Anchors Away!

I Did Kind Of Warn You About This

Because we are returning to a precis about the Ruffian tanker "Eagle S" and it's deliberately cutting an undersea cable with an anchor, details thoughtfully explained by the very well-informed Sal Mercogliano of "What Is Going On With Shipping" Youtube channel.

     Sal used several open-source internet resources that Conrad never knew existed in order to track the Eagle S, including administrative ones.  Art!

     That's the United Arab Emirates, for your information.  Why is it here?  Because Sal tracked down the licencing behind the Eagle S, which is registered in the UAE.  Not Ruffia.  This is to make it harder to track down members of their 'Shadow Fleet' and Sal is pretty sure that if the Finns and Estonians were to send police to that address, all they'd find is an empty room.  Art!

     Sal also explained, for those of us with no merchant marine training or experience, that ships as big as the ES don't simply winch their anchors back in whilst static; what they do is 'walk' along the anchor chain, reeling it in as they proceed under way.  Doing it this way means less effort - and fuel - is needed to haul in the anchor.  Art!

     This is another of Sal's videos on WIGOWS, this time about the very high-profile transit of the 'Newnew Polar Bear' using the trans-Arctic route that has been opened up thanks to global warming.  Very high-profile with a lot of attention being paid to it, meaning that the lost anchor was probably an accident, as it's unwise to commit sabotage whilst under media scrutiny.  The fact that it damaged an undersea pipeline and power cables cannot have gone un-noticed by the Ruffians, though, and they were clearly up for creating another 'accident'.  This incident occurred in October last year, and the Finns have since recovered the errant anchor, as will be the case with the ES.  Art!

Who's been a naughty boy then?

     The cable will be repaired, which might take weeks or months, Conrad not being an expert on underwater cable construction and remediation techniques.  Meanwhile that tanker's not going anywhere, nor is it's cargo, and the Ruffians now have to judge whether it's worth losing a tanker full of fuel to damage a cable.  Urals crude comes in at $570 per ton, so if this puppy is carrying even only 1,000 tons, that's well over half a million dollars of revenue not going anywhere.  Unless the Finns auction it to recover repair costs.

     Sal then moved onto the administrative background of the ES and other ships in the Ruffian 'shadow fleet'.  Art!

     Since it's job is to move cargo to India, then it makes sense for it to be registered there.  The lower entry, the "Protection and Indemnity Club' is more interesting, because this is how vessels get insurance.  Sal used the ES' IMO (International Maritime Organisation) number, which is unique to that vessel, to search the website for 'UK P&I CLUB'.  Art!

     No entry.  No details.  OMG, the Ruffians were lying!  I'm shocked!  Shocked, I tell you!  Well, not that shocked.  Actually not shocked at all.  As if a UK business would sanction insuring a Ruffian vessel.

     Wait!  For there is more.  As mentioned in our last "Anchor" themed Intro, the Eagle S fits the profile for a 'Shadow fleet' vessel, being over 15 years old - 18 in fact - with registry in an obscure and unusual location - the Cook Islands waaaay over there in the middle of the Pacific - and an obfuscated insurance history, which was shockingly unshockingly revealed above.  Art!

     Sal then jumped on the "Equasis" website, which lists further data for international shipping, and found that the Eagle S had been issued a 'Black Flag' from the Japanese, meaning it had been found to be non-compliant with various nautical rules and regs.  It was last given a safety inspection in September 2023 in Ghana, and - more red flags than a Chairman Mao appreciation society.  Art!

     There were another 22 'Deficiencies' listed.   I dunno, maybe the Finns will sell it to a breaker's yard after they flog the fuel.

     Extra brownie points awarded to Sal for mentioning the Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939 - 1940, which the Ruffians only won on points.  Yes yes yes, it was the Sinister Union then, which is still Ruffian.  Prove me wrong.  That, and the Continuation War after the Teutons attacked the Bolsheviks, is one reason Finns and Ruffians are not bestest mates.

Whilst On The Subject Of The 'Paficic'

Which means 'Peaceful', ho ho hollow laughter.  I just came across this clip on the BBC News website.  Art!

     Very definitely 'Before'.  Note that large breaker in the background, because pretty soon it's going to be in the foreground.  Art!

     When it's powerful enough to move a car around, you know you're in trouble.  Somewhat amazingly, only 8 people suffered minor injuries.  The cause of this sudden monster wave is storms out in the Pacific Ocean, which bring high tides and monster waves with them.  Art!

     No, Dougal, that is flotsam and jetsam thrown up by the big waves.  It did not grow there*.

Our Journey With Bernie

Mister Wrightson, that is.  Allow me to conduct due diligence and see if the latest FPG trading card from 1993 is available on teh Interwebz.  Aha, it is.  So, this is #54, "Distant Thunder".  Art!

     Yessss hmmmm no.  This is not a spot one would loiter in, whether you liked cats or not.  Very atmospheric rendering, mind.  With all that lightning, you might want to re-think your umbrella choices, too.  Unusually, Ol' Bern doesn't bother explaining about what media he used in order to obtain what effect.

An Horrifying Revelation About Time Travel

One of my Christmas presents to me was the boxed collection of "Lost", which I picked up for a song in a charity shop in Shaw, and which I have patiently waited to watch, because order and routine is the basis of civilisation.  Art!

     Must be a few years old, right?

     Try TWENTY years old.  The first pilot was broadcast in 2004, when Darling Daughter was still cute, at primary school and knew nothing about mortgages.  Your Humble Scribe was rather gobsmacked at this revelation.  I mean, twenty years ago my hair was still merely grey instead of the snowy thatch I have now.  Conrad did check to make sure he's not going senile or that the occasional snifter of gin or ten hadn't had an impact and - Art!

     Still watching the first of seven disks, and that's only the First Season.  You may be getting a bit of an update about this series in real time as it gets watched.  Fair warning.

"Konflikti"

Yes, this time this is Finnish: "Conflict".  It's a Finnish miniseries showing contemporary Finnish armed forces fighting on the ground in Finland, and probably draws on Ukraine's experience today.  Art!

     Features an aerial assault and capture of a passenger vessel, as done to the Eagle S in real life.  Art!

    Finnish artillery barrage.  The Finns have an awful lot of artillery, and this is what a real artillery barrage looks like - not a hated Hollywood flamepot anywhere to be seen!

     Just to be clear, if Dimya is reading this and seething quietly to himself, the standing Finnish army is quite small.  BUT in flashing neon letters ten feet tall, they have 870,000 reservists who can be mobilised as quickly as you snap your fingers.  A ticked-off Finn with an assault rifle in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other is not going to take being invaded lightly.

Finally -

The Sunday Stew was actually cooked on Friday, so that's out of the way.  I've got my breakfast eating tackle sorted, all we need now is to get rid of that frozen pizza that's taking up valuable space in the freezer.

* Dougal and Art.  What a pair.