Executive Ship News Bulletin

IMPROVED WATER SAFETY IN THE MALACCA STRAIT

The Malacca Strait, once a high-level security area, has been commended by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) for the tremendous improvement in its water safety. An annual report released in January by the IMB showed that piracy and related crimes had hit a five-year low in the Strait with only 11 attacks in 2006 as compared to 40, two years ago.

The dramatic turnaround has to be attributed to the rigorous efforts of the coastal countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore that are responsible for the coordinated police patrols of the channel and implementing mandatory security systems on vessels crossing the Strait.

The bureau was so impressed with the security improvement in the Malacca Strait that it intends to use it as a model of how to police and fight piracy for other hot spots like ports in Nigeria, Somalia and especially Chittagong in Bangladesh where attacks have more than doubled from the previous year.

On a much pleasant note however, the IMB’s annual report also showed an unprecedented and systematic overall decline in pirate attacks since the Piracy Reporting Centre began its analysis in 1991.

INTERESTING STOPOVERS
AT SINGAPORE'S PORT

Two interesting vessels recently made appearances in Singapore – an 18th century replica of a Swedish East Indiaman, The Gotheborg that called the port in early January and the world’s largest trimaran vessel, the RV Triton also dubbed the ‘Floating Prison’ that was in Singapore waters sometime towards the end of January.

It took 10 years to recreate The Gotheborg from the wreck of the original ship that sank in 1745 and now it has been sailing for the past 500 days, following its original 250 year-old voyage from Sweden to the Far East. The interesting fact is that, although the ship is equipped with modern navigational tools, more than 80% of the journey has been done using sails, just like back in those days!

The RV Triton on the other hand, was originally built jointly by the U.S and U.K. governments for the British Royal Navy’s Future Surface Combatant frigate requirement. Originally used to conduct hydrographic surveys, the ship has now been contracted to the Australian Customs to police against illegal fishing in the Northern Australian waters where it is rampant and thus its nickname, “The Floating Prison”. With a length of over 90m, the RV Triton is a prototype and downscaled version of the original intended vessel, which will measure over 150m in length.

RARE PREHISTORIC SHARK FOUND IN JAPANESE PORT

TWO TANKERS COLLIDED IN SINGAPORE WATERS

		A rare frilled shark was discovered by local residents at the Awashima Port in Shizuoka, Japan. Experts at the Awashima Marine Park were able to examine the eel-like shark measuring 5.3 feet long and film it swimming around in the aquarium before it died a few hours after being shifted there.
Most modern day sharks can be traced back to around 100 millions years ago but the frilled shark that looks relatively different, allegedly traces back to almost 450 million years. Experts believe there are more specimens of this prehistoric shark but study of the same is restricted as these creatures inhabit very deep-sea waters (4200 feet) and hence are rarely seen alive.

Two bunker tankers collided near St. John’s Island, an offshore island south of Singapore, resulting in a 200 metric ton oil spill on 11th January 2007. Reportedly, nobody was injured in the incident and the spill was cleaned up completely.

The two tankers, the Seafalcon and the Frontek were both sailing from opposite directions and rammed into each other 500 miles south of the island in Singaporean waters. The collision damaged one of the tanks in the Seafalcon that caused the spill, while the Frontek sustained minor damage to its bow and stern.

The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore dispatched five anti-pollution crafts to the scene and placed an oil boom around the leaking tanker to clean up and control the spill. The incident is still under investigation.