If the Pirates don't get you, the cops will . . .

The real truth on what you can expect at sea in and around India, as a Master Mariner.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Diary-of-a-Divorced-Delhi-Male/entry/if-the-pirates-don-t-get-you-the-cops-will

Sad, but true, and facts are hard.

As quoted in the Times of India . . .ENRICA LEXIE Italian mercenary murder case

It does seem, from the rest of the report, that the DGS is really really taking a dump on the MMD. And about time too.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delay-in-probe-helped-Italian-ship-erase-data/articleshow/12226271.cms



""Shipping and marine security expert Veeresh Mallik said the delay by
the MMD, Cochin officials could have helped the culprits destroy
crucial evidence. "However," he said, "the VDR data can still be
retrieved with certain software if the equipment on board is not
damaged or replaced.""
'

Who is the real owner of the ENRICA LEXIE??

One of the more interesting aspects of the ENRICA LEXIE episode has to do with trying to figure out WHY the complete Italian Government machinery, along with really heavy duty support services like religion, PR, diplomats, and back-channel, are so interested in releasing this ship and the two armed mercenaries onboard.

And in the bargain, the REAL ownership of the vessel is not truly revealed, as well as the real purpose of the ship and what it was doing so close to Indian waters. After all, with armed guards onboard, she could have easily plotted a direct course to the Red Sea, instead of hugging the Indian coast, right?

Here's an interesting excerpt from a page on Italian law on the subject.

http://www.shiparrested.com/ship-arrest-in-italy-by-alberto-batini-bb-partners.html

read item 19 . . .

So, what about it, why is the ENRICA LEXIE so important to them??

Enrica Lexie - smoking gun?

My article on the Enrica Lexie case for Current . . dubious, smelly . . . oh well.

http://currentnews.in/2012/02/27/suspicious-ship-something-smelly/

"It is difficult to understand why the complete diplomatic, military, religious and PR machinery of Italy would come into play for an incident involving something as commonplace as the arrest of a ship – scores, if not hundreds, of ships lie under arrest globally at any given time."

Is the Enrica Lexia a 2nd Purulia armsdrop case?

Here's my article on the Enrica Lexie / St. Antony case in context with the murder of two Indian seafarers - and as the shipping brass descends into Cochin, in full form to celebrate the inauguration of the Cochin MMD office, the question needing an answer is this - is this a Purulia Armsdrop kind of case?

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main51.asp?filename=Ws240212Opinion.asp

And here's a copy of my recent letter to the office of the DGS . . .:-

+++

Do let me know what you think, and can anybody understand the position of the poor souls on board, the Indians - what happens to them when they finally disembark and all this nonsense of "diplomatic immunity" for the ship when the Port State Control has full authority, gets over?

I mean, our PSC struts around like monkeys otherwise, where are they now in this case, can't even go on board for an inspection, stop the ship on any of a few dozen deficiencies, as usual, and make their little petty haftaas?

++

Letter to DGS:-

Good morning and hope you and your colleagues have a pleasant visit to Cochin.

Here is the latest article by me on what is now increasingly being referred to as "Purulia 2".

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main51.asp?filename=Ws240212Opinion.asp

I think DG Shipping should have played a far more pro-active role in this episode, especially when the initiative was with them. Now the whole mess of the DGS is being opened like a can of worms and I feel sorry, though vindicated.

Good luck, and I hope you preside over a major clean-up and shake-up at DGS.

Veeresh Malik

New Delhi

Enrica Lexie - what lessons should we learn?

This is the 4th article by me on the subject of the Enrica Lexie/St Antony episode.

http://moneylife.in/article/killing-of-indian-seafarers-off-keralamdashwhat-lessons-need-to-be-learnt/23839.html

The first three are also on this blog as well as linked through the main pages at http;//www.moneylife.in

Incidentally, the pressure on me to stop writing or change my stance is extremely high, including veiled threats. Such is life. Such us shipping, too.

Please do read the articles as well as many of the interacts and responses, they are truly informative.

Your views and comments, publicly here or privately to me, will be appreciated and identites protected as always.

3rd part of my article on the St. Antony / Enrica Lexie incident

http://moneylife.in/article/killing-of-indian-seafarers-in-cold-blood-off-keralamdashthe-colonials-strike-again-part-3/23745.html

"“Thanks to the government’s attitude towards the whole episode, there appears to be a huge cover-up underway when by right the two captains of Enrica Lexie along with the six armed mercenaries and the watch-keeping officer, who happened to be an Indian national chief officer, should have been hauled away for obstructing justice and attempting to flee the scene of a crime as well as destroying evidence. Shame on us as a country for watching on while the colonials strike again”"

(read on . . .)

Italian soldiers surrender to Indian jawans . . .

There is nothing new in Italian armed mercenaries surrendering to Indian jawans.

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/Galleries/Wars/British/WW2/0375.jpg.html

HTML Formatted Links

Open observation on Indian flag ships and life therein

Basad on first hand observations as well as supported by inputs from others, the one big thing that needs to be done is that people involved in the shore aspect of shipping need to spend atleast 6 months onboard an Indian flag ship every five years.

The full cycle, from recruitment to briefing to joining to life on board and sign off/debrief.

This business of revalidating tickets basis a course or being involved in shipping ashore is simply not enough.

This doesn't include a separate treatise on the games indian shipping companies and their agents play in context with salaries, taxation, and the rest of it.

Please read this?



http://moneylife.in/article/how-coastal-and-inland-shipping-has-been-allowed-to-die-and-what-needs-to-change-quickly/19609.html



      How coastal and inland shipping has been allowed to die and what needs
to change quickly
      September 09, 2011 01:38 PM |
      Veeresh Malik

Published at http://www.moneylife.in/

The wars of the present and the future are going to be fought using economic tools more than military might. Building this economic power requires the revival of seafaring strength that was allowed to deteriorate on account of a short-sighted and corrupt approach.

Before you take down a fence, you might want to know why the previous owner put it up.
- GK Chesterton

On cabotage in India, and the games that some entities play . . .

Where does national interest, security and the economy come in, or is the country up for sale again, to a bunch of people who will sell out for 30 pieces of silver? Or even less?

http://moneylife.in/article/on-the-push-to-change-cabotage-rules-largely-due-to-a-one-sided-contract-thats-harmful-to-cochin-port-trust/19438.html

On the push to change cabotage rules, largely due to a one-sided contract that’s harmful to Cochin Port Trust

""A one-sided contract between Cochin Port Trust, the landlord, and DP World Ports Vallarpadam Terminal, its tenant, has led to intense lobbying over cabotage rules. A local problem, which has more to do with a local solution, is being used as a catalyst to push a deeper agenda with a national bearing. The country's interests are at the stake, once again, for reasons that increasingly appear to be very shady  . . .""

Read on:-

http://moneylife.in/article/on-the-push-to-change-cabotage-rules-largely-due-to-a-one-sided-contract-thats-harmful-to-cochin-port-trust/19438.html