Quake among New Zealand's worst
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 09:14:00 09/04/2010
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20100904-290459/Qua...

CHRISTCHURCH – The 7.0 magnitude earthquake which struck near the New Zealand city of Christchurch early Saturday is among the strongest to hit the earthquake-prone country since records began.

The quake struck at 04:35 am (1635 GMT Friday) at a depth of five kilometers and was centered (three miles) 45 kilometers west of Christchurch, according to the USGS.

New Zealand sits on so-called "Ring of Fire", the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year. It averages at least one a day that is magnitude 4.0 or stronger.

The strongest recorded earthquakes in the country are:

8.2 - January 23, 1855. Centered in the lower North Island and the most severe quake in New Zealand since European colonization began in 1840.
7.8 - July 16, 2009, only 12 kilometers deep in the remote Fiordland region.
7.8 - February 3, 1931. Centered in the Hawke's Bay. Claimed 256 lives in the most damaging of any recorded New Zealand quake.

New US interest in South China Sea
FILIPINO WORLD VIEW By Roberto R. Romulo (The Philippine Star) Updated September 03, 2010 12:00 AM
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=608488&publicationSubCate...

Steep Hike In Pirate Attacks Off Indonesia: IMB
9/2/2010 11:53 PM ET
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1409363&SM=1

(RTTNews) - Armed pirates intensified attacks in a shipping lane off Indonesia over the last fortnight, says an international maritime watchdog.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, said eight attacks were reported off Indonesia's Mangkai island during the past two weeks.

"It appears one or more groups of pirates are operating in the area. Pirates were armed with guns and machetes, and robbed (members of the) vessels of cash and crew valuables," he told Agence France Presse (AFP).

Sayinig that there were 26 attacks in the area since February, he added his organization had asked Indonesia to intensify patrolling to prevent further attacks.

Wednesday, six armed pirates boarded a Panama-flagged tanker and took away the cash on board. Monday, pirates raided a Hong Kong-flagged ship, looted valuables and injured three crew members before going away.

Located on the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula close to the Malacca Strait, the island of Mangkai is located on a busy sea passage area for ships sailing between South-East Asian nations and the Pacific Ocean.

Aboitiz Transport mulling to replace old vessels
09/03/2010 | 04:36 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/200156/aboitiz-transport-mulling-to-replace-...

Despite competition from budget airlines, Cebu-based Aboitiz family is planning to beef up its acquisition of efficient vessels, replacing the old ones.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures president and CEO Erramon Aboitiz said the company would want to take advantage of the increase in cargo volumes and passenger ridership in its subsidiary firm, Aboitiz Transport Systems Corp. (ATS).

"We're seeing volumes go up [since the start of the year], and fuel prices have stabilized," Aboitiz said in an interview Friday.

So far this year, Aboitiz said cargo and passenger volumes have increased at a double-digit rate over year-ago levels, owing largely to the growing economy.

"It's really positive when the economy is growing because that means there are more products being moved around the country," he said.

More than 60 percent of the company's revenue comes from its freight operations, while the rest comes from its passenger business.

The company's freight business operates under the brand "2Go" and its passenger brands are "SuperFerry," "SuperCat," and "Cebu Ferries."

Skipper ordered to pay £7,200 for going wrong way in traffic separation scheme
Wednesday, 01 September 2010 13:27
http://www.fishnewseu.com/latest-news/uk/4181-skipper-ordered-to-pay-p72...

THE Dutch owner/skipper of a UK-registered fishing trawler has been fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,752.20 after being found guilty of going the wrong way in a traffic separation scheme.

Rense Johannes de Boer of Urk, in the Netherlands, the owner of the Wilhelmina, was prosecuted following the incident in the Traffic Separation Scheme off Texel, Netherlands, which took place on 9 January 2009.

At a hearing last Friday, Folkestone Magistrates Court heard that on the morning of 9 January 2009 the Netherlands Coastguard observed on the radar an unidentified vessel steaming the wrong way down the northbound lane of the Off Texel Traffic Separation Scheme.

About 40 minutes later the vessel was observed by the Netherlands Coastguard passing within one cable of a northbound vessel. An aircraft operated by the Netherlands Coastguard was sent to identify the vessel, which it did. The UK-registered Wilhelmina (LT60) was fishing at the time of the incident.

Philippines Shipping Report Q4 2010 - New Market Report Published
New report provides detailed analysis of the Logistics market
Published on September 01, 2010
by Press Office
http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=211329

Ports in the Philippines have been on a growth curve as 2010 progressed. In late June the Philippines Ports Authority (PPA) said that cargo volumes handled grew by 23% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first quarter, reaching 39.53mn tonnes. Box traffic was up by 21% to 1.07mn 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Significant increases in general tonnage were registered at the ports of Iloilo, Puerto Princesa, Iligan, San Fernando and Dapitan. By traded commodities, growth was mainly due to increased shipments of maize, cement, grains, coconut oil, flour, chemicals, coal, mineral fuels and limestone, the PPA said. The maritime industry welcomed the fact that the Philippines' general elections produced a clear winner, the Liberal Party's Benigno Aquino III, who initiated a six-year term, replacing the unpopular outgoing President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. While this pointed to political stability and strong leadership, less good news for the industry perhaps was that the new president lacked a clear majority in Congress, meaning his policies would be subject to significant horse-trading.

RP, others back maritime safety plan
By JOHN CARLO CAHINHINAN
September 2, 2010, 8:03pm
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/275280/rp-others-back-maritime-safety-plan

Six nations, including the Philippines, have vowed for closer cooperation and mutual undertaking in support of the enforcement of standard maritime safety and marine environmental protection endeavors during National Conference of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA) volunteers held in Scottsdale, Arizona last August 26.

Lieutenant Commander Armando Balilo, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman and deputy chief of staff for community relations who represented the country in the conference together with PCG Commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, said that they shared the challenges of the

RP-Coast Guard and other local maritime agencies particularly in relation with the safety of out-triggered fishing boats and activities to promote safety in the fishing communities across the archipelago.

“We have shared the usual the maritime problems the Philippines had encountered in the past particularly the problem in the local out-triggered fishing boats which we know as the vessel most prone to sea accidents. The foreign coast guard agencies also gave us some suggestions on the improvement of the maritime industry in our country,” Balilo said.

More Malaysian Ship Crew Arrested in Indonesian Waters
Monday, 30 August, 2010 | 14:41 WIB
http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2010/08/30/brk,20100830-2750...

TEMPO Interactive, SAMARINDA:More Malaysian citizens have been arrested in Indonesian waters. Four Malaysian ships carrying a crew of 29 were arrested at the Karang Unarang waters on August 29, 2010. "We arrested them and are questioning them now,” said the Nunukan Naval Base Commander, Lt. Col. Rachmad Jayadi contacted by Tempo, today (30/08).

According to Rachmad, the arrest was done by the Indonesian ship, Sultan Hasanuddin 366. They were immediately handed to the Nunukan Naval Base.

The ships, equipped with trawls, are Malaysians. The four ships are the Markidi Ship deck number 3277/6/F, carrying a crew of 13 and the owner; the Kuba Ship deck number 2644/f, carrying 12 crew members and the owner.

The third ship, deck number tw 3581/f, carried two passengers and the owner. The fourth ship, also nameless, with deck number tw 99/f, carried two passengers and the owner.

Oil rig fire triggers new pollution fear in Gulf of Mexico
Thirteen workers flee drilling platform but oil company denies spill
Ewen MacAskill in Washington, Thursday 2 September 2010 20.30 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/02/oil-rig-explosion-gulf-of-me...
Offshore oil platform in Gulf of Mexico burns after explosion. PHOTO: AFP/KATC3

Fresh fears about drilling in the Gulf of Mexico were raised today when fire forced workers to abandon an oil and gas platform, just six months after the BP explosion that created an environmental disaster in the region.

The company, Mariner Energy, said none of the 13 workers, who fled the platform and took to the sea in immersion suits, were injured. The coastguard said they were taken by ship to a nearby platform and from there to hospital in Houma, Louisiana, to be checked. Ships, helicopters and a plane were sent by the coastguard from Houston, New Orleans and Mobile.

Photographs of smoke billowing from the rig alarmed politicians, environmentalists, fishermen and others on the Gulf coast, still coping with pollution from the BP oil spill.

Fuel tanker runs aground in Arctic; no leak
By ROB GILLIES (AP) – 3sept2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jyZZC-uy498-gLrmiknaRT...

TORONTO — A fuel tanker carrying supplies for Arctic communities has run aground in the Northwest Passage but no diesel is leaking, the Canadian Coast Guard said Thursday.

Larry Trigatti, the Canadian Coast Guard's superintendent of environmental response in the central and Arctic region, said the vessel isn't leaking and there is no reported damage.

"It has been verified. There is no leaking product and no reported damage but it is aground," Trigatti said.

Trigatti said the ship is stuck but it's not taking on any water.

He said the coast guard ship Henry Larsen is nearby. The tanker, which is owned by Woodward's Oil, was resupplying northern Inuit communities. It ran aground southwest of the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

A cruise ship exploring the Northwest Passage in the Arctic also ran aground last week when it hit a rock that wasn't on the map. The Clipper Adventurer remains stranded but the passengers were been transferred off the boat.

Trigatti said the ship's owner is working on a salvage plan.