A Woman's Place is at Sea

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48 SeaGull Feb 11 - Apr 11

Cummins Ad


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31It Isn't a Zero Sum Game

by Mr Jairam Ramesh, Environmental Minister

8HMS Codrington

by Cmdre R Vir ( Retd)

5A Woman's Place is at Seaby Kate Linley MNI AMSA

Surveyor

18India's Fleet Expansion Plans

could Benefit its Shipyards

20Letter from Europe

November 2010by Capt H Beil (GN) Retd

25Junior SIMA Painting

Competition at Empress Gardens

by Ms Anuradha Thakur

26Ingestion of Marine Debris by

Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Caretta, Caretta in the

Adriatic Seaby Capt Bojan Lazar and

Romana Gracan

33Pakistan Navy Faces

A Stern Testby Usman Ansari

29ICC List

27International Coastal Cleanup 2010 - India

by Cdr Mukund Lele (Retd)

16On Watch at

Sea: Petrel Powerby Captain Stephen

Chapman FINII

14Why they Chose to go Down

with the Shipby Ameeta Mulla Wattal

12HOVERCRAFT

by Cmde P K Malhotra

10Fatal Passage from India that Ended in Fire on the Downs

by Melissa van der Klugt

21Cdr Donde to Represent India in Trans-Atlantic

Boat Raceby Pranav Kulkarni

CONTENTS

SEAGULLVol XVI No 64Feb 11 - Apr 11

3

Editorial

DEPARTMENTS

41

Gallimaufry

Cover Picture

Students of Beacon High School

at Juhu Beach, Mumbai

24Iceberg

23SIMA Workshop at Peacock

Bay, N.D.A.by Hoshnar Kaikobad

22Memorial Day in

Pune - 14 November 2010

4

Letters

35Fears Over Nickel - Ore

Transport

36A Refugee in a Container

by Kapil Dev Bahl

Mumbai Branch of IMFCommodore Ajay H. Chitnis (Retd)

Vice President,Indian Maritime FoundationGreat Offshore Limited, Energy House, 81 Dr DN Road,

Mumbai- 400 001. Tel : 022-66352210 / 66352222, Mob: 98332 65913. e-mail : [email protected]

Delhi Branch of IMFCommodore Ranjit B Rai (Retd)

Vice President, Indian Maritime FoundationC-377, Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024

Tel: 011-24330087, 24335654 Fax: 011-24330087,e-mail: [email protected]

Chennai Branch of IMFRear Admiral K R Srinivasan (Retd)

Vice President, Indian Maritime Foundation Tel.: 044 - 24616340 ([email protected])

Sai Grace Apt. 3A & B, 10, Dr Manjund Rao Colony, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. Tel.: 044-24616340.

Honorary CorrespondentsBangalore : Mr Ramesh NarayanHong Kong : Capt Deepak HonawarHouston, USA : Mr Atul VirSan Francisco, USA : Capt R R Pohli, USN (Retd)London : Capt ME Barrow, Royal Navy (Retd)Noida, New Delhi : Capt Satbir BakshiRosrath, Germany : Capt H Beil, German Navy (Retd)Rio de Janeiro, Brazil : Capt Luiz Antonio MonteiroSingapore : Capt R ChoudhuriSydney, Australia : Mrs Jennifer KnoxTokyo : Major General Hiroshi Shimizu (Retd)Toulon, France : Rear Adm (Retd) Valere Ortoli

Website : www.indianmaritimefoundation.come-mail : President: [email protected] : [email protected] Editor : [email protected]

SeaGull is Published by The Indian Maritime Foundation : 1/402, Gera Gardens, Koregaon Road, Pune- 411001. Tel. : 91-20-26132316, Fax: 91-20-26120785.

Designed & Printed by - www.ornateindia.co.in

The Sea Our Strength

The Indian Maritime Foundation

Council Members

Commodore R Vir (Retd) (Tel. : 26120785)

President, Overall Development, International

Coastal Cleanup, Maritime Heritage, Marine Art,

Ocean Savers Faculty, Treasurer [email protected]

Capt R Hajarnavis (Tel.: 25650016)

Senior Vice President, SeaGull Advertisements

[email protected]

Capt S Choudhuri (Tel.: 25535156)

Vice President, Editor SeaGull

Mrs Nalini Kunte (Tel.: 26163927)

Secretary, Public Relations, Membership,

Ocean Savers, Lectures, SIMA Committee

Mrs Naina Delvis (Tel.: 26830171)

Consultant Art Work [email protected]

Capt A Dixit (Tel.: 25656726)

Associate Editor, SeaGull [email protected]

Capt A Gole (Tel.: 25436528)

IMF Memberships [email protected]

Capt RN Gulati (Tel.: 26353104)

Former Senior Vice President, Ocean Savers

Faculty, I/C IMF Membership.

[email protected]

Capt S H Honawar (Tel.: 26165155)

Cdr Mukund Lele (Tel.: 64009656, 9767029752)

Underwater Technology, International Coastal Cleanup

[email protected]

Mrs Shobhna Mirchandani (Tel.: 26139164)

Public Relations, SeaGull.

Capt Rabi Mishra (Tel.: 26125471, 9850007753)

IMF Membership

Capt K B Patankar SCC (Retd) (Tel.: 25444588)

Ocean Savers, Sea Cadet Corps (Pune Unit)

Mr. KB Pestonjee (Tel.: 26696126)

Mr. K H Ragade (Tel.: +91 9545939524)

Ocean Savers of India Scheme [email protected]

Cdr Sati Taneja IN (Retd) (Tel.: 26852394)

I/C Seminars [email protected]

Capt S V Taskar

Underwater Technology, Ocean Diving

[email protected]

Views expressed in this journal are those of the authors only. The contents may be reproduced with written permission of the editor.

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47 SeaGull Feb 11 - Apr 112 SeaGull Feb 11 - Apr 11


Editorial

Editorial

Notice Board

New Website : www.indianmaritimefoundation.com

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This is our first issue of 2011. New Year Greetings to all our readers and best wishes for the coming year. For those at sea “May the seas be kind and the weather fair.”

It is during this quarter of the year, partly due to the normally pleasant weather, that most of the IMF “Events” take place. It has followed the same pattern this year.

There are two reports on the activities of our sister wing, the Society of Indian Marine Artists (SIMA). The first was a workshop held at Peacock Bay, National Defence Academy. This was much appreciated by the artists as they would not otherwise have got such an opportunity. Also, most welcome were four cadets from the NDA Art Club, who joined the workshop.

The second, was the junior SIMA painting competition held in the Empress Gardens. This was a great success with a much larger than anticipated number participating. The enthusiasm shown by the children and their parents were very high and we will have to give some thought as to whether two such competitions can be held every year.

A report on a more solemn event “Remembrance Day” has been included in this issue. It is a great help that the venue, the Bund Garden provides a very suitable ambience for the occasion and as in previous occasions it was conducted satisfactorily.

The final event was the “International Coastal Clean - Up.” Beside the routine report of the activities around Pune, we have been able to give details of the Clean - Up all over the country. This has been possible only due to the very hard and painstaking work, put in by Cdr Mukund Lele.

Included “A Woman’s Place at Sea” which describes Kate Linley’s very successful life at sea. This is of relevance to us as we require many more girls to think about a career at sea. There has been a start, as noted by the number of lady trainees in the many Mercantile Training Colleges around Pune, however their numbers need to be increased greatly.

Kapil Dev Bahl an IMF member has contributed and article “A Refugee in a Container.” This is one of the most bizarre stories about cargo carriage that I have ever come across. Can remember only one occasion when in the Persian Gulf I was informed that the C/O had stopped weighing anchor because there was a snake entangled in the anchor cable. Fortunately, panic was averted when it slipped away through the hawse - pipe.

25 Jan 11 - IMF's Joint Festival of Environmental Films, with Rotary Club of Pune Central, First Screening of "Life in the Oceans", on Whales, Boat Club , Pune

30 Jan 11 - SIMA Workshop at INS Shivaji, Lonavala17 Feb 11 - Joint Seminar on " Man and Machine Underwater - New opportunities for Entrepreneurs in

Inda", with MCCIA and SUT London, MCCIA Auditorium, Pune21/22 Feb 11 - International Conference in Mumbai on " Seaports Security India" - organised by IQPC, IMF -

Associate Partner, Le Royal Meridian, Mumbai7 Mar 11 - Seminar on " India's Maritime Destiny - Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Mercantile Marine and

Ports", by IMF's Delhi Branch, India International Centre, Delhi25-27 Mar 11 - SIMA's Annual Exhibition of Seascapes, Balgandharva Kala Dalan, Pune29 Mar 11 - "Life in the Oceans ", Second Screening, on Open Ocean and Deep Ocean, Boat Club, Pune3 May 11 - " Life in the Oceans", Third Screening, Migration of Birds on the Oceans", Boat Club, Pune


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Letters


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My Experience at the Beach Clean-UpSir,

Everyone dreams of doing something or the other to save the environment. Some may not want everyone to know that what they do and some don't care what other people say. One day, I got my chance. I could do something to save mother nature!!!

Our school is one of the many that is associated with the CMCA project. The CMCA board organizes a beach clean-up drive every year after the Ganpati Visarjan for all students of these schools. This year as captain of my CMCA class,Kontributing Kids, I too was part of this wonderful drive!! I am writing to tell you all about my lovely experience.

Ten people were selected from each class to go for the beach clean-up. We reported to school as usual and were taken straight from there to Juhu beach. In the bus, we thought that it would be a piece of cake and we chattered excitedly about how we would clean the beach!!

But, as soon as we reached, our jaws dropped in horror!! You could hardly see the sand on the beach!! It was that bad! I was so upset that the citizens of our country did all this!! There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized that we would never be able to clean up all of the garbage!! However we got to work in a cheerful mood! We had on aprons made of jute and gloves.

We saw all types of things lying in the sand and, to tell the truth, I was pretty grossed out!!! But keeping in mind that it was my part to save the environment, I got to work.

I picked up flowers and fruits, chains and different ornaments and God knows what else!! Occasionally, someone would find a piece of the statue lying somewhere and everyone would gather round to see it!!

I know that by reading this, it would not sound that much fun....but believe me it was!!! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and doing it with

your friends made it all the more worthwhile!! Sure there were some disadvantages-like we all came back smelling like a mixture of fish and garbage-but just knowing that we had done our bit to save the environment totally covered that up!!!

So, just one bit of advice- NEVER EVER let an opportunity like that just pass you by!! You should grasp it and make the most of it, take the bull by the horns, and trust me, you will definitely NOT regret it!!

Chelsea DasBeacon High School

Dear Sir,I mentioned the importance of Island

Territories and their EEZ in my article on the Andaman & Nicobars in the last issue.

We have recently witnessed the furore created when an errant Chinese fishing boat collided with a Japanese Coast Guard patrol boat off the Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea. The island which is only 2.5 sq miles in size but controls oil and natural gas reserves in the sea floor below, became the focus of a super power dispute between China and Japan.

The incident set of diplomatic gunshots--China calling the arrest of the skipper of the fishing boat invalid and illegal, arguing that the islands have been part of China since ancient times. In response the Japanese are planning to station troops on the islands.

" Diao Yu Tai Gui Chung Kak" which the skipper shouted, is quickly becoming a rallying Chinese cry nationwide. The phrase translated means "the islands belong to China"! and is similar to America's "Remember the Alamo"! Capt Vijay Shivdasani

Herald Maritime


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A Woman's Place is at Seaby Kate Linley MNI AMSA Surveyor

For the last 20 years people have been telling me that being at sea is no longer what it used to be. More worryingly they also tell me that they wouldn't recommend it to others, or that they would stop their own children from going to sea. Perhaps I have been lucky but I believe that going to sea is a good place to start a career in the maritime industry.

Out of 40 companies that I applied to for a cadetship, I had interviews with two and an offer from one, Cunard Ellerman. When I finally got my indenture papers, I was 17 and needed a parent to sign them for me.

Who knows what my story might have been if my parents had opposed my going? As it happens they were very supportive and my Dad certainly signed the papers with a flourish that indicated that he was very happy about the whole thing. My first ship

The time came, the papers were signed, I had done my intake at college and it was off to sea. I set off for Liverpool and as soon as I was on the train my family got on a plane and migrated to Adelaide.

I joined my first ship, the Atlantic Conveyor, a third-generation container ship, built to replace the original Atlantic Conveyor, which was lost in the Falkland Islands conflict.

That first voyage was a bit of a shock to the system - I'd joined at the onset of winter and the run was across the Atlantic from the UK to North America and back to northern Europe. The other cadet, also called Kate, and I knew that we were in trouble when they issued us with snow suits to wear on mooring duties and ice axes so that we could chip our way through the ice to get to the forecastle.

The ACT ships were very unimaginatively named Act 1, Act 2, Act 3 etc but the ships themselves were probably some of my favourite ones to sail on. They were a nice size, comfortable, and their routes were fun - UK to

Australia and New Zealand or America to Australia and New Zealand and some of them took passengers.

The ACT ships regularly delivered stores and people to and from Pitcairn Ids, so I had a run ashore there. Then I got to complete my set of canal transits by going through the Panama Canal. After that trip I joined one of the two fleet tankers and spent the next seven months on the South African Coast having a great time. Generally the run was good and the three cadets took it in turns to do a month about as uncertificated officer of the watch, which was one of the best learning curves

we could have hoped for.Of course it wasn't all plain sailing and during

this voyage the company was bought by P&O. The two tankers were sold off and the ACT runs were divvied up between P&O and Blue Star. P&O kept the Europe/Australasia runs while Blue Star kept the North America/Australasia runs.

In due course I finished my cadetship and as a newly minted third officer legally took up my first stint as officer of the watch. With P&O I got to sail on a different range of container ships and also on different routes, including their Cape to Cape run. P&O were in a big period of growth at this time and had commissioned four newbuildings from

Starting a Career at Sea

strict environmental controls on the country's shipbreaking industry, in a verdict likely to trigger protests from the sector that the decision could spell the death-knell of the ship recycling industry in the country.

The court stressed that all ships meant for scrapping would in future need to be certified toxic-free by the selling nation's environmental authorities. An appeal is allowed, but only for four months.

The decision effectively reinstated a January 2010 law that the Government had been forced to abandon in April after long strikes by shipbreaking yards.

The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (BELA) rejoiced at the decision. "After this ruling from the country's highest court, there can be no more flip-flops in government policy on enforcement of environmental standards in the shipbreaking industry," said BELA president Rizwana Hasan. "It is a victory of humanity over raw money and muscle power." For ship recyclers, who had successfully lobbied in April for the right to import demolition vessels on their own declarations that the ship was free from toxic materials, the judgment came as a massive blow. "This latest court order could bring an end to the Bangladeshi shipbreaking industry, which is the world's largest in terms of tonnage scrapped," said Anam Chowdhury, an advisor to the Bangladesh Ship Breakers' Association (BSBA). "Certainly, it is a big victory for environmental groups. They want Bangladesh a third world country to maintain European standards. Even India, our main competitor in the shipbreaking industry, does not have such high standards. Dismantling old ships is a major industry in the South Asian country, providing more than two-thirds of domestic steel. According to London-based Clarkson Research, the 100 ship scrapping yards in the country had imported nearly 200 ships last year, accounting for about 30% of all ships recycled globally, and putting Chittagong slightly ahead of India's Alang in

sheer size as the largest shipbreaking centre in the world. Iron and steel prices in Bangladesh had


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IHI in Japan to replace their aged Liverpool Bay class ships that ran from Europe to the Far East on an eight week liner schedule.

At 4000 TEU these were ground-breaking vessels and I spent six weeks standing by the final stages of the Providence Bay build. Among other things we went out on builder's sea trials - and we also got to watch our superintendent take part in lifeboat launching trials while underway. He came back onboard looking slightly green around the edges but it clearly didn't hold him back too much as he later became the CEO of the MCA in the UK.Saddest trip

I was promoted to second mate and then sent off on one of the saddest trips of my career. The Flinders Bay was one of P&O's first container -ships and one of their last steam ships. In 1996, after a 30-year career, it was time for her to retire. In order to protect their liner trade P&O scrapped their vessels rather than sell them to competitors.

'Finally we had finished stripping her back to basics and we sailed at economical speed to Alang in India where we went to anchor and - when the tides were right and the banks were all open - the money flew round the world, London, New York, India and the word came back that we were good to go. By now it was time to address the future. Hopefully I'd get married and if I were lucky, one

day I might have a family of my own. But how was I going to square this with a perfectly satisfactory career in the merchant navy? Well, realistically, I think it would be pretty hard to have a family and be deep-sea so I started to look at what was available ashore. I liked the idea of being on the other side of the fence and working for the regulator but I didn't fancy staying at sea for another 10 years to get to be master so I was going to have to find a different way of making myself attractive to an employer.

I went ashore and put myself through a bachelor of engineering in maritime technology. I funded this through a seafarer's bursary and by picking up holiday work on the various ferry routes running around the UK. When I finished my degree I had a few months' sea time left to get before I could sit my master's orals and I thought I might as well have a bit of fun with it - so I joined the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the civilian fleet that provides front line support for Nato warships.

I learnt how to navigate while launching and recovering helicopters; what it's like to practise helo transfers; fly a Sea King helicopter; play with guns and to do live firings; be the target in target practice -and also that you're never far from bad weather.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning a whole new style of navigation with the RFA, and I even went on a Royal Navy course to get my frigate navigating officer's certificate.Coming ashore

In the middle of all of this of course the inevitable happened and two years later we got married. I came ashore as a senior marine surveyor with AMSA in their head office. It was at this point that I really started to understand the principles of through-life learning and continuous professional development. Also, how hard it can be to study while working full time. I persevered and within a couple of years had added a diploma in marine surveying and a postgraduate diploma in maritime law to my collection of maritime related qualifications.

After a couple of years as a marine surveyor I

Kate Linley as an AMSA Surveyor

and cement that they carry. "We do make losses by refusing to go Somalia, but life is more precious," said Bhaya.Courtesy, Indian Express

Crew Conundrumby Marcus Hand

It is a topic that has been much debated and written about; the seafarer shortage. Figures for the shortage of officers, such as 50,000 are bandied around with abandon, but are they actually real? As a senior executive in the manning industry points out if there is 50,000 less officers than the industry requires, "Who is manning all these ships?" It is an extremely valid point, if the industry really was short of 50,000 officers, this would translate into literally thousands of ships stranded around the world, unable to sail. Yes, we have seen plenty of ships laid-up over the last two years but that is due to the lack of business, not seafarers.

The reality of the senior officer shortage is in fact one of an extremely tight labour market, which the global economic downturn has only marginally improved over the last two years.

As huge floods of newbuildings start to exit the world's shipyards, ordered by owners in good times, this tight labour market can only get worse. Crewing managers in the manning capital of the world, Manila, now say poaching has spread to the capesize bulker sector. This is driven by the fact that shipowners managed to order the equivalent of the entire existing world fleet of such vessels, with a delivery timeline of little more than three years. The results of this marvelous piece of collective forward planning by the industry have been predictable with everyone scrambling for crew and driving up wages. Now while there may not be an actual numerical shortage of senior officers to the extent of leaving ships crewless it is a scenario not that far away. To counter this possibility rapid promotions have been put in place; these unfortunately raise questions about the skills and

experience of the crew.Ultimately what is needed is more training from shipowners. Cadet berths should not be an optional extra they should be an integral part of planning for the future. After all what is the point of investing tens of millions in a new ship, to only then leave it idle or crew it with overpaid and inexperienced seafarers?Courtesy, Seatrade

Space Ship on the WaterThe Hightech Catamaran Turanor Planet

Solar, designed by New Zealand´s LOM Ocean Design, is being built by a Yacht Shipyard in Kiel. It shows new dimensions of boat construction: The vessel, a carbon fibre wavepiercer with a dubble hull of 85 tons, is 31 m long, 15 m wide, and 6 m high and will be completely solar-powered: About 38.000 photo voltaic cells cover her upper deck, the lateral,and stern parts, 540 sq.mts. in all. The energy produced is expected to deliver 326 hp for a maximum speed of 14 kts. At night the 4 electric motors will be supplied with energy from 6 blocks of lithium batteries, weighing 11.7 tons and storing 1.3 mw, whereby the Catamaran could proceed at 7kts for 3 days. In 2011 the ship, flying the Swiss flag, is to put out to sea for her 1st solar-powered circumnavigation of 160 days. It is intended to highlight potentialities of an advanced and sustainable type of energy, utilising European solar batteries, electrical and propulsion technologies, and expertise.

Somewhere in the North SeaA Belgian minesweeper passed a US Aircraft

Carrier. The American signaled: “Captain to Captain - what flag are you flying?” The answer came promptly: “The Royal Belgian flag. – And you?”Capt H Beil

Bangladesh Scrapping Industry Loses Legal Battle

Bangladesh's Supreme Court has reimposed


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moved within AMSA to a policy position as principal adviser - cargoes. This gave me the opportunity to represent Australia at IMO and I attended the DSC (dangerous goods, solid cargo and containers) Sub-committee as the head of the Australian delegation.

In addition to going to IMO I was also asked to join other technical experts to deliver training on the implementation of the IMDG code to the governments of Mauritius and China. These trips were hugely enjoyable from both a personal and professional perspective. After a couple of years of doing this a vacancy came up at IMO for the secretary of the DSC Subcommittee; I applied successfully for the job and accepted a two year contract.I arranged two years' unpaid leave with AMSA just in case I didn't like it, packed up the house, and put the two dogs and myself on a plane to London. A couple of months later my husband also got a job ashore in the UK, in Portsmouth. We moved once again and wound up living half way between London and Portsmouth.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the IMO and I enjoyed the job that I was doing. However, before too long, baby George came along. Luckily for us, in the time that I had been away from AMSA the Adelaide office had reduced from three surveyors to two engineer surveyors. I proposed that I moved to the Adelaide office and worked on a part time basis - it was a solution that satisfied everyone.Where to next?

Traditionally seafarers have come ashore to take up positions as pilots, P&I club surveyors, lawyers, independent surveyors, government regulators, class society surveyors, stevedores, planners, harbour masters, naval architects, superintendents and lecturers at the maritime colleges.How are we going to find suitable people to fill these positions if we don't have people going to sea in the first place? Yes, we can look at recruiting from outside the merchant navy but generally it is acknowledged that it is difficult to fully understand the needs and constraints of

seafaring without having first experienced it.Perhaps what is needed is a paradigm shift in

the way that we, as ex-seafarers, look at the job and in our reasons for not recommending it. As I wrote at the beginning, for the last 20 years people have been telling me that being at sea is no longer what it used to be and they are right, it isn't.

20 years ago I spent up to seven months on a ship and the leave rates weren't as good as they are today. We didn't have email or internet facilities and it was often a long time between mail drops.

20 years ago I didn't start an apprenticeship that included a free degree. I had to take several years out from my career to fill that gap, and I didn't have an employer to pay for it.

20 years ago the entry levels for shore positions often required a top level master/chief engineer certificate and years of experience to go with it.Today seafarers are able to come ashore much sooner and they come with the added benefits of having a good deal of experience in the operation of quality management systems. There are certainly some challenges ahead for the maritime industry and the Merchant Navy in particular, in a terms of identifying what will make going to sea attractive to the tail end of generation and the next generation. The Danish Shipowners' Association is now launching a new recruitment campaign which seeks to persuade mothers o encourage their children to go to sea. As a mother how do I feel about that?

Well I have enjoyed my time at sea on small boats and big ships and I believe that there are still good opportunities at sea and that it is a good career path into the maritime industry.

Perhaps George is a bit young at the moment to be thinking about joining the merchant navy but in the meantime ... we will continue to take him down to his cousin’s boat and perhaps one day, when the maintenance has been finished, we will actually go sailing.Courtesy, Seaways, The Journal of the Nautical Institute www.nautinst.org

Mandvi Port

first courses offered will be : vetting for seafarers and office staff, oil products and easy chemical refresher course for office staff, and commercial tanker operations. "The training is very much for office staff. There are thousands and thousands of young office staff in Singapore," said Henrik Bisbo, General Manager of Marnav in Singapore. The centre will also be offering distance learning courses. "The days of instructors and seafarers travelling all over the globe for training will be limited," Bisbo said.

Marnav is also able to tailor make courses for specific companies. For example in Denmark it has run a basic salvage training course for Switzer Salvage, and for another shipping company it ran a four day training course for its management trainees.Courtesy, Asia Week

Fear of Pirates Strikes Somalia Off the Route of Gujarat VesselsBy Hiral Dave

With pirates hijacking their vessels - as many as seven vessels from Gujarat with 100 crew members were in Somali pirates' captivity for a month before the end of last season - country craft owners and seamen are now wary of trading through pirate-infested routes in the Gulf of Aden.

About 40 country craft from Salaya in Jamnagar district make several trips between Dubai and Somalia every season ferrying general cargo but this time, two main country crafts hubs

in Gujarat, Salaya and Mandvi, have struck off Somalia from their list of destinations for now. If Salaya has completely struck out Somalia from its trade route, the port town of Mandvi in Kutch district has got selective - crew say they would set sail, only if they get an armed security cover onboard.

For the past few years, Somali pirates have wreaked havoc in the Gulf of Aden by attacking several cargo vessels. Last April, many vessels were held hostage by them. While the goods onboard were looted, vessels were freed one by one only when they ran out of food and fuel. One vessel was rescued by Yemenese Navy. A seaman from Mandvi lost his life in the process. Most of the over 100 seamen who were held hostage hailed form Mandvi and Salaya in Gujarat. W i t h around 600 country craft, in Salaya and Mandvi, Gujarat is a hub in India for this wooden container industry. However, with little business available on Indian shores now, these vessels operate from Dubai to parts of Africa and Gulf Countries. " N o t a single country craft or seaman will go to Somalia this season," said Salaya Vahanvatta. Association secretary Adam Bhaya. "In some cases, even if craft owners agree, crew members are signing contracts only if it's not for Somalia," Bhaya added. "Despite presence of armed forces in Gulf of Aden, it's too much of a risky affair," said Kalim Hussain, a seaman who has refused to take up Somalia assignments this time. Some sailors and crafts from Mandvi agreeing to go to Somalia have put a rider. "Seamen now demand armed security cover onboard," said Kasam Bholim, president of Mandvi Vahan-vatta Association. "Interestingly, security cover has also been provided by Somalia-based trading companies," added Bholim. "When pirates see their own countrymen guarding the vessels, they might spare it. That way we feel safe," said Hanif Ismail, a sailor.

Salaya, meanwhile, is focussing on Gulf ports like Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Muscat and Tehran. It is general cargo like construction material, clothes


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Some of our readers of Seagull may remember reading a fascinating article in the 13th anniversary issue of Seagull in May 2008 about the Codrington Family, well known in England for producing a long line of Barons, Governors, Admirals and Generals. The lineage of the Codringtons can be traced back to the court of King Henry the 5th at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, where their ancestor John, born in 1364, was a standard bearer. As a reward for his loyal service to the King, he was granted a coat of arms. All their generations have recognized their duty to King or Queen and Country. That article in Seagull was written at my behest by James Codrington, the present scion of the family, who visited Pune with his wife Poppet in 2008. Her father was in the ICS and was head of the Ammunition Factory in Kirkee from 1942 to 1945. On her revisit to Pune over 60 years later she actually found the house at 6 Caldecott Road where she had stayed with her parents as a little school girl!

On our visit to England last summer, James and Poppet Codrington invited my wife and me to their elegant home in the country near Hereford for lunch and to see the treasures and historical records of the Codrington family they had spoken of in Pune and which are safely kept In their home. It was a fascinating experience going round to see the exquisitely carved silver trophies from ships and regiments, commemorative jewelry studded with gems, and several other memorabilia, dating back over 250 years. Also displayed were trophies from the gallant ship HMS Codrington. She played a stellar role during the Second World War. This article is a brief story of that ship. It throws interesting light on some episodes in the first crucial year of the war.

HMS Codrington was built as a flotilla leader for 'A' class destroyers, by the Swan Hunter shipyard, Wallsend on Tyne. She was launched in 1929 and completed in 1930.

HMS Codringtonby Cmde R Vir ( Retd)

HMS Codrington was built as a flotilla leader for 'A' class destroyers, by the Swan Hunter shipyard, Wallsend on Tyne. She was launched in 1929 and completed in 1930.

The ship's motto was appropriate, “Vultus in Hosten:” “Facing the Enemy.” She was the first RN ship to be given this name, to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Navarino in 1827, and was named after Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, GCB, who commanded the combined English, French and Russian fleet at the Battle of Navarino on 20th October 1827. The ship was launched by Lady Codrington, wife of General Sir Alfred Codrnington, the grandson of Sir Edward. Mention must be made that earlier in his naval career, Sir Edward was the Captain of HMS Orion (74 guns) at the Battle of Trafalgar under Lord Nelson in 1805 and he shared in the glory of that famous battle.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, HMS Codrington was leader of the 19th Destroyer Flotilla at Dover. In that role, she embarked HM King George VI at Dover in December 1939 for passage to Boulogne for a visit to the British Expeditionary Force in France, and the return passage to Dover after the visit. In January 1940, the Codrington embarked Winston Churchill, first Lord of the Admiralty, for visit to France, and a

Gujarat Lighthouse Dates Back to Harappan AgeBy Ashish Vashi

Gujarat maritime history dates back to the Harappan civilization. A recent paper of the National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR) has traced the earliest lighthouse on the Indian coast at Mul Dwarka (Kodi-nar). An ancient structure, circular in shape and tapering upward was observed during a recent archaeological exploration at Mul Dwarka.

The shape and placement at the highest point on the coast suggest the possible use of this structure as a lighthouse which might be the oldest one recorded on the Saurashtra coast so far. "This lighthouse, locally known as 'Diva Dandi,' in Gujarati, is 4m high and 2m in diameter and constructed with well-dressed limestone blocks. The construction pattern suggests a possible date between the 12th and the 15th century AD. The earliest lighthouse on the Indian coast may be the structure at Mul Dwarka," says the paper.

The paper titled 'A Possible Medieval Period Lighthouse at Mul Dwarka , Saurashtra coast, India’ is jointly written by A S Gaur, Sundaresh, B R Rao, Sila Tripati, and V D Khedekar. This is t h e e a r l i e s t evidence noticed along the Gujarat coast and is well preserved. Mul Dwarka, one of the claimants for t h e o r i g i n a l D w a r k a o f M a h a b h a r a t a period on the Saurashtra coast, is situated about

To help ships navigate off the Saurashtra coast, wood fires or mashaal might have

been used

7 km from Kodinar town. Mul Dwarka now serves as a fishing harbour and most of the residents of this village are fishermen. "In case of the lighthouse at Kodinar, wood fires or mashaal (torch of a rag soaked in oil to be set ablaze) might have been used. The distance to which a navigator can observe the light depends on the total height from the sea level and power of the light. The elevation of Kodinar structure is 9-10 m from high water line, and with the help of above reference it may be safe to argue that light from this structure could be noticed 4 to 5 km from the sea. This may be the appropriate distance from the coast in which ancient ships or boats used to sail in this region," the paper stated.

Danish Training school sets up in Singapore

Danish Maritime Training centre Marnav has set up shop in Singapore, running courses targeted both at seafarers and shoreside staff.

Marnav in Singapore is the first overseas offshoot of state-owned Danish maritime training school Martsal Navigationsskole. The training centre has been set up in Singapore with the aim to be close to the large shipping community in the republic.

Ole Lisborg, Danish ambassador to Singapore, said Marnav was the first of its kind outside Denmark for a state owned educational institution. He added that it was something that could not have happened 10 years ago. "I hope the centre will become a natural part of the education of the shipping business here," he said.

The last decade has seen a growing number of Danish shipowners setting up in Singapore including J Lauritzen and Torm.

Marnav in Singapore is starting out offering a series of general courses for shipping, with a particular focus on the tanker business where its Danish parent has extensive expertise. Among the

HMS Codrington

40 SeaGull Feb 11 - Apr 11 9 SeaGull Feb 11 - Apr 11

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she embarked the Royal family, HRH Princess Juliana, HRH Prince Bernhardt, Beatrix and Irene to take refuge in UK and sailed for Harwich.

On 28th May 1940 the Codrington was ordered to Dunkirk to embark troops. Between this date and 3rd June she ferried approx 6155 troops, including Genaral BL Montgomery from the Dunkirk area to Dover. During this period incessant aerial attacks were carried out by enemy aircraft. On 11th June 1940, Codrington was engaged in an attempt to evacuate the 51st Highland Division from St Velery and Veules. Heavy Shell and air bombardment, however, made the operation impracticable, and it was impossible to land at either place.

While being deployed for convoy defence and based at Dover, on 27th July 1940, Codrington was lying alongside HM Depot Ship Sandhurst in a submarine basin for boiler cleaning when about 120 enemy aircraft attacked Dover harbour. A bomb fell alongside Codrington and broke the ship's back and she sank. Only three men were wounded. Thus ended the saga of the valiant ship with an illustrious name. Whether there will be another RN ship to bear this name remains to be seen.Cmde R Vir is the President of IMF

month later in February 1940 she embarked Prime Minster Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill and military leaders at Dover for passage to Boulogne for a war council meeting in Paris .During the first six months of the war, while engaged on patrol duties, she carried out several anti-submarine attacks with depth charges but no definite results were obtained. Between April and May 1940, the Codrington was engaged in naval operations in the Narvik area, in Norway. She embarked Admiral of the Fleet, Earl of Cork and Orrey and French General Bethouart for reconnaissance of Narvik area prior to planned landing by allied troops. While landing troops at Harstad by Codrington many bombing attacks were made by German planes, but she escaped damage and casualties.

Later, the Codrington was deployed for escort and anti-submarine work and made trips between Vaaga and Ofot Fjords carrying orders and instructions. She attacked a train effectively at a range of 1800 yards. In May 1940, Codringtonmoved to the Dutch Coast between Scheveningen and the Hook of Holland. The ship was attacked from the air but no damage was sustained. On 12th May she entered Ymuiden harbour in Holland and with HM ships Vivacious and Venetia as escorts,

Poppet and James Codrington - Hereford 2010 Commemorative Jewelry


Events

On the South Downs in East Sussex tomorrow, a new memorial that comme-morates the lives of 53 Indian soldiers who died during the First World War and were cremated near the same spot more than 90 years ago will be unveiled. Each name is carved in the stone of the simple monument that stands above Brighton.

The building of the new Patcham Down Indian Forces Cremation Memorial — the project of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - completes a story that began in 1914 when thousands of wounded Indian soldiers came to Brighton to be treated in temporary hospitals set up there, one of which was housed in the Royal Pavilion.

The palace was placed at the disposal of the military authorities by the Corporation of Brighton, after an urgent request was issued for hospital accommodation for the Indian soldiers, who were involved in heavy fighting on the Western Front in late 1914 and 1915. It was hoped by some that the oriental style of the building, crowned with domes and minarets, might also pro-vide a familiar setting for the soldiers.

The hospitals, including a school, were adapted quickly. Inmates and their belongings were swept out of the Elm Grove Poor Law Union workhouse to make way for the operating theatres and labora tor ies o f Ki tchener Hospital. Arrangements were made for housing Indian medical staff and providing separate supplies of drinking water and kitchens for patients of different faiths.

By December 1914, several hundred injured soldiers had been transported to Brighton by train, with more arriving after each big

Fatal Passage from India that Ended in Fire on the Downsby Melissa van der Klugt

offensive. In just over a year, until much of the Indian Army serving on the Western Front had been sent to Mesopotamia, 12,000 passed through the seaside town. Reports in 1915 described clean white pillowcases, soldiers relaxing in sunny gardens and an air of cheerfulness and hope despite the terrible wounds.

Fifty three Hindu and Sikh soldiers and 21 Muslim soldiers died in the Brighton hospitals. Muslims were taken to be buried near the Shah Jahan mosque in Woking, Surrey. The Hindu and Sikh soldiers, including Gurkhas, were taken up a steep track to a remote stretch of the Downs near the village of Patcham to a burning ghat that had been built from corrugated iron 500m above sea level Here they were cremated after the Last Post had sounded.

A Times correspondent wrote with wonder of the chants of mourners ringing out over the Downs and the crackling flames of the pyre among the gorse and thyme. Friends later gathered ashes to be sent in a coffer to India and strewn on a river there.

As a mark of gratitude to the 1.5 million Indian soldiers who fought for Britain and more

Indian wounded in 1915 convalescing in the oriental Royal Pavillion, which it was hoped would remind

them pleasantly of home

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than 70,000 who died, a striking domed memorial, k n o w n a s t h e Brighton Chattri, was erected in the place of the pyre. In return the Ma-harajah of Patiala unveiled the south-ern gateway to the Royal Pavilion in 1 9 2 1 t o commemorate the nursing that Indian s o l d i e r s h a d received there.Largely the work of Sir John Otter, t h e M a y o r o f B r i g h t o n , t h e

Chattri was completed in 1921. Land surrounding the monument was bought to preserve its remote position, looked after by the town. For a short time a caretaker was installed in a nearby cottage to act as a guide to visitors and pilgrims. There were plans for trees that would act as symbols of life and death, sweet-smelling flowers and aromatic herbs. Otter also outlined plans that the names of the 53 men who had been cremated at the site should be engraved on the monument.

The Chattri - meaning "umbrella" in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu-became the focus for pilgrimages and an annual memorial service is still held there. However, with records dispersed after the war, Otter's desire for a list of names was never fulfilled. Over the ensuing years the monument fell into disrepair, the site overrun by brambles and rabbit warrens, occasionally halted by a public campaign.

The Chattri - meaning "umbrella" in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu-became the focus for

pilgrimages and an annual memorial service is still held there. However, with records dispersed after the war, Otter's desire for a list of names was never fulfilled. Over the ensuing years the monument fell into disrepair, the site overrun by brambles and rabbit warrens, occasionally halted by a public campaign.

One of the men listed on the memorial is Subedar Manta Singh, who came from the Punjab. He was badly injured at Neuve-Chapelle in France while saving a wounded British officer and was sent to Brighton, where he died after having both legs amputated. His grandson is to attend the unveiling.

T h e C o m m o n w e a l t h Wa r G r a v e s Commission felt strongly, when looking at Otter's original wishes, that the names should be marked in Britain, on Patcham Down. Bringing individual names into focus is an important part of the Commission's work to raise awareness about the sacrifices of Common-wealth soldiers. However, little detail is known about the 53 soldiers, who were largely from rural parts of northern India. One of the men listed on the memorial is Subedar Manta Singh, who came from the Punjab. He was badly injured at Neuve-Chapelle in France while saving a wounded British officer and was sent to Brighton, where he died after having both legs amputated. His grandson is to attend the unveiling. Although the new memorial marks the completion of one circle, it is also the beginning of another.

An education programme launched by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Indian High Commission in London will remember the 160,000 members of the Indian Forces who died during the two World Wars and whose lives are marked with memorials spread across 50 countries.

Courtesy, The Times

The Brighton Chatri Memorial

absence of suitable prey, would it is believed, discourage any snake from entering the factory premises. However in the unlikely event that it did manage to get inside the factory, while say stalking a prey at night, it could then easily hide inside a wooden crate.

A rubber-tyre mobile crane was available in the factory probably for loading trucks. The crates are manually slung and then loaded, stowed on the truck-lorry. Another reason why the entry of a snake in the factory is considered unlikely is that the crate is slung manually at the factory when it is loaded on the truck and then again it is un-slung. If a snake did enter a crate in the factory, such manual handling is most likely to have at least disturbed the snake if not alarm it, such that the person in the factory is more likely to be the first victim. The wooden crates are transported in truck-lorries directly to the “Container Freight Stations” (CFS) at relevant port, which takes about 1.5 days. The drivers normally stop en-route for rest and recuperation. Thus, there is a possibility of a snake entering the crate en-route, say when the truck is parked.

The crates are unloaded inside the CFS by crane. The customary transit waiting time is about a fortnight or so, during which the shipment

documentation is prepared. The empty container is inspected by the surveyor

Editor’sNoteKapil Dev Bahl is to be thanked for sharing with the SeaGull one of the most extraordinary and bizarre experiences as a Marine Surveyor.

The Stone Processing Factory

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or exploration sites quickly and efficiently.Since 1970s, however, and especially over the

last decade, a renewed interest in the hovercraft as passenger transport, military transport and weapons carrier and exploratory vehicle has taken ground, solving many of these problems in their development.

Presently a number of companies are manufacturing these craft ranging from 3m to 38m and 6 to 15 mm wide with pay load from 0.5 to 25 tons. However, as far as I know only Britain manufactures, maintains and operates under one umbrella company.APPLICATIONS:Hydrographic Survey:

Hovercraft has carried out many hydro-graphic surveys, using several different techniques, along rivers, dams, and coasts around the world. These craft can save significant survey time by being unconstrained by tidal considerations – the surveyors often transferring to land survey techniques as and when required.Seismic surveySeismic survey mostly for all and gas companies, have also been carried out by Hovercraft worldwide - again mostly in tidal or shallow water areas.

Hovercraft also known as Air Cushion Vessel is a Craft capable of traveling over surfaces supported by a cushion of slow moving high pressure air which is pushed against the surface and contained within a skirt. Simply a Hovercraft is a craft supported on a cushion of air supplied by a powered fan.

These vehicles are unique among all other forms of ground vehicles in their ability to travel over all type of terrain. They can cross water, mud, sand, rapids, ice and vegetation – terrains that would damage the propeller of a conventional boat. This allows full access to areas that were previously inaccessible.

Hovercraft enjoyed interest in the early 1960s as everyone jumped to take advantages of this amazing vehicle. However, by the end of the decade only the British had produced a range of feasible and practical crafts.

The craft is considered more economical as this can be used in areas of shallow water or up river estuaries, as opposed to conventional boats that are restricted to deep waters. This ensures that you can take the most direct route between two points, saving time and fuel costs. Hovercraft can land on unprepared beaches or river banks, so there is no requirement of expensive infrastructure.Commercial Solution:

A Hovercraft service for both tourists and commuters can be an excellent commercial venture. Hovercrafts operate the fastest passenger service in Britain across the Solent between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, carrying out 800,000 crossings per year. Logistic Solution:

These craft are ideal vehicles for civil engineering support or seismic surveys. They are unconstrained by tidal considerations, saving valuable time, and can transport people and equipment to survey, construction, and dredging

HOVERCRAFTby Cmde P K Malhotra

The craft is presently very successful.

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Short-listing Of Originating FactoriesSeveral of the relevant stone processing

factories were “Export Oriented Units”; situated in “State Industrial Development Corp” units, in semi-urban environs. These were therefore considered as unlikely to be the source of the snake.

Based on location and topography of their surrounding areas; three factories were shortlisted for detailed study. Two were located in Rajasthan and one in Madhya Pradesh. These 3 factories were situated in semi arid hilly terrain, interspersed with rocky outcrops and sparse vegetation.

Based on study of satellite imageries, large scale topographical maps, and site visits, it was noted that two of these factories were surrounded with stone masonry boundary walls. The one situated in north Rajasthan was shortlisted for further detailed study

Site SurveyThe area around this factory is sparsely

populated, in the context of Indian population density. It is also semi - arid. A wild-life sanctuary is located at a distance of about 100 km from this factory. The sanctuary contains abundant number of venomous and non - venomous snakes.

The topography of the area is hilly and rocky. The lake is surrounded by uninhabited arid scrub

land. Jackals and mongoose were sighted on the road leading to the factory. Enquires with several local workers and a nature conservationist

indicated the presence of relevant species in and around the area

The blocks or slabs are then packed in wooden crates. The gaps between the wooden p lanks appeared to be sufficient for several species of Indian venomous snakes to make their way inside a crate. The consignment is then stored in the open plot within the factory premises, awaiting transportation to port.

Road Transportation And Port OperationsAlthough the presence of a snake inside the

factory is possible, it is unlikely. This is because, the type of work being carried out inside, the noise of the machinery, the human activity, the movement of truck-lorries and most important the

Open - Cast Stone Quarry

Semi Arid area adjoining the Factory

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Search and Rescue Many Hovercrafts are used where it is

difficult, if not impossible, to rescue people by conversion boat or vehicle. The British Royal National Lifeboat Institute currently operates 6 Hovercrafts in areas unreachable by any of these 350 lifeboats.Passenger Ferry

Tourist travel on Hovercrafts have been very successful. Authorities and environmentalists like them because they produce virtually no wash/wake at high speed.Civil Engineer Support

Hovercrafts are often used on reconnaissance mission to survey potential engineering projects. They are then used to transport people and equipment during the subsequent construction. Dredging for pipeline laying passage - often oper-ating from an unprepared beach or a dried - out Harbour.Airport Crash Rescue

When Airports are surrounded by difficult terrain, Hovercrafts often are the only craft capable of providing rescue services to these areas, equipped with full fire fighting and life- saving equipment. These unique amphibious high speed craft will deal with virtually any emergency scenario.Air Cushions Solutions

Hovercraft is designed and built with unique equipment, based on the air cushion principle in order to solve many customer particular problems. Example including hovering crop - sprayers and hover platforms (bridges) capable of carrying up to 125 tons.

ADVANTAGES:

Fully amphibious:Operate over water, land, sand banks, mud

flats, weed, ice, rocks and rapids.High Speed:

Cruise at full payload of speed of 30-45 knots (35-52 mps , 56-83 km/hr).Low Initial costs

Similar prices to conventional boats of the

same speed and payload.Low Operating costs:

Similar operating costs to conventional boats of the same speed and payload.Diesel Engines

Give reliability, long life and economyNegligible noise levels

About the same as trucks or high speed boatsHighly Maneuverable

As maneuverable as boatsReliable

Proven over tens of thousands of operating hours worldwideEasy to operate

Takes the same time to learn to operate as learning to drive car or trucksEasy to maintain

Ordinary diesel or boat mechanics can service and maintain the craftMinimal training

From one day for the smallest craft to eight weeks for the largestVery little spray

Low cushion pressures keep spray to minimumNo wash/wakeThere is virtually no wash/wake of high speedCan be classified

Classified by Lloyds. US Coast Guard and other classification societiesExperienced team

The management of Griffon Hoverwork Limited has been involved in the design, development, manufacture and operation of amphibious craft for over 30 years.

Technology in general has seen large steps forward during the past twenty five year, enabling organizations and governments, as well as many enthusiasts to enjoy the hovercraft vehicle in its many forms including the very popular Remote Control model size Hovercraft. As far as Hovercraft and their spin off technology is concerned the future looks ever brighter.Cmde P K Malhotra is an IMF member

The IncidentA shipment of sandstones blocks and marble slabs was being exported by container, from India to Europe. At the discharge port, when a stevedore labour opened the door to the 40-foot container and entered inside to discharge the boxes stowed therein, he was suddenly bitten by a snake. The snake was subsequently killed by his colleagues. The stevedore labour succumbed to the poison in hospital the following day. The stevedore consequently filed a huge claim for compensation on the Shipping Company.

Close inspection of the container revealed that the lock and seal were intact. There was no sign of any damage to the container or breach of its water-tight integrity. Thus the snake could not have entered the container subsequent to it being closed and locked.

The stone blocks and slabs of various sizes were packed in wooden crates. The planks were nailed, keeping 200 mm gaps between adjoining strakes.

The investigation was carried out.

Methodology?From the ship's deck logbook, study the

route and note the list of ports which she called at, en-route from India.

?Ascertain whether the snake was a native of India and the likelihood or possibility of it originating in India, keeping in mind the ports which the vessel called at en-route

?From the Bill of Lading, determine the name of the various shippers and ascertain the factory location of each

?Carry out site inspection of each relevant factory, in order to determine the methodology and status of stone quarrying procedures, mode of transportation to factory, storage, cutting polishing procedures, boundary protection, and mode of transportation from factory to port

A Refugee in a Containerby Kapil Dev Bahl

?Study the container stuffing, sealing and export documentation procedures in the case of this particular container.

Specie IdentificationFrom the photographs, the snake was identified as Daboia which is the monotypic genus for the venomous viper species “D. Russelii”, commonly referred to as Russel’s viper.”The “Bombay Natural History Society” library reference books and field guides, describe the

following behavioral characteristics of the snake- Mostly found in open, grassy or bushy areas, scrub jungles and farmland- Abundant throughout the Indian subcontinent - Due largely to its irritable nature, it is responsible for more human fatalities than any other venomous snake. It is a member of the bigfour venomous snakes in India- It feeds primarily on rodents, especially murid species. However, they will eat just about anything, including rats, mice, shrews, squirrels, land crabs, scorpions and other arthropods. Adults do not need to feed for extended period of time, up to 4 months on occasions

The Snake identified as a Russel’s Viper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_(Indian_snakes)


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Why they Chose to go Down with the Shipby Ameeta Mulla Wattal

The sinking of INS Khukri is military lore now, but my father's courage resonates in my life

The dark night of December 9,1971, is imprinted on my mind like a scar. Thirty-nine years ago during India's war with Pakistan, two vintage anti-submarine frigates that my father, the late Captain Mahender Nath Mulla, commanded, were ordered to hunt and destroy a Pakistani submarine lurking off the coast of Diu. The operation was doomed from the beginning. Like in Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade", the brave men went into the night as commanded. One of the two frigates was torpedoed by the modern Pakistani submarine, the PNS Hangor. The INS Khukri sank, taking 178 Indian naval ratings and 18 officers including my father to their watery graves.

It was reported that the captain of the ship showed extraordinary courage during those last minutes of his life, helping save as many of his men as he could and not abandoning his vessel. He went down with his ship, along with the other brave soldiers. A Mahavir Chakra was awarded to him posthumously.

It was reported that the captain of the ship showed extraordinary courage during those last minutes of his life, helping save as many of his men as he could and not abandoning his vessel.

He went down with his ship, along with the other brave soldiers. A Mahavir Chakra was awarded to him posthumously.

I have often wondered what made my father decide to go down with his ship. Was it a quest for immortality beyond death? Or was it an old naval tradition? Or did he make the choice because he felt it was the right thing to do?

My sister and I had come home on vacation before the war. The anti-aircraft guns that lit up the night of December 5 in Bombay were, for us, a

display of fireworks. War and death were just fast-moving images of action movies seen in the security of the United Services Club from where we could make an exit. This innocence was torn apart on that December night. The torpedo that struck INS Khukri was not the screenplay of a film. This real-life battle had no exits. The news of the sinking of the Khukri was brought home to my mother along with weak assurances that the Captain of the ship had been rescued. I recall that my mother felt a hopeless despair because she knew that her husband would not put his own safety before the safety of his men.

The period immediately after the war was marked by euphoria and Indians drank, in the words of Ramachandra Guha, "the elixir of victory". The loss of a ship was collateral damage in the theatre of war: an awkward event, perhaps best forgotten, especially be-cause the larger war had been won. With the passage of time my mother became involved with the widows of the sailors.

The period immediately after the war was marked by euphoria and Indians drank, in the words of Ramachandra Guha, "the elixir of victory". The loss of a ship was collateral damage in the theatre of war: an awkward event, perhaps best forgotten, especially because the larger war had been won. With the passage of time my mother became involved with the widows of the sailors.

The Khukri story repeats itself in different ways. It is the grand narrative of national success and the achievements of a few that frequently submerge the narratives of small folk who live their lives battling unknown enemies and are often deprived of little compensations. Why is it that the voices of widows and mothers of the "shahids" of Kargjl or Kashmir remain submerged like that ill-fated frigate? Has our

L o n g - s t a n d i n g s a f e t y p ro b l e m s i n transporting nickel ore are feared to be behind the loss of the bulker Jian Fu Star and 13 Chinese seafarers.As reported earlier, the 45,100-dwt Jian Fu Star (built 1982) sank off Taiwan while carrying a nickel-ore cargo from Indonesia to China.

No official investigation has been concluded but the incident has initially been put down to flooding of the ballast tanks.

However, sources familiar with the trade say the cargo and voyage are notoriously hazardous and there have been concerns over the way the cargo is stored and loaded in Indonesia.

Nickel ore tends to liquefy if it is loaded with a high moisture content, easily causing critical stability problems for ships.

The cargo was linked with a series of losses and casualties in the 1990s and early 2000s but accidents have fallen after protection-and-indemnity (P&I) clubs warned owners of the potential dangers.

But now it seems the cargo is increasingly being carried in the less closely regulated market for older ships where safety standards are lower and owners are not asked for adequate proof that the cargo is safe to handle.

The main problem is that the actual stone nickel content of the cargo is generally very low, with most of the weight made up of fines with the consistency of clay. This can easily become wet as the nickel ore is taken out of open mines where it can be exposed to rain and stored in uncovered skips while awaiting shipment. Shippers and vessel masters should conduct moisture tests of the cargoes but one problem is that two samples can give very different results. Samples with a high proportion of stone content may give low moisture readings while those with a high content of mud and sludge from the same cargo could display high levels of moisture. Moisture levels of 40% are not uncommon. There is also pressure on

Fears Over Nickel - Ore Transport

shippers to present the lowest moisture readingsto boost the value of the cargo.

But there have also been some concerns over how rigorously these tests are being conducted with talk of some new mines in Indonesia issuing certificates even though they do not have the right testing equipment and threatening to cancel contracts if independent testing is requested.

One said: “This suggests that shippers are winning their battle to have us excluded from properly testing this cargo. I am sure that this is in part due to shippers fixing mainly Chinese ships that will not question too closely what is beingloaded.”

There are also some question marks over the quality of the vessels now being used in the trade.The 28-year-old, Panama-registered Jian Fu Star appears to have been without a classification society. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) confirms it has classed the ship since it was built and that it was fully classed until its sale in May last year. Its owner has continued to be listed as Hong Kong's China Master Shipping but there is no record of any class transfer, suggesting the vessel is out of class.

Its port-state-control (PSC) record is relatively good with only one detention in the past 10 years. The last inspection, which took place at the Indonesian port of Ternate just three months before the vessel sank, shows no detention and no deficiencies. The Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), under which most of the ship's recent inspections have take place, categorised it as “Priority 2”, which is not the highest of its risk assessments.

The incident will now be added to the growing list of losses among old Chinese-controlled vessels that carry high density raw materials to China from Southeast Asia.

Courtesy, Trade Winds


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moral space become so limited that those who have been elected or selected to serve this nation have no need for ethical barometers? What a cruel joke it is when these protectors create an "Adarsh" (ideal) housing society on the foundations of a Khukri Park.

My battle for life commenced after the 1971. The sinking of the Khukri was my leitmotif and I never transcended the ideals that my father lived and died for. I remember him telling me: "Never call your best action a sacrifice. If one fights for a cause, it is because one cannot live with the way things are". His sacrifice influenced me to be a teacher. It is a choice I have never regretted.

On that fateful night, he helped as many

sailors as he could, to the safety of lifeboats. When he had done his duty he took his decision to go down with his ship. I suppose he saw himself as the ship's master, nurtured by his ideals. He made the choice not because it was the right thing to do, nor because it was expected of him, but because knowing him as I did, it was the only thing he would do. He was the first Captain of independent India's navy to go down with his ship and hopefully the last. One such man is enough to bring honour to an entire nation for a lifetime.Ameeta Mulla Wattal is the Principal of Sprindale School, New Delhi.Courtesy, Indian Express

Coral reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean are dying from the worst bleaching effect in more than a decade, Australian marine scientists said on Tuesday.The bleaching, triggered by a large pool of warm water which swept into the Indian Ocean in May, has caused corals from Indonesia to the Seychelles to whiten and die, Australia's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said.

Asia's Corals Hit by Mass Die-Out

Coral Reefs off the island of Pulau Weh,Indonesia, before the bleaching took place

Reefs in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore were also affected by the phenomenon under which sea temperatures rose by several degrees Celsius in Indonesia, researcher Andrew Baird said. "It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1998. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science," he said. Baird, a fellow at James Cook University, said the magnitude of the event was so large, and the ocean temperatures in some places rose so much higher than normal, that it was "almost certainly a consequence of global warming". He said for six to eight weeks from mid-May the temperatures were high enough to cause bleaching of the corals in Indonesia's Aceh, the area worst hit by the event. "You jump into the water and you are just surrounded by white and dead corals," he said. "It is an extraordinary sight. The locals tell us they have seen nothing like this before." Baird said the massive die-off was expected to compare in scale and magnitude to the damage caused in 1998, when warmer water bleached reefs globally and about 16 per cent were seriously degraded."This is the second big global bleaching event that we have documented," he said.Courtesy, Indian Express

2000TD hovercraft, and military assault boats became a lifeline. Though many people heeded warnings and fled, a large proportion in the predominantly rural region stayed behind to protect their livestock. This was to cause a number

of problems, since for many residents their livestock was the sole source of wealth and all that

Aid offloaded and distributed

Sending ships for recycling in China's burgeoning scrapping industry is no guarantee of higher environmental standards, according to the leading cash buyer of ships for demolition. Anil Sharma, president of GMS.

Dr Sharma said the perception that Chinese breaking facilities - often newbuilding yards which switched focus as orders dried up - had automatically higher standards than those in south Asia was acting as a disincentive for poor performers elsewhere to improve standards.

'We sell to China so it's not like I lose a customer if the owner goes there. But 1 think to paint with a broad brush that China is better than India, is a misperception. The media glare is so strong that it almost seems like if you go to China you are safer. Even though the owner knows India can do a better job, they prefer the perception of China. Publicity is a big issue and that's the part 1 don't like, when it's driven by fear rather than by facts.' Dr Sharma said that several of his regular customers had made their own analysis of the yards in China and reverted to south Asian yards because they felt there was greater 'control and

A Contrarian Viewby Neville Smith

transparency' on offer.

And he said the p e r c e p t i o n w a s serving as a deterrent in trying to motivate t h e y a r d s i n Bangladesh and Pakistan to improve their standards and compete for business. "They say why should we do that when the owners coming to us are the ones fighting for 50 cents (a tonne). Who's going to pay for it? I'm constantly trying to push for improvements and it makes me very frustrated.' Rather than shift capacity, Dr Sharma said the industry should focus on the worst performers which also have the most pressing economic need for the business and incentivise them to improve their standards. 'If you want to make an impact, start with countries like Bangladesh where it is truly needed and where you can actually make improvements.’Courtesy, Seatrade

GMS supports green recycling in the Indian

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On Watch at Sea: Petrel Powerby Captain Stephen Chapman FINII

Watchkeeping on board ships offers potential for birdwatchers seeking to spot rare species. This article looks at the work of the Royal Naval Bird Watching Society.

It is not every day that a rare species of petrel is recorded at sea. Modern technology has a part to play but finding birds at sea still has the one key requirement - a keen eye. Keeping a good lookout is an essential duty of any bridge watch keeper. Scanning the sea and horizon for fishing boats, wreckage, flotsam and whales that never appear on the radar is still important and will continue to be. At the same time one may also pick up flocks of birds, indicators of cetaceans and land. In the final analysis visual navigation is the essential

check and balance in the art and science of navigation.

In May last year a group of researchers captured for the first time images of the endangered and elusive Fiji petrel 25 miles south of Fiji's remote island of Gau. 'Finding this bird and capturing such images was a fantastic and exhilar ating exper ience,' researcher Hadoram Shirihai, said.

In May last year a group of researchers captured for the first time images of the endangered and elusive Fiji petrel 25 miles south

of Fiji's remote island of Gau. 'Finding this bird and capturing such images was a fantastic and exhilarating experience,' researcher Hadoram Shirihai, said. The bird is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which compiles the world red list of endangered species. The first Fiji petrel specimen was collected in 1855 on Gau, and a second not until 1984. Since then, there have been a handful of reports of birds crashing into houses on Gau, but no one had ever positively identified one at sea.

The finding is significant because there is so little information about the bird, says Nicholas Carlile, sea bird project officer with the New South Wales state Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water in Australia. 'There has been no positive sighting of the Fiji petrel at sea - it's very rare, so it was absolutely fantastic to see those images.'

The researchers threw blocks of frozen fish pieces mixed with dense fish oil into the water, creating a smelly slick that attracted the birds. The scientists spotted up to eight petrels over their 11-day expedition.

The researchers threw blocks of frozen fish pieces mixed with dense fish oil into the water, creating a smelly slick that attracted the birds. The scientists spotted up to eight petrels over their 11-day expedition.What will you see?

For those seafarers interested in bird watching - arguably the fastest growing leisure interest in the UK and beyond - the Royal Naval Bird watching Society is a must. Established in 1946 to help and encourage members serving in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the Women's Royal Naval Service, in the observation and study of birds at sea, today the RNBWS membership is open to all those interested in birdwatching at sea.

The first Fiji Petrel to be photographed at sea, off Gau Island, Fiji

This year has seen a series of calamities that have tested the Pakistan Navy (PN), Marine Safety Agency and Pakistan Marines (PM) who have all had their disaster relief capabilities tested to the full in recent months.

The January 4 landslide that blocked the Hunza River in Attabad, in a remote part of Gilgit-Baltistan region, had by May caused a huge lake to form. This blocked the Karakorum Highway between China and Pakistan, inundating villages and threatening to devastate settlements down the valley should the waters burst through.

With years of experience built up from disaster relief missions, the navy soon sent its Special Service Group (SSG) and other specialist teams to help out. This mission was followed by a massive relief operation along the ravaged coastal areas in the aftermath of Cyclone Phet in early June.

With some advance warning the navy and marines were able to plan ahead, and all assets and resources were placed on alert. Ships, medical teams, and relief goods were stationed in advance at various points along the coast, with dis-placement camps also established. Additional Search and Rescue (SAR) missions were flown to ensure the safety of fishermen who had been ordered to return to port.

With damage to the coastal highway between Gwadar and Omani, the Type 21 frigates Khaibarand Shajahan, along with the Sword Class frigate Zulfiquar, were despatched with supplies for Gwadar. Navy Fokker F-27s evacuated medical cases to Pasni and beyond. Residents of vulnerable areas were evacuated before the cyclone struck. It was only because of the swift and professional response of the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Marines that a large loss of life was averted, despite the destruction and disruption.

Of particular note was evacuation of residents of small islands off Keti Bandar, and surrounding isolated creeks, by hovercraft, assault boats and

Pakistan Navy Faces A Stern Testby Usman Ansari

helicopters. It provided but a taste of what was to come on a far larger scale. Widespread flooding hit the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North West Frontier Province), Punjab, and Sind in late July and early August. It was all to prove the sternest test. In the absence of an effective and coherent government response, the military swung into action to deal with the aftermath of what was the worst flooding to hit the area in over 80 years, with naval and marine units involved from the very beginning. Elements of the SSG and PM, along with boats and associated SAR equipment, were despatched to Nowshera and Charsada in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in late July, with 500 people rescued in Nowshera alone. Though the situation was terrible in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the navy was aware of the fact that its main relief efforts would have to be concen-trated in Sind. With flood waters racing south along the Indus River augmented by rain that fell along the way, the river was soon many times - up to 18 - of its normal width, having burst its banks. In preparation the PN moved assets, relief supplies, and personnel north to meet the flood waters, and established medical camps for the inevitable injured and those stricken with flood-related disease. The PN's small fleet of six Mk45 Sea King helicopters, plus the PM's Griffon

A Pakistan Navy aircrew drops aid supplies to a flood stricken village


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Membership (including many associates from overseas) averages 250, many from the merchant navies of several countries, the offshore oil industry, passengers on cruise ships and yachtsmen. Reports received cover most sea areas of the world.

As mariners are well aware, about seven-tenths of the world's surface is covered with salt water. This provides an environment for nearly 300 species of seabirds, and across which many more species of landbird travel during their annual migrations.Especially during adverse weather, these frequently take refuge on board ships. The problems of their identification and deduction of their seasonal distribution and migration routes,

are challenges providing a fascinating hobby for the seafarer, and such observations can be of unique importance to the serious ornithologist and conservationist.The primary aim of the RNBWS is to provide a forum for the exchange of information and observations of seabirds, and of land birds at sea, by members for whom birdwatching is first and foremost a hobby, and to provide advice and support to make the best use of such opportunities at sea. The secondary aim is to coordinate the efforts of individual members using standardised recording methods, so thatobservations can be of value to the professional ornithologist ashore. The RNBWS has built up a reporting system using standardised recording formats - passage reports covering both seabirds and land birds, seabirds' census sheets, and for birds examined in the hand. These forms can be downloaded from the Society's website: (www.rnbws.org.uk). A number of local representatives around the world support the Society and provide a focus for birdwatching activities when in harbour, or ashore.A life-long member of RNBWS, Captain David Simpson spent much time working with rig support and towage around North Borneo, the Fly River PNG, Yahldena Tanimbar Islands Indonesia, Persian Gulf and Bombay High. His records, observations and articles from these less known parts are still highly valued. Captain Simpson died in 2002 and left a considerable legacy for the Society's use. A scholarship has been set up to assist seafarers to develop their ornithological skills and research at sea. If you would like to benefit from Captain Simpson's bequest visit the Society's website.Have you seen a bird at sea? The RNBWS is looking for all records of seabirds or land birds observed while at sea. These will then be input onto the world database of many thousands of sightings dating from 1946. Send your sightings by email to [email protected], Seaways, The Journal of the Nautical Institute www.nautinst.org

A Tern over water

An Allbatross in flight

before the country is very, very simple: are these laws to be enforced or are they to just adorn the statute books, honoured more in their breach than in their observance? I have to say that for too long a time, we have taken these laws and the discipline they enforce for granted. Industry has assumed that somehow these laws can be "managed" and governments too have not insisted that the laws be implemented both in letter and spirit. We have now reached a crucial juncture when fait accompli will not do any longer.

Our traditional approach has been to automatically assume that tough regulations mean an army of regulators. There is a legitimate fear that this could end up being another source of what economists call "rent seeking" or what ordinary human beings would call "harassment" or "corruption". That is why I have been saying that we need to think of market-friendly instruments for enforcing regulations.

Sunita Narain puts it well when she says that India’s environmental movement is about managing contradictions and complexities - and to this I would add, also, conflicts. This environmentalism of the poor, as she calls it, or livelihood environmentalism, as I would term it - as opposed to lifestyle environmentalism of the privileged sections - manifested itself on the national scene first in the mid 1970’s, with the

birth and growth of the Chipko movement in the hills of Uttarkhand. Those women were asserting

ONGC Plans Rs 16,000 cr Hi-Tech Facelift for Mumbai High

In a rare display of out-of-the-box thinking from a public sector firm, flagship explorer ONGC is pumping in nearly Rs 16,000 crore, or nearly $4 billion, into deploying some innovative technological measures to arrest the ageing of Mumbai High oil and gas fields, its crown jewel.

Pumping oil from the field, with complex and irregular rock formations cradling barely 3-8 metres thick oil bearing sub-layers, has remained a challenging task since its discovery in 1974. With production of some 400,000 bpd (barrels per day) at its prime, output has sagged over 32 years to nearly half, as age caught up.Now, in a decisive

move to rejuvenate production, ONGC has deployed several smart technologies that keep costs down by reducing the number of platforms or mid-sea structures for producing the oil trapped in nooks and crannies of the reservoir rock and left behind due to uneven movement of encroaching water in the reservoir rock. One of the key innova-tions, a first for India, is introduction of a rig mounted platform having 16 slots for drilling of upto 16 wells in the 80m water depth. The plat-form accommodates the drilling rig on board.

Courtesy, Times News Network

It Isn't a Zero Sum Gameby Mr Jairam Ramesh, Environmental Minister

Over half a century ago, while giving the Reith Lectures over the BBC, the eminent British physicist - author C.R Snow spoke of how the breakdown of communication between the two cultures of modern society - the cultures of science and that of the humanities was becoming a hindrance to understanding and addressing pressing public issues.

This afternoon, I wish to speak of a later-day facet of these "Two Cultures" syndrome - the apparent gap between those espousing the case for faster economic growth and those calling for greater attention to projection of the environment.

Let as all accept the reality that there is undoubtedly a trade off between growth and environment. In arriving at decisions to untangle the trade-off, three options present themselves -yes", "yes, but" and "no". The real problem is that the growth constituency is used to "yes" and can live with "yes, but", It cries foul with "no". The environment constituency exults with a "no", grudgingly accepts the"yes, but" but cries foul with a "yes". Therefore, one clear lesson is this-maximise the "yes, but", where this is possible.

The vast majority of environmental and forestry clearances are in the "yes, but" category but they do not hit the headlines like the "yes" or the "no" decisions do. Of course, as we gain experience, we must refine the "but" in the "yes, but" approach. The "but" often takes the form of conditions that must be adhered to before, during the construction, and after the launch of the project.

I believe that in laying down these conditions, we must strive for three things: ?The first conditions mast be objective and

measurable, so that it is clear what is to be done and whether it has been complied with.

?Second, the conditions must be consistent and fair, so that similar projects are given similar conditions to adhere to.

?Finally, the conditions must not impose

inordinate financial or time costs on the opponents.

This has indeed been our effort in the last 15 months for the vast majority of the cases that have come before us. For instan-ce, we allowed a power project in Ratnagiri in the face of NGO objections but imposed strict conditions that would be monitored by local institutions.

"Yes, but" cases aside, there will most certainly be instances, few and far between, I should add, in the overall scheme of things, when a firm "no" will be required. In such cases that have complex scientific, ecological and social dimensions, my approach has been to make decisions in the most consultative and transparent manner possible. This is what we did in the case of Bt-brinjal, and in the case of the Vedanta mining project in Orissa, where I consulted extensively, and shared a most detailed explanation for our decision with the public.

Is the debate really environment versus development or is it one of adhering to rules, regulations and laws versus taking the rules, regulations and laws for granted? I think the latter is a more accurate representation and a better way to formulate the choice.

When an alumina refinery starts construction to expand its capacity from 1 million tonnes per year to 6 million tonnes per year without bothering to seek any environmental clearance as mandated by law, it is not a "environment versus development" question, but simply one of whether laws enacted by Parliament will be respected or not.

India is fortunate to have strong, progressive legislation to safeguard its ecology. The question

Mr Jairam Ramesh


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India's commercial fleet, which stood at 8m gross tones on December 31, 2009, is set to expand with planned fleet acquisition worth $ 5bn on the cards for Indian owners over the next five years. Leading the charge is national carrier SCI that has 32 vessels on order at a cost of $2bn - to go up by 60 ships before March 2015, at an estimated cost of Rs200bn ($4.3bn).

The shipping recession of the last two years had induced many of India's shipowners to defer their acquisition plans; but now that there is light at the end of the tunnel, we should see substantial orders being placed soon,' says Vijay Kumar, Bharati Shipyard MD and secretary of the Shipyards Association of India (SAI).

“The demand for sea transportation to and from India is projected to continue to increase significantly, driven by a consistent annual growth rate of 8.5%”, he adds. This means India's external trade will grow at 14% per annum, adding more pressure for fleet capacity expansion.

India has, of late, taken giant strides towards establishing itself as the world's seventh biggest shipbuilder, with annual value of $15bn and a 2% share of global newbuilding output - a massive increase from its 0.1% share in 2005.

“European owners comprise 70% of our order books with sophisticated offshore vessels, drilling rigs and suezmax projects”, said Kumar. “Once we develop our support infrastructure, India will be able to build VLCCs of 300,000 plus dwt and compete in more tenders”.

Kumar added that the government has launched incentives to attract major international investors to invest in new joint venture shipyards in the country, supplementing the existing 19 private and seven government yards. The strategy

India's Fleet Expansion Plans could Benefit its Shipyards

has led equipment manufacturers such as Rolls Royce, MAN Diesel, Wärtsilä and Daihatsu to open facilities in India during the past 12 months.

Competitor ABG Shipyard has decided to diversify its activities as a cushion against eventual weakening demand for shipbuilding. The yard, which recently acquired a majority equity stake in Goa based ship and rig repairer Western India Shipyard, has an orderbook worth Rs120.50bn ($2.57bn). These orders mainly comprise of offshore support vessels for delivery through until March 2014 - a deadline that the yard is cushioning itself against.

ABG will use its new 165 - acre shipyard in Dahej to build larger vessels - such as Supramax and Handysize bulk carriers and is also in talks with Sierra Leone Exploration Mining Company to set up a joint venture and acquire bauxite mines in the West African country.

Another large shipbuilder at Pipavav port is Pipavav Shipyard, at which owner Sea King Infrastructure is building mainly 74,500dwt bulk carriers for customers like Golden Ocean, Setaf of France and Avgi Maritime. The yard, which will be one of the largest in the world when complete, also has orders for 300,000dwt vessels for


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Germany's Z. Schifenbau and Cyprus' B. F. Shipping.

A number of other yards are set for expansion such as the Adani Group's Rs 10bn shipyard in Mundra and engineering colossus Larsen & Toubro. Hazira yard which will cater to the defence industry. Ailing public sector shipbuilder Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) is also targeting this lucrative sector. “We can build warships, submarines and frigates”, said HSL's chairman and managing director Naresh Kumar. “We have the skills and infrastructure here to build such

vessels; and would be happy to service more orders from the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and other Defence establishments”.

The yard, which had sales turnover of Rs6.50bn for fiscal 2009-10 has received funding from the Indian government for modernisation and is in the process of putting together a financial restructuring package to restore it to health. It also delivered the largest bulk carrier (of 53,000dwt) to be built in the country to Chennai-based Goodearth Maritime in April this year. Courtesy, Times News Service

IRS gets IACS Accreditation

June 22, 2010, was a red-letter day in the annals of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS). It was on that day that the council of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) accepted IRS as its 11th full member. 'We were originally eligible to apply for IACS membership in December 2006, but there was a comprehensive review and change in membership criteria, and we only submitted our application in October 2009, when the changes became effective,' said Capt J C Anand, chairman of, and the moving spirit behind, the 35 year old IRS. 'Actually, IACS does a careful audit of the activities of members and prospective members; and we have been receiving surprise visits from their people since 1996. All IACS members have to be compulsorily audited every three years by an independent agency.'

While all Indian flag vessels have had to be compulsorily classed by IRS, the IACS membership will allow the Indian society to secure more newbuildings abroad under its classification and help in the marketing of its services.

'We will also be able to conduct surveys of marine incidents anywhere in the world, and we can have any of the ten other IACS member

societies as co-surveyors,' said Capt Anand.IRS boasts 270 marine surveyors at 18

locations in India and eight offices abroad. It intends to employ other nationalities to ensure quick response and easy access to customers around the world.

Courtesy, Seatrade

Capt J C Anand

Judson High School Ravet Bridge 150 175 1.5

Lexicon International Yerwada Bridge 100 115 0.5

Ramchandra Rathi High School Sambhaji Bridge 100 100 1

Erin Nagarwala (Boarders) Kalyani Nagar Bridge 40 170 50m

Hope Foundation Kalyani Nagar Bridge 70 250 2

Symbiosis Institute of Management Yerwada Bridge 140 300 1

Indus International SM Joshi Bridge 50 180 3

Mercedez Benz Intl. School Kalyani Nagar Bridge 80 300 0.5

Erin Nagarwala (Day scholars) Kalyani Nagar Bridge 42 50 0.5

St Josephs Boys High School Kirkee Bal Gandharva Bridge 45 100 1.5

SURROUNDING REGION OF PUNE

INS Shivaji, Lonavla Bushi Lake 100 420 1.0

INS Shivaji, Lonavla Shivsagar Lake 40 120 1.5

INS Shivaji, Lonavla Shivaji Lake 35 60 1.0

Bharat Scouts & Guides Lonavla 105 150 0.1

Bharat Scouts & Guides Saswad 60 75 0.1

Bharat Scouts & Guides Dehugaon 221 100 0.2

Bharat Scouts & Guides Kamshet 110 90 0.05

Bharat Scouts & Guides Chinchwad 52 30 0.05

Bharat Scouts & Guides Bal Gandharva 28 35 0.1

Bharat Scouts & Guides Mundhwa Kalyani Nagar 30 25 0.1

KHADAKWASLA

National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla Khadakwasla Lake 367 450 5.0

MUMBAI

Black & Veatch, Mumbai Aksa Beach 40 105 1.5

Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) Schools

CMCA - Sacred Heart High school Chowpatty Beach 44 17 0.5

CMCA- Beacon High & SVKM Intl. Juhu Beach 55 21 0.75

CMCA - Navy & JB Petit & Villa Theresa & Activity & Aditya Birla World Academy

Chowpatty Beach 353 250 2.0

CMCA - Lady Vissanji & St Elias & SS Sahney & Kamla & Billabong Intl & École Mondiale & RIMS

Juhu Beach 245 230 2.0

CMCA - Hiranandani & Campus & Gopal Sharma Powai Lake 355 210 1.3

CMCA - Shri Balaji International Aksa Beach 23 11 0.3

CMCA - Aseem Pali Chimbai Municipal Carter Road 15 9 0.2

Versova Development Organisation (VEDEO) Versova Beach 27 2000 0.3

Versova Development Organisation (VEDEO) Versova Beach 19 1129 1.5

St. Xavier's College Dadar Chowpatty Beach 400 86 2.0

Royal Bank of Scotland Juhu Beach 27 115 4.0

GUJARAT

Prakruti Nature Club, Kodinar Kodinar Beach 48 135 4.0

Jeevan Jyot Kendra, Junagad JataShankar River 57 80 2.0

GES & GNCS Sindhrot, Vadodra Mahisagar River 64 174 0.8

Total For All India 34,753 83,175


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Better Protection of European WatersThe European Union (EU) wants to improve

the protection of European waters against pollution by oil catastrophes. Therefore the German EU Energy Commissioner is requiring a de-facto- moratorium for new oil drilling projects in European waters. Governments have been urged to give respective approvals only when safety regulations for the Union will be scrutinized. To compose new legal drafts, however, could take months. A voluntary moratorium by the EU countries is unlikely.

With regard to the oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year, the Commissioner declared “that we must take care that such a disaster will never occur in European waters”.So Brusseles is going to adjust existing and proved safety procedures EU wide. He, however, will put forward a legal draft only in 2011, after consultations with the EU Parliament and Council. Therein an important aspect will be “the control of the controllers”, to prevent undue contacts between oil firms and controllers. National supervisors are to be watched over by independent experts.

Moreover, new drilling licences will only be granted to firms forwarding effective emergency plans and the evidence of funds to compensate for potential environmental damages. Oil firms will have to pay for detrimental effects on marine life within a distance of 200 nm from the coast. The new rules, however, will not refer to plants already in service, which means a prolonged threat to the environment.

But the inevitable ascent of oil demand will go on. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) one third of the oil raised world wide is hauled in areas off the coast. This portion is expected to rise to 50% by 2015. All the more it is of vital importance to apply any kind of procedural and safety measures to avoid ecological disasters as the one in the Gulf of

Letter from Europe November 2010by Capt H Beil (GN) Retd

Mexico. The EU is leading the way to a better controlled production of the World´s most important source of energy.Mine Warfare Exercises

Two multinational warfare exercises were carried out in September this year: OLIVES NOIRES 2010 (Black Olives) off Toulon, and OPEN SPIRIT off the Lithuanian coast. For OLIVES NOIRES, under French Operational Control, were deployed 15 units from 9 NATO countries, France,Germany, Great Britain, and others, with 800 crew plus two mine clearance diving teams. The Task Group was reinforced by units of EUROMARFOR, the European Maritime Force with ships from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France. The aim of the exercise was to develop the interoperability between MW forces, to evaluate tactics and procedures of cooperation in an operational area. Besides MW exercises using advanced sonar devices and underwater drones there were serials of Gunnery Training. Air Defence, simulated asymmetrical threats, and Replenishment at Sea (RAS). Mine clearance divers were trained to counter terrorist threats in harbours. At the same time the exercise OPEN SPIRIT took place in the Eastern Baltic. Here 16 MW units from six countries were deployed to locate and destroy mines and explosive charges, most of them laid in WW II. A number of mines, torpedoes, and bombs could be neutralised in the operation., using remote-controlled underwater robots and deploying mine clearance divers trained to operate in great depth. Permanent medical assistance was granted by decompression facilities and support given by the Lithuanian Air Force.

Both exercises demonstrated anew the undim -inished importance of mine clearance capabilities and training, also in modern naval warfare.

Capt H Beil is our correspondent of the EU and lives in Rosrath, Germany

Zone Name Site Name People Weight Kg Dist. Km

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

A&N Island - Dept Ocean St & Bio Collinpur - Sunset Bay 58 598 1

A&N Island - Dept Ocean St & Bio Wandoor Beach 89 392 1

ORISSA

Nature Drive - Paradeep Site-I H.Temple to S Kuda 450 1,320 2.5

Nature Drive - Paradeep Site-II Hanuman Temple to Sandha Kuda 143 1,440 2.5

Nature Drive - Siali (Tourist Resort) Siali Beach 178 1,770 1.9

ANDHRA PRADESH

VISAKHAPATNAM

ETASI Timpani schools Ramakrishna Beach 800 700 2.5

National Association of Fishermen (NAF)

NAF Bapatla, Guntur District Suryalanka Beach 2,000 425 2.0

NAF Nellore District Mypadu Beach 2,500 1100 4.0

NAF Avanigadda, Krishna District Hamsaladeevi beach 1,500 600 2.0

NAF Machilipatnam, Kishrna District Maginipudi beach 2,000 775 2.0

NAF Narsapuram, W. Godavari Distt Perupalem Beach 1,500 550 2.5

NAF Kakinada, E. Godavari District Kakinada Beach 1,500 850 2.0

NAF Visakhapatnam Payakaraopet beach 500 225 1.5

TAMIL NADU

CHENNAI & PUDUCHERI (PONDICHERRY) AND NEARBY BEACHES

IMF Chennai Branch 12,748 48,048 207.0

People's Action for Development (PAD) Gulf of Mannar

Keezhakarai District 15 Villages 561 420 5.9

Vembar District 14 Villages 826 414 10.3

Rameswaram District 26 Villages 1,640 534 10.0

KERALA

KiteLife and Coca Cola Kochi Beach 900 12000 2.0

GOA STATE

Marriott Resort Miramar Beach 60 140 1.0

MAHARASHTRA

PUNE (MULA AND MUTHA RIVERS)

Rotary Club of Pune Central SM Joshi Bridge 7 90 0.5

Bharat Scouts & Guides Sambhaji Bridge 650 1500 10

Sinhagad College Rajaram Bridge 45 150 1

Bal Shikshan Mandir Sambhaji Bridge 150 350 1.28

Black and Veach Yerwada Burning Ghat 36 372 0.5

Sea Cadet Corps Sangamwadi Bridge (new) 85 395 0.5

Stella Maries School Kalyani Nagar Bridge 62 100 0.5

Anjali High School Kalyani Nagar Bridge 28 50 0.5

2010 International Coastal Cleanup


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He had been the first from India to complete a solo circumnavigation, around six months ago. And now, Commander Dilip Donde, along with three Navy officers, will be first to represent India in the Trans - Atlantic Boat Race - Cape to Rio 2011. The team left from Goa this week on Mhadei, to Cape Town from where the race is scheduled to begin on January 15. This is the same vessel Cdr Donde had earlier circum- navigated the Globe.

"The race is between Cape town and Rio - de - Janeiro, which is about 3,600 nautical miles; we will be competing against teams from several countries and the competition will include cruising boats - both mono and multi hulls - as well as racing boats from across the globe, also, this is the first time that an Indian team is participating in it," said Donde.

The team will cover over 6,000 nautical miles in the process. Cdr Dilip Donde, along with three Indian Navy officers, will be the first to represent India in the Trans - Atlantic Boat Race - Cape to Rio 2011.

We are expected to reach Cape Town by December-end. We would be navigating between Cape Town and Rio - de - Janeiro, which is about 3,600 nautical miles one way."

Cdr Donde will be accompanied by Lt Cdr Abhilash Tomy, Lt Cdr Gautam Khajuria and

Cdr Donde to Represent India in Trans-Atlantic Boat Raceby Pranav Kulkarni

chief petty officer Pankaj Kumar.Lt Cdr Tomy, who was in Donde's support

crew for his solo sailing venture, will be bringing the yacht back from Cape Town to Goa, solo. “I am looking forward to a great navigational experience and this is a rehearsal for me as the Navy is planning a solo circumnavigation next year.”Courtesy, Indian Express

thousands of years in the water. The data from the International Coastal

Cleanup help provide a roadmap for eliminating marine debris by demonstrating the scope and scale of the problem and documenting trends. Armed with that information, we can work together to reduce marine debris at the source, change the behaviors that cause it and support better policies to prevent it from causing further harm to our vital ocean ecosystems.

We had a briefing of Pune Zone Captains on 09 Sep, and cleanup kits including Data and Summary cards were handed out. The Cleanup was scheduled in most locations in India on 26 Sep, however in the Pune region we postponed it to 9 Oct on account of the late monsoon showers. The turnout on the Mutha river was excellent with 17 schools, colleges and NGOs participating. INS Shivaji and NDA did a good job in their respective areas and Bharat Scouts were active at seven sites in the region. This year, we were happy to welcome some first-time organizations like Nature Drive at Paradeep, and Jeevan Jyot Kendra in Gujarat. In Mumbai the CMCA did a marvellous task of gathering 23 school children who enthusiastically worked on three different beaches. Our thanks to VEDEO who, on 23 Sep, did a special cleanup on account of the Ganapati immersion and then once again they did a cleanup on 26 Sep.

The National Association of Fishermen, an effort spearheaded by Nagesh Babu, cleaned up at

GNS students Sindhrot, Mahisagar RiverVadodra, Gujarat

Activity High School students, Chowpatty Beach

Final Inspection

Mhadei Waved Off

Mhadei Away

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Events


Environment

The tireless efforts of the Indian Maritime Foundation, paid off in 2008, when the Pune Municipal Corporation was kind enough to build a memorial to the officers and seamen of the Indian Merchant Marine who lost their lives in World War 1 and II. This memorial is unique in that it is the only war memorial in India erected in a public park to honour our merchant seamen, in this instance in the premises of the Bund Garden in Pune. This year, on 14 November, the Indian Maritime Foundation conducted a solemn ceremony to honour the 7955 seamen who lost their lives at sea during World War 1 and II. We were fortunate to have with us that day a number of armed forces veterans graciously led by Air Chief Marshal H Moolgavkar. Sadly, far too few retired Merchant Marine officers were present, however we were honoured with the presence of Capt. SH Honawar and CaptT Rosario, the two senior-most Mariners living in Pune and both veterans of the Second World War.

The Chief Guest for the function was Captain. Navin Passey, Managing Director, Wallem Shipmanagement (India) Pvt. Ltd. The ceremony commenced with a Sanskrit invocation recited by Mrs. Gita Vir, followed by a naval prayer including a short requiem composed by RL Stevenson, read by Cmde Rajan Vir.

Thereafter, the gathering was addressed in Marathi by Capt. Dixit, President of CMMI, Pune Chapter, and then in English by Cmde Rajan Vir. The Chief Guest, Capt Navin Passey then addressed the gathering. He concluded his stirring address with a promise that Wallems will work with the IMF to spearhead a trust to provide support to the families of the seamen who lost their lives at sea in WWII, if efforts can be made to locate any of them. A message received from John Oates, Assistant Secretary, Burma Star Association, UK, was also read out.

“The Burma Sar Association remembers the members of the Indian Merchant Navy who paid the Supreme Sacrifice during World War II for the liberation of Burma. We shall never forget them.”Cdr Lele is a council member of the IMF

Memorial Day in Pune - 14 November 2010by Cdr Mukund Lele, IN ( Retd)

Capt Navin Passey and Mrs Passey beingreceived by Cmde Rajan Vir

Capt Passey with IMF Members

Capt Passey Addressing the Invitees

The oft-repeated phrase 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' would need to be modified to describe the ICC 2010 in India, which stretched from J unagad to Por t Blair. The dedicated pre-cleanup effor ts made by the coordination team wer e r eflected in the huge incremental turnout this year, wh ich a gg r ega t ed 34 ,726 volunteers and 83 tonnes of debris collected, compared to 18,284 and 53 tonnes respectively in 2009.

It would be unfair to judge the quality of effort simply by the numbers of volunteers at different sites, because the sincerity and willingness to participate in the Cleanup is as important as the numbers. Nevertheless, deserving special mention and recognition, for the sheer magnitude

of cooordinating large numbers of volunteers from different organizations, is due to: Ocean Conservancy, the NGO based in Washington that coordinates the annual international cleanup effort. Their latest report 2010 has this significant observation to make about ocean debris.

Because trash travels, we are all part of the problem and the solution whether we live

International Coastal Cleanup 2010 - Indiaby Cdr Mukund Lele (Retd)

This year's Cleanup report examines the phenomenon of trash on the move to and throughout the ocean

hundreds of miles inland or along the ocean's shores.

This year's Cleanup report examines the phenomenon of trash on the move to and throughout the ocean, and the resulting impacts

worldwide. Cleanup data tell us that an estimated 60-80 percent of marine litter starts out on land. Lakes, rivers, streams, and storm drains, helped by the wind and rain, transport litter hundreds of miles to the ocean. And ocean currents and winds carry that marine debris all around the globe. Trash travels through time as well; estimates vary, but some items may last hundreds or even

CMCA (Ms. Vinodini Lulla) Mumbai 1,090IMF (Mr. Karn Ragade) Pune 1,880PAD (Dr. M. Mannan) Gulf of 3,027

MannarNAF (Mr. Nagesh Babu) Andhra 11,500

PradeshIMF (RADM Srinivasan) Tamil Nadu 12,748

Nature Drive Volunteers of Birsha Munda UP School filling their Bags at Paradip Beach

Student of St. Xaviers College at Bandra Beach

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Environment


Shipping

Workshop participants at NDA, Peacock Bay

Marine artists at work

Mohan Khare’s demonstration of painting a seascape for NDA Cadets

Outdoor workshops are not only one of the simplest ways for an artist to use his creativity and explore his own talent in the midst of nature, but also come together with his fellow artists on a common platform to share ideas and the inspiration behind them.

With this in mind, the 2nd workshop for the year 2010 organized by SIMA at Peacock Bay, N.D.A. on Sunday, 10th October was indeed a memorable one. A total of 17 attended the workshop, some of whom were Mrs. Anuradha Thakur's students. Other artists present were Mr. Mohan Khare, Mr. Dhadnekar, Mr. P.V. Joshi, Mr. Macha, Mr. Thorat and other fellow SIMA members.

We left at 8:00am from the Poona Club entry gate by bus and the drive to the venue was lovely with lush green trees and beautiful weather guiding us along the way. On reaching the N.D.A. Gate, we had to wait a while to get security clearance, but the beautiful scenery of the Peacock Bay was worth the wait. Cmde Rajan Vir introduced each one of us present at the workshop and spoke in brief about the place.

As we settled down, the artists then took to their paints to capture the scenic beauty onto their canvas. The session lasted till lunch, where the members got a chance to interact with one another.

After lunch, a live demonstration on seascape painting was given by Mr. Mohan Khare. The cadets from the N.D.A. Art Club present along with the members appreciated the demo and were indeed glad to have witnessed such an eminent artist at work.

The day ended with a photo session for all the members and participants of the workshop followed by refreshments. We headed back home thoroughly satisfied and with an everlasting memory of the beautiful Peacock Bay.Hoshnar Kaikobad is an active artist and founder member SIMA

SIMA Workshop at Peacock Bay, NDAby Hoshnar Kaikobad

Marine debris, deemed as any manufactured or processed solid waste imported into the marine environment is proven to have a widespread negative impact on mar ine wildlife, including physiology-level effects and reduced fitness, reproductive failure, changes in community structure to direct death following blockage of intestinal tract or entanglement.

The number of species affected counts in hundreds and include marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles, fish and benthic biota. Hence, marine debris represents a major threat to marine life, on top of other anthropogenic stressors affecting marine biodiversity, such as overexploitation and harvesting, chemical pollution, alien species and global climate change.

The main sources of marine debris are litter from ships, fishing and recreational boats, and garbage carried into the sea from land-based sources in industrialized and highly populated areas. In terms of pollution, the Adriatic Sea represents one of the World's hot-spots . It is a small (surface area: 138,600 km2), temperate, shallow, semi enclosed sea connected to the Mediterranean by the 70 km wide Straits of Otranto.

The Adriatic coasts, particularly the northern part, are highly populated, with a resident population of about 4 million inhabitants and an additional 18 million tourists during the summer season.

The Adriatic coasts, particularly the northern part, are highly populated, with a resident population of about 4 million inhabitants and an additional 18 million tourists during the summer season, resulting in a heavy input of land-based pollutants into the sea. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of chemical pollutants in the Adriatic have been a topic of investigation for

Ingestion of Marine Debris by Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Caretta - Caretta in the Adriatic Sea

by Capt Bojan Lazar and Romana Gracan

more than three decades and have a central role in the Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP,1988, 1994).

However, to our knowledge no study has addressed the issue of solid waste input into the Adriatic Sea. The only existing information relates to the litter on the sea floor, which concentration (items per hectare) is among the highest along European coasts, after the north-western Mediterranean and the Celtic Sea. If only plastic debris is considered, the Adriatic Sea bottom represents the most polluted sea floor in Europe with 2.63 items/ha. Evaluation of the impact of marine debris on development, survivorship, health and reproduction of sea turtles is highlighted as one of the global research priorities for these threatened marine reptiles.

The shallow waters of the northern and central Adriatic Sea (<200 m in depth) host one of the most important neritic feeding grounds for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta Linnaeus 1758) in the Mediterranean while the southern Adriatic is recognized as an important oceanic developmental habitat for this species. Life history and foraging strategy characterized by high ecological plasticity with shifts in diet and habitat use between oceanic and neritic waters make loggerheads particularly susceptible to debris ingestion.

Although debris ingestion has been recorded in other large marine vertebrates in the Adriatic, no such information exists for sea turtles. Therefore, this study investigates for the first time the occurrence of marine debris ingestion by loggerhead sea turtles in the foraging habitats of the Adriatic Sea, and discusses the possible effects on the health status and viability of resident populations.The Authors are from the Dept of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, CroatiaEdited by Cdr Sati Taneja

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Events

It was another fun filled morning at the Empress Gardens, on Nov-21,2010, as more than 120 children , from various schools, with parents, gathered under the auspicies of Society of Indian Marine Artists (SIMA) & Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF), for the 5th annual Junior SIMA painting competition.

The eagerly awaited event started with a live demonstration by Junior SIMA Secretary Anuradha Thakur, who painted 3 sceneries in a matter of 15 minutes, greatly admired by contestants & parents both.

Next came the main event - 'Sea Scape' painting competition by the contestants. The children were divided into 4 groups:1) 3-1/2 - 5 years - who had to just colour printed drawings;2) 5 - 8 years of age - whose subject was “Life under the Seas”;3) 8 - 11 years of age - subject “Boats on Sea”; &4) 11 - 15 years of age - subject “Visualise & draw sea life-upside down (abstract);

As soon as the winners were finalized, Chief Guest Mumtaz Peerbhoy, presented to the 1st three contestants in each category, with the respected judges explaining why that particular participant deserved the prize.

A special unplanned prize was also given to the most imaginative painting. The renowned judges declared that it was tough to decide upon the winners and extorted upon the winners to carry on with the great work and not get disappointed, as participation was of utmost importance. Participatory certificates were then presented to all candidates, and sumptuous hot snacks were provided to all participants. The program ended with smiles on everybody's faces, with congratulations to all the organizing committee members. Ms Anuradha Thakur is the Secretary, Junior SIMA

Junior SIMA Painting Competition at Empress Gardensby Ms Anuradha Thakur

Chief Guest Mrs. Mumtaz Peerbhoy presenting the prize to the youngest winner

Contestants extremely busy at work

Demonstration being given by Ms Anuradha Thakur

Ever see an iceberg from top to bottom? This came from a Rig Manager, For Global Marine Drilling in St. Johns, Newfoundland. They actually have to divert the path of these things (Icebergs) away from the rig by towing them with ships!

Anyway, in this particular case the water was calm, seas clear and the sun was almost directly overhead so that the diver was able to get into the water and click this picture. They estimated the weight at 300,000,000 tons.

No Wonder……. The Titanic Didn't Have A Chance!!!!

Iceberg

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Documents

A Woman's Place is at Sea