Amver ship rescues 13 from burning fishing vessel

The United States Coast Guard Eleventh District Command Center recently received a 406 EPIRB alert 315 miles south east of Acapulco, Mexico and immediately diverted several Amver vessels. In addition to the Amver ships, a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft from Joint Interagency Task Force South was also diverted.

It was the cargo ship Ocean Honey, however, that arrive on the scene and plucked 13 fishermen from the water after their fishing boat, the Ta Fu #2 burned and sank. The Hong Kong flagged cargo ship enrolled in the Amver system in 1995. While the Ocean Honey is credited for the rescue, the M/V Umberto D'Amato, an Italian flagged Amver participant, was also diverted to assist.

Fortunately a sister ship of the fishing vessel was near the distress location and the Honey Ocean was able to transfer the 13 survivors to their sister ship.

Photo credit: marinetraffic.com

AIS- more than collision aviodance?

Ryan Skinner has an interesting post referencing a BIMCO piece about AIS vessel tracking and the implications that may have on the maritime sector. While some may tout the benefits of satellite based AIS tracking, the reality of full world fleet tracking may not be fully implemented yet.

Some argue that AIS would spell the end of Amver. We say Amver is a tool. When Amver is coupled with other tools such as AIS, LRIT, fishing vessel monitoring programs and other regional vessel tracking schemes, paints a more complete picture for search and rescue purposes.

Ryan digs a little deeper and looks beyond the obvious benefits of AIS- collision avoidance and search and rescue. He asks what the business implications (or advantages) of AIS might be. Mr. Skinner speculates information aficionados may find a treasure trove of data when global vessel tracking becomes a reality.

Since this isn't a business blog we'll get back to maritime safety. Your ships can increase the likelihood they are available for search and rescue authorities by enrolling in Amver. Any by the way, our data isn't for sale to shipping or business analysts!

Do you know of anyone exploiting AIS data for business purposes?


Photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Welcome Wednesday!

It seems our call for more ships to enroll in the Amver system is being answered. 52 vessels enrolled in Amver in the past week! We appreciate your willingness to divert, potentially miss port call, and save lives at sea. What ships have joined our ranks? Take a look:

• CITIUS
• BUNGA RAYA LAPAN
• AOM ELENA
• TRITON LEADER
• PATRIOT SW
• CAPE ZENITH
• KEN WAVE
• MSC ADELE
• NPS OCEAN STAR
• D.T. VINCENZO P.
• STAVANGER BELL
• BELL M SHIMADA
• DELTA COMMANDER
• KASTOS
• SADAN K
• MUIR MILACH
• DONG DU
• DONG HO
• STELLAR PACIFIC
• PACIFIC EXPRESS
• SKANDI AKER
• TORM HELSINGOR
• ALIGOTE
• GOLDEN MERMAID
• COTTON
• AMORE MIO II
• BLUE RIDGE HIGHWAY
• BELUGA FORTITUDE
• CAP ISABEL
• COSTA DELIZIOSA
• STOLT FLAMENCO
• ANNA-JOHANNA
• OCEAN FRIEND
• VOZNESENSK
• VEGA STAR
• WG VESPUCCI
• SIPEA
• CRUDEMED
• POLAR BEAR
• E.R. BORNEO
• IKAN JAHAN
• STOLT BRELAND
• MEGACORE HONAMI
• NEVERLAND ANGEL
• MAERSK BRANI
• SEAPACE
• ENERGY PROGRESS
• GASCHEM PACIFIC
• NAVIG8 ADAMS 1
• STEFANIA LEMBO
• CAP VILANO
• TOWADA

Have you enrolled in the Amver system? If not why? Is it the cost of satellite transmissions? Did you know the cost of a typical Amver position reports are less than $1 per transmission. $1 is a small price to pay for being available to save a life.

We're curious what may be keeping you from enrolling. Let us know in the comments and give us an opportunity to address your concerns.


Photo credit: Fotolia

Have you ever had that sinking feeling?

False distress alerts take a considerable toll on search and rescue authorities. Besides risking the lives of surface and air crews the costs can be staggering. Why are we mentioning false distress alerts on the Amver blog? Because we found this story of a faux sinking yacht. This crazy looking vessel even has a rudder and propeller!

Yup, someone actually built this working power boat that looks like it is sinking! What sorts of calls to coast guard authorities do you think this would generate? Of course we still encourage you to enroll your ships in Amver to assist in the real search and rescue cases.

Has your search and rescue organization been plagued with false calls? How to do you go about policing false calls?


Photo credit: inventorspot.com

Does shipping need a celebrity?

We have often joked around the Amver office that until a celebrity's ship sinks at sea we will always have a tough time getting ourselves noticed in the mainstream media. We haven't come close to having a celeb rescued yet, which is probably a good thing.

But Lloyd's List recently blogged from CMA Shipping 2010 about the need for a celebrity, or more specifically a Richard Branson figure- someone to draw in regulators, politicians, and the media like a moth does to a flame. There just isn't one yet.

What do you think? Who could bring positive attention to shipping? Donald Trump, Steve Forbes, or Martha Stewart?

In our view it's you the Amver participant that is the celebrity. Enrolling in the Amver system elevates you to super star status in the eyes of the people rescued each year. Now if we could just rescue Ivanka Trump if she were in distress at sea!

Photo credit: tobybarnes

CMA Shipping 2010 video wrap up

Amver had a productive and successful time at the Connecticut Maritime Association Shipping 2010 conference last week. If you were there you learned how to chart a new course through the "fog". If you weren't there you can search Twitter for #shipping10 (you may have to weed through the sunglasses advertisements) and see a brief summary of events. You can also see our brief video below. See you at Shipping 2011!



Can't see the video? Click here.

A picture says a thousand words

If a picture says a thousand words than a video must speak volumes. Enjoy this brief video we have for you and don't forget about the I Am Amver video project we are promoting. We really do want you to upload your videos so we can share them and show the world what Amver is.



Can't see the video? Click here.