Pirates Flee Hijacked Product Tanker, Crew-member Reported Shot

June 19, 2015 by Reuters

Photo shows the pirates have hidden the name of the vessel, 

changing it to KIM HARMON. Photo: Royal Malaysian Navy

Update: Local media has reported that authorities have apprehended eight suspects believed to the be the hijackers of the Orkim Harmony.

Earlier:
KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (Reuters) – The hijacked oil tanker Orkim Harmony has been released by pirates, who fled in the ship’s rescue boat, Malaysian navy and maritime officials said on Friday.

The Orkim Harmony, hijacked on June 11 off the Malaysian coast by pirates reportedly armed with pistols and machetes, was now being escorted by the navy to Malaysia’s Kuantan Port.

Officials said only one member of the 22 crew was injured, suffering a gunshot wound to the thigh.

Three Malaysian navy ships and two aircraft were hunting the fleeing pirates. The hijacking is the second seizure of a tanker by pirates in Southeast Asia this month, raising further concerns over piracy in the region.

The 7,300 deadweight tonne (DWT) Orkim Harmony was hijacked about 30 nautical miles from the Malaysian port of Tanjung Sedili carrying around 50,000 barrels of RON95 gasoline.

The Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said the gasoline on the ship was owned by state-controlled oil and gas company Petronas.

The Orkim Harmony is operated by Malaysia’s Orkim Ship Management. On board is a crew of 22, including 16 Malaysians, five Indonesians and one Myanmar national.

After the tanker was hijacked, the pirates repainted the ship and changed the name to Kim Harmon. Malaysia’s Chief of Navy Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar says eight pirates were involved.

The Malaysian naval vessel shadowing the tanker in Vietnamese waters on Thursday was trying to persuade the hijackers to surrender, says Jaafar.

Early on Friday, Malaysia said the hijacked ship was still being shadowed by a navy ship and had been redirected to Indonesia’s Natuna Island, where it was expected to arrive on Saturday.

A subsequent MMEA report said the pirates had fled the ship.

Earlier this month, a 7,100 DWT oil tanker, Orkim Victory, carrying diesel loaded from Petronas was hijacked on June 4 in the same area and on the same route.

The Orkim Victory was later released by the hijackers after about 770 metric tonnes (6,000 barrels) of its cargo had been siphoned off. (Reporting By Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah and Emily Chow; Editing by Michael Perry)

KLEESE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES INJECTION WELL FACILITY TIED TO NORTHEAST OHIO CHEMICAL SPILL REQUIRED TO SUBMIT CLEANUP PLAN

WARREN, OHIO 

State officials say an injection well facility tied to a chemical spill in northeast Ohio must submit a cleanup plan as the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency continues to investigate the spill.

Ohio EPA officials say the Kleese Development Associates facility, which operates five saltwater injection wells, was instructed to submit a plan by the end of the week.

Inspectors in April traced the chemical spill in Vienna Township to the facility after residents reported dead animals near a local pond and a sheen on the water's surface.

The operations at the facility have stopped and remain under the oversight of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The company has said cleanup efforts have already been underway since shortly after the spill.

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A local company connected to a chemical spill earlier this year has until the end of this week to submit a remediation plan to state officials for the clean up of a local creek.

The address of the wells is 5061 Warren Sharon Rd., Vienna, Ohio 44473.

A spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that the investigation into the chemical spill is ongoing.

Matt Kleese, former vice president of operations for Warren-based Kleese Development Associates, also known has KDA, said he is confident the company is doing “the best possible job” to resolve the matter and work with state officials.

Kleese declined to comment on the matter further, he said, because he recently left the company to pursue his own business. Attempts by the Tribune Chronicle to reach someone at KDA’s office in Warren were not successful.

Cleanup efforts have been ongoing since shortly after the spill, the company has said.

KDA is involved in the oil and gas drilling industry and operates one of its injection well sites on Sodom Hutchings Road. The company has been at the center of an investigation to determine what caused a chemical spill near the Kleese Surface Facility, which is connected to five saltwater injection wells on Sodom Hutchings Road.

On April 3, Richard J. Simmers, chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, ordered operations to stop at the Vienna facility after a chemical spill was discovered in late March.

State inspectors responding to a Vienna resident’s complaint reported tracing the spill “back to an area near” the KDA facility and determined it likely was related to operations there, according to Simmers’ order.

Simmers found KDA in violation of several sections of the Ohio Administrative Code addressing polluting the environment and ordered operations of the five injection wells at the facility to stop. Operations there have remained dormant and are under the oversight of the ODNR.

On April 28, the Northeast Ohio Environmental Crimes Task Force searched KDA’s downtown Warren headquarters and a company site in Vienna. However, officials have not said what investigators were looking for or if they collected anything at that time.*

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EPA searches for evidence of environmental crime at Vienna injection well

Posted: Apr 28, 2015 4:10 PM EST Updated: Jun 16, 2015 11:04 PM EST

VIENNA TWP., Ohio - 

The United States Environmental agency executed a search warrant at a Vienna Township brine disposal business that is the site of a spill.

According to the Ohio Attorney General's office, agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation were asked to assist the Northeast Ohio Environmental Task Force at the Sodum Hutchings Road injection well site operated by Kleese Development Associates.

“The EPA executed a search warrant seeking evidence of environmental crime,” according to Phillippa Cannon, Media Relations Team Leader for the U.S. EPA Region 5.

Asked for more information about what agents were looking for, Cannon said she could provide no further information and referred 21 News to the Department of Justice for further information.

Mike Tobin, Public Information Officer for the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio, said he could not comment on the investigation.

Ohio EPA spokesperson Heidi Griesman, tells 21 News that warrants were also executed at KDA's other well site on Parkman Road in Warren Township.  She would not elaborate on the purpose of the search.

The KDA injection wells on Sodom Hutchings Road have been shut down since earlier this month following the discovery of a spill into nearby wetlands across the street. Dead fish and other deceased wildlife have been found in the area.

A spokesperson from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources confirms the oil-based spill traces back to a storage pad on the Kleese property.

Neither the exact source of the spill nor the identity of the substance has been determined.

The ODNR ordered  Kleese to temporarily shut down the Warren Township wells last week after a routine inspection of the facility found that KDA was injecting fluids into the ground at pressures exceeding acceptable limits.

According to the Ohio EPA, injection pressure restrictions prevent injection at pressures which could cause fractures in the rock formations that limit fluid movement above an injection zone.

The ODNR inspector instructed KDA to correct the pressure issue.

On Friday, the inspector returned to the site and found that KDA was still injecting over pressure.

The well operator was instructed to cease operations by the inspector until the issue was remedied.

On Saturday, the inspector again returned to the site and found that KDA had installed an automatic shut-off switch and a pressure level recorder.

According to the ODNR, the action brought the well into compliance and operations were permitted to resume.

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Disposal Services

KDA Inc. operates seven injection wells at two facilities in Trumbull County just minutes away from Route 82, 11 and 80. KDA understands the importance of tight schedules and deadlines and its facilities are open 24 hours and 7 days a week, including holidays.  Each facility has the ability to unload five trucks at a time if needed.

Kleese Facility - Vienna, Ohio

Five of the current injection wells are on the 200-acre Kleese family farm in Vienna, Ohio. This disposal facility can handle up to 8,000 barrels of fluid injection daily, with two quintiplex pumps.  This facility was recently upgraded with the ability to gravity feed unload up to ten trucks at one time.  It also has a ODNR approved secondary containment for storing heavy brine. 

Natale Facility - Warren,Ohio

The two other injection wells are located conveniently on State Route 422 in Warren, Ohio.  This disposal facility can handle 2,000 barrels of fluid injection daily, with one quintiplex pump.  It is a smaller version of the Kleese Well Facility with the ability to gravity feed unload five trucks at one time. 

Locations

COMING SOON: New Mt. Simon Injection Well at Kleese Facility

The drilling for a new injection well near the Kleese Facility is expected to begin March 2015.  With this addition, the facility will be expanding to include a third quintiplex pump. 

A permit has also been obtained for an additional Mt. Simon injection well at the Natale Facility. 

Throughout the entire process of constructing a new injection well, KDA Inc. performs thorough testing to ensure the pipe and cement seals are in compliance with strict ODNR and EPA regulations.

1 PILOT KILLED WHEN A CESSNA 172 SKYHAWK SMALL PLANE CRASHED IN SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA

JUNE 19, 2015

SHREVEPORT, LA

The pilot of the small plane that crashed late Friday afternoon at the Downtown Airport in Shreveport was declared "deceased on scene," according to Shreveport Fire Chief Scott Wolverton.

Shreveport emergency crews were called to the scene just after 5:30 p.m.  

Shreveport Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Fred Sanders says the plane that crashed is a Cessna 172. The plane's registration is connected to a Bossier City address, but it is unclear whether the pilot is local. He has not been identified, although Wolverton says he is a male, 50 to 60 years of age.

The aircraft itself was heavily damaged in the crash. Chief Wolverton says the pilot had been doing "touch and gos," which involve taking off and landing again repeatedly. It's a practice common for pilots looking to get required flight hours logged. 

The crash happened some 700 yards from the primary runway where the pilot was taking off and landing.  

The FAA has been called into investigate. 

Friends of the victim say the pilot had years of experience and the news of his death comes as a shock to them.

"Of all of us it could have happened to it was the least one you would have expected it to," said friend Jerry Harris.

Business partners in the Bag Flying Club are grieving the loss of one of their own.

"We've known each other a lot of years, I mean we aren't close friends but anytime you're brothers in aviation in a club like we've had," said Harris.

Friends tell us the pilot had at least 25 years of flying experience.

"Talk about a man with confidence, whatever happened, in my opinion probably the wind got him or something," said Harris.

Harris says this accident doesn't take away from the pilot that he was.

"He's just a very close personably type guy, he'd do anything for you. It's just like driving down the road, you could be the best person, and something could happen," said Harris.

The airport will reopen at 7 a.m. on Saturday. 

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A pilot died when a small plane he was flying crashed in Shreveport Friday.

Shreveport firefighters arrived at Shreveport Downtown Airport at about 5:20 p.m. to find a single-engine Cessna had crashed. More than a dozen units responded to the call.

The pilot — the only one on board — was dead by that time and was not immediately identified. Shreveport Fire Chief Scott Wolverton said the pilot was a man between the ages of 50 and 60.

"There's a lot of heavy damage to the aircraft. Just from the background we know, he'd been out doing touch-and-goes for several hours here at the Downtown Airport," Wolverton said. "The individual in the tower did witness the event. As of right now, that's the only witness we do have."

The runway was closed so the Federal Aviation Administration could investigate the crash.

The pilot's name won't be released until the investigation is complete, officials said. An autopsy will help determine if the pilot's death was health-related or caused by the crash itself.

Date:	19-JUN-2015
Time:	17:30
Type:	Cessna 172 Skyhawk
Owner/operator:	Bag Flying Club Inc
Registration:	N5743A
C/n / msn:	28343
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Airplane damage:	Substantial
Location:	Shreveport Downtown Airport (KDTN), Shreveport, LA -   United States of America
Phase:	Unknown
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Shreveport Downtown (KDTN)
Destination airport:	Shreveport Downtown (KDTN)

Narrative:
The aircraft impacted airport terrain while performing touch-and-go landings at Shreveport Downtown Airport (KDTN), Shreveport, Louisiana. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the sole pilot onboard received fatal injuries.

 

Sources: 
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=177107
  http://www.wsmv.com/story/29365180/small-plane-crashes-at-shreveports-downtown-airport http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2015/06/19/one-dead-in-shreveport-downtown-airport-crash/29010851/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin= http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=5743A
http://flightaware.com/photos/view/284228-ecbcb0814d74c1fb5b708fa4a90571775de4b322%3Btail=N5743A%3Bo=2

Judge Rules Super Puma Crash Black Box Should be Handed Over

Published in Oil Industry News on Saturday, 20 June 2015

A judge has granted a legal bid to get access to the black box from a helicopter crash which claimed four lives.

Eighteen people were aboard the Super Puma chopper which plunged into the North Sea near Shetland in August 2013.
On Friday, lord Jones said he would make the helicopter's flight data available to the Crown Office and police with conditions attached.

Lord advocate Frank Mulholland had asked the courts to release the black box, in a move opposed by pilot union BALPA.

The judge said: "In my judgement, there is no doubt that the lord advocate's investigation into the circumstances of the death of each of those who perished in this case is both in the public interest and in the interests of justice.
“The data which the lord advocate seeks to recover will provide relevant, accurate and reliable evidence which will enable the Safety and Regulation Group (SARG) to provide an expert opinion of value to assist him in his investigation of the circumstances of the death of the four passengers whose lives were lost, and his decision whether and, if so, against whom to launch a prosecution

Lord Jones said he accepted that SARG could not provide expert opinion to aid the police and Crown Office which was "of value" without carrying out a flight specialist analysis of the data from the Super Puma which crashed two years ago as it approached Sumburgh Airport in Shetland.

He added: "Accordingly, I hold that those data are strictly necessary for the purposes of the police investigation."

The judge said he was satisfied that disclosure in this case will have no adverse domestic or international impact on the current investigation or on any future safety investigation. He said that although he would order for the transport secretary to make the black box available, conditions would be attached.

They include that Police Scotland will take possession of the data and retain overall control and responsibility for it until it is returned to the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB). He said the results of any analysis would to be treated as confidential and only disclosed to the Crown Office and police.

The helicopter, with two crew and 16 passengers on board, crashed on August 23, 2013, about two miles west of Sumburgh. Sarah Darnley, 45, Gary McCrossan, 59, Duncan Munro, 46, and George Allison, 57, all lost their lives.

The AAIB began an immediate investigation, which is still under way. Seventy-eight hours of flight data and two hours of audio recording were downloaded as part on the inquiry.

It includes communications between the commander and co-pilot, radio transmissions and passenger announcements.But the judge said such recordings also capture "ambient sounds" which may be important to an investigation, such as a change in engine note.

The AAIB has issued three reports over the accident, one of which reported that wreckage examination and recorded data analysis had not shown any evidence of a technical fault that could have caused the accident, although some work remained to be completed.

The lord advocate said that in the apparent absence of any technical fault the police had asked SARG to provide an expert opinion on the performance of the flight crew.A formal request was made to the AAIB to make the data available for the investigation, but it said a court order would be required.

Aidan O'Neill, for the pilots' union, told the court at an earlier hearing that "a culture of openness" was fostered so that when an incident happens complete information can be obtained.

He said there was a culture of sharing information without fear of reprisals.
Lord Jones said accident investigators cannot be required routinely to disclose cockpit voice recordings and such a move can only be ordered in a particular case if the tests laid down in regulations were met.The judge said his decision in the present case would not create a precedent.
Source: news.stv.tv

Coast Guard Commandant releases cyber strategy

June 16, 2015

 

WASHINGTON, DC

The commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, released the service’s cyber strategy Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies to ensure the prosperity and security of the nation’s Maritime Transportation System (MTS) in the face of a rapidly evolving cyber domain.

“While cyber certainly poses a number of unique risks and challenges,” said the commandant. “I am confident that we can meet them in a way that benefits the marine industry, protects privacy and maintains the safety and security of our maritime environment.”

Cyberspace is an operational domain that integrates information and intelligence in support of Coast Guard operations. The rapid development of digital technologies has led to unprecedented efficiencies, but it has also come with serious risks. The Coast Guard’s cyber strategy  is a comprehensive framework that identifies three strategic priorities critical to the service’s effort defending the maritime domain:

• Defend cyberspace – Ensure the full scope of the Coast Guard’s capabilities are effective and efficient by building and maintaining secure and resilient Coast Guard information networks;
• Enable operations – Detect, deter, disable and defeat adversaries by developing and leveraging a diverse set of cyber capabilities and authorities; and
• Protect critical infrastructure through a unity of effort to protect maritime infrastructure from attacks, disasters and accidents.

To ensure long-term success in combating cyber threats to the nation’s MTS and infrastructure, the cyber strategy outlines a number of cross-cutting factors that support the Coast Guard’s strategic objectives. Among these factors, the Coast Guard will focus on recognizing cyberspace as an operational domain; 
developing guidance and defining the mission space; leveraging partnerships to build knowledge, capacity and  understanding of MTS vulnerabilities; sharing of information; organizing for success; building a well-trained cyber workforce; and making thoughtful future cyber investments.

The Coast Guard will continue to adapt, as it has for the past 225 years, by employing this strategy to protect America’s maritime interests in cyberspace, maintain advantage over adversaries and help maintain the safety, security and prosperity of the nation.

“Cyber is a new risk factor, but it does not interrupt long-standing and successful regimes for dealing with prevention and response to incidents,” said Zukunft.

To view the Coast Guard’s cyber strategy, please visit http://ift.tt/1BgQwq2.