Category Archives: High Seas

LIBRARIES are not just places that are full of books in this modern world.

They are much more than that. Today, libraries are places for self-education, online learning, keeping up with world events from newspapers from around the world and attending events that are centred on literary pursuits.

The Ipswich Library is very active in its endeavours and has been for many years now.

In fact, visitor numbers are very high and increasing each year. The staff at Ipswich Library is always very helpful and pleasant to deal with, so it is no wonder numbers of people attending keep increasing.

Looking at the library web page, you discover how many activities and events are available, mostly free of charge. There is story telling for children, online programs, book launches and author talks all available for those interested.

Later this month, Estelle McCrohan, author, storyteller, teacher and artist will give an author's talk about her life challenges and travel adventures.

McCrohan gives of her time through U3A Ipswich, to enable people to write their own life story and create finished work. Seniors start to think about how they will leave their family their life story. She recognised this and developed her program to help people do just that.

She is an experienced writer who has written extensively about some of her life challenges and travels on a small sailing boat around the Whitsundays.

She brings to life the complexities of learning to sail and the struggles of sailing in unfamiliar waters. Her writing puts the reader on the boat, giving the impression you are the person facing such experiences.

McCrohan is an experienced author. She has written self-paced courses for adults on many subjects. She has had articles published in lifestyle magazines as well as writing many books herself.

She is a warm, empathic presenter whose workshops inspire and encourage. Certainly, her classes at U3A do just that.

Her classes at U3A discuss the process of writing about one's own life.

But they do more than that, as the information and exercises she includes in the class help in writing on a variety of subjects.

Her published quick guide helps answer all the questions about writing and leads you from beginning to end. It helps avoid traps and find satisfaction in completing the final printed work.

Meet McCrohan at Ipswich City Library and hear about her travel adventures and life challenges.

Listen to her discuss about being a writer and more. I am sure you will find her presentation engrossing.

McCrohan's presentation is on Thursday, August 31, 2017 on the mezzanine floor, Ipswich Library. It starts at 10am. Light refreshments will be provided but you must register by email at estellejmcc@gmail.com

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Adventures on high seas will come to life - The Queensland Times

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town warned on Thursday of high seas and gale force winds, with the possibility of flooding in areas of the city and the Cape Winelands region.

JPSmith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security; and Social Services, said the City's Disaster Risk Management Centre had been advised by the South African Weather Services of severe weather, including:

* Gale force north-westerly winds (60-75km/h) are expected between Table Bay and Cape Agulhas on Thursday afternoon into Friday morning

*High seas with wave heights of approximately 6 metres on Thursday night, subsiding by Friday afternoon

*The possibility of flooding in parts of the Cape Metropole and the southern parts of the Cape Winelands early Friday morning

Smith said the DRMC was on standby to coordinate any emergency response that may be required as a result of the expected weather conditions.

"We call on residents to report any weather-related emergencies to the Citys Public Emergency Communication Centre by dialling 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or 107 from a landline," Smith said.

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WARNING: Gale force winds, high seas forecast for Cape Town - Independent Online

Crossing the Mediterranean to Italy is now the most-used sea route for migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe with more than 180,000 landing in Italy in 2016.

The crossing is, however, fraught with dangers. Thousands escaping brutal war or poverty in their countries of origin have perished at sea while trying to reach the shores of the Europe, be it at the hands of traffickers or the mercy of inclement weather.

And while the vessels of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)or other NGOs have been rescuing people from the sea, the very same groups are being accused of encouraging vulnerable populations to risk crossingthe Mediterranean. The argument? Refugees and migrants take the perilousjourney knowing rescue boats are waiting to pick them up.

But not all ships in the Mediterranean are out to rescue refugees. The C-Star is operated by Defend Europe, an anti-immigrant group.Sailing around the Mediterranean, its aim is to return migrant and refugee boats to Africa.

TRT World's Abubakr Al-Shamahi explores the battle between the ships that seek to rescue people coming from Africaand one that is trying to stop them.

Spain faces migration challenge

Spain could overtake Greece this year in the number of migrants arriving by sea, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday, coming shore on boats and even jet-skis.

Holiday makers on a beach in southern Spain Wednesday were stunned when a black rubber boat full of migrants reached the shore, its occupants jumping out and running away as scores of sun-worshippers looked on.

On the same day, 12 migrants arrived in waters off the Spanish territory of Ceuta in northern Morocco on jet-skis, with one -- a 28-year-old man from Guinea -- drowning before he could be rescued, authorities said.

According to theIOM's latest figures, until August 6, close to 8,200 migrants had arrived in Spain so far this year.

That is more than triple the number recorded at the same time last year, according to Joel Millman, a seniorIOMspokesman, and already more than the total arrivals in 2016.

TRT World'sNafisa Latic takes a look at the numbers.

While the figure pales in comparison with Italy -- where more than 96,400 migrants have landed so far this year -- Spain is catching up with Greece where 11,713 alighted from boats in the same timeframe.

The number of sea arrivals, however, doesn't take into account those coming into Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish territories in northern Morocco, by land.

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Battle on the high seas to rescue or return refugees - TRT World

August 11, 2017 3:29 PM ByDr. Nancy Berk Parade @nancyberk More by Dr. Nancy

When I sat down to chat with Brady Bunch favorite Barry Williams, he had literally just witnessed a boatload of weddings. Officiating at a vow renewal ceremony for couples on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise, Williams, who was onboard with his then-fiance (the couple tied the knot in a solo ceremony this summer), enjoyed the excitement that came with the task and his official role as cruise host.

Said Williams of the ceremony he performed for a crowd of couples whose marital statuses ranged from one week to over half a century, I think that kind of renewalits important, because at some point you need to kind of reset and start over and remember why you got into a relationship in the first place. And I think this was a perfect place to do that.

Listen to the conversation with Barry Williams.

Forever a fan of 70s music, Williams, who is also a spokesperson for classic television network MeTV, seemed to have landed in the perfect place for fun flashbacks. (Tickets for the StarVista music cruises, including the 70s Rock & Romance Cruise, are available here.)

Im referring to this as a five-day music fantasy. It is reciprocal between the passengers and talent. The talents being recognized in a very, very positive, solid way. The passengers get to hang with their heroes.

Ive never been on a themed cruise and [now] Im not sure Id want to go on anything else. It breaks down so many barriers and immediately youre connected with the passengers and youre not having to make enormous adjustments or just be off by yourself youre connected [by] the enthusiasm about sharing the same kind of generation, the same kind of experience, the same kind of passion for, in this case, the music. And I think songs of the 70s, and the songwriters, and the types of music and the diversity of that decade speaks for itself. To have so many top acts here is a thrill, explained Williams, pointing to shipboard performances by artists including Peter Frampton, America, Little River Band, Chuck Negron, and Christopher Cross.

He may love cruises, but these days Williams spends a lot of his time flying for fun. Not many people know that Im a private pilot. I fly single engine planesusually Pipers or Cessnas. And because of my travel, I can go in and get checked out at whatever airport Im staying at. And then my days off, Ill go and cruise and learn the territory wherever I am. I live in the Ozark Mountains now and I see most of it from the air.

The Brady Bunch television series will always be a special part of Barry Williams life and hes never backed away from it. Is there anything in particular about Greg Brady that he still embraces? Williams doesnt skip a beat, Well I think Greg earned a moniker of being Americas most reliable big brother. And I appreciate that.

So, if grownup Greg Brady headed home for Thanksgiving and got into one of those tense family dinner table conversations, which sibling does Williams think Greg would support in the discussion? I was pretty protective of Cindy, said Williams offering up his hypothetical answer to side with his littlest sitcom sister. I feel Jans pain as she is cast aside again, but take comfort in the fact that it wasnt because of Marcia Marcia Marcia.

Follow Nancys conversations on iTunes and Facebook.

Nancy Berk, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, author, comic and entertainment analyst. The host of the showbiz podcast Whine At 9, Nancy digs a little deeper as she chats with fascinating celebrities and industry insiders. Her book College Bound and Gagged: How to Help Your Kid Get into a Great College Without Losing Your Savings, Your Relationship, or Your Mind can be seen in the feature film Admission starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.Barry William

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Showbiz Analysis: Barry Williams Hits The High Seas, Talks Music, Weddings, and Brady Bunch Siblings - Parade

OTTAWA, Aug. 10, 2017 /CNW/ - Costing the world economy as much as $23 billion a year, illegal fishing on the high seas is a serious threat to the world's marine resources. That is why Canada is proud to announce that we have again contributed to important multinational fisheries enforcement activities in the North Pacific Ocean to protect high seas fish stocks from irresponsible and criminal fishing activity. It is through committed partnerships within the international community that we can turn the tide on criminals and protect our marine ecosystems, infrastructure and jobs for future generations.

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, today announced that Operation Driftnet 2017 has concluded another successful enforcement initiative to protect marine resources in the North Pacific Ocean.

This year's operation, which took place from July 5 to 29, 2017, was once again coordinated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada fishery officers from British Columbia and the Canadian Armed Forces with support from the United States Coast Guard out of Juneau, Alaska.

A CP-140 Aurora, the Royal Canadian Air Force's long-range maritime patrol aircraft, was stationed at Hakodate Airport, on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. This location enabled Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) officers flying on the CP-140 to conduct surveillance patrols over the high-threat zone which is beyond 322 kilometres from shore. Using the Aurora's enhanced electronic sensor suite, the Fishery officers and the Aurora sensor operators look for signs of illegal fishing and activity, and gather imagery for use as evidence in enforcement action.

Since its inception in 1993, Operation DRIFTNET has helped to decrease illegal fishing in the international waters of the North Pacific Ocean. It is complemented by the enforcement activities of the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan.

Quotes

"I am proud of Canada's ongoing international efforts to prevent and deter illegal fishing on the high seas. Maintaining sustainable fisheries is not something we can leave to chance. Canada takes a stand against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and Operation Driftnet is a prime example of international collaboration at its best. Operations like this help protect our oceans and ensure that our global marine resources are protected for future generations."

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

"Canada's Department of National Defence is committed to working with federal agencies and international partners against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity. Operation DRIFTNET is one piece of Canada's contribution to the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and its multinational efforts to control this destructive practice."

The Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence

Quick Facts

Associated Links

Operation High Seas Driftnet http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/international/mcs-npafc-eng.htm

North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission http://www.npafc.org/new/index.html

Internet: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FisheriesOceansCanada/

Follow us on Twitter! http://www.Twitter.com/DFO_MPO

SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada

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The International Fight Against Illegal Fishing on the High Seas of the North Pacific Ocean Continues - Markets Insider

The earths surface is more than 70% ocean, more water than land, a mass of blue connecting disconnected green. Nation states claim up to 200 miles from their coasts as areas of national jurisdiction over which they have the power to exploit, consume, and regulate. But the vast majority of the ocean lies outside those boundariesthe high seasan enormous reservoir of biodiversity that presents a very difficult challenge for governance and enforcement, for protection and sustainability.

In 1967 international diplomats, representing some 160 countries, began discussions and negotiations for what became in 1973 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that, in 1994, was ratified as a means to define the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the worlds ocean, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

Since the ratification of the Law of the Sea, international experts have been considering and debating how to create a binding instrument to address the changing accessibility of marine areas outside national jurisdiction and the new technologies, increased scientific knowledge, and expanding resource demands that impact them. An agreement was reached to create a process to navigate the many complex issues and meetings are now taking place. An overview by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), based in Paris, provides useful insight into how such an agreement becomes a reality.

First, one has to recognize the true nature of the problem. There is no global framework for governance, and the existing conditions are mostly characterized by confusion, conflicting interests, inadequate protections, commercial opportunities, and basic disagreement over core principles around which to organize change. Second, there are the collective, not always agreed perspectives of geo-political groups: The European Union; the G77; Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific; and the reluctant but active and influential outliers such as the United States, Canada, and Russia. An agenda and list of issues for negotiations include methods for reconciliation of disagreements, the creation of marine protected areas as a conservation structure, the management questions, consultation processes, and environmental assessments, and the integration of technology and skills to allow all nations equal capacity to participate successfully. There will be issues of institutional arrangements by which to decide, coordinate, and review; the potential undermining of existing relationships; the specific and volatile regulation of fisheries; and, of course, the penultimate matter of funding, what does it cost and who pays for it.

If you think this is complex and time-consuming, it is. How long will it take? Will it innovate and truly address the sustainability intentions? If or when agreement is reached, will the nations ratify, contribute, or pay attention? Over the years of following the evolution of international ocean policy, I have become totally respectful of the many individuals who contribute to this process, indeed who dedicate their lives and careers to the detailed, tedious, incremental advances that are required to produce any kind of practical, applicable, effective international agreement. This is the invisible part of policy creationthe continuous meetings in faraway places; the word-by-word, line-by-line, issue-by-issue discussions and consensus agreements; the uncertainty of approval or indecision back home; the rigors and restrictions of international law; and the ever-changing political fronts as dynamic and directional as ocean weather and the sea itself. I could never do this essential work, and I am in awe and grateful for the knowledge, durability, and patience of those who do.

Who Governs the High Seas? first appeared as a 5-minute audio episode on World Ocean Radio. Host Peter Neill is founder and director of the World Ocean Observatory, a web-based place of exchange for information and educational services about the health of the world ocean.

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Who Governs the High Seas? - HuffPost

In the paper, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the scientists proposed a mechanism to explain the rapid increase: Two large-scale atmospheric patterns had intersected to push up the water off the Southeast coast, causing a hot spot of sea-level rise.

This new mechanism, if it holds up to scientific scrutiny, might ultimately give researchers the ability to predict tidal flooding more accurately and warn communities what to expect months in advance.

William V. Sweet, a sea-level researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in the new work, pointed out that the long-term trend in sea level was a relentless increase, but that much is unknown about the variations that can occur over short periods. The more we can understand whats causing those, the more we can be prepared for the next influx of tidal flooding events, Dr. Sweet said.

Americans overwhelmingly believe that global warming is happening, and that carbon emissions should be scaled back. But fewer are sure that it will harm them personally.

Many people think the ocean works something like a bathtub, with sea level being the same all the way around. In reality, the ocean is lumpy, with winds, currents and other factors pushing water around to produce substantial variations in sea level from place to place.

Worldwide, the average level of the ocean is rising at a rate of about a foot per century, a consequence of the warming of the planet caused by the human release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

The excess heat trapped by those gases accumulates primarily in the ocean, and the seawater expands as it warms. Land ice is also melting into the sea because of the planetary warming, contributing to the rise, which appears to be accelerating over time.

But within that long-term trend, sea level in particular regions can sometimes rise more rapidly or more slowly than the global average. It can even fall for a few months or years.

In previous research, scientists had noticed big jumps that tended to occur either north or south of Cape Hatteras, on the North Carolina coast. For instance, a notable jump occurred along hundreds of miles of shoreline north of Cape Hatteras in 2009 and 2010, followed by a sharp increase south of the cape from 2011 to 2015.

The increase in the Southeast was the largest sudden jump there since the late 1940s, the scientists found. It amounted to about three-quarters of an inch of sea-level rise per year from 2011 to 2015, which may not sound like much but equates to billions of extra gallons of water just off the coast. That water inundates streets and lawns when the tides and winds conspire to push it inland.

Cape Hatteras is geographically significant. The Gulf Stream, a swift current carrying especially warm water from the Gulf of Mexico toward the North Atlantic, runs close to the coast for hundreds of miles. But when it passes Cape Hatteras, it veers off into the deeper ocean. That had led scientists to suggest that changes in the Gulf Stream might account for some of the rapid variations in sea level.

But now, three University of Florida scientists Dr. Dutton, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, and Jonathan B. Martin suggest that the Gulf Stream was not the primary culprit in the 2011 to 2015 rise.

Extremely hot days are expected to be much more frequent in the coming decades, potentially disrupting our everyday lives.

Instead, they found that two large atmospheric patterns most likely accounted for the hot spot off the Southeast coast: the El Nio cycle and the North Atlantic Oscillation, which is a shift in atmospheric pressure over the ocean that can have large effects on the winds blowing toward the American coast.

The paper suggests that the two sometimes interact in a way that causes water to pile up. The work confirms and extends two earlier papers, including one published in 2015 by a group led by Gerard D. McCarthy of Britains National Oceanography Center in Liverpool.

The new work is based on strong correlations, going back decades, between particular atmospheric patterns and the high sea levels.

Dr. Sweet, critiquing the paper, said he felt that the correlations were indeed suggestive, but he found the paper somewhat weak in explaining the exact mechanisms by which the atmospheric shifts may be causing water to bunch up. Its a little bit short, I think, in terms of physical understanding, he said.

Dr. Valle-Levinson, one of the authors, acknowledged this point. How the system is working is not crystal clear to us yet, he said.

Still, the paper is likely to open up new research about why sea-level hot spots seem to wander up and down the American coastline. The paper indicates the Southeast may now see some relief even if sea level does not fall, which several of the scientists described as unlikely, the pace of the increase may slow for a while.

But communities that have already started to experience severe tidal flooding, like Miami Beach, should not relax their guard, the scientists warned. These towns can expect continued rising seas over the long term, even if the rise occurs in a stepwise fashion.

Even if it does get a little better for a while, Dr. Dutton said, that should be a period that people use to their advantage, to prepare for the next hot spot.

An earlier version of this article described incorrectly the recent jump in sea level found by scientists in the Southeast. It amounted to about three-quarters of an inch of sea-level rise per year from 2011 to 2015, not three-quarters of an inch total.

A version of this article appears in print on August 10, 2017, on Page A15 of the New York edition with the headline: Atmospheric Anomalies Caused Rapid Sea Level Rise in Southeast.

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The Sea Level Did, in Fact, Rise Faster in the Southeast US - New York Times

By Joanna Lentini,August 8, 2017 @ 10:50 AM (EST) Source: NY Times

Considering over half of the worlds oceans have no jurisdiction, the United Nations is scheduled to start talks early next yearon protecting the high seas from overfishing. As things stand now, the high seas are ripe for pillage and the vast biodiversity of life there remains atrisk. By setting up marine protected areas on the high seas,the 193-countryGeneral Assembly hopes to safeguard against overfishing, mineral extraction, andclimate change.

Fishing on the high seas is a multi-billion dollar industry which will have little to noimpact on fishermen, while the trawlers of the high seas have hefty bank accounts behind their ventures. Proponents of the treaty would like to see 30% of the high seas protected; however, the United Nations goals are currently set at 10%. The treaty talks have had some push back from several countries who would prefer to see regional bodies created. Regardelss of how it is to be structured,it remains to be seen how the UN intends to enforce the new rules.

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UN to Start Talks on Protecting High Seas from Overfishing - DivePhotoGuide.com

Royal Caribbean, the world's second largest cruise line, operates in 47 different countries with over 50 ships, each of which is a floating city transporting and entertaining between 2,500 to 7,000 guests at a time. Running a cruise line at this scale presents massive logistical challenges.

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I caught up with Royal Caribbean's Chief Information Officer Mike Giresi at the Digital Workforce Summit, held in New York City by software company IPsoft. The event's theme was using AI and cognitive learning to automate and improve customer service -- thus the idea of digital workforce.

This video is part of the CXOTalk series of conversations with the world's top innovators. You can watch it embedded above and see the complete transcript on the CXOTalk video page.

Royal Caribbean is undertaking a large digital transformation initiative to rethink the guest experience. According to CIO Giresi, Royal Caribbean's goal is providing guests with a personalized experience that is also easy to understand. In his words, to create a "frictionless and immersive vacation experience for our guests:"

Customer value comes first. Digital transformation starts with the question, "What do our customers want?" In the case of Royal Caribbean, there are two crucial points.

First, the company wants to help customers visualize and understand, at a visceral, emotional level, the positive life experience of being on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Because customers have different goals, communicating this message meaningfully is hard. For example, one cruise shopper may want a peaceful getaway on the sea while another desires hot nightlife: Two buyers, each seeking their own unique experience.

Second, Royal Caribbean believes its primary job is making the cruise experience fast, easy, and fun. Mike spoke about creating "frictionless and immersive vacations." To do this, the company uses technology to make life simple and engaging for guests.

The term frictionless also implies operational efficiency. Consider the practical challenges associated with boarding and un-boarding thousands of passengers quickly and without incident from a cruise liner. Or, the difficulty in offering computing and data services while in the middle of an ocean, thousands of miles from land. Customer experience demands that Royal Caribbean solve these issues every single day.

The foundation issue is rethinking the entire cruise experience by answering the question, "What do customers care about most?"

Technology enables customer experience. Having set priorities based on what matters to customers, the business can use technology to enable outcomes that customers desire.

Giresi explains:

Technology provides the entire guest experience. We're modernizing our technology to enable the guest to have much more control and direct selection of what they want to do with the product itself; moving from reservation being the center of our universe, to the guest being the center of our universe, and then building capability services integration points.

[We are] enabling technology to move with the guests versus the guests having to traverse different monolithic and antiquated systems and ultimately feel like nothing is purposely put together.

With customer experience as the reference point, determining priorities for making technology investment decisions becomes easier. Defining customer priorities as the reference also aligns IT activities with business strategy, which obviously is of huge value to the company.

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Here is an edited transcript of our conversation.

The more we can do with the product, enabling both guest and customer experiences, if you will, but doing so in a way that broadens the ship. Like, how do we expand the vacation experience beyond the ship, so that you're not constrained by the physical limitations of the ship? That's the design around the technology strategy.

We want people to feel like coming to a cruise is not an overwhelming or intimidating experience. We want people to feel confident that as soon as they get on the ship, their vacation begins. In fact, we'd love their vacation to begin before they arrive. Once you enter the port to walk onto the ship, we want it to be as seamless as humanly possible. We want you to enjoy it, feel relaxed, be excited; you have your itinerary, you have your agenda if you will; you know all the things you're going to do. If you learn of new things, how easy is it to change that, and can swiftly and agilely adapt to whatever is available to you, to maximize that experience.

So, using augmented reality, or virtual reality, to bring experiences onto the ship that you would not be able to see; where you would not be able to experience because the ship has physical limitations, so people can understand what's happening with the ship, doing interesting things with social. Enabling people to self-select opportunities to go on excursions that may not have been available to them in personalizing that information, so they can get to the things that are of most interest to them.

We believe we are in the business of making tremendous memories. The better we can provide that information to you, the more successful we're going to be in providing the product.

We're in early days. We've gone through a lot of the heavy lifting from a foundational capability perspective.

When you think about a ship, you have a bunch of people, obviously guests on the ship, but there's a lot of crew on the ship, and there are a lot of supply chain processes. What it takes to run one of these floating cities is no different than what it takes to run a city. You're just running it at sea.

Each time that ship comes into a port, each time it does something, there's an opportunity to change and/or impact the experience. So, how do we make sure we maximize our processes and people in support of this program so that people feel like it's something of value?

We are looking at two aspects of AI. One is our actual workforce. How we can offer better information, and help them ensure that they are making every guest interaction -- whether in our call center or our crew interacting with our guests -- that those interactions are high quality and driving a great experience.

We believe there's an opportunity to provide guests with more personalized information, with more options that are relevant to their interests, and the more authentic it feels to someone, people will be friendlier to it and feel less intimidated by the overall process.

AI enables us to quickly move those issues to the point of solution much faster and proactively resolve issues before they become issues.

When we turn a ship, it's much like a plane. It's just a lot more complicate. Our ability to disembark people off that ship, invite the new guests onto the ship, and do that in a successful and high-quality manner, is critical to the success of the journey.

Where we're looking at AI, it is around the consumer experience. When you come to a cruise site, the amount of data that's available to you is voluminous, I mean, there's so much information.

If we know a little bit about you, and we understand what you're interested in, we can deliver that information in a much more personalized manner, to call center, crew.

How do we get better information to people so they can service the guests and help guests maximize their interaction with the business?

Obviously, we think we can help convert and acquire people more effectively by understanding behavioral trends and historical activities.

And, for our crew, it's about giving them the right information when they most need it to provide the right level of service to our guests.

CXOTalk brings you the world's most innovative business leaders, authors, and analysts for in-depth discussion unavailable anywhere else. Thank you to IPsoft for being a CXOTalk underwriter.

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AI on the high seas: Royal Caribbean sets a course for 'frictionless and immersive' vacations - ZDNet

Manycompanies are currentlydevelopingdriverless cars. We have also seen driverless trucks, although they are still in the very early stages of development. It sounds like we will also have autonomous boats in the future. That is simultaneously a very interesting and a scary trend. Self-driving container ships will soon be swarming the oceans, by the look of things.

It is not the first time we have seen companiesexploringthe opportunities provided by driverless boats. There are thousands of cargo ships crossing the oceans at any given time, so automation makes sense. Automation can improve efficiency, productivity, and cut down on overall costs. Less happily, itwill also lead to job cuts if these trials are successful. Suchis the double-edged sword of technology.

Autonomous boats may take longer than many people think. The shipping industry certainly coulddo with some innovation right now, sincethings have not changed all that much over the past few years. Additionally, it seems thatcargo shipshavebeenbeing scrapped a lot sooner than originally assumed, which creates an adverse effect on the industry as a whole. Additionally, company losses due to mismanagement or bankruptcyis a major problem.

If things go according to plan which hardly ever happens we may see the first remotely-operated vessels in operation by 2020. This will only be testing in closed waters rather than exploring the open sea. It will take an additional three to five years until the latter happens. Unmanned ocean vessels will eventually become more common over time, assuming that they can be perfected to some degree in the coming years.

Ships have had autopilot features for quite some time now. Thesefeatures have evolved substantially over the past few years, growing out to become a full-fledged autopilot feature which requires GPS coordinates to work successfully. However, thisis still a far cry from successfully automating travel from one port to another. It appears that will change very soon, and most believe that autonomous shipping is the future of the maritime industry. Smart ships will not necessarily be the same as smartphones, but theirimpacts could be quite similar in the end.

Indeed, some real progress can be made now that thefoundations for autonomous ships are in place. While they may not necessarily be seaworthy please pardon the pun they do exist and are ready to be improved upon. No groundbreaking technology needbe built from the ground up. That will significantly speed up the process of bringing autonomous ships to life. The required sensor technology is commercially available and the algorithms are close to being finished.

The big question remains why we need automated seafaring, or whetherwe do at all. Safety is one reason to explore this option, as are efficiency and cost reduction impacts. With no crew to accommodate, ships can become lighter yetoffer more cargo space at the same time. We may see a major revolution in the way autonomous ships are designed as well.

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Autonomous Boats Will Explore the High Seas by 2025 - The Merkle