U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 10 May - 8 June 2016

Source. Lots of activity in the last week or so off West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 10 May - 8 June 2016

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 3 May - 2 June 2016

From USN's Office of Naval Intelligence

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 3 May - 2 June 2016

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 February - 16 March 2016

Late on my part, but here's the

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 February - 16 March 2016

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence: Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 19 October - 18 November 2015

From the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence:

WORLDWIDE: Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 19 October - 18 November 2015

World Maritime Day

Yes, it's also National Punctuation Day, but more importantly is should be the day we appreciate the work of honest mariners who bring the goods:

It's World Maritime Day!:

Today, we live in a society supported by a global economy, which simply could not function if it were not for shipping. Shipping serves global trade by carrying huge quantities of cargo, all over the world, cost-effectively, cleanly and safely.

Establishing a sustainable maritime transportation sector is essential to the development and growth of the world's economy.

How important is the shipping industry and the open seas that allow goods to flow? Not many answers to that better than this U.S. Navy piece:

Cruise Ships: Ways to Kill an Industry

You could blame the "greedy" passengers for making over-inflated claims and outrageous demands as set out in this lawsuit report, "Carnival cruise passengers sue seeking $5000 per month for life" from MarineLink:

A group of passengers suing Carnival cruise lines for damages after an engine fire left their ship adrift for days are asking the company to pay $5,000 a month for the rest of their lives for medical bills and mental anguish.

A lawsuit brought by 33 passengers of the ill-fated 2013 voyage could change how cruise lines insulate themselves from legal actions, according to maritime legal experts.

Or, if the fine print on the tickets they bought gets tossed as a "contract of adhesion" by sympathetic judges, then you could blame the cruise lines for overreach in attempting to avoid liability for most everything under the sun and above the sea.

You could blame the engineering of the cruise ships or perhaps their construction or maintenance.

You might expect lawsuits on such matters to be lined up end to end in the federal courts . . . and you would just be seeing the crowd chasing the visions of pots of money at the end of the cruise ship rainbow.

However it shakes out, if these cases succeed, I suspect that the cruise business will decline in capacity and increase in cost, which usually spells doom for an industry.

$5000 a month for life? Nice retirement plan. Could probably afford to take some cruises . . . oh, wait.

Navy Target Practice? or "Cannibal Rat-Infested Ghost Ship Headed For The UK?"

Yahoo report: Cannibal Rat-Infested Ghost Ship Headed For The UK?

A "Tomo News" video:



The BBC is more restrained:

The abandoned Russian cruise liner, named Lyubov Orlova, has been missing since it was cut loose while being towed from Canada almost a year ago.

There had been fears that winter storms could have been pushed it across the Atlantic Ocean and towards the UK.

But coastguards have reported no sightings.

A spokesman for the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "We have received no reported sightings of the vessel since April last year, but we will respond accordingly."

Sounds like the time to unlimber some naval guns and torpedoes and put this thing down if anyone can find it.

Way down.

Arctic Maritime Security: "America Needs a Coast Guard That Can Fight "

U.S. Coast Guard photo.

An interesting argument set out in "America Needs a Coast Guard That Can Fight"by James Holmes at Foreign Policy

Forget for a moment about the U.S. Navy and its "pivot to Asia." Over the next few decades, the woefully underfunded and thoroughly unsexy U.S. Coast Guard will likely hover near the center of the action.

The reason, in three short words: the Arctic Ocean.

Vigor Industries image

What sort of ships might the Coast Guard want? Nice discussion of an $8 billion program at Stew Magnuson's New Coast Guard Cutter Sparks Fierce Competition Among Shipbuilders :

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp Jr. said at the Naval Surface Association conference in January that the Offshore Patrol Cutter will be the service’s “workhorse” for the next 40 years. He has stated many times in public that the ship is the Coast Guard’s most important project.

“We’ve put an awful lot of effort into it,” he said of the program.

“There seems to be significant interest out there to build 25 ships, and we’re very pleased about that. I think people are thinking out of the box. They’re looking at new designs. We need to think out of the box as well as we go forward, because as I said, this ship is going to be very, very important to us.”

USCGC BERTHOLF underway off Kodiak Island Alaska
Coast Guard photo

Well, remember that last year the CG took a hit in shipbuilding funds, as set out in Chris Cavas's 2 cutters removed from FY13 Coast Guard budget:

Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard’s parent agency, attempted to explain the elimination of the two cutters when she testified before Congress on Feb. 15 on the budget.

“What we are going to do, and this is all guided by really looking at the nation’s resources and the Budget Control Act and how it works, and there’s language in the budget request to this effect, we will look at seven and eight in light of what the Navy is doing,” Napolitano said.

“So we need to look at what the Department of Defense is doing with respect to their own force ... to see what we need to be putting in the acquisition pipeline.”

Napolitano did not elaborate on how the Navy’s shipbuilding plans affect the Coast Guard requirement for eight NSCs, but she noted the struggle to get funding for the ships.

Which is, I suppose, is Washington speak for "screw the Coasties" but you may have your own interpretation. No matter the interpretation, I hope Admiral Papp is not holding his breath while waiting for money to flow for 25 ships.

Vigor Industries image

It is interesting that one design possibility, put out by Vigor Industries (to whom credit for the illustration above goes) involves an "Ulstein X bow hull" - a patented design now being widely adopted for offshore oil vessels.

Good luck in these political times.

However, I truly urge all citizens to support the vital needs of the Coast Guard, which is too small, too underfunded, has too much territory to cover at its current level of funding, manning and ship count.

Cruise Ship Disasters: "Human Error?"

Story speaks for itself - BBC News - Costa Concordia cruise ship captain 'went off course'

Based on reports I have heard, here's a thought for you - when at sea on any sort or size of vessel, always carry a small, waterproof flashlight or glow stick on your person.

I don't care if it's the biggest ship on the ocean with the most lights per square foot or a small sailboat like a Sunfish, having a light when the lights go out or if you fall over the side or whatever may save your life.

Doesn't have to much of a light, either.

Even carrying a couple of glow sticks in a pocket or purse is a good idea if you won't carry anything else.

They will help you find your way out of dark spaces and help rescuers find you.

Glow sticks are cheap. I always carry a supply in my car. You just never know.

Sample light.

Tanzania Ferry Disaster

Reported as Tanzania Ferry Disaster Kills Hundreds:

An overloaded ferry sank off the coast of Tanzania, and officials said Saturday the death toll was approaching 200.

Emergency responders had rescued more than 600 survivors after the MV Spice Islander capsized overnight while traveling between Zanzibar’s main island Unguja, and Pemba, the archipelago’s other main island.

The Italian news agency Agenzia Giornalistica Italia reported Zito Zuberi Kabwe, a member of the Tanzanian Parliament, said the death toll had reached 198 and Time magazine reported Tanzanian police had placed the total number of bodies recovered at 192.

AGI said there were more than 800 people on board — more than 200 above the vessel’s passenger limit.

More recent suggestions that instead of 800 people on the ferry, there were 1000. See here:

A senior Zanzibar official said on Monday that the death toll from Tanzania's ferry disaster could rise significantly.

The announcement comes after it emerged there were more than 1,000 passengers aboard the vessel when it capsized last week,

Initial reports suggested the MV Spice Islander was carrying 800 people, well above the ferry's 600 passenger capacity.

[Seif Ali Iddi, Zanzibar's Second Vice-president]:

"We were told that the total number of people who were in the boat were a little bit over 1,000 so we are expecting some more bodies between now and maybe tomorrow or day after."

More than 600 passengers were rescued from the ferry.