Monday, May 27, 2024

Hurricane Forecast Points to a Dangerous 2024 Atlantic Season

This year's NOAA preseason forecast is the highest ever for activity, including a range of up to 25 named storms. Dark blue represents lower bound, light blue represents upper bound of estimate (The Conversation / CC BY ND) — This year's NOAA preseason forecast is the highest ever for predicted activity, including a range of up to 25 named storms. Dark blue represents lower bound, light blue represents upper bound of estimate (The Conversation / CC BY ND)

[By Jhordanne Jones]

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1, and forecasters are predicting an exceptionally active season.

If the National Hurricane Center’s early forecast, released May 23, is right, the North Atlantic could see 17 to 25 named storms, eight to 13 hurricanes, and four to seven major hurricanes by the end of November. That’s the highest number of named storms in any NOAA preseason forecast.

Other forecasts for the season have been just as intense. Colorado State University’s early outlook, released in April, predicted an average of 23 named storms, 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts anticipates 21 named storms.

Colorado State also forecasts a whopping 210 accumulated cyclone energy units for 2024, and NOAA forecasts the second-highest ACE on record. Accumulated cyclone energy is a score for how active a given season is by combining intensity and duration of all storms occurring within a given season. Anything over 103 is considered above normal.

These outlooks place the 2024 season in league with 2020, when so many tropical cyclones formed in the Atlantic that they exhausted the usual list of storm names: A record 30 named storms, 13 hurricanes and six major hurricanes formed that year, combining for 245 accumulated cyclone energy units.

So, what makes for a highly active Atlantic hurricane season?

I am a climate scientist who has worked on seasonal hurricane outlooks and examined how climate change affects our ability to predict hurricanes. Forecasters and climatologists look for two main clues when assessing the risks from upcoming Atlantic hurricane seasons: a warm tropical Atlantic Ocean and a cool tropical eastern Pacific Ocean.

Warm Atlantic water can fuel hurricanes

During the summer, the Atlantic Ocean warms up, resulting in generally favorable conditions for hurricanes to form.

Warm ocean surface water – about 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius) and above – provides increasing heat energy, or latent heat, that is released through evaporation. That latent heat triggers an upward motion, helping form clusters of storm clouds and the rotating circulation that can bring these storm together to form rainbands around a vortex.

Ocean heat in 2024 is a big reason why forecasters are warning of a busy hurricane season.

The North Atlantic sea surface temperature has been shattering heat records for most of the past year, so temperatures are starting out high already and are expected to remain high during the summer. Globally, ocean temperatures have been rising as the planet warms.

A long-term temperature pattern known as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, or AMO, also comes into play. The summer Atlantic ocean surface can be warmer or cooler than usual for several seasons in a row, sometimes lasting decades.

Climate patterns associated with the warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, or AMO. NOAA Climate.gov

Warm phases of the AMO mean more energy for hurricanes, while cold phases help suppress hurricane activity by increasing trade wind strength and vertical wind shear. The Atlantic Ocean has been in a warm phase AMO since 1995, which has coincided with an era of highly active Atlantic hurricane seasons.

How the Pacific can interfere with Atlantic storms

It might seem odd to look to the Pacific for clues about Atlantic hurricanes, but Pacific Ocean temperatures also play an important role in the winds that can affect hurricanes.

Like the Atlantic, water temperatures in the eastern Pacific oscillate between warm and cold phases, but on shorter time spans. Scientists call this the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. The warm phases are known as El Niño; cold phases are called La Niña.

La Niña promotes the upward motion of air over the Atlantic, which fuels deeper rain clouds and more intense rainfall.

La Niña’s effects also weaken the trade winds, reducing vertical wind shear. Vertical wind shear, a difference in wind strength and direction between the upper atmosphere and the atmosphere near Earth’s surface, makes it harder for hurricanes to form and can pull apart a storm’s vortex.

In contrast, El Niño promotes stronger trade winds, increasing wind shear. It also centers the upward motion and rainfall in the Pacific, triggering a downward motion that promotes fair weather over the Atlantic.

El Niño was strong during the winter of 2023-24, but it was expected to dissipate by June, meaning less wind shear to keep hurricanes in check. La Niña conditions are likely by late summer.

Where ENSO is in its transition may determine how early in the season tropical storms form – and how late. A quick transition to La Niña may indicate an early start to the season as well as a longer season, as La Niña – along with a warm Atlantic – maintains a hurricane-friendly environment earlier and longer within the year.

This ocean tag team controls hurricane activity

The Atlantic and eastern Pacific ocean temperatures together control Atlantic hurricane activity. This is like bouncing in a bounce house or on a trampoline. You get a good bounce when you’re jumping on your own but reach far greater heights when you have one or two more people jumping with you.

When the eastern Pacific is in its cold phase (La Niña) and the Atlantic waters are warm, Atlantic hurricane activity tends to be more frequent, with a higher likelihood of more intense and longer-lived storms.

The record 2020 hurricane season had the influence of both La Niña and high Atlantic ocean temperatures, and that’s what forecasters expect to see in 2024.

It is also important to remember that storms can also intensify under moderately unfavorable environments as long as there is a warm ocean to fuel them. For example, the storm that eventually became Hurricane Dorian in 2019 was surrounded by dry air as it headed into the Caribbean, but it rapidly intensified into an extremely destructive Category 5 hurricane over the Bahamas.

Jhordanne Jones is a NOAA Climate & Global Change postdoc fellow hosted by Purdue University. Her research examines the degree of predictability achieved from large-scale environmental phenomena for seasonal tropical cyclone activity.

This article has been updated with NOAA officials describing the forecast as the highest number of storms it has ever forecast.

This article appears courtesy of The Conversation and may be found in its original form here.

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.

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