Monthly Archives: September 2022

The Batanes, which was placed under Signal No. 2 early on Saturday, was buffeted by strong winds and rough seas brought by Typhoon Henry and the enhanced Southwest Monsoon.

In Ivy Hernando's Saturday 24 Oras Weekend report, a video from the Itbayat Police showed the occasional rain, strong winds, and massive waves at the Itbayat Islands.

Police assisted fishermen as they pulled their vessels ashore to keep them from getting damaged.

While the waters were calm at the Valugan Boulder Beach, the waves were much higher at a port in Basco.

The provincial government is assessing infrastructure and agriculture damage due to the inclement conditions.

The crops damaged by the weather included corn, while vendors were unable to sell fish and seafood at the Basco public market.

Meanwhile, the provincial government was looking to assist the fishermen who could not ply their trade.

While classes in all levels would likely resume next week, sea trips were prohibited due to high waves.

The Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal over the Batanes was lowered to Signal 1 Saturday evening as Typhoon Henry maintained its strength while moving northward over the sea east of Taiwan. Jamil Santos/DVM, GMA News

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Batanes buffeted by severe winds, rough seas from Henry - GMA News Online

MIAMI, FL - August 30, 2022 - Recognized as one of the best ocean cruise lines in Travel + Leisures 2022 Worlds Best Awards, Virgin Voyages has made its mark on the travel industry as one of the most sought-after holiday havens for rejuvenation, relaxation and a hint of adventure on the high seas. Having launched two award-winning ships in a span of just nine months, 2023 promises more industry-first milestones for Richard Bransons newest travel brand. As an exciting precursor to the most epic loyalty program at sea, set to make its formal debut in 2023, Virgin Voyages is saying Ahoy! to The Sailing Club. This incredible dual-pronged perks program is teeming with brilliant benefits and exclusive offers for the remainder of 2022 and unlocks a limited window of opportunity for its Sailors to elevate themselves to the brands highest status tier in 2023.

This brand was built on innovation, so were taking a truly unique approach and developing a program that will give Sailors a taste of whats to come while rewarding those whove supported the brand all along, said Nirmal Saverimuttu, President and Chief Experience Officer. Ive met so many incredible Sailors many whove voyaged with us more than 10 times since weve launched and this new program is a thank you for their commitment. Wed also love their help in shaping the future and are seeking their ideas to create a game-changing loyalty program theyll fall in love with.

2 Perks in 2022:As part of the brands perks program, Virgin Voyages Sailing Club is introducing 2 Perks, exclusively available to loyal qualifying Sailors in 2022. The introduction of these new perks will reward and benefit those who book or sail in the near future, promoting end-of-year travel set to coincide with increases in booking trends and the cruise industrys comeback.

Perk 1: Sail in 2022 with Deep Blue Extras: Deep Blue Extras, a collection of unrivaled luxuries that elevate qualifying Sailors to VIP treatment. From one free Shake for Champagne, anytime boarding and premium wifi (when available), to exclusive cocktail parties and laundry services, these rewards are meant to amp up the experience and encourage Sailors to unleash their inner RockStar. With rebooking rates as high as 50% from past Sailors craving another adventure with Virgin Voyages, the line continues to impress travelers, earning the most five-star reviews than any other cruise line on TripAdvisor. Now, the company is rewarding these travelers, as well as giving avid sea-goers, an opportunity to step aboard while maintaining their benefits from other lines. Deep Blue Extras are available for all qualifying Sailors that sail from September through December 2022.

Perk 2: Book in 2022 with Red Hot Booking Bonus Months: Virgin Voyages is also introducing Red Hot Booking Bonus Months. Spanning from Aug. 30 through Nov. 15, 2022, any new qualifying booking made during these select Red Hot Months (excludes bookings made with existing voyage credits), will allow all qualifying Sailors to be treated to special on-board spending perks and chances to win extraordinary experiences across the Virgin family. More exciting prizes will be announced next week. For a sneak peak, these will include a luxurious trip to Ulusaba, Richard Bransons private game reserve in South Africa, and Virgin Points through Virgin Red, the rewards club from Virgin designed to give you exclusive access to the Virgin family and beyond. In addition, Sailors who take advantage of this perk by making a qualifying booking between now and Nov. 15, 2022 will earn an extra $200 in Sailor Loot (aka on-board spending credit), which is combinable with all other promotions, offering rich rewards to loyal Sailors.

As a further enhancement to the Red Hot Booking Bonus Months and with an eye towards 2023, Virgin Voyages is introducing Tokens to track all qualifying spend to ensure Sailors are positioned for benefits in 2023. All of the money spent with Virgin Voyages since inception will be counted and tallied as Tokens. And as an exclusive perk for all loyal Sailors, every dollar spent during these Red Hot Booking Bonus Months up to four Tokens per dollar for Sea-Blazers, and three Tokens per dollar for Sea-Rovers will contribute to an individual's future status. As the program is unveiled in 2023, these Tokens will fast-track Sailors to the highest tiers possible, unlocking even more phenomenal perks in the next year.

Three Ways to Unlock the 2022 Perks:

The 2022 Perks will be available to all loyal qualifying Sailors defined as:

We are thrilled to introduce The Sailing Club and offer our loyal Sea-Blazers and Sea-Rovers our 2022 Perks Program as a thank you for being our biggest fans, Nirmal Saverimuttu added. We look forward to welcoming our future Match & Sea More Sailors to experience setting sail the Virgin Way. And to those who arent Sea-Rovers yet, there is plenty of time to treat yourself to an award-winning, exclusively adult, kid-free vacation twice in 2022 and unlock a world of benefits with Virgin Voyages.

As the final component of the 2022 program, Virgin Voyages is inviting Sailors to channel their inner Richard Branson and awaken their entrepreneurial spirit. The brand is eager for Sailors to share what perks theyd like offered, how Virgin Voyages can elevate its loyalty program, and what the company can do to make its Sailing Club one of the most irresistible in the travel industry.

To share an idea on what The Sailing Club should encompass, please email loyalty@virginvoyages.com. Virgin Voyages is accepting all ideas along with volunteers to participate in surveys and/or focus groups. For more information, swim on over to http://www.VirginVoyages.com.

Members of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red in the US can redeem their Virgin Points on sailings from Miami and Barcelona on both Scarlet Lady and Valiant Lady, providing outstanding value to loyal customers from across the Virgin Group. Through the existing Capital One and Virgin Red partnership announced in March 2022, Capital One cardholders can also access these offers.

For more information about The Sailing Club the most epic rewards program at sea visit here and learn more about how to start getting rewarded. And, to get sailing, visit us here to book your next gorgeous vacation.

ABOUT VIRGIN VOYAGESSet Sail the Virgin Way with Virgin Voyages, the irresistible travel brand founded by Sir Richard Branson. Delivering epic vacations at sea, Virgin Voyages launched at the end of 2021. The brand's four Lady Ships inspired by 50+ years of Virgin history -- include Scarlet Lady, Valiant Lady, Resilient Lady and Brilliant Lady. Designed for discerning travelers, Virgin Voyages offers relaxing, exclusively adult (18+) sailings. Working with a Creative Collective of the worlds most sought-after designers, performance artists and architects, Virgin Voyages delivers an enchanting boutique hotel at sea with fresh, elevated spaces that strike the perfect balance of nautical chic and glamour. Currently departing from the sun-soaked cities of Miami and Barcelona and soon to include Athens, San Juan and Melbourne the fleet offers itineraries to more than 100 awe-inspiring destinations across four continents. Virgin Sailors are spoiled for choice with 20 eateries offering Michelin-star culinary experiences all included, a festival-like line-up of entertainment, stylish and comfortable cabins, Rockstar Quarters, authentic and locally inspired shore excursions, and a dose of Vitamin Sea with well-being naturally intertwined throughout the experience. Promising to Create an Epic Sea Change for All, Virgin Voyages also puts sustainability front and center.

ABOUT VIRGIN REDVirgin Red is Virgin's rewards club, first launching in the UK in 2020 and then in the USA in November 2021. Virgin Red connects the Virgin family, where members can earn on the everyday to save for the extraordinary. 2023 will bring an even deeper partnership between Virgin Red and Virgin Voyages, providing more exciting opportunities for customers.Virgin Red celebrates its members for living a life more Virgin giving them exclusive access to rewards from the Virgin family and beyond. It makes it really easy for members to earn and spend Virgin Points Virgin's universal currency which never expires. Whether its earning points everyday with some of the biggest online retailers or saving for a bigger extraordinary experience like a holiday- or a Voyage- there is something for everyone. More information can be found at: https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red.

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Virgin Voyages unveils the Sailing Club: an incredible Perks Program - Virgin Voyages

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous offloads approximately 22 pounds of cocaine and 1,256 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $3 million, Aug. 30, 2022, at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Florida. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Stephen Lehmann)

MIAMI The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous offloaded approximately 22 pounds of cocaine and 1,256 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $3 million, Tuesday at Base Miami Beach.

The drugs were interdicted in the international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean by crews from:

Vigorous is glad to have been able to make an important contribution to the Coast Guards counterdrug mission, said Cmdr. Ryan A. Waters, commanding officer of Vigorous. Im incredibly proud of the hardworking Vigorous crews proficiency teamwork and devotion to duty that enabled the detection, interdiction and boarding of a vessel suspected of drug smuggling.

The fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, and the transnational criminal organizations they are associated with, requires a unity of effort in all phases; from detection and monitoring to interdiction and apprehension, and on to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys Offices in districts across the nation.

Detecting and interdicting illegal drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination. The Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West, Florida conducts detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Maritime interdiction of illicit maritime activity in the Caribbean Sea is coordinated by the Seventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Miami, Florida, and the Eleventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda, California coordinates interdiction of illicit maritime activity in the Eastern Pacific.

Cutter Vigorous, a 210-foot Reliance-class medium endurance cutter, was commissioned in May 1969 and is homeported in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Vigorous generally deploys 185 days a year for patrols lasting 45 to 60 days to a variety of operating areas, extending from the Gulf of Maine to the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The Vigorous primary mission areas include homeland security, law enforcement, counterdrug operations, search and rescue, migrant operations, and fisheries enforcement.

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Coast Guard offloads more than $3 million in illegal narcotics in Miami - Coast Guard News - Coast Guard News

Marseille/Geneva/Budapest, 2 September 2022 - 460 women, children, babies and men are stuck in limbo waiting to disembark. Some with overwhelming medical needs have been stuck onboard eight days after being rescued on the deadly Central Mediterranean. SOS MEDITERRANEE and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are calling for these survivors right to disembark in a Place of Safety without further delay.

Within just 60 hours, the Ocean Vikinga search and rescue ship chartered by SOS MEDITERRANEE in partnership with the IFRC faced more distress cases than ever before. The crew found and rescued people from ten unseaworthy, overcrowded boats on the worlds deadliest sea migratory route since 2014, the Central Mediterranean. The search and rescue ship remains stranded at sea waiting for the survivors disembarkation.

The team is facing an overwhelming number of medical cases, including exhaustion, dehydration, and untreated skin infections and wounds. Other survivors are facing chronic medical conditions and two 9-month-pregnant women were evacuated.

We have never experienced such level of severe medical cases on board Ocean Viking before. The survivors were found in the middle of high seas in unimaginable situations. In a desperate attempt to find safety, they were near to die at sea, either by drowning, or by dehydration. Per maritime law, their rescues will only be completed when they will have reached a Place of Safety. The current blockade for their disembarkation must find an end without further delay, says Xavier Lauth, SOS MEDITERRANEE Director of Operations.

Every day that passes, the needs of those on board grow. Francesco Rocca, President of IFRC said:

The sheer number of people rescued in such a short time with such severity of peoples conditions onboard only shows us that the situation is getting so much more desperate for those seeking safety and protection. We cannot continue to face this same challenge over and over again. We need longer term solutions including a commitment for safe and regular pathways to protection and safety while also ensuring access to protection for those arriving spontaneously.

SOS MEDITERRANEE and IFRC call on European members and associated States to show solidarity, observe maritime law and guarantee fundamental human rights. The wait and suffering of the 460 survivors onboard Ocean Viking must end immediately.

Note to editors:

The Ocean Viking rescued 466 women, children and men in ten rescue operations between August 25 and 27. Among the survivors are over 20 adult women, including several pregnant and over 80 minors, 75% of whom are unaccompanied.

On August 29, two 9-month-pregnant women had to be urgently medically evacuated. They were transferred onto an Italian Coast Guard patrol vessel with four of their relatives (two sisters and their two children, including a 3-week-old little girl).

Despite having contacted relevant maritime authorities at all steps of the search and rescue operations, the Ocean Viking was left alone, with no coordination nor information-sharing from relevant maritime authorities. Four of the unseaworthy and overcrowded boats in distress were spotted via binoculars from the bridge of the Ocean Viking. The distress alerts of the six other boats were relayed by civil NGOs such as the civil network Alarm Phone, the aircrafts of the NGOs Pilotes Volontaires and Sea-Watch, and the sailing vessels of the NGOs Open Arms and Resqship. The Ocean Viking informed relevant maritime authorities at all steps of the rescues and sent requests for the designation of a Place of Safety as soon as possible after each operation, as per maritime law.

Recently, a new shipwreck was reported by the International Organisation for Migration. Two bodies of deceased persons were retrieved by Libyan Coastguards and 19 people were reported missing by the six survivors of this tragedy on August 27, the same day Ocean Viking teams rescued 198 survivors from five boats in distress. Since 2014, almost 19,811 people are known to have perished in the central Mediterranean. Thats 80% of the deaths recorded in the whole Mediterranean Sea.

SOS MEDITERRANEE rescued 36,789 people since the beginning of its operations in 2016, with Aquarius and Ocean Viking. A total of 7,266 people were rescued by the Ocean Viking since she started operating in August 2019. Since September 2021, IFRC teams participated in ten patrols on Ocean Viking and helped rescue more than 2,700 people.

While the SOS MEDITERRANEE team focuses on search and rescue at sea, the IFRC team focuses on providing humanitarian post-rescue services, including medical care, first aid, psychosocial support, relief and protection.

For more information, please contact:

IFRC In Geneva: Jenelle Eli, +1 202 603 6803, [emailprotected]

IFRC in Budapest: Nora Peter, +36 70 265 4020, [emailprotected]

SOS MEDITERRANEE International & Operations: Laurence Bondard / +33 6 23 24 59 93 / [emailprotected]

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Eight days waiting onboard Ocean Viking amid overwhelming medical needs: SOS MEDITERRANEE and IFRC call for 460 of survivors' right to disembark -...

A luxury cruise liner, The G.O.A.T. Boat, is coming to NBA 2K23 as an all-new Neighborhood setting for the Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms.

NBA 2K22 featured a cruise ship of its own, allowing Neighborhood players to climb aboard the Cancha del Mar to compete in various games.

Notably, the liner hosted games of 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 across multiple decks. Sidequests and rewards were packed into the experience as well, ensuring NBA 2K users had plenty to explore on the high seas.

Those who enjoyed the Cancha del Mar-branded fun will be pleased to learn that yet another cruise ship will set sail in NBA 2K23.

In the latest Courtside Report for NBA 2K23, 2K Games detailed an all-new Neighborhood coming to Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Cancha Del Mar has been sidelined in favor of The G.O.A.T. Boat, a luxury vessel promising scenic excursions and whale-sized events. The cruise liner boasts a three-deck layout Platinum, Silver, and Gold.

Comprised of three different sections, the Platinum Deck plays host to six 3v3 courts, four elevators, two showers (server refresh), and a Gatorade Training Facility on Trips. Meanwhile, the Platinum Deuces area includes six 2v2 courts, three elevators, and two showers.

And finally, those who explore Platinums MOAT section will find two 5v5 courts (with another launching later), two showers, two elevators, and the entrance to Excursions.

The Silver Decks Promenade area features the Jordan Challenge, REC Lounge, Cages, MyTEAM, Daily Prize, Daily Pick Em, the NBA Store, and several other shops.

Last but not least, the Gold Deck offers up MyCOURT and Ante-Up. Plus, it seems as though this all-new boat-set Neighborhood will give NBA 2K23 fans plenty of other decadent areas to explore.

The Courtside Report also details how matchmaking has become more streamlined. Most importantly, the development crew is introducing no-wait gameplay to complement Got Next spots.

This should guarantee players have the ability to pair up quicker, regardless of whether they want to meet with friends or challenge randoms.

NBA 2K23 hits PC and consoles on September 9, 2022.

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NBA 2K23 matchmaking changes and G.O.A.T. Boat revealed - Dexerto

Captain of coast guard ship that intercepted Pakistani boat with Heroin in 2015 testifies | PTI/Representative

The captain of an Indian Coast Guard ship that had intercepted a Pakistani boat, "Al-Yasir", found with 232 kg of heroin in the high seas in 2015, recently testified before a special court and identified the eight Pakistani nationals whom the coast guard had apprehended.

He also identified the 11 drums that contained 232 packets of the contraband. The drums, being bulky, had been brought to the court premises at a tempo. The witnesses could not be carried to the courtroom, and the witness identified them as the same he had sealed in 2015.

The 56-year-old witness, currently serving as Chief Staff Officer, Aviation Coast Guard, Western Sea Board, was examined by prosecutor Sumesh Panjwani. The officer told the court in his deposition that the coast guard ship Sangram was based in 2015 in Mumbai. The ship sailed on April 16, 2015, from the city to the International Maritime Boundary for patrolling and on April 18 started receiving messages on suspicious activity of infiltration or contraband arriving from neighbouring states. He said on the night of April 28 at 3 am, they detected a small boat on the radar and, finding it suspicious, they followed it in the dark. He said the direction of the boat was towards India and they decided to board it at the first light of the day, an instruction given by him.

The officer said that with the break of daylight, he instructed an assistant commander to board the ship along with the boarding party. On boarding and conducting a search, he said they found suspicious packets in 11 drums. There was no flag or registration number on the boat, he recalled. The boat was later found to be registered with the name "Al Yasir" in Pakistan. While the crew members, all Pakistani, claimed that they were fishermen, he said they got suspicious as there was no fish catch in it.

The officer also identified the eight Pakistani accused as the same people he had apprehended. He also identified sophisticated communication equipment found on the boat.

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Captain of Coast Guard ship that intercepted Pakistani boat with Heroin in 2015 testifies in court - Free Press Journal

US Coast Guard interdiction of fishing boat smuggling illegal drugs (USCG photos)

PublishedSep 2, 2022 12:57 PM by The Maritime Executive

Continuing its mission in law enforcement and support of the Combined Maritime Forces operating in the Gulf of Oman and the surrounding region, the U.S. Coast Guard made another significant seizure of illegal narcotics. The later interdiction on August 30, marks the third major seizure announced by the forces by the same U.S. Coast Guard fast response cutter, the USCGC Glen Harris, since the vessel arrived in the region eight months ago.

According to Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, one of four task forces under the command of the Combined Maritime Forces, the Glen Harris came on a fishing vessel while patrolling the Gulf of Oman. During a search of the vessel, the Coast Guard discovered that the fishing vessel was smuggling illegal drugs.

Bags of illegal drugs found aboard the fishing boat (US Coast Guard photo)

The seizure was given an estimated street value of more than $20 million. They reported finding 2,980 kilograms of hashish and 320 kilograms of amphetamine tablets during the operation.

Before this weeks interdiction, the Glen Harris is credited with two other significant seizures. Also, while on patrol in the Gulf of Oman, the Glen Harris came on another fishing vessel on May 31. After determining that it was a stateless vessel, the Coast Guard crew searched the vessel and seized 310 kilograms of heroin worth an estimated street value of $11 million. Two weeks earlier on May 15, they had conducted another search that led to the seizure of heroin, methamphetamine, and amphetamine pills worth $17 million, also found aboard a vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

The results of Glen Harriss success are a testament to the crews professionalism and determination, said Lt. Cmdr. Reginald Reynolds, commanding officer of Glen Harris. Im proud of our teams commitment to countering illicit activity on the high seas and promoting security and stability across the region.

This was the third reported seizure by the Glen Harris since she arrived in the region in January (US Coast Guard photo)

The fast response cutter arrived in the Middle East in January and operates from the U.S. Navy base in Bahrain where Combined Maritime Forces is headquartered with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. 5th Fleet. She is assigned to support CTF 150, part of the largest multinational naval partnership in the world, which is being led by the Royal Saudi Navy. Combined Maritime Forces include 34 member nations that operate across the Middle East. CTF 150 as one of the four task forces conducts maritime security operations in the Gulf of Oman and North Arabian Sea to help ensure the free flow of commerce.

The combined forces have increased their presence in the region, including expanding their law enforcement efforts. In 2021, they reported seizures of illegal drugs valued at more than $193 million. So far this year, they have reported seizures valued at approximately $150 million as part of the ongoing operations in the region.

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USCG Cutter Glen Harris Makes Third Drug Seizure in Gulf of Oman - The Maritime Executive

Disney Cruise Line is known for its acclaimed family-friendly cruises, where casino slot machines arent blaring, drink packages arent marketed to the masses and late-night dance parties don't really rage that late. But one thing that does set a Disney Cruise apart from its competitors is its themed cruises that set sail throughout the year, allowing travelers to be immersed in the worlds of Pixar or Marvel, or make holidays like Halloween and Christmas the focus of their voyage.

So how do you book a Disney themed cruise? Are they really worth the cost? And how do you pick the right one for your family? Were answering all of your questions, so keep reading.

Booking a themed Disney Cruise vacation is as easy as booking a regular Disney Cruise. You can do it online on the Disney Cruise Line website, or talk to a travel agent about what you want from your trip. If you choose to book online, you can pick the type of themed cruise you want to sail and see dates and prices from there.

Alternatively, you can use Disneys Find A Cruise feature to filter your cruises by month, departure port and sailing destination, then see all of the cruises that match your preferences. Cruises with themes will have a banner across them saying what the theme is.

Minnie Mouse poses in her cruise gear in front of Disney Cruise Line's Disney Wish ship. Seeing characters in themed garb is part of the fun of a Disney Cruise.

There are currently four different themed Disney Cruises that travelers can choose from.

Every September and October, all five Disney ships get decked out with spooky decorations and Mickey and his pals put on their best costumes for Halloween on the High Seas. Cruises with this theme range from three- to eight-night sailings and include an abundance of frightfully fun activities, including a costume party, movie nights and trick-or-treating on the ship. The best part? Guests are encouraged to dress up in their favorite costumes yes, even the grown-ups.

Disney Cruise Line adds sparkle to each ship during Very Merrytime Cruises, with Disney characters dressed in festive attire, special stem-to-stern holiday events, traditional "turkey day" fanfare, Christmas feasts, "snow flurries" and New Year's Eve galas. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)

Seasonal delights can be found fleet-wide on the Very Merrytime Cruise in November and December. Each ship has a towering Christmas tree and other festive decorations in the atrium, which make for beautiful family photos. Around the ship, youll spot Disney characters in their finest holiday outfits, and may even see Santa Claus himself greeting guests. No Disney Cruise is complete without fireworks at sea and, during holiday sailings, there is a deck party with special holiday-themed fireworks that glitter and sparkle over the dark ocean.

Disney Cruise Line's Pixar Day at Sea is a themed cruise that sees the ship filled with characters from beloved Pixar movies like "Monsters Inc.," "Toy Story," "The Incredibles" and "Inside Out."

Starting in 2023, guests can sail away on a brand-new Pixar adventure. Disney Cruise Lines newest themed voyage, Pixar Day at Sea, will start its first sailings January through March. The 7-night sailings will take place aboard the Disney Fantasy from Port Canaveral. During the week-long cruise, there will be one dedicated day where the entire ship will be taken over by characters from beloved Pixar movies like "Toy Story," "Monsters, Inc." and "The Incredibles." The day will include character dance parties, a "Toy Story"-themed breakfast, a dinner where dishes are inspired by the commissary at Pixar Animation Studios and a nighttime fireworks display where you may need to assist the superpowered Parr family.

On the Disney Magic, kids get a special visit from Captain America. Marvel Day at Sea is one of several themed cruises Disney Cruise Line offers.

Heroes from around the multiverse can gather together on the Disney Dream for Marvel Day at Sea. Sailings with this superhero theme also run from January through March 2023. The 5-night cruises allow guests to interact with their favorite Marvel characters like Captain America, Black Panther and Captain Marvel while on the ship, along with Mickey Mouse and the gang dressed as their favorite Marvel characters. Marvel Day at Sea has a plethora of activities, toofrom movie screenings and trivia, to costume contests and shows. The Marvel-themed cruise also includes one of Disney Cruise Lines most exciting nighttime spectaculars where stunts, more than a dozen characters and, of course, fireworks, are all combined into one epic show at sea.

The cost of a themed Disney Cruise is generally the same as a normal Disney Cruise, so if you want to sail on a themed cruise you can rest assured that you wont be facing a huge upcharge just to see your favorite characters. The cost of themed cruises includes all taxes, fees and port expenses, plus dining, entertainment and your stateroom.

If your family really connects with the special theme of a cruise being offered, it would absolutely be worth the cost. Also, if you're a seasoned sailor with Disney Cruise Line, these themed sailings can let you experience something totally new as you travel with the company again.

Sadness and Joy from Pixar's "Inside Out" are shown aboard a Disney Cruise Line ship. The characters can be found on the themed Pixar Days at Sea voyage.

Picking the right themed Disney Cruise for your family is fairly simple, especially if you already know when you want to travel, because all of the themed cruises run during dedicated seasons. You can also pick your cruise based on which of the five Disney Cruise Line ships you want to board, with the Disney Wish being the newest in the growing fleet. If you dont care about timing or which ship you set sail on then just go with whatever theme you think sounds like the most fun. If your family loves Pixar movies or Marvel superheroes, obviously go with one of those, but if your crew is nuts about Halloween or Christmas, celebrate your favorite holiday on the high seas with those themes.

No matter what ship, sailing date or themed cruise you choose, a Disney Cruise Line vacation is a one-of-a-kind experience where youll most likely be ready to book your next voyage as soon as you stepoff the ship.

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How to pick the best themed Disney Cruise for your family - Chron

Its a Faustian bargain for the Anthropocene: The greatest source of rare-earth metals are to be found at the bottom of the seaand so are Earths most fragile ecosystems, an undisturbed and largely unexplored world of marvels.

The metals are required for the batteries that could power the clean energy revolution so desperately needed to avert the worst consequences of fossil fuel pollution-induced climate change, not to mention meet consumer demand for electronics. Yet mining them will have devastating consequences.

In an ideal world, mining would proceed slowly, with great caution, attentive to the creatures sacrificed for our appetites and to as-yet-unstudied consequences for Earths biogeochemical cycles. But the world is not ideal, and plans for deep-sea mining have proceeded at breakneck pace, with nearly 600,000 square miles of exploration permits granted by the International Seabed Authority and commercial mining expected to begin within the next several years.

We have a responsibility to life on the planet and to the diversity of the planet.

Humanitys demand for metalsand the profits that will accrue from mining themis on a collision course with deep-sea life. It appears that devastation is imminentunless, argues Lewis Pinault, we mine the moon instead. We have this gift of our geological twin, the moon, to provide us with mineral and energy wealth, says Pinault. The trick is figuring out how.

Trained as an MIT engineer and NASA geophysicist, with an international law degree to boot, Pinault is a partner at Airbus Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on planetary challenges. Though moon mining may seem impossibly difficult at first glance, Pinault sees it as an engineering challenge no more daunting than mining the ocean floor, and certainly far less destructive. Once weve done the hard work of knowing where to mine, he says, the next steps are solvable.

Nautilus talked to Pinault about his extraordinary vision.

In an op-ed published earlier this year you described the International Seabed Authority (ISA) as successful. Ive encountered many people who have a different opinion of the ISA. To them, its like a faulty brake on a runaway train.

The fact that it exists is, to me, kind of a success story in its own right. The Law of the Sea treaty that gave birth to the ISA has a very long and contentious history, and I love that it is what it is: a piece of commons law embodying the belief that there are areas of the planet beyond any notion of national boundary, a treaty created to protect shared and common resources that are both precious and subject to harm, a recognition that we need some way to figure out our relationship with them.

If we go back to President Johnsons administration, during the height of Great Society thinking, he was genuinely bothered by growing inequities in the world. He thought that the developing world needed a better deal out of capitalism, because the end game of capitalism didnt seem like it was going to be able to distribute any wealth to them.

With the discovery of abundant, widespread deep-sea manganese nodules 5,000 meters down, there was a sense of immense wealth that could be shared with everyone. And so a lot of the Law of the Sea development in the 1960s and into the 1970s was around a regime for profit-sharing from this kind of windfall. At its height, when the ISA was established, it was modeled on the oil and gas industrys licenses for explorationexcept the license fees would immediately start being distributed to different countries, and the profits would almost entirely be redistributed around the world. So the International Seabed Authority was constructed with generous and amazing intentions.

Much of the wealth distribution elements have been effectively torn out of it, but the United Nations and its authority is remarkably the go-to place for would-be explorers today. They still have the power to grant the licenses. They still have the power to do environmental impact studies and they are required to finance environmental researchers in those countries. Thats a pale trace of what the ISA was meant to bebut its still something that can be worked with.

Scientists and conservationists say that deep-sea mining needs to proceed slowly, with great caution, because we know so little about the ecosystems that would be impactedthat is, destroyedand how those changes would ripple out into Earths systems. Mining companies, along with their investors and the nations they partner with, want to go fast. And it seems like theyre winning.

The already-enormous demand for minerals will only grow; the ISA has granted exploration licenses to vast areas of the ocean floor, and companies are pushing to start commercial operations immediately. In fact The New York Times just published an investigation into how the ISA appears to have given unfairly preferential access to a company that intends to start industrial-scale seabed mining by 2024. What do you see happening in the next few years?

Its happening fast. There was supposed to have been a cycle of exploration licenses, which are paid for and generate monies that go into environmental impact studies, which are then actually professionally conducted and assessed by multidisciplinary teams and subject to public review. Its not supposed to be a path toward payment of corrupt dollars to a vulnerable nation-state saying, By the way, heres your money. And we trust you to fully use it on environmental impact assessmentbut with the substantial risk it more likely goes into somebodys pocket.

Theyre supposed to actually present the environmental study before the exploration license is turned into permission to harvest. So per the New York Times investigation, it seems something is broken, potentially tragically. Not just for the oceans, but because we may be missing an important analogue and opportunity to design a properly working system for mining the moon.

Even if the process is run properly, though, it just feels likebarring some unforeseen surge in concern for ecosystems that almost nobody will ever see, that were connected to through only by screens and consisting mostly of funny-looking invertebratesthat seabed mining is going to happen sooner or later.

And I say that as someone who loves funny-looking invertebrates, but people already accept the destruction every day of terrestrial ecosystems that are teeming with charismatic animals and more immediately connected to human well-being than the deep ocean seems to be.

Maybe this has the makings of an unlikely alliancealthough, at least in my head, not so unlikelybetween people who are ready to protect new species, unseen and uncatalogued and unknown, through the right application of precautionary principle, and people who like extractive industries. Its in the interest of people who like the idea of moon mininglike I do, mining in space that is ultimately to the benefit of Earth and its biosphereto put a hold on ocean mining. Because that will change the economics.

The moon is a particular puzzle because its fractal. You just get craters and more craters.

I think there is room for a movement, if you will, to say, Look, we have a responsibility to life on the planet and to the diversity of the planet. And we have this gift of our geological twin, the moon, to provide us with mineral and energy wealth. Its going to be hard, expensive work; you have to get there, you have to warm the lunar soil, you have to extract and beneficiate the minerals, you have to do a lot of remote or highly-automated operations. But the technology is heading in that direction.

Fast-advancing artificial intelligence and guidance systems give us confidence that a not-too-human-intensive mining operation can practically return lots of mineral materialand potentially an abundance of clean energyto Earth.

But if seabed mining is established on a meaningful scale in the near future, wouldnt that preclude the development of a more-expensive, more-technically-challenging moon mining industry?

I think there can still be a path forward. I would grab whatever seabed mining is happening as an opportunity for analysis. How well is it working? What are the difficulties? Where are you smelting? Where are you refining the minerals that you get? What does that cost? In projects I was involved in, in the 1980s, this actually stopped much of any idea of mining offshore Hawai`ian waters, because you had to put a smelter nearby and do the environmental impact study and no island in Hawai`i was ready to accept one.

I would say, Look, heres the data. You want to get this much cobalt. You want to get these rare earth metals. This is what it takes. This is what it costs. I would underscore the unaccounted-for impacts and say, Well, getting the same things from the moon is not 1,000 times more expensive. Its (say) 10 times. Then, to me, it becomes a debate.

How sustainable is seabed mining? Are you going to do this all over? If you start changing life patterns in ecosystems, those impacts are going to propagate in ways that we dont understand. So I think if were in the zone of it being 10 times more expensive to go to the moon, maybe we could leverage data about seabed mining.

Lets say the future rolls out like that. Seabed mining is too destructive, people want an alternative, and mining the moon is an alluring possibility. What are the challenges to making it a reality?

Ill start with the technical. To develop scalable mining on the moons surface, you want to start as close as possible to exactly the right place so that youre not mining someplace with poor concentrations of a particular mineral. This is the same thing we would do on Earth. We would do a mineral assay to estimate the potential quality and lifetime of a mine. But its not very practical to do what we would do here, which is to send field geologists and drilling equipment and drive around in well-instrumented trucks.

That means, to the extent possible, doing remote sensing, and by remote sensing I mean orbital data-gathering. But even in my own workI work with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images, from an onboard stereo camera thats been continually photographing the moon since 2009its hard to know what its looking at at any given time. There is no standard coordinate system. And the moon is a particular puzzle because its fractal. If you showed me a picture taken 50 meters from the surface and 5 meters from the surface and 5,000 meters from the surface, I would have trouble telling youunless I recognized a featurewhat is what. You just get craters and craters and more craters. Theres micrometeorite impacts that the human eye cant see, up to vast craters that we can see with our eyes from Earth. It all looks the same.

We have this gift of our geological twin, the moon, to provide us with mineral and energy wealth.

And we dont have a fleet of communication satellites orbiting the moon, much less GPS systems, so even if you have the data, you dont have a way to bring it to any other place. So firstly you need some kind of a reliable communications system. At Airbus Ventures weve invested in companies like ispace, which has won a contract with NASA to help deploy and run two communications satellites in conjunction with a lander on the moons far side.

Then we need a much more detailed mineral map of the moon. That might come through refinements of work that began 20 years ago, but that might be better achieved using quantum sensing. We invested in Q-CTRL in Australia partly because their quantum sensors are good for Earth, measuring ocean wave heights and movements and underground aquifer surfacesbut you can also use them to learn a lot about which minerals might be where, at high resolution. So orbiting quantum sensors is a great start, and then theres nothing like taking samples. The Chinese space program recently achieved just that, from a mineralogically promising high-latitude area on the lunar near side, the first such mission in nearly 50 years. They got a rover, disturbed the surface, dug a hole, then stuck it in a canister and blew it back to Earth and are analyzing it. Thats the kind of thing I expect we can be doing a lot more of, and with the right equipment, in situ.

Compare this with the oceans, where we have a pretty good idea of where the seabed minerals are, but the next stepthe extraction, the smelting, the processingis where it gets hard. What excites me about the moon is that once weve done the hard work of knowing where to mine, the next steps are more readily soluable. We have startup companies were looking at now that have designed mineral processing machines specifically for lunar environments.

We have also invested in other companies that produce solar panels so efficient and lightweight that blanketing part of the moons surface for solar energy collection begins to look practicable. We see other companies tackling autonomous production of solar panels directly from lunar materials. These panels are needed to supply energy and heat; even during lunar daytime, its very cold just under the moons surface, and you need heat for efficient extraction. And its then you can start using mining skills from Earth.

The next step is running the prototypes of these machines. Then we need to start thinking about how to return these minerals to Earth.

That was my next question.

Theres been a lot of thinking over the years about mass drivers, railguns, things that would fling loads from the moon to Earth or to Earth orbit. Already in our portfolio we have what we think is one great idea of using solar power to slowly spin up a launcher or a mass at the end of a tether. On Earth, this company, SpinLaunch, uses an artificial vacuum in a gigantic chamber to achieve the speeds they need to reach suborbital velocities. On the moon, theres no interfering atmosphere. The gravity is much lower and the vacuum is free. Its not hard to conceive of taking one of their designs and deploying it as a mass driver on the moon quite cheaply.

All these pieces, I think, can be put together and proven as a system to identify the right area for extraction; begin the extraction process; land the equipment that can do the purification; automate it to the extent possible; and to provide the power needed to start returning minerals to Earth. The timelines, compared to ocean mining, dont look that differentparticularly if the ISA has any teeth left to enforce its own environmental regimes.

As soon as we know where minerals on the moon are, I think we can proceed very quickly.

The environmental impacts of seabed mining do have to be assessed. Then they have to be digested and incorporated into any mining protocol. It should take time to do that properly. And I would like to think that the worlds citizens would want to weigh in on that process and think hard about whether this is something we really want to scale. In the meantime, as soon as we know where minerals on the moon are, I think we can proceed very quickly with the technological requirements to pull things into place. There may be other scientific, even profound benefits in processing lunar materialsas part of my own research I focus on whether dust-sized traces of other technological civilizations might be mixed in these very materials, and offer direct constraints on how uniquely precious our lives and futures may bebut perhaps we can pick up that topic in your newsletter.

You are passionate about the moral principle of sharing the wealth produced by ocean mining. One thing to come out of the New York Times investigation was a sense that people in countries partnering with mining companies would receive only the crumbs that fell from their leaders tables, so to speakand if youre a speculative fiction fan, then youre probably familiar with the trope of extraterrestrial mining magnates presiding over dystopian space colonies. How do you ensure that the profits of moon mining are actually shared?

This is worth a lot of attention and thought. There may be different and much more fair ownership systems, if ownership is the direction we want to go in. I believe that the International Seabed Authority, as it was originally conceived, was a great start. It embraced the idea that not everybody was an ocean state with the infrastructure to use its own offshore areas, much less exploit the high seas. Space is very similar. Not everyone has access. There is a rush to be a stakeholder.

I think we desperately need to look at the adoption of an International Space Authority. This means that you probably need a United Nations-affiliated source that is able to back such an authority with teeth and then staff it without so many avenues to corruption. And then they can open the gate to letting venture capitalists and corporations do what they dobut under a regime of enforcement and regulation that has guardrails in place so thatsocial justice is actually delivered alongside planet-saving benefits and any ethically enabling corporate gains.

And to me, that social justice is very much for the people alive today, and all the beings we share this planet with, but also for the possible trillions of people post-humanity and beings were responsible for in the future. That also raises questions about other life on this planet; were not in a position to ask, and theyre not in a position to answer, what kind of future they want. So I think what we probably need is an integrated approach of international, environmental, and living-being ethicists, together with people who work for a living on social justice and wealth distribution issues, and the companies and technologies and countries who have all their own self-interests. And if this is something that is forcing us to think hard about those kinds of issues, that can only be a good thing.

Lead image: Pavel Chagochkin / Shutterstock and Kstudija / Shutterstock

Posted on August 31, 2022

Brandon Keim (Twitter / Instagram) is a science and nature journalist. He is presently working on Meet the Neighbors, a book about what understanding animals as fellow persons means for human relations to wild animals and to nature.

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To Save the Deep Ocean, We Should Mine the Moon - Nautilus Magazine