Peta sounds the alarm about Morgan the Dutch orca

DutchNews, August 29, 2015

Morgan in capivity in 2010

Animal rights organisation Peta has called on the Spanish police to investigate the conditions in which ‘Dutch’ orca Morgan is being kept at a Spanish amusement park.

Peta has asked the Seprona unit, which deals with environmental crime, to look into the treatment of Morgan, four orcas owned by the American Sea World organisation and one orca born in captivity, at the Loro Parque centre on the island of Tenerife. 

Peta says the animals are covered with wounds and their teeth are in poor condition. In addition, the orcas are kept in tanks which are far too small for them and that this is a form of animal abuse.

‘The least we want is an improvement in their living conditions,’ Tim Zijlstra, of the Dutch branch of Peta said. ‘Eventually we would like to have parks like these closed down.’ 

But the park authorities have dismissed the claims as without foundation and says they are aimed at damaging Loro Parque’s reputation. 

Morgan, was found in a severely weakened state in the Wadden Sea in 2010. After being nursed back to health in the Netherlands, in 2011 she was shipped to the Loco Parque amusement park where she now performs tricks for a paying public. 

The then junior economic affairs minister Henk Bleker gave the green light for Morgan to be sent to Spain saying there was no guarantee she would be successfully released into the wild. The Council of State said last year the export was correct because returning her to the wild was not an alternative. 

The financial arrangements surrounding Morgan’s transfer from the Netherlands to Spain have never been made public.

Cruelty: Incarceration at Loro Parque Zoo has had a heartbreaking (Mirror)

Related Articles:

Free Morgan: Sunday People and Born Free launch appeal to help scarred and wounded captive killer whale

Visitors turn their backs on marine parks over claims of suffering

Another humpback whale spotted near the Dutch coast

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I was wondering about the way I feel about whales and dolphins. I've had a feeling that I have to go to them sometime, but I don't know how or what I'm to do when I get there. Please help.

Question: Dear Kryon: I'm a Turkish/Islam woman of 57. I live in Ankara and work for the European Commission's project in Turkey. I've read almost all of the Kryon books twice, and I'm planning to read them once more. My question is about the whales. Why do they commit mass suicide? What is the reason for this very sad event? Is it a kind of protest against Human Beings?

Answer: Dear ones, we've channelled many times about the whales of this planet. In review, they're the living portions of an actual grid-system! They contain the "history of Earth" within their beings, and they're sacred for that reason. They coordinate and cooperate with the crystalline grid of your planet, which is currently being rewritten (see Kryon channelling on the Website: "What's Next?" December 8, 2002). Doesn't it strike you odd that these mammals are the only ones protected against hunting by more than 90 percent of the countries of Earth... even the places without oceans? Do you think that this is an accident or a coincidence? No. It's cellular information for all humanity to protect the whales and keep them safe. Dolphins are their cousins and support group, and they play a role in the whales' development. This is why you're so attracted to them.

Whales do not commit mass suicide. They have no consciousness to allow for this, and it has never happened. Instead, you see whales often beaching themselves and then being saved by Humans, only to re-beach themselves and die. This takes place mostly on the coastlines of your continents, and often on those areas of topography that "stick out," such as a peninsula or isthmus. Your Cape Cod is a good example in America, and is also a place where this has recently happened (up to 47 whales on a beach).

The reason is that whales, dolphins, amphibians, birds, and even insects all navigate to their breeding ground or migration areas each year via the magnetic grid of the planet! Each group follows the ley lines of magnetic influence, almost as if they had a built-in compass. In fact, they actually do!

The magnetic grid of this planet has changed so much, so quickly, as we told you it would in 1989, that there hasn't been time for the pods of whales to adjust with time to these changes. Instead, many simply follow the old magnetic lines of migration, only to find themselves on a beach instead of the open ocean, as the old magnetic direction used to take them. They're confused, and they simply line up and try again, just as they have for years. These things are temporary, and as tragic as you might see them, it's all part of "pruning" the system, and the calves will go around in the future, establishing new instinctive information for the new whales regarding the grid changes. This information has even now been validated this year (2003) by your scientists.

Wadden Sea shark population may be on the rise

DutchNews, August 28, 2015

Fishermen working on the Wadden Sea have been urged to tag and register any sharks they fish up because biologists suspect the area’s shark population is growing. 

Shrimp trawlers have been pulling up an increasing number of young bottom feeding sharks and biologists think the sea is a perfect nursery, broadcaster Nos says on Friday. 

Bottom feeders are not dangerous to humans and most are around 40 centimetres long. Some can grow up to two metres, Nos says. 

The Wadden Sea’s shark population fell sharply in the 1970s. ‘Their return would be good news because sharks have a key role in the food chain,’ Wouter van der Heij of the Wadden Sea association told the broadcaster.

Related Articles:

World breaks new heat records in July 2015: US scientists

Record-breaking 2014 was hottest in modern history: US

Global average temperatures soar, Arctic ice shrinks

Pope braves storm for emotional Philippine typhoon memorial
Tropical Storm Leaves 54 Dead as It Exits Philippines

PM under fire as 118,000 flee worst Malaysia floods in decades


"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.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

British Columbia salmon return one of largest seen in region (Sep 2013)

Pink salmon, shown in a file photograph, 

have a lifespan of two years

Europe fish stocks 'heading for recovery', study claims
U.S. seafood catch reaches 17-year high
'Super' salmon resist climate change better: study


“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....The Prediction: The Renewal of the Life Cycle

When you change the temperature strata of the oceans of the earth, things start to change, for the life cycle of the food in the ocean depends upon that which is the smallest. The plankton of the planet survive in certain temperatures, and that's changing. Throw away what you think you know about how it's all supposed to work, and instead think "renewal" or "how did it begin." This will serve you to understand what is happening now. This cycle is built to replenish the ocean with life and not always by sustaining the kind that was there.

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.

Within this process, there will be the extinction of certain plants and animals, birds and fish. My advice to you, especially to those environmentalists, is to understand the cycle of life so that you may relax with what nature has always done. It puts life on the planet to serve the planet for a time. When certain life no longer serves the planet in the ways it used to, it takes it away. The extinction of life, especially through weather change, is normal for Gaia. It is honored, appropriate and normal, even if you don't think so. Don't try to save all the disappearing animals, fish and birds! Some are supposed to go away. And, dear ones, don't assign all this activity to something you did to cause it!

The red people are stressing. The purple is here, and they are trying to figure out what they did wrong. They don't know they are in the Rainbow Room. They think they are in the RED ROOM. This is what the Rainbow Room does; it changes colors. So as the room does what it has always done, the red people are sitting there in fear trying to figure out what it is that they did that possibly could have caused the purple to appear.

The Rainbow Room is beautiful. The color purple is significant. Going from red to purple has metaphysical significance within this parable, but I'll let you figure it out. For those who are into colors, there's a reason why I gave those two. The earth is becoming more sacred than it's ever been before. Gaia is with you in this. It's cooperating in ways you never thought it could, in the way biologists said it would not. You think you're killing it? Instead, it's giving birth to an altered ecological system. ...."

Russia ordered to compensate the Netherlands for Arctic Sunrise affair

DutchNews, August 25, 2015

The Peace Palace is home to the
arbitration court

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has ordered Russia to pay the Netherlands compensation over the incident with the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise in 2013. 

The Arctic Sunrise, which sails under the Dutch flag, was seized in September 2013 and its crew arrested on piracy charges following a protest at a Russian drilling rig in Arctic waters. The crew were released in December that year after Russia agreed to an amnesty. 

The tribunal ruled that Russia broke international law when it entered the ship and arrested the 30-strong crew, including two Dutch nationals. Nor was there any question of terrorism as Russia claimed, the tribunal said. 

The tribunal ruled the Netherlands is entitled to ‘compensation (with interest) for material damage to the Arctic Sunrise, for material and non-material damage to the Arctic 30, and for costs incurred’. 

It also ruled that Russia return objects seized from the ship and crew. 

The amount of compensation will be decided at a later date. However, Russia said on Tuesday it would not recognise the ruling, describing it as an ‘encouragement to non-peaceful protest at sea’. 

The PCA looks at cases arising out of international treaties and covers a wide range of legal issues, including disputes over territorial boundaries, human rights, international state investment and trade. Russia is a signatory to both its founding treaties. 

Read the ruling

World breaks new heat records in July: US scientists

Yahoo – AFP, Kerry Sheridan, 20 Aug 2015

A child cools off in a fountain next to the Manzanares river in Madrid on

July 15, 2015 (AFP Photo/Pierre-Philippe Marcou)

Miami (AFP) - The world broke new heat records in July, marking the hottest month in history and the warmest first seven months of the year since modern record-keeping began in 1880, US authorities said Thursday.

The findings by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed a troubling trend, as the planet continues to warm due to the burning of fossil fuels, and scientists expect the scorching temperatures to get worse.

"The world is warming. It is continuing to warm. That is being shown time and time again in our data," said Jake Crouch, physical scientist at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

"Now that we are fairly certain that 2015 will be the warmest year on record, it is time to start looking at what are the impacts of that? What does that mean for people on the ground?" he told reporters.

The month's average temperature across land and sea surfaces worldwide was 61.86 Fahrenheit (16.61 Celsius), marking the hottest July ever.

The previous record for July was set in 1998.

"This was also the all-time highest monthly temperature in the 1880-2015 record," said NOAA in its monthly climate report.

"The first seven months of the year (January-July) were also all-time record warm for the globe," NOAA said.

When scientists looked at temperatures for the year-to-date, they found land and ocean surfaces were 1.53 F (0.85 C) above the 20th century average.

"This was the highest for January-July in the 1880-2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2010 by 0.16 F (0.09 C)."

A drought-hit maize field in the municipality of Texiguat, about 100 km southeast

of Tegucigalpa, Honduras is pictured on July 26, 2015 (AFP Photo/Orlando Sierra)

Scientists also calculated the rate of temperature increase for July at an average of 1.17 F (0.65 C) per century.

Large parts of the Earth were much warmer than average, including Africa which saw its second hottest July on record.

"Record warmth was also observed across much of northern South America, parts of southern Europe and central Asia, and the far western United States," said the NOAA report.

Parts of eastern Scandinavia and western Russia, eastern and southern Asia and scattered areas in central and northern North America were cooler than average.

Related Articles:

Record-breaking 2014 was hottest in modern history: US

Global average temperatures soar, Arctic ice shrinks

Pope braves storm for emotional Philippine typhoon memorial
Tropical Storm Leaves 54 Dead as It Exits Philippines

PM under fire as 118,000 flee worst Malaysia floods in decades


"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.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

British Columbia salmon return one of largest seen in region (Sep 2013)

Pink salmon, shown in a file photograph,

have a lifespan of two years

.

Dead fish near Tianjin not caused by the blasts: local official

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-08-21

Dead fish at a section of the Hai river, Aug. 20. (Photo/CNS)

The cause of death of the large number of dead fish spotted in the water near Tianjin's Tanggu district was not cyanide poisoning, as the media had previously speculated, but poor quality water, according to a local environment monitoring center, cited by local newspaper Tianjin Daily.

The center examined the water at a section of the Hai river in Tanggu on Thursday and the examination showed the fish had died due to poor quality water, according to the center's chief Deng Xiaowen during a press conference, as cited by Guangzhou-based news web portal NetEase.

The area is around six kilometers from the blast site of two explosions that occurred just before midnight on Aug. 12 at the Ruihai Logistics' warehouse, which houses hazardous chemicals. The explosions and the resulting fires killed at least 114 people with 69 people still missing.

Internet users who are familiar with the area said dead fish are often seen after the river's floodgates open, allowing saltwater in the sea to mix with freshwater in the river. The fish, which live in the sea, cannot adapt to the changes in salinity in the water and die.

The warehouse where the blasts took place stored about 40 substances across seven categories, including around 1,300 tonnes of oxide compounds, mainly potassium nitrate and ammonium nitrate; 500 tonnes of inflammable materials, consisting of metallic sodium and magnesium; and 700 tonnes of highly toxic substances, mainly sodium cyanide and caffeine, said Tianjin vice mayor He Shushan.

Related Article:

Chinese prosecutors announce probe into deadly warehouse blasts

Alaska oil prospecting project splits Democrats

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has contradicted fellow Democrat President Barack Obama by rejecting a Shell oil prospecting project off Alaska. Obama's administration has given Shell approval to resume drilling.

Deutsche Welle, 19 Aug 2015

Clinton put herself at odds with Obama's administration late on Tuesday by describing the Arctic as a "unique treasure" and "not worth the risk of drilling" because of multiple environmental risks.

Obama's administration on Monday gave Royal Dutch Shell final approval to resume drilling into an oil-bearing rock, 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) below the ocean floor off northern Alaska.

Shell's original leases were obtained from the administration of the previous Republican president, George W. Bush.

White House spokesman Frank Benenati deflected environmentalists' condemnation, saying Obama's team had initiated heavy investment in renewable energy sources ahead of December's UN climate summit in Paris.

It had also "taken steps to ensure safe and responsible development" of US energy sources, he said, referring to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Pitching to environmentalists

Tuesday's remark by Clinton in a Twitter post marked a break with Obama as part of her recent overtures to Democratic environmentalists, whose support she will need to secure her party's official nomination.

Her liberal challenger, US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, was among a group of senators who sent the Obama administration a letter opposing Arctic drilling in May.

Protestors in kayaks protested
Shell's plan in Seattle

Environmentalists say any spill would severely endanger maritime fauna, such as whales and plankton, in a region already vulnerable to climate change. They also argue that added fossil fuel usage will only exacerbate climate warming.

Shell says Arctic oil is need to meet growing global demand.

Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director for the Center for Biological Diversity, described the White House stance as "perplexing," given Obama's recent statements that he wants to fix climate change.

"It's like a doctor diagnosing a patient but then refusing to write a prescription," Noblin told the Associated Press.

Obama's Republican rivals in Congress, as well as industry officials, have often accused the administration of hindering oil and gas extraction on federal lands.

Trump leads Republican field

Meanwhile, rhetorically brash still leads the 17-candidate Republican field for next year's US presidential race.

A new national CNN/ORC survey put Trump at 24 percent, clearly ahead of second-placed former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 13 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson came in third.

Those surveyed were dubious, however, on Republican chances of winning the White House. Asked if chances were better if Trump ran, only 38 percent agreed. Another 58 percent said Republican chances would be better without him.

The first primaries to narrow the Republican field are more than five months away. Election day is still nearly 15 months away.

ipj/cmk (AFP, Reuters, AP)

Related Articles:

The word is out: Shell 'screwed up' in 2012

Obama unveils landmark regulations to combat climate change

BP set to pay largest environmental fine in US history for Gulf oil spill

Ten pearls found in one oyster

DutchNews, August 18, 2015

(photo: vis-winkel-online.nl)

Ten pearls in one oyster have been found by a specialist fish shop in Yerseke in Zeeland. 

Oysters do occasionally make two pearls, but ten in one shell is extremely rare. 

The oyster is currently being kept in the fish shop’s refrigerator and it is not yet clear what will happen to it, broadcaster Omroep Zeeland reports.

Greece charters ferry to house Syrian refugees in port

Authorities have begun loading some 2,500 refugees aboard the 176-meter Eleftherios Venizelos passenger ship to give relief to the island of Kos. The influx of war refugees has overwhelmed the touristic island.

Deutsche Welle, 17 Aug 2015

Hundreds of Syrian refugees boarded the 580-foot chartered ship late Sunday to be housed, fed and processed as Greek authorities receive thousands of new arrivals and relieve overwhelmed officials on the island.

Several thousand migrants are staying in island hotels if they can afford it; many more sleep in tents, abandoned structures or in the open.

Requested by local authorities, the passenger ferry docked Friday and is expected to remain for about two weeks, government officials said.

Officials on board will register Syrians who are already on the island, as well as any new arrivals, according to UN refugee agency spokeswoman Stella Nanou.

Arrivals cross from Turkey

A Syrian migrant holds her children as they
 arrive on an overcrowded dinghy on a
beach near the port on the Greek island
of Kos.

Most of the migrants have crossed the sea from neighboring Turkey and are fleeing the unremitting bloodshed in Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year.

Migrants say they are intent on reaching Athens and points west in Europe to look for work and join friends and relatives who are already established.

"We hope the procedure will be smoother now. We just want to be registered so we can leave to Athens," Muhammad, a refugee from Syria's divided city of Aleppo, told the AFP news agency; he declined give his family name.

Nearly 250,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. About half have come to the Greek islands – due to proximity from Turkey – and numbers are surging in the hot summer weather when calmer winds makes sea crossings safer.

Non-Syrians already on the island must register with police officials, UNHCR's Nanou said. And in a sign of rising tension between migrant groups, some 20 Iraqis at the entrance to the harbor protested, demanding to be allowed onto the ship for faster processing.

Meanwhile, in Athens, the government has transferred hundreds of migrants who were living in a tent city to a newly built reception center in the neighborhood of Eleonas, west of the capital.

jar/bw (Reuters, AFP)

Dutch company awarded contract for Kaoshiung port reclamation

Want China Times, CNA 2015-08-17

A dock at the Kaoshiung Intercontinental Container Center, Oct. 1,
2014. (File photo/Yen Jui-tien)

Dutch contractor Van Oord has been awarded the dredging contract for Kaoshiung Intercontinental Container Center Phase II, valued at approximately €130 million (US$144 million).

Van Oord has already started preparations for the new Kaohsiung terminal, which is scheduled to be completed by January 2018 and will involve the dredging and reclamation of 37 million cubic meters of sand for the extension of Kaohsiung Port, the company said in a statement on Aug. 13.

The Rotterdam-based company will employ one of its largest trailing suction hopper dredgers in Kaohsiung, the largest port in Taiwan which plays an important role in the nation's export-oriented economy.

Kaohsiung Intercontinental Container Center Phase II is a large land reclamation project being undertaken by Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC), with the aim of building a container transshipment hub.

The project site is located at Kaohsiung Port's second entrance in the southern offshore water area, with 422.5 hectares of reclaimed land and 19 deep-water piers, according to TIPC's website.

The project is scheduled to run from 2011 to 2019, with a total development budget of NT$150.6 billion (US$4.04 billion), NT$34.45 billion (US$1 billion) being contributed by the government and NT$116.15 billion (US$3.5 billion) by the private sector.

Celebrate Amsterdam’s maritime past at SAIL 2015

DutchNews, August 14, 2015

The arrival of the tall ships. Photo: Wim Haze

SAIL is one of the city’s biggest and most unique festivals but it only happens once every five years. Brandon Hartley checks out what is on offer for the 2015 edition. 

Amsterdam and boats have gone hand in hand since it consisted of little more than a few cottages and a bridge over the Amstel. Needless to say, the city has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the Middle Ages. During the Dutch Golden Age, Amsterdam’s ports helped it become one of the wealthiest places on the planet. 

Flash forward to the early ‘70s when Amsterdam officials were looking for a way to celebrate the city’s 700th anniversary. What they came up with was SAIL Amsterdam, a nautical event in the summer of 1975 devoted to the history of the city’s maritime industry and its culture. 

The five-day extravaganza featured ‘tall ships’ from all across Europe, around 500 modern vessels and over 700,000 visitors. By all accounts, it was a huge success; so much so that the organisers decided to host the event again in 1980 

Sailing Into the Present Day 

Now in its ninth edition, SAIL Amsterdam is held every five years and it’s grown into the largest free maritime event in the world. It’s now a tradition for thousands of spectators line the banks of the river IJ to watch the ships arrive on the first day of the festival. 

The 2015 celebration will take place from Wednesday 19 until Sunday 23 August. The fun will begin with the Sail-In Parade, which organisers promise will be the biggest opening event in SAIL Amsterdam’s history. Over 43 tall ships along with five Dutch Marine boats and hundreds more vessels are scheduled to sail in file down the North Sea Canal into central Amsterdam.

If you can’t make it to the shores of the IJ to watch the fleet arrive, you can always tune in from home. The Sail-In Parade will be broadcast live on national television on the 19th. The ships will set sail for Amsterdam at 10:00 and are due to arrive in the city around 15:00. 

While the parade itself is a spectacle, what traditionally happens afterwards can be, well, a little less so. Getting all of those boats into the correct spots along the IJ’s quays tends to make the average rush hour traffic jam in Los Angeles look downright orderly by comparison. 

Tall ships

SAIL Amsterdam will feature countless boats and numerous events but, as with prior editions, the main draw will likely be the tall ships travelling to the city from ports all across the world. These gorgeous vessels and their photogenic masts harken back to the classic era of seafaring. 

The STS Young Endeavour is just one of the dozens that will appear at the 2015 festival. This tall ship hails from Australia and is currently in the middle of a year-long voyage around the world. A replica of the legendary Nao Victoria will also appear. The original ship was one of the first vessels to circumnavigate the globe back in the 16th century. 

The Biggest SAIL of All Time 

‘1.7 million people visited SAIL Amsterdam 2010,’ SAIL spokesperson Jan Driessen told DutchNews. ‘This year we expect even more visitors because we have an extra (fifth) day.’ 

In addition to giving the schedule a boost, Driessen and his colleagues have done their best to make this year’s event the biggest and best SAIL Amsterdam thus far. The festival’s grounds have been expanded to cover a wider portion of the city. It’s been divided into five areas dubbed ‘Oceans,’ each with its own unique theme and colour. 

Those eager to have a look at the tall ships can head to ‘Orange Ocean’, the spot where they’ll be moored along the IJ. The ships will be joined by a full programme of live music at the nearby SAIL Music Marina and a nightly fireworks display.

In search of calmer seas? Then aim for the ‘Red Ocean’, which will feature educational exhibitions and lectures at various locations across the city centre. 

SAIL at night. Photo: Wim Haze

Over at the NDSM Wharf visitors can enjoy exhibits that focus on technology, sustainable shipbuilding and innovation in the ‘Green Ocean’. The centrepiece of this area is sure to be the Volvo Ocean Race Team’s Brunel yacht. Crew members will be on hand to tell attendees about their experiences during their races on the high seas and what everyday life is like on board the ship.

‘White Ocean’, located near the EYE Film Museum, will serve as the home of the Northwave Festival. It offers a relaxing departure from the hustle and bustle of central Amsterdam with food and live music. Finally, ‘Blue Ocean’, over by the National Maritime Museum, will host a series of corporate events and a private ‘Captain’s Dinner’ with the commanders of the event’s tall ships. 

The full programme for SAIL Amsterdam 2015 can be found online.