It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Ukrainian Mariners Rescue Russian Sailing Vessel in the Pacific
Crew of the Russian Ocean Way before their departure from Chile (Russian Ocean Way)
A Ukrainian-crewed bulker has rescued a disabled Russian sailing vessel on the high seas of the Pacific, the sailboat's skipper told U.S.-funded Russian news outlet Sibir Realii.
The inflatable trimaran sailboatRussian Ocean Way has been sailing around the world since mid-2021, and it has completed about 13,000 nm of its planned 32,000 nm route over the past two years. At the end of February, the boat set out for a Pacific crossing from the port of Talcahuano, Chile, bound for Easter Island. It was under way about 1,000 miles to the west of Chile when it got hit by a storm, and the wind and waves damaged the vessel's steering. A steering box was bent and broken from the strain, according to skipper Stanislav Berezkin, and its attachment mount began to crack.
Unable to make further repairs and certain that the cracking would worsen, the all-Russian crew put out a distress call, and Chile's rescue coordination center found a nearby bulker willing to come to their aid. The vessel was the Panama-flagged Sounion, operated by Laskaridis and crewed by Ukrainian and Filipino seafarers.
In heavy swells, the bulker created a lee and came alongside the trimaran so that the crew could lower a pilot ladder and bring aboard the three sailors. All were safely transferred, along with their belongings, and the captain of the Sounion even offered to tow the catamaran on the voyage back to Chile.
Communication was simple, since the bulker's captain was Ukrainian and spoke Russian - but some areas of discussion were best avoided, according to Berezkin.
"[The captain] said that he was from Mariupol, and from the bombing, he had to leave for Kyiv. We don't ask anyone else about anything. This is a bad topic," said Berezkin.
Op-Ed: Befriending Stowaways Puts Seafarers at Risk
As the container barge Brooklyn Bridge arrived in San Juan on a routine voyage from Jacksonville last week, 16 migrants jumped over the side and attempted to swim to shore. They were in possession of life jackets, and they were rescued from the water by a patrol boat from U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan. This is just another recent example of stowaway activity, and unfortunately not all incidents are safely resolved.
Stowaways often have tragic stories to tell about their past and what has led them to take the risk of illegally boarding a vessel. However, their desperate circumstances can lead to unpredictable actions, and seafarers should beware. The best thing for the Master to do is notify the office immediately on discovering stowaways and for crews to resist befriending them.
Otherwise, stowaways can create safety issues and legal problems for crews. A case study involving seven male stowaways found aboard a bulk carrier after it had left Kenya should serve as a warning to all shipping companies and their crewmembers. The stowaways were treated in accordance with IMO guidelines, but the situation became problematic once they struck up friendships with the seafarers. The mariners agreed to help them disembark the vessel at another port, while the Master failed to report to the shipowner that he had stowaways on board.
On learning that their final destination was in South America, the stowaways planned to leave the ship in Durban and board another vessel heading elsewhere. In Durban, the crew gave the stowaways clothes and money, before rigging a rope on the seaward side of the vessel to enable the illegal passengers to enter the water without being spotted from ashore.
The seven stowaways planned to swim to the opposite side of the shore, but two tragically drowned as they were not strong swimmers. The remaining men reached safety and handed themselves into the authorities. They then accused the crew of forcing them off the vessel and into the harbor, leading to the arrests of the ship’s Master and three crewmembers who were all charged with murder.
The local authorities rightly took the claims seriously, as this type of crime is not without precedent. An American tugboat captain forced three Jamaican stowaways to jump into shark-infested waters after finding them on his ship in 1993. The stowaways were never found.
In the current case, though, the accusations was unfounded, and the charges the crewmembers faced were later reduced to manslaughter after it became clear the stowaways had embellished their story. However, the Master and three seafarers had clearly breached immigration law. They were eventually found guilty of assisting the stowaways and smuggling them ashore, which saw them receive suspended prison sentences and fines.
In another case, UK special forces stormed a tanker after reports of a stowaway hijacking. Charges against the stowaways were ultimately dropped due to lack of evidence that the crew were threatened or that the stowaways intended to take control of the ship. The situation was, however, tense, and therefore dangerous.
So, while friendly conversation with stowaways may seem normal and harmless, seafarers can easily fall into the trap of making bad judgement calls that leave them in danger or open to prosecution.
Crewmembers who allow men or women they have befriended in foreign ports to stow away on board may also face prosecution. Violating immigration laws is one risk; another is that the stowaways accuse seafarers of impropriety or more serious offenses if caught by the authorities.
Around 1,000 stowaways are discovered each year. Cape Town, Durban and Lagos are boarding hotspots, with Bilbao in Spain popular with stowaways trying to reach the UK.
Advice for dealing with stowaways is available from the IMO’s Resolution A.871(20) Guidelines on the Allocation of Responsibilities to Seek the Successful Resolution of Stowaway Cases. Additional guidance on how to treat stowaways can be found in Section 4C of the Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic Convention. However, neither cover the risks of befriending stowaways.
Our general advice to members is to follow the IMO guidelines and instruct crewmembers to refrain from socializing with stowaways or granting them special favors. Additionally, the Master should notify the office immediately and provide as many details as possible if a stowaway is discovered onboard. Those details should then be forwarded to the company’s insurer at the first opportunity to expedite the repatriation process. This could involve returning to the stowaway’s country of origin, if this can be determined, or to proceed to a scheduled destination port. Either way, it is likely to be costly for the shipowner. Best not to add to those costs by putting crew and stowaways at further risk through misguided friendships.
Useful resources for additional information on stowaways include the Nautical Institute’s ‘Stowaways by Sea and Rescue of Migrants’. West P&I members can also get in contact with the club should they have any follow-up questions on stowaway incidents.
Simon Hodgkinson is Head of Loss Prevention at West P&I.
Derelict Tug Goes Down Suddenly on Seattle's Ship Canal
An abandoned tug sank suddenly at a wharf in Ballard, Seattle on Monday, coming to rest with its funnel on the pier.
The Seattle Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene at about 1045 hours on Monday morning. They found a derelict tug taking on water. The vessel was empty and unoccupied, so no rescue response was required, and the tug went down fast as the crew stood by.
Two other abandoned vessels were tied off to the tug when it went down, but they were not affected, the Coast Guard said.
The lost tug had been defueled two years ago when officials made the determination that it was an abandoned vessel. The Coast Guard confirmed that there were no pollutants on board, though a light sheen was visible around the wreck site. The incident was out of the channel and had no impact on marine traffic.
Derelict vessels are a costly problem for local and national authorities. Remediating pollutants, arranging for disposal and (if necessary) refloating sunken hulks are all costly measures, and are all too often left to public agencies. If left untended, they can release pollutants or go adrift, posing a hazad to other vessels. Last month, salvors raised a WWII-era tug that had partially sunk in the port of Juneau's Gastineau Channel, the second nuisance vessel to cause problems on the waterway in three years.
Product Tanker Burning off Portuguese Coast
Prodcut tanker caught fire less than two miles from the coast of Portugal as it was heading into port (Marinha Portuguesa)
Portuguese authorities are working to control a fire aboard a product tanker off the coast while they are also hoping to tow the ship further out to sea. So far, the fire is believed contained in the aft end of the vessel not reaching its cargo of jet fuel and diesel and there has not been an oil leak. However, the fire is continuing to burn with spectators along the shoreline posting photos of the burning ship which is less than two miles from the coast.
The tanker Greta K (24,768 dwt) was inbound for the port of Leixões, having already boarded her pilot when the fire was reported around 3:30 p.m. Marinha Portuguesa is monitoring the situation reporting that Port Authority was able to quickly send three tugboats to the vessel. In addition, the Port Captain for Douro and Leixões sent two additional tugboats to assist.
They have evacuated 12 of the 19 Filipino crewmembers aboard the vessel. The other seven have remained aboard to assist in the firefight. Local media is reporting that the fire was contained at the stern and suspected to have started in the engine room. Black smoke is seen billowing from the stern.
The fireboats are spraying water on the aft sections of the ship while others were assigned to cool the tops of the cargo tanks. The teams are concerned that there could be a secondary ignition and trying to prevent the fire from reaching the cargo. There is no crude aboard, but they have not yet reported how much fuel the vessel is carrying or the volume of cargo aboard.
The Greta K is registered in Malta. The vessel is seven years old, built in 2016. Equasis lists the owners as San Giorgio Del Porto of Genoa and the managers as K-Ships, also of Genoa.
The product tanker is being used to shuttle fuel supplies from neighboring Sines to Leixões. According to the reports, the local refinery closed leaving the region dependent on tankers for their fuel supply.
Emergency teams are also standing by and prepared with pollution response equipment. Marinha Portuguesa is assisting in calculating the drift, in part to prepare in case of an oil leak from the vessel, as well as calculating the movements of the vessel. This evening it was reported that they were putting a tow line on the burning vessel in an effort to move it further out to sea.
A week on, brutal Cyclone Freddy still taxes southern Africa
By WANJOHI KABUKURU
March 20, 2023 1 of 6 Clothes are hung out to dry on called electrical power lines caused by last week's heavy rains caused by Tropical Cyclone Freddy in Phalombe, southern Malawi Saturday, March 18, 2023. Authorities are still getting to grips with destruction in Malawi and Mozambique with over 370 people confirmed dead and several hundreds still displaced or missing. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)
In Malawi the death toll has reached 447 people, with 282 others missing and close to 400,000 people still displaced, authorities in the country said. Malawi’s southern region, including the financial capital of Blantyre, was the worst affected. In Mozambique, some 66 people have died and 59,000 are still displaced, according to local authorities.
Many people, including children “are traumatized by the cyclone,” said Palal Areman, from the aid agency Save the Children and based in Blantyre. “They were brought to the hospital with head injuries, broken limbs, and bruises, while others looked worried or had no family members.”
The United Nations emergency fund released $5.5 million to Malawi to assist communities affected by Cyclone Freddy on Monday.
A person pushes a bicycle past damaged structures caused by last week's heavy rains caused by Tropical Cyclone Freddy in Phalombe, southern Malawi Saturday, March 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)
Flooding in the Shire River valley in southern Malawi remains a major impediment to search and rescue efforts, aid agencies said. The World Food Program said Monday 1,500 people had been rescued by boats in Malawi’s flooded river valley.
“The destruction and suffering that I witnessed in southern Malawi is the human face of the global climate crisis,” said United Nations Resident Coordinator for Malawi, Rebecca Adda-Dontoh. “The people I met with — many of whom have lost their homes and loved ones — have done nothing to cause this crisis.”
Both Malawi and Mozambique were dealing with a cholera outbreak when Freddy hit, heightening fears that the cyclone will worsen the situation in nations where health and relief workers were already stretched thin.
Cyclone Freddy is on course to be the longest-ever cyclone in recorded history, with an expert panel convening to decide if the cyclone has overtaken the current record holder, 31-day Hurricane John in 1994.
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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A 'hole' 30 times Earth's size has spread across the sun, blasting solar winds that'll hit our planet by end of this week
Rebecca Cohen Tue, March 21, 2023 A video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the massive hole in the sun's atmosphere.NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory
The sun is sporting a giant coronal hole that could fit 20-30 Earths across, back-to-back.
Coronal holes blast rapid solar winds into space that travel 500-800 kilometers per second.
The relatively-harmless winds should reach Earth by Friday for a more stunning aurora.
Despite the name, however, this isn't a physical hole in the solar surface. Coronal holes are cooler in temperature, so they don't glow as bright and therefore look black against the rest of the sun.
"The current coronal hole, the big one right now, is about 300,000 to 400,000 kilometers across," Alex Young, associate director for science at NASA Goddard's Heliophysics Science Division, told Insider over email. "That is about 20-30 Earths lined up back-to-back."
One Earth compared to the size of the sun.ESA & NASA
Coronal holes like these are common. There is "nothing unusual here," Scott McIntosh, a solar physicist and deputy director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told Insider in an email.
Holes like this are part of the sun's normal activity. However, they're "not well understood. Their origins are unclear," McIntosh added, calling these events "the 'dark side' of solar activity."
It's worth noting that these coronal holes are the source of rapid solar winds — reaching speeds of about 500-800 km per second, Young wrote to Insider. In this case, the solar winds from this coronal hole are scheduled to reach Earth by the end of this week.
An animation of the solar wind shows particles streaming from the sun towards Earth.NASA
"We will probably start seeing the effects of the high-speed wind on March 24," Young added. "When the high-speed wind reaches Earth, the particles and the magnetic field it carries will interact with Earth's magnetic field, effectively rattling it or like ringing a bell."
More powerful magnetic fields, like from a coronal mass ejection, could cause electrical blackouts or disrupt communication technology. But coronal holes — even large ones like this — are far less violent. So the main effect to look forward to this Friday is more vibrant aurora borealis, aka northern lights.
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen over the sky near Rovaniemi in Lapland, Finland, October 7, 2018.Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters
However, we are entering a new phase of increasing solar activity where coronal holes will be less the norm and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and powerful solar flares will become more common, Young said.
That can be a concern since the powerful magnetic fields from CMEs and solar flares have been known to surge power grids and fry satellites. However, these events are few and far between.
In reality, Young said that for him and other solar scientists, as solar activity increases, "it's gonna get more and more exciting and interesting."
Biden orders release of intelligence on potential links between Covid and Wuhan lab
Move poses political risk for US president, who has a difficult relationship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping
Agence France-Presse Tue 21 Mar 2023
A bill requiring the release of intelligence materials on potential links between the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan has been signed into law by US president Joe Biden.
“We need to get to the bottom of Covid-19’s origins … including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Biden said in a statement. “In implementing this legislation, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible.
“I share the Congress’s goal of releasing as much information as possible about the origin” of Covid, he said.
Biden said that in 2021, after taking office, he had “directed the intelligence community to use every tool at its disposal” to investigate the origins of the virus.
However, much of Congress wants to pursue the theory further, and the issue has become a rallying point in particular for Biden’s Republican opponents.
Congress passed and sent the bill to Biden earlier this month.
The Covid-19 outbreak was first detected in 2019 in the eastern Chinese city of Wuhan, leading to almost 7 million deaths worldwide so far, according to official counts, with over a million of them in the US.
The US Energy Department – one of the US agencies investigating the disaster – concluded with “low confidence” that the virus probably came from a lab, agreeing with the assessment of the FBI, but contradicting the conclusions of several other agencies.
WUHAN RACCOON DOG (CANID/FOX)
DENYING HUMAN RIGHTS
Uganda passes bill criminalizing people for identifying as LGBTQ
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Bill prescribes jail terms of up to 10 years for offences related to same-sex relations
The Associated Press ·
Asuman Basalirwa, a member of parliament, addresses legislators in Uganda as he participates in a debate on an anti-homosexuality law in Kampala, the capital, on Tuesday. (Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters)
Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill prescribing jail terms of up to 10 years for offences related to same-sex relations, responding to widespread anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the country but piling more pressure on the East African country's LGBTQ community.
The bill was passed late Tuesday inside a packed parliamentary chamber, and after a roll call ordered by the House speaker, who had repeatedly warned it was necessary to identify those who might oppose the bill. It was supported by nearly all of the 389 legislators present.
"Congratulations," said Speaker Anita Among. "Whatever we are doing, we are doing it for the people of Uganda."
The new law appears to be the first to outlaw identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch
An earlier version of the bill enacted in 2014 later was nullified by a court on procedural grounds. Human Rights Watch has described the legislation as "a more egregious version" of the 2014 law, which drew widespread international concern and was struck down amid pressure from Uganda's development partners.
The bill now will go to President Yoweri Museveni, who can veto or sign it into law. He suggested in a recent speech that he supports the bill, accusing unnamed Western nations of "trying to impose their practices on other people."
The bill was introduced last month by an opposition lawmaker who said his goal was to punish "promotion, recruitment and funding" related to LGBTQ activities. The bill also creates the offence of "aggravated homosexuality," which applies to same-sex cases relating to those infected with HIV as well as minors and other vulnerable people. It was not immediately clear what the punishment is for that offence following last-minute amendments in a protracted plenary session in the capital, Kampala.
Jail terms for 'attempted homosexuality'
The bill also creates the offence of "attempted homosexuality," punishable with up to 10 years in jail.
Same-sex activity is already punishable with life imprisonment under a colonial-era law targeting "carnal knowledge against the order of nature," partly the basis of a report by dissenters on the parliamentary committee that vetted the bill before Tuesday's vote.
Ugandan legislators participate in debate on the anti-homosexuality bill, which passed on Tuesday. (Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters)
The bill is "ill-conceived" and unconstitutional because it "criminalizes individuals instead of conduct," said lawmaker Fox Odoi, representing the dissenters.
The bill, if signed into law, "would violate multiple fundamental rights, including rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality, and non-discrimination, according to Human Rights Watch.
"One of the most extreme features of this new bill is that it criminalizes people simply for being who they are as well as further infringing on the rights to privacy, and freedoms of expression and association that are already compromised in Uganda," the group's Oryem Nyeko said in a statement earlier this month.
"Ugandan politicians should focus on passing laws that protect vulnerable minorities and affirm fundamental rights and stop targeting LGBT people for political capital."
Anti-LGBTQ sentiment growing in Uganda
Anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Uganda has grown in recent weeks amid alleged reports of sodomy in boarding schools, including a prestigious school for boys where a parent accused a teacher of abusing her son. Authorities are investigating that case.
Uganda's LGBTQ community in recent years has faced pressure from civilian authorities who wanted a tough new law punishing same-sex activity.
The Ugandan agency overseeing the work of NGOs last year stopped the operations of Sexual Minorities Uganda, the most prominent LGBTQ organization in the country, accusing it of failing to register legally. But the group's leader stated that his organization had been rejected by the registrar of companies as undesirable.
The recent decision of the Church of England to bless civil marriages of same-sex couples also has inflamed many in Uganda, including some who see homosexuality as imported from abroad.
"The Church of England has departed from the Anglican faith and are now false teachers," Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba said in a statement last month that described "a crisis at hand."
Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of Africa's 54 countries.
With files from Reuters
Ugandan parliament passes bill to jail gay people
Published
Watch: Cheers and applause as Uganda passes anti-gay bill
By Patience Atuhaire in Kampala & James Gregory in London
BBC News
Uganda's parliament has passed a bill which would criminalise people who identify as gay, or a sexual minority.
Individuals could face lengthy prison terms if the bill is signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni.
Under the proposed legislation, friends, family and members of the community would have a duty to report individuals in same-sex relationships to the authorities.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in the east African country.
But the bill seeks to go further and criminalise people on the basis of their sexual identity.
It will now go to President Museveni who can choose to use his veto - and maintain good relations with Western donors and investors - or sign it into law.
The bill also stipulates that a person who is convicted of grooming or trafficking children for purposes of engaging them in homosexual activities faces life in prison.
Individuals or institutions which support or fund LGBT rights' activities or organisations, or publish, broadcast and distribute pro-gay media material and literature, also face prosecution and imprisonment.
A small group of Ugandan MPs on a committee scrutinising the bill disagreed with its premise. They argue the offences it seeks to criminalise are already covered in the country's Penal Code Act.
Activists and LGBT people in Uganda have said that anti-homosexuality sentiment in the country is exposing them to physical and online violence, and that the bill may have far-reaching consequences for Ugandans in general.
In 2014, Uganda's constitutional court nullified a similar act which had toughened laws against the LGBT community.
It included making it illegal to promote and fund LGBT groups and activities, as well as reiterating that homosexual acts should be punished by life imprisonment.
The court ruled that the legislation be revoked because it had been passed by parliament without the required quorum. The law had been widely condemned by Western countries.
Same-sex relations are banned in about 30 African countries, where many people uphold conservative religious and social values.
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP
Image caption,
A Ugandan transgender woman who was recently attacked and is currently being sheltered watches the vote on TV
Ugandan MPs pass bill imposing death penalty for homosexuality
Human rights campaigners condemn bill introducing capital and life imprisonment sentences
MPs in Uganda have passed a controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which would make homosexual acts punishable by death, attracting strong condemnation from rights campaigners.
All but two of the 389 legislators voted late on Tuesday for the hardline anti-homosexuality bill, which introduces capital and life imprisonment sentences for gay sex and “recruitment, promotion and funding” of same-sex “activities”.
“A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality and is liable, on conviction to suffer death,” reads the bill presented by Robina Rwakoojo, the chairperson for legal and parliamentary affairs.
Just two MPs from the ruling party, Fox Odoi-Oywelowo and Paul Kwizera Bucyana, opposed the new legislation.
“The bill is ill-conceived, it contains provisions that are unconstitutional, reverses the gains registered in the fight against gender-based violence and criminalises individuals instead of conduct that contravenes all known legal norms,” said Odoi-Oywelowo.
“The bill doesn’t introduce any value addition to the statute book and available legislative framework,” he said.
An earlier version of the bill prompted widespread international criticism and was later nullified by Uganda’s constitutional court on procedural grounds. The bill will now go to President Yoweri Museveni, who can veto or sign it into law. In a recent speech he appeared to express support for the bill.
One MP in the chamber, John Musila, wore a gown reading: “Say No To Homosexual, Lesbianism, Gay.”
The bill marks the latest in a string of setbacks for LGBTQ+rights in Africa, where homosexuality is illegal in most countries. In Uganda, a largely conservative Christian country, homosexual sex was already punishable by life imprisonment.
Human rights campaigners have condemned the new move to enact the harsh law, describing it as “hate legislation”.
“Today marks a tragic day in Uganda’s history. @Parliament_Ug has passed legislation that promotes hatred and seeks to strip LGBTIQ individuals of their fundamental rights!” tweeted Sarah Kasande, a Kampala-based lawyer and human rights activist.
“The provisions of the anti-homosexuality bill are barbaric, discriminatory and unconstitutional,” she said.
She added: “To the LGBTIQ community, I know this is a difficult day, but please don’t lose hope. The battle is not over; this repugnant bill will ultimately be struck down.”
Gay activist Eric Ndawula tweeted: “Today’s events in parliament are not just immoral, but a complete assault on humanity. It’s frightening that our MPs’ judgment is clouded by hate & homophobia. Who benefits from this draconian law?”
More than 110 LGBTQ+ people in Uganda reported incidents including arrests, sexual violence, evictions and public undressing to advocacy group Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug) in February alone. Transgender people were disproportionately affected, said the group.
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, a lesbian activist in Kampala, said efforts to overturn the legislation would continue.
“We shall continue to fight this injustice. This lesbian woman is Ugandan even this piece of paper will [not] stop me from enjoying my country. Struggle just begun,” said Nabagesera in a tweet.
Kasande said: “We will fight until all individuals in Uganda can enjoy the rights guaranteed to them by the constitution.”
President Museveni last month said Uganda will not embrace homosexuality, claiming that the west was seeking to compel other countries to “normalise” what he called “deviations”.
“The western countries should stop wasting the time of humanity by trying to impose their practices on other people,” said Museveni in a televised address to parliament on 16 March.
“Homosexuals are deviations from the normal. Why? Is it by nature or by nurture? We need to answer those questions. We need a medical opinion on that,” he said.
“It’s disappointing that parliament would, once again, pass a bill that is clearly in contravention of several basic human rights,” said Oryem Nyeko, a researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch.
“This just opens the door for more regressive laws and for people’s rights to be violated across the board. President Museveni shouldn’t assent to it,” he said.
