Posted to Maritime Transportation Security News and Views
(by
John C.W. Bennett)
on
September 30, 2010
Last week the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) updated its list of TWIC Readers that have successfully completed the Initial Capability Evaluation (ICE) to include an additional hand-held reader. This brings the total of portable…
Posted to Move to give STCW a slant on learning
(by
Joseph Fonseca)
on
September 6, 2010
With near misses and accidents on the rise while at sea, the focus has with intensity come to rest on training and STCW conventions. A lot of soul searching and introspection is taking place with a section of trainers coming to the conclusion…
Posted to Marine Propulsion Report
(by
Keith Henderson)
on
August 27, 2010
Automatic optimization of marine diesel engine performance using loop control of the cylinder pressure process has been under development for a number of years at both MAN Diesel & Turbo and Wärtsilä. Targeting the slow speed two stroke engines…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
August 27, 2010
The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) is a US Navy program, initiated in the early 1950’s, to track Soviet or other potentially hostile submarines. It consists of a series of hydrophones strategically placed on seamounts and continental slopes…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
August 17, 2010
James Horace Alderman had been convicted in federal court in Miami of the murder of two Coast Guardsmen and one Secret Service agent. Alderman was a notorious smuggler of alcoholic beverages – a rum runner – during the heyday of the Prohibition Era.
Posted to MarineNews Notes
(by
Raina Clark)
on
July 5, 2010
Behind the boat, the lights of Quincy, Illinois receded into a bright cluster. On either side of the river, the outline of the heavily treed banks closed in on the city and contrasted like a black cutout against the transluscent night sky. The stars were out…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
June 29, 2010
I work hard to avoid engaging in what might seem partisan politics (viewing much, but not all politics, as similar to street theater - entertaining and harmless but not to be taken seriously). After reflection, though, I have come to the conclusion…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
June 25, 2010
Live oak is a term used to refer to oak trees that are evergreen (retain leaves year-round, thus “alive”). There are a number of evergreen oak species and many are found in the southeastern United States (North Carolina to Texas). A mature live oak tree is massive…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
June 17, 2010
No purchase price was given, but Chinese officials said they had paid “billions of dollars” for the debt-stricken Mediterranean country earlier this week. Okay, that’s not exactly how it went down, but it may as well have been. Bad jokes aside…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
June 11, 2010
The Dutch West India Company was chartered by a group of Dutch merchants in 1621. It was modeled on the better-known Dutch East India Company. The trade monopoly included West Africa between the Tropic of Cancer and the Cape of Good Hope and the New World.
Posted to Martin Rushmere
(by
Martin Rushmere)
on
June 10, 2010
Channel deepening is all the rage among ports, with Long Beach officially starting a $40 million project to dig out 1.5 million cubic feet of material to extend the main channel to 76 feet. “We’re sending a message to our customers. We want your discretionary cargo to come back…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
May 21, 2010
The word portolan is derived from an Italian term meaning “related to a port or harbor”. The portolan chart provided a realistic description of harbors and coastlines within the covered area. They were particularly prevalent in Italy, Spain, and Portugal from the 1300’s through the 1500’s.
Posted to Martin Rushmere
(by
Martin Rushmere)
on
May 20, 2010
This month 150 Old Salts plus advisors berthed for the first time at the Capitol to tell Congress their thoughts on the future of US merchant marine policy and ways to keep maritime commerce healthy. Dubbed the "Maritime Congressional Sail-In"…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
May 14, 2010
The St. Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks, canals, and channels providing a connection for ocean-going ships between the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. Small vessels had historically traveled this route, although portage was often required around rapids…
Posted to Marine Propulsion Report
(by
Keith Henderson)
on
April 20, 2010
The DNV Quantum report also considers many propulsion aspects that were not covered in our previous Quantum report, therefore we call this one Quantum 2. Conventional container ship designs usually go for maximum hull speed requiring highest practicable engine power.
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
April 20, 2010
The Turkish Straits consist of two narrow straits in northwestern Turkey, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, and the Sea of Marmara that connects them. The Turkish Straits lie between the Black Sea to the east and the Aegean Sea, which is a region of the much larger Mediterranean Sea.
Posted to Gulf Coast hurricane intensity reduction
(by
Richard LaRosa)
on
January 26, 2010
MSL monthly averages for Grand Cayman and Settlement Point are available from Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory for 1986 through 1996. Settlement Point is still operating but the data has not been supplied to Proudman's Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level. I don't know how to access the data.
Posted to Brazilian Subsea and Maritime News
(by
Claudio Paschoa)
on
January 7, 2010
In November 2009, Aker Solutions do Brasil signed two contracts to supply subsea connection systems for the P-55 platform, which will operate at the Roncador field offshore Brazil. The contracts were signed with Petrobras and Subsea 7. For Petrobras…
Posted to THE BUSINESS OF SUPERYACHTS - BRANSOM BEAN
(by
bransom bean)
on
December 14, 2009
I just discovered that December is actually quite a nice time to be in Monaco. The temperatures are certainly fresher than during the Monaco Yacht Show in September. And those supermodels hanging on the arms of their chubby, balding, middle-aged escorts seem to be somewhere else…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
December 11, 2009
The territorial sea is the belt of coastal water extending from a nation’s baseline over which the nation exercises sovereignty. The baseline is usually the shoreline, defined more precisely as the mean low-water mark. In certain places, such as the mouth of a river or bay…