Friday, November 28, 2008

Search for the New Seven Wonders of Nature - Update


Hello ShipMaS guys and doll!

Update as of Nov. 25, 2008.
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park ranks First. Tubbataha Reef ranks Fourth. Chocolate Hills ranks Fifth.

Cmon people. Go out and vote. Convince your friends to vote too. The more voices the more chances of inclusion. Let us root together!!!
Voting continues until Dec 31/08 to ensure that the above nominees are eligible to proceed to 2009 for the final selection. Hopefully, one of them should be included in the final list.

Friday, November 21, 2008

New Seven Wonders of Nature


Hello SHIPMAS people! Tired of blogging? Here is something for weary eyes.

After the New Seven Wonders of the World the search for the New Seven Wonders of Nature is on. Selections are to be voted upon until Dec 31, 2008. Final selection will be during the early part of 2009. Chocolate Hills is presently
ranked # 14 and Tubbataha Reef is # 16. Both appears to be inching their way up the ladder. With our help we may see one of them in the list.

Let us put at least one of this two
among the seven. Go out and be counted!

Monday, November 17, 2008

NOAA – Avoid Migrating Whales


NOAA – Avoid Migrating Whales
Friday, November 14, 2008


The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reminded mariners to keep a sharp lookout for North Atlantic right whales in southeast US waters from November 15 through April 15.North Atlantic right whales are among the most endangered marine mammal populations in the world. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fixed fishing gear are the two greatest threats to their recovery. This species is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, and NOAA’s Fisheries Service reminds mariners and anglers of some specific regulations implemented to protect the species.• Federal law prohibits approaching or remaining within 500 yards of right whales. • Gillnet fishing and possession is prohibited in the Southeast U.S. Restricted Area North from Nov. 15 through April 15, with an exemption for transiting through this area if gear is stowed in accordance with the rule. • Gillnet fishing is prohibited in the Southeast U.S. Restricted Area South from Dec. 1 through March 31, with limited exemptions for gillnet fishing for sharks and Spanish mackerel. • Effective Dec. 9, the Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Rule restricts vessel greater than 65 feet to speeds of 10 knots or less in seasonal management areas including calving and nursery grounds in the southeastern U.S. from Nov. 15 through April 15. NOAA’s Fisheries Service encourages people to report sightings of dead, injured, or entangled whales to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC(3922). All live right whale sightings should be reported to 1-877-97-WHALE or 1-877-979-4253.
(Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES

BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES

Regulation D-3 of the BWM Convention requires that ballast water management systems used, to comply with the Convention, must be approved by the Administration taking into account the Guidelines for approval of ballast water management systems (G8).


In order to be type-approved by an Administration, ballast water management systems need to be tested in a land-based facility and on board ships to prove that they meet the performance standard contained in regulation D-2 of the BWM Convention. Guidelines (G8) provide the technical specifications and the approval and certification procedures to be used by the Administration when granting Type Approval. Successful fulfillment of the provisions contained in Guidelines (G8) should lead to the issuance of a Type Approval Certificate, which allows ballast water management system to be used on board ship.


Regulation D-3 also requires that ballast water management systems which make use of Active Substances, to comply with the Convention, shall be approved by IMO in accordance with the 'Procedure for approval of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances (G9)'. Procedure (G9) consists of a two-tier process - Basic Approval and Final Approval- to ensure that the ballast water management system does not pose unreasonable risk to the environment, human health, property or resources.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Navy Battles (East of Aden)

Navy Battles - 12 November 2008

British commandos killed two suspected pirates who tried to seize a Danish ship in the Gulf of Aden in an unprecedented operation involving a Royal Navy and a Russian warship, it was revealed today (12 Nov).

The suspect pirates were shot yesterday after the Royal Marine commandos, in rigid inflatable boats launched from the frigate HMS Cumberland, were fired at from a Yemeni-flagged dhow, the Ministry of Defence said.

It said the Cumberland was conducting routine Nato maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden when a number of its crew boarded the dhow. The British crew "had reason to believe" the vessel had been involved in an attack on the Danish-registered MV Powerful earlier that day.

"Various non-forcible methods had been used in an attempt to stop the dhow but they were unsuccessful," the MoD said, adding that the inflatables circled the dhow in an attempt to stop it. People on the dhow fired at the British commandos who returned fire in self-defence, the MoD said. Two of the dhow crew were killed.

The rest of the crew surrendered and the vessel was boarded 60 miles south of the Yemeni coast.

A Yemeni national was also found injured and later died, despite receiving emergency treatment from the Cumberland's doctor. The MoD said it was unclear whether his injuries were as a result of the gunfight or a previous incident involving the pirates.

Igor Dygalo, the Russian navy's chief spokesman, told the Guardian that the Russian frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) was also involved in yesterday's operation after the two warships were alerted as they patrolled the area.

"The pirates fired on the Danish craft with automatic weapons and tried twice to seize it," said Dygalo. He said the Neustrashimy had been escorting another Danish vessel when it was called to help.

"As with all shooting incidents, a post-shooting incident investigation is being conducted," an MoD spokesman said tonight.

The incident occurred amid mounting criticism of the failure to cope with a growing number of piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.

This year at least 32 ships have been hijacked in the area. A multinational naval force including US, British and German warships is patrolling the waters off Somalia in an attempt to provide security for commercial ships, many of them destined for the Suez canal.

Neustrashimy, from Russia's Black Sea fleet, was dispatched to join the effort last month. US warships from the 5th fleet continue to surround the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship captured off Somalia by pirates demanding a $5m ransom on September 25. The ship was reportedly transporting 33 T-72 tanks as well as other arms to Kenya.

The crew – 17 Ukrainian nationals, two Russians, and one Lithuanian – yesterday managed to send an email to a journal in Kiev saying they were running out of fuel, water and food. "The last warning of the soldiers [pirates] is that if the ransom demands are not satisfied the cargo and crew will be destroyed," wrote the captives.

Dyaglo said Ukrainian representatives were holding negotiations to resolve the stand-off.

Navy Battles (East of Aden)

Navy Battles - 12 November 2008
British commandos killed two suspected pirates who tried to seize a Danish ship in the Gulf of Aden in an unprecedented operation involving a Royal Navy and a Russian warship, it was revealed today (12 Nov).
The suspect pirates were shot yesterday after the Royal Marine commandos, in rigid inflatable boats launched from the frigate HMS Cumberland, were fired at from a Yemeni-flagged dhow, the Ministry of Defence said.
It said the Cumberland was conducting routine Nato maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden when a number of its crew boarded the dhow. The British crew "had reason to believe" the vessel had been involved in an attack on the Danish-registered MV Powerful earlier that day.
"Various non-forcible methods had been used in an attempt to stop the dhow but they were unsuccessful," the MoD said, adding that the inflatables circled the dhow in an attempt to stop it. People on the dhow fired at the British commandos who returned fire in self-defence, the MoD said. Two of the dhow crew were killed.
The rest of the crew surrendered and the vessel was boarded 60 miles south of the Yemeni coast.
A Yemeni national was also found injured and later died, despite receiving emergency treatment from the Cumberland's doctor. The MoD said it was unclear whether his injuries were as a result of the gunfight or a previous incident involving the pirates.
Igor Dygalo, the Russian navy's chief spokesman, told the Guardian that the Russian frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) was also involved in yesterday's operation after the two warships were alerted as they patrolled the area.
"The pirates fired on the Danish craft with automatic weapons and tried twice to seize it," said Dygalo. He said the Neustrashimy had been escorting another Danish vessel when it was called to help.
"As with all shooting incidents, a post-shooting incident investigation is being conducted," an MoD spokesman said tonight.
The incident occurred amid mounting criticism of the failure to cope with a growing number of piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.
This year at least 32 ships have been hijacked in the area. A multinational naval force including US, British and German warships is patrolling the waters off Somalia in an attempt to provide security for commercial ships, many of them destined for the Suez canal.
Neustrashimy, from Russia's Black Sea fleet, was dispatched to join the effort last month. US warships from the 5th fleet continue to surround the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship captured off Somalia by pirates demanding a $5m ransom on September 25. The ship was reportedly transporting 33 T-72 tanks as well as other arms to Kenya.
The crew – 17 Ukrainian nationals, two Russians, and one Lithuanian – yesterday managed to send an email to a journal in Kiev saying they were running out of fuel, water and food. "The last warning of the soldiers [pirates] is that if the ransom demands are not satisfied the cargo and crew will be destroyed," wrote the captives.
Dyaglo said Ukrainian representatives were holding negotiations to resolve the stand-off.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Differences Between Male and Female Brains

We have a picture of the male brain, observe that we now see how new areas have developed, while some parts have atrophied. As ever a picture is worth a thousand words.


Further research on the differences between male and female brains still has a long way to travel. Wrestling meaning from the similarities and differences between male and female brains is a challenge in the decades ahead, but a challenge that those of us who dedicate our lives to research of the hypothalamus anticipate with relish. Professor David J. Etherington.

Will the Opening of the Northwest Passage Transform Global Shipping Anytime Soon?


The Northwest Passage has made headlines since it thawed last year for the first time. For centuries the quest for expedited route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans rivalled today's space race, with European superpowers vying for the prize. Hundreds of sailors and countless expeditions ventured into Canada's Arctic waters, including such naval luminaries as Sir Francis Drake, Captain James Cook and the ill-fated Henry Hudson,and lost his life—on the Canadian bay that marks its entrance.

Now, with the Arctic's sea ice shrinking at a rate of 10 percent per decade, this coveted shipping lane has opened for business—but shippers are not rushing to use it. The reason: as fate would have it, global warming appears increasing the amount of potentially deadly multiyear ice chunks lurking in the newly opened pathway.

In fact, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago acts as a "drain trap" for ship-wrecking multiyear ice, Howell says. This year, when the first-year ice in the passage had melted, it opened the way for multiyear ice from the Queen Elizabeth Islands to flow into and clog the Northwest Passage. "It's very dangerous," adds Ivana Kubat, an engineer at the National Research Council's Canadian Hydraulics Centre. "If a lower type of vessel hits a piece of multiyear ice, then the vessel can sink depending on the speed and damage." One study showed that multiyear ice was to blame for 74 percent of the damage suffered by ships travelling in the Canadian Arctic between 1976 and 2007.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Boom days are over for the shipping industry !

UNCTAD says boom days are over

Source: Malaya

Date: November 6, 2008

Page: B12

Author: Genivi Factao

Boom days are over for the shipping industry according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2008 that said that the late 2007 to early 2008 marked the high point of the shipping boom.

International seaborne trade in 2007, driven by emerging and transition economies, surpassed a record 8 billion tons.

The strong demand for shipping services helped push to unprecedented highs the cost of moving dry bulk commodities internationally, as echoed by the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) through the first quarter of 2008.

The BDI is a composite of shipping prices for various dry bulk products such as iron ore, grain, coal, bauxite / alumina and phosphate, and is a useful indicator of price movements.

However, the BDI has declined more than 11-fold, from 11,793 points in May 2008 to 891 as of early November.

“This shows that unfolding financial crisis has spread to international trade with negative

implications for developing countries, specially those dependent on commodities,” the report said.

A rapidly falling BDI is also accompanied by reduce demand for shipping services, increasing the effects of the financial crisis and global demand for goods. This will negatively affect many developing economies.

The industries show an immediate effect of declining freight rates, which also lead to lower prices for delivered, traded goods.

Both exporters and importers of foods and other commodities thus benefit from lower freight costs, and inflationary pressured are eased.

For most commodities shipped in bulk, freight rates account for a high portion of the final value of the goods.

Because trade in commodities or low-value manufactured goods such as steel product dominates developing countries’ trade, a drop in shipping rates benefits their trade under normal circumstances.

The global merchandise trade had grown by 5.5 percent in 2007, almost 2 percentage points higher than the growth of the word’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the year.

Dynamic emerging developing and transition economies drove the increase in international seaborne trade 4.8 percent in 2007.

In tandem with economic and trade expansion, demand for shipping service increase to reach 32,932 billion ton-miles –a 4.7 percent jump.

Word container port throughput grew by an estimated 11.7 percent to reach 485 million TEUs in 2007, the Review said.

However, port investment, running up at a pick levels until recently, will now be curtailed the international trade flow situations becomes clear.

SWOT Analysis review

SWOT analysis is a simple framework for generating strategic alternatives from a situation analysis. It is applicable to either the corporate level or the business unit level and frequently appears in marketing plans. SWOT (sometimes referred to as TOWS) stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The SWOT framework was described in the late 1960's by Edmund P. Learned, C. Roland Christiansen, Kenneth Andrews, and William D. Guth in Business Policy, Text and Cases (Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1969). The General Electric Growth Council used this form of analysis in the 1980's. Because it concentrates on the issues that potentially have the most impact, the SWOT analysis is useful when a very limited amount of time is available to address a complex strategic situation.

The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into a strategic situation analysis.

Situation Analysis

/

\

Internal Analysis

External Analysis

/ \

/ \

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

|

SWOT Profile

The internal and external situation analysis can produce a large amount of information, much of which may not be highly relevant. The SWOT analysis can serve as an interpretative filter to reduce the information to a manageable quantity of key issues. The SWOT analysis classifies the internal aspects of the company as strengths or weaknesses and the external situational factors as opportunities or threats. Strengths can serve as a foundation for building a competitive advantage, and weaknesses may hinder it. By understanding these four aspects of its situation, a firm can better leverage its strengths, correct its weaknesses, capitalize on golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Men Worth Emulating


Hello, SMS Sir, Guys and Doll!
Just passing by and thought of
sharing this picture with you.
The guys in grey are men with
progressive ideas and paid
prices for being so. Have you
seen them somewhere not
too far?

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Pirates lay out hostage terms


PIRATES who seized 10 oil workers last week have demanded that the Cameroon government enter direct talks about Bakassi peninsula ownership before the hostages can be freed. In a call to the French newspaper Le Monde, Bakassi Freedom Fighters commander Ebi Dari said on Saturday: "The government of Cameroon has not contacted us yet. If they do not, we will hold the hostages for a very long time= 2E” He added that the group would meet any attempt to rescue the hostages with force: "If Cameroon comes for that, it will end badly for the hostages. They will all die." The workers were taken from Bourbon Sagitta, an oil service boat owned by France’s Bourbon, at midnight on Thursday, while transferring oil barrels on the Cameroon/Nigeria maritime border. The vessel had been contracted by Total, the French oil group. The hostages included seven French nationals, two Cameroonians and a Tunisian. The Bakassi peninsula is an oil-rich region recently transferred from Nigeria to Cameroon after a protracted border dispute. Egypt meantime urged Arab countries to co-ordinate efforts against piracy. A meeting now looks likely to be held this month in Cairo, conducted by Yemen and Egypt, which fears that revenues from ship transits of the Suez Canal will be threatened.

Coast Guard orders tight enforcement of life jacket rule for sea travel

MANILA, Philippines - In the wake of Tuesday's maritime tragedy in Masbate that claimed more than 40 lives, the Coast Guard on Thursday ordered the strict enforcement of a rule for all passengers to wear life jackets during a sea trip.

Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported that Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo ordered all Coast Guard units to enforce the circular from the Maritime Industry Authority which required passengers to wear life jackets to avoid high casualties when sea accidents occur.

Tamayo said that had passengers of the MV Don Dexter Cathlyn been wearing life jackets, many of them would have been rescued or protected from serious injury.

The Coast Guard was to start Thursday its preliminary investigation into the incident. -

Pirates Still Terrorize High Seas

Pirates are popularly associated with the eye-patched, peg-legged buccaneers who ransacked the ships of colonizing powers in the 17th and 18th century Caribbean, a period historians call the "Golden Age" of piracy.

Gold, booze and weapons

The Vikings were pirates too, raiding the coasts of Europe by ship very successfully several hundred years, beginning in the eighth century. Pirates have been at work in Asia just as long.
Despite their worldwide proliferation, it is the pirates of the Caribbean that have long captured the popular imagination.
Conditions in the Americas from the 16th to the 18th centuries were ripe for piracy, which has traditionally thrived in places with unstable governments or power vacuums. With the colonial powers of Spain, England, France and the Netherlands, the Caribbean Sea became a relatively lawless territory during this time.
European sailors put out of work at the end of wars, pirate gangs settled in safe harbors such as Tortuga (Haiti) and Port Royal (Jamaica), where raids were launched on ships traveling between the new colonies and Europe. Spanish ships laden with gold and silver coins were popular targets, but pirates also plundered gems, caskets of wine, equipment and weapons.
Famous pirate raids of this era include:
• Francis Drake's 1573 sacking of Spain's "Silver Train" fortune in Panama.
• The week-long blockade and plundering of the port of Charleston by Edward Teach in 1718.
• Henry Morgan's attack coin stores of Panama City in 1671, which earned him a knighthood in England.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Asias First Arctic Icebreakers

Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd (Keppel Singmarine) has completed Asia’s first two icebreakers, built for one of the harshest marine frontiers on Earth, the Arctic sea for client, LUKOIL-Kaliningradmorneft (LUKOIL).Mr Charles Foo, Chairman of Keppel Singmarine, said “This is the first time that icebreakers meant for the Arctic region have been built in the tropics. It also marks Keppel Singmarine’s entry into the oil and gas market in the Arctic region.”The second vessel was named Varandey by Mrs Lyudmila Velikova, wife of Mr Victor Velikov, Deputy General-Director of LUKOIL at a Russian-themed ceremony at Marina at Keppel Bay today. The first icebreaking vessel, Toboy, was delivered to LUKOIL in August this year.Both Varandey and Toboy are designed to work in the harshest environments, cutting through solid ice over 1.7m thick, and operating in extreme temperatures as low as -45oC.According to the latest United States Geological Survey, it is estimated that the Arctic may hold as much as 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil reserves and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This is equivalent to as much as 13% and 30% of the world’s total undiscovered oil and natural gas respectively.Icebreaking vessels have to work in extreme conditions, complying with strict operating standards to ensure performance and safety. Both Varandey and Toboy are built in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, and are customized in accordance with the owner’s stringent requirements and specifications.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Bank axes desk


Irish bank AIB has closed its shipping desk but rumours that the department’s head has walked appear wide of the mark.


A return to concentration on core businesses appears to behind the decision to axe the dedicated desk which occurs at a time of deep global financial crisis coupled with a slump in shipping markets.

The closure follows the axing of German bank WestLB’s shipping desk in early August as part of a major restructuring of the bank’s activities.

AIB is not a major player in shipping finance with its market portfolio lagging behind compatriot rival Bank of Ireland. The bank had been an active player in lending to the shipping market for about seven years but the dedicated team was made up of just two personnel.

Rumours had circulated that Fred Kelly, a UK citizen who heads the department from AIB’s Sydney office, had left the bank in the wake of the desk’s closure. A source close to the situation, however, denied this saying Kelly continues to do general asset financing for the bank.

The other person on the shipping desk, London-based Michael McNally, also remains with the bank and is believed to have taken on a property portfolio.

The banking source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said AIB will continue to do banking deals but on a case-by-case basis.

AIB has been involved in some syndicated deals but has not itself lead any shipping deals.

Like AIB, shipping was not a core business for WestLB which was rumoured to have only given personnel in the department less that a week’s notice that it was to close.

Rumours that the German bank was also chopping its aviation department were denied by a spokesperson in August with the explanation that the desk was being “refocused within Dusseldorf.

Monday, November 3, 2008

BASIC CONCEPT OF MARITIME SECURITY

Considering the 200-mile exclusive economic zone or EEZ, the Philippines have so much in natural resources to nurture and protect. In addition, is the very strategic location of our country in the Pacific area, thus making islands close to us as areas of contention.

A noted Australian expert on the Law of the Sea, Professor Anthony Bergin has identified five areas in which government must establish control in a country’s maritime regions:

The management of marine resources,
The maintenance of territorial integrity,
The protection and preservation of maritime environment,
The prevention of illegal activity and
The safety of life at sea.


To achieve this control, the coastal state must be capable of three basic tasks:

Surveillance
Monitoring
Enforcement

Definition of Maritime Security based on the National Marine Policy

MARITIME SECURITY is the state wherein the country’s marine assets, maritime practices, territorial integrity and coastal peace and order are protected, conserved and enhanced.

Definition of Maritime Security based on the state practice of other countries

Countries view maritime security primarily as a defense concept. Some countries, however, couple it with the concept of sound management of the ocean’s environment and resources, using the same capabilities utilized in the defense of the country.

Maritime security is a key component of national security. It is envisaged to:

provide a stable and peaceful socio-political and administrative environment in the country that posters sustained profitability and growth for maritime industries;
protect and defend the integrity of the Philippines marine resources;
ensure preparedness for an effective response to natural calamities and man-made disaster;
provide leadership and guidance in the proper and effective collection, processing and distribution of strategic information.

Coverage of Maritime Security

a. The fluvial and maritime jurisdiction of the Philippines consist of the waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago regardless of their breath and dimension denominated archipelagic waters;

The territorial sea (12 nm from the archipelagic baselines); the contiguous zone (24 nm from where the archipelagic sea is measure); the exclusive economic zone (200 nm adjacent to the territorial sea from baselines from which the territorial sea is measured) within which the Philippines has sovereign rights for the exploration and exploitation of living and non-living resources, establishments and use of artificial islands, installations and structures and the preservation of the marine environment.

The continental shelf, the sea bed and subsoil of the submarine area that extend beyond the territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin or to a distance of 200 nm form the baselines from which the territorial sea is measure where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.


The dynamics of national and International Policies on Maritime Security.

The constitution and the laws spell out the national policy for attainment of maritime security. Apart from such national laws, however, are international conventions, having the effect of law, which also deal with maritime security. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is such an international agreement.

The policies contained in UNCLOS on the following dimensions of maritime security:

a. Military Dimension
b. Environmental Dimension
c. And Food Dimension

The linkage of these dimensions to MARSEC is self-evident. Among themselves, the military dimension complements and supports the Environmental and Food dimensions of maritime security in the protection of the marine assets and territorial integrity of the country.

Military Dimension of MARSEC

The military dimensions of MARSEC are those policies designed to enhance, conserve and protect territorial integrity and coastal peace and order.

Summary of military security concerns engendered by UNCLOS and other International Agreements:

1. Archipelagic sea-lanes passage and over flight. Difficulty, if not impossibility of monitoring and enforcing rules. Consider the national policy embedded in the constitution of freedom from nuclear weapons in Philippine territory nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons at locations outside the US.
2. Innocent passage through archipelagic waters. Difficulty of monitoring and enforcement of rules.
3. Exclusive Economic Zone. Overlapping EEZ with neighboring country e.g. Indonesia.
4. Islands with EEZ or on continental shelf. Conflicting national claims or ownership, e.g. Mischief Reef, Scarborough Shoal.
5. Environmental laws, rules and regulations. Monitoring and enforcement insofar as concerns archipelagic sea lanes passages and over flight and innocent passage.
6. Food and security laws, rules and regulations. The likely negative effects of archipelagic sea lanes passage and innocent passage on food security. Also, fishing incursions by the foreign ships in the EEZ.

Other security concerns

Border crossing and border patrol agreements with Indonesia (1975) and Malaysia (1967) to regulate and facilitate the movement of nationals in the specified borders of both countries and enforcement of laws against common threat, like drug trafficking, hijacking, illegal entry, piracy, smuggling, theft of maritime resources and marine pollution.

RP’s involvement in the campaign against international terrorism,

Environmental Dimensions of MARSEC

The environmental dimension covers the policies on the preservation and protection of the marine environment so as to protect, conserve and enhance the country’s marine assets.

UNCLOS provision

An international legal frameworks for the protection and preservation of the marine environment which regulates all sources of marine pollution is established by UNCLOS.

States have the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment; to take, individually or jointly, all measures necessary to prevent pollution of the marine environment from any source, taking into account the best practicable means at their disposal and in accordance with their capabilities; to protect and preserve the marine environment in the exercise of their sovereign rights to exploit natural resources; to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction and control shall be conducted so as not to cause damage by pollution to other states and their environment

States must adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce and control pollution.

Food dimension of MARSEC

The food dimension on maritime security refers to those policies which serve to protect, conserve and enhance the country’s marine assets.

UNCLOS Provisions

The UNCLOS provision on EEZ contains the policies on conservation of the living resources of the zone, using the following method: termination of the allowable catch of living resources; maintenance of the living resources so that they are not endangered by over population; maintenance or restoration of harvested species of at levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield; maintenance of associated or dependent species at which their production may become seriously threatened.

National policy

Food security is to be achieved as the overriding consideration and protection of fishery resources in order to provide the food needs of the population: (a) flexible policy towards the attainment of food security shall be adopted in response to changes in demographic trends for fish, emerging trends in the trade of fish and other aquatic products in domestic and international markets and the law of supply and demand; (b) to limit access to the fishery and aquatic resources of the Philippines for the exclusive use and enjoyment of Filipino citizens; (c) to ensure the rational and sustainable development, management and conservation of the fishery and aquatic resources in the Philippine waters including the EEZ and in the adjacent high seas, consistent with the primordial objective of maintaining a sound ecological balance, protecting and enhancing the quality of the environment.