Amver Presentation at Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase

Earlier this month Amver presented at the Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase in Washington, DC. If you weren't able to attend the event we have posted the presentation below.



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Video courtesy of Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase

Everything Arctic

It seems there is no shortage of articles and opinions about global warming, shipping, and how that relates to the Arctic. In fact, Amver's boss, United States Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen recently provided a nice round up of Arctic links in the trip synopsis of his northern visit.

Amver is no stranger to writing about the Arctic. Whether it be suggestions we have for Arctic search and rescue or an interview with an Arctic shipping expert, we have covered the Arctic many times.

Recently, however, the New York Times featured a story about the Beluga Group and their success using the Northern Sea Route to move fuel between Russian ports. Beluga is no stranger to Amver with many of their ships enrolled in the system.

As we prepare for our trip to NEVA, and an Amver awards ceremony in Russia, we hope the increased focus on Arctic shipping will spur greater participation in Amver by ice class vessels or those transiting polar waters.

Do you think shipping will increase in the Arctic Ocean?

Photo credit: uploaded to Flickr by Alaskan Librarian

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Welcome Wednesday!

While Amver prepares for the upcoming NEVA exhibition we don't have a lot of time to write incredible prose on why you should enroll your ship. Instead, follow the example of thees ships:

• AZUL LAGENDA
• KEMBLA II
• BUDI MESRA DUA
• DANCING BRAVE
• MINERAL NINGBO
• BULK NEPTUE
• YUYO SPIRITS
• KURPIE
• PB COOK
• MARUBA AFRICA
• DELTA HARMONY
• GLENDA MEGAN
• PHILIPPINE EXPRESS
• W-O EMOCEAN
• LYGRA
• ITAL MELODIA
• TORM LILLY
• BRASILIA HIGHWAY
• ALPINE ETERNITY
• SUMMIT AFRICA
• PARAPOLA
• BOURBON LIBERTY 203
• SILVER EXPRESS
• ATLANTIC HOLLYHOCK
• GUARD CELENA
• COASTAL EXPRESS-1
• MANISTEE
• MARITIME CHAMPION
• TORM PACIFIC
• DEEPWATER DISCOVERY
• FERNANDINA
• SINCERITY ACE
• SCYTHIA GRARCA
• MARZHAN
• MANDARIN FORTUNE
• ATLANTA
• PROUD
• AZURE
• CMA CGM BELLINI
• LIBERTY PRIDE
• MCT STOCKHORN
• MAERSK BRATAN
• MARCO

It's great to see so many vessels enroll in the Amver system. Even better would be to see a surge of enrollments while we are at NEVA. There are many Russian Federation ships that could enroll and add to Amver's capacity to save lives.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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Twitter + Disney + Amver = Lives Saved

Well it's happened again. Another search and rescue case has been captured on Twitter. This time, however, an Amver ship was involved in the rescue. What happened?

Several days ago the cruise ship Disney Wonder, an Amver participant, was steaming back to Florida when they rescued a passenger that had gone overboard from a Carnival ship. Twitter user BigHeadDennis happened to see the rescue and Tweeted the message you see to the right. You can read the full story here.

Hats off to the master and crew of the Disney Wonder and to Gary Burke from the United States Coast Guard Operations Systems Center who alerted us to the case. Thanks Gary!

Have you Tweeted a rescue case on a cruise?

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Recent Arctic Rescue Underscores Need For Amver

The United States Coast Guard 17th District reported yesterday that Coast Guard authorities coordinated the rescue of an ill passenger aboard the cruise ship Bremen in the Arctic Ocean on Thursday, September 3, 2009.

The Bremen, owned by Hapag Lloyd Cruise, has been an Amver participant since 1991.  The Bahamian flagged vessel often sails in the Arctic and Antarctica.  By making itself available to Amver it adds to the safety of vessels and crews transiting these austere areas.  Earlier this year we wrote five recommendations about how Amver could be used in the Arctic.  Hopefully this incident, and our recommendations, can serve as a reminder of the need for Amver vessels in the Polar regions.  

We strongly encourage ice class vessels enroll in the Amver system.  Companies such as Fednav have taken the lead and enrolled their entire fleet.  Do you have ice class vessels in your fleet?  Have you enrolled them in Amver?

Photo credit: Fotolia

Amver Is Speaking At The Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase

Benjamin Strong, Director of Amver Maritime Relations, will be speaking at the Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase in Washington, DC on September 8, 2009. The topic, Government as a protector, includes examples of how Amver shares vessel data with international rescue coordination centers to help in search and rescue cases.

If you have an interest in new media, government use of new media, or how technology is changing the face of government then this lead in to the Gov 2.0 Summit is for you.

Are you coming to the Expo? If so make sure you say hello to Benjamin. You can also watch for Twitter updates by following Gov 2.0 or watching for hashtag #gov20.

Welcome Wednesday! x2

Since we were away from the office last week you may have noticed we didn't publish our usual Welcome Wednesday post.  This week's feature includes new vessels enrolled during the previous two weeks.  So without further delay we welcome the latest members of the Amver safety network:

• FALKANGER
• HERMANN HESSE
• MANDARIN ATLAS
• NOBLE DANNY ADKINS
• CAPE GARLAND
• HYUNDAI SHANGHAI
• CSAV LUMACO
• ATLANTIC DIANA
• ZIM DJIBOUTI
• OVERSEAS MINDORO
• BOSPOROUS HIGHWAY
• OLIVA
• PELICANA
• JAMES COOK
• YUAN PING SEA
• OCEAN SPRINGS
• SAKARA LOTUS
• PACIFIC DUCHESS
• CHEMICAL SUPPLIER
• ANGOR
• SUNRISE MIYAJIMA
• KOTA LAGU
• BRITTA THERESA
• G.L. OSTRANDER
• W-O DJAM
• CAECILIE BULKER
• MARIDA MALLOW
• W-O CHOKDEE
• ORABELT
• W-O SEREFE
• W-O JAMAS
• SESOK
• ALASKA TROJAN
• KRISTIN D
• GLOBAL CHALLENGE
• PACIFIC GLORY
• LEVANTO
• NORD SHANGHAI
• OPAL ADVANCE
• ORAROSE
• BBC MISSISSIPPI
• BENIT AMOU
• SANKO BARON
• HYUNDAI GLORY
• NORD TOKYO
• ZENOVIA LADY
• MARIDA MIMOSA
• MARIDA MELISSA
• SEACOR COUGAR
• C. VISION
• GULF CORAL
• STIM STAR ANGOLA
• MIN LU
• PORT KELANG
• MARIDA MARIGOLD
• MERSINI
• ORIENT VENUS
• GASCHEM NORDSEE
• JIA HUA
• OMODOS
• LIBRA SANTA CATARINA
• W-O BAREV
• HAMBURG BRIDGE
• TILOS
• OOCL BRISBANE
• VALERIA DELLA GATTA
• IMPERATOR
• BATTERSEA

The James Cook, enrolled last week, was involved in a rescue of an Atlantic ocean rower.  You never know, you could be called next.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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