Category Archives: High Seas

BY IAN CAMERON

Siem Offshore and Subsea 7 have signed a joint three-year service agreement with Rolls-Royce under which Rolls-Royce will maintain and service all of the equipment it has delivered to the two companies offshore vessels.

The deal covers a total of 74 vessels and is the first agreement the two Norwegian-headquartered Siem-owned companies have signed with the same service provider.

At present, aftermarket services account for approximately 40% of Rolls-Royce Marines revenues, the company said, with long-term agreements accounting for around a quarter of that total.

We have delivered equipment to around a quarter of the worlds registered fleet, said Knut Hovland, Rolls-Royce, director, Marine Services. As a result, we also have service assignments and long-term agreements with a large number of ship owners globally. We also have a network of service stations at 34 locations world-wide, so we can be close by whenever equipment needs servicing or repair.

Rolls-Royce also announced it recently signed its first power-by-the-hour agreement with the Norwegian logistics and cargo company Nor Lines.

We are particularly pleased to sign new service agreements in these current times, said Hovland. We have obviously been affected by the fact that many vessels in the offshore market are still laid up and it will be interesting to see what impact this will have on the service market going forward.

Rolls-Royce added that it is now exploring digital opportunities to provide ship owners with a growing range of new and more effective service solutions. These include new types of services based on monitoring of ships operations and equipment from control centers located on shore.

One of Subsea 7s most prestigious vessels is the Bahamas-flagged, 182 m Seven Borealis pipelaying and heavy lift vessel which is powered by six Rolls-Royce B32:40 V12A diesel engines producing 5760 kW each at 720 r/min. The 2012-built vessel also incorporates an MTU V12 4000 Series emergency/harbor generator rated 1600 kW, as well as Rolls-Royce azimuth thrusters.

Naturally, we believe we can save money by jointly entering into this kind of service agreement, said Steinar Sandberg, Siem Group, head of Group Procurement. We have a modern and technically advanced fleet that requires good follow-up throughout the vessels working lives.

Continued here:

Service On The High Seas - Diesel & Gas Turbine Worldwide - Diesel & Gas Turbine Worldwide

As boating season hits the prime summer months, this question pops up more frequently: Will I get busted if Ipossess a small amount of cannabis on my craft? IS it legal to cruise with weed?

The short answer is yes, it is still illegal. But, like all marijuana regulations, the actual answer will vary depending on where you live.

Of the eight states that have legalized the adult use of marijuana, six are coastal states(Washington, Oregon, California Alaska, Maine and Massachusetts) and are, therefore, subject to Coast Guard jurisdiction. Nevada is landlocked, but Lake Tahoe falls under Coast Guard authority. Only Colorado is free of Coast Guard presence.

And the Coast Guard is crystal clear on its position.Andrew Barresi, a Coast Guard spokesman based in Boston, said in an email to Portland (Maine) Press Herald:

The Coast Guard enforces federal laws within all navigable U.S. waters. This means that in all marijuana cases, Coast Guard law enforcement officers will enforce federal law, even in states which have legalized it. Federal law has not changed, so our enforcement of that law has not changed.

This is not surprising.Federal law-enforcement agencies follow federal law. And the Coast Guard has wide jurisdiction on federal waters. According to Boating magazine:

The difference is that on land, federal officers arent out writing tickets for faulty taillights, butthe Coast Guard routinely boards boats, even within state waters, to enforce federal boating-safety laws. While theyre inspecting flares or looking in the PFD locker, if they find a baggie with a little weed, it becomes a big problem.

The laws become a muddier in states, such as Washington, where many commuters use the ferry system as a part of their workday. State law enforcement officials will look the other way if the amount is within the legal limits, but the Coast Guard still insists that it will follow federal law.

The bottom line: If you have a small amount of cannabis and are in a legal state, you should be fine. Just dont flaunt the fact you are carrying cannabis.

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Marijuana And The High Seas: Can You Cruise With Weed? - The Fresh Toast

Home News Oman Omani woman makes waves on high seas

Bimal Shivaji

MUSCAT

It was the quest for adventure and love for the open seas that saw Basma Al Hashmi graduate in maritime studies and become the first woman from the Sultanate to become deck cadet.

Today she is the second officer with Oman Shipping Company and enjoys every bit of sailing with a crude carrier visiting many countries and beyond all that living her dream.

Basma graduated from the International Maritime College in Sohar in 2013. She applied for the post of deck cadet with Oman Shipping Company and in 2014 joined the company, creating history.

And today she has visited all the continents except Antarctica. Her spirit for adventure is still green despite a good part of her life on the seas. I will visit that continent Antarctica too, Basma told The Oman Tribune.

My parents were a bit apprehensive at first when I decided to take up maritime studies and later the job. But I was able to convince them when I said this is my calling, she says. Her siblings, a sister and five brothers, did support her in her chosen vocation. They are all in various fields but not `in my line, said Basma at the ongoing higher education expo at the Oman Exhibition and Convention Centre where she is volunteering for her Alma Mater during her time off duty.

Oman Sail has been promoting sailing as a sport and there are many girls who have taken it up. But Basma started dreaming of a career in the seas, much earlier.

The Muscat girl hopes to set another record down the line when she would rise to become captain of a ship, she says with a twinkle in her eyes.

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Omani woman makes waves on high seas - Oman Tribune

Summertime. Vacation time. No time to let your guard down. Traditionally, crime goes up during warmer weather, with property crimes and aggravated assaults on the rise. In some locations, murder rates increase, too. When temperatures rise, there are more windows left open, more sweaty and irritated people seeking relief outside, and more alcoholic beverages consumed in public, all of which can prompt bad behavior.

Maybe you and your family have decided to take an ocean cruise to get away from it all this summer. Well, beware, because there is crime on the high seas, too sometimes violent crime. And consider this: A vessel might be registered in the Bahamas, headquartered in Miami, traveling in international waters and carrying passengers from any number of foreign countries, so law enforcement jurisdiction is murky.

If the ship departs from, say, Florida, and a crime is committed onboard, the local police might investigate once the cruise liner returns to port. The feds have jurisdiction if a crime has occurred against a U.S. national on a ship that has departed or will arrive back in the States. The FBI might be assigned to investigate. But these professionals will be days removed from when the crime was committed. Every detective will tell you that evidence gathered immediately following a crime is often crucial to prosecution.

The cruise industry says it caters to more than 24 million customers each year and that crime rates on board one of those massive floating hotels is a small fraction of the comparable rates of crime on land.

But on dry land, you can immediately call 911 for help. You likely have a cop shop a few minutes driving distance from your location and a fully equipped hospital nearby. On a cruise ship, perhaps hundreds of miles out at sea, youve got well, youve got whatever the ship has to offer.

An official with the Cruise Lines International Association insists there is robust security onboard to assure passengers are safe. But lets get real: Any security officers are working for the cruise line, and their primary allegiance may not be to a victimized passenger. Their efforts gathering evidence, taking witness statements or tracking down suspects may be lacking.

NBC News has reported extensively on cruise line crime and calculated that of the 92 alleged crimes reported on cruise ships last year, 62 were sexual assaults. Im guessing here, but I bet the combination of hot temperatures and free-flowing booze tends to reduce passengers inhibitions. But most frightening is that a majority of the sexual assaults be they committed by crew members or passengers were never prosecuted. A congressional report from a few years ago found that minors were the victims in a third of those sexual assaults.

The dirty secret in the cruise line industry is that crime does occur on cruise ships and very often law enforcement isnt notified, evidence isnt preserved, people arent assisted, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He is sponsoring a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require cruise lines to report any claim of criminal activity to the FBI within four hours, turn over all video evidence, earmark cases in which youngsters are involved and include a federal officer called a sea marshal on each ship. Id like to add that each vessel be equipped with a proper evidentiary rape kit.

NBCs reporting included stories about victimized teenage girls, one of whom tried to commit suicide after she alleged that she was given alcohol and raped onboard a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Another teen interviewed claimed she was sexually assaulted by a crew member in the ships gym. Jim Walker, a Miami attorney, said his firm has represented many victims of alleged cruise ship crime, including one who was just 3 years old.

The average passenger load on an ocean liner is about 3,000. But some mega-cruise liners can hold up to 6,000. Whenever you get that many people in a finite space, lulled by adult activities over here and supervised children and youth activities over there, trouble can develop.

Im sure the cruise lines do their very best to fully vet and hire suitable employees. It would not be in their best interest to do otherwise. But this summer, if you are taking the family on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to paradise, dont let your guard down. Have a wonderful vacation, but realize that crime can happen anywhere, and you and yours are not immune.

To find out more about Diane Dimond, visit her website at http://www.dianedimond.com.

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DIANE DIMOND: Be careful on the high seas - Examiner Enterprise

For me its the summer of heaven, said Reid Pauyo, 53.

Pauyo was sitting contentedly last Thursday atop the new rush hour ferry from 34th Street to Glen Cove, Long Island. The Stevie Wonder song Dont you worry bout a thing was playing softly over speakers on the enclosed top deck. The bluffs and beaches of Great Neck and Port Washington breezed by, the lights of the Gatsby mansions just winking on. Pauyo gestured magnanimously. He was the only person in the echoing compartment.

With necessary Amtrak repairs causing what Gov. Andrew Cuomo called a summer of hell now upon us, the MTA has been challenged to make life as un-miserable as possible for commuters traveling into and out of the city in the face of canceled or rerouted LIRR trains. Alternative travel plans were drawn up, including the temporary four-times-daily ferry. The hellscape started a week ago, and then: mostly nothing.

New York City-bound trains were more crowded than usual last week. There were confused Long Islanders rerouted to Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, but few nightmares yet. Riders are MTA-trained enough to know that things could get worse, dispensation provided by wise preparation and the fact that Penn Station work is only beginning. But while they wait for the other shoe to drop (maybe its dropping as you read), the Glen Cove ferrygoers were enjoying their unexpected ride all 35 or so on the boat built for more than 200.

Raj Wakhale of Huntington, for example, was sitting good-humoredly on the open deck despite a slight drizzle. Nursing a beer and toasting the landscape, he praised the spaciousness compared to the usual squeezing on the train. You werent sweating on the guy next to you or smelling his beer. He said there had been free food at the Glen Cove Ferry terminal in the morning. Im sure were paying for it somehow, allowed Wakhale, 48.

For Pauyo, the Glen Cove resident enjoying his solitude out of the rain, the boat actually made his commute much easier. His office is right next to the Wall Street drop-off for the morning ferry. Couldnt be easier.

That may not be true for the many who find the ride too long or inconvenient factors in the dampening of demand for the Glen Cove-Manhattan ferry, which has been an elusive goal for decades. Another factor: potential unreliability, as was the case on Friday when two of the four runs were cancelled due to morning engine problems.

Pauyo says the better way to make ferry service sustainable is similar to what the MTA was forced to do this summer: use the bounty of NYs waterways and create an alternative to the train, not a replacement. Then price and size the boats for demand, and re-format the ride to make it competitively pleasant (Pauyo is, you may have guessed, a banker). He said there were easy ways to spruce up the ferry, one of a varied fleet the MTA is using have more outdoor seating, for example, perhaps flat screen TVs or outlets for your phone. At the moment, the enclosed deck sported only a sad string of party lights and a single wilted houseplant.

The alternative transportation strategy is similar to what Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying in the city with a ferry service that launched this spring. Because each boat has about the capacity of a single subway car the system wont a replacement for other modes of transportation. But its certainly pleasant during warm months, particularly when compared with the subways, whose burden it might ease.

In some ways, subway riders are having a truer summer from hell this year, with delays and malfunctions abounding. Ferrygoers generally knew how lucky they had it last week, a much nicer experience than LIRR or subway riders faced. Glen Cove Deputy Mayor Barbara Peebles, a longtime ferry advocate, says shes not surprised to hear about the good experiences, though she had expected many more commuters to try the option even with the limited schedule.

She says she went to sleep the night before launch day thinking were gonna need a bigger boat.

They didnt, and what she hopes will become a popular permanent ferry is off to a slow start. But maybe people will eventually be drawn by a potentially not-so-hellish season on the waves.

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'Summer of hell?' Not on the high seas - amNY

A crew of improbable New Zealand heroes was honored on a wintry July 11 with a parade that drew throngs of jubilant Kiwis to the streets of Wellington. Members of Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) had just returned from Bermuda, where they had become the underdog winners of the America's Cup sailing race. Their victory over titleholders Oracle Team USA was sweet redemption: ETNZ had blown a commanding lead over Oracle in the 2013 competition. In this year's rematch, however, the relatively underfunded Kiwis parlayed a blend of skill and technological ingenuity to take down their rivals, lavishly backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison. ETNZ's stunning win offers a chance to delve into the world of elite sailing, an international sport in which technology and innovation rule the seas and national identity is as slippery as a deck in a storm.

On the surface, sailing seems a decidedly anachronistic sport, conjuring images of a suntanned septuagenarian in Sperry Top-Siders. After all, the sail itself is an outmoded technology, and the grand prize of sport sailing the America's Cup is celebrated as the oldest trophy in sports. In reality, modern sailing keeps pace with Formula One in its cutting-edge design and the relentless pursuit of innovation, and the America's Cup has historically been contested by the best available vessels, be they schooners in the 1851 inaugural, sloops in the 1880s, the J-class in the 1930s, or the high-tech catamarans used today.

The race's constantly evolving technology is a result of what might be the most flexible and dynamic governing apparatus in all of sports. While there are a formal America's Cup committee and rule-making organs, the major dictates of each iteration of the race are largely up to the previous winner. That's right: The race location, vessel type and a slew of other rules and regulations are determined by the defending champions, who historically have been free to stack the deck in their favor. In years past, this led to a fairly one-sided competition, with the New York Yacht Club enjoying a streak of victories from 1851 through 1980. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the club's teams enjoyed the patronage of some wealthy household names: J.P. Morgan, Ted Turner and a variety of Vanderbilts. In an effort to spread the appeal of the sport in recent times, the competition has been made slightly more egalitarian, but titleholders still hold a considerable edge; only one team has ever failed to repeat its victory at least once.

Ellison, the founder of the Oracle brand and the eponymous sailing team, has emerged as an interesting standard-bearer for the sport: He spends relentlessly in the pursuit of victory but has also endorsed rules and structures to help grow sailboat racing beyond its traditional audience. At the defending Oracle team's direction, the 2013 Cup races were held in San Francisco Bay, bringing the action closer to spectators on the shore. That series also saw the introduction of the catamaran-style vessels that have nearly quadrupled racing speeds. Ellison's team staged its impressive, come-from-behind victory that year. Its run of eight straight wins to clinch a 9-8 triumph garnered a good deal of extra media attention for the race and the sport.

Following its 2013 heartbreak, ETNZ appears to have pulled out all the stops en route to a resounding defeat of Ellison's squad in June. The Kiwis' most novel innovation was to install a set of hydraulic power-generating stationary bicycles in their boat to replace the traditional hand-cranked systems that have long been the norm. This made for curious viewing: To casual spectators, it looked as if the boats were paddle-driven by cyclists. Of course, this was not the case, but the bicycle system gave the team massive gains in efficiency while literally freeing up hands on deck. It had been developed under a shroud of secrecy and unveiled only a few months before the competition; only one other team attempted to install a similar setup. ETNZ also relied on some of the sport's most sophisticated data systems, using a blend of telemetry, GPS and drone footage to gain every possible advantage.

Naturally, the boats don't sail themselves, and the ETNZ sailors, under the leadership of skipper Glenn Ashby and helmsman Peter Burling, emerged as the competition's most capable group in terms of foiling. This occurs when the catamaran builds up enough speed that the craft's twin hydrofoils raise the main hull out of the water. The hydrofoils, in turn, reduce friction with the water enough to push the boat to speeds that can exceed those of the wind. The New Zealanders' advantage in foiling came in part because they were the first to employ the approach. New Zealand relied on a shrewd interpretation of the race's rules in 2013 to pioneer foiling, which has quickly become a standard technique across the sport. Between its clandestine innovation and rule-pushing tactics, the upstart squad bested the field in the qualification rounds this year and cruised to a 7-1 victory over Oracle in the final race series.

The relatively open competitive structures also lead to interesting moments of collaboration, rivalry and subterfuge that are matched only by professional wrestling. After the Italian Luna Rossa syndicate, challengers to ETNZ for the next cup, withdrew from this year's race in protest of the reduction and standardization of vessel size, it turned over some of its resources to ETNZ in the process. After the ETNZ boat capsized during the qualifying tournament, the team reached out to Groupama Team France, which had already been eliminated, for support and equipment. The French initially refused (allegedly at the urging of Oracle), then promised help in exchange for a payment of 300,000 euros before withdrawing the offer.

The rest is here:

The America's Cup: A High Seas Expression of Pure Capitalism - STRATFOR

Environment Indias stress on protecting the high-seas freedoms in conservation dialogues seems to stem from our ambition of being a major player in deep-seabed mining.

The high seas now suffer from an unrestrained use of resources in the face of several tedious regulations, the lack of a strong institutional framework and reluctant political will. Credit: Kanenori/pixabay

The oceans contain it all: life, biodiversity, energy resources, genetic resources and theyre amongthe biggest carbon sinks on the planet. This is why its almost silly thattheir importance has to be reiterated before pressing for theirconservation. The Indian Ocean in particular is also a vast reservoir of economic resources: off-shore oil, fish stock and rich marine biodiversity. Unfortunately, itis also one of the dirtiest oceans in the world, polluted by plastic debris and chemical runoff.

Under international law, a countrys sovereignty the exclusive economic zone where a country exercises itsjurisdiction goes upto 200 nautical miles (around 370 km) from its coastal baseline.Thismeans that thenationgoverns this area as it governs its landmass. The effective governance of a natural resource, which includes the oceans, should thus ideally be a balance between its utilisationand conservation.

Beyond the thresholdof a countrys territorial sovereignty at sea, the waters are deemed international and commonly called the high seas, or areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), where no individual country can exercise itsexclusive rights. This distinction is merely legal; in the natural world, there are no borders. What happens beyond 200 nautical miles affects what happens within it, and vice-versa. Previously, this hasnt beena problem, but the high seas now suffer from an unrestrained use of resources in the face of several tediousregulations, the lack of a strong institutional framework and reluctant political will.

Now, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is awidely ratified treatywith 150 members. And the treatment of the high seas under UNCLOS has traditionally been centred onthe freedoms that nations haveto exploit the high seas. This could be by enabling them tofish, navigate, lay submarine cables or pipelines, etc. in the ABNJ. Eventually, however, the international community started to realisethat the member nations were over-exploiting the resources and that they had set the health of the high season a decline. After years of negotiations, in 2015, the UN adopted a resolution to develop a legally binding treaty for the conservation of marine life beyond national territorial waters. This forthcoming treaty is an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) in negotiations.

The main idea of negotiating anILBI is to detail proposals of the elements that could comprise the treaty, such as conservation measures, environmental impact assessments and its components, marine genetic resources, capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology. This at leastconcerns the conservation side of living marine resources. However, international law under the UNCLOS, by virtue of the ILBI, is now making a distinction between living and non-living marine resources. While the conservation of living resources is being negotiated under the ILBI, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is the regulatory body in charge of granting licenses to nationsfor exploiting the deep seabed for non-living marine resources.

Indias stand in the meetings on the ILBI has been off-handed;the representativeshave been repeatingthe basic tenants of environmental law such as the need to uphold principles of international law, need for oceanic conservation, etc. Wehave been stressing constantly on not compromising freedoms on the high-seas. In a nutshell, as far as the high seas go, Indias stand in ILBI negotiations is that:

On the other hand, our presence in the ISA has beenmore pronounced. Indias stress on protecting the high-seas freedoms in conservation dialogues seems to stem from our ambition of being a major player in deep-seabed mining. In one of the three deep-seabed exploration areas currently permitted by international law, China, South Korea, Germany and India are among the countriesprospecting for polymetallic nodules and sulphides (in the Central Indian basin). While the regime for the extractionof metals and minerals is more or less well-defined, the regulation of living resources in the high seas is stillunder consideration.

Understanding that, as a developing country, India cannot curb resource-exploitation in keeping with our needs present and future it would still be safe to say that India is a dominant power bordering the Indian Ocean in southern and southeast Asia, and our stand both national and international counts.

The India Foundation is organising an Indian Ocean Conference in August 2017 with several countries of the relevant region to discuss its governance. The organising committee (according to the programme) has many officials fromthe Ministry of External Affairs. But it is strange to note that there is no representation from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, which is in charge of governing the oceans forIndia. So it appears as if the only job of this ministryis to obtain licenses to exploit marine resources globally. The About us section on their websitecontains these lines:The Ministry also deals with science and technology for exploration and exploitation of ocean resources (living and non-living), and play nodal role for Antarctic/Arctic and Southern Ocean research.This is probably an inadvertently honest declaration of what Indias plan is for governing the oceans: exploitation without conservation.

We cannot expect to use upnon-living resources without playing an active role in protecting the high-seas marine ecosystem. We cant in the long run talk about peace and prosperity if addressing marine pollution is not on our agenda. Most oceans conservation programmes are under climate change research and pertain to the Indian coastline and limited fish resources. We seem to not be having any discussion on protecting marine biodiversity or marine genetic resources or high-seas governance at all, for that matter. Balancingthe utilisationand the protection of a resource is complex and there are no easy answers. However, thisis precisely why we need more academic and public engagement onthe topic within India.

Ipshita Chaturvediis an alumna of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences and the University of Melbourne. She works for a think-tank in Mumbai.

Categories: Environment, Featured, South Asia

Tagged as: benefit sharing, high seas, Indian Ocean, International Seabed Authority, marine biodiversity, marine genetic resources, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of External Affairs, seabed mining, UNCLOS

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If India Won't Work to Conserve Our Oceanic Resources, Peace Can't Be on Its Agenda - The Wire

Just last month, we lost the naval war hero of 1971. A recipient of the Vir Chakra, Cdr. B. N. Kavina had led the attack on Karachi during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. He died on 30 June 2017 in Adelaide (Australia). Cdr Kavina was 80 years old and lived there with his son Karl. He is considered as one of the chief architects of the daring attack.

Sadly, such stories hardly make it to the news and remain a ticker and newsworthy pieces that bespeak of communalism/hatred/breaking-news make it on prime time and get more coverage!

The daring operation that Cdr. Kavina is famous for, code named Operation Trident was executed by the 25th missile squadron comprising naval ships Nipat, Nirghat and Veer of the Indian Navy. At that time, Lt Cdr. Kavina was the commanding officer of INS Nipat, a Vidyut-class missile boat. Apart from INS Nipat, the squadron comprised INS Nirghat and INS Veer each armed with four SS-N-2B Styx anti-ship missiles.

The Nirghat fired two missiles and sank the Pakistan Navy destroyer Khaibar. The missile boat Nipat also fired two missiles and sank the merchant ship Venus Challenger. The third boat Veer engaged with the Pakistan Navys coastal minesweeper Muhafiz, firing one missile and sinking it successfully.

The story did not end there. Lt Cdr Kavina then took the Nipat within 25km of the shore, firing a Styx at the Keamari oil terminal setting off a spectacular blaze. This set the stage for the second missile attack on Karachi after which, the Pakistani fleet did not venture out to the sea during the rest of the war, rendering full control of the sea to the Indian Navy.

This brings us to understand the exact reason why Navy Day is celebrated. It is observed annually on December 4 to celebrate the magnificence, achievements and role of the naval force of the country. The Indian Navy is one of most potent maritime forces in the world and the most lethal in the Indian Ocean.

The observance of the day commemorates the launch of Operation Trident by the Indian Navy against Pakistan on 4th December, 1971. During the 1971 India-Pakistan war, the Indian Navy had played a significant role in the bombing of the Karachi harbour, the stronghold of the Pakistani Navy. In this attack, Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and ravaged the Karachi harbour fuel fields. In this operation, the three missile boats had played a pivotal role. Operation Trident had also resulted in first use of anti-ship missiles in the Arabian Sea region.

The Indian Air Force had been carrying out reconnaissance flights over West Pakistan during December 1971, along the 2,430-km border. In a bid to frustrate such plans, Pakistan launched pre-emptive air strikes on Indian bases nicknamed Operation Chengiz Khan on the evening of December 3, 1971. Indian air bases at Amritsar, Agra, Srinagar, Pathankot, Jodhpur, Ambala, etc. were bombed. This led India directly into attacking the western wing which it wanted from the day the crisis in East Pakistan had begun.

India retaliated immediately and from the night itself bombed Pakistan airfields and vital installations. The Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 had begun. Pakistan was now engaged on two fronts. While Indian air force attacked Pakistani installations every day, the Indian navy launched an attack on the Karachi port the lifeline of Pakistan. On the night of December 4 and 5, Operation Trident caused major damage.

Pakistan Navy suffered another loss when its submarine PNS Ghazi sank in the Bay of Bengal, where India had enforced a naval blockade of East Pakistan. Here Indias only aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was deployed not only to carry out a naval blockade of Bay of Bengal but to undertake air attacks inside East Pakistan. This also made East Pakistan navy ineffective. India too suffered a loss of a frigate INS Khukri near Karachi on December 9.

After the first round of air force and naval attacks on Karachi on December 4, India wanted to cripple Pakistan by blocking the Karachi seaport. Pakistan Navy retaliated by bombing Okha harbour in Gujarat and its fuel reserves, but three days later the Indian navy undertook another operation against Karachi titled Operation Python on the night of December 8 and 9, and sank three merchant navy ships but the loss of oil reserves at the port was severe. All 22 fuel tanks were ablaze for three days.

After December 8, Karachi seaport virtually stopped operating. Trade stood still. Besides the damage caused to the naval facilities at Karachi harbour, the attacks caused serious damage to civilian life and material. The naval and air attacks on Karachi continued till there was a ceasefire after Dhaka fell.

After the December 3 situation, the Indian air force bombed the air bases in Punjab and Kashmir and the infantry pushed through Sindh, Punjab and Kashmir. Here the Indian army stayed till the final withdrawal truce. As the war had flared up, world leaders regained new efforts for considering ways to stop it and bring the parties to the negotiating table.

The Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 was one of the shortest yet one of the important wars in the history of the two countries. During the war, apart from Indian Army and Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy played a huge role in making the Pakistanis surrender.

These attacks on Karachi not only destroyed the Pakistani oil reserves, but also destroyed the refinery thereby depriving Pakistan of the ability to process more oil. This in-turn resulted in a severe shortage of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel, reducing Pakistan's ability to sustain the war effort against India. This was the main reason why the war was so short and the surrender of Pakistani forces was achieved with relative ease. They did not have sufficient fuel for their ships, aircraft and vehicles including tanks to sustain the war effort!

Planned under the leadership of Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda and masterminded by then Fleet Operations Officer of the Navy Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani, Operation Trident is referred to as one of the most audacious naval attempts the world has ever witnessed.

In conversation with Capt. Samir Kohli, CEO The Erring Human, this is what he had to say, As far as I am concerned, this is the story of excellent planning and a flawless execution against all odds. The missile boats of operation Trident are extremely tiny boats that neither have the fuel nor sufficient water or sea keeping quality to make the passage from Mumbai to Karachi.

They were therefore towed there, with the crew subject to severe water and food rationing while vomiting their guts out due to heavy roll and pitch experienced in high seas. The pin drop precision with which this attack was accomplished takes on a very different meaning in the light of these conditions which are not known to many who have never ventured out at sea. This is the story which motivated me to join the Navy.

Of course, the heroes of this operation had long retired and gone by the time I was old enough to join, but that did not come in the way of their bravery inspiring me and keeping me motivated to deliver my best when I faced similar conditions at sea. My chance to meet my heroes came several years later. First was a chance encounter at a gas station in Coonoor near Ooty, with the great Late Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw, where after staring at him for some time, I drew up the courage to walk up to him!

I was too much in awe to be in his presence and words failed me then. Several years later, after my retirement, came another chance encounter at the airport with Late Cdr. Kavina and the unforgettable 5 or 7 minutes of time to exchange greetings and to convey my respects to the man who had changed the course of my life!

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A Hero of the High Seas - The Citizen (press release)

Summertime. Vacation time. No time to let your guard down. Traditionally, crime goes up during warmer weather, with property crimes and aggravated assaults on the rise. In some locations, murder rates increase, too.

When temperatures rise, there are more windows left open, more sweaty and irritated people seeking relief outside, and more alcoholic beverages consumed in public, all of which can prompt bad behavior.

Maybe you and your family have decided to take an ocean cruise to get away from it all this summer. Well, beware, because there is crime on the high seas, too sometimes violent crime.

And consider this: A vessel might be registered in the Bahamas, headquartered in Miami, traveling in international waters and carrying passengers from any number of foreign countries, so law enforcement jurisdiction is murky.

If the ship departs from, say, Florida, and a crime is committed onboard, the local police might investigate once the cruise liner returns to port. The feds have jurisdiction if a crime has occurred against a U.S. national on a ship that has departed or will arrive back in the United States.

The FBI might be assigned to investigate. But these professionals will be days removed from when the crime was committed. Every detective will tell you that evidence gathered immediately following a crime is often crucial to prosecution.

The cruise industry says it caters to more than 24 million customers each year and that crime rates on board one of those massive floating hotels is a small fraction of the comparable rates of crime on land.

But on dry land, you can immediately call 9-1-1 for help. You likely have a cop shop a few minutes driving distance from your location and a fully equipped hospital nearby. On a cruise ship, perhaps hundreds of miles out at sea, youve got ... well, youve got whatever the ship has to offer.

An official with the Cruise Lines International Association insists there is robust security onboard to assure passengers are safe. But lets get real: Any security officers are working for the cruise line, and their primary allegiance may not be to a victimized passenger. Their efforts gathering evidence, taking witness statements or tracking down suspects may be lacking.

NBC News has reported extensively on cruise line crime and calculated that of the 92 alleged crimes reported on cruise ships last year, 62 were sexual assaults. Im guessing here, but I bet the combination of hot temperatures and free-flowing booze tends to reduce passengers inhibitions.

But most frightening is that a majority of the sexual assaults be they committed by crew members or passengers were never prosecuted. A congressional report from a few years ago found that minors were the victims in a third of those sexual assaults.

The dirty secret in the cruise line industry is that crime does occur on cruise ships and very often law enforcement isnt notified, evidence isnt preserved, people arent assisted, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

He is sponsoring a Senate bill that would require cruise lines to report any claim of criminal activity to the FBI within four hours, turn over all video evidence, earmark cases in which youngsters are involved, and include a federal officer called a sea marshal on each ship. Id like to add that each vessel be equipped with a proper evidentiary rape kit.

NBCs reporting included stories about victimized teenage girls, one of whom tried to commit suicide after she alleged that she was given alcohol and raped onboard a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Another teen interviewed claimed she was sexually assaulted by a crew member in the ships gym.

Jim Walker, a Miami maritime attorney, said his firm has represented many victims of alleged cruise ship crime, including one who was just 3 years old.

The average passenger load on an ocean liner is about 3,000. But some mega-cruise liners can hold up to 6,000. Whenever you get that many people in a finite space, lulled by adult activities over here and supervised children and youth activities over there, trouble can develop.

Im sure the cruise lines do their very best to fully vet and hire suitable employees. It would not be in their best interest to do otherwise.

But this summer, if you are taking the family on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to paradise, dont let your guard down. Have a wonderful vacation, but realize that crime can happen anywhere, and you and yours are not immune.

Diane Dimond is the author of Thinking Outside the Crime and Justice Box. Contact her at [emailprotected], follow her on Twitter: @DiDimond, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.

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Diane Dimond: Hit the High Seas on Vacation, But Be Careful - Noozhawk

Featuring places like New York, Boston, San Francisco and Miami, the list paints a grim picture of what our nation could look like if sea level predictions are accurate.

If you live along the coast, your city could be one of them -- meaning you could be part of the last generation to call it home.

"This research hones in on exactly how sea level rise is hitting us first. The number of people experiencing chronic floods will grow much more quickly than sea level itself," Benjamin Strauss, vice president for Sea Level and Climate Impacts at Climate Central said in reaction to this study.

The study isn't a doomsday scenario, as the parameters are pretty conservative.

To put it in perspective, Miami -- which already floods on a regular basis and has spent millions of dollars on mitigation -- hasn't even reached the 10% threshold of inundation. According to the study it deems as "chronically inundated" any coastal community that experiences this frequency of flooding over 10 percent or more of its land area, excluding wetlands and areas protected by levees."

"Between 165 and 180 chronically inundated communities in just the next 15 to 20 years; between 270 and 360 in roughly 40 years, depending on the pace of sea level rise; and 490 by end of century with a moderate sea level rise scenario," co-author and senior climate analyst for UCS, Erika Spanger-Seigfried said. "With a higher sea level rise scenario, that number rises to about 670; that's about half of all of the oceanfront communities in the lower 48."

Ninety communities are considered "inundated today," mostly in Louisiana and Maryland, where seas are rising and the land is sinking.

"This study highlights something it's really important for people to understand. Sea level rise means sharp growth in coastal flooding. In fact, most coastal floods today are already driven by human-caused sea level rise," Strauss said.

The cities expected to be inundated by 2035 aren't too surprising; they include places along the Jersey Shore and in parts of North Carolina, south Louisiana and neighboring areas that have been known as vulnerable for years.

By 2060, the list grows to hundreds of coastal communities, large and small: cities like Galveston, Texas; Sanibel Island, Florida; Hilton Head, South Carolina; Ocean City, Maryland; and many cities along the Jersey Shore.

By the end of the century, the list says, more than 50 cities with populations of more than 100,000 could be affected. Cities like Boston; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and four of the five boroughs of New York will be considered inundated. Although the West Coast seems to be spared the brunt of inundation over the next few decades, even places like San Francisco and Los Angeles will be on the list by 2100.

Residents of roughly 500 cities across the US will be faced with the same choices by the end of the century: whether to mitigate or to abandon their homes.

"In hundreds of coastal American cities and towns, decades before sea-level rise permanently puts land underwater, chronic, disruptive high tide flooding arrives and makes it impossible to carry on business as usual in impacted areas," Spanger-Siegfried said.

Many times, the cost to keep the water out is too high and provides only a temporary fix. The study suggests the urgency for cities to make decisions soon -- to help spare towns of the incredible loss of infrastructure, history and way of life down the road.

President Donald Trump's promise to withdrawal from the Paris agreement has alarmed the science community, which has a goal to hold the planet's warming to a minimum. This study also suggests the importance of the Paris Climate Agreement.

"Holding warming between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century could spare between roughly 200 and 380 US coastal communities, including nearly 50 major cities from chronic flooding," the study states.

According to Spanger-Siegfried, "we want to help people and communities see this chronic inundation problem coming. We want to give them a sense of the time they have before carrying on business as usual becomes impossible, and outline some things they can do to respond -- both to prepare for the threat and to curtail it."

She says communities and individuals can't solve this problem alone. She thinks the "federal government should be on notice that it's got a ballooning, national sea level rise problem -- one that requires stronger federal policies and more resources to deal with it, as well as a renewed seriousness about addressing climate change and hopefully slowing the pace of sea level rise."

Strauss said, "Most coastal floods today are already tipped over the balance by sea level rise. This important research shows that things could get much worse, and soon, for lots of people."

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Higher seas to flood dozens of US cities, study says; is yours one of them? - CNN