Over 300 endangered turtles hatch in Singapore

Yahoo –AFP, 28 September 2018

Hawksbill turtles are considered critically endangered

More than 300 hawksbill turtles have hatched on beaches in Singapore this month and been released into the sea, authorities said Friday, in a boost for the critically endangered creatures.

They hatched on three beaches across the tropical Southeast Asian country, according to the National Parks Board, which oversees parks and nature reserves.

Over 100 turtles hatched on Sentosa Island, a popular tourist destination, according to the organisation that manages the island. After their nest was discovered in July, a barrier was erected around the site to protect it from monitor lizards and crabs

It was the fourth time since 1996 that eggs of the critically endangered turtles have hatched on Sentosa.

The other turtle nests were discovered at a beach on the east coast and on Satumu island south of the Singapore mainland, the parks board said. A total of 321 turtles hatched over a 10-day period from September 15.

Hawksbills get their names from their narrow pointed beaks and are found throughout the world's tropical oceans, mainly around coral reefs.

They are threatened by damage to their natural habitats from pollution and coastal developments, and are also targeted by poachers.

Their body parts are used to make turtle soup and their shells are crushed into powder for use in jelly dessert. The Hawksbill shell is also used to make products like combs and ornamental hairpins.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the turtles as critically endangered.

Over 100 endangered turtles hatch in Singapore

Yahoo – AFP, January 23, 2018

A baby hawksbill turtle at Tanjong Beach in Sentosa island (AFP Photo/HANDOUT)

Singapore (AFP) - Over 100 baby turtles have hatched on a Singapore beach before being released into the sea, authorities said Tuesday, in a boost for the critically endangered creatures.

A nest of Hawksbill turtle eggs was discovered in November on Sentosa, a popular resort island south of Singapore's main island.

A barrier was erected to keep the nest safe from predators, and officials carried out regular checks, said Sentosa Development Corporation, which manages the island.

On Friday 106 eggs hatched and, after officials carried out tests, the baby turtles were sent off scurrying down the beach and into the sea.

It was the third time that Hawksbill turtle eggs had hatched on Singapore's beaches since August and the first time in eight years on Sentosa, the Straits Times newspaper reported.

Hawksbills get their names from their narrow pointed beaks and are found throughout the world's tropical oceans, mainly around coral reefs.

They are threatened by damage to their natural habitats by pollution and coastal developments, and are also targeted by poachers.

Their body parts are used to make turtle soup and shells are crushed into powder for use in jelly dessert. The Hawksbill shell is also used to make products like combs and ornamental hairpins.

Over 20 people dead after tug boat capsize on China's Yangtze River

At least 21 people have died and one is missing after a tugboat capsized whilst undergoing sea trials in the Yangtze River. Rapid currents have hampered the rescue effort.

Deutsche Welle, 17 Jan 2015

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Saturday that the 30-meter (98-feet) vessel had had 25 people on board, including eight foreign nationals, when it sank on Thursday.

Rescuers dragged the 368-tonne ship Saturday to shallow water before searching it for those still unaccounted for.

Three people, all Chinese, were rescued, with one person still missing as authorities continue to search the vessel's cockpit and nearby areas of the Yangtze River in the Jiangsu province, Xinhua reported.

The newly built, Wanshenzhou 67, was making its maiden test voyage Thursday in the Fubei Channel when it capsized.

Sembcorp Marine Ltd, a Singapore-based shipbuilder, said Friday the tugboat sank during a sea trial. The ship's owner, parts suppliers and engineers were among those on board.

Rapid currents hampered the rescue effort, and it was not until Saturday morning when rescue teams were able to surface the vessel and tow it to shallow waters to undertake a more thorough search.

jlw/sb (AP, Reuters)

Helicopters and lifeboats rescue 25 crew from stricken car carrier in Solent

• Transporter ship ran aground near the Isle of Wight
• Four lifeboats also involved in rescue effort

theguardian.com, Press Association, Sunday 4 January 2015

Coastguard helicopters scrambled to rescue the crew from the stricken car
carrier on Saturday 3 January. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/Guardian

All 25 crew members of a car carrier run aground in the Solent have been rescued by a coastguard helicopter and lifeboats.

The Singapore-registered Hoegh Osaka had just left Southampton for Germany when it became grounded on Bramble Bank near the Isle of Wight at around 9.20pm on Saturday and began listing to one side.

A 50-degree list is never good. Car carrier HOEGH OSAKA tonight in the Solent UK. https://t.co/FRiKhch85L pic.twitter.com/SCaHqbiEFm
— Chris Cavas (@CavasShips) January 4, 2015

HM Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said a helicopter mounted a rescue for the crew while RNLI lifeboats from Yarmouth, Calshot and Cowes were also sent to the scene.

National Maritime Operations Centre commander Steve Carson said: “All of the crew have been accounted for and other then a couple of non life-threatening injuries, everyone is safe and well.”

4 Lifeboats & Helo currently rescuing crew in Solent pic.twitter.com/nidCjquAha
— RNLI Girvan Lifeboat (@GirvanRNLI) January 4, 2015

A statement from the MCA added: “The crew who were on board the car carrier Hoegh Osaka have all now been accounted for. Some were airlifted off the ship by coastguard helicopter and others were rescued from the sea by the three lifeboats that were on scene.”

Three crew members who remained on board the vessel to assist with salvage operations have also been airlifted off the vessel.

A spokesman for the RNLI said: “Currently four RNLI lifeboats from Calshot, Cowes and Yarmouth are in attendance alongside the Solent coastguard helicopter, Southampton patrol and four tug boats, two from Esso and two from Southampton Docks.

“The ship’s crew are being rescued from the water and from on board the stricken vessel, which is at a list of 45 degrees.”

It is not yet clear how the 51,000-tonne vessel got into difficulty.

Carson told the BBC the ship, which was leaving Southampton bound for Germany, had started to list again during the rescue operation.

He added plans for salvage were under way and would not comment on how the ship ran aground.

“The salvage operations have commenced, not the removal of the vessel but the plans for its removal. We will have to wait until daylight to fully assess. The owners have appointed salvage operators and did so quite swiftly.”

Related Article:

Car carrier ran aground in Solent deliberately to prevent capsizing

Jakarta Welcomes Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth

Jakarta Globe, Dec 22, 2014

The USS Forth Worth was welcomed in

 Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok port by traditional

dancers on Monday. (AFP Photo/Bay Ismoyo)

Jakarta. The littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth arrived in Jakarta on Monday as part of a 16-month rotational deployment in support of the Indo-Asia Pacific rebalance.

This port visit is Fort Worth’s first in Southeast Asia, and also marks the first visit of a littoral combat ship to the archipelagic nation.

Greeting the ship upon its arrival were the US ambassador to Indonesia, Robert O. Blake Jr.;  commander of Indonesia’s Western Fleet Command, Rear Adm. Widodo; commander of the US 7th Fleet’s Task Force 73, Rear Adm. Charlie Williams; and commander of the Destroyer Squadron 7, Capt. Fred Kacher.

“Fort Worth’s arrival in Jakarta is the first of many engagements she will conduct with regional navies while deployed to 7th Fleet for the next 15 months,” said Williams. “This port visit also speaks to our strong and growing partnership with the Indonesian Navy.”

Southeast Asia is a textbook example of a littoral region and an area where LCS is uniquely suited to operate. With its maneuverability, high speed and shallow draft, LCS-class vessels provide a regular and routine presence in the region, while gaining access to places where larger US Navy ships cannot reach.

Fort Worth is of comparable size to the warships operated by regional navies in Southeast Asia, and a major benefit of the platform is its ability to work with them during exercises like Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat).

Fort Worth will return to Indonesia in 2015 as part of the Carat series.

“Fort Worth’s arrival in Jakarta is a new dawn for US Navy operations in Southeast Asia,” Kacher said. “As someone who has lived and worked in the region for the past two years, the question I consistently receive from our partners is, ‘When is LCS coming?’

“With Fort Worth now here, and additional LCSs rotationally deploying to Singapore in the coming years, I can confidently tell our partners that LCS is here for good and she’s ready to operate at sea with you,” he added.

Fort Worth will employ the surface warfare mission package for her entire deployment, augmenting her 57-millimeter gun and rolling airframe missile launcher with two 30-mm guns, two 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boats and two six-member maritime security boarding teams.

Enhancing the SUW mission package is the embarked aviation detachment from Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 35, the Navy’s first composite expeditionary helicopter squadron, which consists of one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and one MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system.

The Fire Scout will complement the MH-60R by extending the HSM-35’s range and endurance, enhancing maritime domain awareness.

“Our embarked surface warfare mission package provides us with significant capability,” said Cmdr. Kendall Bridgewater, LCS Crew 104 commanding officer. “With two RHIBs and highly trained boarding teams, LCS has the tools and skilled sailors to train and operate with our partners as we work together to ensure maritime security.”

Since departing San Diego on Nov. 17, Fort Worth transited the Pacific Ocean and visited Hawaii and Guam. Following the Jakarta port visit, Fort Worth will head to Singapore, the primary maintenance and logistics hub for littoral combat ships rotationally deployed to the 7th Fleet.

The US 7th Fleet conducts forward-deployed naval operations in support of US national interests in the Indo-Asia-Pacific area of operations. As the US Navy’s largest numbered fleet, the 7th Fleet interacts with 35 other maritime nations to build partnerships that foster maritime security, promote stability and prevent conflict.

Singapore casino stops serving shark fin

Yahoo – AFP, 12 June 2014

The US-owned Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore, shown here in 2013, 

has is to stop serving shark fin at its restaurants, the latest boycott of the 

contentious delicacy welcomed by animal rights activists. (Photo: Roslan Rahman)

The US-owned Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore has announced it will stop serving shark fin at its restaurants, the latest boycott of the contentious delicacy welcomed Thursday by animal rights activists.

The casino, part of Las Vegas gaming magnate Sheldon Adelson's portfolio, said the removal of shark fin dishes from its menus is a "bold testament to our commitment to reducing our environmental impact".

Its huge expo and convention centre, which held over 70 trade shows last year, will also cease serving the dish.

The casino is the latest among a string of Singapore-based companies to boycott shark fin consumption following years of lobbying by animal rights activists.

Singapore is the world's second largest shark fin trading territory after Hong Kong, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

Shark fin is seen by many east Asians as a delicacy and is often served as soup at expensive Chinese banquets.

More than 70 million sharks are killed worldwide every year, with a majority of fins consumed in Chinese markets, according to environmental group WWF.

Jennifer Lee, founder of Project Fin, a local group campaigning against shark fin consumption, said the casino's decision is another milestone for animal rights activists.

"Hopefully this will put pressure on other companies to jump on the bandwagon as well to do their part to save our marine ecosystem," she told AFP.

Elaine Tan, chief executive of WWF Singapore, commended the casino for its "foresight and leadership in corporate sustainability".

"Sharks are a crucial part of marine ecosystems and their populations have a direct impact on fish stocks, which in turn affects many things, including our food security in the future," she said.

Singapore's largest supermarket chains stopped sales of shark fin products in 2012, while major hotels, including Shangri-La and Swissotel the Stamford, have also stopped serving them.

Singapore's other casino operated by Malaysia's Genting Group does not serve shark fin, according to its website.

Hong Kong's government last year said it would stop serving shark fin at official functions to set a "good example".

Related Articles:

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China Bans Shark Fin Soup From Official Receptions

Hong Kong Bans Shark Fin at Official Banquets

Philippine Airlines Quits Flying Shark Fins Amid Outcry

Garuda Bans Shark Fin Transport on Flights: WWF-Indonesia

Fiji's Air Pacific bans 'unsustainable' shark fins
Korean Air Joins Cathay Pacific in Curbing Shark Fin Transport

World sea piracy numbers drop for third-straight year

Deutsche Welle, 15 January 2014

World sea piracy has fallen for the third-straight year and to a six-year low, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has said. Curbing the threat of Somali pirates has been key.

Global pirate attacks in 2013 numbered 264, down from 297 the previous year, the IMB, a London-based anti-crime arm of the International Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday. It continues the decline since 445 attacks were registered in 2010.

The IMB said 12 vessels were hijacked in 2013, with more than 300 hostages taken and one killed.

Attacks by Somali pirates dropped from 75 in 2012 to 15 in 2013, with international navy patrols and increased ship security playing a role. IMB director Captain Pottengal Mukundan said targeting a reduction in Somali piracy off the east coast of Africa had been the "biggest reason for the drop in worldwide piracy."

But he said maintaining vigilance was pivotal to keeping shipping lanes safer: "It is imperative to continue combined international efforts to tackle Somali piracy. Any complacency at this stage could rekindle pirate activity," he said.

Nigerian pirates a growing threat

While East African piracy was down, there were increases of incidents off the west coast of the continent. Nigerian pirates accounted for 31 of the 51 attacks in the region, traveling into waters off Gabon, the Ivory Coast and Togo.

"Nigerian pirates were particularly violent, killing one crew member, and kidnapping 36 people to hold onshore for ransom," the IMB's report said.

There were also increases in the Indonesian archipelago, with attacks up from 81 in 2012 to 106 in 2013. The IMB report said it was working closely with Indonesian marine police, who have increased patrols.

Other attacks - described as "low-level opportunistic threats," like many of those in Indonesia waters - were recorded in India and Bangladesh. Nine cases were reported in the Singapore Straits and the waters of Malaysia.

ph/dr (AP, dpa)

‘Stunning’ Tsunami Record Discovered in Aceh Cave

Jakarta Globe – AFP, December 14, 2013

Scientists said they have discovered a cave Lhonga Leupung, Aceh, that provides
 a ‘stunning’ record of Indian Ocean tsunamis over thousands of years. (AFP
Photo/C.M. Rubin)

Scientists said Friday they have discovered a cave on the Indonesian island of Sumatra that provides a “stunning” record of Indian Ocean tsunamis over thousands of years.

They say layers of tsunami-borne sediments found in the cave in northwest Sumatra suggest the biggest destructive waves do not occur at set intervals — meaning communities in the area should be prepared at all times for a tsunami.

“It’s something that communities need to know,” research team leader Charles Rubin told AFP, adding that the team wanted to “promote safety of coastal communities”.

Professor Rubin and other researchers from a Singapore institute were working with scientists from an Indonesian university when they discovered the cave, south of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province.

A quake-triggered tsunami devastated Aceh and areas across the Indian Ocean in 2004, leaving some 170,000 people dead in the province alone.

Inside the cave the researchers found layers of sandy sediment, which had been washed in by tsunamis thousands of years previously, Rubin said.

The layers, which contained small fossils from the seabed, were well-preserved and separated by droppings deposited by bats in the cave, he added.

“This is a beautiful, stunning record of tsunamis that you just don’t have very often,” Rubin said.

Only huge tsunamis and storm surges can get into the cave, which has a raised entrance — and afterwards the sediment is protected inside from erosion by wind or water.

Rubin said the scientists dated the layers and believe they show that between 2,800 and 3,300 years ago, some four to five tsunamis battered the area.

Before the 2004 tsunami, it had been hundreds of years since such a huge destructive wave had hit Aceh, the scientist said.

But he said the new discovery suggests that tsunamis are not evenly spaced through time, which should provide food for thought for those involved in policy and planning in the region.

“These don’t happen like clockwork, they have variations in time and variations in size,” he said.

Rubin works at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, an institute that forms part of Nanyang Technological University.

Scientists from the institute were working with researchers from Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh.

Agence France-Presse

Sri Lanka eyes South Asian hub with Chinese mega port

Google – AFP, Amal Jayasinghe (AFP), 4 Aug 2013

This photograph taken on July 24, 2013, shows a container ship at the

state-run Jaya Container Terminal (AFP/File, Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)

COLOMBO — A $500 million Chinese-built port opens Monday in Sri Lanka, giving Beijing a vital foothold on the world's busiest international shipping lane as it seeks to secure maritime supply routes.

The massive terminal in Colombo is located mid-way on the lucrative east-west sea route and has facilities on a par with Singapore and Dubai.

The Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), which is 85 percent owned by the state-run China Merchant Holdings International, is designed to handle mega ships -- a first for Sri Lanka which is aiming to become the region's shipping hub.

The involvement of such a large Chinese company appears to conform to a pattern by Beijing after it sealed a deal in January to acquire the Pakistani port of Gwadar at a time when it is also building a $14 million "dry port" in the Nepalese city of Larcha, near Tibet.

Chinese loans and expertise were also instrumental in the construction of a new $450 million deep-sea port at the southern Sri Lankan city of Hambantota which opened in June 2012.

Independent shipping expert, Rohan Masakorala, says the new terminal made economic sense for China to tap in to the growing South Asian container cargo and gave Beijing a foothold along a strategic sea route.

"Terminal investments are a good business which can give a very good return," said Masakorala, a former secretary-general of the Singapore-based Asian Shippers Council.

"Through this investment, China is also securing the safety and efficiency of their main supply chain."

Masakorala, who heads the Shippers' Academy Colombo, said about half of all world sea trade passed through the east-west shipping route and a presence at a mid-way point along that gives China a commanding position.

"For China to maintain economic growth at home, they also need to go out and secure their supply routes. In that sense, coming to Colombo is a strategic commercial investment."

The Chinese investment in Sri Lanka, which is under pressure from Western powers and India over its human rights record, has raised fears in New Delhi about Beijing's influence in the neighbourhood.

But Priyath Bandu Wickrama, chairman of the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), insisted that India had nothing to fear from the new Colombo port and could in fact be a major beneficiary.

"We will not allow any military base at our ports nor will we allow them to be used for any strategic military purpose by anyone," Wickrama said.

Wickrama said shippers in India could save up to four days by routing their cargo through Sri Lanka rather than using Singapore or Dubai.

"Earlier, Indians along the east coast had to send their cargo to Singapore if they wanted to catch a mega ship going West. Now these mega ships will be going through Colombo and picking up Indian cargo," he told AFP.

"That saves time and a lot of money."

The two major ports of south India, the Port of Cochin and the Port of Tuticorin, are too shallow for mega vessels such as the world's largest container ship, the MV. Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller.

Saliya Senanayake from the London-based Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport says that "India is about five to six years behind Sri Lanka when it comes to port infrastructure".

Sri Lanka has been an important stop in the ancient Silk Sea Route and today hundreds of ships pass its southern coast daily while plying the world's busiest international shipping lane.

With a capacity of over 18,000 containers, the M.V. Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, which was commissioned about two weeks ago is expected to make up a fleet of 20 mega ships in the next two years plying the East-West route.

The SLPA is pouring millions of dollars into infrastructure around the island and says it is on course to increase container handling capacity by 1.6 million containers to 6.4 million by April.

It hopes to have a container capacity of 10 million by 2020, while revenue is forecast to triple to one billion dollars by 2020.

Hambantota, which is just 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) away from the East-West sea lane, is being promoted as a key service centre and industrial port where large ships can re-fuel or take on fresh food.

In April, Colombo's port is due to open another mega terminal just next to the Chinese-managed CICT. The new addition will initially be able to handle about 800,000 containers a year, according to the SLPA.

Professor Tsz Leung Yip, head of the International Centre for Maritime Studies at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said Chinese expertise coupled with Colombo's strategic location would make Sri Lanka a key stop-over for international carriers who want to avoid the threat posed by Somali pirates operating off the Gulf of Aden.

"In the presence of Somalia pirates, it is safer for ships (from the Far East to Europe) to stop over at Sri Lanka and head to Cape of Good Hope, without calling at Dubai port," he told AFP.

China takes over Pakistan port from Singapore

Google - AFP, Nasir Jaffry (AFP), 18 February 2013 

Boats are moored at Gwadar port in the Arabian Sea on February 12, 2013

(AFP/File, Behram Baloch)

ISLAMABAD — China took control Monday of a strategic Pakistani port on the Arabian Sea, as part of a drive to secure energy and maritime routes that also gives it a potential naval base, sparking Indian concern.

The Pakistani cabinet approved the transfer of Gwadar, currently a commercial failure cut off from the national road network, from Singapore's PSA International to the state-owned China company on January 30.

It had not been clear when the actual handover would take place, but Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Monday that was broadcast live by local television.

"The contract of operation of Gwadar port is formally given to China. Today, the agreement is transferred from the Port of Singapore Authority to China Overseas Ports Holding Company Limited," Zardari announced.

"The award of this contract opens new opportunities for our people... It gives new impetus to Pakistan-China relations."

The Pakistanis pitched the deal as offering an energy and trade corridor that would connect China to the Arabian Sea and Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for a third of the world's traded oil, overland through an expanded Karakoram Highway.

Experts say it would cut thousands of kilometres off the distance which oil and gas imports from Africa and the Middle East have to travel to reach China.

"Gwadar port will enhance trade and commerce not only between Pakistan and China but also in the region," said Zardari.

China paid about 75 percent of the initial $250 million used to build the port but in 2007 PSA International won a 40-year operating lease.

This photograph taken on February 12, 2013 shows the construction site at

Gwadar port in the Arabian Sea (AFP, Behram Baloch)

Then-ruler Pervez Musharraf was reportedly unwilling to upset Washington by giving control of the port to the Chinese.

On February 6 Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony said New Delhi was concerned by Pakistan's decision to transfer management of the deep-sea port to China, which has interests in a string of other ports encircling India.

Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan dismissed those concerns last week, telling reporters: "This is not something that any other country should have any reason to be concerned about."

Gwadar is part of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the most deprived part of Pakistan despite being rich in oil and gas deposits. The province is gripped by a separatist insurgency and record levels of sectarian violence.

On Saturday, a bomb killed 89 people in a Hazara Shiite Muslim neighbourhood of the provincial capital Quetta, barely a month after twin suicide bombers killed 92 people at a Hazara snooker hall elsewhere in the city.

Zardari said the building of infrastructure around the port will also promote economic activity in Gwadar and Baluchistan.

But some analysts warn that it may be some time before Pakistan can benefit from China's takeover of Gwadar, stressing that the connecting roads and an expanded Karakoram Highway still need to be finished.

They also suggest that security concerns have made China more cautious about big investment projects in Pakistan.

In 2004, three Chinese engineers helping to build Gwadar were killed in a car bombing. The same year, two Chinese engineers working on a hydroelectric dam project in South Waziristan were kidnapped and one of them died.

Gwadar is the most westerly in a string of Chinese-funded ports in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and potentially Bangladesh that encircle its big rival, India.

The ports were dubbed China's "string of pearls" -- or potential naval bases similar to those of the United States -- but some analysts pour cold water on suggestions that Beijing is scouting for naval bases in the Indian Ocean.

Andrew Small, an expert on China-Pakistan relations, believes that most of Beijing's concerns can be resolved through cooperation, but that Gwadar is the most likely port to be developed by China for naval use.

"Pakistan is probably the only government where the level of trust between the two militaries is high enough to make that a completely reliable prospect," he told AFP recently.

Iranian oil tanker anchors off Indonesia in rare move

Reuters, by Francis Kan and Yaw Yan Chong, Singapore, Thu Feb 23, 2012

(Reuters) - An Iranian supertanker loaded with crude has made a rare journey to an anchorage point off the coast of an Indonesian island used for offshore sales and storage of oil.

The Delvar, part of the National Iranian Tanker Co.'s (NITC) fleet, arrived at Karimun Island in the Singapore Strait on Thursday, according to Reuters Freight Fundamentals Database. The vessel remains anchored with its draft indicating an almost full load, the data showed. A super tanker, or Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), can carry up to two million barrels of oil.

Tehran has been struggling to sell its crude in the face of tightening U.S. sanctions and an EU embargo that kicks in on July 1. Major Asian buyers are planning to cut back imports in order to win a waiver from U.S. sanctions, sapping a key revenue lifeline for Iran.

Karimun is a key offshore storage point near Asia's biggest oil trading hub Singapore and is often used for ship-to-ship transfers (STS), but NITC vessels have not been known to call there.

"It's very interesting. I've never seen NITC vessels coming to Karimun," said a Singapore-based shipbroker.

Karimun has been frequently used as a STS location for more than seven years, and some tankers, particularly VLCCs, have anchored there for stints of up to three months.

"If they have sold the oil, it's most likely to a refiner. Traders won't go near Iranian crude. They also could be storing it there," said a Singapore-based crude oil trader.

Western financial sanctions have crimped Iran's purchases of grain, cooking oil and tea. Tehran is turning to barter - offering gold bullion in overseas vaults or tankerloads of oil - as new financial sanctions have hurt its ability to import basic staples for its 74 million people.

Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said there was currently no agreement on barter trade with Iran.

"So far we haven't got any proposal on barter trade from the Iranian government," Wirjawan told Reuters on Thursday.

Separately, Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina said the Iranian tanker was not for them, according to the spokesman.

Refiners in the region who are known to buy Iranian crude include Malaysian state-owned Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell's 500,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Singapore, traders said.

(Additional reporting by Lee Yen Nee, Yayat Supriatna and Reza Thaher; Editing by Sugita Katyal, Manash Goswami)

Carrefour Joins Shark Fin Boycott in Singapore

Jakarta Globe, January 07, 2012

Sharks on display and for sale on the traditional fish market in Lampulo,
Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (EPA Photo/File)

               

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Singapore. French retail giant Carrefour will halt sales of shark fin products in its Singapore outlets after current stocks run out as a supermarket boycott of the delicacy gains steam, media reported on Saturday.

A Carrefour spokesman told the Straits Times it will not replenish its stocks of the environmentally controversial products after they sell out.

The company is the world’s second-largest retailer and operates two supermarkets in Singapore’s city center.

It told the paper the decision was made on its own initiative as a socially responsible retailer, but it could not be reached for comment on whether the ban would extend to its other outlets worldwide.

Shark fin remains a sought after delicacy in Singapore, where it is largely served at Chinese festive celebrations and wedding receptions.

According to the conservation group WWF, the city-state is the world’s second largest shark fin trading centre after Hong Kong.

WWF-Hong Kong says the consumption of shark fins is a driving factor behind the threat to shark populations, with more than 180 species considered threatened in 2010 compared to only 15 in 1996.

The Carrefour report came a day after Singapore’s largest supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice declared it was halting sales of shark fin products.

NTUC FairPrice -- a cooperative run by the city-state’s national trades union -- said it would drop the products from April after an inflammatory comment by one of its suppliers attracted a flurry of complaints.

The supplier had said “Screw the divers!” in an online promotional message for a new product to be launched at FairPrice outlets during the upcoming Lunar New Year.

The comment, apparently directed at divers campaigning against the shark fin trade, went viral on Facebook and microblogging site Twitter.

Retailer Cold Storage was the first Singapore chain to stop selling shark fin, which it did in September last year as part of a collaboration with WWF, local media reported.

Agence France-Presse

Related Articles:

Shark fin goes off the menu at Peninsula hotels

Shark lovers left high and dry

Shark fin soup disappearing from the menu at Chinese weddings


More Articles related ....

Oil slick beaches fishermen

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 02/14/2011

An oil slick, reportedly from a vessel bearing a Singaporean flag, has stopped at least 300 fishermen from going out to sea in Tanjung Berakit,  Bintan, Riau Islands, an official says.

Bintan Environmental Impact Management Agency head Karya Hermawan told tempointeraktif.com Monday that he was not sure if it was sludge from the ship’s engine or oil from another source. The oil has damaged fishermen’s fishing gear, he said.

 The oil had spread up to six kilometers along Padang Lamun Beach, he said.

He said the oil came from a tanker during a cleanup of the vessel and was dumped at night when the north wind was blowing toward Batam. Bintan and Tanjung Pinang.

The agency conducted a cleanup, putting the oil in sacks, in an attempt to prevent the oil from spreading, he said, adding that an investigation was under way.

A fisherman said the pollution became apparent in the wee hours of Saturday. He recalled that sacks containing similar black oil had been found in the water several years ago.

RI, Singapore to jointly develop cruise ship tourism

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/04/2011

Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to jointly develop cruise ship tourism in the neighbors' latest move to boost bilateral economic ties.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said here on Tuesday that the agreement was reached after a meeting between Singaporean Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang at the former’s office in Jakarta.

“Singapore is enjoying a cruise tourism boom and they need areas that the cruises can visit; one of them being Bali. From Bali they can explore eastern Indonesia, which has many potential marine tourist sites,” Hatta said.

He further elaborated that cruise ship tourism was one of six sectors Indonesia and Singapore wished to develop together.

Other targets of bilateral cooperations include civil aviation, manpower, agribusiness, investments, and cooperation in the special economic zones of Batam, Bintan and Karimun; three Indonesian regions bordering with the city state.

On the agribusiness sector, Hatta said the two countries had agreed that Indonesia would increase its vegetable and fruits exports to Singapore by 20 percent each year.

4th Singaporean found dead in Malaysia boat mishap

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press | Mon, 12/27/2010

Searchers recovered the body of a fourth Singaporean tourist and were searching for one more missing in Malaysian waters after an overloaded passenger boat capsized near a resort island, police said Monday.

The wooden boat had been transporting 29 people - more than twice its recommended capacity - to a mainland port Sunday after leaving Malaysia's southern Sibu island, one of the diving zones closest to neighboring Singapore.

It capsized after being struck by strong waves, district police chief Mohamad Nor Rashid said. The passengers were not wearing life jackets.

"One minute we were enjoying the holiday and the next wewere struggling for our lives when the boat capsized," Lim Tai Wee, one of nearly 20 Singaporeans aboard, told The Star newspaper. "It was very windy and the waves were hitting the boat hard."

By midday Monday, rescuers had recovered the bodies of three Singaporean men and a woman, and were looking for more missing, Mohamad Nor said. He added that police had detained the boat's Malaysian skipper for questioning.

Singapore navy taking part in Sail Banda

Antara News, Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:30 WIB

Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA News) - The Singapore Navy is ready to support the Bhakti Surya Bhaskara Jaya (SBJ) operations during the international yacht event of Sail Banda 2010, a Singapore Navy commandant said.

"We are ready to support the SBJ activities with a number of medical and construction skilled personnel to rehabilitate schools and worship houses," Commandant of Singapore ship RSS Endeavor-210, Kenny Chen, said.

Kenny Chen met with Ambon`s Naval Base IX deputy commandant Col Eddy Sugiatmo and a number of the Naval Base officers here on Monday. The meeting took place aboard the RSS Endeavour when the Singapore ship berthed at Ambon`s Yos Sudarso pier.

Kenny Chen said he was happy with the opportunity to visit Ambon and other regions in Indonesia to carry out a humanitarian mission in the health field together with other medical teams of the US biggest hospital ship USNS Mercy T-AH 19. USNS Mercy has dropped anchor in Ambon Bay since Monday morning.

Apart from RSS Endeavor and USNS Mercy, Australia also sent two ships of the Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) type from its navy fleet, namely HMAS Labuan and HMAS Tarakan to take part in the humanitarian mission.

Eddy Sugiatmo expressed his thanks for the presence of the medial teams and naval ships of the neighboring countries which came to Ambon to support the SBJ activities held here until August 4, 2010.

"The SBJ operation is one of the Indonesian government and the National Defense Forces (TNI) programs organized to improve the welfare and health of the local people, particularly those living on small islands" he said.

Officer: I Saw Susno Take the Bribe Over Fish Farm

Jakarta Globe, Farouk Arnaz, May 09, 2010

Susno Duadji arriving at National Police headquarters in this file photo.
(JG Photo/Safir Makki)

A middle-ranking police officer said on Sunday he witnessed former National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji take a bribe from suspected major case broker Sjahril Djohan in December 2008.

“I saw it,” former narcotics detective Adj. Sr. Comr. Syamsurizal Mokoagouw told the Jakarta Globe. “I bumped into Sjahril at Susno’s house on Jalan Abu Ferin in Fatmawati [South Jakarta]. I was there to report to Susno prior to my departure for the Netherlands on a methamphetamine-smuggling investigation.”

Syamsurizal added police have summoned him as a witness in the probe into the alleged Rp 500 million ($55,000) bribe.

“I told the investigators everything I saw,” he said. “I’m willing to testify against Susno, and I’m not afraid of anything because what I’ve said is true.”

He said he saw Sjahril hand Susno a brown paper bag, but did not see its contents. Sjahril is alleged to have bribed Susno on behalf of the co-owner of a fish farm who was seeking a police probe into his business partner for embezzlement.

“Since the case came to light, I’ve understood that the money was a bribe,” Syamsurizal said.

According to copies of police dossiers obtained by the Globe three weeks ago, Sjahril, who was declared a suspect in mid-April, told investigators he had personally handed over the bribe to Susno at the latter’s home in December 2008.

Sjahril said that Syamsurizal had happened to be there. Sjahril said he was acquainted with the officer from his stint as a consultant at the National Police’s Narcotics Directorate in East Jakarta, where Syamsurizal served between 2006 and 2008.

Sjahril, according to the dossiers, said the money came from Haposan Hutagalung, a lawyer representing a Singaporean businessman identified only as Mr Hoo. Hoo had previously pressed charges against his business partner, Anwar Salamah, for allegedly embezzling 11 million Singapore dollars from their joint-venture arowana farm in Riau.

“Mr Hoo felt the police investigators were ineffective, so Haposan sought my help to speed things up,” Sjahril said. “I was close to Susno, so I used that relationship to help Haposan.”

Susno is scheduled for questioning at police headquarters this morning as a witness after failing to appear last Thursday.

“I’ve given my explanation to this allegation on my personal Web site, www.susnoduadji.com,” he told the Globe on Sunday. “Check it out there.”

In his statement, Susno reiterates his innocence and denies ever taking a bribe from Sjahril.

“It is impossible that I took a bribe because the [arowana] case remains in limbo even now,” the site says. “The prosecutors say their dossier on it is not yet complete.” Susno adds that one of his superiors was a stakeholder in the farm, but does not elaborate.

Susno also says on his site that he will show up for questioning today but will demand details of the case before proceeding with the questioning.

A police source working on the case told the Globe earlier that police were close to arresting Susno on charges of bribery, no matter the outcome of his questioning.

Related Article:

Susno evades questioning while police reveal new case