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.

Japan clashes with Dutch-flagged anti-whaling vessels

RNW, 3 January 2011, by Iede de Vries

(Photo: Gary Stokes/SeaShephard.org)

The whaling season has seen its first skirmishes between Japanese whalers and Sea Shepherd anti-whaling activists. One of the campaign ships has a Dutch captain.

Japan has called on the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and the United States to take measures against anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd. The four countries have called for restraint on both sides. In a joint statement they expressed regret that the Japanese fleet continues to kill whales.

Water cannon

The Japanese whalers and the conservationists clashed last weekend in the Pacific Ocean, close to Antarctica. The Japanese crew managed to hold off Sea Shepherd’s speedboats using water cannon as they tried to snare the Japanese vessel’s propellers with floating cables. No one was injured.

Dutch flag

The skirmishes were the first of this whaling season, which runs from December to February. The Japanese whalers say Australia and the Netherlands should take action against Sea Shepherd – two of the organisation’s vessels sail under a Dutch flag, while one is registered in Australia.

Research

The captain of one of the ships, Dutchman Alex Cornelissen, says that up to now no whales have been killed. Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986, and whales can only be killed for scientific purposes. Japan claims it only kills whales for research purposes, but Sea Shepherd says the whale meat ends up on sale for consumption.

Related Article:

Activists, Japan whalers clash in Southern Ocean

South Korea tightens rules to combat illegal whaling

South Korea tightens rules to combat illegal whaling

BBC News, 3 January 2011

Related stories

• Whale talks 'secrecy' condemned
• Whaling plan draws greens' anger

South Korea says it is tightening rules to combat illegal whaling.

South Korea banned commercial whale hunting in 1986

Although commercial whale hunting is banned in the country, the trading of whales that are found dead is still legal.

The new rules will require fisherman to report to police immediately if they discover dead whales in their nets or washed ashore.

The move comes after critics said some fishermen were exploiting a loophole in the law.

The new regulations mean that, from Monday, samples from all dead whales must be given to the authorities for testing, and their meat can only be sold after a full investigation into how the animal died.

Those who catch dead whales will also only be allowed to process and sell them at state-designated facilities, South Korea's agricultural ministry said.

The new law aims to tackle a "growing amount of illegal whale hunting" around the country, it said, according to AFP news agency.

"Once the new measures go into effect, Seoul will be able to better meet allegations of lax oversight raised by some countries and the IWC (International Whaling Commission), and lay the foundation for monitoring marine resources around the Korean Peninsula," a ministry official was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.

South Korea used to allow commercial whaling but banned it when the IWC implemented a global moratorium in 1986.

Massive fish kill blankets Arkansas River

CNN News, By the CNN Wire Staff, January 2, 2011

Dead drum fish lline the banks of a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River near Ozark.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• An estimated 100,000 drum fish have died, officials say
• The fish kill is not believed to be related to bird deaths in another town

(CNN) -- Arkansas officials are investigating the death of an estimated 100,000 fish in the state's northwest, but suspect disease was to blame, a state spokesman said Sunday.

Dead drum fish floated in the water and lined the banks of a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River near Ozark, about 125 miles northwest of Little Rock, said Keith Stephens of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. A tugboat operator discovered the fish kill Friday night, and fisheries officials collected some of the dying animals to conduct tests.

Stephens said fish kills occur every year, but the size of the latest one is unusual, and suggested some sort of disease was to blame.

"The fish kill only affected one species of fish," he said. "If it was from a pollutant, it would have affected all of the fish, not just drum fish."

Ozark is about 125 west of the town of Beebe, where game wardens are trying to find out why up to 5,000 blackbirds fell from the sky just before midnight New Year's Eve. Biologists believe the bird deaths were stress-related from either fireworks or weather and are unrelated to the fish kill near Ozark, Stephens said.

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More than 1,000 dead birds fall from sky in Ark

A dead bird lies on Skylark Street in Beebe, Ark. on Saturday, Jan. 1,

2011. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Saturday more

than 1,000 dead black birds fell from the sky in Beebe. The agency

said its enforcement officers began receiving reports about the dead

birds about 11:30 p.m. Friday. (AP Photo/The Daily Citizen, Warren

Watkins)

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

Activists, Japan whalers clash in Southern Ocean

RNW, 1 January 2011

Militant anti-whalers Saturday said they had clashed with Japanese harpoonists in the Southern Ocean, chasing them through ice packs, throwing stink bombs at them and being hit with water cannon.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's vessels have been seeking to disrupt the Japanese whalers on their annual hunt in Antarctic waters since mid-December but had not been able to sight the Japanese fleet until Friday.

The society's president Paul Watson said that now they had made contact with the whalers, they would attempt to prevent any of the giant sea creatures from being slaughtered.

"It's got its water cannons turned onto us right now so we're manoeuvring through ice and trying to outmanoeuvre them so it's a little dicey," Watson told ABC Radio.

Locky MacLean, the captain of the Sea Shepherd's 'Gojira' vessel, said the society's three boats had been "dancing dangerously through the ice packs locked in confrontation with the three harpoon ships".

"It was both deadly and beautiful," he said in a statement on the society's website. "Deadly because of the ice and the hostility of the whalers and beautiful because of the ice, and the fact that these three killer ships are not killing whales while clashing with us."

The activists said the clashes involved several high speed chases and near collisions among jagged ice floes, and alleged that the whalers turned water cannons and hoses on their crew.

"Sea Shepherd responded with some rather unpleasant foul-smelling substances," they said in a statement, adding that there were no injuries.

A Sea Shepherd spokesman was unable to confirm what was thrown, but in previous years the activists have tossed rancid butter, or butyric acid, stink bombs at the whalers to make their decks unusable for slaughtering whales.

The conservationists said now they had found the Japanese fleet, 1,700 nautical miles southeast of New Zealand, they would continue to harass them to prevent them from killing whales during the southern hemisphere summer.

"Our objective is to save the maximum number of whales and to maximise the financial losses of the whalers at the same time," Watson said in the statement.

Australia has taken legal action against Japan to prevent it from hunting whales by exploiting a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium which allows whaling for research purposes.

Govt. extends import on shrimp species

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/31/2010

The government has extended the ban on the import of shrimp from the species of penaeus vanamae due to reports that the shrimp carries thirteen viruses dangerous for human health as well as that of other shrimps.

According to Saut P. Hutagalung, the director of foreign marketing at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the ban, which took into effect on Dec.23, will last indefinitely until the virus can be contained.

“The import [of the shrimp] will be banned for at least the first semester of 2011,” he said, as reported by kontan.co.id.

He added that the ban was based on the scientific findings of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) which pointed out that the shrimp carried 13 viruses harmful for the health of humans and other shrimp species.

However, Fisheries Processing and Marketing Entrepreneurs Association chairman Thomas Darmawan said that the government should just limit and tighten vaname shrimp imports instead of implementing a full ban since the virus did not attack all countries.

“We can import from virus-free countries,” he added.

HK cargo ship stranded in Batu Atas coast

Antara News, Friday, December 31, 2010

Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - A Hong Kong cargo ship, Janwan, ran aground in Batu Atas waters, Buton district, Southeast Sulawesi after hitting coral reef, Robertus Maturbongs, the Head of Baubau Seaport, said here Friday.

Robertus said the ship stranded because of high waves in the last couple weeks, and rescue efforts were hampered by huge waves.

"Singapore rescue team, Baubau seaport personnel, local Search and Rescue team (SAR), the police and naval personnel have evacuated 23 people from the ill-fated ship," he said here Friday.

He said, Friday, the ship was not leaking, however further check would be conducted to find out whether it could continue its trip or not.

The sterm of the 189 meters long and 3000 tons ship was raised some meters, he added.

"The ship ran aground at around 8 pm, while sailing from Tanjung Buli Halmahera to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan," he said.

Technical errors and faulty navigation as well as human error may have been the causes of the accident, and the rough weather made it difficult for the rescue team to move the ship to safety, Robertus said.

"The ship will be towed by several other vessels from Singapore," he said.

Indonesian student discover four new fish species

Antara News, Thursday, December 30, 2010

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - An Indonesian biolgy student at George Washington University in the US has discovered four new fresh water fish species in Southwest Sumatra rivers.

Daniel Natanael Lumbantobing who is studying for a doctoral degree in biology at George Washington University said the four new species belonged to the Cyprinidae family.

In an e-mail to ANTARA here Thursday, he said he had named his four discoveries Rasbora api, Rasbora nodulosa, Rasbora kluetensis, and Rasbora truncata.

All of them were part of the Rasbora trifasciata species, he said.

One of the new found species was named Rasbora api because the dorsal fins and caudal fins or tails were orange-tinged resembling the color of a flame (api), Daniel said.

Rasbora api was distinguished from other species in the R. trifasciata-group by an anteriorly tapering black midlateral stripe extending posteriorly along the flank from the first lateral-line scale system and stout conical cephalic tubercles, whereas Rasbora nodulosa had nodular and smaller cephalic tubercles, Daniel said.

Meanwhile, Rasbora kluetensis was distinguished from its congeners in the species group by the conical cephalic tubercles with a somewhat protruding base bearing microridges.

The fourth new species, Rasbora truncata, differed from its congeners in the species group by a combination of meristic, pigmentary, and tuberculation features, and details of the lateral line system, he said.

The discpvery of the four new fresh water species was published in the December 2010 issue of Copeia, a journal of science issued by The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Daniel described the four new species during an inventory collection of fresh water fish in North Sumatra and Southwestern coast of Aceh in July-August 2006.

"We moslty used `seine` and `gill` nets to catch the fish. The captured fish had been preserved to be kept as museum items," he said.

There were some other members of Rasbora genus in Indonesia such as Saluang in Kalimantan, Paray in Sunda, Wader in Java, badar in Minang, Relo in Gayo, and Burinsak in Tapanuli, he said.

There were around 50 species identified and there might be numerous other species that were still unidentified, he said.

"Therefore, there is a possibility other species in the Rasbora category will be discovered in the future," Daniel said.

American Cruise Ship to Dock in Makassar

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 28 December, 2010

TEMPO Interactive, Makassar: Approaching the end of 2010, Makassar will receive hundreds of foreign tourists once again. The Sea Born Spirit cruise ship from the US will dock at the Soekarno-Hatta Harbor today.

The Sea Born Spirit cruise ship

“About 193 foreign tourist will visit Makassar. This is a good opportunity to promote the area,” said Managing Director of Destination Asia, Sediya Yasa, after meeting Senior Adjunct Commisioner Sri Rejeki Budianti, chief of the Soekarno-Hatta Harbor police, yesterday.

Unfortunately, Sea Born Spirit will only stay for about five hours in Makassar. Other places she will visit are traditional harbor sPaotere and Fort Rotterdam

Sediya said that the cruise ship will be bringing tourists from Europe, Australia, US and the UK. In addition to Makassar, the ship will visit several areas in Indonesia.

In addition to cruise ship, several foreign tourists are seen attending Lovely December celebration in Makale, Tana Toraja Regency, South Sulawesi. The cultural parade was filled with dances and music from 16 regencies in Tana Toraja.

Unfortunately, the celebration, which has been held for the third time, has failed to attract many tourists. There were only about a 1,000 people. Meanwhile, a similar event held last year, attracted about 8000 people. “The government should promote Lovely December continuously,” said Bertus, a Makalele resident, yesterday.

ABDUL RAHMAN | SUKMAWATI

Suspicious acts before 7.3 Christmas quake terrorizes Vanuatu people

examiner.com, December 25th, 2010 3:19 pm ET

Only several weeks before the 7.3 earthquake hit the South Pacific Island, Vanuatu on Christmas Day, terrorizing locals, all of its seismic monitoring equipment had been stolen, leaving no way to monitor earthquakes in the vicinity of the Port Vila city, no means to warn of tsunami triggers, and less means to determine if the U.S. military is to blame due to testing environmental warfare technology.

Vanuatu earthquake: The earthquake location map on
Dec. 25 at 13:16 UTC time, or 8:15am EST. (USGS.gov)

The criminal act of stealing the equipment is suspicious in lieu of military Weapons of Mass Destruction that can trigger or cause what appears to be "natural disasters" for geopolitical gain. (See: What are environment modification techniques and environmental warfare? Human Rights info 101, Dupré, D., Examiner, Dec. 6, 2009 and Global warming and intellectual climate change crisis: Myths, military and WMDs, Examiner, Dec. 14, 2009)

The Christmas 7.3 magnitude quake hit the Least Developing Country, Vanuatu just after midnight on December 25. It struck about 140 miles (225 kilometers) south of Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila and near Tana Island according to Associated Press. The quake was unusually shallow, only 15 miles below the ocean floor.

On November 9, over vt 1 million dollars worth of earthquake prediction and monitoring equipment was stolen from Vanuatu's Meteorological and Geohazards Department station at Devils Point on Efaté Island according to the nation's newspaper, the Vanuatu Daily Post in its article, Over Vt1 million worth earthquake equipment stolen again.

The criminal act is reported as professionally executed, unlike most reported crimes in the Third World nation where developed nation weapons such as guns are highly atypical. Among the world's hungry, Ni-Vanuatu people live on less than a dollar a day and use spears and hand-made weapons for food gathering. "Professional" criminal acts are also atypical.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported that Acting Director, Ms Patricia Mawa said the equipment was stolen around 8:30 a.m. by "thieves that seemed to be familiar with the seismic monitoring devices and telemetry system." The apparent insiders "cut the fence wire, and carefully dismantled the instruments."

"These vital equipment included: one Solar Panel – 80 Watts (as sold by Pacific Power at Fresh Water); a VLF – (Very Low Frequency) Receiving/ Transmitting System, and the cables."

“Without these stations, the people of Vanuatu will no longer be able to get accurate information and timely warnings during events of earthquakes and tsunamis."

On October 1, vital equipment was stolen at one of the other two stations in the Efate Seismic Network, the station at Klem’s Hill, according to the Acting Director.

The center stated, "There is apparently no tsunami threat to Hawaii, but 'some coastal areas in Hawaii could experience small non-destructive sea level changes and strong or unusual currents lasting up to several hours" and "sea level changes are expected around 10:51am HST."

God or ENMOD?

Many people attribute the surge in earthquakes and other "natural disasters" to God's work. Others recognize that these disasters can be attributed to military technology applied in a war against the world.

The term, "Environmental modification techniques" refers to any technique for changing - through the deliberate manipulation of natural processes - the dynamics, composition or structure of the Earth, including its biota, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, or of outer space. (Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, United Nations, Geneva: 18 May 1977)

"Environmental warfare" is defined as the intentional modification or manipulation of the natural ecology, such as climate and weather, earth systems such as the ionosphere, magnetosphere, tectonic plate system, and/or the triggering of seismic events (earthquakes) to cause intentional physical, economic, and psycho-social, and physical destruction to an intended target geophysical or population location, as part of strategic or tactical war." (Eco News)

Michel Chossudovsky has reported about military manipulations of the environment in his article, Excluded from the Copenhagen Agenda: Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) and Climate Change - The manipulation of climate for military use:

"The possibility of climatic or environmental manipulations as part of a military agenda, while formally acknowledged by official government documents and the US military, has never been considered relevant to the Climate debate. Military analysts are mute on the subject. Meteorologists are not investigating the matter, and environmentalists are strung on global warming and the Kyoto protocol." (Chossudovsky, M., Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) and Climate Change, Global Research, December 5, 2009; Also see D. Dupre, A gory truth about climate change mind control, Examiner, December 6, 2009)

Wayne Hall reports on Rense.com, that "there remains the task of breaching the secrecy that surrounds the subject. Given that the ecological organizations are clearly not going to do this, we must initiate discussions with them to decide who should be assigned the task. Who is going to bell the cat?" (Hall, W. Chemtrail Secrets: Strategies Against Climate Change?, Rense.com, January 2004)

Vanuatu's stretch of small islands is north of Fiji, south of the Solomon Islands and about 1,200 miles from the coastal Australian city of Brisbane. It is in the archipelago called the “Pacific Ring of Fire” where a large amount of volcanic and seismic activity occur, perfect military testing ground for new weapons of mass destruction.

Related Articles:

Over Vt1 million worth earthquake equipment stolen again

The Earth as a weapon in 21st Century of Wars

Maritime casualty reports increase to 128 cases in 2010

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/28/2010

The National Commission of Transportation Safety (KNKT) revealed Tuesday that the number of maritime casualty reports had increased to 128 cases in 2010 from 124 cases in 2009.

“Although the number of cases rose, the [human losses] decreased to 185 people from 247 victims in 2009,” KNKT chairman Tatang Kurniadi said in Jakarta.

The KNKT also noted 50 percent of the casualties involved motorboats, cargo carriers and container ships, while the casualties involving tug boats accounted for only 21 percent.

“In the Java Sea there were 48 incidents, as it is the busiest waterway in the country,” he said.

Tatang added that from the total cases, KNKT only investigated five severe incidents.

Navy arrests boat selling illegal diesel oil

Antara News, Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - Tanjungpinang navy patrol in Riau Islands intercepted and arrested an illegal diesel oil boat and its crew of four when selling its cargo in Anak Lobam waters, Bintan regency.

"We also seized the boat and 40 tons of illegal diesel oil which was about to be sold at sea," commander of Tanjungpinang naval patrol Major Hariyo Poernomo said here on Monday.

Hariyo said the nameless vessel with four crewmen, namely Rusli, Nur Khatib, Lahode and M Nur, was arrested by the navy patrol boat in Anak Lobam waters on Tuesday (Dec 21) at 2 am when sailing from Buluh Island in Batam.

"They were about to sell the illegal diesel oil to tug boats passing the area," Hariyo said.

It appeared that the diesel came from boats selling the illegal oil and received by Alimin who told the four suspects to resell it.

Hariyo said a thorough investigation showed that the diesel oil as well as the boat did not have any papers.

"They have violated the law on navigation and the law on oil and gas," he added.

He added that the sale of illegal diesel oil at sea had frequently happened and the capacity of the boat is normally 100 tons.

The skipper of the boat carrying the illegal diesel oil, M Nur (58), said Alimin simply told them to bring the oil to the Tekulai waters from Buluh Batam island.

"We have no idea where the oil came from and we were told to only take the boat to Tekulai before to other boats came," he said. Nur said Alimin paid him for bringing the boat with 40 tons of diesel oil on board, but refused to say how much exactly was the payment.

The boat with the four frewmen is now held at the naval patrol basis in Tanjung Unggat, Tanjungpinang.

Three Chinese Naval ships making goodwill visit

Antara News, Monday, December 27, 2010

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Three Chinese Navy ships arrived at Indonesia`s Tanjung Priok port on Monday n a goodwill mission during which their crews would execute several programs designed to improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

The flotilla`s commander, Major General Wei Xueyi, said in his remarks on arrival that the visit was intended to enhance relations between the two navies and the two countries in general.

The Chinese ships were welcomed by Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Zhang Qiyue and Brigadier General Arif Suherman, commander of Indonesia`s third navy base (Lantamal III) and members of the Chinese community in Indonesia.

"During our visit, our crews will also take the opportunity to go sightseeing in the Indonesian capital, meet local people, and sample local life. We are very pleased to have this chance of visiting Indonesia," Major General Wei Xueyi said

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Qiyue said the Chinese warships` visit was part of activities to mark 60 years of Indonesia-China diplomatic relations and friendship this year. The visit was also expected to improve the relationship between the navies of the two countries.

During their five-day stay in Indonesia, the Chinese crews are to conduct a series of activities, including visiting Indonesian naval ships , and compete with Indonesian naval personnel in several sports events.

"I hope the visit will improve our communication and understanding with the Indonesian navy as well as the Indonesian people. We also hope the friendship between Indonesia and China will develop further in the future ," he said.

The Chinese flotilla consists of an amphibious landing ship, the Kunlunshan, a destroyer, the Lanzhou, and a supply ship, the Weishanshu and carrying a combined crew of 1,000 men.

It had just completed patrol duties in the Gulf of Aden and in Somali waters to combat sea piracy rampant in those areas.

The flotilla is the sixth China had deployed in the Gulf of Aden and in Somali waters.

The previous five Chinese flotillas in the Gulf of Aden had escorted 2,248 Chinese and foreign ships in 213 batches in this region, which have been plagued by pirate attacks, since December 2008.

The sixth flotilla had escorted 615 ships, including five from Indonesia, during its service period, expelling 190 suspicious boats, saving one ship hijacked by Somali pirates and three others being chased by pirates.

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.

Age of sail boats inspires green solutions

CNN, By George Webster for CNN, December 26, 2010

Before fossil fuel-powered vessels came to dominate the seas, international
trade was conducted on vast tall ships. Are they set for a comeback?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• B9 energy plans to build first fleet of carbon-neutral "sail ships" for transporting cargo
• Project represents a return to traditional maritime trading methods.
• Comes as a handful of companies turn to sail boats to reduce emissions
• Shipping industry skeptical about economic viability for use on long-haul journeys

London (CNN) -- With its long hull, towering masts and expansive sails, it resembles a schooner from the 19th century. But fitted with a series of high-tech features, this so-called "sail ship" is designed to cut carbon emissions on the high seas today.

Part of a fleet of carbon-neutral, wind-powered sail ships planned by Britain's B9 Energy, it's just one example of how companies are looking to the past for greener alternatives to the gas-guzzling vessels that transport the world's cargo.

When it comes to wind power replacing fuel in shipping vessels, "it's not a question of if, but when," according to David Surplus, the chairman of B9 Energy, Britain's largest windfarm operator.

"By most people's estimates, we have reached peak oil -- sooner or later the fuel will run out and there will simply be no alternative," said Surplus.

Roughly 87% of international trade is carried out by the shipping industry, figures from the International Maritime Organization show.

With the majority of world trade traveling by sea, the shipping industry is responsible for around 4% of global carbon emissions, according to the latest figures available from the United Nations.

B9 expects its 100% carbon-neutral trading ship to be
in production by 2012.

B9 claims its vessel will be the first commercially produced merchant ship to harness alternative energy, but it certainly isn't alone in using old-fashioned sail boats to move goods.

"At the moment it's happening on a fairly small, fairly local scale," said Jan Lundberg, founder of Sail Transport Network, a group that promotes sailing as a means of eco-friendly, cost-efficient trade.

But the trend is growing, he said, pointing to examples like El Lago Coffee Company, which uses traditional sail boats to ship Guatemalan coffee beans to the United States, and the Sail Transport Company, a Seattle-based group that uses sailboats to deliver "petroleum-free organic produce."

B9's new eco-friendly ships, planned to be in production by 2012, signify a return to a much more traditional form of merchant shipping. Before diesel-powered steel tankers came to dominate the seas, international trade was conducted on vast, wooden sail ships.

The 100% carbon-neutral freighter will feature automated, self-adjusting sails that respond to minute changes in the wind to maximize propulsion. The boat will also take advantage of "skysail" technology -- a kite-styled towing system currently used on some cargo ships to improve fuel efficiency.

RELATED TOPICS

• Sailing
• Trade
• International Maritime Organization
• Nature and the Environment
• Emissions Offsets and Trading

In addition, a biofuel-powered engine will operate under less windy conditions.

Surplus says that with these technologies, the B9 sail ship will be able to carry up to 9,000 tons of cargo.

That's just a fraction of the more than 100,000 tons that much larger ships used for long-haul trade can carry, he admitted.

But B9 will initially just operate within Europe, particularly in the North Sea and Baltic where the winds are strong.

Surplus added: "There are currently about 1,500 similarly sized fossil fuel-powered ships working along these routes and our dream is to replace all of them."

Whether sail ships can replace modern freighters on a large scale, however, remains to be seen. Jeremy Harrison, communications director at the British-based Chamber of Shipping, has his doubts.

"I would love to see sail boats replace the current system," he said. "But I just can't see how it will be economical, even as fuel prices rise."

According to Harrison, advances in fuel efficiency onboard super-large cargo ships will help offset the rising cost of fossil fuels.

"Big shipping companies have already made huge savings just by 'slow steaming' -- reducing their speeds to save on fuel consumption," he said.

Earlier this year Maersk, the world's largest container shipping firm with more than 600 ships, announced that it had adapted its giant marine diesel engines to travel at super-slow speeds -- reducing emissions by 30% and saving a reported $100 million in the process.

"Unless you can build a sail-powered boat as big as the ships that are out there today, it will be very difficult to achieve the economies of scale to make it competitive," Harrison said.

Surplus, however, is undeterred.

He said: "A lot of people don't understand what renewable energy has achieved onshore. If you simply transfer those economic models across to shipping, it completely transforms the economic proposition."

(Photo: RNW )

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Sail armada leaves Amsterdam

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Heavy traffic in the Amsterdam docklands during Sail 2010

DKP allocates Rp2.7 billion for Sail Wakatobi-Belitung

Antara News, Friday, December 24, 2010

Wanci, Southeast Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Southeast Sulawesi Marine and Fisheries Agency (DKP) will allocate Rp2.7 billion from regional budget (APBD) to support Sail Wakatobi-Belitung 2011.

"For Sail Wakatobi-Belitung event, we have proposed Rp4.7 billion fund but the Provincial Legislative Agency (DPRD) only agreed Rp2.7 billion," local DPK spokesman Abdul Salam said in Wakatobi on Friday.

According to him the Rp2.7 billion fund would be spent on accommodation and fuel oil for a number of Navy ships which would be mobilized to ensure security at Southeast Sulawesi waters.

"A lot of Navy ships will be mobilized to ensure the security on the peak event of Sail Wakatobi-Belitung from August 2, 2011 to September 2, 2011 in Wakatobi," Abdul Salam said.

He said the during the international marine event, the need of fuel oil for the Navy ships including accommodation for the personnel would be borne by the host of the sail, namely Southeast Sulawesi and Bangka-Belitung provinces.

"We hope a number of districts and cities which have been appointed to be the venue of the sail will fully support the event and make it a success," Abdul Salam said.

Police caught Indonesian-Flagged Vietnamese fishing boats

Antara News, Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Pontianak, West Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - National marine police have caught eight Indonesian-flagged Vietnamese boats while illegally fishing in the exclusive economic zone in Natuna.

The boats were caught during police operations from December 9 to 16, the director of intelligence and crimes of the West Kalimantan Regional Police Command, Senior Commissioner Bambang Priambada, said here on Wednesday.

The boats had raised Indonesian flags and names to cover up so that Indonesian police would think they are local boats, he said.

All the skippers and crew of the boats are Vietnamese, he said. "We have so far named eight suspects namely their skippers while 101 crew members of the boats are still under detention waiting for their deportation," he said.

The eight boats along with their catch reaching 27 tons of fish are now being entrusted to the West Kalimantan regional police command pending their legal process.

"According to the temporary results of investigation they have conducted fish poaching around a month. But we are predicting they had operated for more than a year. They sold their catch to a collector ship in the high seas," he said.

He said after investigation the legal process of the eight skippers would be referred to the Pontianak Fishery and Marine Resource Supervision for a further process and later a court trial.

One of skippers, Pong Hai, said he and his fellows braved fishing illegally in the Indonesian waters because no fish had now been found in their country`s waters.

"Fish in the Indonesian waters is still abundant and therefore we are poaching here," he said.

He said he spent US$10 to an Indonesian citizen to change the name of his boat with a name in the Indonesian language.

West Kalimantan waters are included in Zone III along with Natuna, Karimata and South China Sea with fish potentials reaching one million ton a year.

The West Kalimantan waters strecthes up to 26,000 kilometers up to South China Sea covering 2,004,000 hectares of public waters, 26,700 hectares of pond culture waters ad 15,500 hectares of sea.

The fish species found in the waters include tuna, mackerel and squid.