Tag: Indian Ocean

Exercise IOWAVE 11 will re-enact the seismic events of December 26, 2004 Nearly two dozen countries next Wednesday will take part in a full-scale test of the Indian Ocean's tsunami alert system, using the 2004 Sumatra quake as the basis for the exercise, UNESCO said on Thursday.Exercise IOWAVE 11 will re-enact the seismic events of December 26, 2004, simulating a 9.2-magnitude quake that occurs northwest of Sumatra, sending waves across the Indian Ocean that strike the coast of South Africa 12 hours later.It will be a trial run for newly-launched Regional Tsunami Service Providers (RTSPs), located in Australia, India and Indonesia, which will issue simulated "alerts."They are part of a region-wide tsunami warning and mitigation service, set up by 28 countries after the 2004 disaster, which claimed nearly a quarter of a million lives.Until now, two bodies -- the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre -- have been in charge of tsunami alerts in the Indian Ocean.They will end this interim job at the end of 2012, provided the handover goes well."The exercise aims to evaluate the system's operational capacity, the efficiency of communications among the different actors and the state of preparation of national emergency services," ...

The use of private guards does not mean that military forces are no longer needed Governments have ceded control of the Indian Ocean to pirates and the smalldeployment of naval forces to the region is like putting a band-aid on agaping wound - so says ICS Chairman Spyros M Polemis.And in a damning indictment of western governments, Mr Polemis willcontroversially suggest they would be acting differently if the manyseafarers held hostage off the coast of Somalia were "Americans orEuropeans".Speaking at next week's Maritime Cyprus conference in Limassol on Monday(October 3rd) Mr Polemis will tell shipping professionals: "The fundamentalproblem is the lack of navy ships that are committed to protecting shipping- a band aid on a gaping wound, although the navies do an excellent jobunder the circumstances and we commend them for this."In a straight-talking speech Mr Polemis is set to tell delegates that "bytheir own admission, the military advise that no ship is completely safe".He will say: "Sadly, one can only conclude from the current response of manygovernments that those thousands of seafarers that have so far been capturedhave simply had the wrong nationality. If they were all Americans orEuropeans, the governments' attitude might have been somewhat different. Itis really ...

Leading to fears that there will be an escalation in violence against seafarers The number of successful piracy attacks on ships off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden has decreased this year leading to fears that there will be an escalation in violence against seafarers.International Maritime Organisation (IMO) secretary general Efthimios Mitropoulos said the ratio of successful pirate attacks against ships travelling off the East African coast and through the Gulf has fallen from 50 per cent in August 2008 to below 20 per cent."In the first six months of this year, of 187 attacks (off the Somali coast), only 22 resulted in hijack, indicating that 88 per cent of attacks are being defeated, largely by proper application of best management practice," Mr Mitropoulos said in London. Best management practice includes ships travelling in protected convoys in the piracy risk areas, taking measures to protect their ships against attacks and in some cases, the use of armed personnel to protect merchant vessels.He however said the IMO was concerned at the escalating use of violence by pirates. "They have become more aggressive, audacious and better organised." This view was echoed by International Maritime Bureau director Captain Pottengal Mukundan, ...

Statement by the shipping and marine services company GAC Piracy declined in July because of the monsoon season in the Indian Ocean but there was a rise in incidents in the Red Sea, shipping and marine services company GAC said.The monsoon is driving piracy from the Indian Ocean to other areas especially in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, GAC said in its monthly piracy report. A total of 13 attacks were recorded in this region, continuing the upward trend of previous months.There were a total of 28 pirate attacks worldwide in July compared with 39 in June, the report said.The situation in West Africa is also worrying with pirate activity spreading outwards from the Niger Delta especially towards the Gulf of Guinea coast."The Gulf of Guinea has also seen a rise in pirate activity, most notably off the coast of Benin. The region has experienced almost 10% of all pirate activity so far this year," GAC said.GAC also warned that piracy in East Africa would rise by the end of September as the monsoon season comes to a close."Piracy of East Africa is projected to increase significantly after the end of monsoon season at the end of September, ...

China is the first country to win such approval in the area China has won the right to explore for minerals in part of the Indian Ocean as the energy-hungry country scours the world for resources to fuel its fast-growing economy, state media said.The International Seabed Authority has approved China's application to look for polymetallic sulphides -- rich in copper, iron, lead, zinc, gold and silver -- in the Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, the China Daily said.China is the first country to win such approval in the area that divides the ocean between Africa and Antarctica, it said, citing the government-backed China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRRDA)."The refined metals from the deposit will help China meet the increasing demand for mineral resources from rapid economic development," Jin Jiancai, secretary-general of COMRRDA, was quoted as saying.China will be allowed to explore an area measuring 10,000 square kilometres (3,800 square miles) for 15 years and will be given priority mining rights. A contract is expected to be signed in November, the report said.The International Seabed Authority, a United Nations' body, said it approved China's application for deep seabed exploration last month along with others from Russia and the Pacific ...

All vessels operating in the High Risk Area ought to implement BMP The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) has issued the following advisory:"Possible mother ship activity reported in the vicinity of 09:27N-052:48E, approximately 185NM southwest of Socotra, Yemen. This area will remain high risk for the next 24-48 hours."The Maritime Administrator would take this opportunity to again urge all vessels operating in the High Risk Area to actively implement recommended Best Management Practices for anti-piracy measures as follows:Prepare the crew (refer to Marshall Islands MG-2-11-12); Harden the ship before the ship enters the High Risk Area (HRA); When entering the HRA from the direction of either the Suez Canal, the Arabian Gulf at 26N, the south at 15S or from the east at 78E: o Register the ship with the MSCHOA (http://www.mschoa.org /+44 (0) 1923 958545); o Report to the UKMTO ([email protected] / +971 505 523 215); and Continue to provide daily reports of ship's position, course, speed and estimated and actual arrival times to UKMTO while in the HRA. Remember, the ship must be registered with the MSCHOA and report to the UKMTO with every intended transit of the HRA; Consider participating in the SSRS service (http://ssrs.org); Utilize the ...

They hope to deploy about 20 robotic instruments in a no-go area north of Mauritius Scientists are seeking the help of the Australian and US navies to repel Somali pirates who are threatening one of the world's key climate monitoring programmes.With about a quarter of the Indian Ocean currently off-limits to marine experts, Australian researchers have asked the navies to help them plug a critical gap in their study of international weather patterns.They hope to deploy about 20 robotic instruments in a no-go area north of Mauritius. The instruments, which record ocean heat and salinity patterns, are programmed to submerge and eventually resurface to upload their data to satellites.But with piracy in the western Indian Ocean making it too dangerous for commercial or research vessels to deploy the robotic devices, Australia's government research department, the CSIRO, hope naval forces will help them out.The increase in piracy had serious implications for their understanding of a region which had a major influence in Australian and south Asian weather and climate, said Dr Ann Thresher of the CSIRO. "We can't send anybody in that area, research voyages have been cancelled and I know there's a report of at least one ship that hired ...

No information on the condition of the crew Late on the morning of 16 July, it was reported by the owners that the MVJUBBA XX, a laden tanker, had been pirated in the northern Indian Ocean, on her regular route from the United Arab Emirates to the port of Berbera, Somalia.On the morning of 17 July, the vessel was located by aMaritime Patrol aircraft 100 nautical miles north-west of Socotra Island, heading to the northern Somali coast. Little information is available at present but it is reported that9 suspected Somali pirates are on board MV JUBBA XX.The MVJUBBA XX is aUAE owned and flagged oiltanker, deadweight of 4831 tonnes, witha crew of 16 (1 Sri Lankan, 5 Indian, 3 Bangladesh, 1 Sudanese, 1 Myanmar, 1 Kenyan and 4 Somali). There is no information on the condition of the crew and the vessel was not registered withMSCHOA at the time of the pirating. EUNAVFOR continues to monitor the situation.Source: EU NAVFOR

30 nations contribute to the multi-million dollar Argo project Australian scientists have sought the help of the United States and Australian navies to plug a critical gap in their Argo ocean and climate monitoring program caused by Somali pirates operating in the western Indian Ocean."We have not been able to seed about one quarter of the Indian Ocean since the increase in the piracy and that has implications for understanding a region of influence in Australian and south Asian weather and climate," says CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship scientist, Dr. Ann Thresher.Over 30 nations contribute to the multi-million dollar Argo project, in which 3,000 robotic instruments provide near real-time observations of conditions such as heat and salinity in the top 2,000 metres of the ocean.Australia, through CSIRO and the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), ranks second among countries based on the number of profilers providing data, with more than 325 profilers reporting to international data centres from the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans and the Tasman Sea. At nearly two metres in length the drifting profilers, or 'floats', are programmed to drift at 1000m for 10 days, then fall to 2000m and sample as they ascend to the surface to ...

Gen Kianga said the recently acquired vessel will guard the country against piracy attacks Chief of General Staff Jeremiah Kianga has commissioned a ship to be used in the war against piracy.Gen Kianga, who is due to retire within a few months, said the recently acquired vessel would boost surveillance along the Indian Ocean coastline and guard the country against attacks from the Somalia-based al Shabaab militants.He was received by Navy Commandant Samson Mwathethe on Monday.Gen Kianga went straight into a meeting with top commanders at Kenya Navy headquarters in Mtongwe soon after his arrival at Moi International Airport.Bidding them farewellA senior Navy officer, who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press, said the Chief of General Staff told top navy officers that the visit could be his last one at the Kenya Navy headquarters."There are some work-related issues that he discussed with the senior officers but he seemed to be bidding them farewell. He told them to remain focused and hardworking," said the source.His security personnel blocked efforts by the Nation team to interview or take pictures of the outgoing boss."Please don't take pictures and no interviews. He is not ready to talk ...