gCaptain reports on progress on Shell’s Floating Liquified Natural Gas Facility being built in South Korea, “a 488 meter (1600 feet long–Chuck), 600,000 dwt vessel that will eventually be moored offshore Australia to produce, liquefy, store, and offload natural gas.” (includes video)
With the US producing and exporting natural gas perhaps we will be seeing one of these off the US coast. If we do, it may represent a whole new set of challenges for the Coast Guard.
Fiercehomelandsecurity is reporting the President has nominated Jeh Johnson, formerly the Defense Department’s general counsel, to serve as the next homeland security secretary. Undoubtedly the department needs leadership. Currently the Department has an acting Secretary, acting Deputy Secretary, and acting Inspector General.
Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and nominee for DHS Deputy Secretary is already under fire, reportedly being investigated by the department Inspector General for helping a prominent politician secure investor visas.
Fiercehomelandsecurity also reports that the Deputy Inspector General Charles Edwards was questioned by letter from Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.)–the chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on financial and contracting oversight, regarding accusations of abuse of power and nepotism. Edwards currently heads the IG staff, as the IG position has long been vacant.
Officerofthewatch.com reports a bit different hidden compartment smuggling scheme, using the rudder trunk to smuggle contraband or even people.
Defensenews reports the Italian Coast Guard seems to be contending with their own version of a “boat lift” as refugees from the chaotic and poverty ridden areas of Africa and the Middle East attempt to make it to more prosperous areas.
Typical Migrant Interdiction Operation (MIO)–unsavory operators, overloaded unseaworthy vessels equal mass drownings.
The design of the Zumwalt, DDG-1000, isn’t likely to influence Cutter designs much, but it is interesting and she is nearing completion. Her christening party had been scheduled for Oct 19, but has been delayed due to the government shutdown. Take a a look at Defensenews’ photos.
Slate.com is reporting the man behind the building of three true submarines intended for smuggling drugs is facing trial, and many of those who worked with him have either been tried or taken plea bargains.
If you want a refresher on the result of his efforts, there is pretty good info on one of the submarines that he produced here.
We have talked about these before and their implications for the Coast Guard. Related:
Sunday, 13 Oct at 1700/5pm (Eastern U.S.) the podcast “Midrats” will air Episode 197: Sea Swap & Small Unit Leadership
If you catch the live podcast, you can join in the online discussion, but if you miss it live you can still hear the archived version. It will last approximately an hour.
The topic is the Navy’s version of crew rotation. The guest speaker will be LT Hipple, a surface warfare officer and graduate of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. He is author of a July 2013 US Naval Institute Proceedings article, “Sea Swap – Its a Trap” and Director of the Center for Maritime Security’s (CIMSEC) NEXTWAR blog and hosts the Sea Control podcast.
The Navy does have even stronger motivation for crew swaps than the Coast Guard since it is desirable to avoid the long transit from homeports in the US to distant operating areas.
We’ve discussed crew swaps here before:
Basically I favor other forms of augmented crewing that will retain some sense of ownership, provide more days away from homeport for the ship, but retain the current approximate 185 days away for the individual crewmembers by a combination of leave, temporary assignment to support facilities ashore for crewmembers, and temporary relief for critical crew members by personnel with recent experience in the type, from a personnel pool, perhaps in the form of a squadron staff.
Map of Venezuela and Guyana with the area of Guyana claimed by Venezuela shown in Gray. Venezuela’s waters and EEZ shown in darker blue. From Wikipedia, Source: Shadowxfox by Sparkve
BBC is reporting a US operated oil exploration vessel has been “detained” by Venezuela. Five Americans are reported among the crew.
The ship sails under a Panamanian flag and is owned by Singaporean marine surveying company.
“Our first concern is the safety of the crew of the MV Teknik Perdana research vessel, which was under contract to our company and conducting a seafloor survey on behalf of the government of Guyana,” said a spokesperson for Anadarko (based in Woodlands, TX–Chuck), Brian Cain.
“We are fully cooperating with the Government of Guyana, the US coast guard and embassy personnel in an effort to achieve the safe release of the crew and vessel,” Mr Cain added.
Venezuela and Guyana have a dispute with roots going back to the 17th century, over the Essequibo region that includes almost 60% of Guyana, 159,500 square km between the Cuyuni River to the west and the Essequibo River to the east.
Since the maritime boundaries are based on the land borders, the maritime borders are also in dispute. Tempers had been relatively cool over this dispute. This is probably just a “shot across the bow” by Venezuela, as a warning to its much weaker neighbor. Still, for Coast Guard units operating in the area, it might be worth keeping in mind.
The Cuttermen’s Association has published the first of what they hope to be several helpful guides. This one is designed to help those with deck watch experience transition into the Merchant Marine. Looks like it contains a lot of useful info, its relatively short, and its available for download as a pdf.
“The Coast Guard Cuttermen’s Association is proud to announce the first of hopefully a series of Cuttermen’s Association sponsored publications intended to benefit our membership and their personal and professional education and advancement.
“”A Coasties Companion Guide to the Mariner Licensing Process” (PDF document) was written by Coasties, for Coasties, to help overcome some of the real and perceived barriers that active and former Coast Guard members may have experienced in their pursuit of a Merchant Mariners Credential.
“Enjoy and “Fair winds and following seas” for those of you navigating the licensing process. We hope this guide helps!
“EDITOR’S NOTE: This specific guide is targeted toward deck licenses and endorsements and is most relevant to Boatswain Mates and Deck Watch Officers. Hopefully someone else will take on the challenge on the engineering side…if someone out there wants to accept that challenge, please contact the Coast Guard Cuttermen’s Association and we’ll gladly help you get started and give you a place to publish!
“DISCLAIMER: While we are confident of the accuracy of the information that follows, it is an interpretation of large amounts of highly technical information that is subject to change over time. If at any point you have any questions or just want to verify your understanding of something, you are strongly encouraged to visit the NMC website or call 1-888-IASKNMC. Additionally, if anyone identifies any errors in this document, let us know so we can correct/update it appropriately.”
The German Navy blog Marine Forum reports,
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