LITEROTICA PODCAST
LIT CAMS (200 Free Tokens)ADULT TOYSVOD MOVIES

I like Ships too

Russia’s Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov says "Yuri Dolgoruky" would join the fleet in June and the "Aleksandr Nevsky" in August, reports RIA Novosti.

The two will then be the first new strategic submarines to join the Russian navy since the last of the Delta-IV class submarines, the "Novomoskovsk" was commissioned 20 years ago, in February 1992.

“Yuri Dolgoruky” and “Aleksandr Nevsky” are both of the fourth generation Borey-class submarines that over the next decade will replace the existing Delta-III class submarines in the Pacific fleet and Delta-IV class submarines in the Northern fleet.

"Yuri Dolgoruky" has over the last two years been based at the naval yard in Severodvinsk and test-sailing the White Sea awaiting an approval of the submarines ballistic missiles, the Bulava.

Defence Minister Serdyukov now says the documents to commission the Bulava system were being formalized and "will be commissioned for the navy this year."

http://img3.custompublish.com/getfile.php/957461.623.squebrsybx/280x0/5020055_957461.jpg
 

Iran Sanctions Tighten as Shippers Stop Loading
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...o-frontline-halt-shipping-nation-s-crude.html
By Isaac Arnsdorf
February 13, 2012


Sanctions on Iran are tightening after Overseas Shipholding Group, Frontline Ltd. and owners controlling more than 100 supertankers said they would stop loading cargoes from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ second-largest producer.

OSG, based in New York, said Feb. 10 that the pool of 45 supertankers from seven owners in which its carriers trade will no longer go to Iran. Four OSG-owned ships, managed by Tankers International LLC, called at the country’s biggest crude-export terminal in the past year, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. Nova Tankers A/S and Frontline, with a combined 93 vessels, said Feb. 9 and 11 they won’t ship Iranian crude.

Previous efforts to curb Iran’s oil income and stop it from developing nuclear weapons failed because the structure of the shipping industry means vessels are often managed by companies outside the U.S. or European Union. An EU embargo on Iranian oil agreed to Jan. 23 extended the ban to ship insurance. With about 95 percent of the tanker fleet insured under rules governed by European law, there are fewer vessels able to load in Iran.

“It’s the insurance that’s completed the ban on trading with Iran,” said Per Mansson, a shipbroker for 31 years and the managing director of Norocean Stockholm AB, which handles tanker charters. “Last summer, many countries started to be a little bit tougher, but the insurance is the real trigger.”

Kharg Island
OSG’s Overseas Rosalyn, which can carry about 2 million barrels, arrived at Kharg Island on Jan. 27 and departed the next day, tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. It left about 16 feet deeper in the water, an indication it loaded cargo. The vessel is managed by Tankers International, which has its head office in Cyprus. OSG complies with all U.S. and European laws and its head office in New York doesn’t manage charters, OSG Chief Executive Officer Morten Arntzen said in an e-mail Jan. 30.

Tankers International told owners the pool’s vessels will no longer sail to Iran after changes to EU regulations, Arntzen said in a Feb. 10 e-mail. Insurers are no longer able to cover vessels trading in the Persian Gulf nation, he wrote.

Ship owners sometimes group their vessels to coordinate charters and improve earnings. The Tankers International pool operates 45 very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, from OSG and six other companies, including Antwerp-based Euronav NV and St. Helier, Channel Islands-based DHT Holdings Inc.

Nova Tankers
“All the owners in the pool have stated that they will not trade Iran because of the consequences,” DHT CEO Svein Moxnes Harfjeld said by phone Feb. 10. “DHT is complying with all relevant regulations and sanctions and following recent developments our vessels have been instructed not to trade Iran.”

Frontline companies including Hamilton, Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd. and Frontline 2012 won’t ship Iranian crude, Jens Martin Jensen, chief executive officer of Frontline Management AS, said by e-mail and phone on Feb. 11 and 12. Frontline operates 43 VLCCs, according to its website.

Nova Tankers, the Copenhagen-based operator of a pool of ships, including vessels owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., won’t load Iranian crude because of European sanctions, Managing Director Morten Pilnov said by phone from Singapore on Feb. 9. The pool will have about 50 vessels by the end of this year, according to data on its website.

Nippon Yusen K.K., the second-largest owner of VLCCs, won’t carry Iranian oil if it means ships aren’t insured, Yuji Isoda, an investor relations manager for the Tokyo-based company, said Feb. 9. The company doesn’t yet know how its insurers will handle the EU sanctions, he said by phone.

Tighter Restrictions
U.S. and EU leaders are trying to tighten restrictions on business with Iran, which produced 3.55 million barrels of crude a day in January, 11 percent of OPEC’s total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Oil sales earned Iran $73 billion in 2010, accounting for about 50 percent of government revenue and 80 percent of exports, the U.S. Energy Department estimates.

The United Nations has imposed four sets of sanctions on Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency said in November the country has studied how to make an atomic bomb. The government in Tehran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes and that documents held by the IAEA purporting to show designs and tests of weapon components are fakes.

Iran has threatened to block shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, through which about 20 percent of the world’s globally traded oil passes. Crude futures in New York advanced 32 percent to $99.66 a barrel since Oct. 4.

Senate Bill
More trade with Iran may be blocked if a U.S. Senate Banking Committee bill approved Feb. 2 becomes law, making U.S. companies responsible for the actions of their foreign units when dealing with Iran. A spokesman for committee chairman Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, declined to comment.

While the Japanese government said last month it would curb imports from Iran, India’s Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said Jan. 17 his country won’t. China, the Persian Gulf country’s largest customer, needs the oil for development, Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun told reporters Jan. 11.

Founded in 1948, OSG has 111 vessels and 3,500 employees, according to its website. Its biggest shareholders include the family of board members Oudi and Ariel Recanati, who control about 10 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Oudi Recanati is an Israeli citizen and Ariel Recanati a U.S. citizen, according to a Sept. 6 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Charles A. Fribourg sits on the board of OSG and Continental Grain Co., the data show.

Marshall Islands
Shares of OSG, which has 14 supertankers, fell 70 percent in the past year as a glut of vessels drove down transport rates. The company will report a loss of $178.6 million this year, down from $204.4 million in 2011, according to the median of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Three other OSG vessels from the Tankers International pool called at Kharg Island in the past year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. They fly the Marshall Islands flag, which means they are registered there for regulatory purposes, according to data on the website of International Registries Inc. Almost 9 percent of the tanker fleet is flagged in the Marshall Islands, behind Panama and Liberia, according to data compiled by London- based Clarkson Plc, the world’s biggest shipbroker.

“Ship owners and brokers are now seeing a tightening of sanctions,” said Bob Knight, the managing director of tankers at Clarkson in London. “This is a sign that sanctions are starting to bite.”



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...o-frontline-halt-shipping-nation-s-crude.html
Click to expand...
 


French yacht sinks off the coast of Greek islands, all aboard survive



By Natalia Jimenez, msnbc.com
http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_new...the-coast-of-greek-islands-all-aboard-survive

A luxury yacht cruising the Aegean sea sank off the coast of Greece. According to Turkey's Daily News, the yacht "suffered mechanical failure in gale-force winds," and began to take in water. The eight French passengers and crew aboard were rescued after the captain sent out a distress signal...
Click to expand...



ETA:
I have subsequently learned that the vessel's name is Yogi.


 
Last edited:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/costa-cruise-ship-adrift-near-seychelles.html




Costa Cruise Ship Adrift Near Seychelles
By Chiara Vasarri and Marco Bertacche
February 27, 2012


A Carnival Corp. cruise liner carrying more than 1,000 people remained adrift off the Seychelles after a fire shut down its engines, six weeks after at least 25 people died in an accident aboard a sister ship, the Costa Concordia.

No one was injured in the fire on the Costa Allegra, the Miami-based company’s Italian unit, Costa Crociere SpA said in an e-mailed statement today. A general emergency alarm was declared as a precautionary measure and passengers were asked to assemble in muster areas, the company said. The fire was extinguished and didn’t spread to other parts of the cruise liner.

The ship was without engine power about 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, said Captain Giorgio Moretti, Costa Crociere’s nautical operations director, on a conference call today. A cargo ship is expected to reach the liner by 12 a.m. local time in Rome, and two French fishing vessels are also on the way, Moretti said. A pair of tugboats are expected to reach the vessel tomorrow afternoon, Moretti said. There’s no risk the liner may hit rocks, he said.

“When the tug boats arrive, the captain will decide whether to tug the boat with passengers on, or to board them on another ship,” Moretti said, adding that weather conditions are fine.

Costa Concordia
The Costa Allegra, from the same fleet as the Costa Concordia that ran aground off the Tuscan coast on Jan. 13, is carrying 636 passengers and 413 crew, Genoa, Italy-based Costa Crociere said. Fourteen Costa Crociere managers and technical personnel are flying to the Seychelles to assist passengers, Moretti said.

The Concordia hit rocks near Giglio Island hours after leaving a port near Rome with 4,200 passengers and crew for a Mediterranean cruise. Seven people are still missing, according to Italy’s civil-protection agency. Francesco Schettino, the ship’s captain, was placed under house arrest on Jan. 17 for allegedly causing the shipwreck.



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/costa-cruise-ship-adrift-near-seychelles.html
Click to expand...
 


The media won't be paying any attention, but the Costa Concordia salvage operation is clearly underway:




Carnival Misadventures Mar Cruise Operator’s Recovery From Concordia Wreck
By Christopher Palmeri and Marco Bertacche
February 29, 2012
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...operator-s-recovery-from-concordia-wreck.html


Several new incidents at Carnival Corp., owner of the Costa Concordia passenger liner that ran aground off Italy in January, are clouding the cruise operator’s recovery as peak booking season enters its final leg.

In the past week, 22 passengers of the Carnival Splendor were robbed during a land excursion in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and two of the company’s British ships were turned away from port in Argentina after visiting the Falkland Islands in a long- running dispute between the South American country and the U.K.

Another of Miami-based Carnival’s Italian liners, the Costa Allegra, suffered an on-board fire Feb. 27 and is being towed to the Seychelles, where it is expected to dock tomorrow. Today, the U.S. House begins hearings on cruise ship safety.

Carnival, the world’s biggest cruise operator, has dropped 12 percent since Jan. 13, when the Concordia struck rocks and partially sank, killing at least 25 people. The incident led Carnival to reduce marketing in the January to March period during which one-third of all voyages are arranged...


...Carnival suspended the Mexico excursion and has apologized to guests, according to a statement from Vance Gulliksen, a company spokesman.

Flashlights, Bread
The company’s Genoa-based Costa Cruises has been supplying the powerless Allegra with flashlights and fresh bread, and “doing everything possible to make the situation onboard more comfortable,” according to a statement from Buck Banks, an outside spokesman for Carnival...


...Carnival’s namesake brand and its other lines, including Princess and P&O Cruises, operate separately, Gulliksen said in an e-mail. The Concordia shipwreck has affected those lines as well as Carnival’s competitors.

Excluding Costa Cruises, fleetwide bookings declined in the mid-teens in percentage terms through Jan. 25, the most recent period for which information was available.

“The cruise industry has an outstanding historical safety record and we are fully confident in the long-term fundamentals of our business,” Gulliksen said in an e-mail.

Royal Caribbean
Bookings at rival Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. fell by the low-to-mid teens afterward in percentage terms, the Miami-based company said in a Feb. 2 statement. Prior to the Concordia accident, bookings were running 5 percent ahead of 2011 levels.

“We’re in uncharted territory and our traditional models simply don’t cover events like this,” Royal Caribbean Chief Executive Richard Fain said in a conference call that day.

Carnival added 0.2 percent to $30.01 yesterday in New York and has declined 8.1 percent this year, compared with a 3.4 percent gain for the S&P 500 Index. Royal Caribbean was little changed at $28.06 and has gained 13 percent this year.

The Costa Concordia remains half submerged and on its side. Divers searching the wreckage found eight more bodies on Feb. 22, according to the Italian Civil Protection Agency. Seven people are still missing, the agency said.

Italian Claims
A total of nine employees of Costa Cruises are under probe in connection with the Concordia crash. The line is “absolutely certain” that its staff acted correctly, it said in an e-mailed statement on Feb. 22.

Italian consumer associations have started advising clients on damage claims. Codacons, an Italian consumer group that filed a suit against Carnival in Miami with New York law firm Proner and Proner on Jan. 27 for the Concordia shipwreck, said on its website yesterday that damages to passengers of the Costa Allegra have to be “adequately paid back.”

Italy is sending experts from the Coast Guard and the Transport Ministry to the Seychelles to probe the Costa Allegra accident along with local authorities and assist passengers, Ansa, an Italian news agency reported.



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...operator-s-recovery-from-concordia-wreck.html
Click to expand...
 
http://timenewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/love-boat.png?w=360&h=240&crop=1

SOS: ‘Love Boat’ Sails Off to the Junkyard
Click to expand...

The 550-foot cruise liner has sat idle at a marina in Genoa, Italy for two years, awaiting payment on a repair bill. According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the San Giorgio del Porto shipyards are owed a €6 million restoration bill for asbestos removal. As a result of the default, the court of Genoa seized the ship and had been trying to auction it off since late 2010, with little success. This week, however, Turkish scrapper Cemsan purchased the boat for €2.5 million ($3.3 million).
Click to expand...
 
thør said:
http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/090323-exxon-valdez-hmed5p.grid-6x2.jpg

Sold for scrap!
Click to expand...


The story was all over the place. I saw a report on Bloomberg and heard the half-babble that NPR aired.


Naturally, NPR couldn't be bothered to report that the vessel hasn't been owned by Exxon for many, many years nor did NPR mention that there have been at least three other owners in the intervening years. I wouldn't be halfway surprised to find out that 99% of the people who heard the NPR report were left with the impression that ExxonMobil still owned the vessel and sold it to the shipbreakers.


 

I can't believe there isn't a photograph of Athena under sail.


The vessel that Silicon Graphics, Netscape and Medscape built ( i.e., Jim Clark of Michael Lewis' The New, New Thing ).

Athena can be chartered from €250,000 per week in the Caribbean, or in summer 2010 cruising the South Pacific, with charters there starting at €275,000 per week...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_(yacht)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_large_sailing_yachts
Click to expand...





http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?level0=100
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
I read a story...
Replies
1
Views
231
MrAnderson360
M
L
A mature man's enjoyment of sex is a priority in the USA; a mature woman's is not. Gross.
Replies
6
Views
275
Paradox
Paradox
MusicForTheDeaf
British pedophile rock star Ian Watkins has been killed in prison.
Replies
0
Views
57
MusicForTheDeaf
MusicForTheDeaf
SexyAruna
How BBC cuckolding went mainstream
2
Replies
49
Views
1K
Mike130
M
MusicForTheDeaf
Dating Asian women is very complex and challenging.
2 3
Replies
60
Views
2K
priscillapriscilla
P
Back
Top