azloknatsouth

Part 1

As each day passes, more intriguing elements surface, usually from the UK mainstream media, probably  in response to unrelenting comments & questions raised about the Salisbury case, in different social media. People are doubting the UK government's narrative.

We are now being told in the Daily Mail that the substance was:

azloknatsouth

Some shipping companies have taken the decision to make Arctic voyages part of their core business, not only Russian ones, but Asian companies have gained a foothold in a lucrative sector. A significant proportion of this predicted increase in trade along the NSR is a growth in LNG energy delivered through the Arctic. This has been made possible by the design & construction of new ice-breaking Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers, as well as continued multidecadal reduction in sea-ice in the Arctic region.

The use and development of the NSR is underpinned by LNG out-shipments from the Yamal LNG project, (Sabetta port). The first million tons of LNG, (part of a 5.5 million tons per annum), has already been shipped so far, according to OAO Yamal LNG, which is only in its first phase, (known as a train in LNG parlance). When the whole 3 train capacity project, comes online, there will be about an annual total of 16.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas originating from the South Tambey field on the Yamal Peninsula.

http://en.portnews.ru/news/254710/

Then there is another planned LNG project the Arctic LNG-2, (in Russian) which might come online in 2023, with a similar LNG capacity to the Yamal project. Overall, 40 million tons of LNG might be transported by 2025, when both projects fully come online.

azloknatsouth

Keeping the deceit game going — "highly likely" and "no other plausible explanation" terminology used by the UK government.

My follow up on the "The curious case of the Salisbury poisonings" article.

SECTION B — Taking measures internationally   

The measures taken by the British government, against Russia and implicitly also Russian citizens, in the wake of the intriguing  Salisbury Skripal poisonings, in the absence of actual proof of culpability, is deeply deeply disturbing. 

My skepticism for not taking the UK government serious, is deep-rooted and I was one of more than a million on the streets of London back in 2003, protesting at the hysterical scaremongering and  war drums being played by the US and UK governments. The dodgy Iraqi WMD dossier, with its "45 mins" claim widely touted by UK officials, served a flimsy pretext to invade Iraq in 2003 and in doing so, the UK sidestepped international rules laid down by the UN. 

Now, accusing fingers are being pointed at Russia, by using an chemical weapons (CW) attack as the trigger, setting in motion measures against Russia.

azloknatsouth

The first part of a submarine rescue process is time critical, known as ‘Time To First Rescue’, (TTFR). Similarly to what paramedics & doctors call the ‘Golden Hour’, the sooner a rescue system is put into action, the quicker they are sent to the scene, then the better the outcome might be.  Any delays in getting rescue will exponentially be worse as time progresses, with a deterioration in conditions onboard a stricken submarine.

How is this done? An outcome of the Russian submarine ‘Kursk’ sinking was the setting up of the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office,(ISMERLO) based in Lisbon, Portugal, with a database of suitable rescue ships & systems. It is able to coordinate the most appropriate systems quickly to the distressed submarine (DISSUB). As such it is supported by practically all of the 40 or so countries operating submarines, including Argentina & Russia.

Nowadays, NATO has a Sub Rescue System, the NSRS, that includes a rescue system, (known as a DSRV in the US: Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle).  The role of a DSRV or  SRV is usually to ferry rescuees from a stranded submarine up to a dedicated support ship, (MOSHIP), which is properly equipped with a decompression chamber. The US has also mother submarines that can take on this role, known as a MOSUB.

azloknatsouth

Since it is the 8th March and I've been meaning to write about women seafarers.  Let’s hear it for the Russian seafaring ladies - Past and present

In Soviet times, two seafaring women become famous in the West during the 40's:

Anna Shchetinina (1908-1999) - first merchant navy certified captain in 1935. (Link in Russian http://ljwanderer.livejournal.com/150094.html)

2. Valentina Orlikova 1915-1991) - she was the first woman in the world to became a large trawler and whaler captain, in Antarctic waters.

You could be mistaken that they were trend-setters in era when seafaring women in the West were mostly serving on passenger liners, as nurses, nannies or in the catering & hotel departments. Yet, both these ladies and thousands of others served at sea before and during World War II, as navigators, engineers and radio operators. 

Captain Anna Shchetinina initially trained at the Navigation Department of Vladivostok Maritime College. After earning her captain’s 4 rings, she got her first command in 1935, the steamship “Chavycha”, sailing from Hamburg to Kamchatka. She also served as a fisheries port manager before the war, then during the war,  Anna Shchetinina was a master of a Liberty ship in the Baltic, once getting hit by mine, while evacuating wounded. In 1951, Captain Shchetinina was appointed a dean of the Navigation Department in Leningrad Higher Marine Engineering College and later as assistant Professor in Vladivostok.