USN Procedures Under A Microscope In Wake Of Trawler Sinking
The U.S. Navy, eager to keep its submarines hidden as much as possible, rejected three official recommendations aimed at preventing collisions like the one that sank a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii on Friday, leaving nine people missing, feared drowned. The National Transportation Safety Board had faulted the Navy's submarine surfacing procedures, its way of reporting accidents and what the board deemed inadequate rest time for key watch officers while submarines are under way. When the Navy spurned all of its advice, the independent five-member board shut its books on the case, terming the Navy's response "Closed -- Unacceptable Action," documents made available on Monday showed.
Canada Firm on LNG Tanker Stance
A federal study has concluded that LNG tankers could navigate Head Harbour Passage off the Bay of Fundy with little risk of accident, but the Canadian government continued to insist that it will bar U.S. tankers from the disputed waters. Proponents of the competing LNG plants proposed for northern Maine have seized on the study to argue that the Canadian government has exaggerated the safety concerns in order to favour domestic producers. The federal government has refused to co-operate with U.S. regulators who are reviewing three separate plans for terminals that will regasify imported liquefied natural gas and pipe it to markets in the U.S. Northeast. Earlier this year, Canada's Ambassador in Washington, Michael Wilson, wrote to U.S.
Chevron To Change Controversial Name Of Tanker
Chevron Corp. has reversed its decision to name an oil tanker after U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, a former board member, Reuters reported. Chevron named the tanker after Rice in April, highlighting what public watchdog groups called the close ties between the Bush administration and the energy industry, but renamed the vessel after complaints grew louder. The spokesman would not comment on whether the White House or Rice requested that the oil tanker be renamed. Rice, a former Stanford University provost, was a Chevron board member from 1991 until Jan. 15, when she resigned after President George W. Bush, a former Texas oilman himself, appointed her as national security adviser.
