Britain takes over government of Turks and Caicos Islands

Britain imposed direct rule over the Turks and Caicos Islands in mid-August after allegations of corruption, according to news reports.
The ministerial government and the House of Assembly were suspended, as was the constitutional right to trial by jury.
“This is a serious constitutional step which the UK government has not taken lightly, but these measures are essential in order to restore good governance and sound financial management,” British Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant said in a statement.
The island nation is expected to have elections by July 2011, “if not sooner,” the statement said.
The allegations of corruption were documented in a report delivered May 31 that found “information in abundance pointing to a high probability of systemic corruption and/or serious dishonesty.”
“This, together with clear signs of political amorality and immaturity and of general administrative incompetence, demonstrated a need for urgent suspension in whole or in part of the constitution and for other legislative and administrative reforms,” the Foreign Office said.
The report also recommends criminal investigations into former Premier Michael Misick and four of his former Cabinet ministers. They have yet to be charged.
“I believe the suspension has less to do with the corruption and more to do with new Labour’s policy toward the [overseas] territories, particularly in relation to tax havens,” Misick told the Times Online.
“I believe there is a more extensive plan to reel in the territories and get them to abandon their financial services, which is a major fabric of their economies.”

Abnormal sea levels detected

Persistent winds and a weakened current in the Mid-Atlantic contributed to higher than normal sea levels along the Eastern Seaboard in June and July, according to a new technical report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
After observing water levels six inches to two feet higher than originally predicted, NOAA scientists began analyzing data from select tide stations and buoys from Maine to Florida and found that a weakening of the Florida Current Transport – a current that feeds into the Gulf Stream – in addition to steady and persistent Northeast winds, contributed to this anomaly.
“The ocean is dynamic and it’s not uncommon to have anomalies,” said Mike Szabados, director of NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. “What made this event unique was its breadth, intensity and duration.”
The highest atypical sea levels occurred closer to where the anomaly formed in the Mid-Atlantic, where cities such as Baltimore, Md., at times experienced extreme high tides as much as two feet higher than normal.
Impacts of the event were amplified by the occurrence of a perigean-spring tide, the natural timing of the season and month when the moon is closest to the Earth and its gravitational pull heightens the elevation of the water. The combined effects of this tide with the sea level anomaly produced minor flooding on the coast.
“The report is a good first assessment,” said NOAA Oceanographer William Sweet, Ph.D. “However, NOAA, with our academic partners, should continue to investigate the broader causes behind the event. Further analysis is needed to fully understand what is driving the patterns we observed.”
The full report – Elevated East Coast Sea Level Anomaly: June-July 2009 – can be viewed at http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov.

Young sailor stopped

Thirteen-year-old Laura Dekker was put under temporary state care in August in the Netherlands after her father gave her permission to sail around the world solo.
The state control is limited to two months while judges and lawyers discuss and determine whether Laura should be permitted to make the journey, which would make her the youngest person to do so. Her parents support her plans.
Laura planned to spend two years aboard her 26 foot (8m) boat, Guppy, to break the record set in late August by 17-year-old Mike Perham of the UK.
The Dutch Child Protection Agency requested Laura be made a ward of court because it was “irresponsible for such a young girl to make a two-year solo trip around the world.”
According to news reports, Laura was born on a yacht off New Zealand during a seven-year world trip, and spent the first four years of her life at sea. She had a yacht by the age of six and began sailing solo when she was 10.
A psychologists’ report is expected this month.

Young sailor makes it

Seventeen-year-old Briton Mike Perham became the youngest person to sail round the globe single-handed on Aug. 27 after nine months at sea.
Mike suffered knockdowns and damage to his yacht during the 24,000-mile (38,700-km) trip and the teenager from Hertfordshire, southern England, said he was now looking forward to a “good meal and a very good night’s sleep,” according to a story by Reuters news service.
Perham, who started sailing at age seven, was the youngest person to sail across the Atlantic Ocean, when he was 14 in 2007, Reuters reported.

Aussie girl crashes into cargo ship

Sixteen-year-old Australian Jessica Watson collided with a cargo ship in early September as she set off from southern Queensland to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
Jessica left Mooloolaba en route to Sydney in her boat, Ella’s Pink Lady, when she encountered a busy shipping channel 15nm off North Stradbroke Island’s Point Lookout. She was below deck at the time of the incident and was not injured.
Gold Coast Marina will repair the yacht free of charge, according to a story in the Brisbane Times. Damage to her hull was worse than originally thought.

U.S. investigates death at Trinity

Officials with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating an apparent work-related accident in which a worker was killed at Trinity Yachts in Gulfport, Miss.
The county coroner said 46-year-old Luong Huynh of Biloxi was struck and killed by a moving crane on one of the boats under construction at the shipyard.
Local press reported an autopsy showed Huynh died of blunt force trauma to the head.
The coroner ruled the death an accident. He said the fatality was the first work-related death reported at Trinity Yachts. Trinity employs about 800 people.

U.S. drafts national ocean policy

Obama Administration officials released an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force Interim Report on Sept. 17
for a 30-day public review and comment period. The report provides proposals for a comprehensive national approach to uphold our stewardship responsibilities and ensure accountability for our actions.   
The task force was created on June 12 to do three things: develop a national policy for the ocean, U.S. coasts, and the Great Lakes; create a framework for improved federal policy coordination; and design an implementation strategy to meet the objectives within 90 days.
1. The report proposes a national policy that recognizes that America’s stewardship of the ocean, its coasts, and the Great Lakes is intrinsically and intimately linked to environmental sustainability, human health and well-being, national prosperity, adaptation to climate and other environmental change, social justice, foreign policy, and national and homeland security.
2. The report proposes that the White House lead an interagency National Ocean Council to coordinate ocean-related issues and the implementation of the National Ocean Policy.
3. The report prioritizes nine categories for action, including ecosystem-based management, regional ecosystem protection and restoration, and strengthened and integrated observing systems.
The report is available for review and public comment at www.whitehouse.gov/oceans. The Task Force will provide a final report with all of its recommendations later this year. 
“[This report] delivers on President Obama’s request for recommendations that will move this country toward a more robust national policy for our oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes and recognizes that we have a responsibility to protect the oceans and coasts for the benefit of current and future generations,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.   
The task force, led by Sutley, consists of 24 senior-level officials from Administration agencies, departments, and offices.
“This is a historic day,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “For the first time, we as a nation say loudly and clearly that healthy oceans matter.”

2010: Year of the Seafarer

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has designated 2010 “the year of the seafarer.”
The IMO says its goal is to offer “an opportunity to pay tribute to the world’s seafarers for their unique contribution to society and in recognition of the risks they shoulder in the execution of their duties in an often hostile environment.”
Events planned to honor seafarers next year will dovetail with an international campaign, launched in 2008, to attract young people to the maritime industry.
“The unique hazards confronting the 1.5 million seafarers of the world – including pirate attacks, unwarranted detention and abandonment – coupled with the predicted looming shortage of ships’ officers, make it ever more incumbent to take immediate and effective action to forestall a situation from developing in which ships are not manned with sufficient skilled personnel,” says IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos.
Reported in a recent edition of Wheelhouse Weekly, a newsletter of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots. It has been reprinted with permission.

Boat injuries, deaths up slightly

The U.S. Coast Guard has released a report on recreational boating injuries, showing a slight increase in the number of deaths over 2007.
In 2008, the U.S. Coast Guard counted 4,789 accidents that involved 709 deaths, 3,331 injuries and about $54 million of damage to property.
More than two-thirds of all fatal boating accident victims drowned, and of those, 90 percent were not wearing a life jacket. Seven of every 10 boaters who drowned were in boats less than 21 feet in length.
Just 10 percent of deaths occurred on boats where the operator had received boating safety instruction.
The top five contributing factors in accidents were careless/reckless operation, operator inattention, no proper lookout, operator inexperience, and passenger/skier behavior.
There were 12,692,892 boats registered in the United States in 2008, a 1.4 percent decrease from 2007.