Category Archives: High Seas

Rangers duo Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun will take to the high seas when they report for international duty with Nigeria.

The pair played a starring role in the weekend win over Dundee United as Steven Gerrard's side stand on the brink of the Premiership title.

Aribo scored one and assisted one, while Balogun filled in at right-back in the absence of captain James Tavernier.

They're both expected to report for Nigeria duty next month as the Super Eagles take on Benin and Lesotho in back-to-back Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The latter will see Gernot Rohr's side play in Nigeria's largest city Lagos for the first time in over a decade.

But it's their plans for the short away trip to play Benin in the city of Cotonou that's sure to raise eyebrows at Rangers.

Although there are just 75 miles between the cities, the journey takes up to five hours because of undeveloped roads and Nigeria have now announced they will travel to the game by the unorthodox method of taking a boat across the Gulf of Guinea to the game at the Stade de l'Amitie.

Rohr explained: "We are playing in Lagos for the first time in a very long time. I am very excited for the players.

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"We have players like Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo, who were born in Europe and have never seen Lagos. I want them to discover this crazy city with 19 million inhabitants.

"So it's important we have good security and escorts to move around. The traffic in Lagos is terrible. We also need to do some work on the surface of the pitch, like cut the grass which is very much needed.

"For the first match in Benin, we are playing in the city of Cotonou. We will stay in Lagos ahead of the match.

"But because the road is not good between Lagos and Cotonou, we will travel to the match on a boat because the crossing only lasts two hours, instead of many hours on poor roads by coach."

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Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun take to the high seas for Nigeria - Daily Record

Newport Daily News

COASTAL RHODE ISLAND

Saturday:A slight chance of rain and snow before 9 a.m., then rain. Patchy fog after noon. High near 44. Breezy, with a southeast wind 8 to 13 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.Saturday Night:A chance of rain, mainly before 8 p.m. Patchy fog before midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Southwest wind 5 to 13 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunday:Rain likely, mainly after 4 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.Sunday Night:Rain likely, mainly before 1 a.m. Patchy fog. Otherwise, cloudy, with a low around 39. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

EXTENDED

Monday:Patchy fog before 10 a.m. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 49. West wind 6 to 14 mph.Monday Night:Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. Blustery, with a west wind 15 to 21 mph.

Tuesday:Sunny, with a high near 35. Breezy, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph.Tuesday Night:Mostly clear, with a low around 26. West wind 10 to 13 mph.

Wednesday:A chance of rain. Mostly sunny, with a high near 41. Southwest wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.Wednesday Night:Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. South wind 8 to 10 mph becoming southeast after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.

MARINE

Saturday: Southeastwind 8 to 11 knots becoming southeast14 to 17 knots in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 27 knots. Rain and snow, becoming all rain after 3 p.m. Patchy fog after 11 a.m. Seas 1 foot or less.Saturday Night:Southwestwind 5 to 9 knots becoming variable and less than 5 knots after midnight. A chance of rain, mainly before 7 p.m. Patchy fog before 11 p.m. Seas 1 foot or less.

Sunday:Variable winds less than 5 knots becoming southeastaround 6 knots in the afternoon. Rain likely, mainly after 3 p.m. Seas 1 foot or less.Sunday Night:Variable winds 5 knots or less. Rain likely, mainly before midnight. Patchy fog. Seas 1 foot or less.

TIDES, ETC.

Saturday's high tides: 7:34a.m., 7:58p.m. Low tides: 12:51a.m., 1:32p.m.

Sunday's high tides: 8:18a.m., 8:44p.m. Low tides: 1:38a.m., 2:08p.m.

Saturday's sunrise, 6:24. Sunset, 5:34.

Sunday's sunrise, 6:33. Sunset, 5:27.

Thursday's temperatures: High 45, low 35.

Go here to read the rest:

NEWPORT AREA WEATHER REPORT: Feb. 27-28 - newportri.com

Introduction:

Recognising that an arbitration agreement between parties is anagreement independent of the substantive contract, the Delhi HighCourt in Dholi Spintex Pvt. Ltd. v. Louis Dreyfus Company IndiaPvt. Ltd.1 has held that two Indianparties can choose a foreign law as the law governing thearbitration between them. The Court has also reiterated the legalposition on limited interference by Courts in internationalarbitrations.

Dholi Spintex Pvt. Ltd. (the"Plaintiff") had entered into a contractwith Louis Dreyfus Company India Pvt. Ltd. (the"Defendant") for supply of 600 metrictonnes of American imported raw cotton on May 30, 2019("Contract"). The Contract was enteredinto on a high sea sales basis. Clause 6 of the Contract providedfor resolution of disputes through arbitration in accordance withInternational Cotton Association ("ICA")rules & arbitration procedure. It further provided London asthe venue of arbitration. Clause 7 of the Contract provided that'only the courts in New Delhi would havejurisdiction'. The relevant ICA rules and by-laws (beingby-laws 200, 300 and 306) inter-alia provided that (i)'The law of England and Wales and the mandatory provisionsof the Arbitration Act 1996 (Act) shall apply to every arbitrationand/or appeal under these By-laws'; (ii) 'The seatof our arbitrations is in England. No one can decide or agreeotherwise'; and (iii) 'Disputes shall be settledaccording to the law of England and Wales wherever domicile,residence, or place of business of the parties to the contractmay'.

Eventually, disputes arose between the parties with respect tothe said Contract. The Defendant invoked arbitration before the ICAand appointed its nominee arbitrator in terms of the arbitrationagreement between the parties. Thereafter, the ICA called upon thePlaintiff to appoint its arbitrator. Since the Plaintiff failed tonominate its arbitrator, the ICA stepped in and appointed anarbitrator in accordance with the ICA rules. Thereafter, theDefendant filed its claim before the arbitral tribunal. Instead offiling its reply, the Plaintiff instituted a suit before the DelhiHigh Court inter alia, seeking (i) an anti-arbitrationinjunction; (ii) a declaration that Clause 6 of the Contract wasinvalid, null & void; and (iii) a declaration that thearbitration initiated by the Defendant was null and void. TheDefendant in turn filed an application under Section 45 of theArbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("ArbitrationAct") and prayed that the suit be dismissed as thesame was not maintainable in terms of Section 45 of the ArbitrationAct.

The Plaintiff contended inter alia that (i) as theContract was executed between two Indian companies in India and wasto be performed in India, the parties could not have avoided Indianlaw by choosing a foreign seat of arbitration and a specificforeign system of law; (ii) In cases where the contract is to beperformed in India, parties can choose a foreign system of law togovern their contractual relationship only in two instances,firstly, cases where conflict of law rules apply, which givesprecedence to the choice of law made by the parties and/or in caseof an International Commercial Arbitration seated in India (as setout in Section 28(1)(b) of the Arbitration Act); (iii) As perSection 23 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, any attempt to excludethe application of Indian laws is void and against public policy;(iv) By-law 200 of the ICA by-laws is opposed to and directlycontravenes Indian public policy, which envisages that Indianparties cannot contract out of Indian law; (v) in terms of Clause 7of the Contract, the Courts at New Delhi were vested with exclusivejurisdiction and the same amounts to the parties agreeing to havethe seat of arbitration at New Delhi with venue at London; (vi) incase the plaintiff was subjected to arbitration contrary to Indianlaw, it would suffer irreparable loss.

Accordingly, the Plaintiff prayed that Clause 6 of the Contractbe declared as null and void or in the alternative, be given ameaningful interpretation by applying the 'Blue PencilTest', whereby the parties could then subject themselves to thejurisdiction of ICA. The Plaintiff also prayed that an anti-suitinjunction be granted.

The Defendant on the other hand contended that the suitinstituted by the Plaintiff was not maintainable and that ananti-arbitration injunction ought not to be granted against aforeign seated arbitration. It argued inter alia that (i)when parties had agreed that the arbitration would be conductedunder the ICA rules and procedure and would be seated at London,the Plaintiff could not wriggle out of the same; (ii) there is aforeign element in the Contract between the parties as it is a highseas sale agreement and it was agreed to be performed on high seas,i.e. outside the territorial jurisdiction of India; (iii)since at the point of actual sale as envisaged in the contract, thegoods were located in international waters, there existed potentialconflict of laws situation. Thus, the two Indian partiesvoluntarily chose to resolve all disputes by having English law asthe governing law of arbitration under the ICA by-laws and Rules;(iv) international trade in American cotton is generally conductedunder the ICA rules and procedures; (v) the principle ofkompetenz-kompetenz is universally accepted and thus, thearbitrators have jurisdiction to consider and decide the existenceand extent of their own jurisdiction; (vi) the suit is specificallybarred under Section 45 of the Arbitration Act; (vii) two Indianparties can agree to arbitrate abroad and there is no legal bar tothis extent especially where transactions involve foreignelements.

On perusing the submissions made by both parties, the Court heldthat the arbitration agreement contained in Clause 6 of theContract was neither null nor void nor inoperative nor incapable ofbeing performed.

The Court found that the parties in the Contract had clearlynoted that the property in goods would pass from the Defendant tothe Plaintiff in a place beyond the territorial waters of India. Itreiterated that in cases where there is a foreign element involved,three sets of law may apply to the arbitration, i.e. (i)the proper law of the contract (the law governing the substantivecontract); (ii) the proper law of the arbitration agreement/lexarbitri (the law governing the agreement to arbitrate and theperformance of that agreement); and (iii) the proper law of theconduct of arbitration/ lex fori/ curial law (the lawgoverning the conduct of the arbitration).

It observed that it was well-settled that even though anagreement to refer disputes to arbitration may be a part of thesubstantive contract, the said agreement is independent of thesubstantive contract and survives despite termination/ repudiation/frustration of the substantive contract. Thus, an arbitrationagreement/ clause does not govern the rights and obligationsarising out of the substantive contract and only governs the mannerof settling disputes between the parties.

Accordingly, it was held that since the arbitration agreement isan independent agreement, it may be governed by a proper law of itsown, which need not be the same as the law governing thesubstantive contract. The Court held that two Indian parties couldchoose a foreign law as the law governing arbitration. Further,there being clearly a foreign element to the Contract between theparties, the two Indian parties could have agreed to aninternational commercial arbitration governed by the laws ofEngland.

Further, the Court held that the express designation of a courtunder Clause 7 of the Contract, providing for exclusivejurisdiction at New Delhi would not be determinative of the seat ofarbitration. It found that even though in Clause 6 of the Contract,the term 'Venue' had been used, by specifically agreeingthat any dispute arising out of the Contract would be resolvedthrough arbitration, in accordance with the ICA rules andarbitration procedure, the parties had agreed that the seat ofarbitration would be London and not New Delhi.

With regard to Section 45 of the Arbitration Act, relying on theprecedents set forth by the Supreme Court2 as well as the DelhiHigh Court3, in the instant case, the Courtreiterated that the scope of interference by a Court in anInternational arbitration is limited to the Court determiningwhether a valid arbitration agreement exists between the partiesand whether the agreement is null and void, inoperative orincapable of being performed. It was observed that the Court couldnot, at this stage, enter into a full-fledged inquiry on the meritsof the matter as only a prima facie finding is required tobe arrived at.

In light of the above, the Court dismissed the suit as not beingmaintainable and refused to grant an anti-suit injunction to thePlaintiff.

Keeping up with the pro-arbitration approach being adopted byCourts across the country, the Delhi High Court in the instant casehas recognised and given primacy to the importance of partyautonomy in the field of arbitration. A recent judgment passed by asingle judge bench of the Gujarat High Court in GE PowerConversion India Private Limited v. PASL Wind Solutions PrivateLimited4 has been decided on similar lines,enabling two Indian parties to choose a foreign seat ofarbitration. This recent trend of pro-arbitration judgments willonly make it tougher for parties to wriggle out of agreedarbitration clauses.

Footnotes

1. CS(COMM) 286/ 2020 decided on 24th November2020

2. InSasan Power Limited v. North American Coal Corporation IndiaPrivate Limited (AIR2016SC3974 ), the Hon'ble Supreme Courtdealing with scope of consideration under Section 45 of the Actheld that the scope of enquiry under Section 45 is confined only tothe question whether the arbitration agreement is "null andvoid, inoperative or incapable of being performed" but not thelegality and validity of the substantive contract.

3. InW.P.I.L Vs. NTPC Ltd. and Ors. (2009 (108) DRJ 404 ), dealing withSection 45 of the Act, the Delhi High Court had held that Section45 of the Arbitration Act obligates every judicial authority inIndia to refer the parties to arbitration, if they have agreed tobe governed by arbitration agreements, which would be covered bySection 44. The obligation is an overriding one, apparent from thenon-obstante clause, and the mandatory "shall" occurringin the provision. The only qualifications, relieving the court fromits duty to refer the parties to arbitration, is if it is convincedthat the agreement is "null and void, inoperative or incapableof being performed (Section 45).

4.R/Petn. Under Arbitration Act No. 131 of 2019 with R/Petn. UnderArbitration Act No. 134 of 2019 decided on 3rd November2019

December 2, 2020

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Can Two Indian Parties Choose Foreign Law To Govern Their Arbitration Agreement? The Delhi High Court Answers In The Affirmative - Litigation,...

The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) is delighted to announce that the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), at its 2020 annual meeting, has accorded The Bahamas the status of Cooperating Non-Member (CNM) within the organisation. This decision not only recognises The Bahamas non-compromising commitment to transparency, regulatory compliance and better control over fishing-related activities by the Bahamas fleet, but also strengthens its position as a strong supporter of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMO) efforts in total eradication of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing practices on a global scale.

The WCPFC was established in 2004 on the basis of the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stock in the Western and Central Pacific region. The Commission is acting as the regulatory authority in the management of high seas fisheries activities and conservation efforts in the convention area.

Cooperation with WCPFC paves the way for The Bahamas to establish a fisheries cargoes transhipment authorisation program with the Commission. The program will allow reefer carriers flying The Bahamas flag to undertake high-seas transhipment of cargoes originated from the WCPFC regulatory area. Such cooperation will open new commercial opportunities to Bahamian flagged reefers available through the Transhipment Authorisation program enrolment and allocation to the list of WCPFC Fishing Vessels.

Captain Dwain Hutchinson, the BMA Managing Director and CEO, said: Cooperation with the WCPFC will facilitate the way the Bahamas flagged reefer ships operate in the Western and Central Pacific region and will bring new prospects for cooperation in promoting sustainable fishing. We look forward to continuing to offer quality services to all registered ships and welcome the opportunity to discuss our commitments with any stakeholder.

In line with existing programs already in place with NEAFC, ICCAT and the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate, the WCPFC Transhipment Authorisations will be issued to qualifying reefer ships on submission of an application by the managing Company. The Bahamas Department of Marine Resources (DMR), in collaboration with The BMA, ensures the regulatory control, monitoring and licensing activities in establishing and maintaining the fisheries cargoes Transhipment Authorisation programs world-wide.

Sea News, February 23

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Bahamas flagged reefer ships to benefit from WCPFC cooperation - Sea News

Out on the high seas, more than 200 miles from shore, seafood companies can operate with almost no oversight. These are ungoverned, international waters where its easier for companies to get away with overfishing and abuses like modern-day slavery.

Scientists using new hacks for old technology are slowly changing that.

Two decades ago, large vessels began carrying a little box that connects to whats called the maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS). It sends out a radio signal with information about the ship, like an identifying number, and its size, course, and speed. Thats supposed to help ships avoid running into each other. It also helps authorities see where vessels are when theyre close to shore.

After the 9/11 attacks, AIS started getting more attention from the US government. It saw the tech as a way to keep an eye on potential threats to national security at sea. The US Coast Guard contracted the telecommunications company Orbcomm to launch satellites that could pick up on AIS signals from space. Meanwhile, the Norwegian government and the European Space Agency were developing similar technology. When the first AIS-enabled satellites were launched in 2008, that was a game-changer.

Now, satellites can pick up on a vessels AIS signals no matter where the ship is sailing. In 2014, environmental groups and Google partnered up to create a near real-time map that traces the movement of about 60,000 commercial fishing boats with AIS. The effort is called Global Fishing Watch.

The Verge spoke with Jennifer Jacquet and Gabrielle Carmine, two scientists on a mission to find out whos doing what out on the open ocean. Check out the video above to see how they used AIS and some old-school sleuthing to spot corporate actors on the high seas.

Read more:

Tracking down mystery boats on the high seas - The Verge

The importance of aircraft carriers in military history cannot be overstated.

Aircraft carriers helped the United States win key naval battles in World War II, especially in the Pacific Theater. In the decades after World War II, aircraft carriers gave the United States the ability to project its military power across the globe. But advances in naval warfare could unseat the role of the aircraft carrier.

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is seen underway on its own power for the first time on April 8, 2017 in Newport News, Virginia. The first-of-class ship - the first new U.S. aircraft carrier design in 40 years will spend several days conducting builder's sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship's key systems and technologies.

U.S. Navy | Getty Images News | Getty Images

"If you want to operate aircraft carriers, you need a whole lot of high-end technology to be able to defend it," said David Larter, a naval warfare reporter for Defense News. "It's been the advancement in anti-ship cruise missiles that can be launched from land. It's been advancements in cruise missiles launched from bombers or fighters that just pose an enormous threat."

Aircraft carriers are expensive, and losing one to a drastically cheaper anti-ship missile would be an unmitigated disaster. The latest carrier in the Navy, part of what's called the Ford class, costs $12.8 billion per ship, and that's before the costs of aircraft flying off the deck, fixing new technology, and operating the carrier in the high seas for months at a time.

The U.S. has more active aircraft carriers than every other country in the world combined. Expensive, massive and lethal, the aircraft carrier has been the cornerstone of American security for close to a century. But with advances in missile design, will it remain on top?Watch the video above to find out.

Original post:

Expensive, massive and lethal: The future of the aircraft carrier - CNBC

Side or Stomach Position

Adults already spend the majority of time sleeping on their side, and research has found that people spend more time sleeping on their side as they age. Still, there isnt evidence to suggest that a certain body position leads to better sleep, and the sleep doctors I spoke to said you cant really control your movement while youre asleep anyway.

The average adult only spends about 7 percent of their sleep time on their stomach, but I already fall asleep on my stomach as a rule. I cant drift off unless Im in a very specific position with my arms pinned underneath me, my face turned to the right side, and my right leg in a figure four.

The adult equivalent of shushing a baby is white noise or a fan (which can be used on babies as well). A meta-review of 38 studies reviewing the efficacy of noise as a sleep aid published this year showed that the evidence for this is weak. There was a lack of consistency in the research many of the studies used a different kind of background noise and some studies found that if the noise was too loud, it actually interrupted sleep, and could be bad for your hearing.

That said, Clinically, if someone tells me they sleep better with the fan on, thats perfectly fine, but its not something I would recommend to everyone, said Jennifer Mundt, an assistant professor of neurology specializing in sleep at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. I live adjacent to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, so I have been using a white noise app on my iPad and have conditioned myself to associate white noise with getting sleepy. That can be comforting, said Dr. Mundt.

Rocking an infant helps put them to sleep, and the SNOO, a bassinet that uses motion and sound to calm a baby an invention of the aforementioned Dr. Harvey Karp is a hot ticket registry item. Theres a passage in a famous essay by David Foster Wallace, written about his trip on a luxury cruise ship, where he claims that heavy seas are great for sleep, because you feel rocked to sleep, the windows spume a gentle shushing, engines throb a mothers pulse.

Unfortunately, none of the experts I spoke to knew of any research that tested the efficacy of rocking a grown-up on land or on the high seas, though, There is probably a market for an adult SNOO, said Dr. Mundt.

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How to Beat Covid Insomnia - The New York Times

Rick Riordan may have closed the book on Percy Jackson for now, but that doesnt mean hes done writing! In fact, he has a new novel ready to launch later this year.

Fans of the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles series had to say goodbye to Percy Jackson in 2020 when author Rick Riordan wrote the final book in the series, The Trials of Apollo: The Tower of Nero. It was a bittersweet ending because we got to see Apollo become the person (and god) we always knew he could be, while also knowing it would be a little while until we jumped back into this universe.

In an interview with Hypable, Riordan talked about his interest in writing standalone novels about individual demigods from the Percy Jackson world. The fan favorite choice to kick off that project is Nico di Angelo, but there are no official announcements as of yet.

However, Riordan has been teasing us with an upcoming project thats not set in the Percy Jackson universe. In fact, its not even a mythology-based book!

In an announcement from Barnes & Noble, we learned its called Daughter of the Deep.

This novel is a stand-alone homage to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, and its got us excited to see Riordan tackling something pretty different than what hes written over the last 15 years or so.

The official Daughter of the Deep synopsis is below:

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Anas parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family shes got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. (And theyve heard all the Harry Potter jokes already, so dont go there.) Anas freshman year culminates with the classs weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what itll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives. But wait, theres more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshmen are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.

Theres no Daughter of the Deep cover yet, but the temporary cover offers some interesting elements to pick apart:

Given the context, this looks to be a submarine underwater. An octopus tentacle curls around the publishing date (coming up for air) in the bottom right-hand corner. Yeah, it definitely screams 20,000 Leagues.

The Daughter of the Deep release date is scheduled for October 5, 2021.

And in case youre wondering, yes, thats Rick Riordan at the top of this page in full scuba gear. If youre curious about where this picture was taken, you can read Riordans blog post from January 15, 2017.

Along with all of this wonderful information, Rick has also shared a quick introduction for Daughter of the Deep where he talks about how Jules Verne and 20,000 Leagues inspired him. Read it below:

My journey under the sea started in landlocked Bologna, Italy in 2008. I was there for a childrens book fair, right before The Battle of Labyrinth and The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones were scheduled for release. I was having dinner in the basement of a restaurant with about fourteen top brass from Disney Publishing when the president of the division turned to me and said, Rick, is there any existing Disney intellectual property youd love to write about? I didnt hesitate in saying, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It took me another twelve years before I was ready to write it, but my version of that story is now in your hands.

Who is Captain Nemo? (No, not the cartoon fish)If youre not familiar with the original Captain Nemo, hes a character created by the French author Jules Verne in the nineteenth century. Verne wrote about him in two novels, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1875), in which Nemo commands the worlds most advanced submarine, the Nautilus.

Captain Nemo was smart, well-educated, courteous, and massively wealthy. He was also angry, bitter, and dangerous. Imagine a combination of Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, and Lex Luthor. Formerly known as Prince Dakkar, Nemo had fought the British colonial government in India. In retaliation, the British killed his wife and children. This was Dakkars supervillain/superhero origin story. He renamed himself Nemo, which is Latin for no one. (Greek myth fans: This was an Easter egg about/shout-out to Odysseus, who told the Cyclops Polyphemus that his name was Nobody.) Nemo dedicated the rest of his life to terrorizing the colonial European powers on the high seas, sinking and plundering their ships and making them fear the unstoppable sea monster that was the Nautilus.

Who wouldnt want to have that kind of power? As a kid, every time I jumped in a lake or even a swimming pool, I liked to pretend I was Captain Nemo. I could sink enemy ships with impunity, go all over the world undetected, explore depths no one had ever visited, and uncover fabulous ruins and priceless treasures. I could submerge into my own secret realm and never return to the surface world (which was kind of horrible anyway). When I eventually wrote about Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, you can bet that my old daydreams about Captain Nemo and the Nautilus were a big reason I chose to make Percy a demigod of the sea.

Now Ill be honest, I found Vernes novels slow going when I was a kid. But I did enjoy my uncles old Classics Illustrated editions, and I loved watching the Disney film version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Seaeven the cheesy bits like Kirk Douglas dancing and singing, and the giant rubber squid attacking the ship. Only when I was older did I realize how rich and complex the original stories were. Nemo was even more interesting than I had imagined. And I began to see little openings in the narrative where Verne had left room for a possible sequel . . .

Why does Captain Nemo still matter?Verne was one of the first writers of science fiction. Looking back from the twenty-first century, it can be difficult for us to appreciate just how revolutionary his ideas were, but Verne imagined technology that would not exist for hundreds of years to come. A self-powered submarine that could circle the globe continuously and never have to dock for supplies? Impossible! In 1870, submarines were still new-fangled inventionsdangerous tin cans that were more likely to blow up and kill everyone on board than to complete a trip around the world. Verne also wrote Around the World in Eighty Days, at a time when making the trip that quickly was unthinkable, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, a feat that is still far beyond human technology, though someday, who knows?

The best science fiction can shape the way humans see their own future. Jules Verne did that better than anyone. Way back in the 1800s, he suggested what could be possible, and humans rose to the challenge. When people talk about how fast a plane or a ship can circle the world, they still use Around the World in Eighty Days as a benchmark. At one time, eighty days was an incredibly short trip for circumnavigating the globe. Now, we can do it in less than eighty hours by plane, and less than forty days by sea.

Vernes Journey to the Center of the Earth inspired generations of spelunkers to explore the earths cave systems and spurred geo-engineers to figure out how the layers of the earth function.

Captain Nemo, on the other hand, raised awareness of the importance the oceans would have for the future of the planet. We know most of the Earth is covered with water. Eighty percent of the oceans are still unexplored. Figuring out how to tap the power of the sea, and to live with the power of the sea as our climate changes, may be key to human survival. Verne envisioned all of that in his books.

Nemo and his crew are able to live self-sufficiently without ever touching dry land. The sea provides all their needs. In 20,000 Leagues, Nemo tells Aronnax that the Nautilus is entirely electric, and draws all its power from the ocean. In Mysterious Island, Cyrus Harding speculates that when coal runs out, humans will learn to draw energy from the abundant hydrogen of the ocean. That is still a goal people are trying to figure out today, and one of the reasons I decided that Nemo must have unlocked the secret of cold fusion.

In 20,000 Leagues, Nemos crew uses electrical Leyden guns that are more effective and elegant than standard arms. They have almost limitless wealth thanks to the many shipwrecks theyve plundered. Theyve discovered the secrets of subaquatic agriculture, so food is never an issue. Most importantly, they have freedom. They are independent of any nations laws and can come and go as they please. They answer to no one except Nemo. Whether that is good or bad . . . I guess that depends on what you think of Nemo!

The importance of the sea, the importance of imagining new technological advancesthese are great reasons to still read Jules Verne. But theres one more critical thing to consider. Verne made Captain Nemo an Indian prince whose people suffered under European colonialism. His character explores themes that are just as critical now as they were in Victorian times. How do you find a voice and power when society denies you those privileges? How do you fight injustice? Who gets to write the history books and decide who were the good guys and the bad guys? Nemo is an outlaw, a rebel, a genius, a scientist, an explorer, a pirate, a gentleman, an archangel of vengeance. Hes a complicated guy, which makes him a lot of fun to read about. I was fascinated by the idea of fast-forwarding his legacy into the twenty-first century and looking at what his descendants would be dealing with all these years later.

What would you do if you had the power of the Nautilus at your command? I hope Daughter of the Deep will inspire you to think about your own adventures, the way Jules Verne inspired me. Make ready to dive. Were going deep!

If thats not enough to get you to read (or re-read) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, then I dont know what is. It sounds like Daughter of the Deep is both an homage to the original story and a modern interpretation of the lessons Jules Verne was trying to convey in his groundbreaking novel.

Without a doubt, I cant wait to pick up Daughter of the Deep when it hits store shelves in October.

Read the original here:

Rick Riordan announces post-'Percy Jackson' book 'Daughter of the Deep' - Hypable

British sailor, Miranda Merron has completed her Vende Globe race. Ed Gorman for the IMOCA class spoke to Merron after he race to get some insight into the highs and lows of the solo race

Some Vende Globe and IMOCA sailors are relentlessly focused on winning, on the position schedules and on the performance of their boat, some not so.British navigator Miranda Merron has strong racing instincts, but budgetary shortcomings meant she could not sail this edition of the solo round-the-world race near the front of the fleet.

Instead Merron produced a measured and solid performance in the lower reaches, finishing 22nd on Campagne de France, an Owen-Clarke design originally launched in 2006 and since raced under the colours of Temenos, Mirabaud and Great American IV.

Miranda Merron is among the most thoughtful of solo sailors a racer, a navigator and a traveller who revels in the opportunity to sail in parts of the ocean most of us wouldnt dare to take on and will never experience firsthand.

I am incredibly lucky to sail through waters, especially in the south, where there is incredible light, and wildlife and it is very remote. I have huge respect for nature and you are not there by right you will be lucky to get through, it is just humility and respect. On land I think we take everything for granted and we abuse our seas and fish, but at sea you are very vulnerable, she said.

Its a pity that Merron has already decided she will not write a book about her Vende Globe because she clearly has a lot to say (she says instead there will be a small film). Here, for example, is her memorable description of the high point of her 101-day voyage, the moment she passed Cape Horn, with the southern tip of South America lit up in sunlight. The fascinating aspect of this, is what she says about sense of smell.

Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

It was just magnificent, she told the IMOCA Class. I rounded quite early in the morning. A big line of squalls went through on my last gybe and then it cleared a bit and I could see Cape Horn through the rain. Then it was blue sky and I hadnt seen such flat seas and I passed close to the islands just northeast of Cape Horn.

And I could smell damp earth and it was just divine, she added. It was the first land I had seen in 69 days and there are no smells at sea, beyond whales and fishing boats diesel and the smell of ships. But beyond that there are no smells. Obviously myself and my boat smell of roses all the time, and so, when you have that incredible smell of damp earth, it is just bewitching and you breathe in great lump-fulls of it.

Outside France, would-be solo sailors marvel at the way French companies offer backing to single-handers especially ones on low budgets who are not going to win races. This sort of sponsorship support even at modest levels is hard to find in Britain, where solo sailing has a much lower profile than in France.

Miranda Merrons relationship with Campagne de France is a classic example of a modest programme that highlights a company that French people come across every day in their supermarkets and on the kitchen table. The link between sailor and sponsor has placed Merron who divides her time between Normandy and Hamble at the heart of French rural life.

Thats because Campagne de France, which produces milk, butter, cheese, fromage frais and yoghurts, employs 5,000 people in rural areas and supports more than 800 dairy farmers. And that is why Merron found herself dancing with a man dressed as a black and white dairy cow on the dockside in Les Sables DOlonne at the finish. (Typically the self-effacing Miranda Merron was concerned about the man in the cow-suit: I did know I was going to dance with a cow, she said laughing, and the poor guy in the suit had a very good sense of humour.)

The 51-year-old Englishwoman who was educated at Cambridge and gave up a career in advertising 30 years ago to take her chances on the high seas, enjoys this aspect of her responsibilities as a Vende Globe skipper and says her strongest connection is with Normandy, an area of France, she points out, with strong connections with Britain.

They all find it extremely inspiring, she says of the Normandy farmers, many of them working husband-and-wife teams. But I find their extreme hard work, day-in, day-out incredibly inspiring. I just consider myself very luck to be the one that got to do the Vende Globe and get back safely.

Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

In the coming weeks and months Miranda Merron will be giving talks to farmers, schools and other sponsor-related groups as she fulfills her side of the sponsorship bargain.

Merron is always keen to pay tribute to her sailing and life partner Halvard Mabire, without whose efforts and support she says she would never have got to the startline in a boat that stood up to the rigours of the voyage extremely well under Merrons careful management. We wanted to get married last year, she revealed, but Covid put paid to that and some of our family would like to be there but we are all spread apart. The aim is to try and tie the knot this year instead.

Merron was delighted to have got round a course that featured far-from ideal weather conditions, with a time that bisected the boats previous two reference times 90 days for Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre in 2012-13 and 107 days for the American sailor Rich Wilson in 2016-17. She said she struggled to settle down going south in the Atlantic but then found her rhythm in the Southern Ocean.

She highlighted an issue that few IMOCA skippers talk about the strange sensation of being out on the ocean on your own, but knowing that thousands of armchair sailors around the world are watching your every move and often thinking they could do better.

I wasnt very good on the way down the Atlantic until I stopped worrying about my performance and what armchairs sailors were thinking of my course, Merron explained. I stopped worrying about that and I thought you know, I dont care any longer, I am going to race how I want and then I started racing quite well.

Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

If you decide to do something on board, she continued, no one on land knows that you have an eight-metre cross sea and coming into the finish, for example, I just couldnt gybe I couldnt go north, even though that might have got me in eight hours earlier, because it was far too dangerous and nobody on land knows that.

Another unique stress for Miranda Merron was sailing the course without full insurance. Her boat was covered for third party incidents, but if it had suffered serious damage or been lost she would have had no recourse. For Merron and Mabire this was a calculated risk because the premium was too expensive, given the overall budget they had. Merron found this hard to cope with at sea. The nagging thought was always there in the back of my mind, she said. It was a gamble and hard work and I wouldnt do it that way again.

Like all the finishers in the Vende Globe race, Merron who is already thinking about going back to Class 40 racing is finding it difficult to settle back to the ways of life on land. I dont know what I am going to do now, she said. I need a few more days to realise that I have sailed round the world on my own. At the moment I am interested in eating and being clean and enjoying hot showers. Two hours after the finish, the pressure is off, the adrenaline stops and everything starts hurting.

We asked her what advice she would give to young sailors dreaming of the Vende Globe. Anything is possible, she said, but it is very hard and you have to be prepared to eat a lot of pasta.

This feature was written by Ed Gorman originally for IMOCA.org

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Vende Globe: Miranda Merron on the highs and lows of her race - Yachting World

By the time the Disney Cruise Line fleet sets sail again, it will have been over a year since Guests were able to hit the high seas with Mickey and Minnie. Over the course of the last year, Disney has provided those who were booked on canceled sailings with cruise credits worth up to 125% of their original voyage fare.

Related:Disney Cruise Line Confirms Level 4 Travel Warning From CDC

The cruise credit offer has been extended several times and has now been updated again. In an email sent to Guests who currently have Disney Cruise Line vacations booked, Disney said that those whose sailings were canceled due to the pandemic now have until September 20, 2022, to set sail using their cruise credit.

Below is the full email from Disney Cruise Line:

All of us at Disney Cruise Line hope you and your family are staying well. We are reaching out with important information about the cruise credit you were previously provided.

When your sailing was cancelled due to the pandemic, you were offered the choice of either a future cruise credit* equal to 125% of your original voyage fare or a full refund. We are now extending the use of your future cruise credit from sailings commencing prior to May 31, 2022 to sailings that depart by September 30, 2022.

Your credit has been automatically updated. If you have not done so already, your travel agent may place a reservation on hold by applying it as a payment option when booking a new reservation. Once your modified reservation is paid in full, any remaining future cruise credit will be applied to your shipboard account as a non-refundable onboard credit.

If you have any questions, please contact your travel agent. Sailings are currently available through spring 2022 with additional eligible sailings to be released at a later date.

We appreciate the planning that goes into a cruise vacation and hope you enjoy this additional time to travel. We look forward to welcoming you aboard as soon as we can and making magic for you and your loved ones.

Related:New Cruising Ban Will Bar Disney Cruise Line From Alaska Until 2022

The primary implication of Disneys most recent cruise credit extension is that passengers are now likely to be able to use their credits to book staterooms on the brand new Disney Wish!

Note that the information regarding the Future Cruise Credit does state, Select Disney Wish block-out dates apply. However, because it says that only select dates for the Disney Wishwill be blocked out, and not necessarily that all DisneyWishdates will be unavailable, we believe there is still hope for passengers who wish to use their cruise credit toward a sailing on theWish.Stay tuned for more details.

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Given Disneys verbiage, that only select dates on the Wish will be blocked out, it is likely that the new Disney ships maiden voyage and, potentially, holidays like Labor Day weekend, will be unavailable for those Guests who wish to use cruise credits.

However, we will update our website when Disney releases further information regarding the Disney Wishs 2022 itineraries. As always, contact your Disney travel agent or Disney Cruise Line directly with specific questions regarding your vacation.

Disney previously confirmed that its first Triton Class ship which set to be the cruise operators most luxurious vessel to date will take its maiden voyage in Summer 2022, presumably before the September cruise credit deadline.

Related:Disney Cruise Line Still Building All 3 New Ships

In addition to the Wish, Disney Cruise Line is adding two more Triton Class ships to its fleet all three of these cruise liners will join the existing Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, Disney Magic, and Disney Wonder.

Specific itineraries for the trio of sister ships have not been released at this time. It is, however, likely that at least one of these vessels will sail to Disneys private island, Castaway Cay, in the Bahamas from Port Canaveral.

If you are interested in learning more about when Disney Wish reservations will be available, contact the experts at Academy Travel for assistance. Their travel team can help you plan your familys magical Disney Cruise Line vacation to any destination in the world!

This article has been updated since it was originally published.

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Disney Makes It Easier to Sail On Brand-New Cruise Ship - Inside the Magic