| Investigation Finds Unintended Risks with ECDIS Navigation
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 The newly-released Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation of the grounding of the Australian Border Force Cutter (ABFC) Roebuck Bay on Henry Reef has revealed underlying safety issues with the effectiveness of ECDIS type-specific training, ECDIS software updates and the use of a single point feature to represent relatively large physical features on electronic navigational charts. On September 30, 2017, shortly after midnight, the ABFC Roebuck Bay grounded on Henry Reef in the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. The cutter was on a passage from Saibai Island in the Torres Strait Islands archipelago bound for Lizard Island, located about 71 nautical miles south-east of Cape Melville. The cutter sustained substantial damage to the keel, stabilizer fins and propellers, with hull breaches near the storage void and tank compartment spaces. There were no reported injuries or oil pollution. While planning the passage from Saibai Island to Lizard Island, ABFC Roebuck Bay's previously used passage ...
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| Dolphin Drilling Files for Bankruptcy in Restructuring Plan
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| The Norway-based offshore rig operator Dolphin Drilling, formerly Fred. Olsen Energy, has filed for bankruptcy in a plan that will shed about $700 million in debt and transfer control to its creditors. "Dolphin Drilling ASA's operating subsidiaries have now been transferred to a new holding company, Dolphin Drilling Holdings Limited . . . which is incorporated in Jersey and will be net-debt free, with a strong balance sheet and increased financial flexibility," the new company said in a statement. Like its predecessor, the new firm will also do business as "Dolphin Drilling." The bankruptcy is part of a large-scale financial restructuring led by a majority of Dolphin's creditors, who are advised by hedge fund SVP Global. The plan includes the installation of a new management team headed by ex-Songa Offshore CEO Bjornar Iversen. "We are delighted that Dolphin Drilling has now emerged in a strong position for the future. In addition to the company's focused, nimble fleet and high-quality team, we now have ...
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| World's First Plastic-to-Fuel Vessel to Sail in 2020
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| A former merchant seafarer is building a world-first boat that will be powered by plastic. The French Plastic Odyssey project, led by Simon Bernard, will see the 25-meter catamaran generate her own fuel on board via the pyrolysis of plastic waste that cannot be recycled. Pyrolysis can be used to decompose plastic into liquid fuels by heating it to over 400°C without oxygen. It is one of the technologies that Bernard hopes will be used to address the growing issue of plastic waste. He aims to promote recycling and make low-tech technologies accessible around the world by taking the boat on a three-year development and promotional voyage to South America, Africa and Asia, starting in 2020. The aft of the vessel will be a recycling workshop containing an onboard pyrolysis unit capable of producing up to 40 liters of fuel per hour. The vessel will not collect plastic for fuel during the voyage, as only around one percent of plastic waste in the ocean floats on or near the surface. Instead, plastic will be ...
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| UAE: "We Don't Have Evidence" That Iran Carried Out Tanker Attack
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| The United Arab Emirates appeared to part ways with the Trump administration Wednesday on the question of whether Iran is responsible for the recent attacks on merchant tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The White House maintains that Iran or Iran-backed forces carried out the attacks, which damaged six vessels in two separate incidents in May and June. U.S. Central Command has released video and imagery showing what appear to be Iranian servicemembers removing a limpet mine from the hull of the tanker Kokuka Courageous after the second attack, and it has allowed media to view and photograph debris collected from the vessel. However, the UAE said Wednesday that it would like more concrete proof before reaching a definitive conclusion that Iran was behind the attacks. Iran has so far denied involvement, though it claimed responsibility for shooting down an American surveillance drone on June 20. "Honestly we can't point the blame [for the tanker attacks] at any country because we don't have evidence," said UAE ...
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| Zuckerberg: Lawmakers Want to Break Up Big Tech Just Because It 'Feels Nice' to Say That
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 Stephen Lam/Reuters Facebook's chief executive appeared on stage Wednesday to shore up his company's arguments against looming regulatory threats just hours before one of those threats, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, was due to take the stage with a grab bag of other presidential hopefuls. In conversation with honorary Harvard professor and former White House regulatory official Cass Sunstein, Zuckerberg outlined Facebook's support for some regulatory proposals while making clear the company's deep disdain at the idea—espoused by Warren in particular—that big tech be broken up. The conversation took place at a festival held by the Aspen Institute, a centrist think tank. Zuckerberg called Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Amy Klobuchar's Honest Ads Act, which would regulate online campaign ads in a bid to weed out disinformation from foreign actors, "a good floor for what should be passed," adding that Facebook is already complying with many of its requirements. "Having a bill like that passed as a floor would be ...
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| Jacob Wohl Says He'll Enlist if Trump Attacks Iran
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 Joshua Roberts/Reuters Energetic but ineffectual young conservative operative Jacob Wohl is all-in on the prospect of war with Iran. Wohl is so into the idea, he told Right Richter that he'll enlist in the military if the United States goes to war. "If we go to war with Iran, I will enlist within 10 days," Wohl said in an Instagram direct message. Wohl says he'll consider the United States at war with Iran if Congress authorizes the war or Trump uses a previous military authorization to attack. As for what branch he'll join, Wohl says "probably the Army." Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Canada reveals measures to tackle online extremism
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 Canada has announced several measures to combat online extremism. Public Safety Canada said the government will provide up to $1 million CAD ($762,000) to a program called Tech Against Terrorism. The funding will help set up a system to inform smalle...
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, all countries ( USA, Great Britain, India, Australia, New Zealand ) (sources)
