Marine Log - May 2008 - (Page 56)

Letters Dear Editor: May 2008 Vol. 113 No. 5 Le Ponant What’s needed is a piracy protection plan The incident with the yacht Le Ponant shows clearly that cruising war ships will arrive too late to prevent pirates from seizing ships. My Pirate Protection Plan puts marines on the spot to stop pirates from boarding. If in the process pirates are killed, it sends a strong message to others. “A proper pirate is a dead one” is an old Wijdenesser saying, yet arming sailors is not the answer to piracy. Handling a gun properly takes months of training and, after all, sailors did not choose a fighting career. Vigilance is key. These days, only fun-loving yachties fly the Jolly Roger. Pirates may disguise themselves as peaceful fisherman until they suddenly attack. Guarding the ship against piracy cannot be left solely to the ship’s crew. Dedicated ship’s duties leave little extra time for patrolling nor do crew members possess the proper training. Defending against boarding pirates with charged fire hoses and a prayer is not effective against heavily armed attackers in the middle of nowhere. Seven to ten welltrained and heavily armed marines should be stationed aboard ships transiting known perilous passages. Marines have but one objective; guard and defend. Three marines should be on continuous watch duty; one on the port bridge wing, one on the starboard bridge wing and one on the stern. This applies at sea as well as in port. Training will be needed for best cooperation between merchant sailors and marines. Of course, language and cultural differences will need to be addressed. The United Nations Security Council should compel the pirate infected countries to allow ships to be armed and come into action against pirates within their territorial waters. Capt. Jaap Stengs (Ret.) Wijdenes Holland EU Short Sea Shipping could relieve congestion on America’s highways Dear Editor: I read your editorial as printed in the January 2008 issuse of Marine Log. The emphasis placed on moving containers coastwise appears to be the thrust of shor sea advocates. Howev- er, the volume of containers to be moved coastwise will be minimal. The ports of New York /New Jersey, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah and Jacksonville offer both the ship owner, consignee or shipper the advantages of direct calls eliminating re-handling coasts and more importantly intermodal services to points in mid America. The costs of loading onto and discharging from Short Sea vessels will have to be borne by someone, i.e. the shipping or consignee. He is going to opt for the shipping company that makes direct calls. The emphasis should be on getting the domestic tractor-trailers off I-95. In so doing, it will relieve congestion on I-95. One only has to drive I-95 to note the there are very few international containers on the road. Your editorial was excellent. I remain. Sincerely, Captain Warren G. Leback Former Maritime Administrator 1989-1992 MARINELOG ISSN 08970491 A Simmons-Boardman Publication 345 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014 Tel: (212) 620-7200 Fax: (212) 633-1165 Website: http://www.marinelog.com Advertising Sales UNITED STATES New York Sales Office 345 Hudson St., 12th floor New York, NY 10014 Roland Espinosa Sales Director Tel (212) 620-7225 Fax (212) 633-1165 E-mail: respinosa@sbpub.com U.S. GULF COAST Jeff Sutley Tel (212) 620-7233 Fax (212) 633-1165 E-mail: jsutley@sbpub.com WORLDWIDE Europe Representative Donna Edwards, International Sales Manager e-mail: dedwards@sbpub.com Marine Log (UK) Hillreed House, 54 Queen Street, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 5AD UK Tel: +44 1403 275935 Fax: +44 1403 260633 Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore Representative Susan Pulman Tel.+44 1403 260110 Fax. +44 1403 260633 e-mail: spulman@sbpub.com Korea Young-Seoh Chinn JES Media International 2nd Fl. ANA Bldg. 257-1, Myungil Dong, Kangdong-Gu Seoul 134-070, Korea Tel: +822-481-3411 Fax: +822-481-3414 e-mail: jesmedia@unitel.co.kr CLASSIFIED SALES Diane Okon Classified Advertising Sales 20 South Clark St., Suite 2450 Chicago, IL 60603 Tel: (312) 683-5022 Fax: (312) 683-0131 E-mail: dokon@sbpub-chicago.com USPS 576-910 56 MARINE LOG MAY 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - May 2008

Marine Log - May 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Europe Plots Its Tech Strategy SDNV Container Ship Update Diesels Can Burn Anything: Even Clean Fuel Boost for Small Shipyards Gateway to the Caribbean Room to Grow Show Review Tech News Newsmakers Contracts Events Website Directory ML Buyer's Guide ML Marketplace Maritime Salvage Letters

Marine Log - May 2008

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