Category Archives: High Seas

The time has come to board Ovation of the Seas and begin an adventure from Seattle to Alaska! Over the next seven days, Ill be blogging from the Pacific Ocean on Royal Caribbeans final Alaska sailing of the 2021 season.

Luckily I had no time difference to adjust to, so I spent the morning exploring downtown Seattle with my dad. He will be joining me on this sailing for his first cruise ever! We enjoyed walking around the famous Pike Place Market before heading back to the hotel.

Our hotel arranged a shuttle service to the pier at noon, so we arrived at Pier 91 about forty five minutes prior to our scheduled check-in time. As expected, we were unable to board early, but the weather was perfect and it was nice to look up at the ship before boarding.

The terminal was certainly much busier than my previous sailings this year. There are around 3,000 guests onboard Ovation of the Seas this week, making it the ships highest capacity this whole season. With a capacity of 4,180 guests, the ship is around 75% capacity.

Check-in went smoothly and we were onboard by 1:15. After completing the eMuster drill, we headed to our staterooms. I was excited to see red velvet cupcakes and room decor waiting for us, courtesy of our travel agents at MEI Travel! It was a fantastic welcome gift to kick off a grand adventure. And yes, the cupcakes were delicious.

After a quick lunch at the Windjammer, I took advantage of todays sunny and warm afternoon in Seattle and explored the pool deck. I love the blue colors incorporated throughout the pool deck, which help to bring a sea-themed design onboard the ship. Ovation of the Seas also has a large indoor pool area which will be really nice in the chilly weather we are sure to encounter this week.

We ended up not exploring a ton of the ship this afternoon because we couldnt stop looking out at the beautiful views around us. Seattle has a gorgeous skyline and it was peaceful to watch sailboats and ships make their way to the city.

The best view, though, was when Mt. Rainer poked out of the clouds. At 14,411 feet, the mountain is mesmerizing and it was the best view I have seen from a cruise ship so far! Therefore, we decided to pull up a couple chairs on the running deck and look out at the beautiful landscape of Seattle.

Sailaway was at 6PM. We got ready for sailaway in the best way possible by grabbing a drink, of course! We headed down to the indoor Pool Bar, where I ordered a Mai Tai and my dad ordered a Manhattan.

While waiting for our drinks, an announcement from the bridge came on and we found out that our sailing had an itinerary change. We were originally going to visit Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka, Alaska. Due to high seas and wind, we will now be visiting Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. I dont mind the change, and I am excited to see what Ketchikan has to offer!

Drinks in hand, we headed back up to deck 15 just as the ship began to sail away from Seattle. Sailing out of port at sunset with incredible scenery around us made for my favorite sailaway yet.

As the sun fell behind the mountains, it got pretty cold outside and we decided to head to the Main Dining Room for dinner. I say Main Dining Room because, on Ovation of the Seas, there are four different restaurants that comprise what would usually just be one large Main Dining Room.

When Ovation of the Seas was built in 2016, Royal Caribbean was testing out a concept called Dynamic Dining. Instead of one Main Dining Room, they built four separate restaurants in its place, each with their own menu and atmosphere. This concept was eventually phased out, though, and Royal Caribbean has gone back to building its ships with just one Main Dining Room.

Nowadays, since there is no longer dynamic dining, the four venues have the same standard menu offered in the Main Dining Room on all ships. We ate in the venue called Silk, which was very colorful with Asian-inspired decor.

On my previous two sailings, I primarily ate at specialty restaurants onboard. Therefore, on this sailing, I wanted to get a better idea of what is available in the Main Dining Room.

We started our meal with a butternut squash soup and artisan cheese plate. I found the soup under Vegan options on the digital version of the Main Dining Room menu. So if youre looking for more dinner options, dont forget to check out what vegan options are listed as well (since they dont appear on the regular paper menu).

For the main course, I ordered the herb-crusted salmon and my dad tried the spaghetti bolognese. And for dessert, we shared the creme brule and a tahini banana soft serve.

We lucked out with a table right near a window, so we enjoyed our meal with a wonderful view sailing through the Puget Sound.

After dinner, I was pretty exhausted from a long day of exploring Seattle and taking videos around the ship for the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube channel, so I decided to call it a night.

Overall, the trip is off to a great start and I am excited to continue exploring the ship tomorrow during a sea day on the way to Ketchikan.

The Windjammer on Ovation of the Seas features an outdoor seating area, and I love it! While I dont know how much I will be eating outside on this particular sailing, it is a great option when cruising in warmer months.

Speaking of the Windjammer, it appears to be open for dinner on this sailing! The Windjammer has been closed for dinner on my previous sailings this year due to low capacity. It will be nice to have another dinner option.

This cruise definitely feels more crowded than my other sailings, which were around 25% capacity, but it also feels more lively due to the amount of guests onboard.

The line for the Shore Excursions desk today was insane! I was happy that we booked our excursions ahead of time.

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Ovation of the Seas Live Blog - Day 1 - Embarkation - Royal Caribbean Blog

ASEAN and China have failed to make progress in finalizing the Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea (SCS). Two decades of negotiations since the Declaration on the CoC was signed in 2002, have not yielded an agreement to effect a dispute settlement mechanism aligned with the United Nations (UN) Charter and a well-defined geographic scope to which the 2016 UN arbitral ruling will apply.

Partial gains from forging a multilateral code of conduct in the SCS in the context of power asymmetry and weak ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) centrality can be bridged when we shift our sight less on the final output of the negotiations and towards cultivating ways in which ASEAN member states operationalize and reinforce parts of the whole. This is to say that as optimism in concluding a regional code of conduct in 2021 wanes, ASEAN leaders should compartmentalize the objectives of idealism and pragmatism in their approach.

The first is to take the pragmatic route, which requires littoral and other states to invest in measures that strengthen various existing formats of cooperation in the already evolving regional maritime security community. The second approach is to couple practical maritime cooperation with diplomacy in the arbitral ruling. Both of these approaches enable the creation of spaces for centralizing power within the ASEAN as a precondition for dealing with hegemonic powers, for integrating collective and individual interests, and for diversifying and pluralizing strategic partnerships.

PRACTICAL COOPERATION IN MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESSStrengthening practical cooperation should begin within the ASEAN member states themselves. Practical cooperation based on continuous and institutionalized, not one-time, action reinforces ASEAN centrality that is key to dealing with China. Member states taking concrete steps to realize the provision on states duty to cooperate and to enter into arrangements of a practical nature found in the Single Draft Negotiating Text (2019) of the proposed CoC concretely align the latter to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In addition, functional cooperation creates a platform for establishing a range of rules and institutions that tests the ability of states to enforce and/or be bound by them.

Among the critical junctures in the maritime domain is for ASEAN governments with existing mini-lateral agreements to regularize practices and activities in maritime domain awareness (MDA), which, according to the International Maritime Organization, impacts on the safety, environment, security, and economy of the maritime realms. MDA is an enabler of maritime security for instance, reducing insecurity against piracy requires MDA based on intelligence and technology- aided tracking of pirate vessels.

The Trilateral Maritime Patrol arrangement that the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia launched in 2016 to arrest Abu Sayyafs kidnappings for ransom in the Sulu Sulawesi waters is a relatively weak maritime security arrangement that must overcome multiple coordination problems in intelligence gathering and coordinated patrols. Enhancing enabling structures to launch operationalized and coordinated maritime patrols can generate spaces on joint structures, such as joint commands or joint patrols, that effectively bridge the domestic and intergovernmental governance gap. Operationalization further equips states to participate more effectively in other multilateral MDA-based arrangements such as the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) agreement-based Information Sharing Center and the Information Fusion Center, which are big data intelligence sharing, fusion and training centers respectively in the fields of anti-piracy and transnational (in) security.

The prevention and management of incidents at sea, which is one of the proposed basic undertakings of states in the latest Single Draft Negotiating Text (2019), is also a convergence point of maritime security community building among ASEAN states. This can be harnessed towards building the groundwork for rules-based conflict management in the South China Sea where geopolitical conflicts and fishing rights competition intersect.

Practices in preventive diplomacy which are aimed at managing unplanned encounters, disasters, and crises at sea also include search and rescue and the establishment of hotlines between agencies. In 2014 at the Western Pacific Naval Symposium, 21 states, including ASEAN claimant states, the US, and China, adopted a norm that underpins specific communication and maneuvering protocols in the high seas based on the Code of Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) thereby widening the scope of the emergent security community in crisis management that ASEAN-China and ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) defined in terms of resolutions, statements, guidelines, declarations, and training exercises.

DIPLOMACY ANCHORED ON THE ARBITRAL RULINGThe other approach, based on international law, will require ASEAN claimant states in particular to publicly invoke the arbitral ruling. Indonesia has been specific in invoking the 2016 arbitral ruling in a recent submission to the United Nations, to reply to Chinas response to Malaysias application to the UN to define the limits of its extended continental shelf in 2019. So has the Philippines belatedly invoked the arbitral ruling in its note verbale to the UN. Vietnam has instead made reference to the UNCLOS. Diplomacy anchored in the arbitral ruling will help define the geographical scope of the CoC as much as it internationalizes the SCS dispute through moral suasion from within and from external states.

Evidently there are limits to both approaches. Practical cooperation recursively requires a united ASEAN political front, strong leadership at home, and resources. Compared to functional cooperation, diplomacy anchored on the arbitral ruling is politically sensitive and divisive to ASEAN centrality in terms of various dichotomies based on claimant versus non-claimant states, pro- and anti-Chinese, aligned (pro-US) or non-aligned foreign policies, among others. Both routes must be underpinned by a pluralistic approach to strategic partnerships with extra-regional states.

Alma Maria O. Salvador, PhD, is a full-time member of the Political Science Department of the Ateneo de Manila University.

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Navigating the South China Sea Code of Conduct negotiation process: Insight into ASEAN's options - BusinessWorld Online

Spirit Halloween stores appear annually like a cool breath on the neck. They fill suburban shanties, such as vacant Toys R Us and Stein Marts. Their racks overflow with bagged costumes, so that we might fulfill our destiny as HIGH SEAS HONEY or INFLATABLE KING SHARK or ADULT FLAMING HOT CHEETO.

However, the supply chain remains seriously disrupted. With weeks until the big day, Spirit Halloween and other seasonal retailers are reporting that some inventory has not been delivered. This is leaving customers in the Lurch (do you see the festive thing I did there?).

This can only mean one thing. Well, it can mean a lot of things, but lets focus. Its time to get creative. With a few household items, you can create a Halloween ensemble truly emblematic of this toilet swirl era.

Cue John Carpenter:

Uh, Supply Chain Disruption

You could be literal and string yourself with severed chains, an Amazon symbol on one shoulder and a toy house on the other. Or, you could venture out on Halloween in regular clothes and explain that your costume did not get here on time due to a broken economic model that reveals holes in systems weve long taken for granted. Provide ominous talking points from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Your friends will say something like, Who hurt you, Jennifer?

Death of Compassion

You need to approximate a hooded cape and a sickle. A dark sheet will work and, lets see oh, a butter knife. Point the knife at everyone who isnt exactly like you, and instead of asking them questions to better understand, tell them their time is up. Give them the bad candy that no one wants, which we all know is Tootsie Rolls and candy corn. Be sure to stay anonymous, though, so that you will face zero repercussions.

Numbness Monster

Forget Frankenstein; its time to get detached! Use the bubble wrap or packing foam from items you ordered in March that showed up yesterday. Have a friend wrap it around your body in layers. Leave a face hole just big enough to breathe but not comfortably. Its supposed to be scary. Now, ask people to poke you. Delight in the fact that you cant feel anything at all.

Mistress of Languishing

Sometimes, you just want to look pretty on Halloween. Break out the red lipstick and combine your sexiest outfit with the psychological concept of languishing, a dulling of the senses that comes with a pandemic that will never end. Make a little sign and string it around your neck. Write: I am often somewhat joyless, but thats to be expected.

One Big Giant Huge Enormous Mask

The Centers for Disease Control still suggests we mask up, even when vaccinated. Play it safe by covering your entire head in fabric. Where can you find some? Oh, right, in bed. There, go ahead and climb in. Okay, now put it over your head, thats right. Mmhm. Im just going to shut off this light, and... no, shh. Your costume looks great. You are safe. Happy Halloween.

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Easy Halloween costume ideas for the continued collapse of society - Tampa Bay Times

NS California According to the Coast Guard, a pipeline that ruptured and leaked up to 132,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean near Newport Beach could have been damaged up to a year ago.

The pipeline is believed to have hit the boats anchor and dragged across the seabed 100 feet.

Officials said the pipe was last inspected and confirmed intact last October.

Coast Guard captain Jason Neubauer said at a news conference that a video inspection of the pipe revealed a 13-inch fracture that had been damaged first and then expanded. ABC news Report.

It refocused our research frame and time frame to at least a few months to a year, added Captain Neubauer.

Captain Neubauer said the anchors of other vessels could have subsequently hit the steel pipes, most of which were bent and dragged across the seabed.

The Coast Guard estimates that 25,000 to 132,000 gallons of oil spilled from a ruptured pipeline off Orange County, creating a 13-square-mile oil slick in the Pacific Ocean.

The Coast Guard has since been unable to confirm with DailyMail.com how widespread the oil spill has been.

The US Coast Guard reported that the California pipeline, which spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean, could have caused damage months to a year before the spill.Coast Guard capitan Jason Neubauer reported that another ships anchor could have hit a pipe, leading to a 13-inch crack.

The pipe (the area surrounded by red) is dragged 105 feet away and bends after a suspicious anchor drags across the seabed.

Approximately 588 barrels (24,000 gallons) of oil spilled into the ocean, a SoCal Oil Response representative told DailyMail.com.I could not confirm how far the oil spread toward the high seas

A SoCal Oil Response representative told DailyMail.com that as of 7:30 pm on Friday, vessels in the region had recovered a total of 5,544 gallons of crude oil, according to SoCal Oil Response.

A representative told DailyMail.com that he did not know how long it would take to clean up the spill.

Its not very shiny near Long Beach and Newport, the representative told DailyMail.com.

Amplify Energy Corporation, the owner of the oil rig, was informed at 2:30 am that the pressure in the pipeline had dropped and there was a potential spill. The company shut down the line at 6:01 am but did not report an oil spill until 9:07 am.

The boat made an emergency call to the Coast Guard at 6:13 am, reporting the luster of the oil on the surface of the water. It was discovered that the oil spill initially covered a radius of 13 square miles due to bad weather and the inability of the Coast Guard to fly the aircraft at night.

ABC reported that the oil spill was moving down the coast towards Mexico, but the SoCal Oil Response could not see how close the oil spill was to reach the high seas.

The United States Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Pipeline Safety Board of the Ministry of Transport have initiated an investigation into the spill and its timeline.

The research team will investigate a years worth of automated identification system data and radar images from multiple sources, officials say.

Residents of Newport Beach reportedly began sniffing oil late Friday night, but the Coast Guard did not begin investigating the oil spill until the next morning.

The crew reports that there is little oil luster near Newport Beach, California.The beach reopened on Friday, five days after the spill began

As of 7:30 pm on Friday, a total of 5,544 gallons of crude oil has been recovered by the vessel as the crew continues to work.

The oil covered the sand in Newport Beach and the crew worked diligently to clean it.

The aviation team cannot fly at night, a SoCal Oil Response representative told DailyMail.com. They went up in the first light to see at Newport Beach.

Around 2 am last Saturday, satellite images from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that oil was likely to be on the surface of the water.

At 2:30 am, Amplify Energy Corporation, which owns the pipeline, sounded an alarm indicating that the pressure had dropped and there was a potential leak.

Amplify shut down the pipe until 6:01 am. At 6:13 am, the ship made an emergency call and reported the luster of the oil on the surface of the water.

The German ship Rotterdam Express was the closest to the line break, suspected of causing an oil leak, after initially creating a strange moment. The shipowner refused to move, stating that he had basically stopped at the same location for 12 days after berthing from September 21st to October 3rd.

According to Amplify, they did not report any oily luster on the surface of the water until 8:09 am. CBS..

At 9:07 am, the amplification is reportedly an oil leak to the United States Coast Guard.

Around 9:10 am, the US Coast Guard and Huntington Beach Police Station deployed the aircraft.

Friday Night, October 1st: Newport Beach Residents Smell Oil

Saturday, October 2, 2:00 am: Satellite images from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that oil is likely to shine on the surface of the water.

2.30am: Amplify Energy Corporation receives notification of possible pressure drops and spills

6.01am: Amplify shuts down the pipeline

8.09am: Amplify reports oil gloss on the surface of the water

9.07am: Amplify notifies US Coast Guard of oil leak

9:10 am: US Coast Guard and Huntington Beach Police Station dispatch aircraft

Source: ABC News

Despite the initial warning a few hours ago, SoCal Oil Response officials told DailyMail.com that the weather did not allow aircraft until early Saturday because the weather was not allowed. The area was experiencing a thunderstorm the night before.

A representative also told DailyMail.com that the Coast Guard could not deploy aircraft at night due to poor visibility and invisible oil on the surface of the water.

Earlier this week, authorities investigated a leak in a German-flagged cargo ship.

According to the Associated Press, the 1,000-foot Rotterdam Express made a series of anomalous movements while it was anchored closest to where the pipeline broke occurred.

Hapag-Lloyd, the owner of the ship, denied the move by email to USA Today. The company reported that the shit was anchored as requested and confirmed on September 21, and did not move until October 3, when it departed for Oakland, California.

It was basically the 12th that stopped in exactly the same position, said an email to USA Today.

No oil was reported around the ship before the move. The company reported that the US Coast Guard excluded them from the investigation after the ship anchored in Oakland and before leaving for Mexico.

On Friday, five days after closure, the boat was allowed to return to Newport Harbor.

DailyMail.com tried to contact Amplify Energy Corporation.

Damage to California pipeline which caused huge oil spill could have been caused a YEAR ago Source link Damage to California pipeline which caused huge oil spill could have been caused a YEAR ago

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Damage to California pipeline which caused huge oil spill could have been caused a YEAR ago - Californianewstimes.com

MetService says snowfall could be heavy for parts of Otago and Canterbury from Monday into Tuesday morning, and areas down to 400 metres will likely get some October snowfalls.

"Motorists are advised to plan their journeys ahead as snowfalls may affect high level roads and passes," Makgabutlane says.

That cold air means there will be a "marked fall" in daytime temperatures midweek, with most of the South Island reaching maximums in the low-teens and single digits. Christchurch only rises to 9C on Wednesday, a major drop from the 23C enjoyed last week.

After the low crosses New Zealand it will deepen into an offshore storm across Tuesday and Wednesday.

"The bulk of the worst gales will be mainly at sea, but they will likely brush eastern coastal areas late Tuesday/early Wednesday," WeatherWatch states.

This will churn up some heavy seas and big waves - and the public is urged to stay safe.

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Weather: 'Serious low' bulldozes over New Zealand - Newshub

Warmer weather with clear skies over San Diego County Sunday was predicted to give way to windy and cooler conditions on Monday as a cold trough deepens, the National Weather Service said.

Some marine clouds were predicted to return Sunday evening and overnight, along with a developing coastal eddy, forecasters said.

Damaging wind gusts were possible over the mountains on Monday, with gale-force winds and rough seas into the coastal waters.

High temperatures along the coast Sunday were predicted to be 72-77 degrees with overnight lows of 54-60. Western valley highs will be 78-73 and 76- 81 near the foothills with overnight lows of 48-55. Mountain highs were expected to be 70-76 with overnight lows of 42-55. Highs in the deserts will be around 88 with overnight lows of 55-65.

A wind advisory was issued by the weather service from 1 p.m. Monday to 3 a.m. Tuesday for San Diego County deserts and mountains. The mountains could get winds of 20-30 mph with gusts of 50-60 mph in more wind-prone areas.

Winds over the coastal waters were forecast to be very strong Sunday, which may impact oil clean-up operations.

The cold front should race past Monday evening and the winds were expected to shift north-northeast Monday night. The strong winds were predicted to be confined mostly to the mountains.

An incoming west-northwest swell of 6-10 feet may generate elevated surf at San Diego beaches Monday and Tuesday. Surf of 3-6 feet was expected, with local sets to seven feet possible late Monday night.

In the outer coastal waters, northwest winds may occasionally gust near 20 knots Sunday afternoon.

A stronger round of northwest winds was expected Monday and Tuesday, with northwest winds of 25-30 knots and gusts of 35-40 knots, strongest later Monday, the NWS said. Combined seas were predicted to reach 10 to around 12 feet across the outer waters.

After a cool day Tuesday, temperatures start trending upward Wednesday and Thursday as high pressure starts to rebuild over the Southwest.

Friday was forecast to be warm with coastal highs in the 70s, valley highs in the 80s, mountain highs in the 50s and 60s, high desert highs in the 70s, and low deserts in the upper 80s.

Read more from the original source:

Damaging Wind Gusts Expected in SD County on Monday - NBC San Diego

By Paul Nicholson

October 8 The soap opera of the Trinidad and Tobago FA continues to lurch from storyline to storyline with seemingly no end to this high seas Caribbean drama that FIFAs Normalisation Committee were meant to draw a line under.

It seems that rather progress to those calmer waters of financial security the TTFA has been steered in the other direction with the chair of the Normalisation Committee, Robert Hadad, even making the stunning revelation in a media interview that the TTFA was trading insolvently.

Hadads statement followed a barrage of criticism following the TTFAs AGM on September 26 where the TTFA membership refused to approve the audited accounts that had controversially stripped out the TT$42,524,000 valuation of the House of Football (HoF) facility from the TTFAs assets.

That in turn triggered multiple questions over why the deed for the ownership of the land on which the HoF is built (and which FIFA provided grant aid to build), had not been secured in the name of the TTFA from the government.

The question was asked that as pretty much the only asset of real value the TTFA held, surely it was a priority to make sure it was secured in the TTFAs name.

This revelation compounded issues the membership had over why TTFAs debt had ballooned from their last approved 2018 audited debt figure of TT$50,079,344 to $98.5 million for the 2019 accounts. The explanation given was that TT$50,079,344 represented contingent liabilities.

The concern was that the TTFAs debt and who it is owed to (legitimately or not) is well known, but the Normalisation Committee had done little or nothing to deal with it while at the same time NC member have had their own fees paid but failed to secure the only asset the TTFA had that could realistically get them out of financial trouble either through sale or being used as loan security.

Distrust has been compounded by the fact that while NC members have regularly been paid, many of the TTFAs staff wages historic and some current are still outstanding.

For Hadad to then tell the nation that the TTFA was trading insolvently something he presumably knew before the AGM set off another set of financial integrity alarm bells.

At the AGM on September 26, the membership called for an EGM to be called within 14 days to reconsider the audited financial statement. That takes place on this Sunday (October 10 at 10am).

When the Normalisation Committee was appointed it was given a strict mandate by FIFA with four priorities. They were to run the daily affairs of the TTFA, review the debt position of the TTFA and make a recommendation to members of the best way to resolve it, bring the TTFA constitution into line with the statutes of FIFA, and call elections for new four-year terms for the TTFA presidency and its other elected board members.

An audit of the NC would likely find that Hadad and his committee have forgotten (being generous) or failed in what they were brought in to do in the first instance. The next scene in the TTFA Soap Opera will be played out on Sunday, but it surely wont be long before FIFA have to re-enter centrestage in this drama rather than prompting from the wings.

But that of course presumes they care or have the inclination to deal with the troubled child that the TTFA has made itself. Giving the child an ice-cream hasnt been the solution to date.

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1633960618labto1633960618ofdlr1633960618owedi1633960618sni@n1633960618osloh1633960618cin.l1633960618uap1633960618

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Trinidad and Tobago chaos over who actually owns the House of Football - Inside World Football

A distress alert transmitter (DAT), developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation in consultation with Indian Coast Guard, enabled the rescue of nine sailors of a mechanised vessel on the high seas.

According to Coast Guard, its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Chennai has successfully coordinated the rescue operation of nine crew members of Mechanised Sailing Vessel (MSV) Annai Vailankanne Arockia Vennila.

The vessel, on passage from Tuticorin to the Maldives, reported a technical snag when she was about 170 nautical miles from Tuticorin and 230 NM from Maldives and requested assistance through transmission of DAT alert amid rough seas.

The distress message was received by the MRCC, Chennai at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, and launched the National Search and Rescue Services and activated International Safety Net for coordinating the search and rescue (SAR) operations.

Two merchant vessels, namely MV SKS Mosel and MV MCP Salzburg, were identified as potential SAR units and diverted to the location.

MV MCP Salzburg reached first and safely rescued all nine crew of MSV Annai Veilankanne Arockia Vennila at 2.30 a.m. on Wednesday and has proceeded to its next port of call in the Maldives, where she will be disembarking the rescued crew.

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9 crew of Indian vessel stranded on high seas rescued - The Statesman

Chennai: The Indian Coast guard (ICG) has successfully rescued nine crew members, who were stranded in mid sea between Tuticorin and Maldives, after their Mechanised Sailing Vessel (MSV) developed a technical snag.

A defence release said the MSV Annai Vailankanne Arockia Vennila on passage from Tuticorin to Maldives, with nine crew members on board, developed a technical snag about 170 nautical miles from Tuticorin and 230 nautical miles from Maldives and got stranded amid rough seas and requested for assistance through the Distressed Alert Transmitter (DAT).

The ICGs Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Chennai received the distress message about flooding in the vessel.

The MRCC launched the National Search and Rescue Services and activated International Safety Net (ISN) for coordinating SAR operation.

Two merchant vessels. MV SKS Mosel (IMO 9240433, MMSI 258792000, Flag Norway) and MV MCP Salzburg (IMO 9383481, MMSI 212031000, Flag Cyprus) were identified as potential SAR units and diverted to the datum.

MV MCP Salzburg reached datum and safely rescued all the nine crew members of the MSV and proceeded to its next port of call (NPC) Maldives, where the rescued crew would be disembarked.

The release said DAT was an Indigenous technology developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in consultation with Indian Coast Guard, the National Search and Rescue Authority.

DATs are carried by Indian fishing boats, MSVs, Coastal Vessels and other small vessels and the distress alert was monitored round the clock by MRCC Chennai at Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (East).

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Coast Guard rescues 9 crew members of mechanised vessal stranded in high seas - News Today

A tip-off from a highly-confidential source, a fortnight of planning and a series of detailed briefings led to the first-of-its-kind of operation in India during which a rave party was busted in the high seas on board a cruise liner.

The case may have larger international ramifications.

This is one of the biggest operations that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has carried out in recent times.

NCBs Director-General SN Pradhan was in touch with the federal agencys Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede on a regular basis when the operation was planned.

Also Read |Cruise ship drugs party: NCB arrests Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan

Pradhan himself confirmed that a lot of planning had gone into the operation and he was happy that it was a success. "It was a cruise shipwe had to ensure that on the high seas, we should not go wrong. And it turned out to be planned to perfection," Pradhan told TV channels in New Delhi.

Wankhede, however, was tight-lipped about the operation.

The NCB in the past has carried out several drug busts in hotels, resorts, clubs, and now for the first time, a cruise liner.

The NCB made decoy teams, booked their tickets for the partyand boarded the ship to carry out the operation. They immediately mingled with people and gained their confidence,before surprising the organisers with a massive raid after which they brought the ship back ashore.

Also Read |NCB raid on Mumbai cruise ship meant to divert attention from Mundra port drugs haul: Congress

This is for the first time that a rave party is busted that too in high seas and on a cruise liner, informed sources said, adding that the details of other cruise ships that dock at the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal need to be checked.

The tip-off came from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which looks after security of the Mumbai Port Trust.

As Mumbai Police started the raids, the Yellow Gate police station that has jurisdiction in the Mumbai port and Arabian Sea was kept in the loop.

Check out latest DH video

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In Mumbai rave party bust, NCB carries out first-ever drugs search on cruise liner in high seas - Deccan Herald