Page 23: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2004)

MSC Crociere Orders

New Ships from Alstom

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) ordered two 3,000-passenger cruise ships with an option for a third with Alstom Marine. The first of the new ships will be delivered in June 2006, and the second will become ready in spring 2007. "The determining fac- tors that prompted us to sign with

Alstom Marine were the extremely interesting investment in the context of the quality to price ratio and the specific structural and engineering features of the new ships," said MSC Crociere MD

Pier Francesco Vago. The new ships will measure 964 x 105.6 ft. (294 x 32.2 m) and will accommodate 3,000 passengers in 1,275 cabins, with 1,000 crew.

Following the trend of providing the maximum number of rooms with a view, 80 percent of the cabins being on the exterior of the ship, three-quarters of which are fitted with balconies.

Terrorist and Bogus

Marine Credentials

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) complet- ed a 14-month investigation — dubbed

Operation Drydock — into national security threats and document fraud associated with U.S. merchant mariner credentials. It revealed nine individuals that held credentials have suspected associations with terrorist groups. "Through extensive and detailed inves- tigative efforts, we have reduced vulner- abilities to terrorism by preventing the fraudulent use of credentials by those who seek to harm our nation and its cit- izens," said Admiral Thomas H.

Collins, Commandant of the Coast

Guard. "This is a great example of inter- agency cooperation in the war on terror.

Using our combined resources and expertise, we will continue to make

America safer and more secure." The

Coast Guard, working with the Federal

Bureau of Investigation and other inter- agency partners, examined the records of over 200,000 individuals who hold a

U.S. merchant mariner credential to identify potential terrorist links and detect document fraud. In addition to the nine individuals possibly associated with terrorism, the Coast Guard identi- fied thousands of cases of possible fraud or other problems, including mariners with active arrest warrants. In response to this information: • The Coast Guard is suspending and revoking unauthorized credentials. • U.S. Attorneys are pursuing crimi- nal charges where warranted. • About a dozen people have been arrested because of active arrest war- rants that were uncovered as a result of

Operation Drydock. • The Coast Guard, FBI and the U.S.

Navy worked together to screen mariners serving on Military Sealift

Command ships carrying troops and material during the war in Iraq. More than a dozen mariners were removed from service aboard those vessels.

Navy Tests Power from

Ocean Currents

U.S. Navy engineers will soon help test and enhance a novel hydroelectric turbine designed by Florida Hydro

Power and Light (FHPL) for extracting electricity from ocean currents. The

Naval Surface Warfare Center's

Carderock Division (NSWCCD) and

FHPL will deploy the turbine in the Gulf

Stream, then connect it to the Florida power grid.

If all goes well, for the first time in history a pollution-free source of elec- tricity is possible at a cost below fossil fuels. m Walz & Krenzer, Inc. 91 Willenbrock Rd., Unit B4, Oxford, CT 06478 • www.wkdoors.com Tel: 203-267-5712 • Fax: 203-267-5716 • E-mail: [email protected]

Circle 284 on Reader Service Card

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April 2004 23