BETWEEN SPACE AND TIME - MY JOURNEY THROUGH CHINA AND JAVA SEA BY OLADOKUN SULAIMAN

do you know south china sea , java sea and the straight of malacca

Are u ready for the sail Nomadi-----Flew via Rome and Bangkok to embark on this ship in 1997, in the port of Singapore I nearly forgot how the rout was like – too many places to touch in a an acquired sea- but what I could remember is sailing in the pacific and south china sea from Singapore – to Indonesia( Pyton, Dumai, Surabaya, merath, Probaligo) to china(Baha’i, Guangsu or Angzu,, Shelcon) to , Vietnam (Hochimin City ,Saigon Cua Hoa) to Hong Kong ( Kowloon) to Taiwan to Japan to Papa New Guinea to New Zealand before I signed off after nine months sailing . Now let’s see how it goes—


Sailing in this route will take us to through the Strait of Malacca. South China Sea, java sea and the Pacific Ocean.- the riparian in this confluence of water is various island countries and cities- sailing in this region tell how glorious the master of the universe is , the great almighty , it has made every so diverse and unique , and made beauty out of this diversity – when u are in the continent of Africa little will u much island , all what u see even when u look at the map is a chunk or mass of land surrounded by water., u look at the Atlantic and the Indian ocean , u see dots of land all of the place , at the end of the day the all float on top of water and with its blessing we can all live in this planet safety. The only habitable planet according top exploratory account – a planet so rich and all what it is asking for love and sharing, reaching one another. The beauty of differences is testify to natural law that like charges attract and unlike charges repel, then who exert force to break natural law without going through disastrous consequence.


As usual, it is all regarding thinking about beauty of creation and how mighty the master of the universe IS- how much HE has blessed man with Archimedean sense to build the boat what is in , to propel and an operate and above all to succumb the power of the sea at the blessing of human …..to have us float in that mass of water and the resistance of the wave and the wind – the under water world……..even the above water world – so much we cannot see,,,,yet we are protected and safe under HIS merci...thinking about ouw diferent water interlock into one another without mixing, the under water world, the above water world, the blue sky with meeting the earth at at an infinte point that is beyond human limit o fsight --- don`t you think there is more behind what we cannot see,,, there is ,,,- of course we came along heavy weather—we experience sail against the trade winds until we encounter a typhoon in Hong Kong. Beside all the rest of sailing was good and fair weather- today we are fortunate to have suffocated navigation equipment can chart shoal and corals in shallow water.but yet the nodes of ship rolling is willl always be there, because roll-- three motion that affect ship manoverability are heave , roll and pitching, roling appenadge like bilge kill are attached to the bottome of the ship to stabilized the ship pitching and heaving otion , but rolling is hard to control.



Sailing in this was fine, just like brvious sailing i discribed on the atlantic, mediteranian and the indian ocean, as have put from of the beginning when I started blogging, I have mentioned issues regarding our purpose and our mission in this planet - from importance of human to God, the privilege given to us to learn and to have conscience and to be able to judge- I have to mention it here again because I came across various culture and people – and all what still conclude on is that you find the same kind of people everywhere – the good, the bad, the worst , the same class of people- the rich , the poor, the I stand in the middle- thus – every society have different degree of organization --- and everywhere people are suffering is because of lack of knowledge and love –ha.ha….here we go again does that mean our purpose in life is to learn ---use the knowledge and share it to build greater society and the future for those kids we all claimed we love—for those who have one …and those who don’t have --- every new born baby deserve to enjoy the privilege to given to human – to be born human is an outstanding privilege tot given to any the creature – this is a complete package that include ability to experience love knowledge and experience ,,,,,,,and use them in the ever alluring activity of life in the shortest we all have before we get on the bus to a destination ---- no one know but – we all believe is everlasting one.


Again everywhere people are the same—what matter is YOU, your attitude and if you have actually learnt and use experience to deal with situation. Everywhere you go it is the people that never learnt and never realize that we live or exist of a reason that will give problem. Having said that we must be very careful about making wrong judgment and making false generalization, in order to offend the creature—DON`T WE ALL LIKE GOOD THINGS AMONG WHAT WE CREATED OR MADE OR FALL OFF OUR BODY – this is how dear we are to the creature—--- it is true from experience of each of us that we hate what we create but fail to maintain goodness we made it for -


On this ship I met a captain with undeniable sense of authority and command. When in full uniform he gives as well as he commanded respect, he is not shy about picking favorites. While he encouraged those of whose characters he entertained a high opinion, he was a bitter enemy to the low and vulgar, and no officer could, if he lost his good opinion, expect to regain it. All the ports was great , native are always there waiting to get there royalty thus, thus it see you earn much and tax less money, yet u face challenge of paying homage where ever you go. Clothing and utility are quite cheap in Hong Kong market, are so cheap , hnmm me and my captain took a boat from kowloon to victoria.......and spend one a night in the jhotel there ,,,,it was a lot fun.... Indonesia was great like other places, I am not patience enought to ride the try cycle, I was very fascinated with the huge facility in Saigon port including huge salon with massage section – but I was sad to see people suffering and still trying to stand on there feet from the horror of war, up till today , many young people sell there body to live , rarely will you see a restaurant that does not have massage section – this tells a lot about how long it takes to recover from impact of war- beside this everywhere other place like any place on earth you can find you want , is up to you to go for the right thing. this all what i can say for now, if you want to know what happenedin other places i can ask me.what I noticed is that, where the large percentage of people are suffering, it is because they refused to take care of themselves, because there is no system- .Because people cant practice love, people refuse to share and implement the purpose of our living, also places where people can’t get happiness it is the same disease , may at different level—watch out then – remember life is not for play – we have a mission , set your goal and make sure you achieve them at the right time.

The Pacific Ocean

Discovery

The Pacific Ocean used to be called it the South Sea, a name that dated back to 1513 when Vasco Núñez de Balboa ventured across the sliver of mountainous, jungle-choked terrain known as the Isthmus of Panama. The isthmus runs west to east so that when Balboa first glimpsed water, it appeared to extend to the south. Quite sensibly, he dubbed his discovery the Great South Sea. Seven years later, Ferdinand Magellan and his men, on their way to the first circumnavigation of the world, penetrated the mazelike strait at the craggy bottom of South America. After weathering the terrible gales typical of one of the most inhospitable places on earth, they found themselves in a quiet, vast ocean that Magellan called, with tearful thanks to God, the Pacific—a name that would not catch hold until the mid-nineteenth century.

Balboa found it, Magellan named it, but for any young boy taken with tales of the South Sea—the central figure had to be James Cook. It had been Cook who had first crisscrossed the Pacific, discovering islands at almost every turn. Cook had been a product of the Enlightenment's search for knowledge through the empirical observation of nature. Although not trained as a scientist, he was one of the most expert nautical surveyors in the British navy, a skill that served him well in his voyages to distant lands. First and foremost, however, Cook had been an explorer, and the Pacific had served as his route to glory.


The pacific according to wikipedia

The ocean encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179.7 million square kilometres (69.4 million sq mi and 161 million cubic mi) —significantly larger than Earth's entire landmass, with room for another Africa to spare. Extending approximately 15,500 kilometres (9,600 mi) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the icy margins of Antarctica's Ross Sea in the south (although the Antarctic regions of the Pacific are sometimes described as part of the circumpolar Southern Ocean), the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 kilometres (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia and Peru. The western limit of the ocean is often placed at the Strait of Malacca. The lowest point on earth—the Mariana Trench—lies 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) below sea level. Its average depth is 4,300 metres (14,000 ft).The Pacific contains about 25,000 islands (more than the total number in the rest of the world's oceans combined), the majority of which are found south of the equator.

The Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking from plate tectonics, while the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size.Along the Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea. The Strait of Malacca joins the Pacific and the Indian Oceans on the west, and the Strait of Magellan links the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean.As the Pacific straddles the ± 180° meridian, the West Pacific (or western Pacific, near Asia) is actually in the Eastern Hemisphere, while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific, near the Americas) is actually in the Western Hemisphere. For most of Magellan's voyage from the Strait of Magellan to the Philippines, the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful. However, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical cyclones (typhoons, the equivalent of Atlantic hurricanes), batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes. Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and destroyed entire towns.

Geology

The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. It separates the deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins. The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand. The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand—all eastward extensions of the continental blocks of Australia and Asia—lie outside the Andesite Line.

Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Pacific basin. Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the Andesite Line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and the Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism

Marine Pollution

Marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the ocean of chemicals or particles. The biggest culprit are rivers that empty into the Ocean, and with it the many chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture as well as waste from livestock and humans. The excess of oxygen depleting chemicals in the water leads to hypnoxia and the creation of a dead zone (ecology). [1] .

See also: Ship Pollution, North Pacific Gyre


The strait of Malacca


Strait of Malacca's is a body of water in southeastern Asia, separating the Malay Peninsula on the northeast from the island of Sumatra on the southwest, and connecting the Andaman Sea, an arm of the Indian Ocean, on the north with the South China Sea on the south. At the southern end of the strait are several islands. This work examines the status and importance of the straight of Malacca, globalization risk of transportation in the Straits of Malacca on the environment, need for creating awareness, and suggestion for design for malaccamax vessel to pass through the straight of Malacca.

Economically, the strait is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. This is the present day Malacca Straits, the world's second busiest commercial shipping lane (topped only by the Dover Straits in Britain) through which an average of 200 ships passes a day. For every ship that passes through, there is a risk of an accident and spill of cargo that include crude oil, toxic chemicals and radioactive substances- Japan reprocesses 90% of its nuclear material in Europe, and those shipment travel through the Straits. By using the Malacca strait instead of the Indonesia's Lombok Straits, super -large tankers ferrying crude oil from the Middle East to the Far East can save up to 1,600 km- roughly three days sailing time. Since the heady days of the Malacca Empire, the Straits of Malacca have been much sought after, as it was the shortest tread route from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea.

Ecologically, The Straits of Malacca was a wonderful home for dugongs; as it posses crystal clear waters, an abundance of seagrass beds for food, and a few, if any motorized sea-going vessels. Fast forward five decades later: dugongs are still spotted-the only catch is, they are dead ones. The recent captivate of a female calf has lead to the conclusion that seagrass beds are destroyed by ocean pollution due to the passing ships, sea reclamation and fishing. Dugongs in search of food by sense of smell often end up trapped or found dead in Kelong or fish net.The strait of Malacca is considered to be one of the choked channel o the world that require strict monitoring for security it was once declared as marine high risk area because of the narrow strait and the pirate trait. However the regional countries sharing the water have implemented state of art AIS, VTS and AID to navigation according to IMO regulation to monitored the strait.

Strait of Malacca according wikipedia

The Strait of Malacca (also called the Straits of Malacca, and in Malay Selat Melaka) is a narrow stretch of water between Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is located around 1.43° N 102.89° E.From an economic and strategic perspective the Strait of Malacca is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world, an equivalent of the Suez Canal, or the Panama Canal. The Strait forms the main ship passageway between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, linking three of the world's most populous nations: India, Indonesia and China. The Strait carries 50,000 vessels per year, carrying between one-fifth and one quarter of the world's sea trade. A quarter of all oil shipments carried by sea come through the Strait, in 2003, an estimated 11 million barrels (1,700,000 m³) a day, a trade that is expected to expand as oil consumption rises in China.At Phillips Channel near Singapore, the 805 km (500 mile) channel is only 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) wide at its narrowest point. This creates one of the world's most significant traffic bottlenecks [1]. The maximum size of a vessel that can make passage through the Strait is referred to as Malaccamax.


Java sea according to wikipedia:

The Java Sea (Indonesian: Laut Jawa) is a large (310,000 km²), shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age.[1] The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its northwest, links it to the South China Sea.Fishing is an important economic activity in the Java Sea. There are over 3,000 species of marine life in the area. A number of national parks exist in the area such as Karimunjawa. The Thousand Islands are located north of the mainland Jakarta. The area around the Java Sea is a popular tourist destination. Scuba diving offers a chance to explore and photograph underwater caverns, wrecks, coral, sponges, and other marine life.The Battle of the Java Sea, during February and March of 1942, was one of the costliest naval battles of World War II. The naval forces of the Netherlands, Britain, Australia, and the U.S. were nearly completely destroyed trying to defend Java from Japanese attack.






As young mariner sailing has been a way to win the praise and adulation I have craved or as long as he could remember. But at things are no the way we see them, you actually pay homage before you get familiarized and incorporated to the system, especially if you are a young officer. I grew up as disciplined young man, always fascinated about the sea, until I ended in marine academy, and most academy are surrounded by sea anyway, then from it has always been about the sea, But there was always the sea-and I finally step into an exotic dream of adventure, freedom, opportunity, and risk. I shall never forget the first time I dressed in my uniform -a feel of vanity and pride and fascination sailing in fully rigged ship. The first voyage was hard especially, you can get fed up with the ignorance sailors. Thus u get highly paid but sometime the t feeling of some disgust troubles you can go through with low company can tell that about the fact that money is not everything –don’t get me wrong a ship is as much as the little island that surround all of us – and you what is your experience with people at work …yes, .we see this everywhere-- for me it remain a matter of pride no matter what – I have been able to see the world, people culture free of charge. I carry my self with dignity , good attitude and I above all I have always believe in a place call hope and that has never let any treatment I had received from people have to oppose until abandon the idea of where I am going- that is “ it does matter where a person , what matter is where you are going .

After 9 months I signed off the ship nad off to New York, as usual , between time and space as human we can only occupy one place at a time , no matter how much or big we are , we can only use one bed one room at a time. It is always rear to enjoy two advantage at a time, sometime I feel that even I was earning quite huge , I miss a lot on land, and I learnt so much at sea, and saw a lot of advantages elsewhere from far away—the bottom is where is man is actually going .I had never ending source of amusement. Sometime distance lets us know how value and the exploration experience drew a lot of hilarity and fun charming. Encounter the ocean you have dreamed to see and places has always been a source of strength to face many challenges for me.


References

Epton, Nina. The islands of Indonesia. London, Pitman 1955
Oosten, F. C. van The Battle of the Java Sea Publisher: London : I. Allen, 1976. ISBN 0711006156
Thomas, David A. Battle of the Java Sea. London: Pan Books, 1971. ISBN 0330026089
Barkley, Richard A. (1968). Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
(1985) Blue Horizons: Paradise Isles of the Pacific. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-87044-544-8.
Cameron, Ian (1987). Lost Paradise: The Exploration of the Pacific. Topsfield, Mass.: Salem House. ISBN 0-88162-275-3.
Couper, A. D. (ed.) (1989). Development and Social Change in the Pacific Islands. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-00917-0.
Gilbert, John (1971). Charting the Vast Pacific. London: Aldus. ISBN 0-490-00226-9.
Lower, J. Arthur (1978). Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0-7748-0101-8.
Napier, W.; Gilbert, J., and Holland, J. (1973). Pacific Voyages. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-04335-X.
Oliver, Douglas L. (1989). The Pacific Islands, 3rd ed., Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1233-6.
Ridgell, Reilly (1988). Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, 2nd ed., Honolulu: Bess Press. ISBN 0-935848-50-9.
Soule, Gardner (1970). The Greatest Depths: Probing the Seas to 20,000 Feet and Below. Philadelphia: Macrae Smith. ISBN 0-8255-8350-0.
Spate, O. H. K. (1988). Paradise Found and Lost. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-1715-5.
Terrell, John (1986). Prehistory in the Pacific Islands: A Study of Variation in Language, Customs, and Human Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-30604-3.


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