Cuban Marine Life

By Perucho Ochoa

Cuban and Spanish Scientists from the Cuban Oceanology Institute and the Spanish University of Oviedo respectively will broaden their research on the Cuban seabed. One of the areas with the largest bio-diversity in Cuba - Peninsula of Guanahacabibes - has been selected to start the project which will then extend to other areas such as Cienaga de Zapata and Jardines de La Reina also rich in marine species.

Jesus Ortega a Spanish Biologist and Professor of the University of Oviedo in an interview conducted by Prensa Latina affirmed that they will keep researching on the west of Cuba where around 700 species are still pending for classification. So far in the area 50 specimens have been acknowledged as new species.

One of the most significant discoveries in the region is the striking Emiliotia Inmaculatus (tiny mollusck with semi-transparent shell) and the Cubalaskeya Machoi both found at Cueva Pedro( undersea cavern almost 33 meters under sea level).

Not surprisingly a strong similarity has been found between mollusks found in the Bahamas and South Florida Keys and the species found in the Guanahacabibes Peninsula in the western part of Cuba.

Peninsula de Guanahacabibes, rich in Flora and Fauna, has been declared Protected Area of The Biosphere in the late 1980 and the least human interaction can be found in this region which has been accountable for the documentation of 50 percent of all mollusk species found in Cuba.

This is a part of Cuba with a shocking wonderful natural wealth, with an enormous species variety still to determine said Cuban ecologist Jose Espinosa, and continued - Cuba might be a centre for plankton larvae that could favour the most needed healing the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea.

Maria La Gorda is the only tourist resort that can be found in the vicinity of peninsula de Guanahacabibes and it is very popular amongst snorkellers, divers, oceanologists and holiday makers in general. - 30297

About the Author:

Book Review: Spartan Gold

By Britt Hellman

Spartan Gold is the first in a new series by New York Times bestseller Clive Cussler in cooperation with action novel writer Grant Blackwood.

Referred to as "Fargo Adventures," the new series is, as the name suggests, based on the adventures of the Fargos, a married couple by the names of Sam and Remi.

Independently wealthy, the Fargos have devoted their lives to their obsessive passion for archeological treasure hunting, and they do not shy away from any obstacles to find what they are looking for.

While this new series features a new set of characters and a different venue - archeology - the typical Clive Cussler calling cards that we have come to expect still remain: Exotic foods and drinks, rare collectors' vehicles, and a lot of action taking place in water, above or below the surface.

Spartan Gold follows Sam and Remi on the trail of Napoleon Bonaparte and twelve bottles from his legendary lost wine cellar, each with a clue written in code on the back of the label.

Of course there are also adversaries to be faced and dealt with. A former Soviet freedom fighter turned mafia billionaire sends his hired hooligans to interfere with the Fargos' investigation, several times imperiling their very lives.

At the end of the trail await two ancient Greek statues of pure gold, which were looted from Greece by Persian conqueror Xerxes the Great. Bondaruk has discovered through genealogy research that he is a direct descendant of Xerxes, and believes the treasure is his rightful inheritance, never mind that is was stolen from Greece.

The trail laid out by Napoleon through the wine-bottle riddles leads Sam and Remi Fargo from a German WWII submarine in Maryland to Rum Key in the Bahamas and through many European countries, including Germany, Monaco, Italy, Croatia and Ukraine.

In the end, Spartan Gold is a solidly written treasure hunting action novel in the spirit of The Da Vinci Code, and also a distinctly Cusslerian novel undoubtedly destined for a top-spot on the New York Times best-seller list. - 30297

About the Author:

Adverse Physical Conditions in a Dredging Contract

By Mike Rutter

The assessment of a dredging projects soil conditions are the most important factor to determine dredgeability, the choice of suitable equipment, production rates and ultimately the associated investment for the works.

A prudent tenderer when analysing the site data needs to be assured that the data has been collected and prepared by a competent soil investigation company in accordance with relevant international standards such as BS, ASTM or others.

Rather than rely on the basic adverse physical conditions clause in the case of significant capital works involving excavation of varying subsoil, weathered or solid rock it is suggested to apply reference conditions in the Contract based on the actual information from the soil survey transposed into production rates which can be easily measured and reviewed, beyond which the Contractor is entitled to claim for additional compensation. Of the contracts available for use on dredging contracts only the FIDIC 1999 Red Book and the UK's NEC 3 Engineering and Construction Contract deal with the broad concept of reference conditions.

The concept of how adverse physical conditions are dealt with verges on the holy grail of marine infrastructure projects. On the one side they are part of a Marine Contractors 'must have' clauses whilst it is often viewed by Clients as the equivalent of a 'get out of jail free' card. The balance of risk has been hotly debated and fought over the years with the results little published or revealed due to disputes being resolved in arbitration or adjudication.

Added to this mix are the notion of unforeseeability and what an experienced contractor can expect its no wonder that the vast majority of marine infrastructure claims revolve around the issue of sub-surface conditions.

Even a full-scale and technically perfect soil investigation can only test a fraction of the volume that is to be dredged by the Contractor. Combined with the fact that natural conditions like rock strength, grain size, permeability, plasticity, presence of rock outcrops or boulders (to name a few) vary enormously, it is no wonder disputes on dredging contracts often focus on soil conditions that are claimed to be different from what "an experienced Contractor could reasonably have foreseen" .

The basic principle of adverse physical conditions this that a contract clause will give the Contractor the "right to claim for additional time and money in case unforeseeable physical conditions which may occur, which were not reasonably foreseeable by an experienced contractor". This simple principle is present in one way or the other in virtually every dredging contract.

A dual purpose lies hidden behind this contract principle, namely to :

Compensate the Contractor for encountering conditions more severe than could be derived from investigations available at the time of preparing his offer. Employers must not and should not expect the Contractor to gamble: Taking a risk provision covering for every imaginable situation would make an offer non-competitive, whereas the absence of a risk provision is a denial of the fact that dredging has significant uncertainties by its very nature. Employers tend to be overly biased towards achieving the lowest contract price for their work by passing all conceivable risk to the Contractor whether he is in a position to dealt with it or not.

Protect the Employer from Contractors who may try to claim additional compensation for interpretation or calculation errors mistakes made by the Contractor and resulting in a loss on the project. A loss in itself is no justification for additional compensation, and furthermore the Employer has very limited possibilities to assess the factual cause of the loss. In between the relative simplicity of the two extremes lies a gray area, and it is here that disputes are generally fought out. The author supports the view that a sufficiently high threshold for additional compensation should be present, balancing the interest of the Employer (by not having to battle over every minor issue) and of the Contractor (by having capped his risk and defined additional compensation above threshold). It is further suggested that a risk matrix framework could be established to assess the magnitude of the additional compensation before award of the contract. - 30297

About the Author:

privacy policy

Privacy Policy

The privacy of our visitors to this website is important to us.
At this website, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use and visit this website, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Log Files
As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as AOL or Shaw Cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Cookies and Web Beacons
We do use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a popup once in your visit, or the ability to login to some of our features, such as forums.

We also use third party advertisements on this website to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites).

DoubleClick DART cookies
We also may use DART cookies for ad serving through Google’s DoubleClick, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using DoubleClick advertising (including some Google AdSense advertisements). This cookie is used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (”interest based targeting”). The ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history (For example, if you have been viewing sites about visiting Las Vegas, you may see Las Vegas hotel advertisements when viewing a non-related site, such as on a site about hockey). DART uses “non personally identifiable information”. It does NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers. You can opt-out of this ad serving on all sites using this advertising by visiting http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx

You can choose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

Deleting cookies does not mean you are permanently opted out of any advertising program. Unless you have settings that disallow cookies, the next time you visit a site running the advertisements, a new cookie will be added.

disclaimer

CONTENT DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this website is for general information
purposes only. The information is provided by this website and
while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct,
we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or
implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or
availability with respect to the website or the information, products,
services, or related graphics contained on the website for any
purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore
strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including
without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any
loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits
arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are
not under the control of this website.
We have no control over the nature, content and availability of
those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily
imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly.
However, this website takes no responsibility for, and will not
be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to
technical issues beyond our control.

contact us



Your Name
Your Email Address
Subject
Message
Image Verification
Please enter the text from the image
[ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]


Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here