South East Shipping News

Nicaragua plans to build inter-oceanic canal

 

Nicaragua has decided to construct an inter-oceanic canal which will link the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans and greatly facilitate the intercontinental cargo traffic, Press TV reports.

 

The Nicaraguan government’s decision to build the canal is aimed to cope with the sustained increase in the seaborne trade through Panama Canal which makes it difficult for big trading ships to cross the canal.

 

“In this precise moment, the global cargo traffic is increasing [by] three percent annually. Driven by development of economies such as India, China -- especially China -- and other developing countries like the BRICs, there is also eventual global economic recovery on the horizon. All of these create a strategic opportunity for Nicaragua to construct an inter-oceanic canal,” said Nicaragua’s Secretary to President for National Policy Paul Oquist.

 

The move, experts say, is expected to be hailed by Russia and China as two emerging economic powerhouses.

 

The geographic position of the Latin American country has made it capable of becoming the world’s new trading route as it enjoys the lowest elevation across the Americas in the south region of the country.

 

The United States and the European countries have long been intervening in Nicaragua’s affairs to reap the benefits that such a strategic canal could bring.

 

“The markets are actually behind them. They are facing Europe which is going down; no one can argue about that, it is true that Europe is going through a very difficult period. There is no possibility of Europe becoming more than it actually is. So, it is very, very important for the United States to find a better and improved way of going from the east coast to the west coast and toward the Asia-Pacific [region],” said Manuel Coronel Kautz from the Great Inter-Oceanic Authority.

 

Analysts says the economic benefits of such a landmark plan can promote the country’s financial position and turn it from one of the poorest countries in the region to a strategically important and rich state.

APM/Maersk moves to win the Panama Canal Sweepstakes with take-over of Suez and Super Post-Panamx ready -55 foot deep Terminals In Billion Dollar Offer to State of Virginia

 

APM Terminals Portsmouth Virginia, the largest privately owned terminal in North America. Image: APM Terminals

 

Beat This Miami, Charleston, Savannah!

• At 50-feet, the deepest shipping channels on the U.S. East Coast; fully prepared to accommodate the 10,000+ TEU vessels.
• More than 30 international steamship lines service the Port today, making Virginia a true maritime hub.
• Norfolk Southern and CSX offer on-dock, double-stack intermodal service to key inland markets in the Midwest, Ohio Valley and the Southeast.
• A leader in quality and environment - The Port of Virginia maintains ISO 9001 and 14001 certification.

 COPENHAGEN — The port-operating arm of Danish industrial conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (MAERSK-B.KO), APM Terminals, said Thursday it has made an offer to the state of Virginia to operate the cargo traffic facilities at the U.S. Port of Virginia.

In return for the long-term concession, APM Terminals offers to transfer ownership of its facility in the Portsmouth Marine Terminal at the port to the Virginia administration, in a strategic partnership deal that the company estimates to have a total value to the state of between $3 billion and $4 billion.

The proposal includes operation of freight facilities at the Port of Virginia, which is comprised by four marine terminals and adjacent inland services, all centered around the ice-free, natural harbor of Hampton Roads.

“Our proposal provides for the lowest cost, long-term solution for future growth at this time of a stabilizing economy and the eventual expansion of global commerce,” said APM Terminals Americas Region President Eric Sisco.

Included in the value estimate are initial payments, fixed concession payments, revenue sharing, capital investments and tax benefits, transferring market risk from the Commonwealth to the private sector, APM Terminals said.

The offer has been submitted to Virginia’s Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships and will undergo a detailed review in the coming months, APM Terminals said.

 

text size: TT

In three years 700 Dominican Republic cops accused in drug cases including head of port security

By EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic

Three high-ranking police officials in the Dominican Republic have been accused of providing security to drug traffickers, marking the latest public corruption case to hit the Caribbean nation as it tries to clean up its military and police.

The officials worked for the National Drug Control Agency and were arrested alongside four men allegedly waiting for a drug shipment bound for Puerto Rico, agency chief Rolando Rosado said Thursday.

The officials have been suspended from their jobs as have others who have been charged in drug-fueled corruption cases that have resulted in dozens of arrests and dismissals in recent years.

"It's a serious situation," said Tulio Castanos, vice president of the Institutional Justice Foundation, a non-governmental group that is helping the government design and implement police department reforms. "The people have lost faith in the police."

The Dominican Republic has a national police force of 32,000 officers and a military with 65,000 members, for a country of about 9 million people.

Since 2009, more than 700 agents with the National Drug Control Agency, a combination of police officers and military personnel on loan, have been removed for a variety of crimes, according to government statistics. Of those, 200 were suspected of involvement in drug trafficking.

Meanwhile, the national police force has expelled about 1,400 officers since 2010 for a variety of alleged crimes, including ties to drug trafficking, spokesman Maximo Baez said.

Members of the police and all branches of the military have become ensnared in drug investigations, including a recent one involving a navy officer in charge of port security accused of attempting to smuggle more than 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) of cocaine to Spain on board a cargo vessel.

In another case, nearly 20 officials, the majority with the navy, were accused in 2008 of killing seven Colombian drug traffickers to steal 1.3 tons (1.18 metric tons) of cocaine. Five of those officials were sentenced to 30 years in prison, while three others received 20-year sentences.

So far this year, authorities have confiscated more than 4 tons (3.6 metric tons) of cocaine. They seized nearly 7 tons (6 metric tons) during all of 2011.

"The biggest concern is that in almost every seizure, officials were implicated," according to a report by Citizen Involvement, a non-governmental organization that tracks corruption allegations in the Dominican Republic.

The government is now requiring members of the police and armed forces to pass polygraph and background tests. In addition, internal affairs units are regularly investigating corruption allegations and handing out punishments, which has been increasing along with the country's role as a stepping stone for cocaine and other drugs bound for the U.S. and Europe.

The government's attempt to address the situation comes amid growing concerns among Dominicans about the way drug trafficking has seemed to take a central role in the country.

But there is also pressure from the U.S., which was critical of Dominican anti-drug efforts in its annual 2012 trafficking report.

In a 2009 diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks and other organizations, the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic noted the country had an "embarrassing" drug seizure rate and cited a lack of resources for law enforcement and infiltration of the armed forces by criminal organizations.

Former President Leonel Fernandez and others also have cited low salaries, typically around $155 a month for police officers, as a long-standing problem that may be a factor in some corruption cases.

Complaints that police and military officials demand payment from drug traffickers to operate in certain neighborhoods are common, said Manuel Maria Mercedes, president of the National Commission of Human Rights.

Payments can range from $125 a week in poor communities to more than $1,000 a week for drug-distribution points in popular tourist regions, and shootouts ensue if they fail to pay, he said.

"Hundreds of citizens have lost their lives this way," he said.

Shipowners call proposed July 1, 2012

Panama Canal toll hikes "simply unacceptable"

 

Four days after the deadline set by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has sent a strongly worded letter describing plans to increase tolls by up to 15 percent as "simply unacceptable."

 

Instead the ICS suggested that the ACP shelve the planned July 1 increase and all previously scheduled increases. It said that ocean cargo carriers need at least six months notice to alter their schedules to avoid a more costly canal crossing and therefore the ACp should agree to the ICS request.

 

The International Chamber of Shipping is the principal international trade association for shipowners, with member national associations from 36 countries representing all sectors and trades and over 80 percent of the world merchant fleet.

 

The ACP published plans to increase its tolls last month, despite assuring industry clients in January there would only be one small adjustment to tolls before completion of the expansion project in 2014. Not long thereafter the ACP admitted that labor strife, poor engineering and substandard concrete mixing would likely extend the opening of the new section of the canal into 2015.

But the ACP never altered its plans to increase tolls on July 1, 2012 if agreed at a public hearing at the end of this month.

 

ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe, said there was no pressing need for the increases given that "canal revenues are currently very healthy."

 

Mr. Hinchliffe pointed out that while the Panama Canal is an important national asset to Panama, it also remains an essential part of international public infrastructure crucial to the smooth operation of the global supply chain and should "take this important public role into account when setting tolls."

 

"While the ACP proposal analyzes the impact of the toll rises on the competitiveness of commodity trades, no account is taken of the impact on shipping companies themselves ... many of whom are still forced to run ships at a loss in order to remain in the market," he said.

 

"We therefore request that the ACP rescind the current plans for increases in the next two years and concentrate on developing a toll structure that can be to the benefit of all parties to be introduced in late 2014."

 

The shipowners’ rebuttal came a day after the ACP Board of Directors approved a proposal to modify the Panama Canal pricing structure "to align Canal toll charges with the value the route provides."

 

 

As part of the tolls adjustment process, the ACP had established a consultation period from April 20 - May 21, 2012, during which the ACP agreed to receive formal written comments, opinions and written requests from interested parties to participate in the public hearing. The public hearing was held in Panama City, Panama, in the ACP's "Ascanio Arosemena" auditorium on May 23, 2012.

 

The ICS doggedly delayed its comments until after the event.

 

The proposal also increased the number of segments from eight to eleven by Panama Canal vessel type. It also divided the tanker segment into three distinct segments, established a new segment for container/breakbulk, and incorporated the roll-on/roll-off vessels into the vehicle carrier segment.

 

Once approved by all parties involved, the Panama Canal market segmentation scheme will include the following segments: full container, reefer, dry bulk, passenger, vehicle carrier and ro-ro, tanker, chemical tanker, LPG, general cargo and others.

 

Price Proposal

 

Effective July 1, 2012, the ACP proposes to increase the tolls for the following segments: general cargo, container/break bulk (new segment), dry bulk, tanker (redefined segment), chemical tanker (new segment), LPG (new segment), vehicle carrier and ro-ro (merged segment), and the segment known as others. The remaining segments will not be adjusted at this time. Additionally, there will be changes to tolls applicable to small vessels based on vessel length, to incorporate adjustments not previously considered.

 

"This proposal continues to align the Panama Canal tolls to the value, benefit and quality the route provides, and maintains the competitiveness of the Panama Canal", stated Alberto Alemán Zubieta, ACP Administrator/CEO.

 

 

  

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Port Status Information   JACKSONVILLE Port Status Information  Port Status Comments Last Changed PORT CANAVERAL OPEN Set Port Condition IV 05/26/2012 PORT OF FERNANDINA OPEN Set Port Condition X-RAY 05/26/2012 PORT OF JACKSONVILLE OPEN Set Port Condition X-RAY 05/26/2012 CHARLESTON Port Status Information  Port Status Comments Last Changed BEAUFORT OPEN   08/27/2011 CHARLESTON OPEN   08/27/2011 GEORGETOWN OPEN   08/27/2011 HILTON HEAD OPEN   08/27/2011

Privacy  | Plug-ins	Today is	Saturday, May 26, 2012

2012 Hurricane Season to be "normal" except for this storm off Canaveral

 UPDATE

TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION

NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL

805 AM EDT SAT MAY 26 2012 

 SUBTROPICAL STORM BERYL

 

FORMED IN THE SOUTHWESTERN ATLANTIC

OCEAN AT 26/0300 UTC. THE CENTER OF SUBTROPICAL STORM BERYL

AT 26/1200 UTC IS NEAR 32.0N 76.0W...ABOUT 175 MILES/280 KM SE

OF CAPE FEAR NORTH CAROLINA...AND 240 MILES/385 KM ESE OF

CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA.

 

BERYL IS MOVING WEST-SOUTHWESTWARD 4

KNOTS. THE ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1001 MB. THE

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS ARE 40 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 50

KNOTS.

 

 ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED MODERATE CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION COVERS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN FROM 30N TO 34N BETWEEN 72W AND 80W. RAINSHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN 60 TO 90 NM ON EITHER SIDE OF 22N78W AT THE CUBA COAST...TO 26N74W BEYOND 32N70W. A 24-HOUR RAINFALL TOTAL

FOR FREEPORT IN THE BAHAMAS...ENDING AT 25/1200 UTC...IS 9.70

INCHES

 

...TROPICAL WAVES...

 

AN ATLANTIC OCEAN TROPICAL WAVE IS ALONG 13N46W 7N48W 2N49W.

WIDELY SCATTERED MODERATE TO ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTIVE

PRECIPITATION IS FROM 7N TO 10N BETWEEN 40W AND 50W...AND

TO THE SOUTH OF 7N BETWEEN 50W AND 56W.

 

A CARIBBEAN SEA TROPICAL WAVE IS ALONG 16N66W...TO CURACAO...

TO 10N70W IN NORTHWESTERN VENEZUELA. NUMEROUS STRONG CONVECTIVE

PRECIPITATION IS ON TOP OF LAKE MARACAIBO IN NORTHWESTERN

VENEZUELA...AND JUST TO THE EAST OF THE LAKE WITHIN A 30 NM

RADIUS OF 9N69W. RAINSHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA

TO THE SOUTH OF 17N BETWEEN 60W AND 72W.

 

 

MIAMI, Florida -- NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida has issued a Special Tropical Weather Outlook due to a non-tropical low pressure system that has become better defined in the Atlantic off the coast of South Florida.

 

The notice, which does not require implementation of hurricane preparations, followed within ours of the announcement by the Hurricane Center that the rest of the season ought to be “Normal.”

 

 

Despite the extraordinary beginning, including 10 inches of flood in rain in a few hours in Doral, west of Miami, the experts say conditions in the atmosphere and the ocean favor a near-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin this season.

 

For the entire six-month season, which begins June 1, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says there’s a 70 percent chance of nine to 15 named storms (with top winds of 39 mph or higher), of which four to eight will strengthen to a hurricane (with top winds of 74 mph or higher) and of those one to three will become major hurricanes (with top winds of 111 mph or higher, ranking Category 3, 4 or 5). Based on the period 1981-2010, an average season produces 12 named storms with six hurricanes, including three major hurricanes.

 

NOAA’s outlook predicts a less active season compared to recent years,” said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. “But regardless of the outlook, it’s vital for anyone living or vacationing in hurricane-prone locations to be prepared. We have a stark reminder this year with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew.” Andrew, the Category 5 hurricane that devastated South Florida on August 24, 1992, was the first storm in a late-starting season that produced only six named storms.

 

"NOAA's improvement in monitoring and predicting hurricanes has been remarkable over the decades since Andrew, in large part because of our sustained commitment to research and better technology. But more work remains to unlock the secrets of hurricanes, especially in the area of rapid intensification and weakening of storms,” said Lubchenco. “We're stepping up to meet this challenge through our Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project, which has already demonstrated exciting early progress toward improving storm intensity forecasts."

 

In fact, new NOAA technology predicted the development of the tropical system that blossomed off North Florida last week, almost a full week in advance, as reported here exclusively at South East Shipping News.

 

That technology suggested half dozen different tracks for a tropical system now emerging over Florida, and suggests a 70% Chance of a Memorial Day Weekend Tropical Storm for Central Florida.

NOAA says that there is some potential for additional development into a tropical or subtropical cyclone late Saturday or early Sunday during the 2012 Memorial Day Weekend as the system moves northeastward into the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

The low will produce high seas off the southeastern Florida Atlantic coast which is bad news for boaters where Memorial Day weekend is traditionally a busy day for recreational boating and fishing.

 

The low is approximately 200 miles south-southeast of Port Canaveral, Florida.  Other busy cruise ports along South Florida such as the Port of Palm Beach, Port of Miami, and Port Everglades near Fort Lauderdale, Florida may also have local seas affected by this low pressure system.  Cruise passengers should check often with their particular cruise line for local weather updates affecting cruise itineraries.

 

As of 12:55 p.m. today, the low has a medium chance (40%) of becoming a subtropical or tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.  This is an increase from the 20% chance given by NOAA earlier this morning.

 

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours:

 

 

Forwarder wins landmark ruling on bankrupt shippers’ goods

By Gavin van Marle

05.24.2012 · Posted in Loadstar posts, Supply chain Add to favorites

 

Following a landmark judgment at the English High Court, logistics providers have won further protection against liabilities should a shipper go bust while the provider holds the shipper’s cargo.

The case, which saw UK logistics firm Uniserve pitted against accountancy giant KPMG, centred on a freight forwarder’s – as well as a haulier’s or shipping line’s – right to enforce their lien against administrators acting on behalf of bankrupt shippers.

“The first point for logistics companies, should a customer go into bankruptcy and the administrator comes demanding the goods, is don’t panic – there is now a precedent,” Uniserve MD Iain Liddell told The Loadstar.

According to Uniserve’s lawyers, Holman Fenwick Willan: “This judgment means that freight forwarders, liner shipping companies and road hauliers can now all feel much more certain about their legal rights when faced by administrators who refuse to settle debts in full, challenge liens and demand delivery up of goods.”

2011 was a disastrous year for UK lingerie chain La Senza, and in the second half of the year it failed to pay a number of Uniserve’s invoices within the agreed credit terms. As a result, Uniserve advised La Senza in December that it was enforcing its lien on the goods currently in its possession until the unpaid invoices had been settled.

However, La Senza went into administration the following month. KPMG was appointed as administrator and demanded that those goods still held by Uniserve be handed over as it had found a buyer willing to pay 50% of their value, if the deal was finalised within a short time frame.

Uniserve agreed, on the condition that KPMG pay its outstanding invoices and storage charges, and also offer “an indemnity in relation to any costs and/or claims that may arise out of Uniserve complying with La Senza’s order to deliver up the goods”.

KPMG declined that offer and made a court application that Uniserve deliver the goods, which had an invoice value of £2.2m, and without having to pay the invoices, charges or provide the indemnity.

It further argued that Uniserve had breached Insolvency Act moratorium by holding onto the goods between December and March – when the case was heard – without a court order.

With the deadline for the sale fast approaching, the judge, Sir Andrew Morritt, chancellor of the English High Court, ordered an expedited hearing, and the following eight days were described as “chaotic”.

KPMG changed its position several times, at one point suggesting that funds from the sale of the goods be put into an escrow account from which La Senza’s suppliers be paid, and any remaining funds be split between it and Uniserve – while Uniserve argued that arrangement would still leave it vulnerable to further claims from suppliers.

KPMG tried another tack, arguing that even if the lien was enforceable, it should be limited to the amount that Uniserve itself could sell the goods for, which it fixed at 5.5% of the invoice (it is hard to understand the logic behind this argument given that it had found a buyer willing to pay almost 10 times that).

In any case, the judge ruled that Uniserve had not broken the moratorium, rejected the escrow account proposals on the grounds that the threat of claims from La Senza’s suppliers were not purely theoretical, and dismissed the 5.5% figure because it would “fetter the terms of the lien”, and he ordered La Senza to pay the outstanding fees as well as legal costs.

“It is always sad when an important customer experiences financial difficulties, and creditors like Uniserve are exposed to potentially large losses. This judgment at least gives companies like Uniserve comfort that if they contract on suitable terms they will be recognized as secured creditors in an administration,” Mr Liddell said.

HFW noted that there had previously been significant doubt over whether a lien would be enforceable against the claims of a liquidator – the 1986 Insolvency Act placed a moratorium on liens – and also “whether a court would order delivery up of goods to the administrators, without an indemnity being provided to protect the forwarder/ carrier from potential costs and/or claims from third parties, arising out of delivery,” it said in a statement.

“Individual cases do still, however, always turn on their individual facts so whilst the judgment is most welcome as general guidance, legal advice should still be sought as soon as possible if a customer goes into administration owing significant sums.”

 

 

As of 1200 hrs May 25, 2012

 

AN ELONGATED AREA OF LOW PRESSURE EXTENDING FROM THE NORTHWESTERN
CARIBBEAN SEA ACROSS WESTERN CUBA AND INTO THE FLORIDA STRAITS IS
ASSOCIATED WITH A LARGE AREA OF DISORGANIZED SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. CURRENTLY THE SYSTEM LACKS A WELL-DEFINED
CIRCULATION CENTER...AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED
TO BE CONDUCIVE FOR SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM DURING
THE NEXT DAY OR SO. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...20 PERCENT...OF
BECOMING A TROPICAL OR SUBTROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS
AS IT MOVES NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE BAHAMAS AND INTO THE
SOUTHWESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN.

ALTHOUGH CONDITIONS ARE NOT CURRENTLY FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT...
THEY ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR THE FORMATION OF A
SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL CYCLONE BY LATE SATURDAY OR SUNDAY.
REGARDLESS OF ANY DEVELOPMENT...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING
ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE CAYMAN ISLANDS...PORTIONS OF CUBA...SOUTHERN
FLORIDA...AND THE BAHAMAS. ANOTHER SPECIAL TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR THIS SYSTEM WILL BE ISSUED ON FRIDAY. FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION ON THIS SYSTEM...PLEASE SEE HIGH SEAS FORECASTS ISSUED
BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...AND PRODUCTS FROM YOUR LOCAL
WEATHER OFFICE. 

 

 

 

TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
805 AM EDT THU MAY 24 2012

 

TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR NORTH AMERICA...CENTRAL
AMERICA...GULF OF MEXICO...CARIBBEAN SEA...NORTHERN SECTIONS OF
SOUTH AMERICA...AND ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE AFRICAN COAST FROM THE
EQUATOR TO 32N. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE
IMAGERY...WEATHER OBSERVATIONS...RADAR...AND METEOROLOGICAL
ANALYSIS.

BASED ON 0600 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1115 UTC...

...TROPICAL WAVES...

AN ATLANTIC OCEAN TROPICAL WAVE IS ALONG 10N34W 6N36W 1N37W.
ANY NEARBY PRECIPITATION IS ALSO IS PART OF THE ITCZ
PRECIPITATION.

AN ATLANTIC OCEAN TROPICAL WAVE IS ALONG 14N56W 10N57W...TO THE
NORTHEASTERN COAST OF GUYANA THAT IS NEAR 7N57W. SCATTERED
MODERATE TO ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION COVERS THE
ATLANTIC OCEAN AND THE SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA FROM 8N TO 14N
BETWEEN 54W AND 66W. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT RUNS FROM 21N35W
IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO 13N50W...TO 12N64W IN THE SOUTHEASTERN
CORNER OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA...IS INTERACTING WITH THE WAVE.

...THE ITCZ/THE MONSOON TROUGH...

THE MONSOON TROUGH EMERGES OFF THE SIERRA LEONE COAST NEAR 8N13W
TO 4N20W. THE ITCZ CONTINUES FROM 4N20W TO 3N25W 4N28W 1N35W
1N40W. SCATTERED MODERATE TO ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTIVE
PRECIPITATION TO THE SOUTH OF 10N TO THE EAST OF 30W.
ISOLATED MODERATE CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION IS ELSEWHERE TO THE
SOUTH OF 6N BETWEEN 30W AND 54W. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS
INTERACTING WITH THE 14N56W 7N57W TROPICAL WAVE.

...DISCUSSION...

THE GULF OF MEXICO...
AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PASSES THROUGH MISSISSIPPI AND
LOUISIANA...INTO THE NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF THE GULF OF
MEXICO...TO THE MEXICO GULF COAST NEAR 20N. COMPARATIVELY DRIER
AIR APPEARS IN THE WATER VAPOR IMAGERY ACROSS THE ENTIRE
AREA...EVEN PUSHING ITS WAY INTO THE NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF THE
CARIBBEAN SEA. THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE AREA IS AFFECTED
BY A SURFACE TROUGH THAT RUNS FROM THE NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF
THE CARIBBEAN SEA TOWARD THE SOUTHERN FLORIDA KEYS. THE
COMPARATIVELY DEEPER LAYER MOISTURE AND PRECIPITATION FOR THE
SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE AREA...INCLUDING SOUTH FLORIDA...
FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS...HAVE BEEN PUSHED EASTWARD BY THE DRIER
AIR. THE DRIER AIR NOW IS TO THE EAST OF 32N77W 25N80W 20N83W
16N86W ALONG THE HONDURAS COAST. SURFACE ANTICYCLONIC WIND FLOW
COVERS THE REST OF THE GULF OF MEXICO...MOVING AROUND A 1013 MB
HIGH PRESSURE CENTER THAT IS NEAR 27N87W. PLEASE READ THE HIGH
SEAS FORECAST...MIAHSFAT2...AND THE OFFSHORE FORECAST...
MIAOFFNT4...FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS ABOUT THE MARINE WEATHER
FOR 20 KNOT WINDS TO THE WEST OF 95W.

THE CARIBBEAN SEA...
AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE RUNS FROM EASTERN HONDURAS AND NORTHEASTERN
NICARAGUA...BEYOND CUBA TO THE EAST OF 80W...ACROSS THE
BAHAMAS...INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
RUNS FROM 21N35W IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO 13N50W...TO 12N64W IN
THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA...AND TOWARD THE
AREA OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA/NORTHWESTERN VENEZUELA. COMPARATIVELY
DRIER AIR IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY COVERS MUCH OF THE AREA.
DEEP LAYER MOISTURE AND PRECIPITATION ARE IN THE NORTHWESTERN
CORNER OF THE AREA...WITH THE RIDGE AND THE SURFACE TROUGH.
BROKEN MULTILAYERED CLOUDS AND POSSIBLE PRECIPITATION ARE IN THE
SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE AREA WITH THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH...
TO THE SOUTH OF 15N BETWEEN 54W IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND 66W.
A SURFACE TROUGH CONTINUES FROM THE FLORIDA KEYS...ACROSS
WESTERN CUBA...TO A 1009 MB LOW PRESSURE CENTER THAT IS NEAR
22N81W. THE SURFACE TROUGH CONTINUES FROM THE LOW CENTER TO
18N83W AND CENTRAL HONDURAS. NUMEROUS STRONG CONVECTIVE
PRECIPITATION IS FROM 17N TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN SIDE OF CUBA
BETWEEN 78W AND 81W...BETWEEN JAMAICA AND CUBA. THE PRECIPITATION
THAT WAS OCCURRING IN CENTRAL AMERICA DURING THE LATE NIGHT AND
EARLY MORNING HOURS APPEARS TO HAVE DISSIPATED. THE MONSOON
TROUGH IS ALONG 9N76W IN NORTHERN COLOMBIA...TO 9N80W IN
PANAMA...BEYOND 10N84W IN COSTA RICA. THE MONSOON TROUGH
CONTINUES THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AMERICA...FROM COSTA RICA INTO
WESTERN GUATEMALA. WIDELY SCATTERED MODERATE TO ISOLATED STRONG
CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION IS TO THE SOUTH OF 12N TO THE WEST OF
76W. PLEASE READ THE HIGH SEAS FORECAST...MIAHSFAT2...AND THE
OFFSHORE FORECAST...MIAOFFNT3...FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS ABOUT THE
20 TO 25 KNOT WINDS AND THE 8 TO 9 FOOT SEA HEIGHTS...EITHER TO
THE EAST OF 77W OR TO THE WEST OF 77W.

Deep Blue Sea to Give Up Its Secrets to Google

Posted by Robert K. Ackerman on 5/17/12 • Categorized as Event Coverage

 

The leading global search engine is turning its eye on two-thirds of the Earth’s surface and its underlying terrain, according to a leading official. Michael T. Jones, chief technology advocate for Google Ventures, told an audience at Joint Warfighting 2012 in Virginia Beach how two new endeavors will provide new information about the world’s oceans and their users.

Coming soon will be a Google Map function that tracks every ship in the world through their Automatic Identification System transponders. In a few weeks, two Google microsats will allow 1 billion users to follow ship passages around the world, including military vessels.

“I as a citizen can do this, but the entire Defense Department can’t do this,” Jones said of this low-cost situational awareness system.

Soon, the deepest parts of the ocean soon may be giving up their secrets. Google has built a small sonar buoy that is generating 5-centimeter imagery of the ocean floor in tests. As it passes over long-ignored parts of the world’s oceans, it will be imaging whatever lies on the bottom. This may include the wreckage of crashed reconnaissance satellites or disposed chemical warfare drums, for example.

This information would be available to anyone, and Google has opened a dialogue with the U.S. government about the sudden ubiquity of this kind of data. But that does not remove the threat of others taking the same approach. “If we were the Chinese government, we wouldn’t have that dialogue,” Jones points out. “If Google can do it, so can the Chinese, and they won’t have that dialogue.”

Seafreight Early Storm in Atlantic/Caribbean a Possibility The 2012 hurricane season might get an early start, with the possibility of a tropical depression or storm in the western Caribbean some time next week, according to a cutting-edge forecast Tuesday by federal scientists. Reporter: Kate Spinner, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

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The 2012 hurricane season might get an early start, with the possibility of a tropical depression or storm in the western Caribbean some time next week, according to a cutting-edge forecast Tuesday by federal scientists.

The Climate Prediction Center predicted moderate chances that a tropical depression or a storm will form in the Caribbean during the last week of May.

Even if no storm develops, the prediction signals that the Atlantic is becoming primed for tropical activity as June 1, the official start of the six-month hurricane season, nears.

"It's something to pay attention to. It might be a little earlier than normal," said Eric Blake, a specialist with the National Hurricane Center.

While the two-week tropical hazard forecasts by the Climate Prediction Center are not very accurate now, meteorologists there are working with the National Hurricane Center to improve them. Within a few years, the two agencies plan to start making a joint two-week forecast, with the hurricane center taking the lead on the first week and the climate center handling the second, said Blake, who gave a presentation about the project at the Governor's Hurricane Conference on Tuesday.

He said the hurricane center began working with the climate center on the two-week outlook shortly after the busy 2005 hurricane season.
"The challenge has really been eliminating the false alarms," Blake said.

The two-week outlook mostly relies on thunderstorm activity around the global tropics to predict where chances are increased for a tropical storm or depression to form. Clusters of thunderstorms occasionally move around the globe in a weather pattern called the Madden-Julian Oscillation or MJO. When the thunderstorms are over the Caribbean and Africa, the chances for tropical storms to develop in the Atlantic increase, Blake said.

But because weather is so variable, forecasts that extend beyond a week tend to have a large margin of error. The five-day forecast for tropical activity, however, is getting much better.

Blake said the hurricane center will experiment this year, in-house, with predicting the formation of tropical storms five days in advance. If the forecasts pan out, weather buffs, fishermen, shipping businesses, emergency planners and those in the oil and gas extraction industries could benefit from those forecasts beginning next year.

 

 

      

 

Information Technology Sector

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May 16, H Security – (International) Avira update fixes Service Pack bug. Avira said it resolved the problems caused by a Service Pack released for its Windows products earlier the week of May 14. Users are advised to trigger a manual update to download the fix. Once installed, the update should prevent the program from blocking legitimate Windows applications on systems running Avira. May 14, Avira released "Service Pack 0" for all of its Windows products. Once the update was installed, the "ProActiv" behavioral monitoring component in Avira Antivirus Premium 2012 and Avira Internet Security 2012 blocked the execution of essential programs and trusted system processes. Those affected by the problem need to update Avira manually; once the update is installed, the ProActiv module can be reactivated. Source: http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Avira-update-fixes-Service-Pack-bug-1576614.html 30. May 16, Computerworld – (International) Google releases Chrome 19, adds tab sync and patches 20 bugs. May 15, Google released Chrome 19, patching 20 vulnerabilities in the browser. Eight vulnerabilities were ranked "high," seven were marked "medium," and five were labeled "low." Seven of the vulnerabilities were described in Google’s brief advisory as "out-of-bounds" read or write flaws, a category of memory bugs where a function does not check that input does not exceed allocated buffers. Google paid bounties to six researchers for reporting nine vulnerabilities, including two not strictly within Chrome. The 11 remaining bugs were uncovered by Google’s own security team or were credited to Microsoft, or were not significant enough to rate a bounty. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227196/Google_releases_Chrome_19_adds_tab_sync_and_patches_20_bugs 31. May 16, H Security – (International) QuickTime for Windows update plugs security holes.

Version 7.7.2 of QuickTime for Windows was released to address 17 security vulnerabilities in the media player. According to Apple, these include integer, stack, and buffer overflows, as well as memory corruption issues, all of which could be could exploited by an attacker to crash the application or execute arbitrary code on a victim’s system. For an attack to be successful, a user must first open a malicious Web site or a specially crafted file. The company notes that, on Mac OS X, many of the holes were

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already fixed in Mac OS X 10.7.3 and 10.7.4 Lion, and Security Updates 2012-001 and 2012-002 for Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard systems. A majority of these vulnerabilities were discovered by members of TippingPoint’s Zero Day Initiative. Source: http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/QuickTime-for-Windows-update-plugs-security-holes-1576777.html 32.

 

May 16, Softpedia – (International) High-ranked sites blacklisted by Google after being hijacked. Zscaler experts scanned the first 1 million Web sites found in Alexa’s top listings and found 621 of them are blacklisted by Google, even though some of them are legitimate Web sites visited by numerous users every day. How can a legitimate Web site get on the Google Safe Browsing list? For instance, subtitleseeker(dot)com, a Web site that offers subtitles for movies and TV shows, is ranked 6,239. The site is not malicious in any way, though Google still cataloged it as such once it detected abnormal activity on it. According to Zscaler, Subtitle Seeker was compromised and altered to host a malicious JavaScript. Other examples include sites that promote "work from home" scams, adult content, and fake antivirus software, but the majority of them were altered to push malicious PDF files, adware, and other types of malware. Some sites were blacklisted because they were found to contain iframes and JavaScripts with malicious intent. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/High-Ranked-Sites-Blacklisted-by-Google-After-Being-Hijacked-269879.shtml 33. May 15, The Register – (International) Scammers exploit wannabe demon-slayers hyped by Diablo III. Cybercriminals targeted the release of Diablo III, May 14, with scams themed around the widely anticipated video game. Blizzard’s games systems collapsed due to the higher than expected demand for the game, the London Guardian reported. The software company is attempting to stop pirates from stealing the new role-playing game by forcing users to log into its servers before they can start playing it. This created a bottleneck centered around log-in systems at Blizzard, which struggled to service demand. Technical glitches were an unexpected bonus for scammers, who launched scams featuring the promotion of bogus crack and key-gen sites. These fake sites might potentially be more attractive than they normally would be as gamers struggle to acquire legitimate content through regular channels. Some of the scam sites GFI Software identified included supposed online key purchasing sites that actually install malicious software. Other spam Diablo III-themed links collated by the security firm lead to unrelated flash games, spam linkdumps, and a "donation experiment" where installs of the software offered enter targets into a supposed prize draw giveaway. These various scams are being promoted through the Web at large and social media Web sites, including Facebook and Pinterest. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/15/diablo_3_scams/ 34. May 15, Help Net Security – (International) Pinterest scam toolkits widen the pool of potential scammers.

Pinterest scam toolkits are available for sale to inexperienced scammers, according to McAfee. Usually sold on underground forums, these toolkits contain many tools. All actions needed to scam users are included and automated: creating Pinterest invites and mass comments on posts, mass creation of bit.ly links, and scraping Amazon for products based on given keywords and then submitting them

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to Pinterest. Pinterest scams usually work by luring people in with offers of free gift cards, and the offered links land them either on sites hosting survey scams, on Amazon or other sites (which results in the scammers earning money by referral), or lead them to premium rate trojans (if the Pinterest visitor uses a mobile device to visit the site). Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=12931&utm 35.

 

May 15, IDG News Service – (International) Wikipedia warns users about malware injecting ads into its pages. Visitors to Wikipedia who see advertisements on the site have most likely fallen victim to a browser-based malware infection, Wikimedia Foundation, the organization operating the Web site, said May 14. "We never run ads on Wikipedia," said the director of community advocacy for the Wikimedia Foundation. "If you’re seeing advertisements for a for-profit industry ... or anything but our fundraiser, then your Web browser has likely been infected with malware." One example of such malware is a rogue Google Chrome extension called "I want this," the director said. However, similar malicious add-ons might also exist for Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and other browsers, he said. This type of malicious software is known as click fraud malware and can target multiple Web sites at once. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227179/Wikipedia_warns_users_about_malware_injecting_ads_into_its_pages 36. May 15, Threatpost – (International) Stolen certificates found in malware possibly targeting Tibetan groups. The recent trend of attackers using stolen digital certificates to make their malicious executables look legitimate is continuing unabated, with researchers now having come across a series of variants of the Etchfro trojan that are using certificates taken from several companies and issued by VeriSign, Thawte, and other certificate authorities. After looking at recent examples of malware signed with stolen certificates, researchers at Norman ASA, a security firm in Norway, noticed there was an aberrant string in one specific optional field included in the stolen certificates. It is unclear what, if any, purpose the string serves, but Norman researchers started searching the company’s malware database, looking for other samples with the same string. The search yielded more than 20 samples with the same atypical string, and each of them included a stolen digital certificate. All of the malware samples, except one, was some version of the Etchfro trojan. The other one is a version of the Gh0st RAT tool. Source: http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/stolen-certificates-found-malware-possibly-targeting-tibetan-groups-051512 For more stories, see items 23 and

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