Montecristo:Japanese escort backed off

D’Alesio officials explain that when the Montecristo came under attack, it was being escorted by a Japanese navy vessel. The pirates pounced when the Italian ship reached the Indian Ocean and the Japanese vessel moved off. The Montecristo had sailed from Liverpool and was taking a cargo of iron to Vietnam. The vessel’s captain is Venice-born Diego Scussat. Two of the other Italians on board are the deck officer, Stefano Mariotti, and officer cadet Luca Giglioli, the son of a D’Alesio Group employee.

Following the passage of Japan’s Law on Punishment and Measures against Acts of Piracy on July 24, 2009, its Self-Defense Force started vessel-escorting operations in the Gulf of Aden not only for Japanese vessels but also for all foreign vessels.”

“The legislation enables units of Japan’s Self-Defense Force (including P-3C patrol aircraft) to protect vessels from acts of piracy, complimenting other efforts made globally to ensure safe passage for ships off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden,”
Japanese MSDF anti-piracy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bjW_OyMZ5Q&feature=player_embedded
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MONTECRISTO:Antonio D’Alesio bulker hijacked

Somali pirates on Monday hijacked an Antonio D’Alesio bulker, who with his brother Nello has been at the helm of the D’Alesio Group for over forty years.
9325025 MONTECRISTO 9HA2348 Bulker 180263 2005
Bulk carrier with transom stern, strengthened double bottom. Five cargo holds. Five pairs of water ballast tanks.
Builder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., Ltd – South Corea
Delivery June 2011
Pirates hijacked the Italian-flagged Montecristo, some 620 nautical miles (1,148 kilometers) from the Somali coast.

. "The Vessel was hijacked on Oct. 10 in Gulf of Aden or further to the east at about 0700, no communications after that. Crew are 23, 7 Italians, 10 Ukrainians, 6 Indians," Dalmare said in a statement posted on the firm's website.

Montecristo was on heading to Vietnam which it came under attack approximately 450 nautical miles Northwest of Socotra, Yemen.

Rena: captain had been drinking?

An investigation will consider whether the captain of a stricken cargo ship had been drinking when the vessel ran aground off Tauranga, Transport Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Liberian-flagged Rena was carrying about 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and about 70 tonnes of marine diesel when it struck the Astrolabe Reef at top speed on October 5.
The course the ship should be steering is about three miles to the north of astrolabe reef and there are no obstacles in the way.

He said he would have seen the two flashes of a lighthouse and two white flashes every so many seconds to indicate Mortiti Island.

One possible factor - the ship is believed to not have been equipped with an electronic course plotter, which would have alerted the crew if she strayed from her intended route.

"Our understanding is on the bridge they have radar and they got a GPS that gives them their position and traditional paper charts on the chart table [the equipment] has been enough since World War II and it's kept the port safe."

The ship is put on automatic pilot and a watch keeper monitors the position of the ship and maintains its planned trip.

"He's looking out for the radar. He's looking out through the windows to look for anything that would impede a safe passage."

Lees said an alarm would be sounded when the auto pilot could not keep on course anymore.

But, the reef would not show on the radar because it is too low and there would be no proximity alarms to indicate danger.

Rena: video boxship stranded on Reef off NZ

Rene: Liberian-flag boxship stranded on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga NZ. The MV Rena's owners, Greece-based Costamare Inc, said they were "working tirelessly" on the response. .People know about the reef, and for it to plough into it for no particular reason - at night, in calm waters - tells you something terrible has gone wrong Officials say. 20-30 tonnes of oil have spilled into the Bay of Plenty, one of the country's top tourist destinations, since the MV Rena ran aground on October 5.
8806802 RENA A8XJ7 Container Ship 47230 1990
Official electronic charts that are considered 'paper equivalent' . at 22 years old this ship may still have been using paper charts,

http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/oil-spill-tauranga-harbour-new-video/1129419/

Shaky Bottoms : market risks

The market appears to continue to anticipate that at least some of these ocean carriers have a high probability of exiting the market. Several competitors within the sector are trading below book value, and also liquidated valuations, with fear of bankruptcy and/or selling off ships.
DryShips, Inc (DRYS)
Eagle Bulk Shipping, Inc. (EGLE)
Excel Maritime Carriers, Ltd. (EXM)
Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. (GNK)
Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NM)
Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (OSG)
Paragon Shipping Inc. (PRGN)
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The beta of an asset within a portfolio is

\beta_a = \frac {\mathrm{Cov}(r_a,r_p)}{\mathrm{Var}(r_p)},~

where ra measures the rate of return of the asset, rp measures the rate of return of the portfolio, and cov(ra,rp) is the covariance between the rates of return. The portfolio of interest in the CAPM formulation is the market portfolio that contains all risky assets, and so the rp terms in the formula are replaced by rm, the rate of return of the market.

Diver: ransomed, released

Dover released bulker after payment of 3.8 million in ranson, by helicopter they say

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Bataan ARG: awlaki - harriers and ospreys option

Harrier jets flying from an amphibious carrier off the coast were ready to take a shot if the CIA drone missed. There was even an option for sending in Marine Ospreys with Special Operations Forces to collect any intelligence left after the strike,
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