"All that serves labor, serves the nation. All that harms is treason....if a man tells you that loves America, but hates labor, he is a liar..."-----President Abraham Lincoln

Bone Builders

If Spider-Man had gone to medical school, he could have made a fortune in orthopedics.  That is because new research shows that spider silk, combined with tiny glass beads called silica, creates new material that could one day be used in growing and repairing human bones.

Spiders usually use their silk to make webs and catch prey.  For long scientists have studied the benefits of the flexible, strong fibers.  The new “fusion” material promises to improve the quality of bone implants in surgery.  Earlier research on spider silk suggests it can be used in many products including surgical sutures, body armors and even artificial ligaments for people with knee injuries. For how long this will take to develop, maybe five years from now.

THE LAW ON FLIRTATION

Flirtation or flirting refers to the act of engaging in verbal, written or even non-verbal communication such as body language, gestures or minute expressions by one person to another which suggests an interest in a deeper or more intimate bond, connection or relationship with the other person. It varies across diverse cultures because of the different rules on social etiquette such as how much touching is proper, how to make eye contact, how close or proximate should people stand or sit together etc. Flirting takes place in parties, social occasions, drinking places, schools, and of course, at the workplace where the cafeteria, pantry or coffee station may sometimes be the unofficial flirting zone during office hours. Flirting may consist of the following: eye contact; winking; staring; exchange of glances; giggling; smiling suggestively; casual touches such as a woman briefly touching a man’s hand, arm, shoulder or thigh area; casual embraces; giving small gifts; flattery; affectionate small talks; singing love songs in the presence of the other; proximity or maintaining very short distance while casually talking; touching one’s hair; staging of chance encounters etc. According to social anthropologist and author Kate Fox, flirting may be for fun or with intent. It may, at times, be construed as cheating if either party is committed to someone else. A certain degree of caution should therefore be exercised in order to avoid misunderstanding. Actions or words may have double meanings which can only be discerned by a pair of perceptive eyes, a cultured mind, as well as an experienced heart.

KITTEN’S SURVIVAL AFTER SHIPPING CONTAINER ORDEAL NOT THE FIRST UNUSUAL BOX FREIGHT

Three Week Voyage from China 

US – CHINA – The three month old kitten found last week in a shipping container having survived three weeks without food and water joins a long list of stowaway’s both animal and human, which have made illicit sea voyages since the ubiquitous boxes began their rapid rise to popularity as a method to transport freight around the globe some fifty or so years ago.

The kitten, named Ni Hao (Hello in Mandarin) was discovered by workers at a business in Compton, Los Angeles after being inadvertently shipped the six and a half thousand miles from Shanghai. The case has produced concern in the US but hilarity on Chinese blogging sites who say the animal had the sense to defect rather than being eaten or having to suffer the perceived hardships of its native land. Currently many Chinese who have made their fortunes during the expansion of the economy there are applying for US immigration visas according to the bloggers.

Although unusual, survival following such a trip is by no means unheard of although wild creatures tend to be smaller than a kitten with insects and arachnids often discovered dead after fumigation of import cargoes. On Christmas Eve 2008 a large non-venomous Eastern Racer snake, with a head ‘the size of a clenched fist’ was found by Jamaican Customs officers in a container of household appliances, furniture and gardening tools en route from the Port of Miami when it reared up as the box was searched.

Human cargoes are found more often however they tend to be better prepared for the weeks of darkness and solitude during such a trip. There is a positive litany of cases in which people fleeing their own countries have been found often alive but on occasion dead, usually from dehydration. In 1994 eleven refugees from the Dominican Republic were only found after they managed to attract attention whilst stowed forty feet high in a container stack aboard the MV Carolina in port in New Jersey harbour.

When last heard of Ni Hao was awaiting a foster home in the Carson Animal Care Center whilst undergoing quarantine.


Published by: Handy Shipping Guide

Wider Panama Canal will benefit ship design and operational costs

ONE of the biggest benefits to ship capacity and fuel efficiency in the near future will be the widening of the Panama Canal, according to experts at Wallenius Marine, one of the Scandinavian shipowners that have been pushing the boundaries of sustainable ship management in recent years.

Stockholm-based Wallenius owns a fleet of car carriers, many operated in joint ventures with its Norwegian partner Wilh. Wilhelmsen.

Vessel optimisation demands have seen vessels get larger over recent years to meet operational demands and costs. The width of the Panama Canal has, however, been a limiting factor. Vessels designed for worldwide trade need to be able to transit the Suez and Panama canals, but the Panama Canal has a beam limit of about 32 m. Ports and terminal sizes would often limit the length of a design. The result is that vessels have been built higher in recent years, with the resulting demand for extra ballast water to ensure sufficient stability.

Take two car carriers as an example: the 1981-built Madame Butterfly and the 2011-built Tonsberg. Both have similar beam of about 32.3 m as they have been built to navigate the current Panama Canal, yet the newer vessel is 67 m longer but with 76,500 gt compared with 50,681 gt. Both have similar drafts at 11 m. The extra cargo capacity has been achieved by building up as well as lengthways.

The opening of the Panama Canal’s widened locks in 2014 will mean that newbuildings can be wider. This allows naval architects to begin looking at ways to minimise ballast water while increasing cargo. The new canal limits are also good in many cases for future vessel compliance with the energy efficiency design index.

There are already ballast-free design suggestions for various ship types, though it is unlikely these would be ordered initially. Ballast water will still be required for some control of stability and trim, depending on cargo load. But the reduction of ballast water requirements could mean that smaller treatment systems may be installed, and cargo capacity optimised even further.

                          PANAMA CANAL WIDENING

	Existing canal limits	New panamax limits
Length	294.1 m	366 m
Width	32.3 m	49 m
Draught	12.0	15.2 m

Source: Panama Canal Authority

_{http://www.lloydslist.com/11/sectors-operations/article403572}

SHIP TRACKER

I found this interesting website where you can track ships location around the globe. here's the link http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?level0=100 .

Enjoy ship owners and managers!  :)

IDENTITY THEFT

An innocent person can be arrested and made liable for a crime that he did not commit. That’s what happens when his identity is stolen by sophisticated thieves. Identity theft or more appropriate terms such as identity fraud or impersonation refer to the act of wrongfully obtaining another person’s personal data (credit card account #, bank account #, passwords, usernames, birth dates, etc.) through fraud or deception and pretending to be that person or assuming his identity in order to access his financial, credit and other resources or benefits. Aside from financial identity fraud, a person’s identity may be stolen in order to commit another offense (i.e. drug trafficking, human smuggling, money laundering, cybercrime, etc.), enter a country, get licenses or permits, conceal one’s real identity or even  commit terrorist acts. The biggest problem with identity theft is that the crime committed by the thief is attributed to his victim. In one infamous case in the United States, the thief incurred more than $100,000 of credit card debt, obtained loans and bought houses, motorcycles and handguns, and even filed a petition for bankruptcy all in the victim’s name. The poor victim spent several years and several thousand dollars just to restore his credit and reputation. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Multiply and Tumblr have been known as sources of numerous identity theft problems.   

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. - Theodore Roosevelt

Book printed in ink that vanishes after two months

Buenos Aires-based bookshop and publisher Eterna Cadencia has released El Libro que No Puede Esperar – which translates as ‘The Book that Cannot Wait’ – an anthology of new fiction from Latin American authors printed in ink that disappears after two months of opening the book.
Silk-screened using a special pink ink, the book comes sealed in air-tight packaging that, once opened, allows the printed material to react with the atmosphere. The result is that after two months, the text vanishes. The more the text is exposed to light the faster it disappears, so unread pages may retain the text as long as the reader doesn't skip ahead in the book. The ink is made from a "secret" formula that is highly reactive with sunlight and air. With much discussion currently centering on portable electronic readers and e-books, deemed to be bringing about the death of the physical novel, the creators aimed to add a bit of magic to the anthology, as well as encourage buyers to actually read it once they’ve received it instead of leaving it in their ‘to do’ pile. As the authors inside are all previously unpublished, the concept, developed with help from ad agency Draftfcb, acts as a way to ensure that readers engage with as much of the material as possible while they have the chance. The sense of urgency was important for the publishers to encourage readers to give new authors a chance and force them to digest the content quickly.

Dozens dead in ferry capsize off Zanzibar, Tanzania

AN OFFICIAL has said there is no hope for more than 80 people still missing a day after a ferry sank off Zanzibar, with 62 bodies already recovered.

The vessel, which was officially carrying 291 passengers and crew, including more than 30 children, went down in choppy waters in the Indian Ocean after leaving Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam around midday Wednesday.

But there was now little hope of saving more people, Zanzibar police spokesman Mohamed Mhina said, raising the prospect that some 145 may have died.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said it had sold both vessels to a Canadian company which operates routes between the African continent and Zanzibar.

continue reading
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/twelve-dead-as-ferry-sinks-off-zanzibar/story-fnd134gw-1226430106991

WORLD'S LARGEST CONTAINER SHIP

It’s normal for things in the digital realm to get much larger very quickly, but it seems the same thing is happening with container ships, which seem to be more efficient the bigger they get. Samsung Heavy Industries recently launched the World’s largest container ship, breaking its own world record of 9200 teu (a teu is a 20 ft container) which it set less than 12 months ago. The Xin Los Angeles is the new heavyweight champ and carries 9600 teu - equivalent to 1.3 million 29 inch color TVs, or 50 million mobile phones. Whatsmore, the record will almost certainly be broken again in the near future as SHI has developed a 12,000 teu container ship design in co-operation with Lloyd's Register and is working on a container ship capable of carrying 14,000 teu. To put matters in perspective, SHI built what was then the world’s largest container ship in 1999 - it carried 6,200 teu. This ship is more than three times larger than the Titanic and has a crew of (you’ll never guess) … 

How many crew does it take to comfortably man the world’s largest container ship? Thanks to incredibly sophisticated automation, the answer is a staggering 19 men. 

The world's largest container ship, Xin Los Angeles, has been delivered by Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd (SHI) to Lloyd's Register class. The ship is owned by China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) and is operated by China International Shipmanagement Company Ltd, a joint venture between CSCL and V.Ships. 

The ship is 9,600 teu and is the first in a series of eight being built by SHI. The ship will trade from China to Europe initially and will eventually also trade to the US. Xin Los Angeles can carry a maximum of 18 rows of containers by eight tiers on the weather deck and 16 rows by 10 tiers in the holds.

ClassNK quits Iran

Japan’s ClassNK is the latest classification society to stop its Iranian dealings after US pressure.



Class NK is shutting its Iran office



The group is closing its Tehran office in the face of  western sanctions against the country’s alleged nuclear weapons programme.

Japan's ClassNK said it did not verify safety and environmental standards for Iranian ships, but was nevertheless pulling out.

"We at ClassNK have already voluntarily refrained from activities in Iran, and we have no vessels with Iranian flags, so we do not think that our current activities are running foul of the Iran sanctions," a senior ClassNK official told Reuters. "But considering the environment that surrounds us as of late, there were talks on this inside the organisation, and we have officially decided to close our Tehran office."

The UK’s Lloyd’s Register, Germany's Germanischer Lloyd and France's Bureau Veritas have already stopped classing Iranian vessels. Korea’s Korean Register of Shipping (KRS) has not yet bowed to pressure to stop Iranian classification activities.

http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/sector/dry-cargo/article403272

Somali pirate kingpins enjoy "impunity"

The U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia said "that senior pirate leaders were benefiting from high level protection from Somali authorities and were not being sufficiently targeted for arrest or sanction by international authorities".
The Group said it had obtained evidence a diplomatic passport had been provided "with the authorization of Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed" to pirate leader Mohamed Abide Hassan "Afweyne", who presented it to authorities in Malaysia on a trip there in April.

The U.N. report has also riled the authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, who are criticised for failing to arrest well-known senior pirate leaders, in spite of a counter-piracy campaign that has reportedly resulted in the arrest of hundreds of low-level pirates.

2 dead, 7 missing after ship capsizes


NANJING – Two children died while seven others remain missing after a cargo ship capsized and sank early Wednesday at a port in east China’s Jiangsu province, maritime authorities said.

The accident, involving a cargo ship docked at the port of Zhenjiang, happened at 2:25 am, according to Zhenjiang Municipal Marine Safety Bureau...

http://www.shippingtribune.com/?p=11550&goback=%2Egde_2698436_member_134549520

A Daily Aspirin May Prevent Cancer

In an analysis of four large studies, people who took a daily low-dose aspirin cut their risk of dying of colon cancer by as much as 35 percent.
And that's not the only common drug that might offer this bonus.  Some pleriminary trails suggested that the diabetes drug metformin may protect against lung and colon cancers.  Both drugs inflammation, which has been linked to cancer growth. 
It's too coon to start taking either of these pills in hopes of preventing cancer, since both can have serious side effects.  But if you're already taking them for other reasons, you may be doing your health favor.

Shipping Arms & Drugs

The top three states where ship owners based therein are allegedly involved in arms and narcotics trafficking are Germany, Greece and the United States. This is based on an exhaustive study conducted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Accordingly, more than 60% of ships involved in such cases are owned by companies based in the EU, NATO or other OECD states. The report also states that the methods being used by arms traffickers are the same ones earlier pioneered by drug traffickers in order to avoid detection. These reportedly include hiding the goods in sealed shipping containers that claim to carry legitimate items; sending the goods on foreign-owned ships engaged in legitimate trade; and using circuitous routes to make the shipments harder for surveillance operations to track. According to the report’s co-author Hugh Griffiths, “Containerization has revolutionized international trade, but it also provides ideal cover for traffickers. So many shipping containers pass through the world’s ports every day that only a fraction can be inspected. Ship owners and even custom officers often just have to take it on trust that what’s inside the container is what it says on the cargo documents.”  The report further adds that ship owners or even the captains may not be aware that they are actually carrying illicit cargoes, but in cases where they appear to have been directly involved in the trafficking attempt, the ships tend to be older and sailing under flags of convenience. 

By: Eduardo R. Meneses Jr. 

PHILIPPINE SHIPPING UPDATE – MANNING INDUSTRY
By:  Ruben Del Rosario, President, Del Rosario Pandiphil Inc., March 6, 2012  (Issue 2012/03)

 

New Supreme Court decision favors 240 day rule; declaration of fitness or disability must be made within 240 days; otherwise, seafarer is considered permanently and totally disabled   

This decision of the Supreme Court tends to favor the position that a seafarer can only be declared permanently and totally disabled, therefore entitled to full disability benefits, when there is no declaration of fitness or determination of disability assessment within 240 days.  This is in contrast with the several decisions of the Supreme Court limiting such evaluation period only to 120 days.

Noteworthy also is the Supreme Court’s explicit ruling that the provisions of the POEA Contract are not the sole factor in determining disability compensation as the concepts in the Labor Code also apply.

Other:
Friday, July 13, will be a National Day of Remembrance in honor of Rodolfo Quizon Sr., better known as Dolphy, as President Benigno Aquino III has signed Proclamation No.433 Thursday evening.

(Congratulations to me..at last me blog nko..HBD!)

Paternity Leave

Basis

Unlike maternity leave, paternity leave is not found in the Labor Code. The basis of Paternity Leave benefits is found in Republic Act No. 8187, otherwise known as the “Paternity Leave Act of 1996″.
Paternity Leave Benefits

Paternity leave is a form of parental leave. The other form of parental leave is the Maternity Leave. (SeeMaternity Leave)

Paternity leave refers to the benefits granted to a married male employee in the private and public sectors allowing him to take a leave for 7 days, with full pay, for the first 4 deliveries of his legitimate spouse with whom he is cohabiting.
Checklist for Availment of Paternity Leave

To qualify for paternity leave, the following requisites must be present:
The employee is lawfully married;
He is cohabiting with his legitimate wife;
His wife is pregnant or has delivered a child or suffered a miscarriage or abortion;
Must be of the first four deliveries;
The employer is notified within reasonable time of the pregnancy and of date of expected delivery (not required in case of abortion or miscarriage);
The benefit is availed of not later than 60 days after delivery.
When Paternity Leave may be Availed of

The paternity benefit may be availed of before, during or after delivery, provided the total number of days does not exceed 7 working days. For example, the employee may take a leave of 2 days before delivery, 1 day during delivery, and another 4 days after delivery.

However, the benefit must be availed of not later than 60 days after date of delivery.
Limitation

The benefit may be availed of only for the first four deliveries.
Commutability to Cash

Paternity leave is not commutable to cash if not availed of.

Reference
Paternity Leave Act of 1996, Republic Act No. 8187.

THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS

In this Profession of ours, success can be attributed to any things. Others work hard while some are just simply to lucky. For me success is having lots of:
D - iscipline
I - nitiative
C - ommon Sense
K - nowledge
H - umility
E - nthusiasm
A - ssertiveness
D - etermination

ROTTWEILER NEEDS SURGERY AFTER SWALLOW FIVE-INCH SPOON

A fruit-loving dog had to have surgery after wolfing down a strawberry… along with the spoon it was served on. Max the rottweiler had to have an emergency operation after getting the five-inch teaspoon lodged in his stomach.

The 10-year-old's owner, Annette Robertshaw, of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said her brother had been visiting her and was eating some strawberries when Max took a shine to them. He offered Max one on a teaspoon but was caught totally by surprise when the dog gulped down both items.

Max did not suffer any immediate ill-effects but Mrs Robertshaw, 47, took him to her local PDSA pet hospital.

An X-ray showed the spoon lodged firmly in Max's stomach and he was rushed into surgery to remove it. 

PDSA veterinary surgeon Daniel Cook said: "I have never seen a dog that's eaten a teaspoon before although we do see lots of odd things that dogs have eaten, such as socks and children's toys." 

He said ideally pets should be fed from their own food bowls to avoid this type of accident.

U.S. Adds Sanctions on Iran for Proliferation, Oil

The U.S. announced additional economic sanctions on Iran targeting its weapons proliferation networks and “front companies” helping to evade international oil restrictions. The action is intended to disrupt Iran’s “nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as its deceptive efforts to use front companies to sell and move its oil,” the Treasury Department said in a statement today. The       Treasury identified as sanction targets four entities it described as “front companies” for Iran’s oil trade: Petro Suisse Intertrade Company SA (Petro Suisse), incorporated in Switzerland; HongKong Intertrade Company, based in Hong Kong; Noor Energy (Malaysia) Ltd, incorporated in Malaysia; and Petro Energy Intertrade Company, operating out of Dubai.

     “These identifications highlight Iran’s attempts to evade sanctions through the use of front companies, as well as its attempts to conceal its tanker fleet by repainting, reflagging, or disabling GPS devices,” the Treasury said in the statement. The Treasury designated 20 financial institutions under sanctions regulations. It also identified 58 vessels of the National Iranian Tanker Co., as well as NITC and 27 of its affiliated entities, as blocked or “frozen” pursuant to a U.S. executive order. The Treasury named individuals and entities allegedly involved in Iranian nuclear and missile proliferation activities.

http://global.factiva.com

Scrap prices for dry-bulk ships plunged 13 percent in the past year as oversupply and unprofitable charter rates prompts owners to scrap vessels

According to Bloomberg News, shipbreakers paid about $425 a ton for commodity carriers last month, compared with $490 a year earlier, based on Clarkson (CKN) Plc data. The tonnage sold in the first half rose 25 percent from a year earlier to 16.2 million tons.

“Owners haven’t got any option other than to scrap.It can definitely be deemed as a buyer’s market.”

Panamax vessels have led the jump in scrapping with 56 sold for demolition in the first half compared with 38 a year earlier, according to Clarkson. The tonnage sold has risen 33 percent to 3.37 million tons.

Older vessels “just cost too much” to operate. “It’s better for the shipping company to scrap” as such ships are also unlikely to comply with current regulations for ballast water and carbon emissions.

courtesy: Bloomberg News

Bean barge sinks

A barge filled with soya beans has sunk off the Philippines following a clash with a Costamare boxship.   The country’s coast guard said the Jupiter went down off Lucanin Point in Mariveles on Sunday night following the collision with the 1,550-teu Prosper (built 1996).  The barge was being towed to Manila from Subic by a tug when the accident happened. Prosper was en route to Subic.  The two crew on the barge were thrown into the sea, but were rescued.   Costamare hit the headlines last year when the Rena grounded on a New Zealand reef and later broke up.

http://www.tradewindsnews.com/incoming/279868/bean-barge-sinks