Page 55: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1992)

Guam Set To Become

Key U.S. Military

Outpost In Pacific

After the Philippine senate re- jected a treaty that would have ex- tended U.S. rights to Subic Bay na- val base by 10 years, the Depart- ment of Defense (DOD) began plan- ning a build-up on Guam that will eventually turn the island into the region's central supply, communi- cations and arms depot.

Because of its geographic prox- imity to Asia, the United States has relied on the Philippines as a major naval, and later air, base for almost a century. Particularly after the rise of Soviet and Chinese power in the area at the end of World War II,

Subic Bay and Clark Air Base be- came the cornerstones of American defense policy in the Pacific.

Noting the effect that the move further east to Guam will have on

U.S. strategy in the western Pacific,

Navy spokesman Lt. Dave Wray said: "We lost 1,500 miles there."

However, Guam is only 3 hour's fly- ing time from Asia and a U.S. terri- tory, which eliminates the need for negotiating base arrangements with a foreign government, he continued.

Guam will not be replacing Subic's role as the Navy's primary ship re- pair facility in the Far East. It is hoped that this function can be covered by shifting fleet require- ments to Japan, Singapore and Ha- waii.

Already benefiting from a major boost from tens of thousands of Japa- nese tourists, the island's economy is bracing to receive up to 3,000 servicemen and their dependents between May and the end of Decem- ber.

CG Proposes New

Rules For Unmanned

Tanker Enginerooms

In 1977, public outcry forced the

Coast Guard to withdraw its opposi- tion to the use of unmanned enginerooms while in U.S. waters.

But, in light of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the agency is once again proposing new requirements for unmanned tanker enginerooms.

Tankers will not be allowed to operate unattended enginerooms in

U.S. navigable waters unless the following regulations are adhered to: *The tanker's flag of regis- ter must have an official document onboard that states in English: "Ap- proved for periodically unattended machinery space operation." *Before leaving the engineroom unattended, one of the ship's licensed engineers must con- duct an inspection of the engineroom spaces to ensure that all equipment and alarms are operating properly.

This inspection must be logged in the official logbook and be carried out before getting underway in U.S. waters or six hours before entering

U.S. territorial waters (except for the Great Lakes). *A designated licensed en- gineer must be on call at all times to answer engineroom alarms and at the direction of the deck officer on watch. *Twelve hours before enter- ing U.S. waters, no faults or alarm conditions have been registered in any vital ship's systems that require the attention of a licensed engineer.

The CG said that these condi- tions can be easily complied with at a minimal expense to tanker opera- tors.

Astilleros & Lisnave

Yards Sign Agreement

The Astilleros Espanoles ship- yard, of Spain, and Portugal's

Lisnave yard have signed a coopera- tion agreement which has created the new entity called Hispanic-Por- tuguese Shipyard Groupings (AEIE). The agreement was signed by Astilleros president Juan Saez and Lisnave's president Jose

Manuel De Mello.

Effectively merging the repair work of the Lisbon yard with the

Astilleros yard at Cadiz, the agree- ment takes place under European

Community rules that permit firms to associate in a mid-way stage to- wards possible merger.

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May, 1992 11