Baffling giants in the ocean depths

Scientists investigating the icy waters of Antarctica had collected mysterious creatures including giant sea spiders and huge worms in the murky depths.

Australian experts taking part in an international program to take a census of marine life in the ocean at the far south of the world collected specimens from up to 2,000 m beneath the surface, and said many of them have never been seen before. Some of the animals far under the sea grow to unusually large sizes, a phenomenon called gigantism that scientists still do not fully understand. “Gigantism is very common in Antarctic waters,” Martin Riddle, the Australian Antarctic Division scientist who led the expedition, said in a statement. “We have collected huge worms, giant crustaceans and sea spiders the size of dinner plates.” The expedition is part of an international effort to map life forms in the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean, and to study the impact of forces such as climate change on the undersea environment. Three ships — Aurora Australis from Australia, France’s L’Astrolabe and Japan’s Umitaka Maru — returned recently from two months in the region as part of the Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census. The work is part of a larger project to map the biodiversity of the world’s oceans.
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Search after Japan navy collision

A Japanese naval vessel has collided with a fishing boat east of Tokyo, leaving two anglers missing.

The Atago destroyer hit the Seitoku Maru fishing boat early on Tuesday off Chiba prefecture's Nojimazaki Cape, splitting the boat in two. Coastguard ships and helicopters were searching for the missing anglers. The Atago is one of several Japanese navy ships equipped with the high-tech Aegis radar tracking system. "It is extremely regrettable that this sort of accident has happened," Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba told journalists. "We must do all we can to search for and save the missing men and find out what caused it as soon as possible." The two men, 58-year-old Haruo Kichisei and his son Tetsuhiro, had been out fishing for tuna. It was the first serious accident involving a navy vessel and a civilian ship since a submarine and a fishing boat collided in Tokyo Bay in 1988, killing 30. The Atago, the newest of Japan's Aegis-equipped vessels, was on its way back to the Yokosuka naval base from a training exercise in Hawaii when the incident occurred.
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SEACOR Marine LLC christens first crewzer class vessel

SEACOR Marine LLC christened its first CrewZer Class vessel, the SEACOR CHEETAH, in Galveston, Texas.

Joyce McCall, wife of nearly fifty years to offshore industry pioneer Norman McCall, acted as the vessel's sponsor in recognition of her life-long contribution to the McCall legacy. The SEACOR CHEETAH was designed to provide customers a faster and more stable delivery platform than the industry standard. After examining various hull types, SEACOR chose the Catamaran's twin-hull design for its ability to reach top speeds in excess of 40 knots while increasing passenger comfort and safety.
It enables logistics managers to establish efficient loop-style routes between high-traffic platforms and shore-base operations. Following an evaluation of several personnel transfer methods, SEACOR selected Reflex Marine to develop the 9-person FROG personnel transfer system. Built at Gulf Craft shipyard, it is equipped with state-of-the-art electronics, communications and navigation systems. Its DP-2 rating, combined with its wide, stable work deck allows the vessel to hold station in weather conditions where other vessels simply could not work. SEACOR Marine is a subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CKH). SEACOR Marine operates one of the world's largest fleets of offshore marine support vessels, serving the global offshore oil and gas exploration and production industry.
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French sailors set to sail again on salvage mission

Ten French sailors plucked to safety from their capsized yacht off the Otago coast yesterday will be back as they begin a mission to recover their vessel.

The crew, who were taking part in the Jules Verne round-the-world yacht race, was rescued uninjured when their craft overturned in heavy seas 80 nautical miles (145km) off the coast. Three rescue helicopters winched the crew off the hull of the Groupama III and flew them to Dunedin about 3.30pm. The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) launched a rescue mission after its equivalent in France called at 1.20pm (NZ time) to report it had picked up a signal from the yacht's emergency position indicating radio beacon. Head of Search and Rescue at Dunedin police Senior Sergeant Brian Benn said the sailors had been busy today finding a boat and organizing the salvage mission. The sailors had been well looked after during their stay in Dunedin and spent last night celebrating and reliving the day's adventures. The French Embassy thanked New Zealand rescue services. The Groupama III had just passed the halfway point in the circumnavigation, and was heading for Cape Horn after a relatively slow passage across the southern India Ocean.
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Sri Lanka to take up sea attack issue with India

The chief of the Sri Lankan Navy is to take up the issue of an attack against a Sri Lankan naval ship from a flotilla of Indian fishing boats.

Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, who is currently on an official visit to India, would raise the issue, among other things, with Indian officials. The Sri Lankan Navy said that on February 5 up to six sailors had gone missing after a naval boat was fired upon from a flotilla of 400 Indian fishing boats, which were poaching off the seas off Talaimannar in the north. The Navy said it had lodged a protest with the Indian embassy in Colombo, calling for a thorough investigation into the incident. The Sri Lankan Navy maintains close monitoring of its northern seas with India. The Navy's sea patrol troops have often been accused of firing at Indian fishing boats.
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