On May 21, the Neameh, a Panamanian ship exporting cattle from Colombia to Egypt, was intercepted by Spanish authorities near the Straits of Gibraltar to be raided for suspected cocaine smuggling.

The search, however, was never completed; called off when agents needed breathing devices and their sniffer dogs were useless due to the overpowering stench of neglected and suffering cows. As reported by Europa Sur, a news organization based in Algeciras where the port of interception was located, many of the animals lay dead on the ground for several days among urine, faeces and feed, in a state of decomposition.

Not only does this horrific finding re-emphasize the animal rights violations and malpractices of the live export industry, but it also highlights shortcomings of animal trade regulation when ships pass through the jurisdictions of different countries. Even though the state of the ship when intercepted in Spain clearly violated EU regulations, it was still allowed to continue on to Egypt.

The live export industry has been around for decades, and the growth of the global demand for meat has expanded it to transporting in excess of 5 million animals each day. The consolidation of the slaughterhouse industry has also necessitated animals traveling longer distances or into other countries to be processed.

Countries all over the world participate in the live trade of animals, and Europe dominates many of the lists for export numbers with most of their animals going to countries of the Middle East that are willing to pay a premium for freshly slaughtered meat.

However, it was Australia that initially made headlines after the Farid Fares disaster of 1980, when a transport ship caught fire and sank, drowning 40,605 of the sheep on board. The incident prompted a greater surveillance over the conditions of live export vessels, and precipitated the arrival of a powerful animal advocacy group called Animals Australia, which by 2012 had made live export a mainstream issue now recognized all over the world.

Other animal rights organizations like Animals Angels, Eyes on Animals, and the Animal Welfare Foundation have joined Animals Australia in conducting investigations and large-scale campaigns focused on the live export industry. Eyes on Animals has found abuses from cattle trapped in Russia in a snowed-in truck with a frozen water system, to chickens dying of heat stress while their trucks are stalled outside a slaughterhouse in the Netherlands.

They have uncovered legal violations of journey logs that claim the mandatory 24 hour rest at a fake control post, and water devices full of manure and straw that are either not cleaned or too inaccessible to be cleaned. More generally, they have documented the extreme overcrowding and poor ventilation for transported sheep, causing sick, injured, or dead animals to remain hidden within the masses, as well as pregnant sheep that were illegally brought on board and had given birth to lambs that will likely never step off the rancid ship.

Perhaps counterintuitively, animals are not the only victims of live export. According to livestock veterinarian Dr. Lynn Simpson, what shocked me most was the disregard for humanity and the poor conditions that many seafarers are forced to endure.

Some companies see seafarers as expendable, as confirmed by so many pirate hostages with no ransoms paid. Lesley Moffat, founder of Eyes on Animals, concurs with the mistreatment of workers, feeling sympathetic towards the drivers who are usually more than compliant during surprise inspections by her organization. Theyre not the bosses, she says, Theyre forced to drive really long hours, long distances alone, which is illegal, but saves the boss money.

The activist pushback is not without its successes: New Zealand banned live export in 2003; Austria and Germany followed the Netherlands recent example of suspending transports to non-EU countries that are at risk of violating EU regulations; and just this month the European Parliament voted to establish an inquiry committee to investigate live export.

Activism, however, comes with a paradox as well. As animal rights organizations gain more power and public support, many transport companies do not want their reputations stained, and are more likely to decline the shipment of live animals.

All too often, however, this simply puts the animals into the hands of cheaper and less reputable carriers, and they end up in even worse conditions that they would have previously. Whats more, some countries now ban traded animals to pass through their borders, forcing a need to circumvent existing routes and creating an even longer journey for the creatures.

Uncertainty and complication regarding legal responsibility is one of the greatest obstacles to improving or ending live export. Animal rights laws are different in each country, and transporting across borders confuses jurisdiction to the point where there doesnt seem to be any enforcement at all.

Although there is a World Organization for Animal Health that sets international standards, it has no power of enforcement, and up until fairly recently exporter countries have had no qualms in putting these animals at the mercy of destination countries in order to turn a profit.

This attitude continues even into the time of Covid-19, which becomes especially concerning given that research speculates animal consumption as the spark of the pandemic. According to the Ecologist, 75% of new infectious diseases in humans come from animals, and live animal export significantly increases the likelihood of these diseases arising and spreading.

Asia joins the Middle East in their status as common importers of live animals, and the notorious wet market in Wuhan, China is an example of where these suffering and sick animals often spend their last moments.

Unbeknownst to many consumers, the hamburgers and hot dogs grilled on hot summer days may very well come from a cow whose tongue was lolling and eyes were wide as it barely survived the heat exhaustion that claimed its decomposing neighbors, or a pig that had no choice but to lie in its own excrement for weeks at a time.

These realizations are at least enough for one to lose their appetite and at most enough for people to swear off eating meat for good. However, we do not all need to convert to vegetarianism in order to take a stand for both the welfare of these animals and our own. Something as simple as buying local or spreading awareness on various producers begins to cultivate the global responsibility necessary to impact, improve, or halt altogether the vast, unchecked industry that is live export.

For The Yucatan TimesRaquel Anais Smith

Raquel Anais Smith is a freelance writer specializing in environmental features, published across a variety of international online and print media.

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Horror on the High Seas: Animal Welfare & the Live Export Industry - The Yucatan Times

Automobili Lamborghini and The Italian Sea Group present the worldwide premiere of Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63, the Tecnomar fleets new motor yacht available in a limited edition in reference to Lamborghinis 1963 foundation.

Performance, driving pleasure, attention to quality and details, emotion: these are the emotive features combined within the Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63, thanks to innovative engineering solutions and a distinct design unique to shared Italian style and tradition.

This motor yacht project, developed by The Italian Sea Group, started with several collaborative sessions with the contribution of Lamborghinis Centro Stile and inspiration from the Lamborghini Sin FKP 37: the hybrid super sports car incorporating benchmarking new supercapacitor and materials science technologies, that anticipates the future with an unmistakable design and completely customizable colour and details.

The challenge of re-interpreting the common DNA traits of both brands has inspired all phases of the project, from the design principles to the definition of technical characteristics ensuring incredible performance, without neglecting the quality of materials and careful attention to detail.

Read more from the original source:

Lamborghini takes to the high seas - Paint and Panel

My Australian uncle just spent close to a month locked in his cabin on what he described as his "last cruise ever." No one died or caught the coronavirus, like on so many other vessels. But instead of sailing from Singapore to London, the ship brought him all the way back to Australia without a single stop along the way. That was followed by two weeks of mandatory quarantine in a Perth hotel.

One week later, my uncle emailed me to say he had already booked his next cruise! I couldn't believe it. He wrote that the company had given him a full refund for his "trip to nowhere," along with a 50% discount for a Perth-to-Singapore cruise next year the opposite to what he'd just done, but with shore leaves this time. I wondered if that would be enough to repress those dreaded memories.

Not the cruise of a lifetime

Reports show the coronavirus broke out on at least 55 ships across the world's oceans. Some public health experts said the vessels helped carry the virus around the globe. Many sailed for weeks after the disease was first detected on a cruise liner. That was, until ports refused them entry, stranding tens of thousands of passengers and crew at sea some for months.

A study in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked cruise ships with 17% of coronavirus cases in the United States in the early weeks of the global spread of COVID-19. That included the Diamond Princess, the site of one of the world's biggest outbreaks. Prosecutors argued the Ruby Princess was the main importer of cases to Australia. A criminal investigation was launched.

DW Senior Business Editor Ben Fajzullin at Hamburg Port

'The problem stayed on board'

However, the industry said it took extraordinary measures to limit outbreaks. The German government's maritime coordinator Norbert Brackmann (CDU) agreed. "The problem stayed on board," he told me. "The cruise liners are built according to the latest standards."

On a boat tour of Hamburg Port, industry veteran Walter Krombach told me cruise ships were more susceptible to the coronavirus than other places. "Where you have big crowds of people: 4,000 up to 6,000, plus the crew on a narrow area together, mixed together, the risk is there," he said.

'Ships don't have laboratories'

Ukrainian cruise entertainer Ivan Lytvynenko was one of the thousands trapped aboard the German ship, MV Artania, off Australia, when the virus broke out. It led to evacuations and deaths. His main concern was the lack of medical equipment on board. "The ships don't have laboratories, to carry out tests. That's something they'll have to think about,' he told me.

Brackmann said "you can be certain, the cruise operators will be taking this experience from the pandemic and using it to ensure their vessels are even more secure in the future." But the big boats wouldhave to consider setting sail with only half the passengers, if they wanted to adhere to social distancing rules. There was also talk of fewer stops and going local: discouraging passengers from flying to their port of departure and taking a cruise closer to home.

At least the big cruise operators scored well when it cameto providing disinfectant on board to clean your hands. Whereas the rest of the world (except for parts of Asia)only just started installing disinfectant dispensers, they have been a mainstay in front of restaurants on cruise liners for years now. That is because they have had to deal with all sorts of outbreaks before: measles, chickenpox, salmonella, E. coli and the dreaded norovirus.

My holiday from hell

I caught the norovirus on my first and last cruise in 2016. I spent two whole days with severe chills, fever, diarrhea and vomiting, locked in my cabin. That turned me into a bit of a skeptic. Coincidentally, the Spanish operators of the cruise Pullmantur just went bankrupt. There were reports that its fleet of three ships (one just renovated in 2017) washeaded for the scrap heap.

COVID-19 took its toll. But like any health scare, consumers tend to forget quickly. And those who only watched the drama unfold on their flat-screen TVs from the comfort of their own homes wouldfeel even more disconnected from the horrors.

My parents were already planning their next cruise. My father has health issues and cannot fly. A cruise was a great solution to travel. But what if he were to catch something on board, stuck out at sea, with little access to medical equipment? It was something I worried about.

Ukrainian cruise ship entertainer Ivan Lytvynenko may enjoy this land excursion, but he's raring to return to work on the MV Artania

Smaller cruises set sail

He was happy to hear that some of the first cruise operators were already gearing up for business again. In the same week that I was in Hamburg, a smaller expedition boat was the very first to venture back out onto the high seas for German customers. Less than a third of the boat was booked. As passengers checked in, staff checked their temperatures. I read that shore leaves were off the cards.

Whether it meant significantly fewer passengers or higher costs to offer what some companies called a "gold standard in public health," operators would be desperate to get any sort of revenues flowing again, after billions of dollars in losses and lawsuits. And the vast majority of firms continued to burn through billions in cash, with their vessels stuck in dock. Their share prices continued to take on water, as I wrote this article.

Bookings are surging

But booking platforms reported that reservations were surging again. Operators were offering big discounts, like in my uncle's case. On the one hand, some analysts expected another boom even bigger than before the crisis. Krombach, on the other hand, told me the boom was well and truly over and that the industry would never be the same. "Everybody thought in that business that the boom would continue forever. Corona made a stop a full stop."

Skyping with Ivan Lytvynenko, I was surprised to hear from him as well, that his ship wasbooked out. "Our passengers all want to come back. We're booked out for the next two years and I'm certain many, many people will want to do the trip."

And what about the 31-year-old, after being trapped with all those passengers and the threat of a highly contagious virus on board? "I can't wait. It's been my life the last 11 years. I've always been on cruise ships. I just don't know when I'll be able to again."

Excerpt from:

Coronavirus fallout: Cruising into the unknown - DW (English)

We're wishing everyone a wonderful Independence Day celebrating America's founding.

COLUMBIA, S.C. Happy July 4th from News19!

The holiday, of course, commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which formally split the United States from Britain.

The legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain actually occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. (Founding father John Adams believed that it would be July 2nd that would forever be the day remembered by Americans with celebrations and fireworks. But alas...)

After voting for freedom, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence itself. Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the document, which Congress debated and revised, finally approving it on July 4.

We think perhaps way to pay tribute to the holiday is by reprinting the Declaration of Independence, that incredible document of freedom, which you can read below.

"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

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Happy 4th of July from WLTX! - WLTX.com

Despite a relatively shallow seabed, oil production 120 miles (190 kilometers) from the coast in the infamously treacherous North Sea has always required a technological approach to make it profitable. Right from the beginning of production in the 1960s, helicopters were a part of making it possible.

By 1997, the rotary-wing industry that had developed in support of offshore production was mature and well established, but a small new operator, based in the Belgian coastal city of Oostende, was preparing to shake up the sector. That company was Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen (North Sea Helicopters, Flanders) or NHV, established by Eric Van Hal, his brother Jef De Kinder and another investor, with an Airbus Helicopters (then Eurocopter) AS365 N3.

The company grew rapidly over the following years, even as the regions oil production began to fall. NHVs operations spanned the coasts of Western Europe (both on- and offshore) and West Africa, but the jewel in the crown remained elusive.

The Scottish city of Aberdeen was transformed perhaps like no other by the oil-and-gas industry. It has the worlds busiest commercial heliport, with 37,000 rotary movements per year that almost exclusively serve offshore oil-and-gas. NHV had opened its U.K. base in the East English coastal town of Norwich in 2008, but without an operation in Aberdeen there was a risk of being overlooked as a serious offshore contender.

Getting into Aberdeen was difficult as real estate was very expensive, said Jamie John, NHVs base manager at Aberdeen. We couldnt win any work in Aberdeen without a base there, and we couldnt get a presence without a contract.

To get around this chicken and egg situation, NHV took a base in the far north of Scotland and embarked on an effort to build its reputation in the face of the more established names.

NHV was a player in Europe but little-known in the U.K., explained John. We started operating initially in Wick with a couple of aircraft and that basically got us our name.

After an 18-year career with the Royal Air Force in ground operations, John spent some time in the Middle East before returning to Europe with DanCopter in 2012, which was acquired by NHV along with the rest of the Blueway Group in 2014. At a stroke, this made the company one of the largest helicopter operators in Europe, with a presence in every oil producing country in the North Sea region.

John explained that things started to change in Aberdeen a year later. We won a contract with a large major [oil producer] and began gaining momentum, he said. In 2015, we were awarded a contract for two aircraft, and we flew our first contracted offshore flight from Aberdeen out of a temporary facility in January 2016 while our base was under construction.

That operation supported between 150 and 180 flying hours per month with a team of 20 personnel. Now Aberdeen is NHVs largest flying unit with a fleet of seven aircraft flying 7,000 to 8,000 hours per year and employing 120 staff.

NHV was the launch customer for the H175, and received its 12th of the type in 2019. The Aberdeen fleet would be entirely of that type, which was a departure from the trend.

The [Airbus Helicopters H] 225 and the [Sikorsky] S-92 were still flying, so there was nothing in the medium class flying at Aberdeen, Neil Christie, the bases chief pilot, explained.

John was a key part of the team setting up the Aberdeen base, and while contracts have accumulated and the company footprint expanded dramatically since, the nature of the task hasnt changed much.

We call them bus schedule contracts, he explained. We tend to fly very regular, scheduled runway-to-rig operations that allow predictable working routines.

It seems likely that oil-and-gas passenger transfers in this environment could only be described as routine and predictable by someone who has either spent a lot of time in that business, or none at all.

The North Sea spans lines of latitude that are roughly coincident with Alaska, and if the weather is predictable, then it is predictably terrible. High winds and high seas are only generally absent when the thick regional fog known as the Haar blankets the ocean and coast, sending the air temperature plummeting.

Certainly, most of the flights are similar in profile, but when at least one landing and takeoff must be made to a ship, or a platform hundreds of feet above the waves and surrounded by other vertical obstructions, describing them as routine is understated, to say the least.

It is a hazardous environment in which to undertake the already risky business of oil-and-gas production, and there have been several high-profile incidents and accidents that have well illustrated the dangers including those that led to the lengthy prohibition of EC225 LP and AS332 L2 helicopter operations in the U.K. and Norway.

Unsurprisingly then, safety is at the forefront of everyones mind, not just among the aviation community but also those who they transport to their place of work, miles out to sea. Their representatives in the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) take a keen interest in the operation of aircraft that support the industry, and put in place restrictions over and above those of the regional and national aviation regulators.

This emphasis is keenly felt in the cockpit, where responsibility for the safe conduct of flight ultimately rests.

We want to create the same perfect flight each time, where the passengers can have their nap and arent awoken, said Christie. How we deal with the weather and anything else needs to be standardized, but we train hard to have that peaceful flight.

In common with much else in aviation that involves carriage of passengers, that training and standardization revolves around procedure, but oil rigs are very different from international airports or in fact any airport. While performance-based navigation and even point-in-space approaches have been implemented in other industries, the preferred method to get a large helicopter onto an oil rig involves judicious use of radar. This is not only because of the challenges of the variability of wind direction and strength, but also to aid detection of boats or other obstacles that might have found their way into the path of the approaching aircraft.

Rig approaches typically start at 1,500 feet (460 meters) above the sea level at 6.5 nautical miles (12 kilometers) and an air speed of 90 knots, before a descent to 200 feet (60 meters) is initiated. A 10 degree turn away from the rig ensures separation before the aircraft continues to a missed approach point at mile.

Having flown the AS332 L previously and coming from the H155, Christie was familiar with Airbus Helicopters products and design philosophy.

The H175 came quite naturally; the aircraft simplifies a lot of things, he explained. The cockpit is a lot more automated and simplified, which lends to an easier CRM [crew resource management] environment for the crew. That all leads to reducing the risk of confusion or mistakes.

Christie reserved particular praise for the aircrafts Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), native to the H175s Helionix avionics setup.

Ive worked on machines in the past where I had less trust in the AFCS, he said. But Ive heard it again and again from crews that theyve never had as much trust in another aircraft as they do in the 175.

At least part of this trust likely comes as a result of the vast array of experience with the aircraft that comes from within the company. NHV has not only been operating the machine for longer than anybody else, but also has the largest fleet anywhere in the world.

Despite having only joined the company in 2019, NHVs U.K. flight ops manager Chris Cooper is a convert to the type, both technically and ideologically.

Its a fantastic aircraft, he said. Weve become the authority on the H175 because weve been involved from the very beginning. A lot of the processes and procedures that have been introduced have come from NHV and the experience we have with the aircraft.

Cooper explained that the variety of landing platforms across the region influenced the companys fleet choices. The smaller decks off Norwich are well suited to the Leonardo AW139, while NHV has chosen the Leonardo AW169 for the even smaller decks off the coast of Blackpool in northwest England for a new contract with Spirit Energy.

With such a modern fleet, it is easy to see why pilots are attracted to NHV, but Christie and Cooper are equally adamant that the strength of NHV comes from its people.

We are good at selecting the right people, said Cooper. We place a big emphasis on that. Obviously, recruits have to have the right technical qualification but with small teams, they also need to have great team skills.

That experience is getting harder and harder to come by. The IOGP sets out rigorous minimum requirements even for first officers. In particular, the requirement for 500 hours in multi-engine aircraft narrows the field enormously.

NHV is taking some steps towards making the process of working in the sector more achievable for inexperienced pilots.

The mainstay of our hiring is experienced people, but weve also been able to bring on some inexperienced pilots that have just got their CPL(H), got their IR and theyve no experience, he said.

NHV has its own ATO to deliver type ratings and line training, but copilots arriving without the requisite hours each have to be approved by the IOGP on a case-by-case basis. This must add cost to the company, but Christie explained that the value went beyond simply filling a cockpit seat and gives the company additional choice in who it hires.

We need everyone to be able to work well together in the cockpit and in the office, he said. But its also fresh eyes; we like to see people coming in and asking why we do things a certain way, it gives us a chance to ask ourselves that.

The companys team spirit has undoubtedly been tested. No sooner had the operation at Aberdeen begun in earnest, it was decided that Britain would leave the European Union, and with it the European Aviation Safety Agency.

NHVs history is filled with examples of operating across national boundaries. For example, while its management of continuous airworthiness is U.K.-registered, the part 145 maintenance operation is Belgian. Until 2018 this was also the case for its Air Operators Certificate (AOC), but with Britain disentangling itself from the European Union, NHV decided to change the whole of the U.K. operation onto a U.K. AOC.

John explained that the planning and preparation took a year and depended not only on the talent that existed in the company, but on others that they needed to bring in.

In the end it was a complete shutdown of the existing AOC and a fresh start over a weekend. Aircraft were deregistered on the Friday and by Monday we were ready to go, he explained. We found the right people to manage the process. We even managed to continue to win contracts while we were doing it.

More recent challenges have had far broader reach. While the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic placed much of the world into lockdown, it was vital that the energy industry continued to be able to operate.

One of the biggest challenges that we had right at the start was gaining any kind of good advice because nobody was an expert in this, said Cooper.

While NHV needed to be able to transport symptomatic patients who didnt meet the threshold for search-and-rescue (SAR), they nevertheless had to be transported back to the mainland. However, adherence to regulation made it difficult to protect people.

We had a dedicated helicopter and a medic with oxygen, and I think that put us ahead of the curve initially, Cooper said. To start with we couldnt get a barrier in for the crew because you needed part 21 approval to do anything, so we had a spare 175 which we put into a cargo fit, which is three seats at the front and three at the back, so at least we had some distance.

Cooper said the companys small, experienced, teams not only enable rapid action in a crisis, but are also critically important to winning and keeping routine business.

The base managers look after the customers. They dont have to go through key account managers, he said. The customers like it because they can come straight to someone who has an answer and they are just dealing with one person.

The coronavirus crisis has undoubtedly injected a fresh and unwanted dose of uncertainty into an oil-and-gas market that was already suffering a downturn. While NHVs U.K. operation doesnt seem distracted from a job it is proud to have succeeded at as the underdog, the wider company has plenty of other experience, from SAR, helicopter emergency medical services and MRO services in Europe, to utility work in Norway. This makes diversification a possibility, in principle at least.

The focus in the U.K. is on our operations supporting oil-and-gas, said John. Were not shy about looking into other markets, but those markets are likely to be linked to offshore services.

NHV has already proved that it can adapt to challenging circumstances, and its likely that itll have plenty of time to adapt further.

Read the original post:

NHV: Shaking up the offshore market - Vertical Magazine

- Strong to gale north-westerly winds (60-75km/h) are expected in places over the Northern Cape and Western Cape on Thursday.

- Strong to gale north-westerly winds (60-75km/h) between Cape Columbine and Cape Agulhas of the Western Cape Thursday spreading to Plettenberg Bay by the evening.

- High seas with wave heights from 6m to 8m are expected between Hondeklip Bay and Cape Agulhas Thursday.

- Heavy rain is expected over the high lying areas of the Cape Metropole and Cape Winelands Thursday evening and Friday.

- A heavy rain leading to localised flooding is possible over the Cape Metropole, mountainous areas of Cape Winelands and Overberg from Friday until Saturday.

- Very cold conditions are expected over Western Cape and the southern high ground of the Northern Cape on Friday afternoon spreading eastwards by Saturday morning.

- Snowfalls are expected over the mountainous regions of the Western Cape and the southern high ground of the Northern Cape on Friday.

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Special weather alert: Snow, heavy rain and strong winds to lash Western and Northern Cape - News24

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in 2017, 40.1 million people worldwide worked on fishing vessels. These men and women are sometimes forcibly conscripted onto boats where their most basic rights are violated. Faced with this unacceptable situation, several associations and trade unions are pushing for the international community to better regulate the rapidly evolving industry.

Supreyanto was 47 years old. An Indonesian national, he worked on a Taiwanese vessel fishing tuna, a job which often requires several days of work without rest. It was a job for which Supreyanto gave his life. In 2015, after four months spent at sea, the fisher died on a boat that was employing him in what the captain and several sailors described as an accident. In reality, it was a murder.

Supreyanto suffered many abuses aboard the Taiwanese vessel, including humiliation and beatings. His story, all too common in the fishing industry, came to light thanks to the work of Allison Lee, founder of the Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union. Created in 2014, it is Taiwans first union dedicated to defending the rights of foreign sailors employed in the country.

For years, she has fought to protect these often-exploited workers. Its hard to know whats going on aboard the boats, she tells Equal Times.

Most of the time we have nothing but our suspicions. The sailors who die often disappear into the ocean.

As the economic stakes of the fishing industry continue to rise, stories like Supreyantos are increasingly commonplace on the worlds seas.

The fishing industry is one of the most dangerous and violent in the world. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 20,000 to 30,000 seafarers disappear every year while at sea. I think its due to the nature of the work, Kimberly Rogovin, senior seafood campaign coordinator at the International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF), tells Equal Times. On the boats, you dont have access to the most basic medical care.

According to Rogovin, fishing vessels are also under enormous economic pressure to reduce costs, so they hire the least trained and cheapest workers. This is particularly true in the countries of Asia, which are home to 75 per cent of the worlds active fishing vessels. The fishing industry in these countries relies on migrant workers from countries where employment is scarce who are willing to work for starvation wages.

In the Taiwanese fishing industry, which specialises in tuna, its mainly Indonesian and Filipino workers who work on the boats. In Thailand its workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. They catch all types of fish, both inside and outside of exclusive economic zones (EEZ) [editors note: areas within 200 nautical miles of a countrys coast where it is allowed to explore and use marine resources]. They are the ones that suffer the worst abuses. The same goes for workers in South Korea, explains Rogovin.

Over the years, associations have documented abuses in the industry. I think there are examples of abuse on many boats throughout the world. But this phenomenon has become extreme in recent years and certain regions are more affected than others, Thailand, for example, Steve Trent, founder and president of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), tells Equal Times. According to a United Nations report, 59 per cent of migrant workers employed on Thai boats have witnessed the killing of another sailor.

The entire system is designed to keep sailors dependent on the boats they are on. They cant leave or demand that their rights be respected. In this respect, working on a boat can be similar to slavery, Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia division, tells Equal Times. Indeed, many of the migrant workers employed on fishing vessels incur significant debt well before going out to sea.

Recruitment agencies seek out the poorest workers they can find, offering them contracts and the possibility of work abroad. Documents are signed in exchange for a large sum of money and before they know it, workers from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Cambodia find themselves working on fishing vessels in deplorable conditions where they are forced to work for years to pay off their debts. The United Nations has called this practice a form of modern slavery.

Moreover, as Robertson explains: Deep-sea fishing operations are conducted outside of all national labour laws, and in fact outside of any law at all, since regulations on work at sea are almost non-existent. While fishing activities are regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in reality it is little respected.

In 2007, after two years of negotiations, the ILO adopted a new convention (Convention 188) aimed at ensuring decent working conditions for fishers aboard fishing vessels, specifically with regard to conditions of service, accommodation and food, occupational safety and health protection.

But the document lacks a base of support as no Asian country except for Thailand has agreed to sign it.

Moreover, the vastness of the worlds oceans and seas makes it difficult to carry out checks, which makes it difficult to ensure that conventions are being properly applied, even more so when the vessels employing exploited workers are ghost ships engaged in illegal fishing.

International institutions refer to fishing activities that take place outside of any international monitoring as IUU fishing (illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing). This practice accounts for 20 to 30 per cent of activities in the sector, the equivalent of US$10 to US$20 million a year, according to the FAO. Many people are trying to regulate IUU fishing because they cant profit from it, says Rogovin.

However, the fight against illegal fishing and for better regulation of the oceans cannot be separated from the fight against forced labour. Climate change and overfishing are making it harder to catch fish close to the shore, says HRWs Robertson. When fishing vessels become fleets fishing on the high seas, the abuses against workers intensify and worsen significantly. Furthermore, as he explains, IUU fishing over long periods of time is really only possible if you have forcibly detained crews working indefinitely in horrible conditions.

Migrant workers are treated like disposable resources while vessel owners have only one objective: catching as many fish as possible to make the biggest profits.

This has become increasingly difficult due to the overfishing of the oceans. One in three species of fish is now overfished, Pearl Peiyu Chen, who works for Greenpeace in Asia, tells Equal Times. The boats have to travel farther and farther out into the ocean and stay at sea for longer periods of time to find the resources that they need.

Commercial fishing is part of a global chain and there is enormous pressure from buyers, whether its larger retailers like Walmart, Tesco or Carrefour, or distributors who buy seafood products, like Nestl, explains Rogovin. This enormous pressure on the industry to keep production costs low forces the boats to save money so they can continue to sell their fish.

Greenpeace points in particular to the involvement of industry giants in forced labour. Last March, the association revealed disturbing testimonies from sailors employed on two vessels linked to Fong Chong Formosa (FCF), one of the largest tuna traders in Tawain, which sells its products on Japanese, American and European markets. While Asian countries are particularly implicated in forced labour, the EJF has also documented cases of forced labour on British and Irish boats, as well as US-flagged vessels based in Hawaii.

However, solutions exist for putting an end to these degrading practices for workers around the world. Trent believes that there is a range of easily accessible and economically viable tools that could be put in place. For example, when you look out the window, wherever you are in the world, and see cars going by, they have license plates. This prevents serious problems. At sea, many fishing vessels dont have identification numbers. Were advocating for the introduction of license plates from the moment the vessels are built to the moment they are destroyed.

Another proposed solution is the installation of tracking systems and cameras on board ships. Associations are also calling for an end to transhipment at sea. The practice is simple: in order to avoid fishing vessels making too many return trips between the coast and the high sea, other vessels come to collect the fish caught and bring the goods back to port. This practice allows vessels to stay at sea without having to interrupt their fishing activities, but it is also often associated with forced labour a situation which has worsened with the coronavirus which has left tens of thousands of fishers and other seafarers stuck at sea due to containment measures. . However, the worlds countries are increasingly regulating transhipment as it is often associated with IUU fishing.

Faced with international pressure, but also with intergovernmental logistical and financial support, several countries have taken additional steps to improve working conditions on fishing vessels. Thailand, which has been particularly singled out for criticism in recent years, has been trying to better regulate its industry since 2015. Thanks in particular to improved working conditions on its vessels and an investment of more than 1.75 million bahts (US$56,700) to modernise fishing equipment, the country has successfully reduced the need for labour on Thai-flagged vessels by 37 per cent, thus lowering production costs while improving working conditions and wages for foreign workers.

The European Union also lifted the yellow card it had given to Taiwan in 2015 after significant improvements made over the last three and a half years to tracking and regulation of its fishing vessels.

International conventions appear to be bearing fruit. In 2018, the Taiwanese-flagged Fuh Sheng No.11 became the first vessel detained under the provisions of the ILOs Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188) after an inspection revealed cases of forced labour on board.

But governments are not the only actors capable of fighting against forced labour on fishing vessels. Several trade unions have been formed over the last few years to defend the rights of migrant fishers. These organisations are indispensable in the fight against these practices. In addition to the role of information and prevention they play with the workers they are able to reach, they have also played a major role in recent years in denouncing ship owners who fail to respect the most basic human rights.

One such organisation, the Fishers Rights Network (FRN), was launched in Songkhla, one of Thailands largest ports, in 2017. Since then, the union has been distributing first aid kits to fishers and has helped several of them to claim unpaid wages. Its actions have forced the government to raise the minimum wage for fishers. In January 2017, the Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN), also based in Thailand but working on behalf of workers from Myanmar, assisted more than 2,000 migrant workers in submitting a collective labour demand to their employer.

These worldwide struggles cannot be successful without the mobilisation of all of the actors in the channels of consumption, all the way to consumers.

Consumers need to ask questions in their supermarkets or in restaurants to ensure that seafood products are produced using sustainable practices that respect labour and human rights, explains Robertson.

For Trent, a better political vision, greater control by retailers of where their products come from and consumer mobilisation could make a difference. The challenges are immense, theres no doubt about it. But we have solutions at our disposal. The EJF founder is calling for global action to be taken: The seas and oceans cover more than 70 per cent of our planet and have no borders. These problems cannot be solved individually. If we dont work together, we will fail, he says.

This is a major challenge for the thousands of migrant workers who are abused by their captains on the worlds oceans every day. Climate change and dwindling fish resources combined with growing demand are making this issue increasingly urgent. According to the FAO, global per capita fish consumption in 2016 was more than 20 kilograms a year, double what it was 50 years ago.

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Saving workers from the hell of the fishing industry in Asia - Equal Times

National Sea Rescue Institute performs a life saving exercise during the learn to swim event at Monwabisi Beach.

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has appealed to beach goers and smaller vessels at sea to be cautious because of higher and lower tides, which will peak on Sunday.

In a statement, the NSRI said high seas, combined with a Spring tide and the cold front, are expected to reach the Western Cape on Saturday along the south and south-west coastline and persist into Monday morning.

"The concern is for smaller vessels at sea navigating through the conditions, as well as for beach goers and coastal hikers, who may be caught off-guard by large waves at Spring high tide that could potentially sweep them off the rocks along the shoreline," NSRI CEO Dr Cleeve Robertson said.

"We are appealing to boaters, paddlers, beach goers, surfers, coastal hikers, anglers and the public to be cautious around the coastline and to follow SA Weather Service (SAWS) forecasts."

- Compiled by Alex Mitchley

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Sea vessels warned of higher and lower than normal tides - News24

ASSATEAGUE STATE PARK, Md. Seven months after washing up on the shores of Cape Cod, Mass., No. 300 stoically scanned the powdery beach while being held aloft by Marylands second-highest elected official.

It was hardly the strangest thing to befall the young Kemps ridley sea turtle, a Gulf of Mexico native, since the animal found itself in cool northern waters in November. Its body temperature plunged, making it too lethargic to swim. It was scooped up by volunteers who found it near-dead on shore. It was trucked to Baltimore, then warmed by aquarium workers who named it Muenster and treated its pneumonia. The turtle swam in a pool with other injured turtles named for cheeses, and swam some more, not knowing that outside, pandemic-related shutdowns were delaying its return to the Atlantic waters now before it.

Soon, Republican Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, jeans rolled up to his knees, placed the turtle into breaking waves as beachgoers cheered this glint of hope at a time of tumult on land. And without a look back, Muenster became the first of 10 Kemps ridley and green sea turtles to paddle forth on this late June morning into an ocean that by some measures has become more hospitable to the seafaring reptiles and by others indicators warming seas, intensifying hurricanes may be turning more perilous.

Six of seven sea turtle species are threatened or endangered, their populations driven down by development of the beaches where they nest, pollution of the waters where they forage, fishing nets and lines that accidentally catch them, and hunting and trade. But even against that dim backdrop, the trends for those that swim U.S. waters look fairly positive, according to one recent study: Endangered species protections have helped six of eight populations rise.

Green sea turtles that nest in Florida had experienced such remarkable recovery, the study said, that their status was upgraded from endangered to threatened in 2016. But some experts worry that an increase in intense hurricanes, which may be worsening because of global warming, poses a growing threat to sea turtle beaches.

Kemps ridleys such as Muenster, the most endangered sea turtles of all, are a different story. Juveniles ages 2 to 5 or so commonly strand on Massachusetts beaches near where they spend summer months eating. While turtle stranding can be caused by entanglement, illness or boat-strikes, these turtles are usually cold-stunned: After having followed ocean currents up the Atlantic to the Gulf of Maine, those that stick around too long end up in water too cool for them to handle perhaps because they get stuck in the hook of Cape Cod.

I suspect these little guys have this innate sense that when temperatures drop, they need to swim south. For a lot that need to be in that area, its fine, said Kate Mansfield, a biologist who directs the University of Central Floridas Marine Turtle Research Group. But if youre in that Cape Cod area and try to go south, youre going to hit beach.

The number of cold-stunned turtles stranding on Cape Cod annually varies but is rising overall. Just over 200 stranded in 2010, according to the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. In 2014, a record 1,241 did; in 2018, more than 800. This past winter, 301 were swept ashore.

The New England Aquarium nurses some back to health, but the high numbers mean a network of facilities must take in others. Almost all the patients have pneumonia which produces raspy breathing in a sea turtle and many have gastrointestinal problems and external injuries, said Kate Shaffer, rehabilitation manager for the National Aquarium in Baltimore, which cared for the turtles released at Assateague. The most dire case to come into the National Aquarium this past season, Mascarpone, arrived with an eye so scabbed over the staff wasnt sure it was there, she said. (It was, and it recovered.)

The process of a turtle ending up on the beach against his or her will is definitely a rough one. Theyve probably been cartwheeled around in the surf, said the National Aquariums CEO, John Racanelli. A lot of them come back with eye injuries.

It isnt clear what is driving the surge in cold-stunning off Cape Cod Bay, although some experts think it may be a good sign more nests means more stranding. But researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst found in a study published last year that the increase is associated with rising sea surface temperatures caused by climate change, not with a rising number of hatchlings. The Gulf of Maine is warming particularly quickly, and that may be causing the turtles to expand farther north, the researchers wrote.

That same paper said that while rehabilitation efforts like the one that got Muenster back to the ocean probably save a minute percentage of Kemps ridleys, they are critical to continuing to bolster population resiliency.

Or as Racanelli, standing on the beach under gauzy clouds, put it: This is one place where we can intervene and actually do something good for a species... . They just need a chance to get back on their little flippers.

The aquarium chooses a theme each year when naming rescued wildlife it admits, which is how this seasons batch of 35 cold-stunned turtles came to be named for cheeses. Of the 10 released last week, four were Kemps ridleys and six were green sea turtles. The greens stranded off North Carolina, where cold-stunning occurs during unusual cold snaps. The aquariums first-ever cold-stunned sea turtle from Maryland, Cheddar, came in this season but did not survive.

This particular batch this year was a pretty rough group of turtles, Shaffer said, referring to their conditions.

Muenster, the star of the release because he was the aquariums 300th rehabilitated animal, was expected to head back to the ocean during a winter release in Florida but wasnt well enough. Then, a release planned for April was scuttled because of coronavirus shutdowns.

Now, it was June, and the beaches were open to humans and to turtles.

But the release last week was not typical. It was carried out at Assateague State Park, rather than a more crowded location such as Ocean City, in hopes of more social distancing for all present. Volunteers, the backbone of the aquariums rehab program, were not told about the event for the same reason. Aquarium staff greeted each other as if at a family reunion; most had not seen each other since March. All wore masks, and hand sanitizer was squirted liberally.

In normal times, Racanelli said, he would be in Baltimore running the aquarium and chasing donors. But the aquarium was closed.

Its good to be here to see it, he said. We need hope.

The turtles were pulled out of a white truck one by one, each resting on a towel in a cardboard Chiquita banana box donated by a supermarket.

As they walked toward the ocean, staff members carried Brie and Mascarpone, both Kemps ridleys, down a line of spectators standing behind yellow caution tape and orange cones. Tags akin to pet microchips were implanted in the animals so they can be identified if they strand again. It happens.

The turtles moved their flippers back and forth, as if already imagining being in the sea.

I hope you enjoy the ocean! one woman gushed.

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For injured turtles, a return to the sea - The Keene Sentinel

How reflection can be embedded into the #TLevel course

In the first of the two articles in this series we looked at an overview of the upcoming T Level offering and then in the second we ran through the background and importance of reflective learning, a key skill young people need to develop whether they embark on the university or work route.

In this, the third in the trilogy, we are going to combine the two to look at how reflection can be embedded into the T level course; what is expected of T level students in terms of the content of their journals and how Kloodles digital platform presents the most user-friendly, efficient and fun option.

So, as you read this, 50 colleges up and down the country are gearing up to prepare candidates for 3 T levels from September.

And to provide oven-ready candidates for next year, a host of educational institutions are launching transition courses to extend the T conveyor belt downstream.

The work experience as part of the qualificationsgives the students real-life applications of communication, numeracy, literacy and employability skills.

Over the past year we have been contacted by numerous providers who are interested to use the Kloodle digital platform to cement their T level offering and this has inspired me to write this article to highlight how the platform can be used to support learner, provider and employer communities.

In the second in this trilogy of articles, we talked about how reflective practitioners promoted a written log or diary as an essential mechanism of developing reflective skills.

Back in the day when I was a lad, it was commonplace for young people, inspired no doubt by the exploits of Adrian Mole(he was 13 back then), to keep a diary.

It enabled us to delve into his mind and understand what made him tick.

Youngsters of today, the so-called Gen Z, are more used to posting Insta-stories or videos on TikTok instead of the traditional way of putting pen to paper to record events. Thats not a problem, as the digital process can embrace all of these approaches.

The concept of the logbook has been around a long time; the earliest known example was written in hieroglyphic letters on papyrus, detailing the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, 4,500 yearsago!!

Its author detailed a timetable of the work relating to transporting limestone from nearby quarries by boat to the site. Logbooks then rose to prominence on the high seas as a tool for recording the daily jaunts of the ships captain and crew, including distance travelled, places visited, weather and so on.

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It was the black box to help them trace the causes of problems. Its so useful and important on journeys that it will even be used into the future; as you see in Star Trek when Captain Kirk logs the events on the Starship Enterprise.

The Logbook, or journal, is an essential aspect of the T level qualification journey and the content of the log will be assessed in the exam. Students provide evidence of their reflections and ideas in the Logbook which acts as an interface for the teacher and mentor to assess progress.

However, on the digital platform, the format of the diary is not in a Samuel Pepys long form style (although that could be interesting!) but can be a colourful kaleidoscope of media such as blogs, videos and photos.

The proposal to use a logbook as part of the T level assessment is a great idea, however, the quality of the proforma T level Logbook suggested by the DfE leaves a lot to be desired; its a 1980s style fill-in-the-blanks, tick-the-box style booklet, prescriptive, pretty uninspirational and certainly not in keeping with the digital age and reflective practice.

In terms of content, the Logbook should set out the goals and expectations beforehand, then ongoing developments during the placement.

This is summarised in the diagram below and as you can see, reflecting regularly is a key aspect of the journey:

In the DfE proforma, there is a skills section of the Logbook, where students are asked to self-assess some skills on a five-point scale.

It appears that only a few skill areas are selected, namely around communication, preparation and social skills, but there isnt a clear framework which is applied. I expect, if left alone, most students will struggle with this.

The Logbook should also include basic standing data about the placement, regarding the student, the employer, the place of work and the role; as shown in this diagram.

The log should be in digital form. There are many benefits of using a digital platform for the diary.

Can you think of many?

To name a few:

Learners maintain a diary by uploading information to their personal profile on Kloodle. This profile is their personal professional brand in digital form. Its what you and your skills might look like to a potential employer. Effectively its a digital CV.

The software allows the student to support their skills and achievements by uploading evidence to their profile and the T level placement is a perfect scheme for this.

There are two specific aspects of the profile which are linked to T levels, namely:

One feeds into the other.

Over the 2 years of the course these features of the profile scaffold students development and help to build confidence in the workplace. Also, both the Logbook and Skills Wheel are useful for Transition Year students to get used to; this can build maturity and confidence which are often the reasons for not commencing the full T level.

On Kloodle, the student maintains their journal of what they have been accomplishing in the work environment linking back to the theory taught in the classroom.

As part of this they upload evidence of the skills developed supported by different media; this could be a blog about, say, problems with communication with children, a video about a construction site ready for development or a picture of a block of code youve written. This process captures reflections and also develops self-awareness.

The students are prompted to tag skills they feel are associated with this task. As they progress through the project and work placement these skills then feed through to the Skills Wheel which Ill explain shortly.

The work experience can be logged daily on their profile to leave a rich trail of evidence of the projects completed, which supervisors can easily review to give feedback. Most of this is very intuitive and can even be done through the app on the phone. The screenshots here show how this is done.

In order to help students to develop the habit of keeping a regular journal, they are prompted to answer a series of questions which have been inspired by the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, something we talked about in the second article. Its to get the students into the habit of reflecting on what they have done on each day of their placement. Without realising it, theyll be learning about learning!

Successful completion of the entries can be checked and reviewed by supervisors and mentors, either face-to-face or remotely; the latter being very important in the times we live in.

The diary can also act an audit trail, so that students can run back over their thought processes and see how they have arrived where they are. It is also a great way of assessing growth mindset and distance travelled!

The Skills Wheel has a number of spokes, pointing out from the centre in all directions of the compass, each one of which represents a specific skill. In the picture here, the skill at due North is Teamwork, a very highly valued trait.

As each student adds content to their profile, they are prompted to tag in the skills which the evidence supports; the Wheel is then updated for the personalised skills and is a pictorial representation of the strengths and areas for improvement of that individual student.

It becomes the focus for conversations with tutors and mentors about where to concentrate attention. This one here is empty. I know what Id want to do, fill it up!

The number and range of skills can be tailored for an organisation; typically, colleges will set 10 skills to focus on. However, we have a number of model frameworks which can be applied depending on the objectives and this is something that we help schools and colleges to develop.

Companies which build talent pipelines of students on Kloodle signpost the skills they value the most by utilising an awards system; this presents virtual skills badges for students who upload sufficient and appropriate evidence of demonstrating the skill.

Different careers require different combinations of skills and over time the employers build up a picture of what they are looking for in good-fit candidates and this can be used as a template for aspirant applicants. At the same time, it nudges the students to reflect on and develop their employability for a specific role.

I think would work really well with T level placements.

In this example below, the student has started to build up their skills profile during the first few weeks of the placement.

On the left you can see that the Wheel starts to take shape; they have shown strength in teamwork, leadership, creativity and entrepreneurship and some development in digital research and communication.

However, you can see at a glance that little support for commercial awareness has been demonstrated.

The assessor could be able to appraise the current status and then set some targets for the development of the Wheel for the next meeting. The kids like it because it feels more like a game than the serious topic of preparing for a life of work!

As the placement continues, skills are tagged, the Wheel grows and forms different shapes. Whats interesting is that you tend to find a polarised reaction; the students either want to keep pushing what theyre good at, the so-called star shape, OR aim for the perfect circle of the good all-rounder. As the confidence and skills develop the student can build whatever shape they want to achieve that fits in with their goals. This is the virtuous feedback loop. Activity, tag, grow, repeat.

Evidencing and reflecting on these experiences through Kloodle provides the school or college with data on the distance travelled for the learner.

Thats how it works. Now whats it all about in a nutshell, please.

The Skills Wheel is a valuable reflection tool to support self-evaluation. There is no right answer, its just a channel to help the student to critically reflect on what they have achieved and where they can improve.

In the initial stages, tutors and mentors will set expectations with the student which becomes something to aim towards. As the learner builds their own self-awareness, they can spot the gaps in the pattern and prioritise next steps to get to where they want to. That in itself is a great skill to learn!

So, those new shiny T levels waiting for ignition on the launchpad offer a great opportunity to level up; level up skills, level up prospects, level up economies. The focus is on taking off and leaving behind the just regurgitate culture in education and concentrating on linking the theory in the classroom with the practice on the placement.

Historically, this has been a missing link in technical education and the way to fix it successfully is by implementing reflective learning through the medium of the logbook. We suggest you use the intuitive Kloodle digital platform as it is efficient and students can build their profile, skills and confidence on the journey to becoming a highly skilled employee.

Good luck.

Neil Wolstenholme,Chairman,Kloodle

Please contact us at Kloodleif you would like to discuss further.

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What Is The Missing Link For Evolution Of Technical Education? - FE News

OPINION: A little over two years ago Environment Minister Eugenie Sage was celebrating.

New Zealand had declared victory in a bid to eradicate mice from the Antipodes Islands, a remote sub-Antarctic archipelago 760km southeast of Dunedin. The invasive pest, probably introduced on a shipwreck, preyed on rare bird chicks and eggs, invertebrates, and plants and competed with seabirds for food.

The success of the Million Dollar Mouse project gave the majestic, but critically endangered, Antipodean wandering albatross a fighting chance.

High death rates and slow breeding mean the species could die out within 20 years. Mice were a threat but experts believe the birds were also at risk from fishing trawlers, the birds become entangled in longlines and drown.

READ MORE:* Lost at Sea: Labour and Greens split over Campbell Island sanctuary* Fishing industry under fire for killing endangered albatrosses* More than 10,000 seabirds caught by commercial fishermen since 2013* Greater observations and cameras on fishing vessels is needed, report finds

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Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage.

But despite Sages best efforts to safeguard what is left of the dwindling population, the Greens were again forced to swallow a dead rodent.

Hook-shielding devices would help prevent the needless bycatch of seabirds. Around 90 per cent of our seabirds are threatened and last year commercial fishing boats killed an estimated 14,400.

But the Government failed to make use of the device mandatory in new fishing guidelines introduced in May.

Its just another surrender to NZ First, a party which is well compensated with campaign donations to champion the commercial fishing sector.

Silvia Scali

There are only an estimated 63 Maui dolphin left.

Since they joined the Government in 2017, the Greens have given up the fight for a marine sanctuary in the remote Kermadec Islands, and an extension to a reserve in the pristine Campbell Islands.

In 2018, Stuff revealed Foreign Minister Winston Peters caved into threats of legal action from the industry and hastily dumped a suite of conservation measures, six years in the making, to restrict bottom-trawling for orange roughy on the high seas.

The Government lobbied for a Talleys vessel to be taken off an international blacklist, after it was caught fishing in a Kaikura marine reserve. The skipper was later fined more than $15,000 for the breach.

In February, a report revealed the troubling state of the Hauraki Gulf. Despite being a marine park, the reported commercial catch of fish was 30 per cent greater than before it was established. Stocks of snapper, tarakihi are decimated. From this month, the catch will be reduced but experts agree the fishery needs a complete break to recover.

Scott Hammond/Stuff

Crayfish are functionally extinct in the Hauraki Gulf.

Most conspicuously, there has been glacial progress in a plan for compulsory cameras on commercial fishing vessels, due to be rolled out in 2018. The legislation was introduced after repeated scandals where the industry had illegally dumped nets of fish and dead dolphins.

The cameras would capture the haul and record any interaction with protected species. Industry heavyweights have successfully stalled the policy by arguing the transparency is too costly.

Blame for the delay has been laid at the door of NZ First a fact apparently confirmed (and then retracted) this week by Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash in a leaked telephone call.

Ross Giblin/Stuff

Stuart Nash referred to fishers as 'dodgy buggers' in a leaked phone call.

There have been a handful of wins for the Greens a plan to protect Hectors and Mui dolphins was slightly better than marine advocates expected. The Government will also create an enormous marine reserve off the east coast of the South Island, torpedoing fishing industry proposals for less-ambitious protection.

But it falls well short of international expectations to protect 30 per cent of marine areas only about 0.5 per cent of New Zealand's waters are in no take reserves.

It would be unrealistic for a party to join a coalition government without acknowledging the inevitability of compromise.

Stuff

Green Party co-leader James Shaw says NZ First are breaching its coalition agreement with Labour.

But the Greens must accept their share of responsibility for their capitulation and the weak progress on oceans and fisheries policy, both touchstones of the environmental movement.

Winston is as Winston does. His contumacy exploits James Shaws desire to appear constructive and collegial and undermines the Greens, who are less Government allies than rivals.

The 4000 species at risk of extinction in New Zealand will probably die out before Peters rewrites his playbook.

Its time for the Greens to draw a line in the sand. If they make bold environmental policies in their campaign, they must not be empty. Some must come with a guarantee of bottom lines.

Otherwise, there is little point in getting back into bed with NZ First, a party that stands for nothing but standing still.

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The Greens bear responsibility for capitulation to NZ First and Big Fish - Stuff.co.nz

As tensions remain high along the India-China border, a fallout of the border row appears to be Chinese imports being stuck at ports and airports across India, where they go through intense checks.

Imports range from pulse oximeters to printed circuit boards, active pharmaceutical ingredients and chemicals for fertilisers.

It is understood that imports from China, valued at US$70.3 billion (S$98 billion) last year, have been subject to intense physical checks since tensions spiked following the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers in a border clash on June 15.

Associations representing different industries - from automobiles to phones, computers, electronics and agriculture - said they are getting distress calls from members. They have urged the Indian government to ensure faster clearances to prevent manufacturing disruptions.

"There are thousands of operators and thousands of importers who have been impacted. It's a very difficult situation," said Mr Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of the India Cellular and Electronics Association, which represents manufacturers like Taiwan's Foxconn.

The mobile and electronics industry - which includes manufacturers, brand owners and technology providers - receives US$1 billion worth of imports from China every week.

Mr Mohindroo said: "We were shut down for 60 days and we have reopened and restarted. Already we have lost 400 billion rupees (S$7.4 billion) of production in the lockdown. At the moment, recovery is not up to normal levels. We are at 40 per cent levels and a few raw materials have run out."

India imposed a shutdown for two months starting at the end of March, suspending economic activity to curb the spread of Covid-19.

"We have been assured by the government that there will be some action the next day or two," Mr Mohindroo added.

Those in the know said that checks of imported goods have been intensified.

"The official reason being given is they have some intelligence tip-off of contraband being imported into the country. But the objective is to make things difficult for Chinese imports," said a person with knowledge of the matter who did not want to be named.

A Customs official said on condition of anonymity that there was a security alert, leading to greater scrutiny of all paperwork against the goods being brought in.

"There is an alert in the system and we are checking what kind of goods are coming in and whether they conform to the laws of the land."

India and China had a strong economic relationship that was de-linked from border tensions. But their violent border clash has seen tensions impact economic ties. India on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps, citing security reasons. On Tuesday, a government minister announced that Chinese firms would not be allowed to bid for highway projects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday exited Chinese social media website Weibo, five years after he debuted with "Hello China".

The economic measures have come even as India and China have held talks to reduce tensions along the Line of Actual Control, or the defacto border between the two countries. Yesterday, sources said that in military talks held the previous day, both sides "emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and step-wise de-escalation as a priority" but noted resolution is a "complex process".

The managing director of Chakradhar Chemicals, Mr Neeraj Kedia, has been waiting to receive a shipment of chemicals used in the making of fertilisers since June 16.

Yesterday, he received news that the shipment is being released from Chennai port, two weeks after it landed there. Customs clearance usually takes three to four days.

"I am a little apprehensive of further imports. My next shipment is on the high seas," he said.

Correction note: This story has been updated to reflect the correctdesignation of Mr Pankaj Mohindroo. We are sorry for the error.

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Chinese imports stalled at India's ports and airports - The Straits Times