Dark Vessels & more – 9th Jan 2024

Ahoy from BA! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 9th of January twenty twenty-four A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater.

Researchers from the NGO Global Fishing Watch discovered a great number of dark vessels, or untracked human activity at sea, in a study published on Wednesday the 3rd in the journal Nature. According to the findings, obtained combining AI, satellite imagery, and vessel GPS data, between 72% and 76% of the global industrial fishing vessels operate without public tracking. It means that almost a third of the total vessel activity going on worldwide is absent from the public tracking systems. The organization Global Fishing Watch and many others previously produced maps to keep track of maritime activities with the Automatic Identification System, but this system is easy to turn off and avoid. Thanks to this new study, many areas like South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the northern and western coasts of Africa, that were showing few or a total absence of activity, have now revealed the high volume of vessels present in their waters.

On Friday the 5th, the Indian navy commandos successfully intercepted and rescued all twenty-one crew members of the Liberian-flagged merchant ship MV Lila Norfolk from a pirate attack in the Arabian Sea. The vessel issued a distress call reporting an attempted hijacking off Somalia's coast in the North Arabian Sea, stating that five or six armed unknown individuals had boarded on Thursday evening, the 4th. The Indian Navy swiftly responded but didn’t find any pirates on board. The navy believes that the pirates abandoned the hijacking attempt due to forceful warnings. Even though the Indian Navy is committed to ensuring safety in the region, there's an increase in hijacking incidents in the Arabian Sea, probably because of the recent shift in the focus of anti-piracy forces from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea due to the Houthi attacks.

Still in the Indian Ocean Region. The Ocean Network Express (or ONE) Line announced a new Indian Ocean Mediterranean service (or IOM). The new route will connect India and Pakistan through the Middle East with the Mediterranean region. The IOM line will start operating on Sunday the 28th of January, from Nhava Sheva to the Mediterranean, passing through European countries Greece, Italy, and Spain, coming back through Egypt and Pakistan, and finally concluding the journey in India.

In previous shows we talked about the Panama Canal facing severe shipping delays due to drought and infrastructure challenges, impacting global trade. Italian journalist Angelo Ambasciatore Martinengo published an article on Saturday the 6th analyzing the evolving situation in the Canal. Low water levels, six feet (or almost two meters) below normal, have led to shipping restrictions, forcing some shippers to pay millions to bypass the canal. The chaotic situation, influenced by climate change and infrastructure issues, highlights the vulnerability of vital trade routes. Martinengo talked about the proposed solutions, such as creating an artificial lake and cloud seeding, but all of them present feasibility challenges. For instance, they might require years to implement and wouldn’t be able to respond to the urgency of a long-term solution’s need.

From the Panama to the Suez Canal, which is experiencing a decline in traffic due to the security issues off Yemen because of the attacks of the Houthi rebels on ships transiting in the Red Sea. In the second half of December, the Canal registered a volume of vessels’ transits down by a quarter, while more than seventy vessels transited daily in the first half of the month. The daily average of vessels transiting is steadily decreasing, and it reached the lowest level in the last four years. While tanker transits seem to remain stable, cargo ships are mostly responsible for the traffic decline, impacting the petroleum, and chemical sectors, and non-metallic mineral products. More than 200 containerships re-routed and important shipping companies keep announcing alternative journeys to avoid the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal Authorities are closely monitoring the situation in the Red Sea and the safety of the area for navigation.

In other news, Alisdair Putt, a former Australian spy and war crimes investigator, passed away due to a heart attack on Thursday the 4th, while participating in the World’s Toughest Row Competition across the Atlantic Ocean. Alisdair Putt was serving as the skipper for the Aussie Old Salts team, composed of a four-member crew. He passed away halfway into the race. The rest of the crew performed resuscitation attempts, but were unable to revive him. A spokesperson from World’s Toughest Row said that “The crew is now safely onboard a vessel heading for land, and the incident has deeply affected the other thirty-seven teams still racing.” The team was rowing in the competition to raise funds for a women’s emergency accommodation center in Kimberley and a veterans transition center in Perth.

Still in the Atlantic Ocean. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (or NOAA) is thinking about implementing speed limits for small boats (thirty-five feet or almost eleven meters) in the North Atlantic, precisely off the East Coast in the U.S., to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. The NOAA initially promised a decision by the end of twenty twenty-three, but then postponed it to the new year. Environmentalists advocate for slowing down smaller boats to preserve the remaining population of less than 360 North Atlantic right whales, but fishermen are protesting due to their concern about the economic impact of this rule’s change. Existing rules mandate speed limits only for vessels sixty-five feet (almost twenty meters) or longer.

In the past weeks we have talked about the bad weather conditions in the Pacific Ocean. This week, dangerous waves are coming back to hit the California coast, strengthened by the pattern of the oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon El Niño. Researchers remarked that the huge waves in the region are becoming more frequent because of global warming, which is causing severe weather conditions and is raising the sea level. The impact of the huge and strong waves on the coast will likely cause coastal flooding.

Moving on to the Arctic Ocean, researchers from Nord University said marine life on the seabed, specifically large bottom-dwelling animals, show an incredible resilience to seasonal changes. The study is part of the Nansen Legacy project, a collaboration between researchers from Northern Norway and the non-profit research institute Akvaplan-niva. Scientists found limited variation in species composition and numbers of large bottom-dwelling animals throughout the different seasons. Despite the Barents Sea having extreme seasonal shifts, the marine life of the region showed consistency, possibly due to the sediment stores of food throughout the whole year. The study shows that these animals might easily adapt to climate change.

From the Arctic to the Antarctic Ocean. In a previous show, we talked about the largest iceberg in the world. It is three times bigger than New York City, and was named A23a, and was stuck in the Weddell Sea for many years after detaching from the Antarctic Coast in nineteen eighty-six. In December, the iceberg drifted away from Antarctica and has slowly continued moving away during the whole month.

Closing with the 36th annual Lobster Dip. The event held at Old Orchard Beach, in Maine, on New Year's Day saw the participation of 600 people, raising 190,000 US dollars that will be donated to the Special Olympics in Maine, which provide a one-year training in athletic competitions for people with intellectual disabilities. The participants dipped in the freezing water of the Atlantic Ocean. The event featured two dips, one in the morning and one at noon, and attracted thousands of onlookers. Ian Frank, president of Special Olympics of Maine, said this was the most successful year so far, referring to the amount of money raised. Aaand that's it for this week!

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