MarEx eNewsletter - March 12, 2009

March 12th, 2009 Vol. 7, No. 10 COSCO BUSAN (almost) in the Rearview Mirror Is there a bottom line? In the early 1990's, and only a few years after I had been unceremoniously forced into retirement by a declining U.S. merchant fleet, I learned of a casualty aboard a U.S.-flag oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico. A seemingly minor event; ... Read More>>>Back to Top MarEx Mailbag: Readers weigh in (again) on our February 5th lead editorial Back in February, we published an editorial entitled "Attacking Piracy" The Long Road to Nowhere". In that editorial, I talked about the futility of trying to eliminate the problem offshore without attacking the root cause on land. ... Read More>>>Back to Top U.S. Military Sealift Vessel Harassed by Chinese Government Ships The Chinese claim a U.S. government vessel violated international and Chinese laws. Five Chinese vessels aggressively maneuvered near while following the USNS IMPECCABLE in the South China Sea. The U.S. oceanographic ship was 70 miles south of Hainan Island when it was approached by Chinese vessels. The ... Read More>>>Back to Top U.S. Coast Guard: Lightering of 900-foot Tanker Successful On March 6, the SKS Satilla crew reported that the tank ship was suffering an 8-degree port list due to an intake of water into the ship's ballast tanks. The tank ship was reported to have approximately 41 million gallons of crude oil on board. SKS Satilla, apparently struck a ... Read More>>>Back to Top Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee to meet in Buzzards Bay The Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC) will meet in Buzzards Bay, MA, to discuss various issues relating to the training and fitness of merchant marine personnel. These meetings will be open to the public. DATES: MERPAC will meet on Thursday, April 16, 2009, from 8 a.m. ... Read More>>>Back to Top MITAGS-PMI Announce "Introduction to Environmental Regulations in the Marine Industry" Course Seminar is applicable to marine personnel and their shore-side support staff. It is especially useful for senior level management. Glen Paine, Executive Director of the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and the Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI) in Seattle, Washington has announced a new eight-hour ... Read More>>>Back to Top New class of Navy Logistics Ships Grows 8th ship in the class launched and 7th delivered to MSC The Lewis and Clark-class of dry cargo/ammunition ships - the Navy's newest class of logistics ships, also called T-AKEs - continued to grow last week with the launch of the eighth ship in the class and ... Read More>>>Back to Top Owner of Egyptian Ferry Sentenced More than 1,000 people died in Red Sea Accident An Egyptian court sentenced Mamdouh Ismail, the board chairman of the Al-Salam Company for Navigation Transportation, to seven years in prison for manslaughter and negligence. The Ismail's ferry, Al-Salam 98, was transporting approximately 1,400 passengers from the Saudi ... Read More>>>Back to Top Ensco International Reports That U.S. Coast Guard Has Informed Company of Apparent Shipping Incident Involving Lost Rig Ensco International Incorporated (NYSE: ESV) reported that it has been informed by the U.S. Coast Guard that an oil tanker, the SKS Satilla, apparently struck a submerged object which the U.S. Coast Guard has identified as the sunken hull of the ENSCO 74. The ENSCO 74, a jackup rig, was ... Read More>>>Back to Top The Port of Boston Sees Increase in Direct Call Container Shipments The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) announces that volume at Conley Container Terminal in South Boston by direct call steamship lines was up 5.5 % over 2007, even though overall container volume declined by 5%. "The Port of Boston saw an increase in container volume from our direct ... Read More>>>Back to Top THE UN-COMFORT ZONE with Robert Wilson The Secret for People Who Don't Believe in VooDoo The latest fad in motivation is the Law of Attraction or more popularly The Secret after the motion picture and book by Rhonda Byrne. The idea being that if you use the power of The Secret you will ... Read More>>>Back to Top Maritime Education Summit at Mass. Maritime Takes Shape BUZZARDS BAY, MA – The Massachusetts Maritime Academy has released the schedule of events for the Maritime Education Summit scheduled for April 15 – 17, 2009. Summit to run concurrently with spring meeting of MERPAC, which attendees of the Summit are also welcome to attend. As previously ... Read More>>>Back to Top Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway System Issues Multiple Advisories Seaway Notices 2009 At least five new notices have been issued by the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway System. MarEx readers can click on any of the live links below to access these messages. Seaway Notices address issues specific to a given navigation ... Read More>>>Back to Top DOJ: Guilty Plea in Case of Cosco Busan Ship Pilot WASHINGTON (6 March 2009): John Joseph Cota, a California ship pilot, pleaded guilty today to negligently causing the discharge of approximately 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay in violation of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a law enacted in the wake of the Exxon Valdez disaster. Cota, ... Read More>>>Back to Top Trico Marine Rejects Kistefos' Director Nominations THE WOODLANDS, Texas, March 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trico Marine Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRMA) (the "Company" or "Trico") today announced that it sent a letter to Kistefos AS conveying its Board of Directors' unanimous rejection of Kistefos's nomination of two individuals for election to Trico's Board of Directors at ... Read More>>>Back to Top GAO Reports: Challenges Facing the Department of Transportation and Congress The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report outlining views on major challenges facing DOT and Congress as they work to administer recovery funds and reauthorize surface transportation and aviation programs. • Why GAO Did This Study A safe, efficient, and convenient transportation system ... Read More>>>Back to Top Moore Stephens: Insurance Business Models May Fall Short of Solvency II Requirements Leading accountant and consultant Moore Stephens has warned that some existing internal business models in the UK insurance industry may not meet the standard required under Solvency II, the EU project to create a system of risk-based prudential regulation in the insurance sector. March 12, 2009: Simon ... Read More>>>Back to Top NTSB Tackles Fatigue in Transportation National Transportation Safety Board reiterates commitment to ridding fatigue in transportation during sleep awareness week. Washington, DC (March 6, 2009): The National Transportation Safety Board, in recognition of National Sleep Awareness Week, reiterates its commitment to eliminating human fatigue in the transportation industry. The ... Read More>>>Back to Top DOJ Release: Chief Engineer Pleads Guilty to Concealing Pollution WASHINGTON (March 9 2009): Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen, who was the Chief Engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus, pleaded guilty today to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of oil-contaminated bilge water from the M/T Nautilus, the Justice Department announced. The government's investigation began in ... Read More>>>Back to Top EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBE Copyright © 2009 The Maritime Executive. 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316