Lapang Islanders in Indonesia

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

(Live Kryon Channelings was given 7 times within the United Nations building.)


Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

Japan's Antarctic whaling hunt ruled 'not scientific'

Japan's Antarctic whaling hunt ruled 'not scientific'
Representatives of Japan and Australia shake hands at the court in The Hague. (NOS/ANP) - 31 March 2014
"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear > 20 Min)

China calls for peaceful settlement of maritime disputes

China calls for peaceful settlement of maritime disputes
Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during a meeting to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the enforcement of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 9, 2014. The Chinese envoy on Monday called for a harmonious maritime order, saying that maritime disputes should be settled through negotiation between the parties directly involved. (Xinhua/Niu Xiaolei)

UNCLOS 200 nautical miles vs China claimed territorial waters

UNCLOS 200 nautical miles vs China claimed territorial waters

Friday, November 30, 2012

Dwarf sperm whale stranded on southern Taiwan beach

Want China Times, CNA 2012-11-30

The whale has been covered with wet towels as experts decide how
to help it. (Photo/Wang Hsuan-chi)

A dwarf sperm whale was found stranded on a beach in southern Taiwan's Chiayi county with bruises in its underside, local firefighters said Tuesday.

Firefighters and environmental officials have administered emergency treatment and covered the whale with wet towels, said Cheng Yung-hua, a section chief at the county government's Environmental Protection Bureau.

Professionals said they will assess the health of the whale and will wait for the evening to push it back to sea, if it is in good enough shape. If its injuries are serious, however, it will be taken to a rescue station in Chiku, Tainan for care and released at a later date, they said.

The firefighters said they received report at 1:30 pm that a 1.6-meter-long dolphin was on the beach near Butai township and needed help to get back into the water. Cheng said however a dwarf sperm whale could easily be mistaken for a dolphin because of its size.

A dwarf sperm whale typically grows to about 2.7 meters in length and weights around 250 kilograms, making it smaller than a big dolphin.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Algae turns Australian oceans milky pink

The Daily Star, AFP, November 29, 2012 

Pink Salt Lake, Kalbarri National Park, Western Australia, Australia.
                              
SYDNEY: A huge red algal bloom along vast stretches of southeastern Australia's coastline Thursday resulted in beaches being closed and turned swathes of usually pristine ocean milky pink.

The algae, noctiluca scintillans, forced the closure of Sydney's Bondi beach and a number of neighbouring inlets earlier this week, and government officials said it had now spread along the fringes of two states.

"Samples taken at Bondi Beach on 27 November confirmed the presence of noctiluca scintillans, which appears as a pinkish to reddish discolouration in water," the New South Wales government's water office said.

"It can also appear to be phosphorescent at night."

Aerial footage shot over neighbouring Victoria state showed huge blooms of the oily pink scum off Bells Beach, a popular surfing spot, and Lorne, south of Melbourne.

Some keen surfers were seen paddling undeterred through the muck, which has a fishy odour and can irritate the skin and eyes but is not dangerous to humans.

Fisherman were advised not to eat anything caught in an affected area as a precaution.

"There are no practical options for treating marine algal blooms," said Peter Codd from Victoria's department of sustainability and environment.

"The best option is to let the bloom run its course and be broken up and dispersed by rough weather."

Commonly known as "sea sparkle" due to its bluish glow at night, noctiluca scintillans blooms typically occur as a result of currents bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.

It is also known as the "sea ghost" or "fire of the sea".


Related Articles:



"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ....".

Sunday, November 25, 2012

British yacht found in search for Kiribati fishermen

The Daily Star, AFP, November 25, 2012

South Pacific islands (AFP)
                              
Wellington: A New Zealand Air Force plane heading to the central Pacific to search for three missing Kiribati fisherman has found a damaged British yacht in a remote area of the ocean, officials said Sunday.

Fears had been held for Peter Bernfeld, the sole sailor on the 38-foot British catamaran Troutbridge, after he lost contact with an accompanying yacht in a storm on Thursday night after they set sail from Fiji.

The New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre (NZRCC) said the yacht was found by a New Zealand Air Force Orion which left Auckland early Sunday to begin an unrelated search for three Kiribati fishermen.

The aircraft made radio contact with Bernfeld, who reported the catamaran had sustained hull and rig damage and was leaking.

However, the pumps were working effectively and he was proceeding to New Caledonia on a voyage that could take up to a week.

Bernfeld, who is sailing around the world, had been in Fiji for more than a year repairing Troutbridge after it was severely damaged on a reef.

A week ago he reported on his blog that his departure had been delayed while he fitted an electric bilge pump after his two manual pumps had failed.

The New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre said although no official search had been launched for Troutbridge there were serious concerns after its companion yacht Calypso reported it had lost contact.

"It's a great outcome to establish contact with the skipper of the Troutbridge," search coordinator Mike Roberts said. "Now we're also hoping for a positive result in the search for the fishermen off Kiribati."

The three fishermen on board a six-metre vessel are three days overdue and the NZRCC said an initial radar search of the seas south of Kiribati's Tarawa Island had found no sign of them.

"The aircraft has now landed on Tarawa Island and the search will resume at first light tomorrow," it said.

In September a 41-year-old Kiribati man was found alive after drifting for 15 weeks and surviving on fish and rainwater.

Related Article:


Saturday, November 24, 2012

Israel said to ease restictions on Gaza fishing and farming

The Daily Star, Reuters, Nidal al-Mughrabi, November 24, 2012

A Palestinian school girl writes on the blackboard of a classroom, damaged
 during last week's Israeli offensive, at a school in Gaza City, on November 24,
2012,  three days after a truce was declared between Israel and Hamas.
AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED ABED
                              
GAZA: Israel eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen on Saturday, further implementing a three-day-old truce brokered by Egypt after a week of fierce fighting, Palestinian officials said.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children headed back to school for the first time in 10 days, in another indication normal life was returning after cross-border violence in which 166 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed.

A statement from the office of Hamas Islamist Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Egypt had notified them that "Israel has allowed Palestinian fishermen to fish in Gaza's waters at a distance of six miles (6.9 km), up from three miles (4.8 km)".

Israel had no immediate comment.

A text of the truce deal agreed on Wednesday calls on Israel to ease curbs on the coastal Gaza territory, which it has largely blockaded since Hamas, which rejects the Jewish state's right to exist, took power there in 2007.

The sides had disagreed on exactly when and how the restrictions would actually be lifted.

Israel had formally barred Gaza fishermen from heading more than three miles out into the Mediterranean Sea for about three years, its gunboats often enforcing the rule. It said its blockade was a measure to prevent weapons smuggling.

Murad Al-Issi, a member of a local fishermens' group, told Reuters his colleagues had already ventured out to the six-mile limit on Saturday, undisturbed by Israel.

"The Israeli army naval boat which used to fire and torch Palestinian boats that sailed beyond a three-mile distance watched without doing anything to prevent them," Issi said.

Palestinians say the Israeli restrictions had hampered the amount and variety of fish they could catch.

"This is a good step," Issi said, adding it would be best to be permitted double the distance.

In another apparent Israeli step to ease restrictions, Palestinian farmers tended land along the testy frontier with the Jewish state without incident, a day after Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man at a border fence.

Palestinians denounced the shooting as a violation of the ceasefire and Egypt intervened to restore calm.

On Saturday, a Reuters photographer saw farmers in the Khan Younis area working close to the Israeli frontier fence.

Hamas security officials were on patrol and Israeli soldiers looked on without interfering, but for a brief verbal exchange between one soldier and a Hamas guard, witnesses said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Israel had barred Palestinians from coming within 300 metres of the border since 2009, citing security concerns.

Related Articles:

Fishermen from Gaza risk their lives at work

Our reporters experience first hand Israeli efforts to intimidate Gaza fishermen and keep their fishing trips ever closer to shore

guardian.co.ukHarriet Sherwood and Mat Heywood, Sunday 24 July 2011


Friday, November 23, 2012

Whalers, environmentalists prepare for new confrontation

Deutsche Welle, 23 November 2012


As Japan's whaling fleet prepares to put to sea for its annual operations in the Antarctic Ocean, its arch foes from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are waiting just over the horizon.

The Japanese government confirmed in early November that its whaling fleet would once again leave port in early December to carry out what Japan claims is "research whaling" in the icy waters of the Antarctic.

However, the exact date the vessels will slip their moorings, and the areas in which they will operate, are being kept a closely guarded secret.

Japan refuses to stop whaling, saying
it is a long, cultural tradition
And for good reason. Criticized around the world as thinly disguised commercial whaling - in large part because hundreds of whales are slaughtered and the meat ends up being served in Japanese schools and restaurants - the cull is fiercely opposed by environmental groups.

Of all the anti-whaling activists, none is more outspoken - or confrontational - than the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has harrassed the Japanese fleet every year since 2005.

This year, the group has vowed for the first time to take the battle to protect the whales into Japanese territorial waters.

Sea Shepherd's team of vessels, crewed by 110 volunteers from around the world, is heading North through the Pacific, and the organization has set itself the target of not permitting the whalers to catch a single "specimen" this season.

Confrontation off Japan

Japan claims whaling is for scientific
 purposes, but most of the meat is sold
commercially
"The plan is for our fleet to be meeting their fleet in the North Pacific off Japan," said Peter Hammarstedt, deputy leader of Sea Shepherd, in a statement. "We are planning to take the battle pretty much up to Japan itself."

"The goal for us is to have a zero-kill quota of whales," he added. "If we can get to the Japanese fleet early, hopefully they will cut their losses."

Whaling in Japan can trace its roots to small-scale coastal operations as far back as the 12th century, but the industry was ramped up in the 20th century as it sought to feed a burgeoning population with limited domestic food resources.

Japan opposed a moratorium on commercial operations imposed by the International Whaling Commission in 1986 and has since used a loophole in the rules that permits scientific research to harpoon hundreds of whales every year.

Since 1988, Japanese whalers have caught more than 14,200 whales, the majority being minke whales, but also including fin, sperm, sei and Brydes whales.


Whales are an endangered species and should not be hunted at all,
environmentalists say.

Japan defends its continued program by insisting that there are sufficient stocks of whales in the world's oceans and that whaling is a Japanese cultural practice that foreign countries should not interfere with. Japanese commentators have also suggested that opposition is rooted in covert racism.

Japan's research on whales is carried out under the auspices of the Institute of Cetacean Research, a privately owned, non-profit organization. The ICR did not respond to telephone and e-mail requests for comments on the whaling fleet's planned operations this season. Sea Shepherd, however, has been a lot more forthcoming about its plans.

"Eco-pirates"

One of Sea Shepherd's trimarans was
 rammed in 2011 by Japanese fishing
vessels
Describing themselves as "eco-pirates," the organization has launched what it says is the biggest and most aggressive mission ever to stop the slaughter of whales.

The three-strong fleet is led by the SSS Steve Irwin, named after the late Australian wildlife expert nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter." The faster SSS Bob Barker is designed to locate the Japanese ships, while the SSS Brigitte Bardot is a technologically advanced vessel that in 1998 circumnavigated the world in just 74 days and is now used as a scouting ship.

Sea Shepherd is also deploying a new ship, the SSS Sam Simon, although its duties and capabilities are shrouded in secrecy.

This year's campaign - named Operation Zero Tolerance - is likely to bring the whalers and environmentalists into confrontation long before they reach the Antarctic Ocean. The aim is improve on last year's campaign and avoid ships from the Japanese Coast Guard, which are expected to once again accompany the whalers.

Too many whales are still killed, says
Sea Shepherd's founder
In that effort, the Japanese were only able to catch 26 percent of their quota for the year, after environmentalists hurled bottles of reeking butyric acid, which smells like rancid butter fat, onto the decks of the whaling ship and the whalers retaliated with water cannons.

Still, Captain Paul Watson, who founded Sea Shepherd in 1981, said the 267 whales that were culled is "267 too many." And this year, the environmental group believes it holds the whip hand.

In the words of Sea Shepherd deputy leader, Peter Hammarstedt: "We have never been stronger and the Japanese whalers have never been weaker."

"We need to take advantage of our strengths and their weaknesses, and we need to bring this campaign home to Japan," Hammarstedt said.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

EU to close shark finning loophole

MEPs vote 566-47 in favour of closing loophole that effectively rendered useless a nine-year-old ban on finning

guardian.co.uk, John Vidal, Thursday 22 November 2012

A fisherman holds the dorsal fin of a hammerhead shark. Photograph:
Jeff Rotman/Getty Images

The barbaric practice of slicing off the fins of sharks and discarding the live bodies at sea will be outlawed following a historic vote in the European parliament on Thursday. MEPs voted overwhelmingly 566 to 47 to close a legal loophole and ban finning despite opposition from Spain and Portugal.

The EU, which is one of the largest exporters of shark fins to Asia, banned finning in 2003, but in a loophole, companies with freezer vessels applied for "special fishing permits" which allowed them to continue if they landed the fins separately from the bodies. The issuing of these permits has became standard practice, making a mockery of the law.

Tens of millions of sharks are killed every year to meet the demand for "shark fin soup", despite the fact that one-third of European shark and ray species and one-third of open-ocean sharks are classified as "threatened" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. EU companies catch sharks in the Atlantic, Indian, Mediterranean, and Pacific oceans, and are the largest exporter of shark fins to Hong Kong and mainland China where they are used for a gourmet soup.

Conservation campaigners and animal welfare groups welcomed the vote but said that a finning ban alone was insufficient to save sharks. "Parliament's overwhelming support for strengthening the EU finning ban represents a significant victory for shark conservation in the EU and beyond," said Ali Hood, the Shark Trust director of conservation. "Because of the EU's influence at international fisheries bodies, this action holds great promise for combating this wasteful practice on a global scale."

"This is a milestone in the global effort to end the wasteful practice of shark finning," said Sandrine Polti, EU shark policy adviser for the Pew environment group.

"Shark finning is not only immoral but it is threatening the very survival of many native European species. It is astonishing to think that one-third of European sharks are classed as under threat – something I hope will now change", said Scottish MEP Alyn Smith, who has campaigned for strengthening the ban for years.

Conservation groups will now strongly lobby the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which meets in March 2013 to consider proposals from the EU and US to protect commercially valuable, threatened shark species, including porbeagles, hammerheads, and oceanic whitetips.



Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Why seaweed is the natural choice

The granting of England's first licence to sell seaweed is most welcome. This delicious substance is highly nutritious 

guardian.co.uk, Oliver Thring, Tuesday 20 November 2012

'Laverbread, arguably Wales’s greatest delicacy, is a superb savoury foil
to bacon and buttered toast.' Photograph: Alamy

A man named Rory MacPhee has just been granted England's first licence to gather and sell "sea vegetables", which include seaweed. It may come as a shock to some of the hundreds of amateur foragers living and working on the British coast that if they sell the seaweed they harvest, they're breaking the law. Time was when many people living in these islands ate seaweed every day.

Seaweed, in fact, is one of the most useful natural substances on the planet. It's existed for over one billion years, and all land plants evolved from it. At least 145 of its roughly 10,000 different species are eaten around the world. It's full of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins, and it's often rich in iodine. Dulse, which MacPhee plans to harvest in particular, contains every trace element that human beings need.

In eastern China, seaweed is a major vegetable – though the "seaweed" you buy in your local takeaway is likely to be deep-fried cabbage. In Ireland they mash seaweed into porridge; in Hawaii they harvest and rinse it and eat it with fish. Iceland teems with free-growing ingredients: edible seaweeds were one of the few things that people could eat there in previous bleaker centuries. Laverbread is arguably Wales's greatest delicacy, a superb savoury foil to bacon and buttered toast made with the seaweed laver.

Though Indonesia produces more, Japan is probably the world's most important consumer of seaweed. They eat at least 21 species there. Nori is the flaky, crackly stuff that sticks to your tongue when you bite a sushi roll. Its annual trade is worth more than $1bn, making it the most valuable aquaculture in Japan, worth more than fish and seafood.

Another Japanese seaweed, kombu, is difficult for humans to digest, but it has nonetheless proved to be one of the most transformative ingredients of all time. In the early 20th century a Japanese chemist found that kombu was an especially rich source of monosodium glutamate – in fact, when you dry kombu, it forms little white crystals of monosodium glutamate (MSG) on its surface. MSG, of course, is now manufactured by the tonne and used across the global food industry. People say vaguely but correctly that it makes foods "taste more of themselves": it enhances the inherent savouriness of a dish, rather than seasoning it with a bitter, salty, sweet or sour note. The Japanese word for this flavour, umami, translates roughly as "delicious". It's worth noting that, contrary to its reputation, MSG is one of the safest and best-studied additives used in food. Those who claim that the MSG in Chinese takeaways makes them feel sick are more likely suffering the effects of a surfeit of cheap grease.

Processing certain red seaweeds gets you carrageenan, aka E407 – another of the most important additives in all industry. They stick it in toothpaste, shampoo, aerosol foams, shoe polish and pharmaceuticals. It winds up in ice creams, beer, pet food, soy milk and diet fizzy drinks. Carrageenan is a stabiliser and thickener. It's the only substance known to attack the cold virus directly. But while people have used it for centuries to thicken sauces, not least in Ireland and Scotland, it's probably not a good idea to eat too much of those processed foods that contain a lot of it. It certainly causes inflammation in rats, and studies on mice and guinea pigs have suggested a link between carrageenan and colon cancer.

Nonetheless, old-fashioned seaweeds are nutritious and delicious, and it's rather a shame that we abandoned them in this country. If MacPhee manages to get more Britons eating the stuff, he should be applauded.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Killer Whales Chase Diver and Dog Out of Ocean (Video)





Encounter with Orcas at Mathesons Bay, Leigh. (New Zealand).  They chased a diver out onto the rocks after he got a fright seeing them in the water. Then they came very close to the beach and chased / followed a dog to the beach.

Australia declares world's largest marine reserve

BBC News, 16 November 2012

Related Stories 

Mr Burke said Australia was responsible
 for more of the ocean than almost any
other country
Australia has created the world's largest network of marine reserves, protecting oceans around its coast.

Over 2.3 million sq km (0.9 million sq miles) of sea, made up of five zones, have been formally protected by law from over-fishing and oil exploration.

Environment Minister Tony Burke called it a historic moment for ocean conservation.

However fishing lobby groups opposed the move, saying it will damage the multi-million dollar industry.

The network of reserves was announced by the Australian government in June, and became formally proclaimed under national environmental law on Friday.

The newly-declared reserves are an addition to existing protected zones around Australia, taking the overall size of the marine reserves network to 3.1 million sq km (1.2 million sq miles).

'World leader'

Mr Burke said the reserves represented a major achievement for the long-term conservation of Australia's oceans.

"Australia is home to some incredible marine environments including the Perth Canyon in the south-west and the stunning reefs of the Coral Sea, and this announcement cements Australia's position as a world leader on environmental protection," he said.

The sea around Australia is home to sharks and tuna, isolated tropical reefs and deep sea canyons.

Mr Burke also announced 100m Australian Dollars ($103m; £65m) set aside for compensating fishing businesses affected by the move. However, he said "this entire project has an impact of less than 1% of the total value of production for our wild catch fisheries."

Fishing groups have criticised the cap, saying that the allocation did not go far enough, and that people in the industry would be put out of business.

The Australian Marine Alliance said that 36,000 jobs would be lost and the cost of seafood imports would soar, news agency AFP reported.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott said that he supported environment protection, but was concerned that there had not been sufficient consultation, or strong scientific evidence for the reserve.

Conservation groups welcomed the new laws, but said that there was more work to be done to protect Australia's oceans.


BP agrees to pay largest penalty in US history in $4.5bn Gulf oil spill deal

Oil giant will pay $4.5bn to US authorities and agrees to plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct over fatal rig explosion

guardian.co.uk, Suzanne Goldenberg and Dominic Rushe, Thursday 15 November 2012

BP's deal with the US government and the SEC limits the company's exposure
 to further criminal charges and penalties. Photograph: KPA/Zuma/Rex Features

BP has agreed to pay the largest criminal fine in US history – $4.5bn – to resolve all criminal charges arising from the fatal oil rig explosion and catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company said on Thursday that it had agreed to pay $4bn to the US government over five years, and $525m to the Securities and Exchange Commission. That money will be paid over three years.

The criminal settlement does not settle all of the claims against BP for the April 2010 blowout of the Deepwater Horizon, and the subsequent oil spill.

The oil giant is not yet off the hook for environmental damage to the Gulf of Mexico, and could face billions in restoration costs to waters, coastline and marine life.

But Thursday's deal does limit BP's exposure to further criminal charges and penalties, and frees the company to focus on resolving those other civil claims.

The fine is the largest criminal penalty in US history, easily outstripping the previous record of $1.2bn levied by the Justice Department against drug giant Pfizer over fraudulent marketing practices.

In addition to the fines, the oil company agreed to plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of ships' officers, arising from the deaths aboard the Deepwater Horizon when the rig exploded and sank.

It also agreed to single misdemeanour counts under the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Act and one felony count of obstruction of Congress.

The settlement remains subject to US federal court approval.

"All of us at BP deeply regret the tragic loss of life caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident as well as the impact of the spill on the Gulf coast region," BP's chief executive, Bob Dudley, said in a statement.

"We apologise for our role in the accident, and as today's resolution with the US government further reflects, we have accepted responsibility for our actions."

The company's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, said BP believed the settlement was in the company's best interests.

"We believe this resolution is in the best interest of BP and its shareholders," he said in the statement. "It removes two significant legal risks and allows us to vigorously defend the company against the remaining civil claims."

In London the company's shares, which had stopped trading before the news of the fine broke, closed down a fraction of a penny at 425.4p. So far, the company has set aside $38.1bn to settle claims and fines related to the disaster.

The Justice Department is expected to issue a statement on the settlement later on Thursday. It was expected that a number of BP executives and managers, including those working on the rig the night of the explosion, would be charged.

All but one of the 14 criminal charges announced on Thursday relate to the night of the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, and are based on the negligent misinterpretation of the negative pressure tests performed on the well.

A number of the investigations into the disaster have homed in on the final hours before the rig explosion, when engineers tried and abandoned different plans to finish off the well.

The final criminal count arises from statements BP officials made to a closed session of Congress about how much oil was gushing from its stricken well. The company is accused of deliberately underestimating the flow-rate – which experts say compromised efforts to cap the well.

It was not immediately clear how BP's plea would affect its operations in the Gulf. The oil company remains one of the major players in deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP said it was not aware of any government actions to suspend or curtail its activities in the Gulf, as a result of the settlement.

The settlement could also clear the way for the justice department to come to a plea deal with BP's partners on the doomed well: Transocean, which owned the rig, and Halliburton, which cemented the well.