A selection of current maritime news – June 16 – Posted each Monday.
MYSTERY YACHT ON UK COAST – HM Coastguard and RNLI launched an extensive search for survivors after finding a yacht high and dry on the rocks of the Cornish coast, its sails still set but with no one aboard, on June 13. Coastguard station at Mevagissey, Cornwall received report of a yacht aground at Chapel Point, near the southern entrance of the English Channel. Coastguard and RNLI boarded the vessel, found no one aboard. Coastguard helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and Fowey lifeboat searched without result. Authorities have not issued release further details at this time. Photo – HM Coastguard.
STRAITS OF HORMUZ IMPACT ON TANKERS – In the current war between Israel and Iran there are fears about closure of the Straits of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman which is the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and crucial for oil supplies. The Maritime Executive website, a leading source for shipping, maritime and general marine news says, in an analysis, that any Iranian attempt to close the Straits would be “a very risky endeavour. A blockade would quickly degenerate into open warfare.” While the Iranian Navy can make a nuisance of itself in times of peace, it says, the reality is that its maritime capability and antiquated vessels would “rapidly take up positions on the seabed if they tangled with USA or allied navies in open conflict.” The strait is about 90 nautical miles (167 km) long, varying in width from 52 to21 nautical miles. A third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and 25% of global oil passes through the Strait
AUSTRALIA GETS TOUGH WITH ILLEGAL FISHERS
The Australian Border Agency has destroyed at two Indonesian fishing boats which were detecting fishing illegally off the Northern Territory, a remote area. Eight crew members of one boat detained near the Cobourg Peninsula, a priority enforcement area in the Territory were jailed for 21 days, after they pleaded guilty in Court and were required to sign an Australian 2,000 dollar bond to be of good behaviour. In a second detention the fishing boat was destroyed near Scott Reef – a coral atoll some 500 nautical miles west of Darwin. Eight fishermen were detained and fined AUS$2,5,00. All fishermen are to be deported back to Indonesia, the first group after they serve jail time. Photo 01 Australian Border Agency.
ACTOR CALLS FOR END TO KRILL FISHING – Actor Benedict Cumberbatch was part of a group, led by National Geographic ocean explorer and conservationist Sylvia Earle, which called for a total ban on krill fishing, a crustacean which they said is the lifeline of the Antarctic Ocean, at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. A humpback whale could eat 2 tons of krill every day. The campaigners claim that krill fishing is threatening the survival of whales, seals and penguins which depend on krill for food. Norway, Korea, China, Chile are the biggest krill fishing nations. The fish are small, (up to 60 mm. long found in huge aggregations in Antarctic and South Georgia waters.
