Pictured are Cammell Laird’s head of construction Jeff Jones, project director John Drummond and steelwork supervisor Joe Dawber.
Cammell Laird has completed its first aircraft carrier centre blocks for a second ship set to become the centrepiece of Britain’s military capability.
The Birkenhead marine and engineering services company has fabricated and outfitted two aircraft carrier centre blocks for the new PRINCE OF WALES aircraft carrier, which are being transported by sea to the Rosyth shipyard in Scotland.
Construction of the blocks began in July 2013 and has involved a workforce of 250 including contractors. Cammell Laird is playing a key role in the aircraft carrier project, the biggest UK engineering project since the London Olympics.
Over 90 per cent of the world’s global trade is carried by commercial deep sea vessels. On any given day there are over 300 commercial, ocean-going vessels in B.C. waters loading and unloading a wide range of cargoes. Whether it be for a tanker, container, bulk or break bulk ship, deepsea and underwater surveys perform a number of services that require a complex skill set based on training, experience and practical problem-solving abilities. Before tackling the issue of qualifications, however, it’s worthwhile to look at the many aspects of deep sea vessel surveying — and with the help of Capt Andrew Korek, Phoenix Marine Services — an added perspective of the even more specialized work of underwater surveys.
It was a dream come true when I got the opportunity to join the Clipper 68 voyage boats as a Delivery Crew member from Cape Town to Albany (Western Australia). While undergoing my Ocean Graduates Course to qualify as a Yacht Master Coastal at the Isle of Wight, we were told about the Clipper yachts and the thrills and adventures associated with them. I was always fascinated with stories that those sailors told about racing on Clipper boats. In the past I wondered if I would ever be able to experience all those thrills and adventures.
It was a God sent opportunity when I communicated with two gentlemen who assisted me in joining a Clipper yacht for a delivery voyage. They were none other than Mr John Lawrence and Mr Peter Lambert, both from the International Institute of Marine Surveying. It was a start of a great on-the-job learning experience I’d never thought about. Yes there were many questions in my mind regarding the yacht and the delivery trip; the main being: “Will I be able to accomplish it?” It was the first time I was going to sail with such a professional and experienced crew and it being my first ever Ocean Crossing, which is termed as one of the harshest legs of the Clipper round the world race.
It was a long journey from Mumbai. The day came when I was in the City of Good Hope – none other than Cape Town. The moment I saw the yachts, CV5 and CV10, at the V&A Waterfront Marina, it was a sight that I can never forget. Finally I was going to step on to Clipper yachts, one of the elite and prestigious names in the yachting industry.
The first three days at Cape Town were pretty much routine with the basic introduction of the boat by the Skipper and Mate along with one other crew members who were already on board. It was the time to familiarize myself with the yacht, CV5. Other crew members (including two elderly ladies) joined the boat from their luxurious hotel rooms, which they had taken up after their long trip from the UK to Cape Town. Two of the crew members were previous year’s Clipper race winning boat crew on the Gold Coast. It felt like there is really a lot more to learn other than just the academics that I did in the UK. Continue reading “My exciting Clipper Voyage”
The Tower Power wind turbine project provides for the continuous monitoring of the structural condition of the tower and supporting structure of floating and static offshore wind turbines.
In May, the eleven partners of the collaborative European project Tower Power met in Aix-en-Provence (France) to kick it off. The project aims to develop a remote real time monitoring system for the ageing diagnosis of offshore wind turbine structures. This development meets a real demand from the offshore wind park operators looking for maintenance cost reductions by increasing time between onsite inspections. The project will last 3 years within a budget close to 2million euros.
Coordinated by the cluster Capenergies (FR), the TowerPower project will involve:
• Associations having activities in the wind energy sector, who will carry out the dissemination and exploitation scheme of the innovation: Capenergies (FR), Cylsolar (ES) and Associazione Italiana Prouver non Distruttive – AIPnD (IT).
• Pilot SME’s interested by the technology, who will contribute to orientate the research work: Kingston Computer Consulting, Moniteye, Teknisk Data AS, WLB and TecopySA.
• Research centres in charge of the system design, development and validation: CETIM, Innora and TWI.
Nick Wilcox, Senior Associate and Albert Levy, Partner, both of Ince & Co LLP, Partner, debate the vagaries and confusion surrounding one aspect of the MLC 2006.
What’s the issue?
The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) has been in force internationally since August 2013 and, in that time, it has become clear that it has received widespread ratification, that enforcement is a reality, and that ships run the risk of detention if they are not compliant. However, there has also been a good deal of confusion over the question of “who is the ‘shipowner’?” under the MLC. The answer to the question is important, since it is that person who has the principal burden of ensuring MLC 2006 compliance.
In the Maritime Labour Convention, the “shipowner” is defined to mean the owner of the ship or another organisation or person who has assumed responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who in doing so has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners under the MLC 2006. This is the case even if another organisation carries out some of the duties of “shipowner” on its behalf. Therefore, the owner and the “shipowner” may well be different persons or organisations. Note that “shipowner” does not necessarily mean the owner of the ship in the proprietary sense.
Readers could easily be forgiven for being confused by the terminology. Lewis Carroll put it well in Through the Looking Glass: “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’ Are you a “shipowner” under your charter party? ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.” Continue reading “MLC 2006: Are you a “shipowner” under your charterparty?”
