At the moment I don't have much more than the above headline on the Lake Michigan charter boat incident but here's a list of links of recent Coast Guard action for the month of May:
-seabgb
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Catching Zs on Deadliest Catch
The show continues to astound its fans, but I'm betting the two episodes of Captain Phil falling asleep at the helm of the Cornelia Marie, and the one with a greenhorn deck ape on the early Dawn falling asleep on his watch, won't do much to endear fishermen as a whole to the rest of the professional seafaring community, including the policy makers at the Coast Guard.
Meanwhile, word is Phil almost died from an aneurysm. It's no wonder when you consider his obsessive work ethic and life style. You really can't survive on crab fishing, Red Bull and cigarettes.
-seabgb
Meanwhile, word is Phil almost died from an aneurysm. It's no wonder when you consider his obsessive work ethic and life style. You really can't survive on crab fishing, Red Bull and cigarettes.
-seabgb
Massacheusetts Ocean Billed Signed by Gov.
Click on the image above for the straight scoop from the Maine Ocean Campaign website. Anything less is just a game of "pass-it-on."-seabgb
Monday, May 26, 2008
Should the Rescued Divers In Australia Pay for Their Rescue?
See the previous post for more on this story and click this BBC link for info on what's being suggested about renumeration.
Personally, as I may have intimated in my previous post, it all depends on the divers and what risks or liberties they took, if any, on their dive.
Perhaps the dive operators did not fully prepare the divers for what they would encounter in terms of current. Or, conversely, perhaps the divers ignored instructions and went beyond their permitted dive time and/or range.
I'm a firm believer thrill seekers who refuse to follow the boat's or operator's rules should be penalized in some way for their actions. In most cases, operators penalize irresponsible passengers by not allowing them to return.
I'm not saying these two missing divers fall into this category because I don't know. But I think it's something that should be looked into, especially since both divers are apparently monopolizing on their 15 minutes of fame.
-seabgb
Personally, as I may have intimated in my previous post, it all depends on the divers and what risks or liberties they took, if any, on their dive.
Perhaps the dive operators did not fully prepare the divers for what they would encounter in terms of current. Or, conversely, perhaps the divers ignored instructions and went beyond their permitted dive time and/or range.
I'm a firm believer thrill seekers who refuse to follow the boat's or operator's rules should be penalized in some way for their actions. In most cases, operators penalize irresponsible passengers by not allowing them to return.
I'm not saying these two missing divers fall into this category because I don't know. But I think it's something that should be looked into, especially since both divers are apparently monopolizing on their 15 minutes of fame.
-seabgb
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Australian Divers Found After Spending Night On Great Barrier Reef
Two divers that had surfaced 200 yards away from their chartered dive boat and had gotten lost on the Great Barrier Reef were found by a helicopter rescue team after spending twenty hours at sea together. The two are credited for making the smart choices necessary for their survival. They stuck together, remained calm and chose not to try to swim to shore.The AP and other stories on the Web right now are not providing much in the way of details, but we can surmise the dive boat operator knew he (or she) was missing two divers because the search took 18 hours and according to reports the two were in the water for 20 hours. This doesn't seem unusual when you factor in initial dive time, the time it takes to figure out there are divers missing, the time it takes to conduct a quick search on-scene, the time it takes to notify rescue authorities and the time it takes for rescue teams to arrive and begin a search.
Time goes by pretty quickly when you suddenly say to yourself: "Hold on. We're missing two." Everybody aboard starts to search the area with binoculars. There's 15 minutes right there. Add this to the extra 10 or 15 minutes you might give to stragglers and the 45 minutes to an hour they were in the water for their dive, and you have a response time of only about a half hour to 45 minutes.
I can tell you from personal experience as a dive boat operator there's a hollow pain you feel in your chest the very second you realize a diver is missing. One rule of thumb is to contact authorities and report the missing diver immediately. The reason for this is that you'll never lose precious time calling off a search or a response -- but if you wait, that's time you never get back. In practice, though, as a dive boat operator, you know there are divers who don't follow the boat's or the captain's instructions. These are the guys who make it worse for everyone. When we say back at the boat in one hour, we freakin' mean it!
Personally, I make the call immediately. If you don't show when I tell you, and I can't see your bubbles or your buoy, I'm calling the Coast Guard and telling them I have a diver who has not reported topside at the appointed time. We haven't scrambled a MAYDAY yet but at least we're ready to roll and the process has been initiated. As a boat captain who's responsible for everyone aboard, you have to err on the side of caution.
The other interesting thing abut this story is that the two who went missing were really not that far away. Two hundred yards, two football fields -- all I can say is that there must have been a sea running with some white caps because two brightly colored BCs and snorkels would show up at 200 yards in calm or relatively calm seas.
For the record, it's very common for divers to come up late to the boat or come up far away from the boat. For captains, it's frustrating and stressful and we hate it.
It's very unusual, though, for dive boat operators to leave divers in the water and sail back to port without them. Unusual, but it has happened. The movie Open Water, based on the true story of two divers who were left behind on a Caribbean dive charter, is about just that sort of thing. Obviously, the movie spends a lot of time in "speculation mode" but it's still worth a watch if you don't mind movies with depressing endings.
At least this story from Australia ended happily.
-seabgb
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Norwegian Cruise Lines Ltd Makes News Again
The Miami-based (formerly of the Bahamas) cruise company made news today when a judge in Miami found the company negligent and fined them $1 million for a boiler explosion that led to the deaths of 8 crew members. The judge also awarded $13 Million in preliminary restitution to the families of the crew members who died and were injured. And he left the door open for further restitution.The explosion occured in May of 2003 on the SS Norway (formerly the France) when it was at its berth in Miami. As a result of the explosion NCL decommissioned the Norway and sent it to the scrap yard. It was later towed to India where it ended up in another court case because it hadn't been cleaned of toxic material. Eventually a judge in India gave the scrappers permission to tear down the Norway despite its high levels of asbestos.
NCL also made news in 2005 when several disabled Americans sued the company for not providing proper access for people in wheelchairs and scooters. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court where the final opinion came down in favor of the plaintiffs. Back then, the company claimed its Bahama-flagged ships were not under the jurisdiction of American law and therefore did not have to abide by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The effect of this last lawsuit was pretty important for all charter and passenger carrying vessels in the US, which until this point had more leeway in terms of providing complete access to people with disabilities. As the law stands now, a passenger vessel must provide people with disabilities access to all public areas unless the vessels operation or design completely prohibits such access. For example, obviously, you can't have complete access on a 18' runabout.
As a side note, NCL built the Pride of America, the first large US-Flagged cruise ship built in 50 years.
-seabgb
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Fuel Costs . . . Whatever The Market Will Bear?
What are we to think in the wake of fishermen in Paris yesterday and today going on a rampage over the price of fuel? Can it happen here? Maybe. Paris has a history of violent protests over this sort of thing, while we tend to reserve our public rampages to student and other violence as a result of a sporting event or a canceled concert. At least the French rampage over the serious stuff.I would be surprised if there's anyone who thinks the oil magnates don't know exactly what they're doing. They have the best research our money can buy, and it's our money they're researching. They know exactly what's going on with today's cash assets. They've figured out there's plenty of money out there to funnel into the economy and until people show them differently the price of oil will keep going up. The problem is, there's always a delay, just like the one we had recently with the sub-prime mess. And it's not over.
Fuel costs are prohibitive for commercial fishermen and others who earn a living at sea, but the effects of these costs haven't filtered downstream yet. Just give it time. When commercial lobstermen around here decide they can't fish because the price of fuel is too high, a huge infrastructure of support services will collapse.
Ross Perot Jr. was on the news the other night and he said the price of oil was overvalued by almost 100%. He predicts it will slide back to $70 a barrel. I'm not so sure but I have a feeling that when the collapse starts, the oil magnates will not be able to respond fast enough to protect their interests or ours.
-seabgb
So You Want To Be A Charter Boat Captain, Chapter 1
I've been at this business, the chartering business, for most of my adult life and even a good portion of my teenage foolish years, starting with a three year stint as the water skiing instructor at a summer camp when I was 16 and could carry a 55 hp outboard over my shoulder and swim the length of a cold mountain lake faster than an angry pickerel. That's nearly 40-years (stop doing the math in your head) of dealing with paying passengers on all sorts of different boats. Does it make me an expert? Hardly. But I think it gives me some measure of skipper-for-hire wisdom. At least in this one area -- chartering -- I feel I have a certain expertise from which I can speak comfortably. Readers beware. What follows is not necessarily the stuff of dreams.
The first thing you have to ask yourself is: Do I really want to own and run my own charter boat?
Back when I got into this business, my very smart father gave me some great advice I totally ignored. He said: If you really love being on the water, why make it a job? Won't that take all the fun out of it? In fact, at least half the time you're doing it for profit, it's not much fun. The other half of the time, it is fun, and rewarding as hell. And some days you just can't believe your getting paid to do what you're doing. However, unless you're paying a mechanic, boat yard, maintenance crew, etc., you better take into consideration the time you need to put in to keep the boat in tip top shape. Oil and filter changes and emergency repairs at midnight to early morning are no fun at all. Neither are the times you get home from the engine room, shower, and head back out to meet an early morning charter party. You'll probably be in something of a foul mood, but don't let your passengers see it. Being successful with a charter boat depends entirely on repeat business. Nobody wants to come back to a boat run by a surly captain with bloodshot eyes and a nasty attitude.
This, of course, brings up the question of people skills. Are you a people person? You really have to love people to do this kind of work, even the people who may not be worth loving, for example; passengers who spend the entire trip puking over the rail and then ask for their money back at the end of the day, drunks who get confrontational when you shut them off and then ask for their money back at the end of the day, fishermen who complain they didn't catch enough fish, and ask for their money back at the end of the day. The list goes on.
To be honest, I have not really experienced many bad eggs on my boats. But it was a different story when I was the hired captain on other boats. You have a lot of control when you're the sole owner and operator. You have the ability to say to someone: Get the hell off my boat. Or . . . Don't ever come back here. When you're working for someone else, you don't always have that luxury. On my own party fishing boat, I didn't allow hard liqueur, and I kept the beer restricted to three bottles per person. Bit other boats I worked on had a different, more lax policy, and it caused some problems. I had to tie one passenger to a bunk. Another time I had to knock a guy out with a bluefish billy. Both of these guys gave me no choice because they became dangerous to my other passengers and the safety of the boat. You're probably thinking these incidents were in the 50% no fun column but actually I have to admit a certain satisfaction in taking out a passenger who's been warned repeatedly.
So, are you a people person? Do you even like people? And here I mean people as in "The Public," 'cause that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish, so to speak.
If you can't answer yes to the question above, you will not be happy as a charter boat captain. In fact, you will probably develop a bad case of marine curmudgeon syndrome and spend the rest of your life whining and bitching about everything you do.
But let's say you are a people person. If this is the case, the next question you have to ask yourself is: Do I want to make a living doing this? If the answer to this question is no, then all you're really trying to do is finance a hobby. The IRS takes a dim view of this type of business, and you should, too, because if you don't make a profit three out of five years (or whatever the formula is now), the IRS is going to crawl up your behind with a Rototiller. Well, maybe not a Rototiller, but when they finish with you, you're going to wish it was a Rototiller.
The thing is, if you don't have an interest in making a living with this kind of work, why bother? Get your captain's license, take out your friends, ask for donations to help pay expenses. No expectations. No worries. No extra expenses, like charter insurance, Coast Guard Certification, etc.
There's no law prohibiting you from asking people for donations if in fact you are a fully licensed USCG Captain. And nobody says you have to make a profit, either.
-seabgb
Another Ship Seized by Somali Pirates
The fate of the Jordanian-flagged freighter carrying donated sugar to the region -- with twelve crew members hailing from East Asia and Africa -- is still unknown. In fact, the seizure by pirates has not actually been confirmed. It was presumed a pirate act when communications between owners and crew could not be established on Saturday. Perhaps by today more will be known.
-seabgb
-seabgb
Monday, May 19, 2008
Global Warming and Hurricanes . . . Are they connected or not?
Apparently not . . . according to one of the world's authorities on the subject, NOAA's Tom Knutson, a meteorologist who had previously been very vocal about the link between Global Warming and increases in both numbers and strengths of hurricanes.
Knutson, who has also in the past been very critical of the Bush Administration for its lack of action on the Greenhouse Gas front, is doing an about face on this one issue, and he has the support of other climate and weather specialists, mostly hurricane specialists, who believe the science backs this shift in thinking about Global Warming and hurricances. In fact, if anything, a warming trend should decrease the number of hurricanes making landfall, according to his computer model.
An abstract of his article, which appears in Nature Geoscience, can be found here.
-seabgb
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sea Lion Deaths on Columbia River
When 4 California sea lions and 2 endangered stellar sea lions were found dead on the Columbia River National Marine Fisheries Service officials reported that the animals had been shot. However, it's clear now they died from heat exhaustion and panic after being trapped by a state fisheries program designed to protect the salmon. An autopsy concluded the animals had been in the cages for too long a time; a combination of the sixty-degree weather and their heightened agitation and stress due to the confined space and captivity caused their deaths.National media attention focused on the initial report of a shooting with high hopes of finding the responsible party. It was assumed the perpetrator was an angry commercial fisherman and by all accounts authorities were anxious to make an example of him. The noose was tied; the rope strung over a limb. Turns out it wasn't an angry, vicious act at all. It was more a matter of passive conservation management; maybe it was even a negligence issue.
Meanwhile, a Southern California fisherman (not sure if he was commercial or recreational) was given 3 years probation and 200 hundred hours of community service following his trial for stabbing a sea lion through the heart. The animal had stolen his bait and his response was to jump it a stab it repeatedly with a large steak knife. People in the area witnessed the attack and called the police. He was facing a $20,000 fine and 1 year in jail. Lucky for him his sentencing came a day after the coroner's report in Oregon determined that state officials and not some mad fisherman with a rifle had inadvertently killed the 6 sea lions on the Columbia River.
-seabgb
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Exceeding a Vessel's Capacity
A ferry like the one pictured above capsized and sank yesterday in the Ghorautra River in Bangladesh killing at least 41. I doubt seriously anyone wonders why something like this happens so often in Bangladesh. The question is, if you were visiting a country like Bangladesh and you had to get from Point A to Point B, would you get on a ferry like this one?I once got on a ferry in Mexico to Isla Mujeres. It was a wood ferry that nobody had ever taken a paint scraper to. They obviously just kept applying new paint over the old paint. Maybe the thinking was the layers of paint would hold the boat together.
Underway, you could feel a very substantial vibration coming from under the stern, as if the propeller should have had another blade on it -- or maybe the ferry was towing a giant wood chipper behind it that was trying to choke down a rotten log.
I got on a less than seaworthy boat in Jamaica once, and there was this vessel in Egypt . . . both had their bilge pumps running continuously.
I've been on some less than airworthy aircraft, too. But that's another post for another blog.
I obviously survived my indiscretions but I'd like to think I now have more sense. It's not like we can carry our own life rafts aboard these things. And even if we could, we'd have to fight everyone else aboard for the right to use them.
Rotten life jackets, rusty fire extinguishers, outdated licenses and certificates, and overcrowding, are obvious giveaways the ferry you're boarding is not up to the job. Less obvious are the little things: Bad dents in the hull and rails, foul smelling or excessive smoke from the exhaust, rusting or rotten plating, inexperienced or drunken crew members. For the most part, you can tell which boat you want to get on by looking at it tied to the dock. Of course, that doesn't tell you much about the crew's capability.
Meanwhile, given the above, in some countries, if you absolutely must get from Point A to Point B, you don't have much choice but to step aboard a substandard vessel.
-seabgb
Monday, May 12, 2008
Pelican Dives on Woman's Face
Last Saturday it was reported that a woman in the water off Treasure Island, Florida got hit in the face with a pelican as it dove on some fish. The pelican died and the woman had to get 20 stitches. We tend to worry about what's under the water, sharks, rays, jellyfish, sea urchins, etc. Now we have to start thinking about what's over the water.I don't know about you, but I've seen brown pelicans and gannets dive and I would not want to be hit in the face with one. Gannets, a related species to the pelican, have been known to reach speeds of 60 mph while diving. They have reinforced skulls to better survive the impacts. Pelicans are in the same order, and not all pelican species plunge dive. Still, they have even bigger bills than gannets and can attain larger sizes. Some pelicans, according to Wikipedia, can weigh as much as 33 lbs and have a wing span of over 11'.
I think the bird that hit the woman was probably a brown pelican (avg. size 6 lbs; wing span of 6') and not the pink-backed pictured above.
-seabgb
A Week of Easterlies
With a low tracking south and east of us and causing all sorts of havoc on the Delaware Coast (flooding, evacuations, etc.), Maine is set for a week or more of winds from the north and east, mostly from the east. This is a pattern many pre-season yachtsman tend to ignore. Everyone knows a week of wind can build a pretty destructive sea. But what a lot people don't know is that it doesn't have to be a lot of wind or a big sea to be destructive. Up here, in the mid-coast area, when we get a week or more of northeast wind, it sets up these perfectly spaced seas of equal height that have a harmonic quality to them. Harmonic, repetitive motion can do more damage than random motion. So keep an eye on moorings, docks, etc. this week. We might be in for a hell of a ride.
PS. After looking at an updated forecast, I have to add that the winds aren't looking as interesting as originally predicted, in strength and direction. It flunked-out today at about noon, which gave the sea a chance to calm down. Maybe this one isn't the northeast ride I was looking for.
-seabgb
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Suicide Divers - It was Only a Matter of Time!
Sri Lankan Rebels (Tamil Tigers) have sunk a 213' ship using a suicide diver, according to this report from BBC News. The rebels claim it was a munitions ship. Sri Lankan authorities haven't said what the ship was carrying.
I can't recall any suicide dive attacks prior to this one but that doesn't mean there haven't been any or that people aren't looking for them.
The embedded video shows a Sri Lankan patrol boat machine gunning and blowing up what they say was a LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) terrorist gun ship delivering weapons and explosives.
The incident took place 185 nautical miles off 'Dondra Point'-Matara, on Feb. 28, 2007. The Navy fired warnings shots in the air to halt the terrorist gun ship and then fired for effect when the terrorosts retaliated by firing mortars at the patrol boat.
-seabgb
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Right Whales, Fishermen, Ship Collisions. . .
Fishermen in Maine and elsewhere are under fire from environmental legislation aimed at protecting the endangered right whale. Biologists say ground lines connecting strings of lobster traps are responsible for fatal whale entanglements. Authorities have the power to institute changes to correct this situation and what they've come up with is a ban on float rope and floating gear (toggles) on ground lines. Instead, lobster fishermen are now required to use a special rope that sinks and is designed to fall apart or break if encountered by a whale.
As you can imagine, this is not a happy development for lobstermen, who have been struggling with lower prices for their catch amidst higher prices for bait, fuel, and supplies. The price of diesel fuel has more than doubled in less than a year. And now they're looking at spending thousands, if not tens of thousands, for the new rope, in which they have little faith; plus they have to temporarily suspend their source of revenue in order to re-rig everything.
While I applaud man's efforts to protect the earth and all its creatures, in this case, as it pertains to right whales, there's clearly a disproportionate level of responsibility and sacrifice being apportioned to lobstermen in Maine. Let me explain:
According to statistics, ship traffic accounts for the majority of deaths of right whales (32 that we know of since 1986), and yet the majority of merchantmen are being 'asked" to slow down in known right whale habitats. Only LNG carriers, as part of their federal license, are required by law to slow down to 10 knots in known right whale areas. Why is the brunt of the sacrifice being levied on the commercial fishing industry and in particular the lobster fishery?
[Note#: Even though entanglements haven't caused as many right whale mortalities, statistics between 1997 and 2003 indicate entanglements in lobster and other fish gear have caused 36 total whale deaths in Maine waters.]
To add insult to injury, the news today (AP Story here) reports an effort by marine biologists to help merchant shipping negotiate whale grounds in a faster, more cost-efficient manner. Instead of telling them to slow down all the time in areas suspected of hosting right whales, biologists will tell ships to slow down 'only' when right whale communications are heard in the area. How will they accomplish this? By using sophisticated, computer listening devices attached to buoys. The listening devices will be programmed to pick-up right whale communications.
One has to wonder why the biologists, environmentalists and legislators are willing to step outside of the box for the merchant fleet but not the commercial fishing industry. I think I have an answer.
1. When whale entanglement and whale protection became an issue a few years ago, Maine fishermen circled their wagons/boats and assumed a collective sumo stance. They were unwilling to talk of compromise. Now it's too late.
2. The perception is that merchant shipping benefits everyone while the lobster fishing industry benefits only people who can afford to eat lobster.
3. Shows like Deadliest Catch don't help matters by depicting not-so-fuzzy fishermen making huge amounts of money while throwing garbage, refuse and an old F-150 Pickup into the ocean.
4. Although I don't know for sure, I'm betting the merchant shipping industry spent a lot of money on research to reduce whale mortalities and improve methods of locating whales during breeding and feeding cycles. I'm also betting the fishing industry spent a total of 'zero' dollars on same.
-seabgb
PS. Check out Joe's Blog Freaks of the Lobster and Crab World, Life on the Gloucester, MA Docks.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Mona Lisa Stranded on Sandbar off Latvia Coast
May 5, '08 (morning):Oops! The luxury cruise ship Mona Lisa, pictured above with her red stack colors, is presently stranded on a sand bar off the Latvian Coast. According to Coast Guard authorities some 984 passengers are being transferred to two navy ships [see update below]. No one is in danger and the ship has not been damaged, according to reports from the vessel's captain and crew. The passengers will be eventually shuttled to Riga. It's not clear if they will resume their vacation but there's no doubt the mistake will coast the cruise ship company and their insurance carrier plenty. I'm guessing the captain will probably lose his job, unless there was an unavoidable situation that led to the grounding, e.g. a mechanical failure, collision avoidance decision, etc.
May 5, '08 (afternoon): As of this afternoon, only 650 passengers, mostly elderly, and 11 crew members, have been evacuated from the ship. The captain has asked the remaining crew of 322 to stay behind.
If you're going to kiss the earth in a boat, it's best to do it on a sand bar. I've done it more than once in my little stink pot, never with passengers, and always for a reason, i.e. I was usually trying to sneak the boat over shoal water.
Mona Lisa, according to reports, was aground 4 years ago off the coast of Venice, Italy.
May 6, '08 (morning): Tugs failed to free the Mona Lisa. 650 Passengers on their way to their homes in Germany and elsewhere. Comments by some passengers indicate grounding was due to a decision made by captain to get the ship in closer to a light house so passengers could get a better view and photographs.
The video below, embedded from the WKRG News Website, shows the ship aground. You can see a few tugs, a RIB, and what looks like a Vosper-Thornycraft patrol boat. Some black smoke trails from the stack.
May 7, '08 (final entry): Tugs from Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark free the Mona Lisa from the sand bar and tow it to deeper water. Minimal damage. Ship will sail under its own power to its home port. Officials claim grounding was caused by a crew navigational error.
-seabgb
PS. What a beautiful ship. The Scots built some of the sexiest ships afloat.
PPS. PSIX Vessel Info below:
Vessel Name: MONA LISA
VIN: 6512354
Hull Number: 728
Vessel Flag: BAHAMAS, THE
Vessel Call Sign: GBBA
Build Year: 1966 Service: Passenger (Inspected)
Length: 660.0 ft
Breadth: 87.0 ft
Depth: 50.6 ft
Alternate VINs:
IMO Number: 6512354
Service Information: Tonnage Information:
Service: In Service
Out Of Service Date: N/A
Last Removed from Service By: N/A Deadweight: 5572
Gross Tonnage (GRT): 28891
Net Tonnage (NRT): 11005
Gross Tonnage (GT ITC): 28891
Friday, May 02, 2008
Mud Sampling in Penobscot Bay
Rinsing the grab.
TG&B's Davit Attached to My Gin Pole.
John, Lenny and Mike at day's end.
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