Petty Officer Cruel Kev's Blog to honor our Sailors, Mariners, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Airmen & Soldiers of the United States as well as Sailors & Mariners World wide.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Navy Panel: No Dismissal For Morale Boosting-Videos Captain
Navy panel says the former commander of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier who produced funny videos aboard the ship can remain in the service. The board of inquiry issued its recommendation Wednesday. It had been looking at whether to dismiss Capt. Owen P. Honors from the Navy. Honors was relieved of command in January after media reports about the videos surfaced. The videos included simulated same-sex shower scenes, anti-gay slurs and references to prostitution in foreign ports.
Honors says the videos were made to improve morale while teaching important shipboard lessons. He helped produce and appeared in the videos that aired on the ship between 2005 and 2007, when he was the ship's executive officer.The Navy has acknowledged the videos were wildly popular with most of the crew, but officials said Honors created inappropriate content on numerous occasions. In one of the videos, Honors acknowledged he had received complaints about "XO Movie Night," but didn't stop the videos. A Navy investigation found that Honors had produced at least 25 videos with inappropriate scenes and vulgar sailor type language.
Libyan rebels told a rescue ship not to dock at Tripoli port on Tuesday because conditions were "not optimum", leaving thousands of foreigners stranded at their embassies and waiting for the all clear to leave. "Until yesterday we believed that the port area was under the control of the opposition forces but overnight they told us to wait and not to dock," Jean-Phillipe Chauzy, spokesman for International Organization for Migration which chartered the vessel, said at a regular news briefing in Geneva.He said about 1,700 Filipinos, 2,000 Bangladeshis and 1,500-2,000 Egyptians had asked to be rescued and were "ready to go" and thought to be waiting near their embassies. The ship,"The Tasucu" with a capacity of 300, was due to pick up a contingent of Filipinos on Tuesday, and two or three other ships with capacity of around 1,000 people each could arrive within 48-72 hours, he said. "We can crank up the operation very quickly as soon as we have clearance to dock in the port of Tripoli," he said.
Cruise ship passengers on board Carnival's Legend left Sunday night out of Tampa despite the threat of Tropical Storm Irene.A spokesman for Carnival says they're keeping a close eye on the storm, but as of now the 7-day itinerary, which includes Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Isla Roatan, has not been changed.
A Pakistani country craft (a small wooden dhow) reportedly exploded off the coast of Salalah on Friday,, killing seven, including the captain. The reason behind the explosion is not known yet. Informed sources told Times of Oman on the condition of anonymity that the explosion occurred near the one of the five Khuriya Muriya Islands, 40km off the southeastern coast of the Sultanate.According to sources, nine on board the ship were rescued by a ship and were being transported to the Sultanate.“The coast guard men are engaged in rescue operations,” a source in Salalah said. The Pakistani country craft was reportedly heading to Somalia from Sharjah. Meanwhile, sources from Pakistan confirmed the accident to Times of Oman, saying that Fateh Mohammed, the captain, and six others on board had died in the explosion.
Merchant vessel (MV) Sinin which was hijacked by Somali pirates in February with 21 persons, including 9 Indians, on board was released on Saturday. In a statement released on Saturday, the director general of shipping confirmed the release and said that all the "21 persons, including 9 Indians, are safe". Owners of the ship have replenished fuel and food supply. The vessel is expected to reach Colombo by August 19, where it will be dry docked for inspection. tnnMaltese-flagged MV Sinin was on its way to Fujairah in UAE from Singapore when the pirates attacked it 350 nautical miles east of Oman. The bulk carriers, managed by Irano Hind Shipping in Tehran, also had 12 Iranians on board. Following a distress signal, an aircraft of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) immediately responded and it photographed two suspected Somali pirates skiffs on board the vessel.
Twenty crew members on board an oil tanker anchored near Kau Yi Chau were a step closer to getting US$149,035 in unpaid wages yesterday after Admiralty judge Mr Justice Anselmo Reyes ordered the appraisal and sale of the ship to settle outstanding bills. Jason Lam Wai-hong, assistant head of the International Transport Workers Federation in Hong Kong, said the crew of South Korean officers and Myanmese seamen had not been paid for six months. Lam said the crew would have "first priority" when proceeds from the sale of the ship were distributed among creditors. The ship, the 3,389 deadweight tonne tanker Samho Garnet, was arrested in April by lawyers acting on behalf of a Norwegian ship-investment fund, which is owed more than US$3.2 million in unpaid rental payments on two other ships. One of these vessels, the 19,924 deadweight tonne tanker Samho Jewellery with 21 crew on board, was hijacked by Somali pirates on January 15. The ship was freed six days later by South Korean commandos. All the ships are owned by financially troubled maritime company Samho Shipping, which is under court protection in South Korea. Creditors of Samho Shipping have had three other Samho ships held in Hong Kong since June. Lam said the Samho Garnet could be sold to a new owner next month. Sale proceeds will be paid into a special bank account and used to pay the crew, who will then be repatriated, and other creditors.Reyes said firms and organisations owed money related to the Samho Garnet would have 45 days to lodge claims once the ship was sold. Claimants are expected to include United Bunkering and Trading, which is owed for unpaid fuel. Lam said the crew on board the ship applied for legal aid last week to help in making the claim for unpaid wages. The crew are also being assisted by the Mission to Seafarers in Hong Kong. The local office of law firm Blank Rome seized the Samho Garnet of behalf of GSHI Chem-Prod Carrier II, an investment fund managed through Acta Holding. Samho Shipping was not legally represented in yesterday's Admiralty Court hearing. Lam said the federation was also helping 13 crew members on board the S Nicole, a 77,096 tonne dry-cargo bulk carrier, which is under arrest at the southeast Lamma anchorage. He said talks were under way between the federation and lawyers representing a South Korean bank to see if the bank would pay the crew. Shipping industry insiders said the captain on the S Nicole had not been paid for about five months, while the 12 Myanmese crewmen were owed about six months' wages. Lam said if the Korean bank did not agree to pay the outstanding wages, "the crew must go to court". Of the two other Samho ships held in Hong Kong, Reyes ordered the valuation and sale of the 13,153 tonne tanker Samho Cordelia last month for unpaid mortgage payments owed to Singapore's DVB Group Merchant Bank. A sister tanker, the 13,153 tonne Samho Gloria, was arrested last week.
On the night of Sunday, around ten pirates boarded the tanker Gotland Sofia, seventy km outside the port of Cotonou in Benin. The crew sought refuge in a locked room and the pirates later fled when units from Benin's navy approached."Had you asked me a year ago, I had been the perfect opponent against having armed guards, but today I am much more hesitant," said Jonas Engström, security officer of the shipping company Wisby Ship Management, to news agency TT. The government is currently investigating the question if armed guards should be allowed on board Swedish ships.
Navy panel says the former commander of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier who produced funny videos aboard the ship can remain in the service. The board of inquiry issued its recommendation Wednesday. It had been looking at whether to dismiss Capt. Owen P. Honors from the Navy. Honors was relieved of command in January after media reports about the videos surfaced. The videos included simulated same-sex shower scenes, anti-gay slurs and references to prostitution in foreign ports.
