Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) chief Maria Elena Bautista said that by January 1, these new lifejackets should replace the old lifejackets that require complicated procedures.

“International conventions require that lifejackets be easy to wear, with less thinking required. The vest should be snap-on at the front.

The present lifejackets require so many maneuvers just to be worn
securely,” Bautista said in a radio interview.

The new lifejackets must have the Marina’s logo, as well as the date of approval for easier monitoring and inspection by authorities, she added.

Lifejackets to be used in vessels that ply nighttime routes must also be equipped with emergency whistles and flashlights.

Starting January 1, we will require that the lifejackets be of the snap-on type, instead of having so many strings and laces,” she added.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) meanwhile welcomed this development.

“We are glad with this order from Marina. I think it is high-time for us to safeguard our traveling citizens. Shipping lines, whether big or small should follow suit,” commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said in a text message.

In a related development, the number of missing passengers of a
roll-on roll-off vessel M/V Baleno 9 that sank off Batangas province last weekend still stand at 44 as of Thursday morning, the Coast Guard
chief said.

An initial manifest showed there were 88 passengers and crew members aboard but the new figure cited by Tamayo indicates 123 people may have been aboard the ill-fated ship.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) identified the six fatalities as Hermie Ann Largado, 22; John Panagsagan, 40; and Jennylyn Gutierrez, 20; Johnny Mutya, 36; Lealyn Peñaranda, 19; and Gloria Angel Galanza, eight months old.

The spokesman meanwhile reassured the public of a fair and transparent investigation into the incident, after suspending two Coast Guard executives over the tragedy.

Temporarily relieved were Petty Officer 1 Danilo Sanchez, the commander of the agency’s detachment in Calapan, Mindoro; and Petty Officer 2 Rizal Maligaya, the clearing officer who received the Masters’ Oath of Safety Departure (MOSD).

Tamayo said the two will get a chance to air their side during the investigation.

“Everything will be fair and transparent. The purpose of this is not to influence the ongoing probe of the Board of Marine Inquiry,” he said.

The tragedy is the second mishap that happened on a holiday weekend.

On Christmas Eve, three people were killed while dozens went missing after MV Catalyn B collided with a fishing vessel off Limbones Island in Cavite province.(Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)

“We appreciate the huge commitment and dedication by naval forces to date in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia, and the commitment made by the countries bordering the Singapore Straits to combat piracy, but action also needs to be taken off West Africa,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Gulf of Guinea, which stretches from Liberia in the north to Angola in the south and where nations produce 5 million barrels of oil per day, has attracted armed gangs, pirates and organised criminals.

Well armed assailants are ready to use deadly force to snatch oil cargoes and have little interest in holding crews for ransom, which has in contrast been the lure for Somali pirates.

Last week pirates attacked an oil tanker off Benin, killing a Ukrainian sailor and stealing the contents of the ship’s safe.

Analysts said incidents went unreported in the Gulf of Guinea partly due to fear of reprisals and also because some oil companies do not want to expose their vulnerabilities to gangs.

The London-based International Maritime Bureau said at least twice as many incidents had taken place this year in the region as had been reported.

“We call on all ship operators to report incidents to their flag state so that the real picture emerges and so that lessons learned are used to take appropriate action to deter, delay and prevent such activities in the future,” Intertanko said.

Cdr Fernand Maxime Ahoyo says the Cancale Star’s chief engineer was killed and one other crewman wounded.

The pirates attacked the vessel some 18 nautical miles (33km) off the coast of Benin, in what correspondents say is the country’s first such attack.

One pirate was overpowered by the crew, but the others managed to escape.

Benin-based journalist Esther Tola told the BBC that the pirates were thought to be from Nigeria.

The commander said naval forces had rescued the crew from the tanker and brought them into port.

There were 24 seamen of different nationalities on board the Monrovia-flagged vessel, including Filipinos, Lithuanians and Ukranians, Cdr Ahoyo told AFP news agency.

Western front

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) says piracy in the waters of west Africa is on the rise, with 100 such incidents recorded last year.

The IMB has previously warned of heightened piracy risks along shipping routes in Nigeria and Ghana, to the east and west of Benin.

It said attacks usually took place while ships were at anchor or close to coastal areas, unlike in eastern Africa, where Somali pirates strike ships hundreds of miles out to sea.

More than 10 ships and 200 hostages are currently being held by pirates operating in waters off Somalia.

An international force of about 40 warships has been stationed around the Gulf of Aden, in an effort to clamp down on piracy in some the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Speculation has been raging that the Arctic Sea — seized by pirates last month and missing for weeks before its recapture by the Russian navy in the Atlantic — may have held weapons or even nuclear materials.

The Maltese-flagged vessel with a crew of 15 Russian sailors was officially heading to Algeria with a cargo of timber. But Moscow’s top investigator, Alexander Bastrykin, cast doubt on that theory.

“We do not rule out the possibility that the Arctic Sea transported something other than wood,” Bastrykin told the official government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

“This is why we asked the crew to remain in Moscow, as we must figure out if any one of them was involved in those events,” added Bastrykin, who heads the investigative committee of Russian prosecutors.

The reported detention of 11 Arctic Sea sailors by Russian authorities and claims that they are prohibited from communicating with their families have fuelled speculation of a cover-up.

Strangely, just hours after Bastrykin’s interview was published, his press service issued a statement denying that the ship had been on any “secret mission” or that it had been carrying illegal materials.

“The investigation currently does not have any information that the ship could have carried any sort of illegal cargo,” it said.

Its statement also rejected allegations of a cover-up and said the sailors were not being kept in isolation.

Meanwhile, the head of Russia’s military said that Moscow still needed to clarify what exactly was on board the 4,000-tonne ship.

“We do not know what it is carrying, we only know there is wood and whatever else it is carrying must be clarified by the investigation,” Nikolai Makarov, chief of Russia’s general staff, said during a visit to Mongolia.

He added that it was “not very clear” what motive lay behind the hijacking, an elaborate operation in one of Europe’s busiest shipping lanes.

Eight suspects — including citizens of Russia, Estonia and Latvia — are detained in Moscow on suspicion of hijacking the ship, after being arrested when the Russian navy recaptured it off the Cape Verde islands.

Until Wednesday, Russian officials had repeatedly said that the vessel was carrying nothing sensitive.

Moscow’s ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has said it was only carrying timber and dismissed speculation that it was carrying weapons as “tales.”

But numerous theories have cropped up about the ship’s cargo and its destination.

This week the Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets, citing Russian security sources, said the ship was smuggling arms and that the hijackers were stooges hired by the intelligence service of an EU member state to intercept it.

Russian officials have said that a preliminary search of the ship after it was recaptured found nothing suspicious, but they vowed a more thorough search when it reaches the Russian port of Novorossiisk.

It is due to arrive there in the first 10 days of September, Makarov said.

A Russian court has agreed to let authorities impound the vessel, formally putting it under Russian jurisdiction, investigative committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Wednesday.

“Investigators will begin inspecting the ship in the nearest future,” Markin told the Vesti-24 television channel.

Authorities in Finland, which the ship departed from on July 23, have said it was not carrying any radioactive cargo.

Still, the Arctic Sea mystery has revived fears — dramatized in Hollywood movies — that nuclear arms smuggled from the former Soviet Union could fall into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.

Russia has usually dismissed such concerns and argued that its nuclear arsenal is secure (source: www.muzi.com).

”Investigators have ascertained that the suspects, acting as an organized group, with the view of realizing one criminal intent, aimed at the capture of property – the Arctic Sea bulk carrier and its cargo – in accordance with the assigned roles and a plan, having procured weapons for suppressing the resistance by the crew of the bulk carrier, and having prepared masks, and black clothes sporting the word POLICE and a small inflatable boat, attacked and seized the Arctic Sea bulk carrier with a load of timber in the open sea outside the jurisdiction of any state on July 24”, spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass (source: www.shipgaz.com).

]]> http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/08/29/arctic-sea-eight-charged-with-piracy-and-kidnapping/feed/ 0 http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/08/29/nuclear-submarine-for-india-returns-to-russian-docks/ http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/08/29/nuclear-submarine-for-india-returns-to-russian-docks/#comments Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:42:09 +0000 admin http://www.thinkmaritime.com/?p=1060 Nuclear submarine, ‘Nerpa’ (Project 9711) has returned to Vostock and is now docked in the finishing dock of the Amur Shipyard in Russia after the second round of tests last week.

The second round of tests began at the end of July and were necessary due to the death of 20 crew members during the first round of tests in which there was a gas explosion. Repairs alone cost US$60 million.

The submarine will be docked at Amur for sometime while fresh water and food are replenished. Following this, the submarine will depart to continue sea trials.

It is expected that the ‘Nerpa’ and its permanent crew will depart Russia in mid-September for India for the crew to start training at sea. Official delivery will take place before the end of the year (source: www.bairdmaritime.com).

But the Foreign Ministry statement – which also said the Arctic Sea’s captain had falsely claimed it was a North Korean ship headed from Cuba to Sierra Leone – appeared unlikely to end the questions about the vessel and its voyage.

The statement was issued just hours after a report quoted Russia’s top investigator as saying it was possible the ship was carrying more than just timber when it left Finland last month with an all-Russian crew.

The Foreign Ministry said no suspicious cargo was found when the ship was searched after being intercepted Aug. 17 in the Atlantic off West Africa, but that a more thorough search is planned.

“There remain many ‘grey areas’ that should be illuminated chiefly by the investigation that has just begun,” the ministry said in the statement.

The developments have sparked speculation that the Maltese-flagged ship could have been carrying a secret cargo that somebody wanted to keep under wraps. Suspicions have been heightened by the involvement of the Russian navy, the slow trickle of information and claims that news media were fed bogus information about the ship.

The Arctic Sea left Finland on July 21 with a load of timber bound for Algeria, but then seemed to vanish in the Atlantic.

Russian officials said a Russian warship had “freed” the freighter from hijackers last week without any shots being fired.

Eight people who were aboard – including citizens of Russia, Latvia and Estonia – have been jailed in Moscow on suspicion of crimes including piracy. The suspects have denied guilt, claiming they were environmentalists who sought refuge aboard the Arctic Sea after deserting their own vessel in a storm.

Russian Investigative Bastrykin is quoted as saying in an interview to be published Wednesday as making what would be the first official suggestion that the cargo might have been sensitive.

“We do not rule out the possibility that they might have been carrying not only timber,” Bastrykin is quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying in the interview with government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta. “This is why we need to examine the vessel – so that there are no dark spots in this story.”

Bastrykin, whose agency could not be reached for comment late Tuesday, was apparently referring to a more painstaking search that the Foreign Ministry said would be conducted in a port along the route of the Arctic Sea. It gave no specific location or date.

While Bastrykin raised questions about the ship’s cargo, he insisted the ship was indeed hijacked and sought to play down speculation of a coverup. “There are no particular secrets in this story,” Interfax quoted him as saying.

More than a week after the Arctic Sea’s departure from Finland, Swedish police had said they had received a report that masked men raided the ship in the Baltic Sea and beat the crew before speeding off 12 hours later in an inflatable craft.

The freighter gave no indication of any difficulties or change in its route during radio contact while passing through the English Channel on July 28. Signals from the ship’s tracking device were picked up off the French coast on July 29, and a day later, the Russian navy frigate Ladny mounted an operation to retrieve the 15 Russian crew members.

Some of suspects have reportedly contended that Russia has no jurisdiction in the case, and some aspects of the Foreign Ministry statement seemed aimed to justify their prosecution in Russia – as well as the Russian naval operation.

The mention of North Korea and other volatile nations, meanwhile, may only add to speculation.

The ministry said that, when the ship was intercepted, its captain claimed it was the North Korean vessel Chendin-2, and was headed from Havana to Sierra Leone with a cargo of palm wood.

It said North Korea had asserted that was impossible, saying the Chendin-2 was docked at an Angolan port at the time. The Russian navy’s search of the ship “confirmed the suggestion that it was really the Arctic Sea,” the statement said (source: www.macleans.ca).

The ship’s South African captain and his 13 crewmen, mostly Georgians, were arrested and are undergoing questioning, said Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz, the regional police chief.

The seizure comes amid a police campaign to rid the country of unregistered firearms blamed for fueling crime, terrorism and insurgencies. The program is expected to recover only 3 percent of an estimated 1.1 million loose firearms — a realistic target in a country with “cultural propensity” for gun possession, Philippine National Police Chief Jesus Versoza said Tuesday.

Philippine authorities inspect high-powered firearms seized on board the M/V Captain Ufuk.

The ship, M/V Captain Ufuk, arrived at a port in western Bataan province’s Mariveles township from Turkey via Indonesia, de la Cruz said. The ship was en route to the port of Batangas City, just south of Manila. Police, coast guard and customs agents jointly inspected the vessel and discovered 50 Galil assault rifles and assorted military accessories hidden in five wooden crates.

Another 10 empty wooden crates were found aboard the ship, prompting a search that was still ongoing late Thursday. De la Cruz said there were suspicions the crewmen could have thrown some of their illegal cargo off the ship. “The ship was inspected amid suspicion it was carrying contraband,” he added. De la Cruz said they were still investigating the incident but would file criminal charges against the ship’s crew. He said they were still investigating who owned the ship. There was no statement from Turkish authorities, and no company immediately claimed ownership of the ship.

Intelligence reports earlier pointed to possible arms smuggling in the area involving a foreign ship, officials explained. They said the guns may have been intended for Muslim militants, communist guerrillas or for the private armies of politicians gearing up for next year’s election (source: www.todayszaman.com).

According to Russian media, the Arctic Sea may have been carrying illegal X-55 cruise missiles destined for Iran hidden among its cargo of lumber.

Men acting on behalf of the Israeli Mossad secret service commandeered the ship to divert the weapons away from Israel’s regional enemy, the daily Novaya Gazeta said.

Citing Moscow publicist Yulia Latynina, the daily pointed to the surprise visit of Israeli President Shimon Peres Aug 18, a day after the Arctic Sea, which had been missing for three weeks, had been tracked down and liberated by Russian forces off West Africa.

During his visit, Peres, who according to Latynina had no other business in Russia, requested Moscow refrain from supplying weapons or missile defence systems to Iran.

Russian authorities denied that the Arctic Sea had been smuggling weapons.

Russian ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Dmitri Rogozin, said earlier Friday that such allegations were a ‘fantasy’ and ‘ridiculous’.

The deployment at great expense of Russian Black Sea fleet to liberate the hijacked ship was undertaken for the sake of the 15 Russian seamen on board and not supposed weapons, Rogozin said.

Russian authorities in Moscow late Friday formally charged the eight alleged hijackers with kidnapping and piracy, the Interfax news agency reported.

The suspects include a Lithuanian, a Russian, three stateless people, and a Spaniard, the report said, adding that the citizenship of the two remaining suspects had yet to be clarified.

According to official reports, the Arctic Sea was liberated from pirates Monday off the coast of West Africa. According to the Russian sources, pirates seized the freighter July 24 off the coast of Sweden.

Victor Matveev, director of Solchart Management, the shipping company that owns the Arctic Sea freighter stated Friday that his company ’still has not received any official information’ about the ship or its crew (source: www.argentinastar.com).

He said it might be held consecutively with the world junior boat race, the Formula Future, which Malaysia had bid to host next year.

Malaysia first held the F1 Powerboat Championship in 2001 in Tanjung Puteri, Johor followed by at The Mines Resort in Seri Kembangan near here in 2002 and 2003 and the last one at Putrajaya Lake Club in Precinct 8 Putrajaya in 2004.

H2O was informed by F1 Powerboat Championship promoter Idea Marketing S.A of Italy that it had won the bid to host the race last month, Yahya told Bernama.

He said H2O had also been given the nod to hold both races at the Maritime Centre in Precinct 6, Putrajaya by Putrajaya Corporation president Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.

“The Maritime Centre in Precinct 6 is more suitable than other precincts in Putrajaya as the lake is bigger,” he said. On Malaysia’s bid to hold the Formula Future in Putrajaya, he said the result would be known in December.

On the interest shown by Melaka and Terengganu to host F1 Powerboat Championship, he said if they were serious about it, the race could be held there alternately with Precinct 6 Putrajaya.

Although Malaysia had never played host to the Formula Future, national contenders won the championship four times — in 2004 (Lisbon, Portugal), 2005 (Lisbon), 2007 (Leer, Germany) and 2008 (Ravenna, Italy). Malaysia did not defend their titles at the Pushkin Formula Future in St Petersburg, Russia from Aug 17 to 19 due to the H1N1 scare (source: themalaysianinsider.com)