BEYOND THE HORIZON
S.D. “Doc” Regan
June 2023 # 10
ENVIRONMENT
Supreme Beef, the company that desires to have an 11,600 cattle farm along Bloody Run Creek, a protected trout stream, lost a battle in court but a win in the legislature. The courts sent back a decision on the farm to the DNR that has been highly influenced by politics but questioned the overall project. Sierra Club had sued Supreme Beef and DNR tried to duck making a decision.
But the cows won in the legislature when the GOP banned the 70 monitors along vulnerable rivers and streams that DNR had placed in appropriate areas including Bloody Run. The baldness of the move is incredibly transparent. The Republican Senator who led the bill through the legislature is the father-in-law of one of the Supreme Beef partners. He argued that the money should be spent on farm conservation instead of monitoring water. How he said that with a straight face is beyond my comprehension.
President Joe Biden did win a worthy fight with Congress which passed significant limits on the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS), an act that Biden immediately vetoed. Congress tried valiantly to override the veto but failed by 10 votes to garner the 2/3 votes necessary to overturn the veto. While the voting was pretty much along party lines, one Republican member courageously voted with the Democrats.
On 23 March, Minnesota fishermen caught 30 Silver Carp (one of the Asian Carp). This is the largest total one-day catch at Pool 6 near Winona, MN. This is especially unusual being this far north.
Caterpillar Marine and Svitzer, a fully owned subsidiary of A.P. Moeller-Maersk, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) implementing methanol duel-fuel engines throughout the 440 tugboat fleet. Working together, the companies stated that they would reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and all emissions by 2040.
CAT said that their CAT3500# marine engines would all be built to accommodate methanol fuel. They were especially happy to have such a large partner as Svitzer. Yeah, who wouldn’t be happy? Caterpillar is guaranteed sales of 440 new engines and Svitzer has a real impact on that development. I guess this is a Win-Win-Win for the two companies and the environmentalists. Now about my CAT stocks…..
Those pesky “Forever” chemicals, per and polyfluorinated synthetic chemical compounds, simply do not break down in nature. Low levels of PFAS were used for nonstick cookware, sunscreen, Scotchgard, cosmetics, dental floss, food wrappers, and even fire-fighting foam. They are related to high cholesterol, testicular and kidney cancers, elevated blood pressure, liver function, colitis, reduced birth weight in babies, and several other health concerns.
The Center for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency have issued trepidations about eating locally caught fish. No fish with 220 parts per billion of PFAS should ever be consumed, 50 parts per billion should only be eaten once a month, 20- 50 parts per billion can be eaten once a week. Children and pregnant women should be even more careful eating fish. Predatory fish such as walleye and northern pike are especially full of PFAS. In the Upper Mississippi, sport fish should be eaten less than once a month. This includes crappies, bluegill, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass.
For the Catholics, I advocate eating only lobster tail or crab legs during Lenten Fridays. Ah, such a sacrifice is worth a couple of months less in Purgatory.
GRAY FLEET
Because the Navy has its combat fleet occupied with the Chinese, it had no vessels to evacuate American personnel from Sudan. Entering into the scheme of things are two other kinds of ships: the USS LEWIS B PULLER (ESB-3) and the USNS BRUNSWICK (T-EPF-6). The former is assigned as an expeditionary mobile base to support low-intensity missions, while the latter is a fast expeditionary transport ship. Once again, the US finds itself spread too thin to accomplish everything that the politicians want and demand of the Navy. Oh well, what else is new?
The Navy League of the United States recently issued its International Navies issue but did not describe all navies of the world. The Chad Navy was omitted, which is beyond my belief since it remains the most insignificant Navy on the planet. Chad ranks among the poorest countries on Earth and can barely provide food and water for its inhabitants. Still, she has a proud culture despite having a history of being a French colony (anything but French!!). If France has a Navy, then Chad had to have a Navy.
Realize that Chad is a long, long way from any meaningful water other than Lake Chad which in itself isn’t much of a waterway. The country is bordered by Libya, Cameroon, Sudan, Niger, and Nigeria. In other words, we are talking about a very, very dry and hot country. Lake Chad shrank by 95% during the middle of the 20th century. Although at 150 feet deep at its greatest depth, the lake contains 179 species of fish.
I love Chad’s military: The Army of Chad: (Forces Armées Tchadiennes—FAT) or Armées Nationales Tchadiennes (ANT). Can you imagine being attacked by FAT ANTS? The truth is that the Chadian Navy consists of 30 German gunboats on the Lake. “The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Ibok Ete-Ibas said “the decision of the navy to build 60 boats locally as part of its resolve to look inwards in the production of the nation’s naval hardware.” Currently, 23 Chad naval personnel are being trained in Germany.
Chad has suffered both internal and external conflicts. Corruption became evident when the government paid 24,000 soldiers only to discover the Army had 19,000 troops.
In 2008 the capital, N’Djamena, was the site of an insurrection led by part of the military. Daoud Soumain, Chief of Staff, was killed. In 2020, the jihadist group Boko Haram ambushed a group of soldiers. Fishing wars and control of the nation continue to be problematic. Truth be told, I have always been interested in Chad and Burkina Faso (the Capital is Ouagadougou) if only for their wonderful names.
Chad Gunboats
SMALL BOAT STUFF
During the first weekend in June Lake Pepin, the widest spot in the Mississippi River in Southern Minnesota, is set aside for the Lake Pepin Messabout where wooden boat builders and sundry boat types sail, enjoy each other’s company, eat too much, and camp out. I have attended several but have fallen out of the camping category in my old age. The website for this gathering is https://sites.google.com/site/pepinmessabout. Check this out, especially the photos going back to 2010. Some, like Mississippi Bob Brown, are deceased, but there are a lot of great people that gather there and great boat builds are apparent.
England is trying to outlaw small boats in the English Chanel between Great Britain and France because of the large number of illegal immigrants entering the country from France, which seems somewhat thrilled about getting rid of them. Recently, 40 people were rescued from a small, leaky rubber raft; however, four others died in the crossing.
Parliament is having a hissy fit about the number of helicopters, boats, and planes needed in continual rescue operations. They complain that the military cannot carry out their training and missions because of the chronic rescue demands. Furthermore, the cost is becoming a major issue. On top of all that is what to do with the illegals once they enter the country. Most have escaped from tyrannical rulers in Africa or the Middle East. To return them would mean immediate death.
Four men in a small boat went out on a windy day in a 12-foot dinghy when they were swamped and dumped off the shore of Stamford, Connecticut. They called their families and said they were being blown out to sea. Stamford Fire Department immediately sent 22 men to the rescue only to have difficulty in finding them. Using triangulates from cell phone towers, the firemen eventually reached the men. Unfortunately, two were dead and the other two were unconscious and in serious condition. Without details, the Fire Department said that one problem was a language barrier.
ALLISIONS AND COLLISIONS
An anchored KM LABITRA KARINA managed to get in the way of the passenger ship KM MUBUHAY NUSANTA off Indonesia. The latter had to go aground to avoid sinking. Nothing is worse than when some stupid ship is standing still exactly where I want to go.
KM MUBUHAY NUSANTA
BATIWAKAI PERMAI started leaking badly in the Celebes Sea. Nine crew were rescued by fishermen but two others were MIA. You would think that crew would not sign on to a freighter that leaks so badly that it is in danger of sinking. Hey, it’s a paycheck.
JOE Z flagged by Guinea Bissau, simply sank. Nine crew were missing.
On 14 April, the COSIMAL ROMANIA also got in the way of the livestock carrier MINA. The former also had to be run aground to avoid sinking.
The U.S. is not incapable of allisions, collisions, and issues. The ferry WALLA WALLA experienced a failed generator and lost way near Bainbridge Island in Washington. No injuries were reported and the passengers were transferred to fast ferries and returned to Bremerton, WA.
PETRA L, Antigua and Barbuda flagged vessel, smacked a wind turbine in the Gode Wind Farm in the North Sea while sailing from Poland to Merksem, Belgium. Severely damaged the ship limped into port at Emden, Germany.
PETRA L
SUPERSTITIONS
Sailors have always been a superstitious crew, probably because they had such little control over their personal destinies. Wind, storms, equipment failures, leaky boats, bad leadership, and disease dominated their lives. From the earliest times, those who went down to the sea in ships offered sacrifice to sundry deities and followed prescribed rituals to counter such domination.
Irish sailors often had a piece of ashwood in their pockets. They stole this concept from the Vikings who settled in Eastern Ireland and believed that the universe was held in place by an ash tree whose branches reached out in support of the world. I, the world’s worst sailor still alive to tell the tale, cut down my ash tree. No wonder I can’t sail for beans.
An active superstition is the fear of bananas on board. My brother was on a dive boat and the captain gruffly instructed them that no bananas were allowed on his boat. Like many superstitions, a tidbit of truth leads to this belief. Bananas tend to spoil rapidly and transport ships had to quickly deliver them to port regardless of wind, rain, storms, etc. Many a ship was lost hauling bananas.
Another truism that lurks in this superstition is that of poisonous spiders tended to hide in large bunches of bananas. If bitten by one of these lovely creatures, the sailor probably died. Another perfectly good reason not to have bananas on your boat.
For some reason, umbrellas are barred from ships. One author tells of being stuck in irons when the skipper screamed that there was a Jonah aboard, and he would find exactly who was the culprit. After searching the cabins of his crew, he found an umbrella. He called the crew together, broke the umbrella, and tossed it into the sea. Shortly thereafter, the wind picked up.
INLAND WATERWAYS
Marijuana is legal in 22 states yet it is considered a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance under Federal law and is illegal to be used by crew on inland waterways within several days of working on the water. The issue is that current tests may show signs of marijuana up to 67 days or longer because it tends to be stored in fat tissue. Several interested organizations are pushing for an oral test that is reliable for up to 72 hours. A worker may have legally used the drug a week before work. Under the current testing, he or she cannot work. With the new test, they are OK for their jobs. Worker retention and recruitment is in a perilous situation, and the drug testing problem demands some answers that the politicians do not want to remedy.
The last barge stuck on the Ohio River’s McAlpine dam has finally been removed. Several barges broke loose and lodged against the dam and a railroad bridge. Some sank. One of those barges contained 1,400 tons of liquid methanol that required constant monitoring of air and water before it could be successfully transferred. To remove the remaining barges, two barges filled with rocks were sunk as an anchor for chain pullers to pull the hooper barges away from the dam. Obviously, this effort demanded significant assistance, equipment, and know-how to be effective.
The Eastern Shipbuilding Group conducted tests on a new Weeks Marine dredge, R.B. WEEKS. This boat has a hopper capacity of 8,550 cubic yards. At 356‘ by 79.5’, this vessel has a draft of a significant 27’. She comes with IMO III/Tier 4 main engines from Wabtec Corporation and has a pair of Wartsila controlled-pitch props in a kort nozzle. She also has a Wartsila fixed-pitch tunnel unit bow thruster. Her main generators are from Hyundai with a Caterpillar emergency generator.
R.B. WEEK
U.S. SUPREME COURT MARITIME LAW
The Supreme Court is facing a pair of cases that may have a significant impact on federal agency operations. Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co. LLC addresses the issue of whether a federal admiralty law if a choice-of-law in a maritime contract can be rendered unenforceable if enforcement is contrary to state law that the admiralty law is displaced. In other words, who has jurisdiction over waterways: federal law or state law? Waters of the U.S. is a highly contentious concern with environmentalists desiring widespread definitions and the states (and conservative Republicans) demanding a narrower perspective. Iowa’s senior Senator Chuck Grassley is especially opposed to a wider definition claiming that the Feds want to control every ditch and dry-run creek. Both sides have legitimate points. However, this case is the right of states versus federal governmental mandates. It will be interesting.
The second case is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (National Fisheries). The Magnuson-Stevens Act (1976) allows the National Marine Fisheries Service to require a federal observer on board vessels to ensure fishing regulations, especially regarding overfishing. In an ironic feat, the Biden administration is defending a Trump-ordained fishery conservation program. The issue is cost. A federal monitoring service is estimated at $710 per day for 19 days which could reduce a fisherman’s income by 20%. No one is fighting the mandate per se. They are fighting over the cost Loper Bright Enterprises maintains over the agency’s statutory authority.
This brings up the “Chevron” deference. In Chevron v. National Resource Defense Council (1986), the Court directed judges to defer to a U.S. Agency’s own interpretations of laws and regulations that may be ambiguous. The Loper case could have a far-reaching impact.
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