China Ships In Sri Lanka Might Be Dangerous & more – 21st Nov 2023

Ahoy from BA! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 21st of November twenty twenty-three A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater.

The presence of Chinese ships in Sri Lanka has become a major concern for India, impacting their bilateral relations. As the analyst Sathiya Moorthy stressed in his recent article on the Observer Research Foundation’s website, the strategic implications of Chinese vessels, like the Shi Yan-6, which is conducting joint maritime research in Sri Lanka, intensify security concerns for India due to potential data collection on naval capabilities and ocean currents. China has also become a significant determinant in New Delhi’s relations with the Maldives. In general, the Chinese presence in other nations neighboring India has also been a cause of constant concern for the country.

India is also facing another geopolitical threat: Recently, Russia and Myanmar conducted joint naval drills in the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean, indicating a deepening military and strategic relationship. Sankalp Gurjar, an expert in geopolitics and international relations, published a piece on Monday the 13th, in the Hindustan Times, saying that Myanmar is an ideal partner for Russia in Southeast Asia and the Eastern Indian Ocean, offering strategic influence and a gateway to the region. The naval drills mark a significant step toward Russia's potential growing presence in the Eastern Indian Ocean, impacting regional geopolitics. Sankalp Gurjar remarked that Australia, Indonesia, and other regional powers will probably respond to this development, and India will most likely monitor the changing strategic dynamics.

Contrary to previous reports, a new study led by the University of Washington suggests that marine productivity in the North Atlantic, particularly phytoplankton, may not be declining. According to the study, published, on Friday, the 17th in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed an 800-year-old Greenland ice core and revealed a more complex atmospheric process that challenges the earlier findings. The study shows that even though dimethyl sulfide concentrations declined, indicating reduced phytoplankton, sulfate derived from phytoplankton increased, rejecting the decline theory and suggesting stable phytoplankton-derived sulfur emissions since the mid-eighteen hundreds. However, researchers have still declared that the marine ecosystem is still at risk for many different reasons.

Still in the Atlantic. The Indian Navy has successfully completed its second anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Guinea with the Offshore Patrol Vessel INS Sumedha on Thursday, the 16th. The thirty-one-day patrol aimed to safeguard India's national interests in the region, as it is a crucial area for India's energy requirements. The deployment enhanced Navy-to-Navy connections with regional navies such as Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Angola, and Namibia. INS Sumedha also participated in the first India-EU Joint Exercise in the Gulf of Guinea on the 24th of October, following the third meeting of the EU-India maritime security held on the 5th of October in Brussels, Belgium.

Let’s talk about the Great Salt Lake, which has strongly receded in recent years. Brigham Young University’s engineers published a study on the 8th of November that reveals that the proposal made by some Utah lawmakers to pump Pacific Ocean water into the Great Salt Lake to restore it would cost a lot of money and energy. Pumping one-third of the needed water via a single large-diameter pipeline would demand 400 megawatts of electricity, 11% of Utah's annual electricity demand. This would cost over 300 million US dollars per year. The study estimates that it would emit nearly one million metric tons of CO2 each year, not including any additional costs for planning, land acquisition, design, construction or other kind of maintenance. The project faces many challenges, including the pipeline's length, mountainous terrain, potential multiple pipelines, or less efficient pumps.

Still in the Pacific Ocean. The upper stage of a rocket body crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, the 15th. The Indian Space Research Organization announced that the rocket body is part of the LVM3 M4 launch vehicle, which supported the deployment of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into its designated orbit on the 14th of July. The rocket body re-entered Earth's atmosphere uncontrolled after 124 days from its launch and crashed into the ocean. According to the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee rules, the re-entry complies with the twenty-five-year time frame for the debris cleanup. Before the re-entry, the upper stage underwent a process called passivation to make sure it was not carrying any leftover propellants that could pollute Earth or, in this case, the ocean.

Moving on, scientists aboard CSIRO's research vessel Investigator are embarking on a voyage into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to investigate why the planet's strongest current, responsible for maintaining the Antarctic ice frozen, is leaking warm water into the polar seas. The team aims to understand how Southern Ocean currents contribute to the melting of Antarctic ice shelves. This voyage will last one month. It will also be the first one in which scientists validate data of the Southern Ocean gathered by the new Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite, which NASA and the French space agency developed jointly. The research will help extend knowledge of ocean variations in the region.

Researchers from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences published a new study on Monday the 13th in the journal Nature Communications. In the research, they used high-resolution deep-sea coral records to track subglacial discharge from the Antarctic Ice Sheet. While analyzing uranium isotopic composition in seawater, the researchers found evidence of enhanced subglacial discharge from the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the last deglaciation. The findings provide information on the complex interactions between subglacial discharge and ice sheet stability, contributing to a better understanding of past ice sheet dynamics and their implications for future changes in the Antarctic ice sheet.

Next up, fisheries. During the 46th annual meeting of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, the European Union and neighboring countries agreed to enhance fisheries management control in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, with an annual grant of eight million euros (or almost nine million US dollars). The meeting took place from the 6th to the 10th of November in Split, Croatia. The agreed measures will include launching new tools to monitor all fleets fishing in the region, sharing multiannual management plans, and implementing traceability measures for products such as red coral in the Mediterranean and turbot in the Black Sea. Additionally, a European Fisheries Control Agency patrol vessel will be permanently deployed to support joint efforts and ensure effective implementation of the measures on the ground.

More on fisheries. This year, the Taiwan Fisheries Agency has conducted comprehensive labor inspections in Fiji, South Africa, and Mauritius to ensure the rights of migrant crew members on Taiwanese distant-water fishing ships. The inspection initiative consisted of direct interviews with crew members and assessments of their working and living conditions. The Agency inspected 157 vessels and interviewed 740 migrant fishers. The Taiwan Fisheries Agency emphasized the importance of collective efforts and collaboration between operators and non-governmental organizations to ensure a satisfying working environment for migrant crew members.

In other news, China’s presence is growing in the Suez Canal and Egypt ports. Private and state-owned Chinese companies are involved in acquiring, developing, and operating terminals and seaports. A Chinese company owns stakes in crucial ports at the northern and southern entrances of the Suez Canal, with concessions for up to thirty-eight years. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, reinforced his relationship with China with several bilateral agreements. China is interested in Egypt’s ports for their strategic geopolitical positions on the crossroad between Europe, Asia, and Africa, which make them economically valuable.

Closing with Dominica, an island nation in the Caribbean Sea, establishing the world's first sanctuary for sperm whales. 800 square kilometers (or 300 square miles) of ocean will host the sanctuary. The designation aims to increase the chances of reproduction and survival for the endangered whales. However, it will also fight climate change as their feces are rich in nutrients for planktons, which capture CO2 from the atmosphere and sends it to the ocean floor.

And that’s it for this week! Ads are the villains in podcasts, be the hero and save the audience from listening to a mediocre ad about a beverage you won’t try. So go ahead and tell your friends about us!

Remember you can also help us financially by making a donation with the link in the show notes. We would really appreciate it.

See you next week!