As of 1138Z today, I completed some maintenance on the site to put it in lay up. Commenting has been almost completely disabled, and I’ve turned up the settings on my anti-spam plugin to the “ravenous raptor” level.

I almost struck the site from the active list and disposed of it for scrap over the weekend. To keep it short, it’s become a distraction from bigger projects and I’m almost convinced it’s worn out its usefulness. I’ll let time be the judge, though.

I’ll update the site in October with my current thinking, but until then, this ship will sit idly at her moorings.

Blunders created ‘bombs’ that killed sailors on nuclear submarine

A catalogue of blunders led to the deaths of two sailors after an explosion and fire aboard a nuclear-powered submarine as it dived beneath the Arctic ice cap.

Last night ministers apologised, admitting the Ministry of Defence ‘must accept responsibility for what happened’.

A board of inquiry found that chemical canisters used to generate oxygen on submerged submarines were so badly mishandled that they were damaged and contaminated – effectively turning them into deadly bombs.

Investigators uncovered systematic failings and senior commanders said they had not realised how dangerous they could be.

The inquiry also found paperwork was deliberately altered – possibly fraudulently – so that hundreds of canisters condemned as unsafe could be put back into the supply
chain. The blast took place aboard HMS Tireless during an exercise last March, killing Leading Operator Mechanic Paul McCann, 32, and his 20-year-old crewmate Operator Maintainer Anthony Huntrod.

Somalia: More Naval Escorts Needed for WFP Food Ships

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) appealed today to naval powers to help protect its ships carrying life-saving assistance from pirate attacks, saying that as many as 2 million Somalis could go hungry without this essential help.

A Dutch frigate is scheduled to finish escort services for WFP on June 25. Since the escort system started last November, no WFP ships have been targeted by pirates, despite an upsurge of piracy in Somali waters — 31 attacks so far this year according to the International Maritime Bureau.

“Without escorts, our whole maritime supply route will be threatened,” said WFP Country, Director Peter Goossens. “Shipping companies are reluctant to sail unescorted to Somalia, and we have no offers to take over from the Royal Netherlands Navy.”

“Millions of Somalis are suffering from a combination of insecurity, drought and high food and fuel prices. If relief shipments slow down, we could face a major catastrophe,” said Goossens, adding that WFP is trying to scale up relief food distributions to avoid a disaster.

Indonesian Warships Off To Location Of Military Exercise

A total of 34 Indonesian warships with more than 13,000 Eastern Fleet personnel on Wednesday started moving toward the location of the joint military exercise in Sangata, East Kalimantan, Antara news agency reported.

Eastern Fleet commander Vice Admiral Lili Supramono is leading the taskforce moving the location of the joint military exercise which has its headquarters on the Indonesian warship KRI Surabaya-591.

Eastern Fleet chief spokesman Lt Col Toni Syaiful said that the 34 warships comprised one reconnaissance submarine, 15 frigates and corvettes, eight landing ship tanks (LSTs) as troops carriers, eight minesweepers, hospital ships, and special landing vessels, he said.
…
According to the spokesman, the naval forces joining in this year’s joint exercise were the biggest and the most complete since the first joint exercise in 1996.

Russia starts building new missile frigate for Indian Navy

The Yantar Shipyard in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad was slated to launch Wednesday construction of the third Krivak-class frigate for the Indian Navy under a second contract, the company said.

Russia previously built three Krivak-class frigates – INS Talwar, INS Trishul and INS Tabar – for India and delivered them all by the end of 2004.

In July 2006, India and Russia had signed a contract for the purchase of three additional Project 11356 Krivak IV-class guided missile frigates for the Indian Navy.

Everybody.

New laws to protect the United States from a ship-borne dirty bomb or weapons of mass destruction will impose a major financial burden on to US trade partners and consumers, experts warned Tuesday.

The measures, to enter force in 2012, will oblige countries to scan every one of the estimated 18 million cargo containers heading to the United States each year before they leave their port of departure.

Even if enough containers are checked to make the move efficient, it could cost around a billion dollars by the time the laws come into effect, according to expert calculations.

“We already see concerns about the high cost of living, with the massive rise in the price of fuel and commodities,” said Frederic Carluer, head of the customs and logistics programme at Le Havre University in France.

“If you add to that a significant increase in the cost of transport of the merchandise that makes up our everyday lives — from toys to mobile phones or televisions — public opinion will surely be against it.”

World Customs Organisation chief Michel Danet said: “It’s clear — whether it be 30 dollars, 50 dollars or 80 dollars (per container) — that will be passed down to the consumer. Governments won’t be handing out any presents.”

And neither will transporters, wholesalers or retailers. These costs – like taxes – always get passed along to the consumer. To see where you pay, just check the shelves of your local StuffMart.