Monday, May 27, 2024

Eight Ports in the British Isles Get Electric Ship Charging Stations

Peel ports electric charging — Port of Heysham is one of eight seaports that will receive the upgrades (Peel Ports file image)

The UK’s second largest port operator, Peel Ports Group, has announced plans to establish the first green shipping corridor between the UK and Ireland. This is part of a artnership between the port operator and the marine tech company NatPower Marine. The collaboration will see NatPower Marine develop the UK’s first commercial electric charging network to support electric propulsion and cold ironing (shore power).

The charging infrastructure will require an estimated investment of $127 million and will be delivered across all eight UK and Ireland ports operated by Peel Ports Group. The masterplan of the infrastructure also includes electric car, van and truck chargers for commercial electric vehicles passing through the ports.

This investment in the UK is part of a $3.8 billion global charging network, planed by NatPower Marine for 120 port locations worldwide by 2030.

“NatPower Marine is investing to deploy the largest global network of charging ports to help resolve the ‘chicken and egg conundrum’ facing this industry: shipping lines cannot electrify vessels if port charging infrastructure is not available, and ports are unable to raise capital for charging infrastructure without certainty of demand from shipping lines,” said Stefano Sommadossi, CEO NatPower Marine.

With over 3,000 vessels crossing the Irish Sea every year, emitting 230,000 tons of CO2 and 20,000 tons of nitrous oxide, this partnership may drastically reduce emissions.

The first Irish Sea routes identified in the project proposals include Belfast-Heysham and Dublin-Birkenhead. The small Port of Heysham in Lancashire is on track to become the UK’s first net zero port, according to Peel Ports, and the charging infrastructure will support this goal. Currently, the port is leading in reduction of carbon emissions of its landside plant, equipment and vehicles by up to 90 percent. The port claims that all its vehicles, plant equipment, forklift trucks and ancillary equipment are now operating on either electricity or biofuels.

“The proposals presented as part of this partnership are potentially game-changing, and fully support our ambitions to become a net-zero port operator by 2040,” said Claudio Veritiero, CEO of Peel Ports Group.

In the past two years, the UK government has significantly invested in green shipping corridors, an initiative the UK led as part of the Clydebank Declaration during COP 26 in November 2021. Last month, the UK government launched the fifth round of Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC 5), with funding of over $900,000 available for start-ups looking to establish green shipping routes to and from the UK.

Putting Methanol Through its "Paces," With a Focus on Safety

With more than 90% of global GDP now covered by a net zero target, the growing consensus to tackle climate change is matched only by a deepening understanding of the immensity of the challenge. For the shipping industry, there’s a real urgency to reverse the 20% emissions growth of the last decade and begin the essential but expensive task of decarbonizing the global fleet, 98.8% of which, according to a 2023 report from UNCTAD, still runs on fossil fuels.

The first challenge is to overcome the huge inertia of an aging fleet, with an average ship age of 22.2 years. With over half the global fleet older than 15 years, many ships are either too old to retrofit or too young to scrap. Over time, the replacement cycle will change the fleet’s emissions profile, as shipowners place orders for newbuilds that can run on cleaner fuels such as LNG, ammonia and methanol.

The clock is now ticking to accelerate that pace of change, particularly as the IMO’s enhanced GHG strategy for 2030 includes stricter targets to cut the carbon intensity of international shipping by 40%. Shipowners must act soon to transition their fleets because without clear investment signals the availability of candidate fuels will lag demand, creating further hesitancy and potentially derailing the transition.

Any new fuel, however, must be put through its PACES to meet the industry’s expectations on Performance, Availability, Cost, Emissions and Safety. Here, methanol has a head start because in terms of performance it’s already a proven fuel, with methanol storage available in over 100 ports around the world. Its key advantage is that it’s an easy substitute for diesel because it is a liquid fuel under ambient conditions making it easy to transport, store and bunker using familiar procedures. The cost of converting diesel engines to methanol dual-fuel vessels and installing the land-based infrastructure is significantly lower than other alternative fuels that require pressurization or cryogenics.

Fossil-based methanol (known as grey or brown methanol, depending on whether derived from gas or coal) burns cleaner and delivers a tank-to-wake CO2 reduction of about 7% compared to diesel but performs worse on a well-to-wake basis. However, blue or green methanol (made from renewable biomass or via an electrolysis process), while expensive and still only available in limited quantities, are chemically identical to conventional methanol, which means there are no future compatibility issues or further engine investment required by shipping companies, allowing a seamless, gradual transition to meet future well-to-wake emissions rules.

A safe transition

As a low flashpoint fuel, methanol does impose additional safety considerations in some instances e.g., during bunkering operation, which is the primary reason ABS decided to publish the first Technical Advisory on methanol bunkering providing guidance on the technical and operational challenges that must be overcome.

The main methods of methanol bunkering are truck tanker-to-ship, barge/ ship-to-ship and land storage tank-to-ship. For smaller vessels that may run on methanol fuel cells, it’s possible to provide the fuel in portable tanks.

Because of the low flashpoint and toxic properties, hoses and connections must be approved for methanol use and inspected periodically in compliance with the latest version of MSC.1-Circ. 1621. The fittings and connections should be cleaned, tight fitted, quick release and a self-sealing type. Seals are to be in good condition, pressure-tested and hoses are to be recertified according to the above IMO circular. Any mobile facilities such as tank trucks, rail cars and portable tanks should conform to meet ISO and other standards for handling methanol fuel.

For port operations, it’s important to verify compatibility, transfer rate, vapor return arrangements, communications, Emergency Shut Down (ESD), and emergency procedures. The responsibilities and procedures are to be agreed upon and confirmed in writing prior to starting bunkering – a checklist is a good way to confirm compatibility and capture this information and ABS Technical Advisory includes sample checklists to help with this work.

It’s important the receiving and supply barge if applicable are safely moored and adequately fendered, with all due attention to tidal and weather conditions not to mention surges from passing ships. Hoses should have sufficient slack to allow for any expected relative motion and the manifold arrangements, spill containment systems, and hose connections for the supply source and the receiving ship should be confirmed including emergency release (hose breakaway) arrangements.

Spark aware

Because of the low flash point, it’s important to be particularly careful about potential sources of ignition. Road truck/ISO tanks and ship should be earthed with a bonding wire to protect from static electricity. Materials should be non-sparking, the risks of electrical arcing addressed, and careful consideration needs to be given to make sure both the supply source and receiving ship don’t introduce any source of ignition into any hazardous area.

Vapor return needs to be carefully managed to ensure systems are compatible and have sufficient space, given that the estimated volume of vapor is 1: 1.4 times more than the cargo space volume it replaces. And both the supply source and receiving ship need to have inerting and purging capabilities. It’s obviously vital to have firefighting and emergency procedures in place.

Safety is rooted in good communication. There needs to be compatible communications between the supply source and the ship so both parties can monitor the bunkering operation, and, if necessary, initiate an emergency shutdown.

A ship-to-shore link is to be provided to enable automatic and manual ESD of bunkering operations. The ESD should be capable of activation from both the bunker receiving ship and the bunker supplier, and the signal should simultaneously activate the ESD on both sides of the transfer operation with no release of liquid or vapor during this procedure. An ESD might be activated for a wide range of reasons, including an overflow in receiving tank, high tank pressure, a leak, vapor or fire detection, loss of ventilation in double wall piping, excessive ship movement, abnormal pressures in the transfer system or power failure.

At the manifold connection a manually operated stop valve and a remotely operated shutdown valve are to be provided. This remote valve is to be of the fail-close type, which closes on loss of actuating power, and be capable of manual closure and to have indication of the valve position. There are multiple industry standards and regulations that apply to emergency shutdown and related safety systems, and these are listed in our Advisory, along with additional ABS recommendations. These include that systems are designed to accommodate surge pressures and that manual operation of the ESD system is possible by a single control on the bridge, safe control station and at least two strategic positions around the bunker manifold area.

The human factor

Crew training and certification are essential for safe methanol bunkering, with the minimum requirements outlined in the IGF Code and the Interim Guidelines for the Safety of Ships Using Methyl/Ethyl Alcohol as Fuel or the Seafarers’ Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Code for IBC Code Vessels. Formal training should include basic handling, including scenarios for leakage, spillage and fire. Personnel should understand methanol’s properties, its operational risks and hazards, fire prevention and firefighting protocols, and importantly, clearly understand their roles and responsibilities, particularly in the event of an emergency. Only those with the proper training should be allowed into the designated safety zone for the bunkering operation, which is an ignition-free area with clearly defined boundaries, typically set by a risk assessment and determined by regulations.

For shipowners considering the fuel mix of their fleet, methanol passes the PACES test. It’s a proven fuel, with existing bunkering infrastructure in some ports and more being built. Making sure this bridging fuel is handled safely, particularly during bunkering, is going to be key to the ongoing displacement of fossil fuels in the global fleet. This Technical Advisory should help with this effort as the maritime industry steams towards IMO2030 and beyond.

Quaim Choudhury is Senior Managing Principal Engineer at ABS.

MOL to Expand Wind-Assisted Propulsion After Validation on First Vessel

bulker with rigid sail — Shofu Maru was the first vessel fitted with MOL's rigid sail and validation results were released (MOL)

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) is moving forward expanding its use of wind-assisted propulsion as part of its overall decarbonization efforts. They have test results after approximately 18 months of operation of the first vessel fitting with their rigid sail and now report they are also considering other technologies. In addition to new constructions, they are also pursuing their first retrofit of the Wind Challenger rigid sail to a bulker.

The move to expand the use of wild-assisted propulsion comes as the technology continues to draw strong interest from shipowners and operators. The International Windship Association recently said that there are a total of 37 vessels with wind-propulsion installed and in service. This represents a doubling over the past 12 months with a total of 22 installations and wind-ready ships delivered. With the emergence of the EU Fit for 55 effort and the IMO set to adopt its GHG strategies mapped out in 2023, the association expects wind propulsion installations will continue to grow.

MOL says it has accumulated extensive operational technology to pursue wind propulsion technology. The group plans to launch 25 vessels equipped with the Wind Challenger by 2030, increasing to 80 by 2035. MOL is scheduled to deploy its second vessel, a 64,000 dwt bulker, with the Wind Challenger in June and today reported a total of six additional newbuilding bulk carriers, 42,000 dwt and 58,000 dwt, and one multipurpose vessel.

The Wind Challenger is a rigid sail made of fiberglass with a width of about 50 feet and a maximum height of about 175 feet. Its sections are nested so that it can retract to a fraction of its operating height to reduce air draft. The mounting point is forward, on the bow, and well clear of the cargo hatches. MOL working with Oshima Shipbuilding has been perfecting the design and preparing it for commercialization since 2018.

MOL will retrofit the sail for the first time in 2025 to an in-service bulker (MOL)

MOL reports three bulkers have been ordered from Oshima Shipbuilding Co. with preparations underway for three additional contracts. The first three bulkers, due in the second half of 2026 and the first half of 2027, will each be fitted with the Wind Challenger rigid sail and it is considering also adding up to three wind rotors per vessel manufactured by Anemoi Marine Technologies on some of these vessels. MOL expects the combined use of both technologies to reduce fuel and GHG emissions by an average of about 15-28 percent per year. The other three bulkers, so far, are planned to have just the Wind Challenger. MOL previously also agreed to install two Norse rotors on a 200,000 dwt bulker operated for Vale with that installation expected to be completed this year.

MOL Drybulk has also decided to install two Ventfoils, a foldable and autonomous unit for wind-assisted ship propulsion, manufactured by EconoWind. The technology will be installed on one of its new multipurpose vessels (17,500 dwt) slated for delivery in 2025 and operation under a time charter.

Next year, MOL also plans the first retrofit of a Wind Challenger to an in-service bulker. The first of its third-generation bulkers, the Kurotakisan Maru III (89,999 dwt), which entered service in December 2021 and carries coal for J-Power will add the rigid sail. The retrofitting of the Wind Challenger aboard this second vessel is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about five percent on a Japan-Australia voyage and about eight percent on a Japan-North America West Coast voyage, compared to a conventional vessel of the same type.

Recently, MOL also released data from its first vessel using the Wind Challenger, the Shofu Maru (100,000 dwt), which entered service in October 2022. The vessel has completed seven round-trip voyages to Japan mainly from Australia, Indonesia, and North America operating as a dedicated coal carrier for Tohoku Electric.

Daily fuel consumption over the 18 months since the vessel entered service was reduced by up to 17 percent. On average the fuel saving has been between five and eight percent per voyage. MOL notes that the data was calculated using a method verified by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping and that the fuel saving during operation depends largely on wind conditions. The Wind Challenger does not produce thrust when the vessel encounters a headwind.

China Bags Oil E&P Contracts Off Mozambique

CNOOC rig in the sunset — File image courtesy CNOOC

China’s footprint in the African energy sector continues to expand, with Mozambique last week approving oil exploration and production contracts for CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) subsidiaries, covering five blocks. CNOOC signed the concession contracts with Mozambique’s Ministry of Energy and the state-owned national hydrocarbons company (ENH).

The blocks span an area of 11,000 square miles, with exploration water depths starting from 500 to 2,500 meters. All the blocks are located in the Angoche and Save Sediment Basin offshore Nampula province.

According to the terms of the contracts, the first stage of the exploration period for the blocks will be four years. Five wholly owned subsidiaries of CNOOC Limited will act as the operators in the exploration and development phases, with independent operator rights and interests in the blocks. ENH will own the remaining non-operator interests.

Speaking during signing of the contracts, Mozambican Minister of Energy Carlos Zacarias said that the CNOOC deal represents a huge success in fulfilling the government’s five-year program 2020-2024 in the mineral resources and power sector.

According to Mozambique’s energy sector regulator, the National Petroleum Institute (INP), CNOOC will carry out an intensive exploration work program, including acquisition of 1000 miles of 3D seismic data and drilling of a minimum of four deep-water research wells in the designated offshore regions.

In 2021, the government launched the sixth bidding process for concession of areas for hydrocarbons exploration and production, which has so far received positive response from energy multinationals. Some of these companies include TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, ENI, and now the addition of CNOOC.

According to exploration data of these firms, Mozambique is tipped to become a major exporter of LNG, especially after the discovery of over 180 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, further north of the Angoche site. The first LNG shipment destined for Europe departed Rovuma Basin in November 2022. This was a successful attempt by Mozambique to monetize its vast hydrocarbon reserves.

Unfortunately, a rising wave of insecurity in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province could deter the ongoing energy projects in the region. Almost three years ago, TotalEnergies was forced to suspend operations on a multi-billion LNG project at the Afungi site in northern Mozambique. At the time, Islamic insurgents escalated attacks in the nearby town of Palma, where many sub-contractors for the Afungi site were based.

COLD WAR 2.0

U.S. Navy Bases are Ejecting Foreign Nationals 2-3 Times a Week

A Chinese national arrested at the 29 Palms Marine Corps base in March for unauthorized access. The individual was in the U.S. illegally (U.S. Border Patrol)

The U.S. Navy's base security personnel are catching and evicting a steadily increasing number of foreign nationals - particularly Chinese citizens - who are attempting to glean national security secrets, a top U.S. admiral said in an interview over the weekend. Many of them have proper papers allowing them to visit the United States as tourists or students, but their presence on a military base is not authorized - and in many cases, may constitute a criminal offense.

"Usually the cover story is 'I'm a student, I'm an enthusiast I want to see the ships,' that type of thing," U.S. Fleet Forces Commander Adm. Daryl Caudle told Fox and Friends. "We have to turn them around, and typically we will get the [Naval Criminal Investigative Service] involved. We will get biometrics if possible."

Chinese visitors have been arrested for accessing or spying on U.S. naval installations multiple times in recent years, and two U.S. Navy servicemembers who were born in China were recently arrested on espionage charges. The more insidious, high-volume, low-effort Chinese attempts at naval base espionage have been gathering pace, Caudle said.

"This thing of our military bases getting penetrated by foreign nationals is happening more and more. . . . It's really hard for us to tell the underlying motive in these types of cases," Caudle told Fox News. "This is something we see probably two or three times a week, where we're stopping these folks at the gate, and this is just the Navy alone."

At least some of these individuals are Chinese nationals who entered the U.S. illegally and then attempted to access a military base. In March, an illegal Chinese immigrant was arrested on the 29 Palms Marine Corps Base and handed over to Border Patrol agents. 29 Palms is the Marine Corps' largest base and is used for its large-scale multi-unit exercises.

"Despite being prompted to exit at the Condor gate by installation security, the individual proceeded onto the installation without authorization," a Marine Corps spokesman told Marine Corps Times. "Military law enforcement were immediately notified and detained the individual."

Suspicious drone overflights are also an increasing problem, Caudle said, and the Navy is working on increasing its capabilities to detect and defend against this new potential threat.

"Generally it's just folks with drones - you can buy them commercially from Amazon or whoever it may be," he said. "But it's hard to differentiate that from a nation-state that's attempting to do espionage."

Op-Ed: Mariner Shortage Could Put the Jones Act at Risk

Civilian mariners with Military Sealift Command unload an aid cargo in Thailand (USN file image)

Let’s take a little look at the American maritime industry today as it stands. In fact, why not have a look around at your own personal “work world.” In very simple terms, do you have enough trained employees to handle the work load you already have? And we are talking about the employees that sweep the floors all the way up to the “boss-man.” If you don’t have a trained and properly staffed work force, then you have no company at all.

A thriving workforce is the key to very survival of the commercial maritime industry in America. And it all revolves around the Jones Act being maintained in the future. If, or when, the Jones Act falls, everything in our professional world will change.

Everywhere I look, I see unfilled positions go wanting. I like to think I keep my “finger on the pulse” of employment opportunities. And if you want a job in the maritime industry these days, all you have to do is just wave your hand in the air and you have one. There are always open positions posted at the mariners’ unions. Check out job boards and you’ll find more jobs. Lots of them. Have you had a look lately at the Military Sealift Command web site? Jobs... Jobs... Jobs. Here at MITAGS (the school I teach at), we have openings for full-time instructors on both coasts. And these openings have been active for many months.

At least weekly, the Washington State Ferries are having to cancel sailings due to lack of crew. The ferry system has resorted to advertising on TV to get applicants interested in going to work for them. Even the U.S. Coast Guard has “a critical shortage of qualified personnel.”

About this time you might be thinking: So what? More work for mariners. Well, the fact is that if there aren’t enough American mariners, then there will be more pressure to end the Jones Act and bring in foreign labor. If we are not proactive today, this might well be what our future will look like.

So, what can we do right now to insure a bright future for a maritime industry staffed by Americans? Once again, in my humble opinion, we need to pump money into attracting and training new people for the industry. And we need lots of them. Everything from welders to truck drivers to technicians to mechanics to mariners. When I was young, they had something called shop class in schools, and at that time every vessel employed ordinary seamen. (Those days are just a memory.) How many companies employ lots of ordinary seaman these days? All the companies want AB’s. But if you don’t have OS’s, just where do the AB’s come from?

In your particular field of expertise, do you foster an active recruitment and retention program? Have you developed a community outreach program to get the folks that actually live close to your operation involved and interested in going to work for you? Do you offer internships, apprenticeships, and scholarships? Do you offer paid cadet positions? What about paid training programs? Why would a young person even want to come to work for you? Those days of just offering a paycheck are long gone. Certainly, these are some important things to think about.

No, this “revamping” of our attitude towards staffing will not be easy or cheap. There will probably be a need for a government/private industry collaborative effort to get things moving along. And, of course, it will take lots and lots of time and effort on all of our parts. But if we don’t do something right now, then without any question, the maritime industry in America will look entirely different in the not-to-distant future.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

Famed World War II Submarine USS Harder Discovered off Luzon

USS Harder (NHHC)
PUBLISHED MAY 26, 2024 9:41 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Just ahead of Memorial Day, the U.S. Navy's historical commission has confirmed the identity of the wreck of the USS Harder, a famed attack submarine that sank more Japanese warships than any other American sub over the course of World War II.
USS Harder was a Gato-class attack sub commissioned in December 1942, and she fought in the Pacific Theater until August 24, 1944. She sank her first target, a seaplane transport, on June 22, 1943. She continued on to claim many more victories, particularly in her famous fifth patrol. The sub departed Fremantle, Australia on May 26, 1944 - exactly 80 years ago Sunday - and transited to the island of Tawi-Tawi, where the Imperial Japanese Navy maintained a fleet anchorage at the western edge of the Celebes Sea. USS Harder sank four Japanese destroyers in a matter of weeks and heavily damaged or destroyed one more, singlehandedly disrupting Japan's fleet-level battle plans.
She also observed a heavy concentration of Japanese warships at the Tawi-Tawi anchorage on June 11, and she radioed this critical intelligence to the fleet. The early alert gave Adm. Raymond Spruance more information on Japanese plans for a "decisive battle" - the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Harder's actions helped set the stage for the American victory in that critical engagement, which effectively ended Japanese carrier airpower for the rest of the war.
Harder was lost on her sixth patrol during an attempted attack on a Japanese ship. Together with submarine USS Hake, she attempted to engage the escort ship CD-22, but the Japanese crew evaded the attack and pursued USS Harder with depth charge runs. The fifth depth charge attack sank USS Harder with all 79 hands aboard; USS Hake escaped.
Harder's commanding officer, Cmdr. Sam Dealey, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for the vessel's service, along with the Navy Cross, three Gold Stars and a Silver Star.
Courtesy USN / Lost 52 Project
Eight decades later, ocean search firm Tiburon Subsea and the Lost 52 Project found the wreck of USS Harder off Luzon in 3,000 feet of water. The wreck is relatively intact except for depth charge damage near the conning tower. Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) has now confirmed the identity of the site and designated it as a protected wreck.
“Harder was lost in the course of victory. We must not forget that victory has a price, as does freedom,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy rear admiral (retired). “We are grateful that Lost 52 has given us the opportunity to once again honor the valor of the crew of the ‘Hit ‘em HARDER’ submarine that sank the most Japanese warships."
Previous finds attributed to Taylor and the Lost 52 project include USS Grayback, Stickleback, Grunion, R-12, S-26 and S-28.

Memorial Day Heroes: The Rescue of the WWII Sub USS Squalus

Refloated and renamed, USS Squalus would go on to sink a Japanese carrier and multiple merchant ships

[By Katie Lange]

Thanks to World War I and the advent of the submarine, U.S. naval divers mastered how to make and survive deep ocean dives. But by the 1930s, they were still trying to figure out how to successfully rescue survivors from sunken vessels.

They finally figured that out in 1939, when Navy Lt. Orson Leon Crandall and three other master divers used a new piece of equipment to rescue nearly three dozen sailors from a sub that sank during a training incident. Crandall's expertise and calmness under pressure earned him the Medal of Honor.

Crandall was born on Feb. 2, 1903, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Marshall and Bertie Crandall. He had two brothers and a sister, all of whom were older.

Crandall enlisted in the Navy in 1922 when he was 19. For the next decade, he served on several ships before going into diver training in 1932. By March 1939, he held the rank of chief boatswain's mate and was designated a master diver, the highest level a diver can attain.

Only a few months later, a disaster off the coast of New Hampshire would require Crandall to utilize his expertise in the most harrowing of conditions.

On May 23, 1939, a diesel-electric submarine called the USS Squalus was practicing submerging at high speeds near the Isle of Shoals, an island chain off the coast of southern Maine, when it suffered a catastrophic valve failure. The sub — which carried 56 crew members and three civilian contractors — quickly filled with water and sank about 240 feet to the ocean floor.

Crandall was serving on the USS Falcon, which was tied up at New London, Connecticut, when the call for help came in. The Falcon was one of several salvage ships with divers that hurried to the scene to try to save anyone who was still alive inside the Squalus.

It took nearly a full day to prepare for the dangerous mission, but by the morning of the 24th, Crandall and about three dozen other divers were ready to get started.

"I remember that the water was rough and that the wind was pretty stiff, but after a while it calmed down some," Crandall recalled in a 1952 article in the Baltimore Evening Sun newspaper. "The descent was pretty fast — it took only about seven minutes to drop down to the 240-foot level where the submarine lay with her stern in about 12 feet of mud."

Shortly before noon, the Falcon lowered into the water a newly developed rescue device called the McCann-Erickson Rescue Chamber. Up until then, the chamber had only been used in training.

In theory, rescuers planned to lower the chamber via cables to the sub's deck, then seal it to one of the Squalus' hatches, according to Naval Institute archives. The crew would then blow the water out of the sub's chamber, open both hatches, and pull out the trapped submariners.

McCann Rescue Chamber on deck (Courtesy USN)

Courtesy USN

The process worked, but it took a long time.

"Because of the pressure, we could work for an average of only 18 minutes at a time. It took three hours to bring us to the surface," Crandall told the Baltimore Evening Sun, explaining that the slow ascent was necessary so they wouldn't get "the bends," a decompression sickness that happens when gas bubbles form in the blood stream from rapid changes in pressure.

Thanks to the skilled work of Crandall and three other master divers — Chief Petty Officer William Badders, Lt. Cmdr. John Mihalowski and Lt. James Harper McDonald — 33 men who survived the sinking were separated into four groups and rescued over the span of 13 hours.

Courtesy USN

At one point, Crandall narrowly escaped death. According to his Tampa Bay Times obituary, during one of his dives, carbon dioxide gas formed in his suit. As he lapsed into unconsciousness, he started to call out football signals — something he did as the quarterback of a shore-based Navy football squad. Thankfully, other crew members heard the strange chatter through his diving suit telephone and knew something was wrong, so they pulled him to the surface, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Over the next three months, divers and salvage crews worked to bring the Squalus back to the surface and retrieve the remaining 26 men stationed at the rear of the vessel who didn't survive. Crandall made more than 60 dives as part of that effort. The submarine was finally raised on Sept. 13, 1939. All but one of the sailors' bodies were found.

According to Naval Institute archives, a Navy court determined a mechanical malfunction caused the disaster. As a result, submarine hull valves were converted to quick-closing flapper valves to prevent future tragedies.

For Crandall's leadership, bravery and devotion to duty during the hazardous Squalus rescue, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on Jan. 19, 1940, during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. His fellow master divers during the mission — Badders, Mihalowski and McDonald — also received the honor.

Crandall remained in the Navy through World War II, and he became a commissioned officer and took part in several salvage and diving-related missions. He transferred into the Fleet Reserve in June 1946. He retired in December 1952 to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he decided to lay down roots.

At some point along the way, Crandall married a woman named Mary. According to the Tampa Bay Times, he operated a fishing guide boat out of Johns Pass during his retirement.

Crandall died May 10, 1960, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The heavy salvage ship USS Crandall, which served the Navy from 1967 to 1993, was named in his honor.

As for the Squalus, it was decommissioned in November 1939, renamed Sailfish, and recommissioned on May 15, 1940. It was decommissioned again after World War II. Its conning tower was cut away and can now be found in a park at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where memorial ceremonies are held every year in May.

Russian Cargo Ship Hits Train Bridge Supplying Crimea

Russian cargo ship under bridge — Cargo ship wedged under the railway bridge (ASTRA on Telegram)

A vintage Russian cargo ship sailing on the Don River at Rostov-on-Don hit a vital train bridge that is used to supply Crimea. The Russian authorities as saying the Zelenga (built in 1978), malfunctioned causing the vessel to allide with the bridge. No trains were crossing the bridge and none were scheduled for today while an investigation is underway.

The Zelenga was built in Germany 46 years ago and currently operates for the Volga Shipping Company. The vessel is 1,755 dwt and 269 feet (82 meters) in length.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situation is reporting a steering failure on May 26 as the vessel was attempting to pass under the raised portion of the bridge. In the pictures and videos, the center section of the bridge is raised but the vessel was off course and hit a fixed section of the railway bridge. The vessel’s bridge appears to have been heavily damaged. There were no reports of injuries.

While there are no suggestions of sabotage, the Ukrainian media is highlighting the significance as the bridge is used to transport supplies into Crimea. They contend it is a major supply route for materials and armaments being used by the Russian forces occupying Crimea.

Local reports are that the bridge was undergoing inspections, but Russian reports were saying the bridge was operational. The vessel was later towed from the site.

Video: Salvors Work to Refloat Harbor Cruise Vessel off Lahaina

Hawaiian state authorities are working to defuel and remove a harbor cruise boat that ran aground off the coast of Lahaina, the seaside town that was hit by a devastating fire last fall.

The 100-foot harbor cruise boat Maui Princess went aground off Lahaina on May 16 after her moorings parted and she went adrift, and has remained high and dry ever since. Photos from the scene suggest that she grounded on a bar about 100 yards off the beach, in the surf zone.

Maui Princess had 2,500 gallons of diesel on board, and a contractor was hired to remove the potential pollutant threat with a rarely-used method, normally reserved for casualties in hard-to-access locations: repeated helicopter flights.

David Willoughby of Willoughby Consulting was hired to lead the defueling effort, according to Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources. In a statement, he estimated that it would take nine to 10 flights to remove most of the fuel. “Compared to some other groundings I’ve been involved with, while in the U.S. Coast Guard, and while owning my own company, this one is relatively easy,” he said.

Once the pollution abatement work is completed, the vessel will be refloated and removed.

According to the DLNR, high surf has prevented a full assessment of any harm to the marine environment, and this will have to wait for calmer conditions.

Hawaii Public Radio reports that Maui Princess lost her normal berth in Lahaina in the devastating wildfire last August, and has had trouble finding a mooring since. DLNR reports that she was anchored offshore in the time period leading up to the casualty.

The vessel's operator told Hawaii News Now that his crew had taken appropriate precautions to avoid a mishap, and that a component failure caused the breakaway and grounding. He emphasized that the vessel is insured.

A new book argues most white US Christians worship a religion of whiteness

Michael Emerson and Glenn Bracey depict a Christianity that worships a white Jesus and a set of sacred symbols, including the flag, the cross and, increasingly, guns.

“The Religion of Whiteness: How Racism Distorts Christian Faith" cover and authors Michael Emerson, left, and Glenn Bracey, right. (Courtesy images)

May 21, 2024

Yonat Shimron

(RNS) — In 2000, two sociologists wrote a book about the fraught efforts of white evangelicals to diversify their congregations to better address racial discrimination in the church.

Now, one of those authors, Michael Emerson, has teamed up with another sociologist, Glenn Bracey, for an update.

Their conclusions are grim.

In “The Religion of Whiteness: How Racism Distorts Christian Faith,” Emerson and Bracey suggest that as many as two-thirds of white Christians in the U.S. have elevated whiteness to a religion itself, one that rivals Christianity.

It’s a controversial claim, but one they support through interviews with Christian church leaders, many of them Black, about the state of race in the church, as well as a set of national surveys they conducted over the past few years.

Emerson and Bracey depict a Christianity that effectively worships the white race with a white Jesus at its center and a set of sacred symbols, including the flag (both the U.S. flag and sometimes the Confederate flag), the cross and, increasingly, guns. Though their churches may be slightly more racially diverse, this religion of whiteness strives to maintain whites at the top of the racial hierarchy as part of God’s ordained order.

Religion News Service spoke to Emerson, a fellow in religion and public policy at Rice University, and Bracey, an assistant professor of sociology at Villanova University, about their bold conclusions. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You’re not using the word “religion” metaphorically in this book. You’re actually saying there is a religion of whiteness. Explain how you mean it.

Michael Emerson. (Courtesy photo)

Emerson: This is hard for people to understand, but we’re saying we cannot make progress in our country on race until we understand the depth of what it all means. It is wrapped literally in a religion that has all the markers of the way we define religion. It’s a unified system of beliefs and practices that worships or sacralizes, not some God in this sense, but whiteness. Whiteness is the god. It declares that everything else that isn’t supporting whiteness is profane, it’s wrong, it needs to be shunned.

Bracey: And when we say whiteness, we’re talking about the dominance that white people enjoy over people of color. So it’s not as though someone is saying, ‘I attend the Church of Whiteness.’ It’s that they find themselves caught up in the worship of the dominance that white people enjoy.

As you say, this religion doesn’t call itself a Church of Whiteness. Why not?

Emerson: There’s a couple of rhetorical moves that are made so you never have to actually name it. One of them is that Jesus is white, and Jesus by definition is supposed to be for everybody. So Jesus is universal. So as long as Jesus is white and Jesus is universal, then whiteness is universal. And once you do that, you no longer have to name it, because that is truth. Anything else, is an argument against truth.

You also point out that churches across the country are becoming more diverse.You mention that 20% of Christian churches are racially diverse, up from 6% in 2000. Doesn’t that argue against a religion of whiteness?

Bracey: So that’s a very good question. It’s important to note that 80% of the churches are still homogeneous. The difficulty is, the whiteness of the church can remain, even when the church is not entirely white.

White evangelical churches in particular have race tests to either exclude people of color or make sure that people of color will support whiteness in the way that the church wants it supported. So those tests, I call utility-based tests, to tolerate and support these performances of white dominance. Those race tests are working. They’re doing a good job of filtering out people who would disturb the worship of whiteness in those churches.

Describe how these tests work.

Glenn Bracey. (Photo by Kevin C. Brown)

Bracey: I went to seven churches across four different states, all majority white and evangelical. In one church, I was asked on my first visit to go up on stage and sing, even though I have no history of singing in churches. In another church, I was asked if I wanted to adopt a biracial baby because this child had a biracial family and the father who was white had left, and they were looking for someone to step in and be a father.

Other times, there were exclusionary tests and the exclusionary tests are really obvious and painful. I went to a Bible study, segregated by sex. So I was in the men’s group, the men’s group was about eight people including six white men and a Latino man and me. It was his first time as well. They introduced themselves by saying what their names were and what their favorite gun was, and how recently they had shot it. So they established a gun culture, dominance and a sense of threat.

And at one point, the host of the Bible study stands up and says, I don’t know what the name of my favorite gun is. I just know when I shoot it, it goes chink, chink, chink. So I call it my China gun. So, without saying anything overtly, there was a performance that let you know the space was dangerous for people of color. It was racially stereotypical and hostile. If you were going to stay, you had to be willing to put up with the kinds of behaviors that established this space as a very white dominant space.

You also did some surveys to better define the belief systems of churches that practice the religion of whiteness. How did you get at whiteness in those surveys?

Bracey: We have a set of survey questions that ask people, do you think the Bible should be followed under all circumstances? The people who say “always” are the only people that we then ask follow-up questions. The Bible says not to speak unwholesome words. And so it’s wrong to curse. The majority say you should not curse. But then when we ask things that are racially inflected — how to treat immigrants, how to treat racial minorities within the church — then they abandon their Christian commitment to the Bible and show a commitment to something else. And that something else is whiteness.

Some Blacks have embraced this religion of whiteness. How do you understand that?

Bracey: A lot of people get involved with the religion of whiteness, not because they’re attracted to whiteness, but because they’re attracted to the authentic or the real. Because whiteness is considered real, they come to think that real Christianity is what white folks say it is. People are attached to dominant things. There’s a lot of psychological benefit, in addition to monetary benefit, from being a person of color in the religion of whiteness. People are constantly telling you you’ve done the right thing, you’ve broken from what they would say is the Democratic plantation, you are serious about faith, you put God before race. Frankly, that is enough to sustain a lot of people.

How is there a monetary benefit?

Bracey: I’ll give you an example. (Earlier in my life) a pastor took me to meet one of the Republican members, a Black Republican in our county and recruited me to run for office. And he said plainly, if you want to be a Black Democrat, there’s a million of those. But if you want to be a Black Republican, we’ll give you a lot of money and attention and air time. So there was a material offer put there.

How did you two scholars find each other?

Emerson: My earlier book, “Divided by Faith,” focused on white evangelicals. At that time, evangelicals were considered to be making a big change, bringing race into the conversation, advocating racial reconciliation. In the book I show there are particular ways of understanding the religion that actually makes matters worse. I argue these churches have three main religious cultural tools that they use: individualism, personal relationships and an antistructuralism that does not allow them to understand issues of race and racial inequality and what the solutions would be.

When we met, Glenn asked me, “Did you ever wonder if maybe it isn’t by chance that white evangelicals have these three cultural tools that just happened to not allow them to see what race really is?” I thought, “OK, I’ve got to work with this man.”

What’s been the response to your findings?

Emerson: I get two extreme reactions. I literally can hear crying in the audience, usually people of color, sometimes clapping, cheering and then some really serious questions: What is my motive? Am I a Christian? What has happened to me? These are coming mostly from white folks really who are very, very angry.

Bracey: If I am attending a church that’s practicing the religion of whiteness, they’ll obfuscate in the way that Michael described. There’s a “not me” syndrome happening. I would just invite people to think a little longer and see where their attachment to white Jesus is. How strong is it? Where would they find themselves in the book?

These three anti-Zionists were just ordained as rabbis

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College still defines itself as Zionist and is committed to Israel's existence and its right to self defense. But it is also open to other perspectives.

May 24, 2024
By Yonat Shimron

Hundreds of demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza gather in the U.S. Capitol’s Cannon House Office Building rotunda on Oct. 18, 2023. The group was primarily organized by Jewish Voice for Peace. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)

(RNS) — Late last year, hundreds of protesters crowded the U.S. Capitol to protest Israel’s brutal invasion of Gaza, shouting “cease-fire now,” and “not in our name.”

Among them were two-dozen rabbis and three self-declared anti-Zionist rabbinical students from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.

Last week, their peers wrapped them in a tallit, or prayer shawl, and their elders handed them an ordination diploma at a graduation ceremony in the sanctuary of a nearby synagogue.

The three — Noah Rubin-Blose, Eli Carson Dewitt and Rachel Kipnes — are long-time activists in Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist organization. They are proud of their commitment both to equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians as well as to Jewish study and ritual.

They are among a small but growing group of rabbinical students who are challenging American Jews to rethink their long standing allegiance to Israel and to the Zionist project of building and maintaining a Jewish-dominated state.

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduated and ordained 11 new rabbis on May 19, 2024, at the Old York Road Temple – Beth Am in Abington, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jordan Cassqay)

This year, following Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 35,000 Palestinians, the passion and organization of the anti-Zionist movement has become a force to be reckoned with. Mounting their largest demonstrations ever, they have grabbed national headlines, most recently helping to support a wave of campus encampments.

In the process, they have confounded mainstream Jewish institutions, some of which have labeled them antisemitic. After the shock of the Hamas attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people, most of them Israeli, many American Jews found themselves fractured and divided.

“We have had our hearts broken repeatedly,” acknowledged Rabbi Deborah Waxman, president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College during the May 19 graduation, alluding to the difficult seven months since Oct. 7. “We have been forced to, like it or not, discover new resilience.”

Rabbi Deborah Waxman. (Photo courtesy Creative Commons)

But Waxman also made clear during the ordination ceremony that the Reconstructionist movement is willing to embrace critics of Israel, including anti-Zionists, as it forges a new post-Oct. 7 path.

The rabbinical school, she said, does not have a litmus test on Israel or Zionism.

“There is a litmus test,” Waxman told the graduates and their families. “It is a litmus test about the capacity to center relationships and to build covenantal communities across our differences.”

Reconstructionist Judaism is the smallest of the American Jewish denominations, with 95 congregations representing about 46,000 people. Founded in the early 20th century by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, Reconstructionism understands Judaism to be “the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people.”

The movement still defines itself as Zionist and is committed to Israel’s existence and its right to self defense. But, Waxman said, it is also open to other perspectives.

The college requires students to spend a 10-12 week summer session in Israel, although for some of the 11 men and women ordained as rabbis this month, that requirement was waived because of COVID. The three anti-Zionist rabbinical students said they were grateful for that exemption.

Most other Jewish rabbinical schools also require students to spend time in Israel. The Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College requires a full year of study at its campus there.

Eli Carson DeWitt, a rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, is handcuffed and arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 19, 2023, during a protest calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. (Photo courtesy Rachael Warriner)

In interviews after their graduation, these anti-Zionist rabbis said it was precisely their activism that drove them to embrace a commitment to Jewish religious practice and a desire to study for the rabbinate.

“Organizing work was, and continues to be, very important to me, and it’s what drew me to rabbinical school as well — a desire to serve my Jewish community, which was, and is, the Jewish left,” said Noah Rubin-Blose, who is 40.

Last year, while still a student, Rubin-Blose started an anti-Zionist congregation called “Makom” in his hometown of Durham, North Carolina. Its outdoor High Holiday services this past fall drew about 200 people.

He is also continuing his activism. In April, he and 30 rabbis and activists flew to Israel in an attempt to deliver food aid to Gaza through the Erez crossing in the northern end of the Gaza Strip. They were repelled by the Israeli army, which prevented them from doing so.

Rubin-Blose, who is a trans man, was turned on to activism as a high school student through the global justice movement and later the LGBTQ+ movement and Black Lives Matter.

A delegation of American and Israeli rabbis from Rabbis for Ceasefire and other activists march toward the Erez crossing to the Gaza Strip with food aid for Gaza civilians and to call for a cease-fire, in southern Israel, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Eli Carson DeWitt, 31, grew up in a Conservative Jewish home that valued “tikkun olam,” the Jewish imperative to “repair the world.” DeWitt, who uses they/them pronouns, said it was their older sister’s anti-war activism that set them on the anti-Zionist course.

Rachel Kipnes, 32, grew up a Reform Jew. She went to Jewish day school and attended Jewish camps and Jewish youth groups. While living in New Orleans after college, she became active in Jewish Voice for Peace and realized, she said, “her anti-Zionism and Jewish practice were actually one and the same.” She said her mission is to work toward envisioning a Judaism of liberation and solidarity — “one where Palestinians are free, one where antisemitism no longer exists, where Islamophobia is not baked into the core of institutions.”

Before 1948, unconditional support for Israel and for Zionism was not always a given in American Jewish society. But over the past few decades, especially since 1967, it has gradually evolved into the status quo. For many older and more traditional Jews, the reality of anti-Zionism has been hard to swallow.

At least two rabbinical students left the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College this past academic year saying they found it a hostile environment for pro-Israel Jews.

“We were … surprised by the loud anti-Zionist sentiment among the student body and the culture of silence and intimidation that dissuaded students from expressing any positive connection with Israel,” wrote Talia Werber and Steven Goldstein in an op-ed in The Forward.

Werber and Goldstein first tried to fight back by forming a Students Supporting Israel chapter. Of the 55 students at the rabbinical college this past year, only eight joined and several later withdrew.

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduated and ordained 11 new rabbis on May 19, 2024, at the Old York Road Temple – Beth Am in Abington, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jordan Cassqay)

The two told RNS they were accused of being racist for supporting Israel.

“For me, as somebody who stood for racial justice, to be called a white supremacist because I believe Israel has the right to exist, this was brutal for me and, God knows, I have my problems with the Netanyahu government,” said Goldstein, a 61-year-old lawyer who is now enrolled at another Jewish rabbinic school.

Other graduates said they found the anti-Zionist students to be tolerant, supportive and caring of their Zionist peers.

“I don’t feel like any of us would say that we were disrespected,” said Adam Strater, who also graduated last week. “In spaces that have been traditionally Zionist, people who are non-Zionists or anti-Zionists, their very presence is interpreted as a sort of protest when they’re just trying to learn like anybody else.”

There are at least five other self-declared anti-Zionists at the school who will be ordained in the years ahead. More than half of the Jewish Voice for Peace’s 45-member rabbinical council is made up of Reconstructionists. Among the group, Rabbis for Ceasefire, which does not define itself as anti-Zionist, about 30% are Reconstructionist rabbis, far higher than their percentage in the American Jewish population.

“We can, and we will, do more at helping our students to know how to talk about the diversity of opinion around Israel and Palestine,” said Waxman. “Part of what we think about training rabbis is about helping them to be in community with people they don’t always agree with. We need communities of people who don’t always agree with one another.”

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