US Customs and Border Protection issued a press release advising that the Port of Honolulu has installed a Radiation Portal Monitor to screen vehicles and cargo departing from Pier 1 for radiation. Use of radiation monitors is part of an ongoing effort to detect and prevent the transportation of nuclear devices, dirty bombs and other items that could be used in terrorist attacks.
Researchers aboard the RRS DISCOVERY experienced waves of up to 95 feet in height - the biggest waves ever recorded. The scientists believe these waves are created by resonance where a storm builds energy into waves over the hours rather than by strong winds which are traditionally thought of the source for large waves. You can read more about the findings of British National Oceanographic Center researchers aboard the RRS DISCOVERY here.
From an industry perspective, design of vessels able to withstand large waves may need to be reconsidered in the future As a final note, waves of up to 95 feet give new meaning to so called heavy weather or force majure defenses. It will be interesting to see the impact of this data on the maritime industry.
More on the Port Security Front:
The Port of Oakland is using funds from a $2.4 mil. Federal grant to outfit its cranes with 60 video cameras to be monitored 24 hours per day as part of its security plan.
See this article in the Alameda Times-Star for more details.
According to a press release from earlier today, Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the New York Department of Environmental Protection announced a joint project to measure water conditions in New York Harbor.
According to the press release:
The Seaport Museum's 1885 schooner The Pioneer, which celebrated its 120th anniversary this month, now carries the latest technology in the form of a computerized water monitoring system as part of the Urban Ocean Observatory at Stevens. In partnership with the New York Department of Environmental Protection, the system measures water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen in New York Harbor from The Pioneer as it conducts its public sails. The data is fed via a wireless network to computers at Stevens' Center for Maritime Systems (CMS) in Hoboken. Data collected includes water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen.
The public can sail on the Pioneer as well as on the schooner Lettie G. Howard, built in 1893 and on the wooden tug W. O. Decker. Check out the Seaport Museum website for more details.
Thanks to Dennis Bryant at Holland & Knight for advising that the United States Coast Guard National Vessel Movement Center (NVMC)
reports that the final version of its electronic Notice of Arrival/Departure
(e-NOA/D) is available. According to Bryant, electronic submission of the NOA fulfills the Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) Advance Passenger Information System (APIS)
requirement and that caution must be exercised in completing and submitting NOA/D to
avoid inadvertent errors and unintended duplications.
This should be of great assistance to Masters and to shore side agents involved in filing and updating NOAs. As is widely known in the maritime community, the USCG is now strictly enforcing the NOA requirements, the violation of which carries a maximum penalty of $32,500 per occurrence.
Ten radiation monitors have been installed at the Jacksonville Port Authority in Florida by US
Customs to scan all imported shipping containers for nuclear
weapons and dirty bombs prior to leaving the port.
Link: First Coast News | Local News.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has posted its marine accident report concerning the allision of the Staten Island Ferry Andrew J. Barberi with a maintenance pier at the Staten Island Ferry terminal on October 15, 2003. Fifteen crewmembers and an estimated 1,500 passengers were on board. Ten passengers died in the accident and 70 were injured. An eleventh passenger died 2 months later as a result of injuries sustained in the accident.
The NTSB found that the probable cause of this accident was the assistant captain’s unexplained incapacitation and the failure of the New York City Department of Transportation to implement and oversee safe, effective operating procedures for its ferries. Contributing to the cause of the accident was the failure of the captain to exercise his command responsibility over the vessel by ensuring the safety of its operations.
The Board noted that the Staten Island ferries lacked common technological innovations that are common in use today and that the Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS) has recommended that the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) aquire and install such devices, including: ARPA, AIS and electronic chart display and information systems.
NYCDOT engaged GMATS following the incident. The NTSB report notes that the NYCDOT was following the GMATS recommendations and had purchased and installed some of the systems in February, 2005.
From the new maritime industries desk:
Offshore supply vessels used as platforms for parabolic antennae to track satellites or the space shuttle or even for watching the Red Sox (who would waste time doing that?).
It looks like Boeing is expanding its Connexion product from the airplane to shipping: Connexion by Boeing Announces Pricing for High-Speed Internet Service for the Maritime Market.
5mbps downloads and in 2006 television broadcasts via a broadband connection for $2500 per month. Could be interesting.
I have yet to see the Connexion service on any flights that I have taken although Boeing has signed contracts with several international airlines.
Kudos to Wallenius Wilhelmsen for commissioning the design of an environmentally friendly ro-ro vessel. Accoding to Wallenius Wilhelmsen's press release, a scale model of the ship that demonstrates some of the exciting technical ideas produced by the design team, has now been constructed and will take centre stage in the Nordic Pavilion at the forthcoming World Expo 2005, Aichi, Japan. A working version of the vessel, which does not require ballast water tanks and produces no emissions is expected around 2025. The vessel, dubbed the E/S (Environmentally sound Ship) Orcelle, is named after the Irrawaddy dolphin, also known as the Orcelle dolphin, and is currently on the endangered species list.
