All indications lead one to believe that the native Innuit of Greenland intend to seek independence from Denmark. The applecart may be upset if those people attempt to join Canada. That would leave some long faces in the US.

Well, with European partners like this…

https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1884348589180346854

The treaties surrounding Greenland are pretty interesting. If I were Kier Starmer I’d certainly press a claim to possession of the Island.

The seriousness or lack of seriousness about the purchase certainly explains the faux outrage about the Paki Rape gangs from Musk. Rare Earth Minerals could suit UK interests.

America’s special relationship partner, the UK has just said, “Hang on, old chap, we have a prior claim”. It’s all just a crock, America has a president who thinks that there is a country called Nambia in Southern Africa, thinks that the S in BRICS stands for Spain, couldn’t find Panama on an unmarked map. This is the aging decrepit mongrel, who still thinks he’s top dog, barking at the moon. And now he’s threatening to turn on three NATO satraps. Pass the popcorn, the clown show gets ever funnier

Putin is transactional. Reciprocal. Like a saw.

In Norse mythology there’s a good chance that the Troll is a representation of stray Inuits who wash up in the area by accident. In Kayaks and seal skins.

The Inuit really do congregate around the parks in Copenhagen getting drunk.

Thanks for your racist observations on the shortcomings of Inuits.

My guess is they don’t enjoy Europe’s legendary protections on hate speech. Just say whatever you want about Inuits and have a field day. No wonder they hate the Danish and want out. The Danish try to genocide them and then Europe’s internet trolls mock them.

putin accepting trump at his word, is genius. he completely unmasked the u.s. as a corrupt banana republic, with rigged elections and uses the presidents own words as proof of this obvious fact, that very few in america are willing to admit. if someone contradicts him in this comment, he can turn around and say are you saying the president is a liar? the man’s a lawyer and a good one at that.

this also boosts his cred in the u.s. with trumptards, that will think he’s based. his comment also shows the rest of the world, that he and russia are honest brokers and businessman that can be trusted, even when dealing with adversaries. he comes off as refined and eloquent, as trump and the rest of the zioneocon kleptocrats, come off as crude and arrogant.

as far as the u.s. catching up to the russians in the arctic, that is a pipe dream. just look at the number of russian bases and compare ice breaker fleets. when are they going to catch up? the russians will never let them and now that china is working with russia in the arctic, it’s all over for the bloated decaying hegemon, whose titanic ship of state, is now taking on a trillion dollars in debt every 100 days and will soon slip below the waves of history, like the british empire before them.

it’s clear that the u.s. has been relegated, to beating up its own toady vassals now. they can’t run with the big dogs, so they kick their chihuahuas instead. greenland is all about the natural resources and replacing the resources they planned on grabbing in ukraine, that are now part of the russian federation.

I agree. It ends in Berlin or maybe Paris. If not Madrid.

He sends up Oprah to hand out billions to the locals.

The Inuits hang around in Copenhagen drinking booze in the public parks.

They pick up the cans for recycling cash from the larger numbers of the white people drinking there.

Drunk broken lost trolls on the Danish dole contrasted with Pretty white girls zipping around on bicycles.

One key thing about Copenhagen though. They do/can cut off St Petersburg from the Oceans if/when the US wishes it.

If one could go back even just 25 years ago and suggest that in 2025 American would be in the process of taking over 2 countries of our allies and then claim them as American, you be locked up in a padded room! Just imagine what the next 25 years brings!

We are not asked if we want to join the Genocide organization NATO, or want to be murdered by poison at the hospitals. Permittee trains and so on from nazi Germany get sabotaged, and its even more important that any NATO equipment and troops get blown to hell, where they belong.
Greenland belong to the Greenlanders, a principle the nazi “US” never have respect anywhere, lest of all in North America.

“enormous colony” = frozen wasteland

I think it bothers Trump that Denmark, a NATO grifter and freerider that doesn’t come close to the 2% of GDP expenditure on defense, gets to keep an enormous colony on North America’s doorstep while it behaves quite provocatively in Ukraine. Mette Frederiksen is one of the dirty half dozen of Europe who led the charge to “ignore red lines” and launch long-range missiles into Russian territory. She’s complete scum, part of that gaggle of European succubuses who want to escalate this war into a “Day After” scenario.

I also like how Helmer throws this out there and doesn’t follow up:

reproduction of the Inuit Greenlanders

Yes, the Danes actually tried to sterilize young Eskimo women (some as young as 13) back in the 60s and 70s. This alone should disqualify them from controlling Greenland.

This would meet the American desire to keep China and, to a lesser extent, Russia out of its backyard.

it’s not their backyard, it’s the u.s. that needs to stay the fuck out of other people’s backyards.

Could threatening to annex Greenland be one more red herring thrown down by our commander in chief ‘no more wars’ Trump.
Or will he art them a deal that nobody could refuse, like the option of becoming the first country where every single citizen becomes a millionaire overnight. We’ll soon see what the going rate for a Greenlander is.

Greenland offers huge opportunities for Rare Earth Elements and other natural resources. Development has been stymied by Denmark’s lack of interest. Greenland supplying America will support strategic decoupling from the CCP.

This article explains the most likely end state: (1)

America is not buying Greenland from Denmark. There is, nevertheless, another way to secure our vital security interests in the vast island nation that is much more realistic: signing a Compact of Free Association (COFA).
___

Denmark, therefore, cannot sell us Greenland outright because it legally cannot do that without the Greenlanders’ consent.

Securing the Greenlanders’ consent is very unlikely, despite the brief scene of Greenlanders’ cheering reposted by the president’s son, Don Jr., on X during his brief trip there. Greenlanders are almost entirely indigenous Inuit peoples, not Danes. They have their own language and their own culture. They do not want to be a tiny part of a vast, culturally alien nation.

They don’t want to change which larger country they are part of; they want independence.
___

Trump can use Greenland’s desire for independence to leverage a deal that gives him almost everything he wants while also appealing to Greenland’s and Denmark’s pride and interests.

That’s what a COFA could do. The United States has three such treaties with the Republic of Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands. The U.S. supplies each with economic aid and access to many government programs such as Medicaid. Imports from these countries are largely tariff-free, and citizens of these nations can live and work in the United States.

In exchange, the U.S. handles all defense obligations. It can exclude other nations’ militaries, has certain rights to station troops and establish bases, and can operate its military forces within these nations’ boundaries.

This would meet the American desire to keep China and, to a lesser extent, Russia out of its backyard.

No invasions.
No buying countries without citizen consent.
No significant drama of any kind.

PEACE 😇
__________

(1) https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/01/an-alternative-to-buying-greenland-that-could-actually-work/

(no paywall) https://archive.is/GqZ8Z

There’s no limbo. The public simply isn’t needed to endorse any of this policy.

The public should just believe its about Trump’s ego. Yea, sure. The reality television personality has an ego. Good goy. Believe that.

Chabad has all of this taken care of with just like a team of two or three rabbis. Its neatly ordered. Its none of your business.

“From the point of view of the Alliance’s agenda, the Arctic issue will remain in limbo”. This was the conclusion arrived at by the academic wizards at RIAC a whole 2 months ago. It’s good to know that Russian think tanks are as out of touch with reality as the American ones.

What was not anticipated in the RIAC analysis was that in accelerating its unilateral strategy for the Arctic, the new Trump Administration would commence with explicit attacks on NATO allies, Canada and Denmark.

The RIAC paper also displays the reluctance of the Russian foreign policy establishment to believe that Trump personally and his newly appointed officials are as intent on war against Russia as their predecessors, or that in their statements and plans they are as untrustworthy

The American Empire has no allies, it has enemies and vassals. The destruction of Nord Stream should have made this abundantly obvious even under the previous administration, which up until that point had mostly covered naked imperial ambition with a fig leaf. The current emperor has dispensed with this entirely of course. It also appears Comrade Artem (link below) is absolutely right about the attitude prevalent among the Russian leadership vis-à-vis the incoming Trump administration:

“In general, some of the people with whom I have communicated do not give a damn under what conditions Trump will end the war. They are sure that the hostilities along the current borders will stop and that is quite enough for us. Others are sure that Trump will give the Russian Federation all of the so-called Ukraine. I listen to this and understand that the citizens of the Russian Federation need a collective psychiatrist”

Artem ends with a forecast: “In general, if they sign a truce now, in a couple of years the Russian people will wash themselves in such blood, in comparison with which today’s losses are scratched knees on children’s legs”

https://t.me/t_artm/4675 (in Russian)

Trump wants Greenland for his own ego and to pick on Russia, nothing more. Also, Trump and Musk will make millions from minerals

The biggest block of ice that the Russians will have to break through is the same each and every one of our countries must face: the Jews who control the US and the “West”. The Jew-installed Biden puppet administration launched the National Strategy for the Arctic Region in October 2022, and in the very first paragraph of the executive summary, the Jewish Deception machine is already in full operation:

The National Strategy for the Arctic Region articulates an affirmative U.S. agenda over the next ten years, from 2022 to 2032, to realize this vision. This strategy… acknowledges increasing strategic competition in the Arctic since 2013, exacerbated by Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, and seeks to position the United States to both effectively compete and manage tensions.

“Unprovoked”. Yeah, right. Unfortunately, most normies still believe that. The sheeple swallow the Jew propaganda narrative unthinkingly and wholeheartedly. Some think that this is changing — I’m not so sure. The Jew lies are continuous, relentless, an in-your-face full-press court with no time outs. And so this disgusting Jew document goes on and on about Russia, revealing the Jews’ histrionic historic hatred for everything Russian:

Despite the challenges to Arctic cooperation resulting from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine….

Despite current tensions stemming from Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine….

Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine has rendered government-to-government cooperation with Russia in the Arctic virtually impossible. … Russia’s continued aggression makes most cooperation unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Russia … is attempting to constrain freedom of navigation through its excessive maritime claims along the Northern Sea Route.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has raised geopolitical tensions in the Arctic, as it has globally, creating new risks of unintended conflict and hindering cooperation. The war has focused Russian military attention on Ukraine, and sanctions levied against Russia following its invasion could complicate Russia’s Arctic economic development and military modernization efforts. Russia’s war in Ukraine redoubled NATO’s unity and resolve and spurred efforts to expand NATO resourcing.

As always, Pepe is excessively optimistic, this time about Russian “icebreakers”. But what the Russians really need are some powerful “jewbreakers”, to plow through the Jew lies and relentless warmongering even in the uppermost regions of the earth. And the Jews are already preparing an excuse — “risks of unintended conflict” — to start some kind of conflagration in the Arctic, but it’s just one more option the Jews have to push for what they really want: an all-out nuclear war with Russia that will bring about the end times and hasten the arrival of their satanic “Messiah”.

Russians are no smarter than anyone else, and the Kremlin – including Babyface Tsar hisself – is a Zionist rats’ nest.

in this connection, Ukes using ‘Murkan ZOG-supplied cluster weapons just hit a beach in Crimea. Lots of dead and maimed adults and kids….

….and Putin et al. have accordingly issued their 611th (779th? 883rd?….I’ve lost count)

“serious warning”

L-O-L

Make no mistake – in spite of western propaganda regarding North Korea – Putin is not partnering with them as a charity case. There are many things they can help Russia with. They are every bit as smart and industrious as their South Korean counterparts. They just have a different system. Actually for the first 2 decades after the Korean war – the North was more prosperous.

On another note – big mouth Yoon in South Korea now says they may arm Ukraine. Again – more lies as they have already been doing so – and Putin and Kim were well aware.

The Ukraine war is a clash of civilizations. Westerners are being dishonest, especially with themselves when they try to see Russia through the lens of modern Western culture. Westerners would not expect their own soldiers to fight a war of attrition, and they fail to understand why Russians would be willing to. The US failed to understand the Vietnamese and the Taliban as well, thinking that they would show a Western indignation to being subjected to shock and awe.

Russia will take the punch, like other cultures before them. The NATO threat does not do enough damage to interrupt the Russian process of warfare, nor to break their resolve. Now the West keeps threatening to one day do things that Russia has already been doing to Ukraine for quite some time. Ukraine meanwhile, similarly to Russia takes the punch, but they will likely reach the limits of their endurance while they wait for the West to up it’s game:

Video Link
Ukraine is being used.

I hadn´t heard about Cuba 🤣 – at least they are consistent;
some kind of KwaNguni with monarchy and polygamy is a definite possibility
but you have the same tendencies in the US without balkanization.

The ANC and EFF are admirers of communism, with a nostalgia for the Cold War(they even refer to their colleagues as comrade, FFS!), they have to be restrained by opposition in parliament from donating millions of Rands to Cuba every year. I suspect they are still convinced that Russia and China are communist in the way the ANC would like South Africans to see the ANC, heroic and authoritarian. While I agree with us being part of BRICS, I think the idea was sold to the ANC under Zuma by Russia and China. These are not really strategic thinkers. They dream big(ideologically and when they smell money), so fuck wasting time keeping the lights on, unless there are elections coming up.

The DA are useful for making municipalities do their jobs, keeping the lights on and for supporting capitalism. They are not strategists either, they worship the West, and are importing things like wokeness and gender ideology no questions asked. They would support Ukraine and Israel on social media, and condemn “racism” and “antisemitism” reflexively. They would demand that Putin be arrested by the ICC, but not be so happy about condemning Israel. Their kind of corruption is that of being funded by Western NGOs.

No idea what Russia really thinks about SA, but people like Andrei Martyanov seem to think that SA is a lost cause, too corrupt. Russia seems to be much more involved further north, like in Mali and Niger. They and China might take their business elsewhere in Africa if we don’t shape up. I don’t have a lot of faith in our government, but I hope BRICS membership manages to solve some problems and at least stop things from getting worse. The West of course might try to destabilize SA further for their own strategic purposes.

Otherwise tribalize and balkanize SA to stop corrupt central governments from pissing away everything. Some groups would be successful in their own neighbourhoods at least. That’s what some predict is happening in Kwazulu-Natal province, the Zulu majority there voted for Zuma’s party, MK. The Western Cape would also like to go their own way.

I think it would be interesting for you to write an article about your life in South Africa. You could write in generalities so the enemy could never pinpoint where you are, or who you are.
We have heard nothing but horror stories about South Africa. Linh Dinh gave us some insights, but those were of a visitor no matter how vivid. You as a White that has lived there all your life would be very interesting to hear about. If you were willing to write an article, I
don’t know how you’d contact Ron, but maybe someone will let you know how.

Thanks … lots of perspective 😎
Interesting point on the DA … but: South Africa´s problem – and the
main attraction to the BRICS – has for years been being chronically broke;
I´m no economist – BMW´s withdrawal is probably more consequential –
but the most screaming example is Highveldt:
sitting on unlimited reserves, with a de facto world monopoly for vanadium, they
have to throw away the titanium and produce low-value slag because ESKOM
cannot reliably power their submerged-arc furnaces! This is insanity, and
it is pure ANC; the Chinese do not want their mining managers killed, the Germans
(BMW) do not want strikes as national pastime.
My point is: Are not the Russians going to lose patience?! Strategic location
only goes so far.

30 years? come on, nothing on a planetary scale happens in 30 years…. but that doesn’t mean, our demonic miic can’t influence the weather, that they have been doing since korea and especially vietnam. did you see the “firecane” that burned the indigenous, protected areas of maui, while leaving the billionaire estates, owned by oprah and zuckerberg and their ilk untouched? firecane?, next we will see the sharknado, followed by the awakening of the godzilla kamakazi that will wipe out fukushima again.

don’t get me wrong, i am not advocating for polluting this beautiful and living planet, the tao te ching, tells us the earth is a scared vessel, chapter 29 of the waley translation:

Those that would gain what is under heaven by tampering with it –
I have seen that they do not succeed.
For that which is under heaven is like a holy vessel, dangerous to tamper with.
Those that tamper with it, harm it.
Those that grab at it, lose it.
For among the creatures of the world some go in front, some follow;
Some blow hot when others would be blowing cold.
Some are feeling vigorous just when others are worn out.
Therefore the Sage “discards the absolute, the all-inclusive, the extreme�.

in the time life has existed on earth, the solar radiation has increased by 30% and the atmosphere, has adjusted to compensate for this and allow life to continue. as far as stink apes go (the name by which, our fellow animal brethren refer to us), we may make our world uninhabitable… for us, this may just be her way of killing off the parasite infestation, plaguing her, like a moose submerging in water, to rid herself of biting gnats.

when i was a boy we were taught, that we were heading into a 90,000 year ice age. we were told, the earth had been locked into a million year long cycle, of 90,000 year ice ages followed by a 10,000 year thaw, perhaps our whole purpose as arrogant stink apes, was to break this cycle in order to avoid this rather recent imbalance to her divine order. it would explain a lot, maybe we have served our purpose and the plant life, will flourish and rebalance her atmosphere once again.

While I support BRICS, I still think that South Africa is a bit of a liability for BRICS. We just had elections, and the pro-BRICS but highly corrupt ANC lost it’s majority in parliament. The ANC is now forming a coalition government with the Democratic Alliance, a Western-backed libtard-progressive political party, who will likely throw tantrums every time BICS is mentioned.

Here’s a white boomer’s take on the political situation in SA, as well as his take on BRICS, meant for a South African audience:

Video Link
Russia and China are winning over people all across the world.

‘Eternally”??!! We’ve got thirty or so years, max, left, before generalised planetary ecological collapse sees us off. Do you mean ‘in the great bye and bye’?

No mention of anthropogenic climate destabilisation, which will affect high latitudes very severely, before the generalised collapse leading to human extinction, or near extinction, some time before 2100 (but probably 2050). Funny how so very many think that closing one’s eyes and ears somehow controls reality.

What will really drive Arctic development will be whatever they can achieve in feasibility of presumably huge natural gas reserves in the huge Russian Arctic EEZ and continental shelf extensions.

At some point, American whites are going to have to realize that Russia and China are their allies and possible partners, and not the enemy. Whether it’s stupidity or propaganda or both, the current American mindset spells doom for the USA. Your enemies wear little diapers on their heads and kill children for adrenochrome because of course they do. Those “people” aren’t Russian or Chinese.

GE nukes driving commercial subs was the subject of a federal report done about 40-50 years ago. Saw a copy in the (federal) Alaska Resources Library a long time ago.
$$$$$$$$

The Russians are a smart people and they are jew-wise. May they prosper and may Russia remain eternally strong.

here’s a pretty good explanation.

https://youtu.be/f2NTP3ddFrk?si=RriFDExESp7Nx7dQ
Video Link

With all the money that could be saved by bypassing the shipping bottlenecks that are caused by the Suez and Panama canals and all the talk about the Northern Sea Route and less talk about the Northwest Passage through the arctic islands of Canada, I often wonder why nobody has thought of the use of submarines to transport goods under the Arctic Ice.

The US and Russia have spent trillions of dollars building nuclear subs for the useless purpose of threatening and potentially killing each other, the technology is now very mature and someone should sit down and design a nuclear powered boat that could be used for the purpose of transporting cargo directly under the Arctic ice.

A 900 foot long dual purpose transporter could load up on cars in Japan, travel up the strait between Alaska and Siberia, submerge for two or three days and come up again in the ice free sea between Greenland and Norway. It could do the trip from Yokohama to Bremerhaven in one week.

The extra costs of making a hull that could withstand water pressure would be offset enormously by the cheap nuclear fuel used and the increased speed of shipping.

This idea is too good and too efficient, the American and European governments would be completely against it because they believe that nuclear power should only be used for killing people, not helping them have a better life.

The NSR seems like a nice safety valve for Russia so they cannot be completely hemmed in. Having the safety valve gives them geopolitical breathing room. In reality the NSR may be limited to cut rate LNG/oil shipments to China and India. Maybe also some bulk cargo from Siberia, though I don’t know if big ice-rated bulk cargo ships exist.

The requirement for ice class ships and higher insurance along with squishy schedules will decrease the hypothetical cost savings of shorter routes unless the climate maniacs accidentally turn out to be correct.

forget ziggy’s grand world chess board, this is the grand world go board, and the russians have just taken away korea. all of trumps bluffing about his rocket being being bigger than “the little rocketman’s rocket”, has now been exposed, as the compensation it was, the tide has now gone out on uncle sam and he’s not wearing a bathing suit…. and you know, shrinkage.

yes the indisposable shrinky dink nation, can no longer threaten korea, as kim has a great big bear standing behind him, and occupied korea only has it’s rabid pit bull, that’s a greater danger to it, than the bear. perhaps they might want to think about having the slobbering animal put down before it bites them in impotent rage.

same with taiwan, the u.s. is going to lose both and then to whom will they sell their opium? they already lost their poppy fields in afghanistan and they are dependent on the chinese for fentanyl. to make matters worse their coke supply in central and south america, is also being shut down. no wonder genocide joe, his bagman son hunter and distribution center manager, ratlensky all look so nervous.

they keep stacking their go pieces, and declaring king me and checkmate! i don’t think they have the hang of this yet. meanwhile the houthis are sinking ships now, with unmanned suicide boats (which is a strange concept in and of itself), wonder where they got that idea from? the red sea is now closed to zioneocon shipping (unless they want to run the gauntlet). that northern passage is looking better and better. either the russians are the luckiest people on the planet, or they are the smartest.

Never happen.

The NSIDC artcic ice info is misleading because it starts in a high ice year, 1981. They omit the satellite data from the 70’s because it disrupts their narrative.

Polar bear populations do just fine in low ice years, which is why their populations are so high right now.

Thank you Blinky, this is beautiful.

Now they just need to do it to the whole Outback, and we should do this in the regions here of Shitdesert. Leave the Aquifers alone, irrigate with Ocean, and everyone can have a nice walk through a wild desert-cum-garden.

Starting with the economically-viable farming units is reasonable, I guess.

In the video, Marten Van den Bossch claims that the Northern Sea Route will be a small niche trade route for small specialized ships, for express deliveries (due to time saving of 12-14 days) during certain times of the year, but that it will not be anything significant for the global shipping industry of large cargo ships, due to far higher costs, limited seasons for operation, less navigability, more unpredictable weather, and therefore higher insurance costs. He says the route has a lot of media hype from journalists, but it will be economically a minor route, relative to global trade.

But in the Russian media, there was hypebeasting about how this route is certain to generate large economic wealth, and a redirection of global trade, and I had expected this myself as someone who knows nothing about shipping industry. (Of course, by the time you are in your 20s, a person should be immunized to this hypebeasting, which is usually a kind of temporary consumable junk food product designed to boost the audience’s emotions.)

Where is Spain?

The gaming community is responding to the situation. (1)

Suez Canal Bulldozer is a game where you play as a bulldozer trying to free the Ever Given barge from its ridiculous situation.

If you’re a completionist, then you’ll be horrified to know that this tongue-in-cheek web game has no end. Try as you might, but attempting to shift the barge results in nothing more than helpless nudging.

The are also mods that add the Ever Given to MS Flight Simulator.

PEACE 😇
_________

https://www.gamebyte.com/the-suez-canal-boat-story-is-now-a-game-boy-style-game/

Well, bribes are the way of life over there so I’m not exactly shocked by those revelations. Anyway, shipping companies already pay extortionate amounts to Egyptian government (hundreds of thousands of dollars per transit for a ship of this size), so maybe they should just budget that little bit extra for a carton of ciggies for the pilot and be done with it…

What isn’t so easy to solve is the problem of steering…

The largest ship ever built was a tanker called “Seawise Giant” (among a number of other names). It was 458m long and had tonnage of 260,000GT. Ever Given is somewhat smaller but comparable in size at 400m and 220,000GT. Now, it is said that Seawise Giant had a turning circle of over 3km (about 2 miles) and stopping distance of 9km (from its max speed of16 knots)
As I said Ever Given is a bit smaller but basically in the same ballpark, so this should give you some idea how difficult it must be to drive a ship of this size through 300m-wide canal… and that’s before adding gusts of wind as an extra complication.

In 2015, Sundrop Farms constructed a 20 hectare solar-powered greenhouse facility near its original site, south of Port Augusta in South Australia. This facility, completed in 2016, produces over 15,000 tonnes of truss tomatoes (on the vine) each year to supply the Australian supermarket operator Coles under a ten-year contract.

Sundrop Farms operations are primarily powered by a concentrated solar thermal power plant and seawater withdrawn from Spencer Gulf and desalinated to feed produce. The project was expected to generate around 100 jobs during the construction of the greenhouse facility (in 2015) and approximately 200 jobs once operational. In 2014, private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts invested $100 million in the company.

The development was supported by the Government of South Australia which provided approximately $6 million in grant funding. A $150 million development contract was awarded to John Holland in 2014 to construct the expanded facility over an 18-24 month time-frame and the total project cost is an estimated $205 million.

Just the first part of your question, “Is it a good idea to stack thousands of containers 20-high on a ship 400m long….” can be answered, apparently, increasingly NO.

Ship size and number of containers matter.

https://www.swzmaritime.nl/news/2021/01/28/are-container-ships-overloaded/

This desire to provide a simple answer and a single (preferably non-white) person to blame is understandable

I wouldn’t put it all on race – a white tranny crashed a train in Boston about a dozen years ago.

but there is no information available.

These investigations are typically pretty glacial, but I’m going with my gut – I bet it all on human error being a part of it. Usually, a safe bet.

“Is it a good idea to stack thousands of containers 20-high on a ship 400m long and sent it through a canal 300m wide Y/N?�

Well, there’s some discussion about how the ships have gotten bigger but not the tugs. Of course, it’s reasonable to want to maximize efficiency and economy. If someone didn’t put wind into the simulator, then they didn’t do their job properly. I’m guessing that they did do it, but nobody factored in human error. That may have been a mistake. Probably avoidable with automation.

Here’s a possible test question:

“Is it a good idea to stack thousands of containers 20-high on a ship 400m long and sent it through a canal 300m wide Y/N?�

Probably not.

The Panama Canal previously set a standard ship size “Panama Maximum” or PanaMax for short. While rather large and awkward, all major ship handling facilities knew to expect PanaMax vessels and planned accordingly.

Ships exceeding PanaMax come in a variety of unique sizes. Not only are they inherently harder to deal with, there is little learning curve benefit versus handling large numbers of standard sized vessels.
___

This link illustrates an extremely problematic issue with some Suez Canal Authority [SCA] Pilots. Use with caution, as the transcript does not appear to be from the Ever Given grounding. It is a different incident.

http://www.maritimebulletin.net/2021/03/28/ever-given-latest-heavy-grounding-root-cause-short-discourse-into-some-canal-habits/

PEACE 😇

Could the blockage have been prevented with a <20 minute IQ test? Perhaps, a <5 minute wordsum?

This desire to provide a simple answer and a single (preferably non-white) person to blame is understandable, but things don’t always work out that way. At the moment there is no evidence of incompetence or wrong-doing on part of either pilots or the crew; possibly human error played a part, but there is no information available.

In any case even if mistakes were made, the problem is much bigger than that. Container ships have simply gotten too large and the JIT global economy reached the point of insanity with margins for error so thin even the smallest hiccup makes the whole system grind to a halt.

Here’s a possible test question:

“Is it a good idea to stack thousands of containers 20-high on a ship 400m long and sent it through a canal 300m wide Y/N?”

Ice free Arctic and warmer climate should also have extremely positive impact on river transport and development of otherwise land-locked Inner Siberia.

https://www.arctictoday.com/siberian-governor-plans-to-use-river-arctic-sea-route-to-ship-grain-to-japan/

According to this article, water transport costs for Siberian grain are 40% less than railway transport costs. Siberian rivers, especially Ob becoming more navigable will create a more cost effective way for Russia to export stuff grown, mined or manufactured there.

All that would be needed would be upgrading Siberian river infrastructure and adding more capacity to Arctic ports, which Russia is already upgrading. Main problem now appears to be that Ob while large, has pretty shallow parts, with ship draught of only 3 meters allowed. There appears to be a project of increasing the draught riverwide up to 5m, which will allow much larger ships to sail deeper inland. 2 meters of draught does not seem like much, but it matters quite a lot.
http://sco-khv.org/en/publication_161/

For illustration, take this Eu document
https://www.project-emma.eu/sites/default/files/EMMA_Act.%202.2.%20Report_final.pdf

and compare the shipping tonnage and their draught and see how much those extra two meters matter
In the not so distant future when the combination of global warming and investment due to rising food prices open up milions of acres of arable land in Siberia, this riverway(s)- in combination with railroads bridging the gaps could become a new commercial artery and feed the NSR even more.

Some other nations want to join the party
https://www.arctictoday.com/kazakhstan-looks-to-the-arctic-for-a-new-trade-route/

PS: Mr. Karlin, If you wrote about it already, feel free to delete the comment

Did you mean my proposed idea, or the Jordan Valley Inundation Project idea?

Oh, that was actually a bit of a joke on my part…countries in the Middle East and such regions as Australia are actually in an ideal position to do “Solar” desalination (meaning letting the sun evaporate the water and collecting the purified water elsewhere.) I just said Solar Power because it was both an easier shorthand…and it kind of made me snicker.

I’m not quite sure on the scaling of it, but frankly, I’m surprised Australia and Saudi Arabia haven’t been dumping (not literally) a cheaply desalinated seas worth of water on their deserts and turning them into giant, irrigated gardens.

The proposed idea would indeed use solar power to evaporate the sea water. What do you think sunshine is?

NSR could be a strategically interesting alternative for S Korea and Japan if their shipping lines through the South China Sea are threatened by China.

Could the blockage have been prevented with a <20 minute IQ test? Perhaps, a <5 minute wordsum?

On the same day, there was a fatal train crash that could have also probably been prevented this way, or by automation.

Only idiot would think that nsr would replace suez canal. It would give logistic companies more options.

AK,

Thanks. CMP also shows Egypt’s advantage vs. Sudan & Ethiopia.

29 Egypt ���� 3.73

76 Sudan ��� 0.80
89 Ethiopia 0.36

I am mildly surprised at this CMP ranking:

25 Singapore 4.41

While Singapore’s air & sea strength is quite good, they are short on land forces.

PEACE 😇

Suez canal was blocked for 8 years from 1967-75.See yellow fleet

Are you planning to update these before the Second Russo-Ukrainian War, the Taiwan War or the Third World War? All three might be scheduled for this year, and imagine them breaking out without a fresh CMP score rankings list..!

I remember reading that story a few years ago and the resemblance was immediate.

An inspiring example in many ways.

What military ‘expert’ listed Israel’s military power beneath Egypt’s? Is this a joke of some kind?

I raised my eyebrow at that too. If you want to introduce a better list, please do so.
___

The underlying question was about a possible Egyptian versus Sudanese-Ethiopian conflict. On this list, and every other list, Egypt will score as a credible power while Sudan & Ethiopia are relegated to footnote status.

There is *NO* conventional combat strategy that Ethiopia’s military can wield to conquer Egypt’s military.

PEACE 😇

Thanks, that’s good news! Always wanted to see an Alfa with its titanium hull too, but I’m guessing they already took them all apart. Maybe, an Akula would do. I think the two subs together would be a big tourist draw.

If you really want to visit one, you will able to do that in the future.

https://twitter.com/KingNeptune767/status/1368291503026671617

The Japanese one apparently became a museum, which ought to really put Russians to shame for not having any decommissioned nuclear subs on display.

Civilian ships with nuclear reactors existed and one of them is still active.

Most of the ships passed the waters of the NSR without difficulties. The fastest of all the NSR crossed was a nuclear container ship “Sevmorput� – 5.9 days, the slowest was the ship “Callisto� – 13.8 days.

https://arctic-lio.com/nsr-shipping-traffic-transit-voyages-in-2020/

Yeah, they are costly. Compare these two recently built aircraft carriers: Nuclear-powered Gerard. R Ford cost something like 13.5 billion dollars, while conventional Queen Elizabeth cost “only” 3.5 billion. That’s large difference and sure, there are other factors at play. Ford is larger (though not 4 times larger!), it has those advanced electromagnetic catapults while Queen Elizabeth has none, etc, etc. Still, a lot of that cost difference must be due to conventional vs. nuclear propulsion systems.

Then there is the economics – reactors are costly.

I was expecting some special economy in Russia, but I guess these things cost more than I thought. Estimated 127.5 billion rubles for the first Lider.

Though, I imagine it is over-engineered and someone could build an assembly-line plant that could be duel-purpose ship engine/ local ground-based power plant.

I was thinking mainly about fuel costs. Over 25-30 years lifetime of a ship, probably adds up. Might be a certain strategic value to having a few, anyway.

It’s curious how there are no civilian ships with nuclear engines

I think there is a combination of factors at play. Politics is one, as is the reality that such ship might not be allowed in many ports.

Then there is the economics – reactors are costly.

Finally, there is simply no need. Conventional engines provide sufficient power for commercial vessels; the biggest advantage of nuclear reactor is effectively unlimited range, but that is not of great benefit for commercial ships that go from port to port anyway.

That’s why nuclear reactors are really only used in two applications: military (for their range and independence they offer) and icebreakers (which really do need all the power they can get in order to break the ice).

What military ‘expert’ listed Israel’s military power beneath Egypt’s? Is this a joke of some kind?

Israel crushed Egypt in its ‘preemptive’ 1967 war and Israel is widely viewed as far stronger than any nation in the entire Middle East. After all, Israel is that region’s sole nuclear power.

The Jewish State also enjoys unique access to America’s most formidable weapons, not to mention full-on, US diplomatic sway.

On a more subtle level, Israel also garners unique sympathy from Washington/Hollywood whenever it finds itself imperiled, which is constantly. Lobbyists in Washington and producers in Hollywood are always working for Israel and producing ‘information’ for public consumption as well securing an immense and steady flow of money for the Jews Only entity.

This cozy ‘special relationship’ keeps Americans interested/brainwashed involving matters concerning Israeli security. Oh the poor Jewish darlings!

Basically, Washington is Israel’s well-trained attack dog whenever needed.

US obedience to Israel was demonstrated when Washington came to Jewry’s aid in the 1973 war, even though that distant struggle resulted in a crippling oil embargo that decimated the entire US economy.

No worries. Sacrifices must be made. Israel comes first.

To this day, Washington demonstrates an obedient readiness to crush/destabilize nations which are hostile to the Jewish state (Iraq, Libya, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and more.)

Since Israel virtually controls Washington and enjoys unrivaled sympathy throughout the West via Zionized global mass media (as well as the purchase of US politicians), the case can be made that Israeli power (military and otherwise) is in a class by itself.

Backwater nations such as Pakistan and Egypt don’t come even close to equaling Israel’s shrewd military readiness and worldwide political maneuvering.

I’d like to see a sci-fi/horror movie set on one of these large container ships. Ideally, also featuring one of Russia’s new fancy nuclear-powered icebreakers – with the excuse that one or two need to circle the ship to prevent a creature from escaping.

Personally I don’t know anything about the shipping industry or have ever met people from this industry, but I recently listened to a deflationary talk about the Northern Sea Route, on YouTube.

If the speaker in the YouTube video is accurate, then we were predictably overexcited about it due the media’s typical hypebeasting, at least as an alternative to Suez Canal.

He says it will be a kind of an express route in the summer, but with higher costs and small volumes of shipping. So there will be growth on the route, aided by warming weather, but it will be economically viable only for certain niche products.

Video Link
So, if his view is accurate, then Suez Canal will continue as the main shipping route between East Asia and Europe, and Northern Sea Route will become a small niche route for express deliveries this century.

As for alternative routes, probably China is investing in them as a kind of diversification, and hedging, that will be useful for them, in addition to, rather than instead of, the Suez Canal. And there will perhaps be investing to further widen the Suez Canal in the future.

Aker Arctic has an interesting new design of a icebreaking container ship that can manage to traverse the Northern Sea route year-around:

https://akerarctic.fi/en/publications/arctic-passion-news-21-1-2021/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi

In India, not a long time ago, there really lived such a man like the Old foolish man of the Chinese tales.

I assume it would be maintenance-free. Sealed, like the ones that the Japanese were talking about building and burying in the ground, under streets.

Re:new Russian nuclear-powered destroyer

https://twitter.com/ultimate_ship/status/1271449856058560514

https://twitter.com/ultimate_ship/status/1271449861695713282

Because your average commercial crew vessel can maintain a nuclear reactor, or for Maersk pay 200000 USD on average per crew a year just to get the right people for your container ship’s nuclear reactor maintenance.

It’s curious how there are no civilian ships with nuclear engines. Obviously, engines can be built fairly small, if you look at something like the NR-1.

I guess it must all come down to politics, and who would want to insure a nuclear ship? But it makes me wonder about the economics of it. Perhaps, a polar route by the coastline of a non atomophobic country would make it more politically possible. At least, one wouldn’t have to worry about Somali pirates trying to steal it.

Just wondering, does the capacity and technology to build such gigantic nuclear-powered icebreakers have perhaps military applications? Could it be good news for the Russian navy? I know that Karlin is the biggest fan of aircraft carriers, and he’d be the happiest person in the world if he was taxed heavily so that his government could build such capital ships.

The reactors on these biggest future nuclear icebreakers are almost half the size of the A1B powerplants of the Ford-class carriers, while the displacement is about two thirds of it. I guess doubling their size is not an easy task.

There was talk of a new Russian nuclear-powered destroyer, it’s unclear if it will ever be built. But I think that once enough civilian ships of the same size get built (not just icebreakers but other ships like tankers – they greatly expanded the Zvezda shipyard to be able to build tankers, I guess they also thought about building capital ships later), building the occasional destroyer or cruiser (and eventually a carrier) is inevitable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lider-class_destroyer?wprov=sfti1

Perhaps, not an inducement to join the Russian military.

What I heard it was probably out of boredom while they were waiting. Apparently there is often some traffic jam and while waiting they might need to go in circles anyway, so they might as well draw penises.

31.5 million tons this year

Until March 26? That’s basically a quadrupling of the 2019 level, very nice!

AK: Meant 2020, sorry.

So tricky that ships departing a Canadian Arctic port preferred to use the NSR.

More challenging ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic resulted in a reduction of transit traffic compared to last year. The Northwest Passage saw only eight transits compared to 27 such voyages last year. In fact, a number of ships decided to travel from the Canadian Arctic across the North Atlantic to utilize the NSR on their journey to Asia.

At least five ships, including three by Nordic Bulk Carriers, departed from Baffinland’s Milne Port with iron ore destined for Asia and utilized the unconventional routing with the NSR.

There is always the Northwest passage through Canada for Western allies?

A much trickier route as it means navigating through an archipelago with narrow straights. The Canadian govt is not keen on it and does not have nearly enough icebreakers to maintain it.

You describe the blocking as “extraordinary”. It looks like it will block the Canal for weeks.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/suez-canal-could-be-blocked-for-weeks-as-ship-refuses-to-budge-mbf2p9dfp

It has happened once, so it is likely to happen again. So it may not be “extraordinary” for very long.
Certainly, the Panama Canal seems much better designed and run than Suez.

The blocking is an extraordinary event. Before this, how many ships were taking the route around Africa because the canal was too congested?

There is always the Northwest passage through Canada for Western allies?

If the West seriously decouples with China then that Northern Sea route from Asia to Europe is not going to be very useful. Japan and Korea may prize their alliance with the UAS over a shorter route through Russian waters.

The ocean might be free, but breaking the ice ahead of merchant ships is not.

I wonder if there will be any service fee for protecting Chinese Cargo Carriers from “PRIVATEERS”.

I suspect there will be, whether directly or otherwise.

https://warontherocks.com/2021/02/unfurl-the-banner-privateers-and-commerce-raiding-of-chinas-merchant-fleet-in-developing-markets/

Obviously not enough if it’s still being blocked.

I think the dead sea was a seabed at one point, so maybe it already isn’t in a position to pollute the water table.

Maybe they should instead just use solar or nuclear power to desalinate water and dump it in the desert until a lake forms, or just irrigate it until natural forests grow that can firm up the soil and then survive on their own.

Does that thing have some sort of autopilot? Because the entire wind blowing it aground kind of doesn’t check out. The damn thing is basically the size of a small town.

That’s why the wind is a factor – the ship is loaded sky-high with containers, so it presents very large side area for the wind to push against. And while all ships have autopilots, they are not precise enough to drive the ship through a canal that is narrower than the ship is long, as is the case here.

This accident was probably a combination of wind, and some sort of human error. Such as the pilot not paying enough attention…

Does Russia get revenue from Northern sea route transit? Can it be monetized?

That’s why they are investing so heavily in icebreaker fleet. The ocean might be free, but breaking the ice ahead of merchant ships is not.

You know that the Suez was already expanded a few years ago right?