Newsletter Newsletter March 2015-fin… · Newsletter March 2015 ... Corporation Chairman Micky...
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Newsletter Input - Email: [email protected] Newsletter March 2015 The Workhorse of Australia’s Antarctic Research and Supply. Is Australia’s Merchant Fleet Ready for the Future? IN THIS ISSUE… Noticeboard Baby Ahoy Simulation in Training: Best Practice? Cruise Liner Humanitarian Assistance Piracy Rising in South East Asia? Great Barrier Reef – Worse Than Thought Ship Christened with Whisky Women in the Argentine Merchant Marine Standing dates for your calendar Nautical Institute SE Australia Branch is pleased to receive vital sponsorship from: www.maritrade.com.au www.carnivalaustralia.com
Transcript of Newsletter Newsletter March 2015-fin… · Newsletter March 2015 ... Corporation Chairman Micky...
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Newsletter
March 2015
The Workhorse of Australia’s Antarctic Research and Supply.
Is Australia’s Merchant Fleet Ready for the Future?
IN THIS ISSUE…
Noticeboard Baby Ahoy
Simulation in Training: Best Practice? Cruise Liner Humanitarian Assistance
Piracy Rising in South East Asia?
Great Barrier Reef – Worse Than Thought
Ship Christened with Whisky Women in the Argentine Merchant Marine
Standing dates for your calendar
Nautical Institute SE Australia Branch is pleased to receive vital sponsorship from:
www.maritrade.com.au www.carnivalaustralia.com
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March 2015
Mariners all,
Thanks to our unconquerable Branch secretary Jillian Carson-Jackson for her comprehensive e-notes and updates keeping us up to date with goings on around Australia.
Already the year is one third over. The pace of life is reflected in the maritime industry. Product, trade, markets, safety, economics, budgets, politics, and professionalism changes keep us busy staying current, and disasters and threats are always present.
In this edition, for those who missed it, a
revisit of February’s Branch presentation:
issuing bridge tickets in a simulator? Fact or fiction? Safe or not? Also, with a range of natural disasters in our region causing grief,
it’s not just about the Navy and Air Force
delivering relief to our regional neighbours: our own cruise liner industry comes to the rescue too.
Though we each subscribe to a range of information, blogs, magazines and webpages for our professional benefit, our relationships
with each other don’t come via social media.
The Branch newsletter provides a unique method to get your message across. Want to trial a paper for comment? Say congratulations to a member or colleague, or advertise a policy, principle or opinion? Get your input to the editor.
Your local contributions are vital to focus the membership on pertinent issues and generate camaraderie. Please forward input to [email protected].
Stay safe, and keep the land on the left - Editor.
Branch Contact Details
NI SE Australia Branch Committee
2014-15
Chairman – Mike Drake [email protected]
Vice-Chairman – David Bendall [email protected]
Treasurer – John Harding
Secretary – Jillian Carson-Jackson
Mailing address:
3/41 Crisp Circuit, Bruce, ACT 2617
ACT Liaison – Iain Kerr [email protected]
Victoria Liaison – Vacant
South Australia Liaison – Nada Ganesan [email protected]
Committee Members: Ken Edwards: [email protected]
Justin Jones: [email protected]
Greg Hill: [email protected]
Barclay Ross: [email protected]
Richard Toone: [email protected]
Ashley Papp: [email protected]
Michael Squires: [email protected]
Iain Steverson (Newcastle): [email protected] Kendall Carter: [email protected]
Prasanth Athipar: [email protected]
Next Sydney Branch Meeting
13 May 1800 for 1830 Occidental Hotel, Sydney
RSVP required - e-mail:
[email protected] or [email protected]
Volunteers or ideas for presenters, please advise
a committee member at any time.
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Noticeboard
Baby Ahoy Congratulations Prasanthen Athipar and wife Mirra on the birth of their daughter on 6th December 2014.
If you have an event, photo, not-for-profit plug or date for the Noticeboard, please submit it to the editor.
Articles
NISEA February 2015 Presentation – Simulation in Navy Training Thanks to Doug Bird The keynote speaker cycle kicked off on 11 February at the Occidental Hotel, Sydney. Captain Wil Martin RAN (of the Governor Sir David Martin lineage) provided the audience with a dissertation on junior warfare officer (aka deck officer, Officer of the Watch) training in the Royal Australian Navy. Navy has heavily invested in state of the art simulation with full and part simulators at the premier warfare training base HMAS Watson in Sydney’s east. Phased across 2 years, sea and shore training places a marked focus on simulation. The technology permits relevant and realistic scenarios to be generated by experts to put trainees through a tougher regimen that can be experienced only at sea. Collision avoidance, navigation (celestial, terrestrial and satellitestial [My word, Ed.], seamanship, bridgemanship (bridge resource management), search and rescue and leadership are tested in a graduated series of courses, including shore oral and practical boards. Instructor-trainee ratios have been significantly increased, permitting a high level of quality training delivery and scrutiny in progress and assessment. Improved timelines and outcomes have become obvious following a strong series of quality assessment audits of trainees and assessors. Training is consistently updated to remain current, relevant, standardised and interesting.
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Captive audience – CAPT Wil Martin RAN outlays Navy’s advances in training.
Though Bridge Warfare Certificates (STCW equivalencies) are awarded in the simulator, the training programme remains reliant upon assessment at sea, over a period of time on specific competencies and – importantly – presence, capacity and leadership. An OOW cannot take the watch at sea by themselves (first by day, then by night, then in company with other ships) until they have achieved specific platform endorsements for that type of ship and that operation or activity. Captains at sea take their training and assessment responsibilities very seriously, and up to 25% of a day at sea – even on operations as tempo permits - is specifically dedicated to just training, right across the crew. Of course, this is the Royal Australian Navy, so officers need to be trained and assessed in more than just navigation, seamanship and bridgemanship. Anti-ship missile and torpedo defence, gunnery, helicopter launch and recovery operations and maritime law are all part of the curriculum, and final runs are assessed by serving sea officers. As with all training, experience doesn’t come cheap, but the investment Navy has made in training has – touch wood – given an advanced level of service to the nation, very few incidents (not immunity, unfortunately), and continued high standards. The future is in safe hands.
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Cruise Liners Provide Humanitarian Assistance in Vanuatu Thanks to Mike Drake Carnival Australia cruise ship Fleet supporting the disaster relief efforts of Save the Children Australia are playing a part in helping Vanuatu recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Pam. Four ships -- P&O Cruises' Pacific Dawn and Pacific Pearl and Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Legend and Carnival Spirit -- are ferrying aid to Vanuatu. Thousands of litres of bottled water, tents, tarpaulins, corrugated iron sheeting and food supplies are among the items carried to Port Vila and Santo by the four ships.
Carnival Legend called at Santo last week and Carnival Spirit was scheduled to call there after her departure from Sydney on March 30. Pacific Dawn and Pacific Jewel were set to become the first cruise ships to call at Port Vila since the cyclone hit making brief calls with time enough alongside only to unload the humanitarian aid. Passengers on both ships also contributed to an appeal for canned food, insect repellant to help prevent insect borne diseases, and personal hygiene items. The passengers embraced the humanitarian nature of the calls to Vanuatu and accepted that they would be unable to leave the ships in Vila because it was still subject to a state of emergency.
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In response to a Vanuatu request for mulching machines, three industrial strength mulchers were loaded aboard Pacific Dawn in Brisbane and four chainsaws were delivered to Pacific Pearl in Sydney. The machines were needed to help dispose of fallen vegetation to prevent the rotting material becoming a health or fire risk.
Overall, Carnival Australia has contributed $300,000 to Save the Children's Vanuatu relief efforts -- $50,000 from the existing P&O Pacific Partnership with Save the Children, $100,000 from Carnival Corporation and a personal contribution of $150,000 from Carnival Corporation Chairman Micky Arison through his family foundation. Carnival Australia hopes to resume cruising to Vanuatu as soon as the all clear is given to return because cruising is a vital component of Vanuatu's tourism economy and the livelihood of island communities.
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Tourism constitutes about 40% of the Vanuatu economy. Each year, around 350,000 tourists visit Vanuatu and more than two thirds arrive on cruise vessels. The return of Pacific Dawn and Pacific Pearl to Vila on brief calls to unload humanitarian aid was also seen as sending a signal that the cruise ships would be coming back.
Piracy Rising in South East Asia? Mike Schuler, gcaptain.com, March 22 A MSC containership and a bulk carrier have been attacked in two separate but possibly related incidents in Southeast Asia waters off the coast of Indonesia, according to information from the regional ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre. The two incidents are reported to have occurred within just hours of each other in the eastbound lane of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
MSC Vancouver was previously known as the COSCO Vancouver. Photo: Port of Hamburg
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According to ReCAAP, at about 0100 hours on March 21 four men boarded the Marshall Islands-registered bulk carrier MV Capetan Gioris while underway approximately 3.8 nautical miles off Tanjung Sengkuang, Batam. Nothing was missing onboard and the crew was safe. Later that morning, at approximately 0545 hours, the Luxembourg-registered containership MV MSC Vancouver was boarded by seven men armed with knives and tools while underway about 9 nautical miles northeast of Pulau Karimum Besar. The robbers stole the second engineer’s gold chain and watch before abandoning the vessel. In both cases, the Masters reported the incidents to the Singapore Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) who notified the Singapore Police Coast Guard, Republic of Singapore Navy and Indonesian authorities, and initiated navigational broadcasts to alert mariners about the incidents. Due to the close proximity and timing of the incidents, ReCAAP says that there is a high probability that the robbers will continue to pry in this area over the next few days and urges vessels in the area to take extra precautionary measures.
Reef Condition Is 'Poor', and Probably Worse than Healthcheck Suggests theconversation.com 14 August 2014 The latest healthcheck of the Great Barrier Reef shows the overall outlook is “poor”, and getting worse. According to the Outlook Report produced by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, climate change is still the greatest threat to the reef. Other threats include runoff, dredging, incidental bycatch and illegal fishing. The report contains confronting evidence of a 50% loss of corals, another major outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish, further declines or no recovery in most species of large wildlife, and ongoing impacts of fishing. Remarkably, despite all the clear evidence for the declining condition of the Barrier Reef region, the report concludes that its outstanding heritage values remain intact and that sediment runoff from agriculture has been reduced. Initial reaction to the report has been very mixed. Environment Minister Greg Hunt concluded, despite all of the scientific evidence compiled in the report, that the Great Barrier Reef remains one of the “most resilient marine ecosystems in the world”. Other commentators state that reports on the condition of the reef cherry-pick optimistic vignettes (such as the recovery of humpback whales since the end of harvesting in Antarctica), while claiming insufficient information exists on widespread problems such as impacts of dredging, poaching and incidental bycatch of sharks, dugongs, sea snakes and many other species. The report conveniently places a lot of blame on the recent weather — for a new outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish and for the slow decline of corals, seagrasses and dugong. In reality, the causes of decline are much more complex and longer-term. They can’t simply be attributed a few recent storms, while ignoring ongoing flaws in governance and management.
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cairns-greatbarrierreef.org.au
For example, unsustainable harvesting, drowning in nets and collisions with ships have all contributed to the 97% decline in dugongs in the central and southern sections of the marine park. None of these issues is being adequately addressed. Similarly, attempts to cull crown-of-thorns starfish by lethal injection miss the point that the root cause of the outbreaks is poorly regulated runoff of nutrients. The report states optimistically that pollution loads entering the reef have been measurably reduced by changes in land use, funded by the Commonwealth, the Queensland state and by farmers. However, the only evidence to support this claim is an unpublished model from CSIRO. The model predicts that runoff or sediments and nutrients may eventually be about 10% lower. This prediction may well be true, but it will take decades to verify. Although the report doesn’t say so, if dumping of unprecedented amounts of dredge spoil continues to be allowed within the marine park, it will easily swamp all of the modest predicted improvement in runoff of sediments from land. Consequently, the most cost-effective measure to improve sediment loads would be to ban dumping of dredge spoil at sea. Implementation of the Queensland Ports Strategy for developing coal exports would lead to a vast acceleration in CO2 emissions if coal deposits are developed, unprecedented port expansion along the coast, dredging and dumping, and inevitable loss of World Heritage values. The report continues an evolving discourse on how the Great Barrier Reef is governed and managed. The 1975 Marine Park Act states that the overarching objective of the Commonwealth is to protect and conserve the Great Barrier Reef Region. Today, the focus is less on protection and more on management of multiple uses, including plans for some of the world’s largest coal ports. The original large-scale emphasis on protection of the whole region has also faded. The outlook report argues that the likely impacts of dredging near Cairns, Townsville, Bowen, Mackay and Gladstone are quite localised and occur in areas that are “already under pressure”. The inference is that they are therefore acceptable. Similarly, the growing use of environmental offsets to allow unprecedented levels of
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dredging and coastal development is effectively an abandonment of early commitments by the Commonwealth to protect all of the Great Barrier Reef Region. This has led to UNESCO’s concerns over poor governance and the declining “integrity” or wholeness of the World Heritage Area. The outlook report emphasises how the north section of the marine park is in still good condition, while the central and southern regions south of Cooktown are slowly degrading. Many people would view this as a failure to live up to the spirit of the 1975 Act. The outlook report highlights the need for better protection of the Great Barrier Reef, yet the budget for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has been wound back. The agency is losing key staff. Queensland has also wound back financial support for fisheries management, axed the independent fishery observer program and sacked staff. In 2012-13, Fisheries Queensland had a budget cut of more than A$4 million and lost 60 positions. Arguably, the biggest risks to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area are: a) destructive government policies such as removal of “green tape” and the implementation of offsets that allow new developments to proceed despite the environmental damage they cause; b) the demonstrable failure of the state and Commonwealth to tackle climate change; and c) the ongoing conflicts of interest over mining royalties received by the Commonwealth and state of Queensland versus their responsibilities for stewardship of the Great Barrier Reef.
Note – From a shipping point of view, check out the North East Shipping Management Plan. This plan builds on existing world-class shipping management activities. The proactive approach aims to manage risks and further minimise potential environmental impacts from shipping on the Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait and Coral Sea regions.
Whisky Names Royal Navy's Biggest Ever Ship Thanks (of course) to Barclay Ross www.dailymail.co.uk By Kieran Corcoran 4 July 2014 'I name this ship... after myself': Queen uses bottle of whisky to officially name the 65,000-tonne vessel that is the Royal Navy's great white hope. The Queen has ushered in a new era of British naval power by naming the Royal Navy's biggest ever ship after herself. In a ceremony at Rosyth Dockyard in Fife, the Queen gave the signal for a bottle of whiskey to be smashed against the hull of the 65,000-tonne vessel, confirming its title as HMS Queen Elizabeth. The monarch, wearing pale blue, spoke of her pride at being associated with the Royal Navy, and called the huge ship a 'magnificent achievement'. In the run-up to the Queen's action the red arrows made a dramatic flypast in front of dignitaries including the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prime Minister. The unusual choice of whisky - rather than champagne - for naming the ship was made as a nod to the prominent role Scottish docks and workers have had in its construction. The variety chosen was from the Isle of Islay, one of the Outer Hebrides, as was provided by the island's Bowmore Distillery.
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Earlier, First Sea Lord George Zambellas, head of the Royal Navy, described the ship as 'a steel-clad phoenix’, which will give rebirth to British sea power when it becomes fully operational in 2020. At the naming ceremony, Her Majesty said: 'In sponsoring this new aircraft carrier, I believe the Queen Elizabeth, a flagship for the Royal Navy, will be a source of inspiration and pride for us all. The Lord High Admiral (cool title: Ed.), the Duke of Edinburgh, joins me in congratulating all in the Aircraft Carrier Alliance on this magnificent achievement and wishing the first ship's company well in the time ahead.’ 'Wherever this ship may serve, whatever tasks may be asked of her, let all those who serve on her know that on this day she was blessed with the prayers of us all for her success and for her safe return to calm waters. I name this ship Queen Elizabeth, may god bless her and all who sail in her.' The naming of the warship comes five years after the first metal was cut on the vessel and 33 months after the first section entered the dry dock at Rosyth to begin being put together. The ship and a second vessel, the under-construction HMS Prince of Wales, are the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. HMS Queen Elizabeth is now structurally complete and ready to be floated out of her dock for the first time this month, shortly after being named by the Queen. The two ships are both termed Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and are being built by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), a partnership of BAE Systems, Babcock, Thales and the Ministry of Defence. Overall, six shipyards around the UK - Appledore, Birkenhead, Govan, Portsmouth, Rosyth and Tyne - have been involved in building various parts of the carriers. WHY WHISKY? The Government made the unusual decision to 'christen' HMS Queen Elizabeth with malt whisky rather than champagne as a nod to the efforts of Scottish workers on the ship, which has now been assembled in Rosyth Dockyards, Fife. The particular variety chosen was a sea-inspired whisky from Bowmore Distillery, which stands by a loch on the Isle of Islay, one of the Inner Hebrides to the west of Scotland. The distillery was the first the Queen visited in an official capacity.
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Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael, who comes from Islay himself, said: 'World class whisky and world class shipbuilding are two of Scotland’s finest products so Friday promises to be a special day when we blend the two of them.' The Queen made her visit to Bowmore Distillery, on the shores of Loch Indaal, in 1980. The variety used is called Bowmore Surf, and is produced by the Worshipful Company of Distillers. According to distillers, it 'takes inspiration from the sea; the sea spray saturates the peaty soil and a sea tang finds its way into the whisky which is a fitting tribute to the sea that shapes it.' Although champagne is a more common choice for naming ships, there is no particular tradition saying that it must be used. Submarines are usually named with home brew beer. In Nelson's era it was more usual to employ brandy or madeira. However, there is a precedent for whisky, which was also used to name the HMS Sutherland in 1996, again for its Scottish connections.
Scale: Pictured above in a computer-generated image passing out of naval dockyards in Portsmouth.
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Women in the Argentine Merchant Marine From our Argentinian counterparts
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M146XXQ Horacio-Guillermo Vázquez Rivarola, MSc, AFNI Escuela Nacional de Náutica Argentina Argentine National Nautical School
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Standing dates for your calendars…
2nd
Wednesday of the month 1830 hrs
Sydney Branch of the Company of Master Mariners of Australia Standing invitation to NI members Occidental Hotel, Sydney Contact: [email protected]
2nd
Wednesday of Feb, May, Aug and Nov – 1830 hrs
Joint NISEA / CMMA meeting Occidental Hotel, Sydney Contact: [email protected]
4th
Wednesday of the month 1830 hrs
Melbourne Branch of the Company of Master Mariners of Australia Standing invitation to NI members RACV City Club, 501 Bourke Street, Melbourne Contact: Ms. Alex Evered ([email protected] or 03 9699 3332)
Last Wednesday of the month 1130 for 1200 hrs
South Australia Branch of the Company Of Master Mariners of Australia Standing invitation to NI members Largs Pier Hotel, 198 Esplanade, Largs Bay Contact: Nada Ganesan - [email protected]
http://www.nisea.org
Sydney meeting instructions: to be issued pending new venue - stay tuned for emails. Please advise Kendall Carter ([email protected]) by 1200 on the Thursday before the meeting. Realising that unforeseen events arise, should you find that that you cannot attend please advise Kendall by 0930 on the Monday before the meeting and the “no show” charge may be avoided.
Nautical Institute SE Australia Branch is pleased to receive vital sponsorship from:
www.maritrade.com.au www.carnivalaustralia.com
