Lamb Banana

Great Crab Caper	December 15
The following was found posted to a shipping group. Local newspapers often refer to pilfering and theft from ports. Only a few months ago a container went missing from Liverpool Docks loaded with cigarettes. However, in Japan the crooks obviously prefer to steal sea food! Saturday, December 15, 2001 at 15:00 JST SAPPORO -Thieves have made away with three trailer beds loaded with king and queen crabs imported from Russia since November in the port city of Otaru, northwest of Sapporo, police said Saturday. The stolen critters and the trailer beds were worth a combined 55.5 million yen. On Nov 14, thieves stole a truck carrying about 10 tons of crabs worth around 18 million yen from Otaru port. Robbers struck again on Dec 6 and 7 and made away with two trucks from two transport firms at the port. The trailer beds held about 20 tons of crabs valued at about 24 million yen, the police said. (Kyodo News)
SEA CON - FUSION?	August 26
A correspondent recently picked up a copy of the Sea Containers staff newspaper - SEACO EXPRESS. Apparently is contained a few "gems" which will amuse those who really know their facts as opposed to the editors who should have known them, but obviously didn't ......! *SUPERSEACAT FOUR passed through the Corinth Canal on her delivery voyage.* There is the photograph to prove it but the passage did not take place on the delivery voyage. CROAZIA JET [formerly ATLANTIC II] was formerly SeaCat Danmark! Strange SeaCat Danmark is operating on the English Channel! The LADY OF MANN (photographed in her pre-SeaCo livery) spends the summer off the African coast operating tourist routes in Madeira and the Azores including whale watching trips, chartered to Porto Santo line! The old Whale Watching myth is repeated and perhaps someone needs to check an atlas as well as the name of the current charterers! The PEVERIL is now plying routes in the Caribbean. - She never made it and is currently laid up for sale in Santander to pay off debts incurred by ship repairers! Northern Ireland's top mountain biker is getting free travel between Northern Ireland, Scotland and England on SeaCat and SuperSeaCat services. Most people didn't know there was a SUPERSEACAT on the Irish Sea this summer! It is no wonder that the media suffer from Sea Confusion?**
AA STREET BY STREET GUIDE - LIVERPOOL	June10
Any maritime enthusiasts visiting Liverpool and unfamiliar with the city and port are strongly advised to avoid purchasing the AA Street by Street Guide to Liverpool despite the fact it claims to offer "Britain's Clearest Street Mapping" Using this guide would leave strangers totally confused and unable to locate many major features. Click on the picture of the front cover reproduced here to enlarge it. You will note that some strange things have been done to the layout of the Albert Dock. The Maritime Museum now appears to be actually in the Dock Basin, a whole new set of buildings has appeared alongside Salthouse Dock. The layout of the Canning Graving Docks is also most improbable! Beyond the map extract on the cover further examination of this small book reveals the Landing Stage has disappeared and Sea Containers now use the big office block at 7 Princes Parade as a terminal. The nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel has also disappeared. These are just a few of the errors effecting the maritime area of Liverpool - I wouldn't like to start trying to compile a comprehensive list of all the errors contained within. It would take hours! At £4.99 it is of poor quality and overpriced. It is only recommended if you want to entertain yourself playing spot the error! The Geographia AtoZ maps are a much more accurate and means of navigating around the city and port of Liverpool.
P&O SISTER FISH?	January 28
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd are better known to visitors to the M&ISS site as the builders of the new P&O Irish Sea ships EUROPEAN CAUSEWAY and EUROPEAN AMBASSADOR. However, last week it was revealed that the company will be building a "sister fish" to the above vessels. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has commenced production of the world's first, radio-controlled lifelike robotic fish to be made available on the market, dubbed "Mitsubishi Animatronics." The animatronic device is in the likeness of a coelacanth, an ancient fish called a "living fossil." MHI is creating the lifelike creature in the hopes of marketing it and similar animatronic system to amusement parks and aquariums.