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Saturday, June 13, 2020

This Monday, Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued a direction ordering the owner of APL England, a Singaporian cargo ship, to search for, and recover, 50 cargo containers that were lost from their vessel off New South Wales, Australia last month; Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has classified it as a “serious incident”. AMSA has identified a priority search area of about 1000km² stretching between the Illawarra and Sydney’s southern suburbs. Drift modelling and analysis of container sightings following the incident indicates that missing containers could be in this area at water depth of up to 200m. Containers within the search area pose the most immediate environmental threat and may present a safety hazard for commercial fishers.

AMSA General Manager Response Mark Morrow said 15 containers had been recovered from the shoreline or towed in after being spotted floating off the coast, but 35 containers were still missing. The 50 cargo containers were spilled from the ship on May 24 as rough weather at the waters has been reported, which caused the vessel’s main engine to trip; resulting in loss of propulsion for a short time and the ship rolling heavily, up to 25°. Further investigations, according to a statement from AMSA, showed “inadequate lashing for cargo and heavily corroded securing points for containers on the deck”, which were the shipmaster’s responsibility.

Of the 50 spilt cargo containers, 26 were empty, according to reports. Further, another 75 containers were damaged but stayed onboard, according to a report from ABC. Some commenters had remarked this incident could have been avoided if the ship was loaded with the cargo more appropriately, such as with a lesser amount.

The AMSA surveyors conducted a seaworthiness inspection on May 26, with the ship docked at the Port of Brisbane anchorage (off Port Cartwright), to check the structural and operational condition of the ship following the collapse of container stacks on the deck. AMSA General Manager of Operations Allan Schwartz said the seaworthiness inspection would help inform if, and how, the ship might be brought safely into the Port of Brisbane.

On May 27, the ship was found to be fit to be brought safely into the Port of Brisbane by Maritime Safety Queensland and the Brisbane Harbour Master. The vessel was escorted into Moreton bay by two harbour tugs, one container salvage response vessel, two Queensland water police vessels and a Maritime Safety Queensland pollution response vessel. It arrived safely in port at midday, and was detained by AMSA on Wednesday night after its investigators discovered the cargo stowage deficiencies including inadequate lashing arrangements for cargo and heavily corroded securing points for containers on deck.

AMSA said in a statement that the ship will not be released until the issues are corrected. “These inspection findings are a clear breach of requirements under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). This is a now matter for the ship’s owner, American President Lines (APL), and the operator to rectify.” AMSA and Australian Transport Safety Bureau are conducting investigation into the incident; the final report is anticipated by the end of 2021 . AMSA continues to provide drift modeling and work with NSW Maritime, the lead agency responding to the incident’s shoreline impacts.

The ship master, 42-years-old Mohamad Zulkhaili Bin Alias, appeared at Wynnum Magistrates Court on May 29, 2020. According to the statement by AMSA, the offences filed against the shipmaster related to pollution and/or damage of the Australian marine environment as a result of poor cargo loading. Specifically the two charges that have been laid, as reported by ASMA, were

1. “Section 26F of the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 – Discharging of garbage into the sea contrary to the Act
2. Section 141 of the Navigation Act 2012 – Master did not ensure that the vessel was operated in a manner that did not cause
   • pollution to the marine environment in the coastal sea of Australia or the exclusive economic zone of Australia and
   • damage to the marine environment in the coastal sea of Australia or the exclusive economic zone of Australia”

The orders also included the ship insurer company to pay $22 million as per the Protection of the Seas Act, before the ship can be released from detention at the Port of Brisbane.

This Friday, on June 12, the Brisbane Magistrates Court in Queensland, Australia has changed the bail conditions for shipmaster – he was now allowed to travel abroad. The ship continued to remain detained in Brisbane where Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was investigating.

The new bail conditions allowed the ship master to leave the ship and travel abroad to Malaysia to resume his work, required him to appear in court in person when requested, and required that he would pay AUD60,000 of deposit to the court before his passport could be released to him.

On May 26, reports were received of face masks washing up in NSW between Magenta Beach and The Entrance. By May 27, the floating containers and their contents started polluting the beaches in Sydney, Australia. The AMSA released a statement in which it said the containers likely contained “medical supplies, household appliances and building materials”.

The Malabar Beach, Coogee Beach, Maroubra Beach, Bronte Beach and Bondi Beach were affected. Malabar beach was reportedly affected the most. The beaches were closed on Wednesday, May 27, and Council staff –rangers– as well as residents, including volunteers from Australian Seabird Rescue (ASR), cleaned-up what washed up on shore.

On Sunday May 31, a 12-meter container devoid of its shipment of “medical supplies, household appliances and building materials” washed up on rocks near South Maroubra Beach, in New South Wales, Australia.

The ASR branch coordinator commented on the environmental impact of the debris, by saying “It’s not going to biodegrade, it’s going to stay there for such a long time. These animals out in the ocean are going to choose to eat a lot of it as food. They don’t realise that what the ocean is providing isn’t good for them.”

The beaches were re-opened for swimming by 1st of June. After the beaches re-opened, visitors were advised to not pick up any debris (pictured). Some of the spilled cargo has also reached as far as the Central Coast, according to a report from ABC.

AMSA General Manager Response Mark Morrow said AMSA expected the owner and operator to respond to the direction with a detailed search plan in the coming days. “Failure to comply with this direction constitutes an offence under Australian law”.

The court matter was adjourned until July 24, to be mentioned at Brisbane Magistrates Court on the day.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Observatories around the world watched the skies early on Sunday morning as a European space probe, the SMART-1 crash landed on the Moon; the first time a European made object has landed there and, as the first, it made quite a bang. For the culmination of its three-year mission the probe left its orbit around our nearest neighbor and smashed into the Lake of Excellence at around 4,500 mph. The impact created a brand new crater and scattered debris up to 30 miles, in contrast to the gentle touchdown of the Eagle lander (when Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon) 37 years ago.

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

According to Dutch researchers, tests performed on cats at Rotterdam’s Erasmus Medical Center by Dutch show that cats could play a key role in transmitting bird flu to humans.

Reports have noted that there are increased deaths in Europe and Asia involving cats that are carrying the deadly disease and also say that cats could play a key role in allowing mutation of bird flu so it can be transmitted between humans.

“Apart from the role that cats may play in H5N1 virus transmission to other species, they may be involved in helping the virus to adapt to efficient human-to-human transmission,” said researchers.

The experiments were performed on eight cats, all of which were exposed to the H5N1 virus in three different ways. In all three cases, the cats became infected. The researchers said that most domestic cats became infected with the H5N1 virus when they came in contact with wild and or domestic birds. In some cases, those cats transmitted the virus to other cats.

However, researchers said that their research was performed experimentally with infected cats and that those experiments did not show a mutation in the virus but did say that “such mutations cannot be ruled out.”

Researchers have strongly suggested that cats be kept indoors, but also said that this measure would be “impossible” in some parts of the world.

Researchers also say that cats need to be included in any precautionary measures against the virus.

“We have to take a number of precautionary measures. We need to keep in mind that mammals can be infected and that they can spread the disease, in principle. The potential role of cats should be considered in official guidelines for controlling the spread of H5N1 virus,” said Dr. Albert Osterhaus, of Erasmus University in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Monday, February 29, 2016

Yesterday Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar, for Best Actor, at the 88th Academy Awards. The award ended DiCaprio’s long wait for an Academy Award — he was first nominated in 1993 and won on his sixth nomination, for his role in The Revenant, which also won Best Cinematography and Best Director.

In his acceptance speech, DiCaprio described The Revenant as “about man’s relationship to the natural world”, and spoke of underprivileged people affected adversely by human activities on nature. He also said “Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow”. He concluded saying “I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted. Thank you so very much.”

DiCaprio was previously nominated for his work in The Wolf of Wall Street, for Best Actor and Best Picture; Blood Diamond, for Best Actor; The Aviator, Best Actor; and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, for Best Supporting Actor.

Kate Winslet, who co-starred with DiCaprio in Titanic, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Steve Jobs, but lost to Swedish actress Alicia Vikander for her role in The Danish Girl. Brie Larson collected Best Actress for her performance in Room.

Mad Max: Fury Road had ten nominations and won six of them: Best Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. Ex Machina won the award for Best Visual Effects. Spotlight won the Best Picture award, and Sam Smith’s song Writing’s on the Wall won Best Original Song for Spectre ahead of the Grammy-winning song Earned It by Canadian singer The Weeknd.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

One of Mexico’s most successful cartoonists, Gabriel Vargas, died yesterday at the age of 95. His death was announced by the National Council of the Arts and Culture. Vargas had been ill for several years before his death, but no cause of death has yet been given.

Vargas’s most successful comic strip was “La Familia Burron” which he started in 1937. The strip looked at a low-income family struggling with everyday life. It sold up to 500,000 copies per week until the 1970s.

Later in his career he won several awards for his work, including Mexico’s National Journalism Prize in 1983 and the National Sciences and Arts prize in 2003.

There was a memorial viewing for Vargas at a funeral home in Mexico City yesterday.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

2007 the 33rd Taipei International Electronics Autumn Show (TAITRONICS Autumn), organized by Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufactorers’ Association (TEEMA), started on October 9 -13 at Exhibition Hall 1 and 3 of Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC), and inconjunction with Taiwan International RFID Applications Show (RFID Taiwan) at TWTC Hall 3 and Taiwan International Photovoltaic Fourm & Exhibition (PV Taiwan) at Taipei International Convention Center (TICC). With the 3-in-1 combination, TAITRA and TEEMA hoped this show will integrate upper and lower companies of electronic manufacturers and companies in Taiwan.

This 3-in-1 show is mainly focused on electronics parts and components, RFID solutions, photovoltaic products, and medias on electrical industry. About 1000 exhibitors exhibited with 2100 booths at TWTC Hall 1 & 3 and TICC. In the theme pavilion section, iF Design Award in Hanover Fairs set “iF Design Pavilion” with lots of awarded 3C products in Taiwan first time, also, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) showed their solutions on home entertainment such as 3D LCD wide screen display and game projector.

Not only ITRI and iF Design, TAITRA and TEEMA also set “Taiwan Innovalue and Branding Taiwan”, “Product Certificates and Testing”, “Cross-Strait Electrical Products”, “Security Products”, and “Broadband Communications” pavilions at this exhibition.

With those pavilions, TEEMA also held lots of seminars and forums on Bluetooth technology, electrical industry, testings and certifications, and International Electrotechnical Commission Quality (IECQ) system. Furthermore, CARTS Asia 2007 is the most welcomed seminar by buyers and exhibitors.

According to TAITRA, this 3-in-1 exhibition opened daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at October 9 to 13, PV Taiwan forum and exhibition will be held only two days on October 11 and 12. For the quality and security issue, minors under 18 ages are not permitted to enter the showground.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

At least fifteen people have been killed as the result of a landslide which occurred in Indonesia on Tuesday. According to BBC News Online, at least sixteen were killed. It is thought that up to seventy people were killed as a result of the landslide, which occurred in a village near to the city of Bandung.

At one point, villagers attempted to dig out surviving victims from the rocks and mud by using their bare hands, as rescue efforts were suspended temporarily due to heavy rain, before recommencing after lifting equipment arrived. At least sixteen dead bodies have been recovered by Wednesday. Roughly five hundred people are contributing to the search and rescue.

Priyadi Kardono, spokesperson for the Disaster Management Agency, stated: “We’ve found fifteen bodies so far and estimate that there are up to 70 people still missing.” He also commented that fifteen other people had been injured, of which two have been hospitalised.