Page 13: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1992)

Government And Oil

Industry Begin Battle Over

Oil Spill Assessments

The National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration (NOAA) has fired the first round in the poten- tially long and bitter battle over oil spill damage assessment between the U.S. government and the oil transport industry.

NOAA has recently published its attempt to formulate a logical set of rules on oil spill assessment in an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register.

The cornerstone of NOAA's contro- versial policy is its recommended use of the contingent valuation meth- odology (CVM) to calculate the value of a particular resource to individu- als who do not use or plan to use it.

In simpler terms, CVM can be used to assess the damage caused by an oil spill to the public's general wel- fare.

While NOAA and several envi- ronmental groups believe that CVM is the only logical answer to accu- rate oil spill damage assessment, the oil transport industry sees it as yet another government-sponsored penalty resulting from the Oil

Pollution Act of 1990.

Fuel Surcharge Reduced

By Mideast Rate Group

Reflecting lower calender quar- ter fuel prices, the West Coast/

Middle East Rate Agreement has lowered its cargo fuel surcharges.

The rate group that services the liner trade between Middle Eastern and U.S. West Coast ports consists of three intermodal carriers, Ameri- can President Lines Ltd., Sea-Land

Services Inc. and Maersk Line Ltd.

The new group surcharges are: $20 per 40- or 45-foot container; $16 per 20-foot container; $1 per metric ton of weight-rated cargo; $1 per cubic foot of measure-rated cargo, and; $1 per metric ton of all other cargo.

Bids On US Oil

Reserve Rejected By DOE

All the bids recently received by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on crude oil from the Elk

Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve have been rejected by the agency for be- ing too low.

The 19 bids on the 53,740 barrels a day of crude ranged from $ 11.71 to $14.06 a barrel, said the DOE.

The oil was to have been sold under a six-month contract from

April 1 to October 1, but the DOE will instead re-auction the crude while its current purchase contracts are extended through the end of

April.

NAVIONICS Introduces

New Micro Chart Module

One of the world's largest manu- facturers of professional natical electronic charts, NAVIONICS, of

Woods Hole, has developed a new credit card-size electronic chart mod- ule called the NAVIONICS

Microchart. The Microchart uses the latest memory card technology and employs "flash memory" devices which consume little power and re- quire no batteries. Several of the world's leading marine electronics equipment companies are utilizing the Microchart in their new product lines.

The Microchart combines a large 128 MB memory storage facility that is the equivalent to hundreds of navi- gational charts, with the fast data access that is essential to safe navigation.

NAVIONICS electronic charts are now available in either cartridge or

Microchart format starting at $150.

The company reports that its seam- less database of over 6,000 navigational charts is the largest in the world.

For free literature containing full information on NAVIONICS products,

Circle 45 on Reader Service Card

Radio Holland Group

Electronic Systems, Marine \ v V-t \ * Wi nucleus

The Kelvin Hughes NUCLEUS Series Color ARPA

Radars are redefining the modern radar for the shipping industry.

The NUCLEUS Color ARPA combines innovative target tracking/plotting and integrated data acquisi- tion capabilities with speed, accuracy, screen defini- tion, ease of operation, and highest reliability. To overcome rows of confusing buttons and controls, this economically designed, color ARPA utilizes a simple tracker ball and three push buttons for all operations, making it one of the fastest, most user- friendly navigational radars on the market today.

Functions are selected by simply clicking a but- ton after moving the pointer with the tracker ball through the easy-to-use, on-screen menus. The high definition display provides a superior color radar picture with very sharp target contrast. The data displays clearly show operating functions, warn- ings, target information, and integrated own-ship navigational data.

The NUCLEUS Series offers five choices of dis- plays, NUCLEUS 6000 A (ARPA), 6000 T (true motion) and 6000 R (relative motion) Color Radars with 26 inch display; and NUCLEUS 5000 T (true motion) and 5000 R (relative motion) Color Radars with 20 inch display. NUCLEUS features powerful

X-Band and S-Band transmitters in different configurations. the new definition of modern radar!

KELVIIM HUGHES

Kelvin Hughes Limited

A Smiths Industries pic company

Other stan- dard features include interswitching, dual preset

Guard Zones; the NAVCARD for extended, custom- ized map creation, storage, and retrieval; and an improved plotting facility. The ARPA also features a simulator for training and maintenance tasks.

Radio Holland Group

Electronic Systems, Marine

Tel:

Corpus Christi «

Norfolk

Houston, Texas (713) 943-3325 Fax: (713) 943-3802 Tlx: 795438

New Orleans • Mobile • Ft. Lauderdale • New York • Philadelphia • Portland • Seattle • San Francisco/Oakland • Long Beach

May, 1992 Circle 259 on Reader Service Card 13