On a good note it has been determined that the area is ‘mine free’ and is open to surface navigation (draft permitting).
the ghost of Bull Halsey is not amused
After reading the article, it’s nice to know that Greenpeace did the same thing just a few years prior. Couldn’t have happened to a better group of treehuggers.
[QUOTE=“Swampfox;95045”]After reading the article, it’s nice to know that Greenpeace did the same thing just a few years prior. Couldn’t have happened to a better group of treehuggers.[/QUOTE]
Speaking of which, has everyone gone to scuttlebutt and signed the Watson petition??? Why not?
Ah, nice. I have to get to my computer to check it out. The phone app is great, but the full site is so much easier to navigate by computer. Will do.
[QUOTE=cappy208;95047]Speaking of which, has everyone gone to scuttlebutt and signed the Watson petition??? Why not?[/QUOTE]
Indeed why not? Only 11 signers…c.captain is disappointed and feels the need for a drink
Photo of Guardian aground on Tubbataha Reef. Latest rumors have it that she has now broached and may have flooding in multiple compartments. Given the fiberglass hull, she might end up being a total loss.
[ATTACH]2820[/ATTACH]
Those waters are notorious for reefs and navigational hazards. Hope they can save the ship before it breaks up.
went aground after a port call…mmmmmmm
I hear the bridge controls are getting the blame
WAKE THE FUCK UP THERE you stoopid squids!
Crew evacuated as US Navy minesweeper remains stuck on Philippines reef
MANILA, Philippines —
A U.S. Navy minesweeper was stuck on a coral reef in the Philippines for a second day Friday, as the crew struggled to extract the ship and Philippine authorities tried to evaluate damage to a protected marine park.
The Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement that the crew of the USS Guardian was working to find out the best method of safely extracting the ship. Winds and waves were stronger Friday and may make it more difficult to free the ship, Philippine officials said.
It had just completed a port call in Subic Bay, a former American naval base west of the Philippine capital, when it hit the reef Thursday in the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, 640 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of Manila.
The ship was not listing or leaking oil but its bow struck the reef, said Angelique Songco, head of the government’s Protected Area Management Board, after flying over the ship in a Philippine Air Force plane. “(The ship) does not appear to be damaged.”
She said it was unclear how much of the reef was damaged. She said the government imposes a fine of about $300 per square meter (yard) of damaged coral.
In 2005, the environmental group Greenpeace was fined almost $7,000 after its flagship struck a reef in the same area.
The World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines said in a statement that according to an initial ocular inspection, the 68-meter (74-yard) long, 1,300-ton Guardian damaged at least 10 meters (yards) of the reef.
Songco said that park rangers were not allowed to board the ship for inspection and were told to contact the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Their radio calls to the ship were ignored, she said.
The Tubbataha Reef is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the Coral Triangle, the world’s cradle of marine life. It is off-limits to fishing and the collection of corals, wildlife and any marine life is prohibited. In 1992, UNESCO designated the reef as a World Heritage Site.
U.S. Navy ships have stepped up visits to Philippine ports for refueling, rest and recreation, and joint military exercises as a result of a redeployment of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region. The Philippines, a U.S. defense treaty ally, has been entangled in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Copyright The Associated Press
A good carpenter always blames his tools.
A friend of mine was an officer on the USS Chief. He said those sweepers are made of douglas fir. And the word in San Diego doesnt sound good for the little ship.
Maybe they were facebooking.
There’s more but HERE is the relevant clip:
By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS
[B]A digital chart used by the minesweeper USS Guardian to navigate Philippine waters misplaced the location of a reef by about eight nautical miles, and may have been a significant factor when the ship drove hard aground on the reef on Jan. 17.[/B]
As of Jan. 18, U.S. Navy ships have been directed to “operate with caution” when using similar electronic charts and compare the map data with paper charts, which are considered accurate.
I ran one of the first “paperless” bridges back in the 90’s while I was in. Even then I would not allow tracklines on just electronic charts unless they were plotted and approved on paper or run at least twice prior to use. Almost 15 years later and the e-charts are still at issue.
Oh wait, they are issued by the government. You get what you pay for and I did not fully trust them then, not now, and still compare the fathometer at every fix.
Carpe diem or quo basis or whatever buyer beware is in Latin. There ARE NO DO OVERS!
Any true prudent mariner will use paper charts. Digital charts, Ecdis, chart plotters and the like are backups. Did they have a Fathometer? The fact is, using digital charts and saying the reef is misplaced is not an excuse.
And they have to come out and state this?
“As of Jan. 18, U.S. Navy ships have been directed to operate with caution when using similar electronic charts and compare the map data with paper charts, which are considered accurate.”
Amazing lack of attention to detail and basic seamanship.
@XMSCCAPTAON:To make such a blanket statement in this day in age of class certified “paper chart free” wheelhouses is not a fair statement. Unless you are willing to personally buy and correct every chart needed for a voyage. I am not familiar with this particular vessel’s chart operating situation, but even if you are using just ECDIS, RADAR bearings and fathometer information should also be used.
Who has paper chart free wheel houses? Is there anyone besides our navy dumb enough to try that?
Buy and correct? From what I hear by guys in the Navy, they get a new print on demand chart for every voyage and at the end of the voyage, all the charts get cut up and trashed. Sounds like no corrections are needed.