Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Exploring Antarctica's Ice Rivers and Their Role in Sea-Level Rise

Underneath Antarctica’s vast ice sheets there’s a network of rivers and lakes. This is possible because of the insulating blanket of ice above, the flow of heat from within the Earth, and the small amount of heat generated as the ice deforms.

This map shows rivers (white) beneath Antarctica’s ice sheets (grey). Warm colors denote regions of fast ice flow. Huw Horgan/Quantarctica3/K862, CC BY-ND

Water lubricates the base of the ice sheets, allowing the ice to slide towards the ocean at speeds of many hundreds of metres per year. When the water emerges from beneath the ice, it enters a cold and salty cavity underneath ice shelves, the floating extensions of ice sheets that fringe the continent.

Here the water mixes, releases nutrients and sediment, and melts the underside of the ice shelves, which act as buttresses and hold back the flow of the ice sheets.

How these processes play out over the next centuries is a major factor in understanding sea-level rise. Unfortunately, this is also one of the least-explored parts of our planet.

Our Aotearoa New Zealand Antarctic Science Platform project is the first direct survey of an Antarctic under-ice river, and it supports earlier research suggesting these sub-glacial rivers form estuaries as they flow into the ocean, albeit at 82.5 degrees south, hidden under 500m of ice and about 500km from the open ocean.

Exploring an under-ice river

Our team has just returned from Kamb Ice Stream on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Kamb is a sleeping giant.

This massive river of ice lies on the other side of the WAIS from Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica’s “doomsday” glacier which has been losing ice rapidly. Kamb used to flow fast, but this ceased about 160 years ago because of changes in how water was distributed at the base of the ice.

Surveying across the surface of the under-ice river channel (in early 2016), researchers use seismic methods to determine what lies underneath the thick cover of ice. Huw Horgan/K862/VUW, CC BY-ND

While the Kamb region isn’t vulnerable to ocean warming at the present time, it currently offsets much of the ice loss happening elsewhere in Antarctica. Changes at Kamb will herald major changes for Antarctica’s ice sheets and oceans.

One challenge is that ice sheets respond to external changes, such as rising ocean temperatures, but also to difficult-to-predict internal changes, such as flood events that occur when sub-ice rivers and lakes “burst their banks”.

Getting there

The COVID pandemic has been hard on national Antarctic programmes and the field science they support. Global supply and freight delays kept our team on the edge in the lead-up to our season.

This summer, New Zealand started the rebuild of its main Antarctic station, Scott Base, and has been developing an over-snow traverse to deploy large teams across great distances. Our Kamb team was one of the first to benefit from this new capability, with a camp operating for months, more than 900km from New Zealand’s permanent station.

There’s an art to drilling through Antarctic ice. In reality, we melt our way through with recycled hot water.

Once on site, the team was able to drill through 500m of the ice shelf and keep a 0.4m-diameter hole open for nearly two weeks. This allowed us to take samples and gather observations for a diverse range of science projects.

A hidden river

Almost a decade of research paid off when the team pinpointed the exact spot to drill to hit the onset of the narrow river beneath. This was even more impressive than initially thought, with borehole surveys revealing a river more than 240m high but less than 200m wide – a much narrower target than indicated by the surface icescape.

Working from a borehole means we can only look in one spot. As an antidote to this limitation, colleagues from Cornell University deployed their ocean robot Icefin to study the space below the ice.

The camera shows corrugations on the underside of the ice. Craig Stevens/K862/NIWA, CC BY-ND

One of the discoveries that will keep the team going for some time is a dense community of likely amphipods, which we spotted when we lowered cameras to the seafloor. The swarm was so dense, we first thought there was something wrong with our equipment.

The last task the team completed was to deploy an ocean mooring beneath the ice. These instruments will continue to report back on ocean conditions over the coming years.

Apart from baseline observations, such discoveries provide strong motivation for deploying long-term monitoring equipment. The team will be watching closely over the coming years for any changes in the under-ice river flow, including flood events.

Huw Joseph Horgan is an Associate Professor of Geophysical Glaciology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington.

Craig Stevens is a Professor in Ocean Physics, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

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

Scientists Call on Canada to Reject Vancouver's Box Terminal Expansion

roberts bank 2 — Roberts Bank Terminal 2, left, would expand the existing container terminal site on reclaimed land (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority)

A group of 12 scientists has asked Canada's federal government to reject a plan to expand the Port of Vancouver's Roberts Bank Terminal, citing research that suggests the new facility would harm salmon and killer whales.

In early 2020, a federal review panel determined that the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion project would have "significant adverse and cumulative effects to populations of Fraser Chinook salmon" because its location would disrupt salmon out-migration in the Fraser Estuary. The estuary is a feeding ground and migration path for some of Canada's largest salmon runs. The panel also found that the increase in shipping activity to and from the terminal would worsen the existing underwater noise levels in the Salish Sea, with "significant adverse effects on endangered Southern Resident killer whales."

The previous environment minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, placed the expansion project on hold until the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority provided more information about the terminal's environmental impact, along with any possible mitigation measures. At present, according to the petitioners, there are no known methods of offsetting the effects of the terminal's construction on the affected species.

The proposed expansion would widen a causeway across the width of the Fraser Estuary and add another 270 acres to the existing Roberts Bank terminal. This would reduce the size of the estuary by infilling intertidal zone areas used by juvenile salmon for migration. In addition, ship traffic would increase in the region by about 25 percent, raising the probability of whale strikes and increasing underwater noise levels, which interfere with orcas' navigation and feeding.

"If the recovery of Canada’s endangered and iconic wildlife is a priority for the government of Canada, as stated, then it must reject the proposed Terminal 2 project," wrote the 12 scientists. "We urge the government to err on the side of caution when considering an approval that lacks scientific evidence to support it."

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has previously said that Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is of "paramount value to Canada’s trade." It has acknowledged the federal review panel's findings, and it emphasizes its region-wide harm reduction projects, like its "Echo Program" for rewarding slow-steaming ships.

NGOs Oppose Plan to Lift Bunkering Ban in S. Africa's Algoa Bay

cc by 30 port elizabeth — Port Elizabeth's harbor (Frans-Banja Mulder / CC BY 3.0)

Environmentalists and conservationists in South Africa have opposed plans by the government to lift a ban on bunkering services off the coast of Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) over concerns that a return of ship-to-ship fuel transfer poses dangers to the rich marine biodiversity.

Just days after the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) announced it will lift the moratorium on new licenses for fuel ship-to-ship bunkering in Algoa Bay, several organizations have come out to oppose the move, warning that it poses risks to the environment. In late January, Samsa announced that starting February 1, bunkering services providers can start applying for bunkering services operating licenses in Algoa Bay. The moratorium on the awarding of licenses is set for lifting on April 1.

The moratorium was imposed in 2019 following bunker spills, and its removal opens the door for operators to apply for five-year bunkering authorizations in Algoa Bay and other parts of the country.

“We are confident that the reopening of the bunkering sector will bring much needed economic spin offs and relief to the region and country as a whole,” said Tsepiso Taoana-Mashiloane, Samsa acting CEO.

Environmentalists and conservationists are opposed to the lifting of the moratorium, citing the risks involved and the proximity to foraging and breeding grounds of endangered marine species like the iconic African penguin.

A coalition of environmental organizations, the Bunkering Environmental Working Group, says that judging by past cases of oil spills, the government will be endangering Algoa Bay's marine biodiversity by allowing bunkering services. Over the past six years, three oil spills have occurred as a direct result of fuel ship-to-ship bunkering.

“The impact of oil pollution on marine life must not be underestimated. Research has shown that in the long term, African penguins that were oiled, cleaned and released have lower breeding success than unoiled birds,” said the organizations in a petition.

The petition adds that Algoa Bay is a marine biodiversity haven recognized by the declaration of the Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area.

The bay's St Croix Island previously held the largest African penguin breeding colony in the world, and nearby Bird Island currently holds the world’s largest Cape gannet breeding colony, with two-thirds of the global population breeding at this site.

The African penguin population is declining at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic threats, including oil pollution. A case is St Croix Island, which is the closest island to bunkering activities and has suffered an 80 percent decline in the population of African penguins over the past five years.

Over the period, vessel numbers have more than doubled in the bay, with bulk carriers having increased more than threefold. Vessel activity has been concentrated in shipping lanes and anchorages, where bunkering services are located. These sites overlap important foraging areas for penguins from St Croix Island.

Apart from the impact of oil spills, scientists are investigating the effects of marine noise pollution associated with the bunkering activities.

“It is crucial that decision-making regarding bunkering be informed by a proper understanding of the full variety of risks that the activity poses to the sensitive ecosystem and species in Algoa Bay and the potential for mitigating these risks,” noted the petition.

Top image: Port Elizabeth's inner harbor (Frans-Banja Mulder / CC BY 3.0)

Environmentalists Protest Calling for End to Deep Sea Mining

environmentals call for ban of deep sea mining — Activists in Rotterdam calling attention to their cause to end deep sea mining (Extinction Rebellion Rotterdam)

Timed to the opening of the One Ocean Summit being hosted in France this week, environmental activists are staging a series of events to call attention to their demands for an international moratorium on deep-sea mining. Greenpeace is planning a demonstration at the conference in Brest, France for later this week, while yesterday in Rotterdam activists again targeted a vessel being outfitted at the port for deep-sea mining operations.

The One Ocean Summit began today in Brest, France hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in his role leading the Council of the European Union, and with the support of the United Nations, and attended by representatives from nations around the globe. The goal of the summit is to raise the collective level of ambition of the international community on marine issues and to develop tangible commitments for the global responsibility to the ocean as part of a year-long initiative designed to develop commitments to protect the ocean and reverse its declining health.

One of the key issues on the agenda for the environmental activists is discussions on a treaty for the oceans and against deep-sea mining. Greenpeace has long been advocating for the treaty with its Protect the Oceans campaign. The environmental group reports that it has more than 3.7 million signatures on a petition and that it is in Brest to highlight the importance of President Macron taking leadership in the negations with the European community. Greenpeace is calling on France to represent the demands of the citizens of the world and says it is there to ensure that “a treaty that meets the expectations of civil society is ratified.” The final meeting for the treaty is scheduled for New York in March.

Greenpeace along with other organizations including Ocean Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion Rotterdam are working in unison to lobby against the mining of seabeds. Greenpeace contends that the mining could cause “irreversible and inevitable damage to marine biodiversity, and aggravate the climate crisis by disrupting the stocks of blue carbon in the seabed.”

Messages were projected on to the side of the vessel in Rotterdam (Ocean Rebellion)

Protestors from Ocean Rebellion yesterday sought to highlight their demands by demonstrating alongside a vessel called Hidden Gem, owned by a Dutch-Swiss partnership Allseas which is working with Canadian company The Metals Company to prepare the deep-sea drilling ship for a new role in ocean mining. Using the drill ship and unmanned vehicles, they plan to suck growths from the ocean floor in the Pacific that contains manganese, cobalt, and lithium, all of which are used in the production of batteries for cell phones and vehicles.

A group of protestors dressed as a whale, an anemone, and a jellyfish danced and held banners while a choir sang cynical songs about the greed and destruction of the seabed alongside the drillship. Police in Rotterdam, however, stopped a small boat that was planning to sail alongside the drillship. After dark, the protestors used projectors to displays messages on the hull of the vessel to also highlight their cause.

The action by Ocean Rebellion followed a similar demonstration by Greenpeace in December at the same vessel. In typical fashion of their protests, activists scaled the side of the vessel and hung banners saying No Deep Sea Mining.

Greenpeace has called on its supporters and activists to join it in a large protest Friday morning in Brest coordinated to the last day of the One Ocean Summit.

In December, Greenpeace scaled the ship and hung banners from the Hidden Gem in Rotterdam (Marten van Dijl photo courtesy of Greenpeace)

Euronav Adopts Whale-Protection Rules Fleetwide

Top tanker operator Euronav has asked all of its captains to adhere to voluntary whale-protection measures in three critical habitat areas, the company announced last week. The order applies to protected areas of the Canadian East Coast, the California coast and the Hellenic Trench, and it is intended to minimize ship strikes and associated whale mortality.

Two endangered species, the North Atlantic right whale and the Eastern Mediterranean sperm whale, are known to be affected by ship strikes. Standard voluntary measures for shipping in the vicinity of key whale habitat areas exist, but are not universally followed. Euronav plans to change that - initially in three regions, with the expectation of expanding to cover more.

"Our ships will stay out of critical habitats where these whales breed, feed and nurse their offspring. These deviations have very little negative economic impact for shipowners, including ourselves, so avoiding these areas is really a question of paying attention to the issue rather than making a big economic sacrifice," said Euronav CEO Hugo De Stoop. "These three areas are the start, but we are looking into other regions around the world where our ships regularly pass."

De Stoop said that his hope is that other shipping companies will follow suit if the policy turns out to be straightforward to implement. If it works in practical application, it could prompt policymakers to make the measures mandatory and ensure a level playing field for all ship owners, he said.

Euronav worked with an NGO, the Great Whale Conservancy, to identify the first areas it would list for protection.

"If other shipping companies follow Euronav’s lead, we will be more than happy to assist them. We have the scientific and nautical experience in our team to assist any shipping company in this matter. We strongly believe that this problem can only be solved from within the industry," said Michael Fishbach, founder of the Great Whale Conservancy.

UN’s Contact Group on Somali Piracy Changes its Mandate

EU Navfor — File image courtesy EU NAVFOR

The decline in piracy off the coast of Somalia is one of the recent success stories for the maritime industry. It has demonstrated how stakeholders can unite to solve some of the complex challenges facing the industry.

At the helm of this anti-piracy success is the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). The CGPCS was created in 2009 following a UN resolution to coordinate political, military, industry and non-governmental efforts to end piracy along the Somali coast. The Contact Group has over 80 member organizations drawn from governments, NGOs and shipping companies.

In January, CGPCS members held their 24th Plenary Session in Kenya. The main question on the table was whether it was time for CGPS to fold up. Alternatively, how could the contact group re-align to address other emerging issues within the Western Indian Ocean?

Although Somali piracy may be on the decline, the rise in IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing and drug trafficking, pose considerable potential for another wave of maritime insecurity within the Western Indian Ocean seaboard. The Northern Mozambique insurgency has also been a major source of concern for maritime players.

Unfortunately, for frameworks such as CGPCS, they were created purposefully for anti-piracy efforts. Going forward, the Contact Group’s future lies in its ability to transform its antipiracy vision into a holistic maritime security strategy. Piracy and armed robbery at sea are consequences of other factors, primarily governance gaps in land and marine resources.

In the last CGPCS meeting, a report prepared by the Republic of Seychelles, the chair of CGPCS’s Strategic Planning and Steering Working Group, entailed a proposal on how to develop a new strategic vision that aligns with emerging threats within the broader Western Indian Ocean region.

As a result, CGPCS agreed to change its name to the Contact Group on Illicit Maritime Activities in the Western Indian Ocean.

However, some analysts believe the name change may not serve the needs of the shipping industry.

“Drug smuggling and illegal fishing in the Western Indian Ocean are two most likely problems for coastal states that CGPCS could address - but these aren’t the issues the shipping industry is prioritizing. That could be problematic. If the industry is disengaged from this initiative, it could undermine the Contact Group’s credibility as a viable institution for enhancing maritime security,” argues Timothy Walker and Christian Bueger in a recent article.

Another challenge is how CGPCS will expand its mandate into a comprehensive platform without taking on too much.

“The group could consider modelling itself on successful formats used in other regions such as the Shangri-La Dialogue in Asia and Munich Security in Europe,” recommend Walker and Bueger. Both of these platforms enjoy sweeping support as frontiers of peace and security policy in their respective regions.

Indeed, the group’s mandate change is welcome, as it can help accelerate policy action for Western Indian Ocean on maritime security at the AU (African Union) and UN. If properly structured, it could also harmonize multiple efforts on maritime domain awareness by states, regional and international organizations.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M;PIRACY

ReCAAP: Ten Robberies in Singapore Strait in First Seven Weeks of 2022

armed robbery and assults on ships in the Singapore Strait — ReCAAP renews warning of boarding and armed robberies in the Singapore Strait (file photo)

Sea robberies and the boarding of vessels underway n the Singapore strait are continuing with the reporting agency for the region issuing alerts to seafarers and warning for the need to increase vigilance and maintain lookouts while transiting the Singapore Strait. ReCAAP ISC issued repeated warnings of consistent low-level crimes against ships in 2021, and today issued a new alert reporting a further increase of activity in 2022.

According to the latest incident alert, there have been nine successful boarding of vessels and a tenth attempt in the seven weeks since the beginning of 2022 all in the region around the Singapore Strait. Seven of the incidents occurred in the eastbound lane in the strait and four of them were in a tightly clustered area off Nongsa Point, Batam Island in Indonesia. ReCCAP reports that these four incidents all happened in a 10-day span between February 8 and 18 with three of them coming on consecutive days between February 16 and 18.

“The ReCCAP ISC is concerned with the persistent occurrence of incidents in the Singapore Strait, particularly the increase of incidents off Nongsa,” writes the monitoring organization in its February 21 report. “Since the perpetrators are not arrested, there is a possibility of continued occurrence of incidents in the Singapore Strait.”

Despite the persistence of the activity, ReCAAP notes it is all at the low severity level as no crew members were threatened or harmed. Typically, the reports are of crew spotting anywhere between two and five individuals aboard while their vessels are underway. They are targeting the engine room or store lockers and in most cases are frightened off when seen or the vessel raises its alarm. In two of the recent reports, both incidents of Bintan Island, the perpetrators were reportedly armed with knives or one had a long knife.

They are targeting a wide range of vessels with several bulkers and tankers reporting having been boarded, but it also includes tugs and vessels supporting the offshore industries. In the case of a tug and a barge, a single perpetrator was reported to have stolen scrap metal from the barge while on bulker Theodor Oldendroff the crew saw two boarders who reportedly stole spare engine parts.

ReCAAP urges the states in the region to increase patrols and enforcement in their territorial waters. The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that overall piracy activity was at a 28 year low in 2021, but they also highlighted the increased armed robbery activity in the Singapore Straits. The area remains one of the most dangerous for seafarers. In its annual report, the IMB said in 2021 there was a 50 percent increase with 35 incidents against vessels navigating in the busy traffic lane, which was the highest number of reported incidents since 1992.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

ABG Shipyard Accused of Biggest Loan Fraud in India's History

Five years after Indian shipbuilder ABG Shipyard filed for bankruptcy, India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a fraud case against the company and five executives.

The CBI alleges that ABG Shipyard and top members of its management team - named as chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal, executive director Santhanam Muthaswamy, and directors Ashwani Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal and Ravi Vimal Nevetia - cheated a consortium of 28 banks out of an estimated $3 billion in loans. The lead banker on the loan package, India's ICICI Bank, has an exposure of about $925 million, with smaller amounts owed to the other lenders. It is the largest case of loan fraud ever opened in India's justice system.

According to the CBI, ABG's managers diverted funds from the loan package to overseas subsidiaries and improperly used the money to purchase assets. The loans became non-performing in 2013, and ABG Shipyard entered bankruptcy in 2017. An audit performed by Ernst & Young found signs of fraud two years later, and the State Bank of India - one of the creditors - filed a formal complaint in November 2019.

Given the long timeline between the State Bank of India's complaint and the formal announcement of a criminal investigation, India's opposition Congress Party has accused the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing to take timely action in the case.

"Despite the apparent fraud and swindling of public money, the CBI, SBI and the Modi government proceeded to complicate the entire matter in bureaucratic wrangling and file pushing," said Congress Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

Modi's finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, pushed back against this criticism in a press conference Monday. She noted that the loan became non-performing while the Congress Party was in power, and said that the fraud was detected more quickly than average for a financial wrongdoing case.

Opinion: RightShip's Crew Welfare Assessment Falls Short

seafarers — File image courtesy MUA / ITF

In our view, the RightShip Crew Welfare Self-Assessment Tool does not meet basic tests for public transparency, accountability, or remediation. Its self-certification process fails to identify and report cases of egregious abuse and abusers through transparent public disclosure.

Background

Launched in October 2021 by SSI, the Seafarers Code of Conduct and integrated self-assessment tool were developed by industry group SSI and the Institute of Human Rights and Business (IHRB) in association with the Rafto Foundation.

The Code states that “the initiative aims to support a safe, healthy and secure onboard work environment, and goes beyond the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) to focus on the full spectrum of seafarers’ rights and wellbeing.”

As an integral part of the Code’s promulgation, RightShip launched a crew welfare self-assessment tool. The platform states that it provides guidance on how to adopt the Code of Conduct, as well as how to track progress against three levels of accreditation: basic, intermediate, and excellent. This results in the entity receiving a crew welfare badge to “showcase crew welfare commitment."

Unfortunately, the crew welfare badge accreditation is meaningless without independent oversight and transparent reported benchmarking that demonstrates client improvements on a case-by-case basis. Further, the accreditation cannot be deemed credible if it cannot and will not address cases of human or labor rights abuse due to commercial considerations.

Flawed data collection

In its current form, the self-assessment tool collates data submitted by client company employees. It is unlikely that a company representative will submit any issues of concern, including abuses of human and labor rights, due to a clear conflict of interest and concerns over adverse publicity for the representative’s own employer.

Further, the level of seafarer rights training, awareness, and experience of the individuals submitting the reports is unclear.

Lack of transparency

RightShip makes it clear on their website that “data submitted via the RightShip Crew Welfare Tool is not reviewed nor verified and will not affect your RightShip Safety Score, GHG Rating, Vessel Vetting process or Dry Bulk Inspection outcomes.”

Further, it states that “self-assessments are stored securely in our cloud, with individual responses not shared with third parties outside your company.”

At the launch webinar in October 2020 - which is no longer available to view online - such issues were raised in relation to transparency, reporting, routes to effective remedy and accountability. During the launch, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) also questioned the validity of self-assessment.

In short, there is a lack of transparency or accountability due to the lack of review or verification by independent human rights experts outside of the involved stakeholders. This is compounded by the fact that adverse welfare data does not impact any other aspect of vessel rating by RightShip.

Points of concern and clarification

Human Rights at Sea has raised questions for clarification to SSI, and at the time of writing it awaits clarifying responses and assurances for addressing improvements. These questions include:

How will SSI and/or IHRB record and hold accountable any entity's failure to improve year-on-year through the annual IHRB report?
Will SSI and/or RightShip hold to account RightShip clients who are found to have fallen short? If so, how?
How will SSI and IHRB be able to demonstrate that those persons who completed the self-assessment form are themselves not conflicted in their reporting as employees of the company?
How is worker's voice included and represented in the self-assessment process?
How will the self-assessments be independently validated and verified, thereby avoiding conflicts of interest in the development and assessment process?

Reporting of cases of abuse

RightShip has pursued one known case of abuse publicly, though had alerted Human Rights at Sea to at least one other case in 2020. In May 2020, in coordination with Human Rights at Sea, it acted decisively in the investigation by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) and local police into the attempted murder of two Tanzanian stowaways by the crew of the Panamanian flagged bulker MV Top Grace in March 2020.

Hong Kong-based Fairweather Steamship Co Ltd, who managed the fleet of five vessels, had its ratings cut by RightShip and was placed on the high-risk list in response to the incident. Remediation was undertaken, but details about the case subsequently became difficult to obtain, and no further incidents were shared.

Need for transparency and improvement

As it stands, the development of the SSI Code of Conduct is welcomed. Our independent NGO was engaged by SSI at the start of the process. In comparison, the RightShip Crew Welfare Self-Assessment Tool is based on unverified self-assessment statements made by employees of the very companies being awarded a crew welfare badge accreditation. The conflict of interest is unambiguous.

Unless SSI members, including RightShip, can categorically and publicly state that the self-assessment tool will become transparent and accountable in its reporting, this initiative can only be viewed as a data collection exercise. It is urged that this exercise must be urgently reviewed.

To become trustworthy, the RightShip Tool and accreditation must focus on public transparency, accountability, and facilitating the bringing of violators of human rights abuse to justice without delay through existing legislative protections.

Human Rights at Sea supports the work undertaken on the Code of Conduct, but it cannot support the Crew Welfare Self-Assessment Tool as it currently stands without undermining our vision to end human rights abuse at sea. SSI members are urged to reflect and act accordingly.

Statement on Conflict of Interest: In 2019 and 2020, Human Rights at Sea received unrestricted donations towards core costs by RightShip. The charitable NGO no longer receives any funding nor support from RightShip.

Video: Waves From Storm Ylenia Damage Ferry in Hamburg's Harbor

Alt — The ferry Tollerort was damaged by powerful waves from the storm (file image)

A major winter storm hit Northern Europe on Thursday morning, bringing high waves, storm surge and extreme winds to Germany and parts of Poland.

Storm Ylenia arrived in Germany with hurricane-force winds of more than 90 miles per hour. It has killed at least four people on shore, two in Germany and two in Poland, and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of customers. Rail services have been canceled across Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin and other economically-vital regions, primarily due to fallen trees.

The port city of Hamburg sustained flooding from the storm, and the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency estimated that the water level peaked at about 6.5 feet above mean high water. Hamburg's historic waterfront fish market was among the locations to sustain significant flooding.

The conditions were bad enough on the River Elbe - normally a placid body of water - that waves smashed through the windows at the bow of a river ferry. A passenger video captured the moment that the water came gushing through the ferry's large glass panels.

According to local media and AIS tracking, the ferry was operating in the heart of Hamburg's harbor, a well-sheltered area some 50 miles inland from the North Sea.

Operator Hadag reported that many of its regular services across the harbor were affected because of the effects of the storm, including flooding at some ferry terminal locations.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment