Did whales originate in Egyptian waters?

A group of Egyptian scientists discovered a 43 million-year-old fossil in "Whale Valley" — now in the Western Desert.

This picture shows a whale skeleton at the Wadi el-Haitan Fossil and Climate Change Museum in Fayoum, Egypt, Jan. 14, 2016. - Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images

Muhammed Magdy
@DMagdy92


TOPICS COVERED
Animals and animal rights
August 31, 2021


CAIRO — An Egyptian team of scientists from Mansoura University made a new discovery of a previously unknown species of an amphibian whale in Egyptian waters that lived 43 million years ago.

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page Aug. 25, the Egyptian Cabinet praised the discovery as a breakthrough for Arab paleontologists, since it is the first time in history that an Arab-Egyptian team documents a new species of whales.

The study was authored by Hesham Sellam, a prominent vertebrate paleontologist, professor at the American University in Cairo and founder of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Palaeontology Center. Mohamed Sameh, who found the whale fossil in 2008, co-authored the paper on the discovery that was published Aug. 25 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

In 2008, a research team at the Egyptian Ministry of Environment found the whale's fossilized remains in Wadi al-Hitan in the Fayoum region, southwest of the capital Cairo. The area contains invaluable fossil remains of extinct whales.

In the Cabinet statement, Sameh pointed to the existence of many ancient whales in the Eocene Epoch in the Fayum Depression in Egypt's Western Desert. He stressed the importance of the area for studying the evolution of whales.

Sameh said that he had kept the fossil he discovered in 2008 with the Ministry of Environment for scientific research purposes, before he agreed to assign the study of the fossil to Abdullah Gohar, who was a master's student at the Faculty of Sciences at Mansoura University in 2017. Gohar worked on this study as part of his master's thesis in vertebrate fossils.

“The study showed that the fossil belonged to a new species of whale that was not known before. This helps trace back the evolution of whales from land dwellers to sea creatures,” Gohar told Al-Monitor.

He explained that the whale has several anatomical features that enabled it to coexist at that time, adding that whales are mammals that moved from land to water in ancient times. He said, “The four-legged whale weighed an estimated 600 kilograms [1,323 pounds] and was 3 meters [10 feet] long. Its somewhat rectangular body and the size of its vertebrae enabled it to be a great swimmer. We discovered from the rehabilitation of the muscles connected to the spine that it was also able to carry its body on land.”

The Egyptian team named the whale “Pheumsetis Anubis.” Gohar explained that the first syllable — “Pheu” — refers to the Fayoum Depression, the home of the whale, while “setis” is a Latin reference for the word whale. “Anubis” is the name of the pharaonic god of death, which just like the whale had a jackal-like head.

“We found out that the new whale was radically different from all its whale peers known before, especially in the size of the teeth and the dimensions of the skull. It had great predatory skills and strong and huge jaw muscles, which made it one of the fiercest creatures in that environment. It was more like the god of death for the rest of the mammals at the time, similar to the blue whale that lives today,” Gohar noted.

Wadi al-Hitan — also known as Whale Valley — is located in the Western Desert of Egypt and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2005 for its hundreds of invaluable fossils of now extinct whale species. “It is the most important site in the world for the demonstration of this stage of evolution. It portrays vividly the form and life of these whales during their transition,” as can be read on the UNESCO website.

Gohar pointed out that despite the abundance of fossils in the Fayoum region, the majority of relevant studies and research were conducted by foreign scientists. “Now we have become the first Egyptian team to register in its name such an amazing discovery,” he added.

Salam said, “We did not want to leave the fossil to be studied by foreign researchers. We wanted to assign an Egyptian student to work on the study. Gohar, who hails from Fayoum governorate, was the perfect choice. The whale lived on the land of his ancestors millions of years ago. This discovery will help unearth more finds in the region.”

The Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences said in the paper that the new discovery contributed to increasing knowledge about the origin of ancient whales, their coping mechanisms and their ecosystems.

Salam praised the scientific paper that sheds light on African and Egyptian natural fossil heritage. “It highlights the distinguished Egyptian content of ancient animal fossils, which contributes day after day to revealing important scientific mysteries,” he said.

In 2018, Salam and his research team at Mansoura University found a fossil of a new species of a dinosaur dating back to the late Cretaceous period, which began 145 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago. “Those fossils are displayed at the Mansoura University Vertebrate Palaeontology Center,” Salam added.

He hopes that one day the Egyptian government will ​​open a natural history museum that will house these vertebrate fossils.

Gohar believes that the discovered fossil of the walking whale has answered scientific questions about the origin of whales. “This discovery has also raised many scientific questions, most notably whether the ancestors of whales originated from India and Pakistan. Egypt may now have another say about their origin,” Gohar concluded.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/08/did-whales-originate-egyptian-waters#ixzz76p5tbMDs

Turkey faces gathering storm in Syria

Erdogan’s choices limited as Russian-backed Syrian forces increase attacks, weigh final assault on Idlib

Turkish and Russian military vehicles patrol in the countryside of Rumaylan in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near the Turkish border on Sept. 16. - DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Week in Review
@AlMonitor

September 17, 2021

Erdogan’s Syrian predicament

Three Turkish soldiers were killed Sept. 11 in a bomb attack in Idlib, the last stronghold of Turkish-backed and Islamist opposition in northwest Syria — and Turkey responded by hitting US-backed Kurdish groups in northeast Syria.

This latest episode "underscores Ankara’s growing predicament in Idlib, where jihadi forces target Turkish troops even as Turkey’s military presence shields them against the Syrian army," as Fehim Tastekin explains.

Think of it as a war within a war: While the decade-long conflict started as an effort to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, it has devolved into Turkey’s endless war with no seeming exit strategy, except one offered by Russia (see below).

Background of a quagmire

Turkey’s role in Syria has descended into a ten-year quagmire. Assad remains in power, supported by Russia and Iran. Turkey and the US continue to support forces that want to overthrow Assad, or at least hold their ground. But the Biden administration is unlikely to get into the regime change business. Turkey increasingly finds itself at odds with both Washington and Moscow over just about everything.

The factions get odder: Turkey, Russia and Iran compose the so-called “Astana Group” (named after the location of their first meeting) on Syria diplomacy. The group has miraculously hung together despite Russian and Iranian support for the Syrian government and Turkey’s opposition.

Russia, given the right timing, will likely support the Syrian military eventually retaking the city of Idlib and crushing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has Turkey’s implicit support, and other jihadist opposition groups there.

Syrian military forces already have intensified attacks on Idlib recently, and there are fears in the region of massive displacement that could result from an assault, as Khaled Al-Khateb reports from Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Erdogan has been trying to stave off an all-out attack. Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, a massive strain on its economy.

On the other hand, he wants the United States and the West to end support for the People’s Protection Units (the YPG), the Kurdish group that makes up the core of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is opposing the Syrian government. The SDF has been the on-the-ground Syrian partner for the successful US-led coalition operations against the Islamic State in Syria.

Erdogan considers the YPG a terrorist group, indistinguishable from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and on a level with Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

So, while Turkish forces face increasing risk of a potential Russian-backed Syrian assault on Idlib (more below), as well as from rogue actors on Sept. 11, Erdogan keeps lashing out at Syrian Kurds in those areas occupied by the Turkish military and pro-Turkish Syrian proxy forces.

Metin Gurcan wrote here last month about how Turkey is increasingly employing drones for targeted killings of Syrian Kurdish leaders, and Amberin Zaman has covered the regular Turkish attacks and bombings of Syrian Kurdish targets.

The failed HTS makeover in Idlib

As part of its commitments to the Astana talks, and to preserve what remains of the anti-Assad armed opposition, Turkey has tried to moderate HTS and encourage it to rebuild its image, including by severing ties with more radical fringe elements, while consolidating other pro-Turkish armed opposition forces under the new Syrian Liberation Front, as Sultan Al-Kanj reports from Idlib.

Turkey "assumed that HTS’ suppression of other jihadis would fulfill its commitments to Russia to eliminate terrorist groups," explains Tastekin. "Yet HTS has reinforced its de facto emirate in Idlib, and dozens of radical groups such as Ansar al-Islam, Ansar al-Tawhid, Ansar al-Din, Ajnad al-Kavkaz and the Turkistan Islamic Movement have maintained their presence in the province. Hurras al-Din, the umbrella group of al-Qaeda-inspired factions, has ostensibly disintegrated, but the factions have not left the region. Similarly, HTS’ move to dissolve the Chechen-led Jund al-Sham does not mean the group has been eliminated."

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has been on a Turkish-backed public relations blitz this year, including in February replacing his robes for a designer blue suit and snappy haircut for an interview with a US reporter, when he said there was no torture and HTS detained only "regime agents." He also said HTS’s connection with Al-Qaeda has ended.

Despite shedding its Al-Qaeda affiliation, HTS is still designated by the US, the UN Security Council and Turkey as a terrorist group.

The realities on the ground in Idlib also point to HTS and Golani keeping up their jihadi bona fides. Golani recently praised the presence of foreign fighters in Idlib, saying that ‘these fighters are now part of us. They are part of the people. They are happy with the people and the people are happy with them, too,’ as Mohammed Hardan reports.

Another shortcoming of the so-called HTS turnaround is the replacement of a reviled HTS security force by a new unit called "moral police," as Hardan reports here, and banning a pro-opposition news channel, as Al-Kanj reports here from Idlib.

Putin and the Road to Damascus

Turkey’s failure in Idlib to reopen the M4 highway and expand the security perimeter around the city, as called for in its agreement with Russia, has increased Russian pressure on Ankara, which is aware of its dwindling options for success in Syria.

"Idlib was certainly high on the agenda" when Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Assad in Moscow on Sept. 14, reports Tastekin. "Putin said at the meeting that the main problem in Syria today was the presence of foreign forces without permission or a UN mandate – a reference to Turkey and the United States."

Erdogan is feeling the heat and may be willing to explore a tentative opening with Damascus, something Putin has been pushing for years.

"Ankara’s willingness to open a communication channel with Damascus without ending its support for opposition groups reflects its desire for limited collaboration — against the Kurdish drive for autonomy," writes Tastekin. "Such a contradictory policy is unlikely to impress Damascus."

As we wrote back in January 2020: "Putin plays the diplomatic game in Syria as if he were gambling with other people’s money. One can probably envision a reason for a three-way negotiation among Russia, Syria and Turkey to hammer out some understanding on the Kurds. He still envisions a diplomatic breakthrough along the outlines of a cease-fire based on an updated version of a 1998 treaty between Syria and Turkey, in which Damascus ended its support and expelled the PKK."

Assad may feel that the advantage is his, and that Turkey could be boxed in as a result of a recent US-Russian diplomatic flurry on Syria.

"US-Russian dialogue might help spur serious negotiations between Damascus and the Kurds, which in turn might diminish the Turkish military presence east of the Euphrates River," concludes Tastekin. "The Biden administration has effectively relaxed the Caesar Act sanctions on Syria by overlooking Iranian oil tankers entering the Syrian port of Tartus and the flow of Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity to Lebanon via Syria. These signs of improved US-Russian dialogue would leave little room for Ankara."

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/09/turkey-faces-gathering-storm-syria#ixzz76p5Ef4gV

 

Stuck on Board for a Year, Syrian Crew Alleges Threats and Abandonment

Cranes at the port of Constanta, Romania (Pixabay / public domain)

PUBLISHED SEP 17, 2021 3:02 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

A plague of crew abandonment has swept through the lower end of the maritime industry over the past year, with dozens of small shipowners allegedly walking away from their financially-distressed vessels and leaving the crews behind - often without pay. 

“We’re still living here in the vessel like a jail . . . we can not go outside, we can not make anything, we live only in the shipping and the berth and now also winter is coming," said Capt. Abdullah Dahha, master of the allegedly abandoned vessel Ali Bey, in a recently-released video appeal. 

The Ali Bey's ship manager is housed in an unmarked waterfront office in Istanbul's tidy Kadikoy district, just above an upscale natural-products store. It is just one of the scores of companies alleged to have abandoned vessels at the pier since the start of the pandemic. According to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), a record 85 cases of vessel abandonment were reported in 2020. 

The Ali Bey's Syrian crew have been aboard the detained vessel at the port of Constanta, Romania since last November, and they are still waiting for a claimed $186,000 in allegedly unpaid back pay. According to ITF's local coordinator, the last four holdouts have received threats from the shipowner's representatives, including warnings that they could be blacklisted and reported to the authorities for demanding their wages.  

In September, Capt. Dahha told the British NGO Human Rights at Sea (HRAS) that he recently received a strange visit from an unknown man who offered to settle with the four remaining crewmembers for $110,000 - about 60 percent of what they are owed. Dahha refused the offer, but he said that the crew is concerned about retaliation. The ITF is helping them out with food, water and electricity, he said, but the conditions on board are poor. 

In a recent update, the local ITF coordinator asserted that the shipowner has sued him personally for reporting the abandonment case to the authorities. The crew has engaged its own lawyer, backed by ITF, and is awaiting a legal resolution of their case. 

"Our lives are lived between the berths," Capt. Dahha said. "We need to finish this case."

The Ali Bey's operator has no publicly-available contact information and could not be reached for comment. 

 

The Human Rights Cost of IUU Fishing in Ghana

File image courtesy FCWC

PUBLISHED SEP 5, 2021 12:27 PM BY BRIAN GICHERU KINYUA

 

Over the last two decades, the West African seaboard has been a stomping ground for industrial trawlers. Although most of them are flagged locally by West African nations, they are owned and operated by foreigners, mainly in China or European countries.

Unfortunately, lax implementation of fisheries laws have enabled IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing to go unabated, resulting in a massive decline in fish stocks. Environmental concerns, mostly focused on saving marine ecosystems and controlling climate change, have been the basis for policy changes to stop IUU fishing.

However, it is imperative to view IUU fishing from a human rights perspective - especially the immutable impact it has on poor coastal communities of the affected countries.

West Africa has also been synonymous with piracy, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea region, which has received extensive attention from maritime players and the United Nations.

While responding to a recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on maritime security, one of West Africa’s eminent maritime researchers, Dr. Ifesinachi Okafor, said that failure to include the human cost for IUU fishing has led piracy to get more attention than the costly plunder of fisheries by foreign vessels.

“In the last 50 years, Africa has lost over $200 billion to illegal fishing by vessels linked to foreign nations. Illegal fishing is so extensive that it amounts to 40-65 percent of the legally reported catch in West Africa alone. Yet, there has been zero resolution on this by UNSC. In contrast, the economic cost of piracy over the last 20 years does not amount to $20 billion. Neither does the environmental impact directly affect the livelihoods of millions of people,” Dr. Okafor said. “Yet, over 30 Security Council resolutions and presidential statements have been issued on piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Guinea since 2008. Foreign partners invest millions in tackling piracy while simultaneously investing billions in enabling their fishing vessels to plunder depleting fisheries in Africa.”

In comments at the debate, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken concurred that the debate over piracy must also take IUU fishing into account. “We must bring the same coordinated and comprehensive responses to other threats such as maritime safety and security. This includes IUU fishing- which undermines the sustainability of fish stocks, circumvents the green conservation and management measure, and violates the sovereign rights of coastal states and often goes hand in hand with the use of forced labor and other illicit activities,” he said.

In August, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) released a report from primary data it collected on socio-economic rights of small-scale fishing communities in Ghana. The focus was on impacts of IUU fishing on the human rights of artisanal fishermen.

Ghana has one of the highest rates of dependence on fish for nutrition in Africa, with fish providing 60 percent of animal protein intake and a yearly per capita fish consumption estimated at 28 kilos. In addition, Ghana’s marine fisheries provide livelihoods for around 2.5- 3 million people along the value chain, which is approximately 10 percent of the country’s population.

Despite the artisanal fisheries sector being a key economic mainstay in Ghana, it is in a perilous state with severe socio-economic implications to the small-scale fishing communities. Ghana’s artisanal fishermen rely on a small pelagic fishery, mainly Sardinella spp., also commonly referred to as ‘people’s fish’ due to their critical role to food security and local livelihoods.

Industrial trawlers are partly to blame for plummeting catches of smaller fish. Driven by the local lucrative trade, trawlers enter prohibited zones and illegally adapt their fishing gear to target sardinella, which are in high demand for local consumption. A major portion of these catches are destined for the illegal ‘saiko’ trade, where the trawlers transship the caught fish at sea to small purpose-built canoes for landing at Ghana’s ports. An estimate by EJF in 2017 on the ‘saiko’ trade revealed that 100,000 tons of fish were traded with a landed value of $50 million. The proportion of juveniles caught via this trade is estimated at 67 percent and in some extreme case reaching 100 percent.

Already, scientists have predicted the collapse of the small pelagic fishery within the next decade in a business-as –usual scenario, with FAO recommending closure of the sardinella fishery shared by Cote d’Ivore, Ghana, Togo and Benin to allow for fish populations recovery.

This comes at the cost of declining income and rising poverty in Ghana’s coastal communities. According to the EJF report, approximately 90 percent of the surveyed fishermen and processors saw a decline in their incomes over the past five years. Around 70 percent of these reported damage to their fishing gear by industrial trawlers.

As a result, fishermen are having to travel further out to sea in search of fish - beyond the six nautical mile / 30 meter depth Inshore Exclusion Zone (IEZ) restricted for artisanal fishing - yet they still report zero catch on some fishing days.

Marginalized and vulnerable coastal fishing communities add to the matrix of Gulf of Guinea piracy and the disastrous irregular crossings into Europe through the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic.

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

 'MAYBE' TECH

Project to Develop Europe’s First Large Scale Blue Ammonia Plant

Plans call for blue ammonia production using gas from the Barents Sea (Horisont Energi)

PUBLISHED SEP 10, 2021 8:19 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Efforts are moving forward for the development of Europe’s first large-scale production facility for blue ammonia. Horisont Energi announced that two of the largest offshore oil and gas producers in the Barents Sea region, Equinor and Vår Energi, have entered into a cooperation agreement for the development of Barents Blue.  

To be located in Finnmark in northern Norway, the production plant is based on natural gas from the Barents Sea. Plans call for a production capacity of 3,000 tons of ammonia per day once operational. 

“This agreement means that we are now moving forward in the Barents Blue project with two industrial partners with a strong local presence,” said Bjørgulf Haukelidsæter Eidesen, CEO of Horisont Energi. “They have a long-term perspective and bring extensive experience with large and complex technical projects. This is a major step forward for Barents Blue”

The Barents Blue project is based on using natural gas to produce ammonia. In addition to the traditional uses in industry and agriculture, the project targets supplying ammonia to the shipping industry as an alternative fuel.

“The Barents Blue ammonia plant is planned to consist of three process trains which may be developed simultaneously or sequentially including all required utilities for producing blue ammonia. Each train calls for a facility producing approximately 1 million tons of pure ammonia per year, potentially permanently storing 2 million tons of CO2 annually, making Barents Blue one of Norway’s largest environmental projects,” commented Eidesen

During the production process in the Barents Blue ammonia plant, more than 99 percent of the CO2 in the process gas will be captured and permanently stored in the offshore Polaris reservoir below the seabed near Finnmark. The Polaris reservoir may have a storage capacity of over 100 million tons, which is equivalent to twice Norway’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.

The partners plan to make a final investment decision before the end of 2022, targeting 2025 for the start of production.

 

New England Fishermen File Suit Against BOEM Over Vineyard Wind

PUBLISHED SEP 15, 2021 1:14 AM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

A coalition of fishing industry interests has filed a court challenge against the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's recent decision to green-light the Vineyard Wind project, America's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. The group, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), says that BOEM failed to fully account for fishery impacts when it approved the wind farm's construction and operations plan (COP), the final federal permit granting permission for construction.

In a statement, RODA said that it engaged constructively with BOEM over the course of the back-to-back environmental impact statement (EIS) and COP reviews for Vineyard Wind. However, RODA said that despite its proactive efforts, BOEM "roundly ignored" its input and made no effort to "minimize unreasonable interference with traditional and well-managed seafood production and navigation."

“This is a precedent-setting decision by BOEM, and it is critical that they get it right so that future projects are following a trusted roadmap instead of a flawed and dangerous example,” says Anne Hawkins, Executive Director of RODA. “Unfortunately, this lawsuit is the only recourse fishermen have to ensure the fishing communities’ concerns are addressed.”

The group's concerns are centered on navigation and fishery productivity. According to RODA, the one-nm-square grid layout approved by BOEM would put the turbines too close together for fishing vessels to navigate safely in heavy seas. The group also asserts that BOEM has not taken a "holistic approach" to analyzing the impact of wind farm development on the local ocean ecosystem and on shoreside communities. 

"The quality of oversight and regulatory due diligence that we see for other types of industries and other large projects just wasn't completed here,” Hawkins told WBUR.

In a recent letter to RODA, BOEM director Amanda Lefton noted that the agency has removed several New England areas from lease sale consideration because of their importance to fishermen, including potential sites near Nantucket Lightship, Cox Ledge and Cholera Bank. She also pointed to the gear-loss and revenue compensation fund established as part of the Vineyard Wind record of decision, an arrangement that will pay out local fishermen for some of the losses incurred due to the development. Regarding RODA's concerns with turbine spacing and transit lanes, she noted that the U.S. Coast Guard had studied the impact of one-nm-spaced turbines and had concluded that the arrangement was safe for navigation. 

The agency has recently advanced several additional wind farm proposals, issuing a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for South Fork Wind off Long Island and a draft EIS for the New York Bight development area. The EIS analysis for South Fork Wind predicts that its construction will have "long-term, moderate to major adverse impacts on commercial fisheries" off Long Island, with financial implications for local fishermen. 

 

Canadian Safety Regulator Reports Another Incident on Hebron Platform

The Hebron platform (ExxonMobil file image)

PUBLISHED SEP 16, 2021 9:52 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

ExxonMobil Canada has reported another potentially fatal incident on its Hebron Platform off the coast of Newfoundland. 

On Tuesday, during preparations for an upcoming lift, a hook fell off an auxiliary hoist on the platform's south intervention deck and dropped about 30 feet. The hook weighed about eight pounds.

There were no injuries. The hoist operator was the only person nearby and was located about 20 feet away from the point of impact. However, the incident had the potential for a fatality, based on standard industry safety calculations, according to the Canada - Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

ExxonMobil has stopped all auxiliary crane operations and initiated an investigation into the root cause of the incident. The C-NLOPB said that it will monitor Exxon's internal investigation. 

The near-miss was the second incident in a month that C-NLOPB has reported at Hebron. In August, a crewmember aboard the offshore supply vessel Avalon Sea was injured during a routine test of Hebron's evacuation systems.

On August 20, the Avalon Sea was supporting a series of lifeboat winch load tests for Hebron's lifeboat deck, a routine maintenance activity. The platform's #3 lifeboat had been lowered to the deck of the OSV in preparation for a test. 

When the crew began to hoist up a test weight on the lifeboat winch, they spotted a twist in the rigging and called "all stop" for safety. While they attempted to unhook the rigging and remove the twist, the line came under tension because of the Avalon Sea's movement relative to the platform. When the rigging released, it "made contact with a crew member’s face resulting in injuries requiring treatment," according to C-NLOPB. The injured seafarer was transferred over to the Hebron platform for medical attention, then airlifted off to a shoreside facility. The individual was treated and released, Exxon reported.

 

U.S. Shipowners Back Jones Act Penalties for "Canadian Rail" Scheme

 

A truck makes a "Third Proviso" compliance trip aboard the Bayside Canadian Railroad at Bayside, New Brunswick, 2015 (Brian Golding / U.S. CBP)

PUBLISHED SEP 15, 2021 5:11 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Four American shipowners are supporting a multi-million-dollar Jones Act enforcement action against affiliates of American Seafoods Company, a Washington-based fishing vessel operator with a leading position in the Alaska pollock fishery. 

ASC and its logistics affiliate Alaska Reefer Management (ARM) have access to a 100-foot-long "railway" in New Brunswick, Canada, which they use as part of a foreign-flag shipping route between two U.S. markets. The on-site rail line takes advantage of an obscure grandfather clause in the Jones Act: This so-called "Third Proviso" allows foreign-flag ships to carry cargo in U.S. domestic trade if a properly registered Canadian railway is part of the shipment route. 

Using this clause, ARM-chartered foreign vessels load ASC's pollock in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, then deliver it to a terminal in New Brunswick, Canada, passing through the Panama Canal. At the Bayside terminal in New Brunswick, the cargo is offloaded into truck trailers and processed through the on-site Bayside Canadian Railway.

The "BCR" consists of two flat-deck rail cars and a shunt engine on a short track. In operation, this railway carries each truckload of ASC's fish to the end of the track and back again, making a one-minute Canadian rail journey of about 200 feet (video above).

After this rail segment, trucks drive the product to the Maine border and deliver it to the Eastern United States, completing a foreign-flag shipment of cargo between two U.S. points. With the rail segment, ASC and ARM believe that the route complies with the Jones Act.

Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Jones Act enforcement office issued penalties totaling about $350 million dollars to the firms involved in this novel supply network, including tens of millions in fines for foreign-flag shipowners. The action has effectively halted ASC shipments of pollock to East Coast customers, and ASC says that the shutdown threatens to cause significant harm to its business - along with regional shortages of pollock, an affordable staple for schools, institutions and government nutrition programs. ARM and terminal subsidiary Kloosterboer have filed suit against CBP, seeking to block the penalties. 

Impact on American shipping companies

On Friday, a group of four American shipping lines filed briefs in support of the CBP penalty action. According to Coastal Transportation, Matson Lines, Samson Tug and Barge and Alaska Marine Lines, ASC's Bayside program has cost them business and cut into the number of cargoes that are legally reserved for Jones Act vessel operators. 

"Coastal has been harmed over many years by the scheme to ship cargoes on foreign-flag vessels from Alaska to destinations in the United States . . .via use of a contrived Canadian rail apparatus, abuses of through shipment and storage in a foreign cold storage," wrote Coastal founder and owner Peter Strong. 

Strong welcomed CBP's enforcement action and said that it appears to be working: Alaskan fishing operators are now giving the Seattle-based shipping line "substantially" more cargo volume. 

Coastal and the other lines said that they believe that U.S. Jones Act carriers "will be able to carry all future catches of Alaska seafood intended for the lower 48 states to Washington State" if CBP's penalty decision holds. From Washington, containers of seafood would be transported overland to their final destinations by U.S. railroads or trucking.

In a filing Thursday, ARM president Per Brautaset countered that Matson, Coastal, AML and Samson may not have the capability to move that much extra cargo from Dutch Harbor to Seattle in time. He told the court that two of these Jones Act carriers are already so backed up with current cargo volume that they are having a hard time picking up more fish from ASC's storage warehouses in Dutch Harbor. 

"Even if these four companies, collectively, could timely move all of our shippers’ B-season pollock to the West Coast, none of these companies is in a position to move that product to the East Coast," warned Brautaset. "Cold storage availability and cross-country transportation options are not in their control. [Our] shipper-customers would be faced with frozen seafood arriving on the West Coast with nowhere to store all of it and no way to further transport it to the Eastern U.S."

ASC says the enforcement action is delaying the delivery of millions of pounds of American-caught fish, and it wants the court to block CBP's penalties until the appeals process is complete.

"Approximately 1.5 million pounds will be overdue for delivery to customers by end of September, approximately three million pounds likely at risk for October requirements; and several million pounds due in November and December, for which plans are unknown at present," wrote ASC President Inge Andreassen in a filing. "Unless we are able to resume the [foreign-flag] shipment of frozen seafood product to the Eastern U.S., ASC faces the likelihood of immediate irreparable harm."

 

Op-Ed: 10 Ways to Cut Shipping's Emissions Today

Alternative fuels are just one piece of the puzzle.

The four factors driving shipping emissions, with solutions to reduce those emissions below (Author provided)

PUBLISHED SEP 17, 2021 11:04 PM BY THE CONVERSATION

 

[By Simon Bullock]

In the middle of this summer’s shocking fires and floods came the grimmest climate science report yet from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warning of a “code red for humanity” as our use of fossil fuels continues to drive up global temperatures.

To keep below the threshold of 1.5 degrees C of warming – the goal of the Paris climate agreement – immediate reductions in carbon emissions are needed. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN shipping regulator, has put issues surrounding shipping and climate change high on its agenda.

Shipping emissions can be calculated using four principal factors: the weight of products transported, the distance they’re sent, the amount of fuel it takes to move one tonne of products one kilometer, and the amount of carbon released by making and using that fuel – known as the fuel’s carbon-intensity.

The overwhelming focus of political attention is mainly on that last point – which fuel is used, and how carbon intensive it is. But it will be beyond 2030 before low-carbon fuels, like hydrogen or ammonia, grow past a single-digit percentage of all shipping fuel used. This is a problem: if we are to meet the Paris Climate Agreement goals, emissions need to see dramatic reductions in the short term.

That means we need to think about the wide range of other ways to cut shipping emissions in the coming decade. Here are ten areas to look at:

1. Reduce the amount of fuel needed for shipping by transporting less stuff…

In a world of finite resources, we need to think critically about consuming less – for example, whether we need to import containers of garden gnomes from China to the UK, or whether high street clothes retailers should continue to prioritise fast fashion models where clothes are shipped halfway around the world yet only designed to last for several uses.

2. …over shorter distances…

It’s possible that long distance transport might become less necessary in the future, as the rise of 3D printing could see goods printed locally and on demand. The new generation of shipping fuels could also be produced nearer to where they’re needed, so they only have to be transported by ship over hundreds, rather than thousands of miles.

3. …at slower speeds.

The faster ships move, the more energy they need. The bottom line is that going slower is one of the most effective and immediate ways to cut ships’ fuel use. This can happen naturally due to high fuel prices, but locking in these benefits needs action from the IMO, such as regulation on ship speed limits.

4. Retrofit ships.

There are multiple ways to retrofit ships so they use less fuel, like upgrading ship propellers and hulls to improve fuel efficiency.

5. Make use of the wind…

Spinning cylinders called Flettner rotors and huge kite sails are just two technologies that harness the power of the wind to help propel vessels. This can cut fuel consumption by 10 percent. Coupling this with computer programs that model wind speed and direction allows ships to optimise their routes, saving ships a further 10 percent of fuel.

6. …and shore power.

Ships can use less fuel when in port by switching off their engines and connecting to local electricity grids instead. This technique, which also reduces air pollution in coastal cities, is called “shore-power”. Norway, the USA and China lead in implementing shore-power thanks to government support.

Next steps

7. Carbon accounting

Many alternative fuels produce low levels of carbon dioxide when burned. But the emissions arising from their production need to be properly accounted for, or we’ll just be shifting pollution from one source to another. Hydrogen can, for example, be produced in different ways that lead to very high or very low carbon emissions.

8. Carbon taxes

Attempts to cut carbon in the shipping industry tend to flounder because standard marine fuels like diesel are globally untaxed and therefore cheap. It’s time for the IMO to levy charges on carbon pollution, to allow alternative fuels to compete with traditional carbon-based ones. Revenues from this can fund research and development into new fuels, and support developing nations to decarbonise their shipping sectors.

9. Green policymaking

The UK could prioritize building zero-emission vessels in its forthcoming National Shipbuilding Strategy, and run more innovative contests like the already oversubscribed Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition to provide greater support for greener shipping tech.

10. Stronger framework

All of the above methods need to operate within a clear framework for reducing overall shipping emissions if the sector is to play its part in meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement. The IMO needs to commit to more stringent climate targets to deliver major reductions in the coming decades. In shipping, as in every sector, we need to use every way we can to cut emissions as fast as possible.

Simon Bullock is a PhD Candidate in Shipping and Climate Change at University of Manchester. His PhD focuses on ascertaining the potential for UK shore power, identifying the barriers to its implementation, and assessing solutions to overcome these barriers.

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

'Abdication of government responsibility': Edmonton businesses exasperated over Alberta's vaccine passport rollout
Blair McBride 

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Action Potential Fitness co-owners Zita Duve-Lockhart (left) and Toni Harris have run their gymnasium business through the changing COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the provincial government in Edmonton, on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The gym has a mandatory vaccination program to keep their clients safe. Photo by Ian Kucerak


Edmonton business owners are accusing the provincial government of passing the buck on vaccine passports, with some concerned about potential blowback from those opposed to the measure.

On Wednesday, the government gave non-essential businesses a choice : adopt the restrictions exemption program (REP), under which people must show proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 tests to gain entry as of Monday, and operate as usual; or follow restrictions.

For gyms, that would mean a ban on indoor group classes and activities.

Zita Dube-Lockhart, owner of Action Potential Fitness, supports COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine passports, but said she’s put off by the way the government presented them.

“(The REP) is a false choice,” Dube-Lockhart said. “It’s either (do) vaccine passports or go out of operation. We not only have to administer them but we have to make the decision whether or not we’ll ask members to give private information that is probably outside of what we should be asking. There’s an abdication of government responsibility here.”

Indoor dining is off the table for restaurants and bars that choose not to require proof of vaccination. They will also have to follow limits on patio service, and curfews on liquor sales and consumption.

For Arcadia Brewing owner Darren Gowan, the omission of the words “vaccine passport” in the government’s announcement was frustrating.

“It’s like, ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ except it’s, ‘I can’t believe it’s not a passport!’ ” he said. “It’s a passport! The government are cowards. They’ve put everything on the shoulders of business owners and frontline workers. They seem to be delaying on the QR codes. They say it’s coming out but they’re not giving a timeline.”

Premier Jason Kenney said in a Facebook Live session on Thursday night that Oct. 1 is the target date for digital QR codes to become available.

Alberta Health spokesman Tom McMillan said the restriction exemption program has two goals: to encourage vaccine uptake and to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

“We’re already seeing very strong results, with more than 28,000 doses administered yesterday. That’s the most since July 23,” he said. “Previous measures have had almost all their impact through voluntary compliance, and we believe the same will be true of the exemption program.”

Because the decision to enforce proof of vaccination is left up to businesses, not ordered by the government as in other provinces, some business owners, like Brian Launier of Analog Brewing, fear repercussions.

“I’ve seen other businesses start up their own vaccine passports and they got a lot of hate for it. They got phone calls, death threats, people calling them communists and Google review bombs. It was terrible. I’m afraid to do anything because people will attack us for the decisions we make,” he said.

Even so, he has decided to adopt the program.

Dube-Lockhart is confident her clients will comply with the passports because since the pandemic began her facility rigorously followed health measures and saw membership increase by about 60 per cent.

Gowan already told his customers two weeks ago he would introduce vaccine passports on Monday so they could get prepared. He said it was his own decision and he didn’t know the government would eventually roll out the program.

“I felt our clientele would be on board with it. I’ve already had people ready to show me their proofs. I don’t think there’s going to be much pushback on it,” Gowan said.

Still, the restaurateur expects there will be hitches in the coming weeks, such as customers forgetting to bring proof, neglecting to download it to their phones or having issues accessing the MyHealth Records website, which has seen hours-long wait times this week .

Meanwhile, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce CEO Jeffrey Sundquist urged the provincial government to quickly provide more clarity on the REP.

“There are many questions about how the new program will be applied. The program needs to be relatively simple for businesses to implement at their various workplaces in order to protect their staff and customers. Local businesses need a vaccine passport with a QR code to be developed as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement Thursday.

bmcbride@postmedia.com

'Here we go again:' Albertans react to latest slate of COVID-19 health rules

CALGARY — As an emergency alert blared across the province notifying Albertans of another round of public health restrictions, some felt a range of emotions: anger, confusion, exhaustion.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Edmonton mother Amanah Khursheed remembers looking at her husband.

"Here we go again," she said as her phone lit up Wednesday evening.

The notification told her that Alberta has declared a state of public health emergency to protect the health-care system.

New restrictions — including gathering limits and a proof of vaccination program for non-essential businesses — began Thursday, as Alberta's health system nears collapse during a fourth wave of the pandemic.

"Every few months we go into lockdown and we're hearing false promises from our leaders," Khursheed said in an interview.

"The whole pandemic ... I don't think, from the beginning, was managed right."

Medical experts had warned the United Conservative government about potential for the Delta variant to spread exponentially, when Premier Jason Kenney celebrated his "Open For Summer" plan.

Since the reopening on July 1, COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased more than fivefold, with intensive care admissions reaching record highs.

Khursheed said a close friend contracted COVID-19 and was put on a ventilator.

"It's nerve-racking every single day when you're sending your children to school, and then you're hearing a close friend was in (intensive care)."

Calgarian Jake Hughes, a 28-year-old business development representative, said he's "exhausted and demoralized" after 19 months of poor provincial leadership.

He has thought about leaving Alberta for another province.

"It's kind of sad that we're — I wouldn't say the laughingstock, but look how bad Alberta is doing compared to the rest of the country," said Hughes. "It feels like everyone prioritizes business and money over people's lives."

While he's supportive of the new restrictions, Hughes said he's worried they will affect his job stability and income, considering he works with many small businesses.

"If we just kept the restrictions going forward in the summer, where minimal interactions were allowed, we probably could have gotten through this fourth wave with a lot less of a spike," said Hughes. "Since the beginning of this pandemic, it's been fumble after fumble."

Retiree Desmond Clark of Calgary said the array of measures announced Wednesday were confusing. And Alberta's version of a vaccine passport system, which Kenney calls a "restriction exemption program," is littered with contradictions.

He said it should be simple: you prove you're vaccinated, or you're not allowed entry. Instead, there are varied restrictions depending on an individual’s immunization status.

Clark said he has lost any respect for Kenney's United Conservative government.

"When it comes to leadership, I've always been of the opinion that while I may not agree with something, I can respect the fact that something is being done," he said.

"But when they don't seem to be sure what the heck they want to do, you can't think a whole lot of them."

Edmonton grandmother Sharon Morin said the reintroduction of restrictions came as no surprise but they're disappointing nonetheless.

"We didn't take advantage of the 'Open For Summer.' We stay close to home. We don't go out to restaurants. We still mask up. So it's really frustrating when you're put in this position because of others," said Morin, pointing to unvaccinated Albertans and a lack of provincial leadership.

She said Kenney needs to take accountability for mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis and resign.

"There has been no leadership here at all," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2021.

— With files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton

Alanna Smith, The Canadian Press