Greenwich Maritime Institute – Page 4 – Greenwich Maritime Centre

Maritime student Robert Forrester writes A History of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and Royal Mail Lines, 1851-1965

Robert’s background

Robert Forrester spent twenty years at sea as a deck officer, the last ten of them with Royal Mail Line making frequent voyages to South America prior to leaving the sea in 1965.

The next twenty-odd years were spent involved with newspaper and magazine publishing, latterly as MD of the company producing magazines for British Airways, and others.

Following his retirement he studied for an MA (2001) in Maritime Studies at the Greenwich Maritime Institute followed by a PhD in 2006 and now he sees his book available to buy a many good book stores.

What the book is about

During the nineteenth century Britain’s maritime, commercial and colonial interests all depended upon a regular and reliable flow of information from around the globe. Whilst the telegraph increasingly came to dominate long-distance communication, postal services continued to play a vital role in this network of information exchange, particularly to the more distant locations. Consequently, much importance was placed upon international mail services by the British government and the Admiralty, who provided large subsidies to commercial companies to run these concerns.

Concentrating on the mail service between Britain and South America, this book explores the economic, maritime and political aspects of the Royal Mail Lines company, who held Admiralty and Post Office mail contracts between 1851 and 1965.As well as providing a business history of the Royal Mail Lines, the book reveals the many and varied consequences of maintaining a long-distance mail service.

Improved ship design, the establishment of a network of coaling stations, the availability of inexpensive transatlantic passenger crossings for immigrants, increased cargo capacity allowing increased imports of coffee and frozen beef to Europe, the linking of South America to international markets and commercial opportunities, were just some of the spin-off benefits of Britain’s subsidised mail services.

The book also addresses the international competition faced by Royal Mail Lines, which reflected Britain’s diminishing dominance of global trade and shipping. In all this book has much to say that will interest not only business historians, but all those seeking a better understating of Britain’s maritime and economic history, and changing patterns of global information exchange.

For more information or to purchase a copy click here

New safety device tested which looks to help save lives in helicopter crashes at sea

In a recent report from the BBC’s Richard Westcott he was given the opportunity to try out a new safety device that could save lives in the future for those who have a helicopter crash at sea .

The new concept combines a life jacket with a very small aqualung – and the Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates safety, is rolling them out 15 months early as one of a number of new rules.

Before Richard tried out the new jacket he got to try out the current one in comparison which involved being strapped into a pretend helicopter, upside down in a swimming pool, being battered with rain, waves, wind and fake lightening- all in the dark.

The current system is called a hybrid re-breather, which is a life jacket with a rubber bag full of air that you continually re-breathe through a tube. This gives you a few precious extra minutes if the helicopter sinks or flips over – that’s the worst bit, when the aircraft spins over so you’re upside down.

Here’s a terrifying fact, about 60% of helicopters invert or sink either straight away or after a short delay once they hit water.

Emergency drill

“Don’t try to get out straight away,” the instructor Kieran Morrison told Richard. “Once the water goes over your head, count to seven. And stay strapped in until the last minute.”

So in effect, you have to sit quietly, strapped in, and count, while gallons of water rush over you and you flip over. Talk about fight your instincts.

But as Kieran explained, if you unstrapped too soon you’d float to the top of the helicopter, which is what used to be the floor, and that makes it incredibly hard to pull yourself down to your escape hatch, the window.

The survival suit makes you float, which is a good thing unless you’re still inside the aircraft. You also have to put a nose clip on one-handed, which is incredibly fiddly. The other hand stays, at all times, on the window release lever. Richard had quite a few goes and found he could breathe OK with the re-breather, but it’s not clean air, it feels a little strained. And the rubber bag you’re filling is just that. Rubber. It can potentially wear, or leak.

There’s also a metal pin you have to remember to push in as soon as you reach the surface. Otherwise you might get a stomach full of sea water. Richard thought the whole thing felt fine to use, but those fiddly little things, the nose clip, the pin, well, would you really remember them if it was a real crash?

Long-term plan

By contrast, the new system is like a mini-version of scuba gear.

It’s heavier, because of the small cylinder of compressed air, but it’s also less bulky. The nose clip is attached to the mouth piece and is far easier to put on, especially one-handed. Richard believes, that this makes a big difference. And once he was under the water, it was far more comfortable to breathe.

The unions have also given it their seal of approval. “It should deliver greater confidence with the workforce,” says Jake Malloy from the RMT. “But the long-term plan must be to keep the aircraft in the air… safer, more reliable aircraft. Newer aircraft, bigger windows, more space.”

Hopefully with these new developments it can help increase survival rates as these transfers of oil and gas workers over the North Sea have had a poor safety records over the past few years

For the full story click here

Sea Life penguins predict World Cup results

As the World Cup is now underway we have been looking to see what links there might be to bring our subject matters together and stumbled upon the very heart warming story of penguins predicting the results of some of the games.

It seems Birmingham’s National Sea Life centre’s newest residents have been getting into the World Cup spirit by making their very own predictions.

The attraction’s Gentoo penguins have put their feathery necks on the line and predicted the results of the opening games.

They’ve been busy examining the country’s flags for each head-to-head game and choosing which they think represents the winning team by hopping onto the rock it is leant against. When they’re unable to choose an out and out winner, they’ve scrambled onto the middle ground of the ‘draw’ rock instead.

James Robson, curator at The National Sea Life Centre Birmingham, explains: “Our Gentoos are really enthusiastic and love playing new games so have quickly got into the spirit of choosing the winning flags.

“Alf, one of the oldest penguins and the self-appointed head of the colony, has been leading the predictions, with a little help from his long-term partner, Lolly, and his new girlfriend, Ginny. Surprisingly the two girls have agreed on the predictions when they’re rivals in everything else!”

The trio’s prediction for the first game of the competition, Brazil vs Croatia on June 12, is a win for the hosts, Brazil. In England’s first group game against Italy on June 14, in the extreme humidity of the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Alf predicts a draw for the European head-to-head. But youngster Pablo, who has been challenging Alf for his leadership, isn’t sitting on the fence on this one. He’s confidently predicting a win for Italy!

Watch this space the penguins’ predictions are set to continue.

Click here for the full story

TourFish conference launch Linked In discussion group

How can agro-food, fisheries and tourism work together to deliver new opportunities for sustainable development along the coast and in our towns and countryside? Just one of the matters discussed on Linked In.

As the TourFish conference is fast approaching, today sees the launch of the TourFish discussion group on Linked In for preparation for the event on the 23rd – 24th June 2014.

The conference aims to bring together those in the Fishing, Food and Tourism industry to discuss how these industries can work together to deliver new opportunities for sustainable development along the coast and in towns and countryside of the 2 seas area.

TourFish are expecting representatives from France, Belgium and The Netherlands to join in Hastings for the interactive conference.

Please search Linked In for the TourFish Conference to be part of the group and see the discussions unfold

For more information on the event or to register for free please use the link below;

TourFish

Greenwich named as University of the Year by Marine Stewardship Council

The Marine Stewardship Council has named Greenwich as its University of the Year in a new series of awards recognising leadership in supporting certified sustainable seafood.

Top chef Raymond Blanc OBE and the food chains Waitrose and Marks & Spencer are among the other individuals and organisations to be honoured.

Greenwich’s prize has been awarded for its active engagement with the ‘MSC Investigates’ series of animated films which involved internal and social media marketing. It said that over 30 universities got involved with this initiative, but none more so than Greenwich.

“Students at Greenwich can be confident that their university is only serving sustainably sourced fish,” says Emily Mason, Sustainability Project Officer at the university. “This is all part of our Sustainable Food Policy. Along with our catering contractors, Sodexo and BaxterStorey, we are working hard to incorporate environmental, ethical and social considerations into everything that we serve in our cafes and restaurants.”

The university has a strong track record of achievement in environmental issues. It won the Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development in 2013 and is a past winner of the People & Planet Green League Table of universities.

6th June 1944 remembered by Dr Chris Ware

WARSPITE-D-DAY-FIRES

With all of the statistics quoted, 6^th June 1944 was a personal journey for each soldier, sailor and airman involved. The 50^th Division (Northumbrian) was tasked with assaulting Gold Beach. The center of the sector was named jig, itself split into two between jig Green and jig Red sectors.

At 07:26 as the tide was at the flood the first wave came ashore, with the infantry and Royal Marine Commandoes there were three Field Companies of Royal Engineers and amongst them a 21 old Sapper who had been called up in 1942, he had been stationed at Catterick and then Woodbridge. As his landing craft neared the shore he stepped off the ramp and disappeared into the swell up to his neck. Carrying his rifle above his head he waded ashore to be greeted by the German static defences. Once ashore he, and his comrades had to wait whilst Naval gunfire cleared the way, including part of Gold Beach HMS Warspite going into rapid fire with her 15 inch guns over open sights.

He would take part in assault on Caen and the Falaise gap, and be present at Nijmegen and the withdrawal from Arnhem. In all the years that I knew him my father spoke perhaps twice about these experiences, it was matter of fact; he got cold and wet, he never spoke of fear and of whether he might not have survived, death was only mentioned once, having witnessed the onslaught at Falaise, and this shortly before he died.

Having studied history for the last thirty some years as an historian I still find it hard to comprehend what he did and how over time he simply put it behind him, a distant memory, almost as if it were another person, of such is history made.

Hunt is on for mystery monster that ate 3m long great white shark whole

It’s easy to forget how little we know about Earth. The deep sea, for instance, remains mostly unexplored.

So, it shouldn’t be a surprise when scary questions present themselves, like, “What could have possibly eaten a three meter great white shark?”

There are not many sea creatures that could hunt and devour a 3m (10ft) great white shark however after the discovery of a tracking tag washed up on a Western Australia beach with signs it had been bleached by stomach acid and its data showed rapid changes in depth, evidence of 1,900ft dive, and a rise in temperature reflecting the animal that ate it. Shark Alpha, as the beast was named, nearly reached 2000ft (609m) before her body temperature zoomed from just over 40 degrees to 78 degrees.

The shark had been part of a study in 2004 to track her movements.

Film maker Mr Dave Riggs has been investigating the discovery by speaking to whale hunters of Bremer Bay area to try to find out what sort of predator could have done this.

From a study of this data Mr Riggs was able to see that super predator has a stomach at least 1m (3ft 3in) wide. However, he discounts killer whales because the 26C (78.8F) recorded on the tag was far too low to be from inside one. Mr Riggs added “I am not suggesting a prehistoric beast is roaming out there. This is nature at work and we’re just trying to get the bottom of something that happened years ago. I don’t know if we will ever know what happened to that animal but if the reports are true from the whaler, we may get a glimpse of what they saw”

It has been the talk of the office here at the Greenwich Maritime Institute with our very own Chris Bellamy commenting that the create must be cold blooded…..

However the mystery continues and it goes to show that we don’t seem to know what everything that lives in our oceans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_QyGANCUJI

“Learning the Ropes” on Board the Tall Ship Tenacious written by Yifan LIAO

Though it may be commonplace for a ship spotter to see sailing yachts or Thames Sailing Barges moving through the Old Father Thames, a tall ship in the size of Cutty Sark appearing in the narrow basin of the South Quay is still kind of a thrill. Owned by the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST), the Tenacious, a traditionally-rigged three-mast sailing ship, more than 60 m in length and more than 40 m in height above the waterline, came back to London on 18 May 2014 and stayed in the dock until 25 May. She is alleged to be the largest tall ship flying the red ensign, about 1.5 times larger than her only sister ship, the Lord Nelson.

As part of a joint sail training promotion initiative, the China Sail Training Association (China STA), a partner of the JST, invited Greenwich Maritime Institute (GMI), University of Greenwich UG) to pay a visit to the Tenacious to observe the structure of a tall ship and the particular organisation and operation of her teamwork. Four UG members, Professor Chris Bellamy, Director of GMI, Dr Minghua Zhao, Director of China Maritime Centre which is part of GMI, Mr Yifan Liao and Captain Pengfei Zhang, both CMC members, embarked on the marvelous barque in the afternoon on 19 May, 2014.

The Tenacious is the second tall ship built by the JST to meet the increasing demand for sail training. Besides the permanent crew (consisting of the shipmaster, deck officers, engineers, medical purser, cooks, etc), the Tenacious was designed to accommodate some 40 trainees (the voyage crew) as well. This function implied that the structure of the accommodation would have to be much more complicated than a conventional cargo ship. As a result the ship was constructed in a very special way. After the keel-laying ceremony taken place on 6 June 1996, during which HRH the Duke of York hammered golden rivets into the planks, the hull was nevertheless constructed up-side-down and then turned to the upright position for outfitting. She was eventually launched on 3 February 2000 and christened 6 April 2000.

While showing the GMI/CMC delegation around, the duty officer illustrated how to set sail with joint effort, what individualised watching responsibilities of the crew are and what facilities are available to help people with restricted eyesight or wheelchair users. In the Accommodation, Minghua noticed a plaque with the tricky word “Heads” hung on the door of a compartment. This is virtually a very traditional seafaring jargon stemming from Nelson’s “golden age of sail”. Undoubtedly, it is only on a sailing ship as such that everyone could smell a real salty taste of the sea everywhere, – a memory of the hardship, courage, devotion, comradeship and pride that our ancestors had once experienced in their sailing lives. To those who are still perplexed with yet interested in the meaning of this sailor’s expression, it is recommended to refer to Roy & Lesley Adkins’ “Jack Tar” (at P. 140) for detailed explanation or to go straightaway to the bow of our neighbouring Cutty Sark to see the self-explanatory facilities inside the similar chambers.

The Tenacious provides equal access to all people of mixed physical ability, able or disabled, young or aged, male or female, with or without seafaring experience. The sea-going duration varies from one day to several weeks, depending on the length of the particular sea leg, in which the intake is involved. Unlike professional nautical skill training, the highlight of the experience in going to the sea on board the Tenacious is to learn how to work efficiently together with other people with diversified backgrounds and how leadership is shaped. To the young generation who are brought up in the “greenhouse” without exposure to the sea, it is arguable that, as far as you can overcome the challenges of the voyage in collaboration with your comrades, you will be able to survive all ordeals throughout the rest of your lifetime.

JST is planning to send their tall ships to explore the South Pacific Ocean in the second half of this year (2014) with the hope to visit China in the return voyages, whilst the China STA has registered to take part in the Falmouth to Greenwich Regatta in September 2014 to inaugurate their enterprise in China, – the only major maritime nation in the world that has yet to possess its own tall ship. Evidently GMI/CMC are the unrivalled partner to support these sail training events. With the support of the China STA and the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the strong recommendation from Dr Minghua Zhao, one Chinese postgraduate student from GMI’s Maritime History Program has joined the voyage crew for the Falmouth-Greenwich passage and undertaken to steer the celebration at the destination as a goodwill gesture to the proposed maritime adventure. Dr. Zhao is also elaborating a promotional plan for the voyage to be executed through her networking in China. There remains quite a lot of work to be done by our GMI/CMC crew to broaden the horizon for the tall ship world.

The Third Conference of the Black Sea Project to be held in Istanbul

The Third Conference of the Black Sea Project, The Economic and Social Development of the Port–Cities of the Southern Black Sea Coast, Late 18th – Beginning of the 20th century will take place in Istanbul.

The conference is hosted by the History Department of Boğaziçi University.

23-26 October 2014

The project “The Black Sea and its port-cities from the 18th to the 20th century. Development, convergence and linkages with the global economy” is part of the Thalis Programme “Reinforcement of the Interdisciplinary and/or inter-institutional Research and Innovation” in the context of the operational action “Education and Life Long Learning” which is co-sponsored by the E.U. and the Greek Ministry of Education.

This will be the third conference in a series of five focusing on this specific project. Previous schedules have featured the Greenwich Maritime Insititue’s Panayotis Kapetanakis, foacusing on; The Black Sea: a new diplomatic and economic challenge to the First British Empire (1760–1802)

The aim of the conference is to convey the results of the research carried out within the project as well as invite papers related to its themes. The project seeks to trace elaborate and demonstrate the economic and social development of 25 port-cities of the Black Sea that formed an integrated market that became the larger grain-exporting area in the world in the course of the longnineteenth century.

By focusing on the sea and its ports, the analysis offers an insight in the economic activities of the port-cities, the coastal area and the hinterland, the integration of markets and their inter-linkages with the global economy, beyond political boundaries and divisions. The global economy triggered development and convergence of regional markets. Papers are related to the subject of the project along the following six axes:

1. The Black Sea as a unit of research. Marine environment and six port systems.
2.Six maritime regions. Economic and social development of twenty port-cities.
3.Patterns of urban structure. City-planning and architecture.
4.Macro-analysis. Formation of macro-economic statistical series. Comparison to world economy.
5.Micro-analysis. Entrepreneurial elites and major Greek business families.
6.Networks linking to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

For more information on the project please visit;

http://blacksea.gr/

http://blacksea.gr/en/conferences/3rd-conference-2014

Exclusive one day short course- Britain’s Oldest True Police Force: Policing the River Thames

Saturday 13th September 2014

Led by security expert Professor Chris Bellamy, Director of the Greenwich Maritime Institute, this course tells the tale of protecting life and property and preventing crime from the foundation of the Marine Police in 1798. Now known as the Metropolitan Police Service Marine Policing Unit (MPU), it inspired Robert Peel’s creation of ‘The Met’ in 1829, and was incorporated into it ten years later.

Today, the MPU is still based on the site of its original headquarters at Wapping, and is responsible for 47 miles of the river Thames and 250 miles of canals, lakes and inland waterways within the capital. They are now supported in their rescue duties by RNLI lifeboats, a London Fire Brigade fire boat, and Coastguard services.

This course will look into the history of the MPU, the challenges it faced and its development into the force we see patrolling the River Thames today.

Location and Duration of the Course

This course will take place from 9.30am – 4.30pm on Saturday 13th September 2014 at the University of Greenwich, Queen Anne Court, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, SE10 9LS.

How to Apply

The cost of the course is £90 per person and will include course materials, lunch, refreshments and a certificate of attendance.

All places must be booked in advance by Sunday 31st August 2014. Please use our booking website http://tinyurl.com/oevq4ds