Cause of Timor Sea oil spill may be same for Gulf of Mexico spill

Australia's worst oil spills may have something in common with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to Wikipedia, "The Montara oil spill was a oil and gas leak and subsequent slick that took place in the Montara oil field in the Timor Sea, off the northern coast of Western Australia. It is considered one of Australia's worst oil disasters.  The slick was released from the West Atlas mobile rig which began leaking oil on August 21, 2009, and continued leaking until November 3, 2009, when the leak was stopped by pumping mud into the well."

Here's what Jotman has learned about the connection to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico:

NOV. 3:  West Atlas, a burning and leaking oil rig in East Timor Sea owned by PTTEP Australasia repaired.

 "The culprit: a problem during cementing, which is supposed to keep gases and oil from shooting skyward and exploding into fire.  That accident and the blast on the Deepwater Horizon had at least one circumstance in common.  Both happened in a transition period when the offshore oil wells were being capped off and the gaps around drilling casings were being cemented shut to prevent pressurized gases and oil from escaping.  Much more is known about the Timor Sea incident; a commission appointed by the Australian government has turned up solid evidence it was caused by a mistake during careless cementing operations. (chronicle)

NOV 18. "Deepwater Cementing Consideration to prevent hydrates destabilization," a presentation by Haliburton scientists at the AADA Chapter Meeting, Huston, on the risks of destabilized deepwater cement. Paper notes that "Destabilization of hydrates during cementing and production in deepwater environments is a challenge to the safety and economics."

New Zealand's environmental leadership questioned

NZ Herald:

New Zealand is in danger of losing its status as a world leader in managing fisheries, says the researcher behind a new documentary on overfishing.

Charles Clover, a former environment editor at Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, says New Zealand's reputation is under threat from its orange roughy catch and an almost complete lack of knowledge about the health of many of its fisheries.

I might add that New Zealand has been less than helpful in the negotiations on to ban blue fish tuna fishing, demanding instead an increased quota for itself! 

Pacific tuna cartel

This sounds like a great idea. AP:

Last month, eight Pacific nations responsible for a quarter of the world's tuna catch said they planned to start an OPEC-like cartel to conserve stocks and also boost their financial returns.

Eni Faleomavaega, who represents American Samoa in the US Congress, said at a House of Representatives hearing on Wednesday that the United States should support the development of the cartel.

"You're talking about a four-billion-dollar industry that doesn't go to the benefit of these island nations," Faleomavaega said.

"The problem here is that most of the fishing is done by foreign countries or foreign companies and they get a pittance as far as the results."

Sounds like a great idea.  This ought to eliminate the dependency of these countries on foreign aid.   AFP has background:

Leaders of eight Pacific nations responsible for a quarter of the world's tuna catch vowed Thursday to conserve stocks of the fish and increase their own financial return from the lucrative industry.

Despite their waters producing much of the world's tuna, the impoverished nations receive only three to four percent of the wholesale value of the catch, which is mainly controlled by foreign companies.

At a summit in the Palau capital Koror, the eight leaders vowed to coordinate efforts to increase their share of the income while stepping up conservation efforts.

"We are one of the players in this global industry," said Transform Aqorau, the director general of the eight-country grouping, known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA).

Thursday's agreement aims to develop ways to increase income through higher access fees and greater restrictions on fishing in the Pacific waters.

The PNA, which has established an office in the Marshall Islands, will extend the closure of some fishing areas and introduce competitive bidding for licences.

"We the Pacific island states own the fishing grounds, and so we must bring under control access to these fishing grounds," Palau President Johnson Toribiong said.

The PNA member countries are the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Fiji: Damage from Cyclone Tomas to Lau Islands

Tropical Cyclone Tomas struck Fiji, killing at least on person.  It appears to have caused the most damage to the eastern Lau Island Group, home to 11,000 people (1% of Fiji's population).

AP:

The storm, packing winds of up to 130 miles (205 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 175 mph (280 kph), first hit Fiji late Friday. It blasted through the northern Lau and Lomaiviti island groups and the northern coast of the second biggest island, Vanua Levu, before losing strength as it moved out to sea Wednesday, the nation's weather office said.

"One village on the island of Taveuni lost all its houses, but there was no loss of life," Disaster Management Office senior official Pajiliai Dobui told The Associated Press.

While Fiji's north suffered overwhelming damage from the powerful winds and sea surges, Dobui said preparations for the storm meant "peoples' lives were not put at risk." Only one death was reported.

Dobui said some villages in the Lau island group lost up to 60 percent of their houses, especially near the coast where powerful waves surged inland.

"The impact of the storm surges was quite devastating," made worse by high tides at the time the storm passed over the islands, he said.

AFP:

National Disaster Management Office operations officer Anthony Blake said unconfirmed reports painted a bleak picture of the situation in the Lau group, a string of islands in the country's east with a population of about 11,000.

NASA:

... About 17,000 people had gone to the evacuation centers before the storm hit. As a result of damages caused by Tomas, a "state of disaster" was declared in those areas, so that foreign assistance can come into the country. Houses were damaged, electricity, water and sewage systems were affected, and flooding was reported.

Yaughting Life (source of this map) has an interesting description of the Northern Lau Islands.  More on the response of Australia and NZ to the disaster at Bloomberg. 

New Zealand Red Cross is accepting donations to aid victims of the Category 4 storm.

Australia and NZ dollar at 2 year high

Bloomberg:

The Australian and New Zealand dollars traded near two-month highs as gains in stocks and commodities boosted demand for higher-yielding assets.

The so-called kiwi was the best performer among its 16 most-traded counterparts over the past five days as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained seven days to a 17-month high. The Aussie found buyers after prices of commodities, which account for most of both South Pacific nations’ exports, rose as crude oil climbed to its strongest level in 10 weeks.

Iceberg nears south coast of Australia

Popsci reported in December 2009:

A massive iceberg twice the size of Manhattan is headed for Australia's southwestern coast, threatening shipping lanes in the Pacific. 

The "superberg," called B17B, is roughly 1,000 miles off the coast of Australia and headed for warmer waters, where it will likely break up into many small pieces.

The 'berg broke off the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 2000, and has been floating in the cold waters of the Pacific until recently, when ocean currents and weather conditions nudged it north. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology issued a shipping alert Friday after the iceberg was seen off the country's southwestern coast.

Several other icebergs have been spotted near New Zealand in recent weeks, but none was as big as B17B, which 87 square miles in area -- is about double the size of Sydney Harbor.

Australian media quoted a glaciologist who said if the iceberg crashed into the continental shelf, it would cause a magnitude three to four earthquake. But it will probably disintegrate into a flotilla of smaller icebergs before that can happen.

Here's another report:

Team New Zealand at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver

New Zealand athletes march in to the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Team Australia at the Winter Olympics in Vancover

Australian athletes march in to the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

ASEAN free trade agreement with Australia and NZ

EGov reports on the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).  

The Agreement will cover a massive 20% of Australia’s two-way trade, worth $112 billion.
The deal will eliminate tariffs on 96 per cent of our current exports to ASEAN nations by 2020.
Currently, only 67 per cent of our exports to the region are tariff-free.

This will support Australian industry by promoting exports, and will play an important role in supporting Australian jobs.

This will be the most comprehensive Free Trade Agreement to enter into force for ASEAN, covering a range of areas including:

Dynamic Export observes:

A statement jointly released by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Minister for Trade Simon Crean declared the elimination of tariffs on 96 percent of our exports, up from the 67 percent currently eligible: “This will support Australian industry by promoting exports, and will play an important role in supporting Australian jobs.”

Alliance of Small Island States at Bangkok Climate Talks

Guardian, summing up the situation at the Bangkok Climate Talks which ended Friday

The Alliance of Small Island States (made up of the countries who stand to be drowned in a few years and which have as their motto: "1.5 to stay alive") say that if the US joins in with its expected target of about 4-10%, that would give an aggregate global cut of just 11-18% in emissions.

Obama may be these country's last best hope.  Will the Nobel Peace Prize make a difference?

Samoan tsunami aftermath

Videos from citizen journalists on the aftermath of the Samoan tsunami, plus link to additional material, posted here.

Fiji's Bainimarama speaks at the United Nations

In a Sept. 26 press release, the Deptartment of Public Information of the United Nations General Assembly reported Bainimarama's statement to a plenary session.


Bainimarama has come to power by way of coup on two occasions.  The first time was 2000, the second coup was Dec. 2006.   An election is scheduled for 2014.


JotOceania has reprinted the entire press release as it relates to the Fijian PM's remarks and highlighted the most important points.

JOSAIA V. BAINIMARAMA, Prime Minister of Fiji, said his country and its people, like all small developing island States, were among the first victims of contemporary global crises such as the financial and economic crisis, the swine flu pandemic and, most dramatic of all, the phenomenon of climate change.  In small economies such as Fiji’s, those global events had very real effect on the daily livelihoods of the people.  His country had attempted to respond to them by making policy changes and adjustments, encouraging the people to grow their own food and discouraging food imports wherever possible.  Over the last two years, the size of the public service had been rationalized.  The country had maintained a very streamlined cabinet structure and significantly controlled Government operational costs.

There had been many critics of the events in Fiji since December 2006, when the military, with great reluctance, had been forced to remove the Government of Fiji, he went on.  Those critics, he said, were largely unaware of the extent to which politicians, in league with those who employed terror as a tactic to push a racial supremacy and corrupt agenda, had become a threat to the safety and security of the people.  The President of Fiji had abrogated the Constitution on 10 April, taking that step when a Court of Appeal ruling created a legal vacuum, a constitutional anomaly which would have also prevented the implementation of the reforms which were mandated by the President to achieve a truly democratic State.

Generally speaking, if a prime minister has come to power by way of coup, better not to talk about how you came to power.  Excuses don't come off too well.

Mr. Bainimarama said that on 1 July, he had announced a road map intended to lead Fiji to a new Constitution and elections based on equality, equal suffrage, human rights, justice, transparency, modernity and true democratic ideals.  The Government had been mandated to carry out and continue reforms which would ensure that true democratic, non-communal and equal-suffrage-based elections for parliamentary representation be held by September 2014.  Together with stringent steps to protect the economy from the effects of the world economic crisis, work would commence on a new Constitutions by September 2012.  The basis for a new Constitution would be the ideals and principles formulated by the Peoples Charter for Change and Progress, a document prepared following widespread consultation with and input from the people.  That Charter had been adopted by the President after its endorsement by the majority of the people of Fiji.

Asking for patience and understanding, particularly from Fiji’s neighbours, he invited “the international community to engage with us, visit our country to see the situation for themselves and to provide practical support and assistance to enable us to implement the reforms”.  Fiji’s dream was for equality, justice and true democracy.  He thanked friends who had continued to carry on a dialogue and who had helped the country achieve what they themselves now took for granted.  He thanked those friends for their respect and understanding, even when there was disagreement on some issues.  To those nations that had refused to engage with Fiji, he could only plead with them to change their stance.  Fiji was a small nation, whose people posed a threat to no one, least of all to the big Powers of the South Pacific “who have arrogated to themselves the right to dictate to us our future and the way we govern ourselves”.

Some countries had used their extensive diplomatic and financial resources to deny Fiji participation in new peacekeeping missions, he said.  Fiji had participated in peacekeeping operations since 1978 and was proud of its association with the United Nations, in particular the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.  The country had been disappointed by what appeared to be a unilateral decision on the part of the United Nations to debar it from any new peacekeeping operations.  To this day, it had not been able to receive a clear and satisfactory reply on that matter from the United Nations.  Fiji hoped that the United Nations would deal equitable and fairly with troop-contributing countries.

Like most small island nations, Fiji regarded the threat posed by climate change as one that would undermine international peace and security, he went on.  The lives of real people from real places were at stake.  The future survival of real generations, the continuation of real countries and the security of belonging to real homelands were being threatened.  The impacts of climate change could only be halted and the survival of every small island State ensured by significantly reducing carbon emissions.  Fiji, as one of the more vulnerable States to the impacts of climate change, called on all States, in particular the major emitters, to be responsible and committed to carbon emission reduction targets of around 45 per cent from 1990 level by 2020 and 85 per cent reduction by 2050, with below 350 parts per million global atmospheric concentration and, further, to limit temperature increase to below 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level by 2020.

Compared to other South Pacific leaders who spoke at the UN last week, Fiji's Bainimarama had relatively little to say about development issues. He mainly wanted to talk about his own political reforms.

Samao tsunami arrival times

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

NOAA has posted estimated arrival times of the tsunami.  See also this report at JOTMAN.COM.

Samoa earthquake - live report from New Zealand

News at the top of every hour.

See also this report at JOTMAN.COM.

Tonga PM Sevele's speech to UN on climate change

In a Sept. 26 press release, the Deptartment of Public Information of the United Nations General Assembly reported Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele's statement to a plenary session.

 Sevele is the country's first non-noble Prime Minister. He was appointed Acting Prime Minister after the sudden resignation of ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho (at that time commonly known as: ʻUlukālala Lavaka Ata) in early 2006, six months after a series of pro-democracy protests that called for a lesser role in government for the royal family.

JotOceania has reprinted the entire press release as it relates to the Tongan PM's remarks and highlighted the most important points.

FELETI VAKA’UTA SEVELE, Prime Minister of Tonga, thanked United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his convening the Climate Change Summit, and noted the impact it had had on Tonga and other vulnerable small island developing States.  Indeed, those countries needed to “reach beyond our narrow national interests and embrace our collective responsibility to each other as nation States and to those States most vulnerable and least able to address the vagaries of climate change”.  That issue had taken its rightful place at the forefront of the debate this week, but those words must be matched by action.  “Our understanding of the truth of climate change must be moved by the honest action to mitigate and change the wasteful energy habits of a lifetime into the productive energy habits of the future.”

Turning to other issues, he said he remained committed to making progress on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, which remained a core component of Tonga’s national development planning.  “Much of that progress has been reliant on our own domestic efforts, but has been complemented by our own development partners,” he said, also expressing support for the Secretary-General’s convening of a special summit on the Goals in 2010.

He touched on some of Tonga’s other concerns, including preservation of the sea, saying that, as an island nation, the living and the potential of non-living marine resources of the country’s maritime zones remained critical to its future.  Thus, the country remained in compliance with its obligations under the Law of the Sea, and had lodged a partial submission for consideration by the Commission on the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf.  Energy was another important issue to Tonga, especially since 100 per cent of its power generation was fuelled by imported fossil fuels.  Thus, the country has been forced to investigate feasible renewable energy sources.  “We have set a target to achieve 50 per cent of our electricity generation utilizing renewable energy sources by 2012,” he said.

Continuing, he said his country had reviewed donor funding to see how to achieve this goal; Tonga’s development partners had agreed to collaborate to assess the current infrastructure.  At the conclusion of the regional Pacific Energy Ministers Meeting, the Tonga Renewable Energy Road Map had been borne.  The blueprint would assess the most suitable renewable energy source utilizing the rapid advances in technology, assess the infrastructure in which the electricity could be generated and distributed, and provide models of systems that could be implemented throughout remote islands.

He noted that Tonga’s parliament had recently considered ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, but had voted against ratification because “to do so would cut across our cultural and social heritage that made up our unique Tongan way of life”.  He added that “we did not want to ratify CEDAW [women’s Convention] as a matter of international convenience.  We would rather be judged on our actions of empowerment of women”.