COOK ISLANDS BECOMES IMO MEMBER

August 13 - The Cook Islands has become the latest Member of IMO following the deposit, on 18 July 2008, of an instrument of acceptance of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization, as amended, with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
With the accession of the Cook Islands, the number of IMO Member States stands at 168, with a further three Associate Members.Since the Cook Islands is not a Member State of the United Nations, its application to join IMO required the approval of two-thirds (112) of the current IMO membership. The Cook Islands applied to join IMO in 1999 and the 112th letter of acceptance was received by the IMO Secretariat on 15 July 2008.

Advances in Time and Position Instruments

Time and position finders have been steadily changing over the centuries. In ancient times some people used the sun, moon, stars and even birds to find which direction they were moving. In recent centuries people have been using tools like crossbars, astrolabes, and sun disks to find their way and time during the day, many times while out-to sea. Today we have GPS's (Global Positioning Satellite) can tell us exactly where we are. In fact, government prevents them from being too accurate in the hands of the common consumer. The invention of the sundial was made so to cast a shadow upon a certain number or nook in order to tell the time of day. Sundials were used throughout history, and even before recorded times.Next we enter the Age of Discovery. The European conquest of the Americas may have been much different without devices to know time and position. Inventors worked to perfect the pendulum, the crossbars, longitude, sextant, and a variety of clocks including a sea-worthy clock. The most primitive version of the sextant was named "the crossbars. The first mechanical clocks were massive semi-accurate timekeepers. England realized the need for ships to have precision timekeeping when its naval flagship went way off course and was lost. They then decided to offer a reward of 20,000 pounds to whoever could produce a sea-worthy timekeeper. After four tries John Harrison came out with his accurate sea-worthy clock, the Harrison-4. Clocks grew more versatile, compact and accurate.
Advances in science led to the development of satellites. From satellites, GPS was born. Today a GPS position finder is capable of telling you your position accurately up to about three feet from anywhere in the world. As first seen in "Desert Storm", missiles can use GPS to pinpoint a target. Car thieves avoid autos with GPS chips. Some criminals are forced to wear GPS devices that signal authorities of parole violations. How might kidnapping became a thing of the past? Technology continues to advance with time. Will ethical practices in privacy be able to stay ahead of the technology? For our present time, are we living in the future?

SINGAPORE HOLDS 10TH MPA MARITIME FORUM

SINGAPORE HOLDS 10TH MPA MARITIME FORUM
SINGAPORE, May 29 -- The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority has announced that10th annual maritime forum will be held on May 29 (today) at the PSA Auditorium.
The theme for this forum will be 'The ReCAAP ISC: Working with Industry to Combat Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia'. The Forum serves as a platform for the MPA to inform and update members of the Singapore maritime community on new initiatives and developments, and to engage them in open discussion on topical issues and challenges facing the industry. The Forum covers a wide spectrum of topics, including maritime security, navigational safety, maritime manpower development and development of maritime ancillary services.