North Pacific Ocean News

The International Seabed Authority will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean's floor, a decision that came after the U.N. body spent the past two weeks debating standards for the new and controversial practice.Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called "polymetallic nodules" on the ocean's floor at depths of 4 to 6 km (2.5 to 4 miles). They are abundant…

Fortescue Metals executive chairman Andrew Forrest on Tuesday said his charitable foundation is in favor of a pause on seabed mining, the first time a prominent mining executive has spoken out against the nascent industry.Forrest said the Minderoo Foundation, which he and his wife Nicola fund with the dividends they get from Fortescue, will back a pause until there's sufficient evidence that damage to ocean environments can be prevented.Seabed mining would involve vacuuming up potato-sized rocks rich in battery metals that blanket vast swathes of the sea floor at depths of 4-6 kilometres…

An injured crewmember was airlifted Tuesday from a Hong Kong- flagged bulk carrier in the north Pacific Ocean, approximately 230 nautical miles southwest of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.Watchstanders from the 17th Coast Guard District received a report from the Xin Li Hia crew at approximately 5:20 p.m. Sunday requesting a medevac of a crewmember who was suffering from severe abdominal pain. The ship was approximately 800 nautical miles southwest of Dutch Harbor at the time of the report. The Xin Li Hia crew was advised to transit towards Dutch Harbor until they were in-range of the helicopter crew for the medevac.Watchstanders diverted Coast Guard Cutter Kimball to the scene…

A new study from NOAA finds that reducing air pollution in North America & Europe brings more hurricanes; increased pollution in Asia reduces tropical cyclonesA NOAA study published in the journal Science Advances about four decades of tropical cyclones reveals the surprising result that reducing particulate air pollution in Europe and North America has contributed to an increase in the number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic basin and a decrease in the number of these storms in the Southern Hemisphere.

A confession. I'm part of a very big problem that's easy to ignore. Last year, I contributed the U.S. average-per-person 300 pounds of plastic garbage to wherever it went after convenient curbside pickup. So out of sight, out of mind, right? Not really, but does it matter? Yes, it does.In a fascinating recent report, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine politely told us that we're choking ourselves to death on manufactured plastic waste and that 80% of the harmful plastic in the ocean comes from land-based sources.It's the micro-plastics…

The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday commissioned three new Fast Response Cutters at a ceremony presided over by Adm. Karl Schultz, the Coast Guard’s commandant.The Coast Guard Cutters Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139), Oliver Henry (WPC 1140)  and Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143) were commissioned during what the USCG said was a rare triple-commissioning ceremony at the new homeport at Coast Guard Forces Micronesia Sector Guam. Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States in the North Pacific Ocean.Named after Coast Guard enlisted heroes…

Satcom Global announces VSAT coverage upgrade benefitting customers operating in European and Indian Ocean waters.Satcom Global announced another extension to its Aura VSAT maritime communications network, with the addition of two new satellite beams; Astra 4a Nordic and SES-12 IOR.The Astra 4a Nordic Ku-band beam was introduced to the Satcom Global Aura network in December 2020 to support customers operating in European waters. With carriers optimized for the performance of smaller Ku-band terminals…

Details of a new depth map of the Arctic Ocean have been published in the nature journal Scientific Data. The new portrayal of the Arctic Ocean floor is in the form of a digital gridded database and comprises Version 4.0 of the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO).The gridded compilation has been completed under the auspices of the Regional Center for the Arctic and North Pacific Ocean of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project. This Regional Center…

Anyone who has been around the Offshore Oil and Gas or the Marine industries for long has heard of plans for mining various minerals located on or just below the seafloor. In fact, when Howard Hughes built the Glomar Explorer in 1972, the cover story for its true mission – recovering a Soviet submarine - was that the rig would be used to mine manganese nodules from the deep ocean floor. This cover story was so effective that it had the unintended consequence of stirring great interest in ocean mining among offshore companies and the general public.In the years since…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced that on December 16, its operated LNG carrier, the ESSHU MARU, rescued a crewmember from a fishing boat that wrecked in the North Pacific Ocean.   Early in the morning of December 16 (in local time), the ESSHU MARU, while underway in the North Pacific Ocean toward Pyeongtaek, South Korea, via the Panama Canal, received a request for rescue assistance from the United States Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, and rushed to the scene.    At 11:30 on the same day, she safely rescued a crewmember from the wrecked fishing boat. (North latitude 12°59', West longitude 113°17')   At 07:22 on December 22, the vessel handed over the survivor to the United States Coast Guard off Oahu, Hawaii.

A team of civilian researchers led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen have found the wreck of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA 35), which was lost July 30, 1945. This is a significant discovery considering the depth of the water in which the ship was lost - more than 18,000 feet. Around 800 of the ship's 1,196 Sailors and Marines survived the sinking, but after four to five days in the water - suffering exposure, dehydration, drowning and shark attacks - only 316 survived. The wreck was located by the expedition crew of Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel, which is owned by Allen, 5,500 meters below the surface, resting on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean.

British oil company BP Plc has loaded a cargo of Alaskan North Slope (ANS) crude for export, according to two trade sources and Reuters Trade Flows data, the latest indication that exports of Alaskan crude are becoming less rare. The crude loaded on the Cascade Spirit, a Bahamas-flagged Suezmax tanker. While its destination was not immediately clear, the vessel is currently moving in the North Pacific Ocean towards Asia, according to Reuters Vessel Tracking data. A spokeswoman for BP declined to comment on the cargo. In July, BP confirmed it had chartered the Tianlong Spirit, another Bahamas-flagged Suezmax ship, for the export of Alaskan North Slope crude. ANS is almost exclusively transported to refineries on the U.S. West Coast using U.S.

An ailing crewmember aboard the fishing vessel Seafreeze Alaska was medevaced approximately 195 miles north of Cold Bay, Alaska, Thursday. A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, deployed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Midgett, hoisted the 21-year-old man, who reportedly lost consciousness for 45 minutes, and transferred him to awaiting Guardian Flight emergency medical personnel in Cold Bay. Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders were notified at approximately 7:45 a.m. by personnel at Health Force Partners of a medical situation aboard the Seafreeze Alaska. Watchstanders consulted the duty flight surgeon who recommended the medevac. Crewmembers from Midgett rendezvoused with the vessel north of Cold Bay and launched the rescue helicopter crew.

The design phase for a project to construct a new regional class research vessel to replenish the United States academic fleet is complete, and Oregon State University will issue a request for information (RFI) on Monday, May 2, to shipyards interested in constructing the vessel. In January 2013, the National Science Foundation (NSF) selected Oregon State as the lead institution to finalize the design and coordinate the construction of the vessel – and possibly up to two more – a project considered crucial to maintaining the country’s marine science research capabilities.

Purpose-built oceanographic research and survey vessel New Horizon has been sold from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography to private interests, announced ship broker Marcon International, Inc. New Horizon will continue to work under her new ownership as a U.S. flag research and survey vessel. The 170' loa x 36' beam x 15' depth / 12.76' draft New Horizon was specially built as a dedicated oceanographic research ship for Scripps, whose research vessels and research platform make up one of the largest academic fleets in the world.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. today announced that it has started demonstration tests of a new windshield for containerships, which has the potential to reduce wind resistance, save fuel, and reduce CO2 emissions. MOL jointly developed the device with MOL Techno-Trade, Ltd. Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Inc., Akishima Laboratory Inc., and the University of Tokyo. The project was backed by the “Joint R&D for Industry Program”, in which Nippon Kaiji Kyokai promotes wide-ranging R&D activities in cooperation with industry, government and academia. The new windshield was installed on the bow of the MOL-operated containership MOL MARVEL, and a demonstration test of its effectiveness in reducing CO2 emissions is under With today’s larger containerships…

In 2014, Robert Suhay tackled the “longest single-handed distance sailed in a dinghy by a male – 283.5 nautical miles (326.24 miles)” into the face of Hurricane Arthur for a Guinness World Record. Next week, Suhay will attempt to break his own record in a 14-foot Laser dinghy unassisted from Beaufort, N.C. to Annapolis, Md., a distance of about 340 nautical miles that will take him around Cape Hatteras and across dangerous ocean shipping lanes. But, this time, Suhay will be using McMurdo’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) solutions to help keep him safe during the journey.

The “World’s Best” Crystal Cruises is introducing a new expedition-style  voyage traversing the Arctic Ocean via the legendary Northwest Passage – one so mysterious and remote (500 miles north of the Arctic Circle), that explorers spent centuries seeking the passage, until it was first completed successfully by Roald Amundsen just over 100 years ago. Crystal will be the first luxury cruise line to ever navigate the route, maneuvering through 900 miles of majestic waterways lined with spectacular glaciers, towering fjords, and vast unspoiled landscapes away from mainstream civilization and tourism, north of mainland Canada. Beginning August 16, 2016 in Anchorage/Seward, Alaska, the award-winning Crystal Serenity will sail for 32 days from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean/New York City.

Crystal Cruises says it is introducing a new expedition-style voyage traversing the Arctic Ocean via the Northwest Passage (500 miles north of the Arctic Circle) that explorers spent centuries seeking, until it was first completed successfully by Roald Amundsen just over 100 years ago. Crystal claims to be the first luxury cruise line to ever navigate the route, maneuvering through 900 miles of majestic waterways lined with spectacular glaciers, towering fjords, and vast unspoiled landscapes away from mainstream civilization and tourism, north of mainland Canada. Beginning August 16, 2016 in Anchorage/Seward, Alaska, the award-winning Crystal Serenity will sail for 32 days from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean/New York City.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's Arctic expansionism is a challenge the U.S. must answer with icebreakers, ports, and territorial claims of our own, Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell said today. Treadwell spoke this morning at the 34th Annual U.S.-Russia Forum in Washington, DC, on a panel focusing on foreign policy issues between the two nations. Speaking just after Russia's Ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, kicked off the program on foreign policy issues between the two nations, Treadwell talked about the need for cooperation with Russia despite disputes over Crimea and Ukraine, Syria and Iraq, which have brought U.S.-Russia relations to their lowest point in decades. “My challenge to Russians is this: where we are neighbors, help bring our relations back to normal.

Charlie Martell used the phone to contact Falmouth Coastguard in the UK to summon help after his boat capsized several times when it was hit by winds of up to 50 knots and waves of more than 50ft (15.25m). The double Guinness World Record holder was attempting to set three new world records and raise money for charity in a 4,500 mile (7,242 km) solo crossing of the North Pacific Ocean. Falmouth Coastguard passed on details of his boat Blossom, which was damaged during tropical storm Mawar, to the Japanese Coastguard which then co-ordinated the rescue. Charlie, a Territorial Army Lieutenant and former Royal Engineer, had been at sea for 36 days when the storm damaged one of his boat's main bulkheads.

This advisory will be published on the MARAD web site at www.marad.dot.gov. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred march 11, 2011 off the east coast of Honshu, Japan resulted in a debris field in the North Pacific Ocean. Some possible marine debris types include derelict vessels, fishing nets and floats, lumber, cargo containers, and household goods. because different debris types move with currents and winds differently, the debris may be dispersed over a very broad area between Japan and the west coast of North America. US-flag operators with ships transiting the subject area should advise such vessels to remain vigilant and to monitor all sources of available information affecting safe and secure navigation in this area.

Ballast water was first recognized by the scientific community as a vector for transfer of potentially invasive marine species more than 30 years ago. It took a number of years, and acceptance that zebra mussels had reached the Great Lakes in the ballast water of ships arriving from the Black Sea, before the maritime industry generally acknowledged that they were part of the problem. Initially, high seas ballast water exchange was the only available means for removing potentially invasive species from the tanks. That methodology presented risks to the stability of the ship (and the safety of the crew), as illustrated by the near-loss of the car carrier Cougar Ace in 2006 in waters of the North Pacific Ocean just south of the Aleutian Chain.