“Besides its influence on health, obesity may be a safety issue at sea. It may be difficult for obese persons to perform safety tasks aboard in emergencies, to use escape routes and ladders and to enter a lifeboat or a life raft. This can be crucial not only for the obese persons, but also for those depending on their actions or who are involved in assisting them,” said the report by Danish occupational health professionals.

Part of the problem may lie in the seafarer’s onboard diet. One company that appears to be taking steps to address this is Garrets International Limited, a London-based marine contract catering company.

Garrets says it got its start when shipping companies looking to save money started to dispense with the services of Catering Superintendents, Pursers and Catering Officers. “As a consequence,” says the company, “tasks traditionally carried out by these officers came within the remit of Engineering Superintendents, with most on-board catering administration duties falling to the Master.

Garrets stepped in to bridge the gap between shipowners/managers, their sea staff and suppliers by offering a complete catering management service. It says that its considerable purchasing power means it can obtain good quality food at the keenest prices.

An indication of Garrets’ purchasing power is that it supplies 7.5 million eggs annually. Those eggs are now free range, preempting an EU requirement that will take effect in 2012. Now, the company says itbis taking its healthy eating free range egg policy a stage further by offering a wider range of new free range and healthy eating products at even more ports in Europe, the U.S., Australia and Korea.
 
It has also started supplying ships in the Middle East, Far East, U.S. and South Africa with low fat, low sugar and low salt varieties of quality brands of mayonnaise, ketchup, and canned products including baked beans. Another part of the initiative is to supply vessels with sunflower oil instead of the more traditional vegetable oil. Sunflower oil is low in saturated fat, helping to control cholesterol levels.

November 4, 2010

Reading some of the press coverage you might think that the giant cruise ship had actually scraped the bridge.

Here’s one example of the coverage the effort earned:

“A Royal Caribbean European cruise ship barely escaped what could have been an unfortunate accident Saturday, narrowly avoiding a bridge in Denmark by mere inches.”

And another.

The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Allure of the Seas barely made it under Denmark’s Storebelt Bridge on Saturday. The crew and passengers applauded as the ship finally cleared the bridge with barely a foot to spare.

Of course, the giant Royal Caribbean ship was designed to safely pass under the bridge  on its passage from STX Finland to its homeport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

A Royal Caribbean video clip explains how you get a ship that normally has a height above the waterline of about 73 meters (240 feet) under a bridge offering a clearance of 65 m (213 ft).

   

Reading some of the press coverage you might think that the giant cruise ship had actually scraped the bridge.

Here’s one example of the coverage the effort earned:

“A Royal Caribbean European cruise ship barely escaped what could have been an unfortunate accident Saturday, narrowly avoiding a bridge in Denmark by mere inches.”

And another.

The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Allure of the Seas barely made it under Denmark’s Storebelt Bridge on Saturday. The crew and passengers applauded as the ship finally cleared the bridge with barely a foot to spare.

Of course, the giant Royal Caribbean ship was designed to safely pass under the bridge  on its passage from STX Finland to its homeport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

A Royal Caribbean video clip explains how you get a ship that normally has a height above the waterline of about 73 meters (240 feet) under a bridge offering a clearance of 65 m (213 ft).

   

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington, Seong Ug Sin, the captain of the STX Daisy, has been sentenced to 14 days in prison, and six months of supervised release, during which time he is not allowed to sail in United States waters. He was arrested April 14, 2010, after a Coast Guard inspection crew found him drunk while in command of the 590 foot vessel in the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

At trial earlier this month, the evidence revealed that Sin’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura imposed the sentence October 25 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Wash.
According to testimony at trial, the coast guard inspection team had difficulty boarding the STX Daisy in the early morning hours of April 14, 2010, as Captain Sin failed repeatedly to follow their instructions. The ten member inspection crew needed to board the 20 ton freighter from a small inflatable boat during three foot swells. Once on board, Captain Sin continued to have difficulty providing the records required, and a review determined he had no usable charts of Puget Sound. The ship was ordered to Port Angeles. Sin was given a breath test, which revealed his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for being in command of a vessel. A search of the ship determined that significant quantities of Korean whisky had been consumed by Sin and one other officer.

In asking for a significant sentence, the government noted the potential for disaster with a drunk captain aboard a 20,763 gross tons freighter.

“The consequences of an accident that may have occurred due to the defendant’s intoxication could have been catastrophic. The defendant’s intended journey through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and down the Puget Sound to Olympia covered over 205 miles through areas characterized by narrow channels and strong currents. More importantly, the defendant’s intended track crossed no less than six Washington State Ferry routes, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and many areas of high commercial shipping and recreational boating activity. The defendant’s ship, carrying large quantities of fuel oil posed further risk to the marine environment. In the interest of public safety, a strong sentence is warranted to deter future mariners from following in this defendant’s wake,” the Assistant U.S. Attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Thomas and David Reese Jennings, and by Special Assistant United States Attorney Marc Zlomek. Mr. Zlomek is a Lieutenant Commander and an attorney with the U.S. Coast Guard.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington, Seong Ug Sin, the captain of the STX Daisy, has been sentenced to 14 days in prison, and six months of supervised release, during which time he is not allowed to sail in United States waters. He was arrested April 14, 2010, after a Coast Guard inspection crew found him drunk while in command of the 590 foot vessel in the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

At trial earlier this month, the evidence revealed that Sin’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura imposed the sentence October 25 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Wash.
According to testimony at trial, the coast guard inspection team had difficulty boarding the STX Daisy in the early morning hours of April 14, 2010, as Captain Sin failed repeatedly to follow their instructions. The ten member inspection crew needed to board the 20 ton freighter from a small inflatable boat during three foot swells. Once on board, Captain Sin continued to have difficulty providing the records required, and a review determined he had no usable charts of Puget Sound. The ship was ordered to Port Angeles. Sin was given a breath test, which revealed his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for being in command of a vessel. A search of the ship determined that significant quantities of Korean whisky had been consumed by Sin and one other officer.

In asking for a significant sentence, the government noted the potential for disaster with a drunk captain aboard a 20,763 gross tons freighter.

“The consequences of an accident that may have occurred due to the defendant’s intoxication could have been catastrophic. The defendant’s intended journey through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and down the Puget Sound to Olympia covered over 205 miles through areas characterized by narrow channels and strong currents. More importantly, the defendant’s intended track crossed no less than six Washington State Ferry routes, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and many areas of high commercial shipping and recreational boating activity. The defendant’s ship, carrying large quantities of fuel oil posed further risk to the marine environment. In the interest of public safety, a strong sentence is warranted to deter future mariners from following in this defendant’s wake,” the Assistant U.S. Attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Thomas and David Reese Jennings, and by Special Assistant United States Attorney Marc Zlomek. Mr. Zlomek is a Lieutenant Commander and an attorney with the U.S. Coast Guard.

“We are excited to be working with Austal on this groundbreaking fleet,” said David Dobson, president, Alcoa Defense. “Through our design and engineering expertise, we are helping to expedite the manufacturing process for the fleet while simultaneously making aluminum shipbuilding more affordable.”

Designed to secure cargo, equipment and vehicles in the JHSV’s mission bay, the all-aluminum tie downs are 50 percent lighter than conventional steel tie downs. The tie downs will be manufactured from high-strength aluminum by Alcoa’s facility in Auburn, Ind.

Collaboratively developed by Alcoa and Austal USA, the all-aluminum tie downs were designed to replace traditional steel tie downs, which require a more expensive, complex, labor-intensive process for joining and installation. The aluminum tie downs offer the same structural strength and performance as steel at a fraction of the weight and installed cost. Additionally, the aluminum tie downs enhance the long-term durability and structural integrity of the JHSV because, unlike steel, they will not produce galvanic corrosion when attached to the JHSV’s aluminum deck.

“We are now applying decades of experience in creating subassemblies for a variety of industries to build innovative, high-quality marine structures,” said Scott R. Kerns, vice president and general manager, Alcoa Transportation Products. “Alcoa makes it easier and more affordable for shipyards to integrate aluminum structures in their vessels.”

The announcement of the tie down subcontract follows Alcoa being awarded the subcontract for sheet and plate for the JHSV.

“We are excited to be working with Austal on this groundbreaking fleet,” said David Dobson, president, Alcoa Defense. “Through our design and engineering expertise, we are helping to expedite the manufacturing process for the fleet while simultaneously making aluminum shipbuilding more affordable.”

Designed to secure cargo, equipment and vehicles in the JHSV’s mission bay, the all-aluminum tie downs are 50 percent lighter than conventional steel tie downs. The tie downs will be manufactured from high-strength aluminum by Alcoa’s facility in Auburn, Ind.

Collaboratively developed by Alcoa and Austal USA, the all-aluminum tie downs were designed to replace traditional steel tie downs, which require a more expensive, complex, labor-intensive process for joining and installation. The aluminum tie downs offer the same structural strength and performance as steel at a fraction of the weight and installed cost. Additionally, the aluminum tie downs enhance the long-term durability and structural integrity of the JHSV because, unlike steel, they will not produce galvanic corrosion when attached to the JHSV’s aluminum deck.

“We are now applying decades of experience in creating subassemblies for a variety of industries to build innovative, high-quality marine structures,” said Scott R. Kerns, vice president and general manager, Alcoa Transportation Products. “Alcoa makes it easier and more affordable for shipyards to integrate aluminum structures in their vessels.”

The announcement of the tie down subcontract follows Alcoa being awarded the subcontract for sheet and plate for the JHSV.