saying that the protests and the ban, despite the director’s claim that the film has nothing to do with Mullaperiyar, would help Kerala’s cause as far as the dam issue is concerned,” he added.

Dam 999, a Warner Bros movie directed by Sohan Roy, a professional marine engineer and naval architect, is hitting the movie halls the world over at the very point of time when the dispute over the 115-year-old Mullaperiyar dam on Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, whose entire water is being drawn by Tamil Nadu, is at its highest pitch.

On Wednesday, an all-party meet in Kerala called for a new dam at Mullaperiyar, pointing out that the existing 115-year-old dam could break any time leading to the wipeout of over three million human lives in four Kerala districts. Kerala fears that even an average-magnitude tremor in the seismically sensitive area can lead to a breach in the dam already weakened by age.

K Rajendran, a Malayalee living in Atlanta City, said that the disputes and protests in Tamil Nadu have already caught the attention of the Indian diaspora in the US. “Only people like me have been aware of the film in this part of the US so far. But now it has become news. It is free publicity for the film as well as welcome publicity for Kerala’s stand on the dam,” he said.

Sohan Roy has said that his film has no direct relation to the Mullaperiyar dam issue but might be concerned with thousands of dams the world over that have already been outdated and grown weak. According to Roy, Dam 999 is a “tribute to the 1975 Banqiao dam disaster in China which claimed 250,000 innocent lives”.

The Tamil Nadu political parties are saying that the movie is indeed on the Mullaperiyar issue and the ‘999’ in its title relates to the lease agreement by which Tamil Nadu can draw the entire water of the Mullaperiyar reservoir for 999 years. But Roy reassures that this is incorrect. The ‘999’ in the title relates to 9-9-2009, the date of the dam burst featured in the movie, he says.

Archana Nair, a native of Palakkad, said from Singapore that Keralites and Tamilians there are intensely discussing the film and the inter-state dispute over the dam. “Even the Tamilians are saying that Tamil Nadu shouldn’t have gone to this extent in its protests against the film,” she said. Special screenings of the film are to be held in Singapore on November 26 and 27.

DAM 999 - A Sohan Roy Film

2011-08-22T18:06:00.000+05:30

All india release from 4 nov onwards

'DAM999 is a tribute to the 1975 Banqiao Dam disaster in china that claimed 250,000 innocent lives'

This is the directing Debut of Sohan Roy , the mastermind behind Marine Biz TV - The World's first Global Maritime Television channel. The screenplay of DAM999 is vetted by Hollywood veterans, Rob Tobin and Eric Sherman. For the first time, a movie showcases the beauty of the maritime world through the eyes of a mariner. The movie is a revelation of various Indian age old myths and scientific facts which were and still considered superstitious. DAM999 is the effort of numerous national award winners.

Malaysian submarine at Kochi port

2011-08-09T21:32:00.000+05:30

The Royal Malaysian Navys Scorpene submarine KD Tun Razak which is on its maiden journey home from Toulon in France accompanied by corvette KD Lekiu call at the port here for a fourday visit on Friday.Malaysias Defence Attache in New Delhi Colonel Yusri bin Haji Anwar will be in Kochi in connection with the port call of Tun Razak.Colonel Anwar along with Tun Razaks Commanding Officer Commander Mohamad Azuwan bin Haroun and Lekius Commanding Officer Commander Baharudin bin Wan Mohamad Nor will call on Rear Admiral S.S. Jamwal Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command on Friday. a game of football has been organised between the Indian and the Malaysian Navies

Marine Biz TV

2011-08-09T21:30:00.000+05:30

Get closer to the Maritime World

Marine Biz TV is a one point access to maritime treasures. Our integrated solutions make things simple. With us, discover the right information, take path breaking business decisions, know technological innovations and feel the roaring seas.

SOLAS

2011-05-30T23:05:00.000+05:30

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, requires flag States to ensure that their ships comply with minimum safety standards in construction, equipment and operation. It includes articles setting out general obligations, etcetera, followed by an annex divided into twelve chapters. Of these, chapter five (often called 'SOLAS V') is the only one that applies to all vessels on the sea, including private yachts and small craft on local trips as well as to commercial vessels on international passages. Many countries have turned these international requirements into national laws so that anybody on the sea who is in breach of SOLAS V requirements may find themselves subject to legal proceedings.

Chapter I – General Provisions

Surveying the various types of ships and certifying that they meet the requirements of the convention

Chapter II-1 – Construction – Subdivision and stability, machinery and electrical installations

The subdivision of passenger ships into watertight compartments so that after damage to its hull, a vessel will remain afloat and stable.

Chapter II-2 – Fire protection, fire detection and fire extinction

Fire safety provisions for all ships with detailed measures for passenger ships, cargo ships and tankers.

Chapter III – Life-saving appliances and arrangements

Life-saving appliances and arrangements, including requirements for life boats, rescue boats and life jackets according to type of ship.

Chapter IV – Radiocommunications

The Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) requires passenger and cargo ships on international voyages to carry radio equipment, including satellite Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Search and Rescue Transponders (SARTs).

Chapter V – Safety of navigation

This chapter requires governments to ensure that all vessels are sufficiently and efficiently manned from a safety point of view. It places requirements on all vessels regarding voyage and passage planning, expecting a careful assessment of any proposed voyages by all who put to sea. Every mariner must take account of all potential dangers to navigation, weather forecasts, tidal predictions, the competence of the crew, and all other relevant factors. It also adds an obligation for all vessels' masters to offer assistance to those in distress and controls the use of lifesaving signals with specific requirements regarding danger and distress messages. It is different to the other chapters, which apply to certain classes of commercial shipping, in that these requirements apply to all vessels and their crews, including yachts and private craft, on all voyages and trips including local ones.

Chapter VI – Carriage of Cargoes

Requirements for the stowage and securing of all types of cargo and cargo containers except liquids and gases in bulk.

Chapter VII – Carriage of dangerous goods

Requires the carriage of all kinds of dangerous goods to be in compliance with the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code).

Chapter VIII – Nuclear ships

Nuclear powered ships are required, particularly concerning radiation hazards, to conform to the Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships.

Chapter IX – Management for the Safe Operation of Ships

Requires every shipowner and any person or company that has assumed responsibility for a ship to comply with the International Safety Management Code (ISM).

Chapter X – Safety measures for high-speed craft

Makes mandatory the International Code of Safety for High-Speed Craft (HSC Code).

Chapter XI-1 – Special measures to enhance maritime safety

Requirements relating to organisations responsible for carrying out surveys and inspections, enhanced surveys, the ship identification number scheme, and operational requirements.

Chapter XI-2 – Special measures to enhance maritime security

Includes the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code). Confirms that the role of the Master in maintaining the security of the ship is not, and cannot be, constrained by the Company, the charterer or any other person. Port facilities must carry out security assessments and develop, implement and review port facility security plans. Controls the delay, detention, restriction, or expulsion of a ship from a port. Requires that ships must have a ship security alert system, as well as detailing other measures and requirements.

Chapter XII – Additional safety measures for bulk carriers

Specific structural requirements for bulk carriers over 150 metres in length.

Helicopter Survival Course (HUET)

2011-05-28T09:13:00.002+05:30

For every occupation of serious note there are usually a number of courses, conferences or weekend getaways that are supposedly designed to improve the knowledge of, share knowledge of or distribute knowledge of the job in hand. In some cases these courses or self-improving days out of the office or factory floor do give new life and meaning to an otherwise day in, day out job. For many the courses are a required part of the job, for promotional reasons or simply without doing the course they are unemployable, and for others it is a means to better themselves.

In other cases these courses, conferences (call them what you may), have the effect of gelling together a serious bunch of alcoholics and piss-heads who' see no other reason for their presence than to drink the local pub dry. These confirmed merry-makers within three days after the event will have no recollection of the course itself - apart from the good times they had in the pub and the hangovers felt during the day.

For seafarers courses have started to intrude big style into an already stressful work place. Laws of the sea require that anybody who sails on a merchant vessel must have a basic prerequisite number of certificates and that these must be updated every five years. As a brief outline, a couple of mainstream courses exist that all must do and in short they are as follows. A two-day course on how to put out the fire that started from the Captain smoking in bed. A four-day course on how to survive at sea when stuck in a little rubber boat because the larger one has done a Titanic on them. And another two-days on how to successfully do an appendix operation with a chisel and hammer when halfway across the Atlantic Ocean and a final course on how to keep healthy at sea.

These are the basic courses for anybody considering a career at sea from an Engineer on a tug to a hairdresser on the QE2. But for the professionals of the business who are further up the ladder than the first rung have to broaden out and attend courses till they are pouring out of the ears. Four day flame-extinguishing course's rear their heads were normally calm and positive sailors are forced into pitch-black containers filled with smoke and flames and are made to crawl around on their hands and knees through red-hot tunnels and small doorways. Safety Management and character building courses test seafarers patience to keep the eyes open as some boring expert tells you what sort of person you are - as if this is a new finding.

Offshore Survival

2011-05-28T09:12:00.000+05:30

Over the last ten years or so safety has become the overriding issue in all work related matters on-board a ship. It has reached the stage that crew-members and officers are so bogged down with permits to work, safety signs and regulations that the actual task that they set out to do seems all but impossible to start. Whilst this era of heightened safety awareness has become a nuisance and an assault course to work through there are some benefits, one of which is the fact that training courses are held frequently and continuing on-board drills familiarize personnel with the equipment they will use should an emergency arise. Training and the drills basically enable people faced with emergency situations to react in a prescribed manner, to overcome panic through action orientated tasks and to hopefully improve the outcome of the situation by putting out the fire, surviving on a life raft after the ship has gone down or to save a life by re-enacting life-saving actions.

Officers and crew undertake rigorous courses from First Aid Practices to Fire-Fighting. Those workers offshore, on Rigs and Production Platforms, tend to do slightly less demanding courses that cover three days instead of twenty; an insight into the procedures and practices involved rather than being the team leader during an emergency. The most basic of courses is the Boiset Course (Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training) with included modules that cover Sea Survival, Fire Fighting and Self Rescue, First Aid and Hypothermia and last but not least (the helicopter underwater escape training) HUET course. Seafarers who work in the Offshore Industry, on Anchor Handlers and Supply Vessels may have to do the training prescribed for Offshore Workers because they may need to take a helicopter from the platform or rig to depart their vessel on leave.

A Career at Sea

2011-05-28T09:10:00.001+05:30

Many seafarers are asked how they ended up at sea! Just like somebody may ask a teacher or a bricklayer why he or she became one, the answers tend to be varied and often without path to the end result. One common reason for entering a particular career is because "my father did it and so did my grandfather". Some extremely obvious reasons for going to sea might have been to get away from home or to see the world; equally so many rusty seafarers today embarked upon their careers for lack of anything else to do, because some cranky careers advisor suggested they do so or because they had been recently dumped by the school hottie!

Seafarers are moulded from any number of reasons with many having no clue as to whether they will become an engineer, mate or cook even after they have decided to sign up! Whilst others have had the sea in their blood since the day they were conceived.

The Industry has changed though. Many a salty seafarer will prop up the local bars in seaside towns the world over. They will regale those who will listen with stories that baffle and defy gravity, they will accept drinks from anybody who offers and in return will tell them "it's not like it used to be". And they are correct! Life at sea has changed dramatically in the last ten years and many (especially the old-timers) will say that it's not for the better.

A True Mariner

2011-05-26T23:11:00.001+05:30

This article is about maritime crew.

Three types of mariners are seen here in the wheelhouse: a master, an able seaman, and a harbour pilot.A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses. Etymologically, the name preserves the memory of the time when ships were commonly powered by sails, but it applies to the personnel of all vessels, whatever their mode of locomotion.

Professional mariners hold a variety of professions and ranks which are fairly standard, with the exception of slight naming differences around the world. Common categories by department include the Deck department, the Engineering department, and the Steward's department. Mariners can also be categorized by status as senior licensed mariners or unlicensed mariners.

A number of professional mariners have left the industry and led noteworthy lives in the naval services or on the shore. For example, Traian Băsescu started his career as a third mate in 1976 and is now the President of Romania. Arthur Phillip joined the Merchant Navy in 1751 and 37 years later founded Sydney, Australia. Merchant mariner Douglass North went from seaman to navigator to winning the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Professional mariners

Seafarers hold a variety of professions and ranks, each of which carries unique responsibilities which are integral to the successful operation of an ocean-going vessel. A ship's crew can generally be divided into four main categories: the deck department, the engineering department, the steward's department, and other.
Deck department
An able seaman stands iceberg lookout on the bow of the freighter USNS Southern Cross during a re-supply mission to McMurdo Station, Antarctica; circa 1981.Officer positions in the deck department include but are not limited to: Master and his Chief, Second, and Third officers. The official classifications for unlicensed members of the deck department are Able seaman and Ordinary seaman.

A common deck crew for a ship includes:

(1) Chief Officer/Chief Mate

(1) Second Officer /Second Mate

(1) Third Officer / Third Mate

(1) Cadet/Officer Cadet

(1) Boatswain

(2-8) Able seamen

(0-3) Ordinary seamen

Engineering Department

A ship's engineering department consists of the members of a ship's crew that operates and maintains the propulsion and other systems onboard the vessel. Marine engineering staff also deal with the "hotel" facilities onboard, notably the sewage, lighting, air conditioning and water systems. Engineering staff manage bulk fuel transfers and require training in firefighting and first aid. Additional duties include maintaining the ship's boats and performing other nautical tasks. Engineers play a key role in cargo loading/discharging gear and safety systems, though the specific cargo discharge function remains the responsibility of deck officers and deck workers.

A common engineering crew for a ship includes:

(1) Chief Engineer

(1) Second Engineer / First Assistant Engineer

(1) Third Engineer / Second Assistant Engineer

(1-2) Fourth Engineer / Third Assistant Engineer

(0-2) Fifth Engineer / Junior Engineer

(1-3) Oiler (unlicensed qualified rating)

(0-3) Greaser/s (unlicensed qualified rating)

(1-5) Entry-level rating (such as Wiper (occupation), Utilityman, etc.)

American ships also carry a Qualified Member of the Engine Department. Other possible positions include Motorman, Machinist, Electrician, Refrigeration Engineer, and Tankerman.

Steward's department

A typical Steward's department for a cargo ship is a Chief Steward, a Chief Cook, and a Steward's Assistant. All three positions are typically filled by unlicensed personnel.

The chief steward directs, instructs, and assigns personnel performing such functions as preparing and serving meals; cleaning and maintaining officers' quarters and steward department areas; and receiving, issuing, and inventorying stores.

The chief steward also plans menus; compiles supply, overtime, and cost control records. The steward may requisition or purchase stores and equipment. Galley roles may include baking.

A chief steward's duties may overlap with those of the Steward's Assistant, the Chief Cook, and other Steward's Department crewmembers.

A person has to have a Merchant Mariner's Document issued by the United States Coast Guard in the United States Merchant Marine in order to serve as a chief steward. All chief cooks who sail internationally are similarly documented by their respective countries because of international conventions and agreements.

Other departments

Various types of staff officer positions may exist on board a ship, including Junior Assistant Purser, Senior Assistant Purser, Purser, Chief Purser, Medical Doctor, Professional Nurse, Marine Physician Assistant, and Hospital Corpsman. These jobs are considered administrative positions and are therefore regulated by Certificates of Registry issued by the United States Coast Guard. Pilots are also merchant marine officers and are licensed by the Coast Guard.

Working conditionsStandard merchant watch system Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

4am-8am Team 1 Team 1 Team 1

8am-12pm Team 2 Team 2 Team 2

12pm-4pm Team 3 Team 3 Team 3

4pm-8pm Team 1 Team 1 Team 1

8pm-12am Team 2 Team 2 Team 2

12am-4am Team 3 Team 3 Team 3

Mariners spend extended periods at sea. Most deep-sea mariners are hired for one or more voyages that last for several months. There is no job security after that. The length of time between voyages varies by job availability and personal preference.

The rate of unionization for these workers in the United States is about 36 percent, much higher than the average for all occupations. Consequently, merchant marine officers and seamen, both veterans and beginners, are hired for voyages through union hiring halls or directly by shipping companies. Hiring halls fill jobs by the length of time the person has been registered at the hall and by their union seniority. Hiring halls typically are found in major seaports.

At sea, on larger vessels members of the deck department usually stand watch for 4 hours and are off for 8 hours, 7 days a week.

Mariners work in all weather conditions. Working in damp and cold conditions often is inevitable, although ships try to avoid severe storms while at sea. It is uncommon for modern vessels to suffer disasters such as fire, explosion, or a sinking. Yet workers face the possibility of having to abandon ship on short notice if it collides with other vessels or runs aground. Mariners also risk injury or death from falling overboard and from hazards associated with working with machinery, heavy loads, and dangerous cargo. However, modern safety management procedures, advanced emergency communications, and effective international rescue systems place modern mariners in a much safer position.

Most newer vessels are air conditioned, soundproofed from noisy machinery, and equipped with comfortable living quarters. These amenities have helped ease the sometimes difficult circumstances of long periods away from home. Also, modern communications, especially email, link modern mariners to their families. Nevertheless, some mariners dislike the long periods away from home and the confinement aboard ship. They consequently leave the profession.

Life at sea

The tanker SS Overseas Alice takes seas over the bow during a 1981 run from New Orleans to Panama.Professional mariners live on the margins of society, with much of their life spent beyond the reach of land. They face cramped, stark, noisy, and dangerous conditions at sea. Yet men and women still go to sea. For some, the attraction is a life unencumbered with the restraints of life ashore. Sea-going adventure and a chance to see the world also appeal to many seafarers. Whatever the calling, those who live and work at sea invariably confront social isolation.

Findings by the Seafarer's International Research Center indicate a leading cause of mariners leaving the industry is "almost invariably because they want to be with their families." U.S. merchant ships typically do not allow family members to accompany seafarers on voyages. Industry experts increasingly recognize isolation, stress, and fatigue as occupational hazards. Advocacy groups such as International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, and the Nautical Institute seek improved international standards for mariners.

One’s service aboard ships typically extends for months at a time, followed by protracted shore leave. However, some seamen secure jobs on ships they like and stay aboard for years. In rare cases, veteran mariners choose never to go ashore when in port.

Further, the quick turnaround of many modern ships, spending only a matter of hours in port, limits a seafarer's free-time ashore. Moreover, some seafarers entering U.S. ports from a watch list of 25 countries deemed high-risk face restrictions on shore leave due to security concerns in a post 9/11 environment. However, shore leave restrictions while in U.S. ports impact American seamen as well. For example, the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots notes a trend of U.S. shipping terminal operators restricting seamen from traveling from the ship to the terminal gate. Further, in cases where transit is allowed, special "security fees" are at times assessed.

Such restrictions on shore leave coupled with reduced time in port by many ships translate into longer periods at sea. Mariners report that extended periods at sea living and working with shipmates who for the most part are strangers takes getting used to. At the same time, there is an opportunity to meet people from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Recreational opportunities have improved aboard some U.S. ships, which may feature gyms and day rooms for watching movies, swapping sea stories, and other activities. And in some cases, especially tankers, it is made possible for a mariner to be accompanied by members of his family. However, a mariner’s off duty time at sea is largely a solitary affair, pursuing hobbies, reading, writing letters, and sleeping.

Notable mariners

Statue dedicated to Italian Sailors at Finale Ligure, Liguria (Italy)Barbarossa Hayrettin Pasha (Turkish: Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa or Hızır Hayrettin Paşa; also Hızır Reis before being promoted to the rank of Pasha and becoming the Kaptan-ı Derya (Fleet Admiral) of the Ottoman Navy) (c. 1478 – 4 July 1546) was an Ottoman admiral who dominated the Mediterranean for decades. He was born on the island of Lesbos/ Mytilini and died in Istanbul, the Ottoman capital.

Merchant seamen have gone on to make their mark on the world in a number of interesting ways. Traian Băsescu, who started his career as a third mate in 1976 is now the President of Romania. Arthur Phillip joined the Merchant Navy in 1751 and 37 years later founded the city of Sydney, Australia. Merchant mariner Douglass North went from seaman to navigator to winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics. Jimmy Carter went on to become the 39th President of the United States after service in the US Navy.

Members of the British Merchant Navy have won the Distinguished Service Cross, and have had careers taking them from 'Deck Boy Peter' to Air Marshal Sir Beresford Peter Torrington Horsley KCB, CBE, LVO, AFC. Canadian merchant seamen have won the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Honor. American merchant seamen have won the Medal of Honor in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and one went on to become the "Father of the American Navy." One doesn't have to look far to find merchant seamen who became war heroes in Scotland, France, New Zealand, Peru, or Denmark.

Since World War II, a number of merchant seamen have become notorious criminals. American William Colepaugh was convicted as a Nazi spy in World War II and Fritz Sauckel was convicted as a Nazi war criminal. Briton Duncan Scott-Ford was hanged for treachery in World War II. George Hennard was an American mass murderer who claimed 24 victims on a rampage at Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. And Perry Smith's own murderous rampage was made famous in Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.

Mariners are well represented in the visual arts. French pilot's assistant Paul Gauguin would later become a leading post-impressionist painter and pioneered modern art's synthetist style. American seaman Haskell Wexler later won two Academy Awards, the latter for a biography of his shipmate Woody Guthrie. British Merchant Navy member Ken Russell later directed films such as Tommy, Altered States, and The Lair of the White Worm. Merchant seaman Johnny Craig was already a working comic book artist before he joined up, but Ernie Schroeder wouldn't start drawing comics until after returning home from World War II.

Merchant sailors have also made a splash in the world of sport. In football, with Fred Blackburn in England and the likes of Dan Devine and Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich in the U.S. In track and field, American seamen Cornelius Johnson and Jim Thorpe both won Olympic medals, though Thorpe didn't get his until 30 years after his death. Seamen Jim Bagby, Jr. and Charlie Keller went on to Major League Baseball. Drew Bundini Brown was Muhammad Ali's assistant trainer and cornerman, and Joe Gold went on to make his fortune as the bodybuilding and fitness guru of Gold's Gym.

Other sporting notables include Edwin Stratton the founder of Yoshinkan UK, Dutchman Henk de Velde known for sailing solo around the world, and Briton Matthew Webb who was the first person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aid.

Irish Merchant Navy member Kevin McClory spent 14 days in a lifeboat and later went on to write the James Bond movies Never Say Never Again and Thunderball. Members of the American Beat Movement Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Bob Kaufman, and Herbert Huncke were all Merchant Mariners.

It's perhaps not surprising that the writers of Moby Dick, The American Practical Navigator, and Two Years Before the Mast were Merchant Mariners. It might be surprising that the writers of Borat, A Hard Day's Night, and Cool Hand Luke were.

Seamen always complain about leaving their girl friends ashore, but imagine how James Dougherty felt, leaving his 17-year-old wife Marilyn Monroe on the beach. Merchant Navy steward Freddie Lennon had a surprise when he returned home to find he had a newborn son. That son would later found the musical group The Beatles.

A number of U.S. Merchant Mariners from World War II later played well known television characters. The list includes Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, Archie Bunker on All in the Family, Columbo on Columbo, Jim Rockford on The Rockford Files, Steve McGarret on Hawaii Five-O, Uncle Jesse Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard, and Cheyenne Bodie on Cheyenne.

Other uses
An ancient term, the word "sailor," has come to mean many things. Sailor may refer to:
A person who is under sail and not on a vessel with motorised power of any kind in the Royal Navy,

A person who goes out sailing, boating or yachting,

A person who practices the art of controlling the motion of a sailing ship or sailboat, across a body of water,

An enlisted member of a military naval force,

Anyone on a boat,

Anyone from a recruit to an admiral in a navy,

Members of the deck department as opposed to members of other departments in the Merchant Navy.

Nautical Science

2011-05-25T18:56:00.000+05:30

Program Structure

This four-year program, consists of six academic terms, three technical sessions and two sea phase work terms. This cadet program alternates semesters on-campus with semesters at sea.

First year: Two academic terms plus one nautical science course, an eight-week technical session followed by a two-month sea phase.

Second year: Two academic terms followed by a six-week technical session and a 15-month sea phase.

Third year: Two academic terms followed by an eight-week technical session.