“Hotline between Coast Guards of India and Pakistan working well”

Arrest of anglers by Pakistan and India when they stray into each other’s waters is fast becoming outdated with the establishment of a “hotline” between the Coast Guard and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency.

“Now, if an Indian fishing boat enters Pakistan waters, they call us to shepherd it back to our side instead of arresting the fishermen and we must have received about a dozen such calls in the past three months,” said Commander, Coast Guard Region (West), Inspector-General A. Rajasekhar. The direct communication facilitates discussions between the two countries’ coast guards and the Pakistan Embassy in New Delhi, Mr. Rajasekhar said. The exercise, held to mark the Coast Guard Day that falls on February 1, saw several patrol vessels, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft displaying their skills. Mr. Rajasekhar said it might not have always been the case that Indian fishing boats inadvertently crossed into the Pakistani side. They could have been lured by better catch. “The boats, fitted with GPS and other communication systems cannot be so mistaken.” The Indian fishing boat fleet was much larger than that of Pakistan. Therefore, the incidence of their involvement was comparatively much higher. Though the hotline idea was mooted over two years ago, it started working only last November. Both sides were now talking in terms of mutual aid in joint search, rescue, and even pollution control.
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'Superior Achiever' launched at IHC Krimpen Shipyard

Offshore support vessel 'Superior Achiever' has been launched at the IHC Merwede Shipyard, IHC Krimpen Shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, the Netherlands.

The vessel is being under construction for Superior Offshore International, Inc. based in Houston, USA. Before launching, the 'Superior Achiever' was named by Dutch minister of Economic Affairs, Mrs. Maria van der Hoeven. IHC Krimpen Shipyard based on the successful IHC Merwede Type 22 series of vessels has developed the ‘Superior Achiever’. In close cooperation with Superior Offshore International, Inc., this particular Type 22 has been enhanced. The vessel will be a fully dynamically positioned, multi role offshore support vessel for offshore support and construction operations worldwide. The 'Superior Achiever' features flexible and modular capacity saturation diving capability through a dedicated diving moonpool. One or two remote operated vehicles, launched over the side, can support sub-sea operations. For offshore construction a variety of cranes are available, such as a 160-tonnes crane, a 120/170-tonnes heave compensated crane, capable of handling 70 tonnes to a depth of 1,800 metres and a 24-tonnes man-riding crane. 'Superior Achiever' is the first ship after re-opening the shipyard, late 2006.
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China orders ports to halt loading coal for export

The Transport Ministry has ordered seaports to suspend loading coal for export amid mounting power shortages in China.

The severe winter, which has seen the greatest volume of snowfall in decades in some provinces, has led to coal transport bottlenecks, leaving many utilities in short supply of fuel. Ocean shippers have also been ordered by the ministry to divert their exports of coal to meet domestic requirements, while railways have been told to make hauling coal and food a priority over the coming weeks. It warned of "severe" consequences for failing to comply with the order, which will remain in effect through the Lunar New Year holiday in February. China's economic planning agency ordered the country's utilities and coal suppliers to coordinate their efforts to avert power shortages that have forced more than a dozen provinces to ration electricity.
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Accident Closes Major Shipping Channel for Hours

A 669-foot tank ship carrying orange juice collided with a smaller dredging ship in Newark Bay, forcing the Coast Guard to close a waterway that leads to some of the largest shipping terminals on the East Coast for about five hours.

No one was injured in the collision, but the smaller ship, the 117-foot Dredge New York, took on water and started to sink before it was stabilized. The Coast Guard found sheen of light hydraulic fluid in the surrounding water, but investigators had not determined its source. The collision, Officer Rorison said, occurred about 1:50 p.m. near Port Newark, on the west side of a channel between Bayonne, N.J., and Newark. The freighter, Orange Sun, which was flying a Liberian flag, collided with the dredging vessel, and several hours later, tugboats escorted the ship to Berth 24 at Port Newark. The dredging vessel was linked to a barge and tugboat after water was removed from the ship. The dredging vessel was working on a $2.5 billion project to deepen New York Harbor and the surrounding channels to 50 feet, from 45 feet, to allow bigger container ships to dock in New York and New Jersey. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, which is based in Chicago, owned the damaged vessel.
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Hart Fenton design three new ferries for Wightlink

Hart Fenton, Portsmouth based naval architect and marine engineering consultancy, have been selected by Wightlink to provide the design for its three new ships.

They are built to service the busy Lymington - Yarmouth ferry service in Croatia, which carries approximately 1.35 million passengers annually. The new Wight class vessels to be named 'Wight Light', 'Wight Sky' and 'Wight Sun' will replace Wightlink's older C-class vessels the 'Caedmon', 'Cenred' and 'Cenwulf', which were built in 1973 and are now more than 30 years old. The new design, which came from a working party made up of staff from the route, managers and representatives from Hart Fenton, is designed to secure the long-term financial viability of the route, which has been in operation since 1830. Designed especially for operation on the Lymington River, the new Wight class vessels are much more efficient vessels than the Caedmon and its sister ships, offering greater flexibility, more maneuverability, reduced emissions and better and more modern passenger facilities. 'Wight Light' and 'Wight Sky' will enter service in time for the 2008 peak summer season while the third vessel the 'Wight Sun' will enter service in late 2009.
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Vietnam's Vinalines to build seaports, berths nationwide

Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) plans to build a range of major seaport developments nationwide with some of the projects involving foreign direct investment, reports Vietnam Economic Times.

First will be the construction of the Van Phong international transit seaport in the central province of Khanh Hoa, which will have an annual cargo handling capacity of 300 million tonnes and cater to ships weighing up to 400,000 tonnes, said the report. Construction of the Lach Huyen deepwater port in the northern city of Hai Phong is also scheduled to begin during the first three months of the year, along with the building of five new berths for ships of up to 20,000 tons at Hai Phong's Dinh Vu port.
A groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of berths 2, 3 and 4 at Cai Lan port in northern Quang Ninh province is also slated to be held this quarter. Berths 2, 3, and 4 will be designed to receive 40,000-ton ships, the report said. Vinalines also intends to cooperate with US and Danish firms to build two container berths at Cai Mep-Thi Vai port in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and one container port in Ben Dinh-Sao Mai. The report did not specify when construction on these two projects would begin. However, between this year and 2011, the cooperation with overseas investors is expected to be extended to cover the construction of a further two container berths in Ba Ngoi port on the Cam Ranh Gulf in central Khanh Hoa province, as well as a seaport in the Son Tra peninsula in central Da Nang province, said the Vietnam Economic Times.

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Titan Makes Headway on New Flame Salvage

Titan Salvage, Crowley Maritime Corporation's salvage and wreck removal company, reported that its salvage team on site in Gibraltar responding to the wreck of the bulk ship New Flame is preparing to begin cutting the stern section of the ship from the sunken bow so that the stern can be re-floated and towed away.

The New Flame, which sank following a collision while exiting the port of Gibraltar in August of last year, now lies in the open ocean off Gibraltar's Europa Point with the forward four cargo holds of the ship lying on the ocean bottom, and cargo hold No.5 and the engine room still floating while being maintained by TITAN's salvage pumps. The ship is loaded with over 42,000 tons of scrap metal, which was being transported from New York Harbor to Turkey for recycling.

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