Electronic charts officially replace paper

Comparison of Traditional NOAA Charts to NOAA Custom Charts (NCC)

From SoundingsOnline by Kim Kavin

The digital charts need work, and critics want to see improvement right away.

For the past half dozen years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been telling boaters that it plans to sunset its paper and raster nautical charts.

That process was completed this past December when the last of NOAA’s paper charts was canceled.

Now, if boaters want printed-out charts from the government, they have to use the electronic NOAA Custom Chart program.

Instead of boaters being able to order an updated paper chart by number—say, NOAA Chart 13230 for Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts—the Custom Chart program creates paper charts from the agency’s Electronic Nautical Chart database.

This method satisfies regulations for larger ships, while recreational boaters can click on a defined area and then print out a chart based on their request.

But this new way to get corrected, printed-out charts is causing frustration.

 

NOAA Custom Chart of Pensacola Bay, Florida

 

CATZOC & notes
Separate 8.5-by-11-inch PDF pages contain notes and a zone of confidence or ZOC diagram, similar to the survey source diagrams seen on traditional nautical charts.

 

Lee Estes, owner and president of Maptech, says the Custom Chart program delivers a lot of the traditional information, but sometimes displays it incorrectly.

“They do have NOAA symbols on them, like the buoy symbols, so that’s good,” Estes says. 

“And they have, from 2 feet away, the look and feel of NOAA charts, which is also good. They are all the same colors as a NOAA chart for the land, the marshes, all of that. Where the wheels start to come off the wagon is when you create a chart from the NCC. It has problems displaying chart information—and sometimes it’s a lot, depending on the chart you’re making.”

NOAA acknowledges these issues and says the next big fix for the system will happen in November.
“We are aware of those labeling issues, and we are actively engaged with our software vendor who produces the engine on fixing those engines,” Julia Powell, chief of the marine chart division at NOAA, told Soundings.

“I have had countless phone calls with them.”

To be clear, there don’t appear to be any major concerns using NOAA Custom Charts on multifunction displays where boaters can zoom in and click to see details.

The problems happen when the charts are printed out.

In the past, to provide clarity and prevent clutter on a chart, a label might have been rotated sideways so it wouldn’t overlay on top of something else.

The way the new NOAA program works, some information, like bridge heights, is being printed on top of other information or being presented in some other way that makes it impossible to read.

“A human being with traditional charts would say, ‘Let’s put this label here and rotate it here and make sure nothing is covering it up so you could understand it,’” Estes says. 

“This program just takes the bridge information and throws it on top of everything. You can’t read anything but the top one, and that’s hard to read because of all the other stuff.”

Powell says most of the complaints NOAA is receiving are not from recreational boaters, who often rely on multifunction displays where the Custom Charts allow skippers to zoom in.

The concerns are from companies that use NOAA charts to make things like printed-out, spiral-bound chart books.
“One of the reasons why NOAA opted to disband its traditional paper chart program is that we had sales figures,” Powell says.

The number of people purchasing paper charts “really was a very small bit of the market, whereas the electronic navigational chart is just really that primary market.”

Maptech is one of those companies that’s having problems, Estes says.

From his perspective, there are no issues with boaters using electronic charts in general, but when boaters eventually want updated printed-out versions, they may be frustrated about what it takes to get them.

For instance, he says, companies like his will need to take more time to publish new editions while making all kinds of corrections.

“Not too many people have noticed this because not too many people have used a custom chart yet,” Estes says.

“We, on the other hand, are looking at this much closer than the average person because we want to use this to correct our charts going forward, and we don’t want to find out after we print 5,000 books that people can’t read any of this information.”

Estes says NOAA should make fixing the problem more of a priority, since this system is now the only way to get corrected charts from the government.
“I would like some urgency in getting this corrected,” he says. 

“If people go to this government-sanctioned place to get government-sanctioned information, it’s not right. They owe us correct data that’s displayed correctly.”

Powell says that right now, the technology is not where NOAA wants it to be either, but the agency is continuing to work with its software vendor while also making improvements internally.
“Unfortunately, it’s never going to be like the old handwork, but we are trying to get it to where it is an acceptable solution,” Powell says. 

“We continue to focus on that, and we hope with the next big software release, we should have significant improvement on navigation labeling sometime in November 2025.”

Links :

• GeoGarage blog :
  NOAA invites public comment on the draft National Charting Plan /
  NOAA seeks public comment on ending production of ... /
  Electronic Navigational Charts: an update and some issues /
  Rescheming and improving Electronic Navigational Charts /
  Are NOAA nautical charts water depths in fathoms, feet or ... /
  NOAA announces change in channel depths on raster ... /
  NOAA to end printing paper nautical charts /
  A nautical tradition fades with transition from printed to ... /
  Why nautical charts are fun

Vietnam registers Tonkin Gulf sea boundaries with the UN under UNCLOS

source : https://www.un.org/Depts/los/

Chart_Vietnam_Baseline_Gulf_Bac_Bo

 

From VietnamNet

The UN confirms Vietnam has submitted its nautical chart and baseline coordinates for the Tonkin Gulf, reinforcing its maritime boundaries under the 1982 UNCLOS.
The United Nations Secretary-General has officially announced that Vietnam has completed the registration of its nautical chart and geographic coordinates related to the baseline used to determine the breadth of its territorial sea in the Tonkin Gulf.

 

Vietnam's baseline registration at the UN
In a March 12 notification to UN member states, the Secretary-General confirmed that on March 7, the Government of Vietnam, in accordance with Article 16(2) of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), submitted a nautical chart along with a list of geographic coordinates defining straight baselines for its mainland territory in the Tonkin Gulf and the outer limits of its territorial sea in this region.

On March 14, the United Nations website officially published detailed information on Vietnam’s baseline submission.

www.un.org/Depts/los

Additionally, the notification stated that Vietnam’s official declaration on February 21, 2025, regarding the baseline used to determine the breadth of its territorial sea in the Tonkin Gulf, will be included in an upcoming edition of the UN’s official publication, "Law of the Sea Bulletin".

Vietnam Coast Guard patrols the northern waters of the gulf of Tonkin

 

Links :

• HaiDuong : Declaration on baselines for calculating the breadth of Vietnam's territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin / Vietnam deposits at the United Nations nautical charts and baseline coordinates in the Gulf of Tonkin
• Vovworld : Vietnam deposits with UN baseline chart and coordinates in Gulf of Tonkin

China suddenly building fleet of special barges suitable for Taiwan landings

Artist's impression of the special barge being used as a pier to land tanks and troops across an otherwise unsuitable beach. The tanks are transported by civilian roll-on roll-off (RORO) ferries.
China is building at least five new special purpose barges which appear tailor made for amphibious assault. The barges may provide the PRC (People's Republic of China) with a unique way to offload large numbers of tanks directly onto Taiwanese roads.

From NavalNews by H I Sutton

https://x.com/CovertShores

Anyone wondering what an invasion of Taiwan might look like now has a fresh visual clue. Defence analysts watching Chinese shipyards have noticed an increase in a particular type of vessel.

source : https://x.com/CovertShores

 

A number of special and unusual barges, at least 3 but likely 5 or more, have been observed in Guangzhou Shipyard in southern China. 

These have unusually long road bridges extending from their bows. This configuration makes them particularly relevant to any future landing of PRC (People’s Republic of China) forces on Taiwanese islands.

Naval News has seen multiple sources confirming their construction, and has shared information with naval experts to validate our preliminary analysis.

The consensus is that these are most likely for amphibious landings.

China is building a new and innovative type of landing barge which can only be explained by a planned amphibious assault.

Unscripted & unedited, just a defence analyst sharing knowledge

 

Unusual Barges Similar To D-Day Mulberry Harbours

Each barge has a very long road span which is extended out from the front.

At over 120 meters (393 ft) this can be used to reach a coastal road or hard surface beyond a beach.

At the aft end is an open platform which allows other ships to dock and unload.

Some of the barges have ‘jack up’ pillars which can be lowered to provide a stable platform even in poor weather.

In operation the barge would act as a pier to allow the unloading of trucks and tanks from cargo ships.

The Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) on Longxue Island has been a key part in China’s naval expansion.

It is particularly associated with construction of unusual vessels including a very large uncrewed surface vessel and a light aircraft carrier.

The barges are reminiscent of the Mulberry Harbours built for the allied invasion of Normandy during World War Two. Like those, these have been built extremely quickly and to novel designs.

Although there appears to have been a smaller prototype as early as 2022, the batch of these barges have appeared only recently.

A Possible Indication Of Readiness To Invade?

The construction of specialist barges like this is one of the indicators defense analysts watching to provide early warning of a potential invasion.

It is possible that these ships can be explained away as having a civilian role.

But the construction of so many, much larger than similar civilian vessels seen before, makes this implausible.

There are several distinct designs of these barges which also points away from a commercial order. These vessels are only suited to moving large amounts of heavy equipment ashore in a short period of time.

They appear greatly over-spec for civilians uses.

Dr Emma Salisbury, Sea Power Research Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, told Naval News that “Any invasion of Taiwan from the mainland would require a large number of ships to transport personnel and equipment across the Strait quickly, particularly land assets like armoured vehicles”. These mobile piers appear particularly suited to an invasion.

Dr Salisbury continues “As preparation for an invasion, or at least to give China the option as leverage, I would expect to see a build-up of construction of ships that could accomplish this transportation”.

Damien Symon, a respected defence analyst who reviewed material shared, noted their suitability for docking with China’s large fleet of civilian ferries.

China’s roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferries are built to carry military vehicles including heavy main battle tanks. They are exercised in this role regularly.

Dr Salisbury agreed: “China is constructing a huge fleet of dual-use ships – commercial vessels that could be easily requisitioned for military use when needed.

These include in particular roll-on/roll-off ships that would be perfect for transporting military vehicles – and have indeed been built with military specs in mind.”

What This Means For Taiwan

The traditional view is that there are only a small number of beaches on the main island of Taiwan which are suitable for amphibious landings.

And these could be heavily defended.

The PRC could seize fishing villages or a port for larger scale landings.

But the view has been that any attempt to take the islands by force would mean landing in predictable places.

These new barges change that.

The extreme reach of the Bailey Bridges means that the PRC could land at sites previously considered unsuitable.

They can land across rocky, or soft, beaches, delivering the tanks directly to firmer ground or a coastal road.

This allows China to pick new landing sites and complicate attempts to organize defences.

Instead of relying on Taiwanese ports, China can now sail its own mobile port across the straits.

The first photos of China’s ‘invasion barges’ have surfaced today:

Damien Symon on X was able to pin point the location where the barges were spotted:

Links :

• Maritime Executive : China's "Invasion Barges" Spotted in Beach Logistics Exercise

Living 6 months in the ice in Greenland (first winter storm)

 

@AlluringArctic by Juho Karhu

NASA analysis shows unexpected amount of sea level rise in 2024

Communities in coastal areas such as Florida, shown in this 1992 NASA image, are vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise, including high-tide flooding. A new agency-led analysis found a higher-than-expected rate of sea level rise in 2024, which was also the hottest year on record.
NASA

 

From NASA

 

Last year’s increase was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming, combined with meltwater from land-based ice such as glaciers.

Global sea level rose faster than expected in 2024, mostly because of ocean water expanding as it warms, or thermal expansion.

According to a NASA-led analysis, last year’s rate of rise was 0.23 inches (0.59 centimeters) per year, compared to the expected rate of 0.17 inches (0.43 centimeters) per year.

“The rise we saw in 2024 was higher than we expected,” said Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. 

“Every year is a little bit different, but what’s clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster.”

This graph shows global mean sea level (in blue) since 1993 as measured by a series of five satellites. The solid red line indicates the trajectory of this increase, which has more than doubled over the past three decades.

The dotted red line projects future sea level rise.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

In recent years, about two-thirds of sea level rise was from the addition of water from land into the ocean by melting ice sheets and glaciers.

About a third came from thermal expansion of seawater.

But in 2024, those contributions flipped, with two-thirds of sea level rise coming from thermal expansion.
“With 2024 as the warmest year on record, Earth’s expanding oceans are following suit, reaching their highest levels in three decades,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, head of physical oceanography programs and the Integrated Earth System Observatory at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Since the satellite record of ocean height began in 1993, the rate of annual sea level rise has more than doubled.

In total, global sea level has gone up by 4 inches (10 centimeters) since 1993.

This long-term record is made possible by an uninterrupted series of ocean-observing satellites starting with TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992.

The current ocean-observing satellite in that series, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched in 2020 and is one of an identical pair of spacecraft that will carry this sea level dataset into its fourth decade.

Its twin, the upcoming Sentinel-6B satellite, will continue to measure sea surface height down to a few centimeters for about 90% of the world’s oceans.

This animation shows the rise in global mean sea level from 1993 to 2024 based on data from five international satellites.

The expansion of water as it warms was responsible for the majority of the higher-than-expected rate of rise in 2024.
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

Mixing It Up

There are several ways in which heat makes its way into the ocean, resulting in the thermal expansion of water.

Normally, seawater arranges itself into layers determined by water temperature and density.

Warmer water floats on top of and is lighter than cooler water, which is denser.

In most places, heat from the surface moves very slowly through these layers down into the deep ocean.

But extremely windy areas of the ocean can agitate the layers enough to result in vertical mixing.

Very large currents, like those found in the Southern Ocean, can tilt ocean layers, allowing surface waters to more easily slip down deep.

The massive movement of water during El Niño — in which a large pool of warm water normally located in the western Pacific Ocean sloshes over to the central and eastern Pacific — can also result in vertical movement of heat within the ocean.

Learn more about sea level: https://sealevel.nasa.gov

One photographer’s quest to redefine the shark

Photograph: José Carlos Martínez

From Wired by Geraldine Castro
 

With his magnificent underwater images, Gerardo del Villar wants to rehabilitate the reputation of the ocean’s great predators, inspire conservation, and encourage responsible ecotourism.

A sea without sharks is an unhealthy sea.
Underwater photographer Gerardo del Villar knows this well and wants everyone else to understand it too.
At the beginning of his adventures interacting with sharks, his goal was to portray their strength: their formidable bodies, jaws, and teeth.
Today, the Mexican photographer prefers to tell their stories, to change the perception that they are ruthless killers and show instead the threats they face in order to highlight the state of the seas.

His relationship with these predators is one of love, he tells me several times, always with a smile.
The animals he loves have been crossing the world’s oceans for 400 million years, they have survived several mass extinction moments, and today they face their worst threat yet: humans.
All over the world, their meat is being consumed.
Every year, about 100 million sharks are hunted and killed.

"The Legacy", narrates Gerardo del Villar's concern and proposal to conserve marine ecosystems and sharks, a passion inherited by his grandfather and his parents. 

To Gerardo it is very important that his children and future generations enjoy healthy oceans and he knows that the best way to do this is by raising awareness and learning to love the species that live in them; who better than the whale shark to be the great teacher.

 

There are about 536 known species of shark in the world, and 316 of them are endangered by fishing.
Sometimes they are caught illegally, and in other cases they are killed incidentally, by fishers in pursuit of other fish.
They have a frightening side, but they are also animals with admirable traits.
The jaws of the largest of them can exert a force of up to 1.
8 tonnes.
On their sides, they have cells that can detect movement in the water from meters away, and their textured skin reduces water friction.
They are also very sensitive to electric fields.
They come in all sizes: The dwarf shark fits in the palm of a hand while whale sharks are up to 12 meters long.

Gerardo del Villar is a witness to this diversity.
He is the only Latin American to photograph and interact with 10 of the world’s most dangerous shark species in the open ocean, and he has documented some 40 species in total.
He has swum with great white sharks without the protection of a cage for scientific purposes.
On his list of the strangest sharks he has encountered are the salmon shark, which he photographed in the waters off of Alaska, and the bigeye thresher, which he found in the Philippines, specifically off the island of Malapascua.

One of the species that Geraldo del Villar has been photographing for years, seen here near Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.
Courtesy of Gerardo del Villar

Although he has had many adventures, the diver, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and author is always looking for the next one.
He’s eager to go to the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia and to dive in Antarctica, where he hopes to photograph leopard seals.
He wants to follow the route of Sir Ernest Shackleton, one of the great explorers of history, who inspires him because he was among those who “set out to explore the world without today’s technology.
” Other figures who inspire him include Sir Edmund Hillary, who had his complicated relationship with the summit of Mount Everest, and “obviously, Jacques Cousteau, as well as the Mexican documentary filmmaker, Ramón Bravo.

” Sharks are worth more alive than dead.
They are essential to the balance of ecosystems and vital to communities that depend on their conservation for tourism.
Their presence is synonymous with healthy seas teeming with biodiversity.
Mexico is home to 111 species, but it is also one of the top 10 countries where the most sharks are caught commercially—about 45,000 tonnes annually.
Against this backdrop of terror, del Villar is inspired by sharks; he says “fear is their best ally.” 

He’s the kind of guy whose conversation often consists of stringing together movie titles—his favourite: Men of Honor

When he recalls his days at sea, he smiles with excitement.
He wears a tooth from a tiger shark, a species that nearly took his head off during one dive.
This tooth has become his “personal reminder to enjoy every day of life.” 

A fun fact: a tiger shark can produce up to 24,000 teeth in a decade.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

This great white shark followed the bait to the boat.
Courtesy of Gerardo del Villar

WIRED: What encounter with a marine animal led you to take up underwater photography?

Gerardo del Villar: The first marine animal that convinced me to pursue this career was a nurse shark.
It was in Belize in 2005.
They are very docile animals, but at that time, we didn’t have the information we have today.

I expected to meet a dreaded “man-eater,” but when I saw it, I realized that it was a defenseless animal, more afraid of me than I was of it.
That moment aroused my curiosity, and I decided to learn more about sharks.
I travelled to the island of Guadalupe off the Pacific coast of Mexico to see great white sharks, and I took a small point-and-shoot camera with me.
When I managed to photograph a great white shark, I realized that the camera was more than a tool, it was a means to reach my goal of meeting sharks.

The movies have reduced sharks to one or two descriptions for many people: They are terrifying and insatiable.
What do you learn from being with them and why do you defend them?

From a very young age I dreamed of being a diver because my parents were divers.
While my mother died when I was only one year old, my dad used to tell about me his adventures with sharks.
He said they were bad.
When I was seven I saw the movie Jaws, and I was drawn to the character Matt Hooper, the scientist.
At the end, when the shark destroys the boat, Hooper gets into a cage, the shark breaks it and everyone assumes he must have been eaten, but in the end, he survives.
Soon after seeing the film, we went to a beach in Tuxpan, in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz.
My dad bought a little dead shark from a fisherman, and I played with it on the beach with my half-brothers.
Those moments led to my love for sharks.
For me, living alongside animals is my safe space.
It is then that I feel calm, when I’m truly myself.
I feel free, at ease.

WIRED has covered how overfishing has reached the deep seas, threatening rays and sharks.
In your 20 years of encounters with these creatures, have you seen changes in their populations, and what is it like to witness first-hand the impact on our oceans?

I have seen two phenomena.
Without going too far from my home, near the island of Cozumel, off the coast of the Riviera Maya in the Caribbean, there was once more life than there is now.
But I have also seen places like Cabo Pulmo, at the tip of Baja California, where 20 years ago there were almost no sharks, and now it is teeming with them.
When sharks are present naturally, without someone supporting the population and feeding them, it’s a sign that the ecosystem is healthy.
In Cabo Pulmo they have created protected areas that have become points of hope.
There are not enough of these areas, but there you can find the whole food chain, from sharks to the smallest plankton.
When you take away the sharks, the entire ecosystem becomes unbalanced.

Lately, I have seen more and more dead and bleached coral, and it’s very sad.
 

What does that look like?

Imagine a dead forest under the sea.
When I was diving in Cuba, I found a coral garden that looked like a cemetery: sunburnt corals, white corals, and fan corals, all destroyed.
It’s sad.
Where there is no healthy coral, you only see rocks and the dead coral; there are no fish.
That’s why it’s so important to create protected areas and respect them.

Gerardo del Villar

Photograph: José Carlos Martínez

Who are the people who live off the sea and inhabit the coasts?

When you go diving, do you find that the local communities are involved in conservation?

Cabo Pulmo is a success story for several reasons, the main one being that the local community got involved.
The tourism service providers were fishermen, and they found another way to make a living.
Meanwhile, along the Riviera Maya, many tourism service providers are outsiders who have displaced locals.
For a conservation area to be a success story, it’s crucial that local people are involved and that they manage the resources.

Besides, the people of Cabo Pulmo are deeply in love with their home.
It’s like the Yellowstone series, where they didn’t want to give up their ranch.
When someone is really in love with their place, they’re going to look for ways to use the resources without damaging the environment.
But when someone doesn’t feel that bond, they’re going to try to put up a 100-room hotel, something that the people of Cabo Pulmo have fought against.

As we move toward responsible ecotourism, how can we interact with these animals in an appropriate way?

Today we all are photographers, because with mobile phones anyone can take pictures.
Photography depends on the story you tell.
If you say that the ecosystem is very healthy and that it isn’t threatened, the photos you take will be key to transmitting that message.

We, as photographers, have a responsibility to tell the truth.
With our photos, we have to tell stories that help people reflect and change the perception of these so-called predators, that change the perception of a place that is overexploited, all of that.

I don’t know if you saw the documentary Seaspiracy.
Big fishing companies fund studies.
I remember I was invited once to work on a project to protect the critically endangered hammerhead shark, so I contacted several biologists I know and invited them to participate, but they didn’t want to because their income depends on those fishing companies.
They will never go against those who pay their salaries.

“We, as photographers, have the responsibility to tell the truth.”

Photograph: José Carlos Martínez

How has your vision of underwater photography changed over the years?

I’m entering a very cool stage with my photography.
Before I loved to capture images of sharks opening their jaws, something that’s very spectacular.
Now I’m looking to tell a story.
I recently uploaded a photo of a salmon shark on social media and shared that they are animals that live in Alaska, explaining that they are in danger of extinction because no one is aware of the threats they face.
My photography aims to tell stories that help raise awareness, so that people are encouraged to join in the effort to conserve these species.

Speaking of stories, science journalist Ed Yong recounted one of your experiences with a great white shark off of the island of Guadalupe, where you photographed a specimen with two strange wounds to its head, and you sent the images to a scientific team.
Surely this was not the only underwater surprise that led you to become involved with the scientific community? How are underwater photographers contributing to ocean research?

I once attended a congress of marine biologists focusing on cartilaginous fish, such as sharks and rays.
I was surprised to see that many of the biologists based their studies on dead specimens, not on underwater observations.
It is very important that photographers, those of us who are really concerned about conservation, share our material with them, like that photo of the great white shark that was bitten by a cookiecutter, a very small shark that has a jaw that’s large in proportion to its body.

I’m fortunate to have documented more than 40 species of sharks, and I was asked recently to take some photos in Venezuela for a scientific book.
It’s material that I am happy to share.
Of course, I also like to make money with my photography, but science is very hard hit by the lack of resources and shrinking budgets, especially in countries like ours.
Biologists are people who work with a lot of heart, with a passion for their vocations.
Often they can’t dive or even buy quality cameras, because the budgets for their research are so low.
Photographers have opportunities to travel the world, taking pictures of different species.
We can contribute to scientific research with our images.

“Photography depends on the story you tell.
”

Photograph: José Carlos Martínez

What ecosystems do you think it’s important to document in the future, and where do see your underwater photography heading in the next decade?

There are many areas of opportunity, and if we try to cover them all, it will be difficult for us to have an impact.
It is important for photographers to specialize and raise the flag for one or a few species, those that really need attention, and focus our efforts on them.
Time is limited, and what we can do for one species to help its conservation will be much stronger than if we spread ourselves too thin.

I don’t think anyone knows where photography will go next.
Ten years ago, we didn’t have the technology we have now, with underwater drones and cameras with the image quality they have now.
I can’t even imagine what we’re going to have in ten years.

More and more people are getting closer to these supposedly dangerous animals, and more and more people are raising their voices to protect them.
In the future, the number will continue to increase.
Future generations will have a greater awareness of this and see that many species are in danger of extinction.
Nature photographers will focus more on empathy toward these animals in order to assure their survival.

Today’s technologies are already pushing the boundaries for documenting marine life.
What risks do you see and what possibilities excite you?

For nature photographers, I think there are more opportunities than risks.
Now you can shoot at very high ISOs that mean you can use less flash.
There are also camera traps that you can leave in nature where a human doesn’t have to be present, so you don’t disturb the wildlife.

As nature photographers, every day we have more and more tools to interact with animals in a less invasive way.
There is technology that poses risks to these animals, but in other ways.
For example, if you want to you could build a hotel or make a giant aquarium where you can house whale sharks and great white sharks.

Gerardo del Villar

Photograph: José Carlos Martínez

Talking about what images convey, as a journalist who writes about the sea, I often see a lot of irresponsible tourism: people pursuing animals and harassing them with their boats.
As an underwater photographer, if I understand correctly, your work requires certain techniques to attract sharks.
How do you find the balance between documenting the lives of these animals, in order to promote their conservation, without affecting their behavior?

Feeding sharks affects their behavior, and that’s a situation when you realize you’re crossing a boundary.
With whale shark watching, if you suddenly have a whale shark surrounded by 50 boats, you know it’s not right.
In La Paz, on the Baja peninsula, I really like the way they handle whale shark watching.
In the Mogote area, where boats usually go to watch them, there is an entry point where they tell you how many divers are on each boat.
They can only go in two at a time and they can’t stay with the sharks for more than an hour.


Unfortunately, between Holbox, Isla Mujeres, and Contoy [islands off of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula] the situation is not the same.
There are too many boats; I think the resource there is overexploited.
In Cabo Pulmo, they control the dive sites.
Each one has a limit on the number of boats.
For example, in El Vencedor, a wreck where sharks are often found, there is a cap on the number of boats that can visit each month.
Once that limit is reached, you can’t dive there until the following month.
It is important that service providers regulate their interaction with these animals and ensure that they protect them.


A while ago, a birding guide told me that tourists will demand to see the species they feel that they have paid to see.
What should we bear in mind to be more careful when observing wildlife species?

As an expedition organizer, I have to warn you if the chance of seeing an animal is very low.
On one expedition we were hoping to see the sardine migration in South Africa, and we didn’t come across it until the ninth day.
We nearly came back disappointed.
But the attitude of the service provider matters.
If, as an expedition guide, I go with a sense of gratitude for what the sea gives me, even if it is not what we are looking for, I can share that with the people who come with me.
If I go worried about my fee and that there are people who are not going to be happy, then I’ll be tempted to pull out the eagle out of the nest, as it were.

When people ask me: “What guarantee is there that we’ll see the animals?” I always reply: If you want a guaranteed shark sighting, go to an aquarium.

I’m interested in how this sense of care for animals is formed.
I suspect it takes time and experience.
Did any moments in your career shape the vision of conservation that you have for sharks?

I think animals that are considered powerful, predatory, and dangerous are misunderstood species.
I like to try to change the perception and protect them, because whales and dolphins are protected, but sharks are not.
It’s love.
I feel at ease and happy with them.

You don’t have to go diving with sharks in order to support protecting them.
We can all help to conserve these species in our own ways, from our own homes.


Links :

• Marine Biologist Answers Shark Questions From Twitter

‘Out of the blue’: search for answers goes on after North Sea tanker collision

Drone footage showed the Solong and the Stena Immaculate

 floating in the North Sea after their collision.

From The Guardian by Robyn Vinter 

Investigators will look into reports deck of cargo ship Solong was unmanned when the catastrophe took place

In the North Sea, about 12 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire, the smouldering wreck of a 183-metre tanker is being kept in place by tugboats.

 

 

 

The central part of the vessel has been caved in, with water gushing from a hole in its side. Sections are covered in black soot, evidence of the raging blaze that engulfed the ship when it was struck by a smaller cargo ship on Monday morning, with the flames from multiple explosions only just dying down on Tuesday afternoon.

The 220,000 barrels of jet fuel the tanker was carrying for the US military has mostly burned up, experts say, though it had ignited to a degree that the huge plume of smoke was visible from space, a swirl of black clearly identifiable on satellite images.

The vessel it was hit by, the 140-metre Solong, drifts about two miles south, also with grey smoke emanating from somewhere inside. Shipping containers on its deck are charred and beaten.

“Modelling suggests that should Solong remain afloat, it will remain clear of land for the next few hours. The assessment of HM Coastguard is, however, that it is unlikely the vessel will remain afloat,” the maritime minister, Mike Kane, told parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

visualization on an UKHO nautical chart with the GeoGarage platform

 

Though not entirely unique by global standards, a sight such as this is rare off the British coast, and a collision resulting in loss of life is even rarer.

It was 9.48am when the alarm was first raised.

The US-flag tanker, Stena Immaculate, had been stationary having arrived from a port in the Peloponnese region of Greece, ship-tracking software shows.

It had been anchored while it waited for a berth to become available at the Killingholmeport, on the River Humber, its management company, Crowley, said.

Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, at a speed of about 16 knots, equivalent to 18 miles an hour, when it collided with the tanker.

Normally a ship should be detectable on radar 24 miles (39km) away, and visible approximately 10 miles away.

Fog and haze meant the visibility was poor, though this is not something uncommon in the North Sea.

There should have been at least one crew member on deck of the Solong but a crew member of the Stena Immaculate told CBS News that the Solong “came from out of the blue” and it appeared no one was on its bridge when the crash happened.

It is thought alerts set up to warn of an impending crash may have been disabled. 

These devices are prone to false alarms, according to one former captain, and can be a nuisance for crews.

At 10.20am, after reports of a “massive fireball”, the coastguard put out a signal to nearby boats and ships, saying: “Solong has collided with tanker Stena Immaculate in the outer anchorage, both vessels are abandoning. Vessels who have firefighting equipment or who can assist with search and rescue contact Humber coastguard on channel one six. Vessel Stena Immaculate is carrying jet 1A fuel, which is on fire and in the water. Request vessels remain at a safe distance.”

Firefighting vessels raced to the scene to help control the blaze and lifeboats were scrambled to support the response and assist in evacuating the crew of both ships.

A total of 36 people were taken to shore safely, with one treated in hospital.

One man is missing presumed dead, having entered the water and not been accounted for among those rescued.

Initial reports speculated the highly toxic chemical sodium cyanide may have been aboard the Solong but these were later proved incorrect – it had four empty containers that had previously held the substance, its German owner, Ernst Russ, said.

Fire crews battled to get the inferno under control throughout Monday and into Tuesday.

By Tuesday afternoon most of the fire was out and a multimillion pound salvage operation was beginning, with experts and investigators arriving in Grimsby, attempting to understand how the crash occurred.

While it remains unclear which country will lead the investigation into the collision – it is usually agreed between the “flags” of the vessels – Humberside police on Tuesday said a 59-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

Links :

• The Guardian : Experts warn of North Sea collision’s ‘devastating’ impact on marine life
• BBC : North Sea tanker collision - what we know so far 

World's largest iceberg runs aground off remote island

Iceberg A23a Runs Aground Near South Georgia

From BBC by Georgina Rannard & Erwan Rivault

The world's largest iceberg has run aground in shallow waters off the remote British island of South Georgia, home to millions of penguins and seals.

 

The iceberg, which is about twice the size of Greater London, appears to be stuck and should start breaking up on the island's south-west shores.

Fishermen fear they will be forced to battle with vast chunks of ice, and it could affect some macaroni penguins feeding in the area.

But scientists in Antarctica say that huge amounts of nutrients are locked inside the ice, and that as it melts, it could create an explosion of life in the ocean.

"It's like dropping a nutrient bomb into the middle of an empty desert," says Prof Nadine Johnston from British Antarctic Survey.

Ecologist Mark Belchier who advises the South Georgia government said: "If it breaks up, the resulting icebergs are likely to present a hazard to vessels as they move in the local currents and could restrict vessels' access to local fishing grounds."

The stranding is the latest twist in an almost 40-year story that began when the mega chunk of ice broke off the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986.

We have tracked its route on satellite pictures since December when it finally broke free after being trapped in an ocean vortex.

As it moved north through warmer waters nicknamed iceberg alley, it remained remarkably intact.

For a few days, it even appeared to spin on the spot, before speeding up in mid-February travelling at about 20 miles (30km) a day.

 

The world’s largest iceberg, A-23A, has grounded near South Georgia, echoing past icebergs that have melted and fragmented in these waters.

"The future of all icebergs is that they will die. It's very surprising to see that A23a has lasted this long and only lost about a quarter of its area," said Prof Huw Griffiths, speaking to BBC News from the Sir David Attenborough polar research ship currently in Antarctica.

On Saturday the 300m tall ice colossus struck the shallow continental shelf about 50 miles (80km) from land and now appears to be firmly lodged.
"It's probably going to stay more or less where it is, until chunks break off," says Prof Andrew Meijers from British Antarctic Survey.

It is showing advancing signs of decay. Once 3,900 sq km (1,500 sq miles) in size, it has been steadily shrinking, shedding huge amounts of water as it moves into warmer seas. It is now an estimated 3,234 sq km.
"Instead of a big, sheer pristine box of ice, you can see caverns under the edges," Prof Meijers says.

Tides will now be lifting it up and down, and where it is touching the continental shelf, it will grind backwards and forwards, eroding the rock and ice.
"If the ice underneath is rotten - eroded by salt - it'll crumble away under stress and maybe drift somewhere more shallow," says Prof Meijers.

Getty Images
There are an estimated three million Macaroni penguins in South Georgia

But where the ice is touching the shelf, there are thousands of tiny creatures like coral, sea slugs and sponge.
"Their entire universe is being bulldozed by a massive slab of ice scraping along the sea floor," says Prof Griffiths.

That is catastrophic in the short-term for these species, but he says that it is a natural part of the life cycle in the region.
"Where it is destroying something in one place, it's providing nutrients and food in other places," he adds.

There had been fears for the islands' larger creatures. In 2004 an iceberg in a different area called the Ross Sea affected the breeding success of penguins, leading to a spike in deaths.

But experts now think that most of South Georgia's birds and animals will escape that fate.

Some Macaroni penguins that forage on the shelf where the iceberg is stuck could be affected, says Peter Fretwell at the British Antarctic Survey.

The iceberg melts freshwater into salt water, reducing the amount of food including krill (a small crustacean) that penguins eat.

The birds could move to other feeding grounds, he explains, but that would put them in competition with other creatures.

Getty Images
The iceberg is still huge but shrinking as it moves into warmer waters

The ice could block harbours or disrupt sailing when the fishing season starts in April.

"This will be the most ice from an iceberg we will have ever dealt with in a fishing season, but we are well-prepared and resourced," says Andrew Newman from Argos Froyanes.

But scientists working in Antarctica currently are also discovering the incredible contributions that icebergs make to ocean life.

Prof Griffiths and Prof Johnston are working on the Sir David Attenborough ship collecting evidence of what their team believe is a huge flow of nutrients from ice in Antarctica across Earth.

Particles and nutrients from around the world get trapped into the ice, which is then slowly released into the ocean, the scientists explain.

"Without ice, we wouldn't have these ecosystems. They are some of the most productive in the world, and support huge numbers of species and individual animals, and feed the biggest animals in the world like the blue whale," says Prof Griffiths.

A sign that this nutrient release has started around A23a will be when vast phytoplankton blooms blossom around the iceberg. It would look like a vast green halo around the ice, visible from satellite pictures over the next weeks and months.

The life cycle of icebergs is a natural process, but climate change is expected to create more icebergs as Antarctica warms and becomes more unstable.

More could break away from the continent's vast ice sheets and melt at quicker rates, disrupting patterns of wildlife and fishing in the region.

Phenomena: Icebergs
Satellite: GOES-16 (GOES East)
Product: GeoColor
Instrument: Advanced Baseline Imagery (ABI)
Date: Jan. 22, 2025
Time: 14:40 – 21:40 UTC

On Jan. 22, 2025, NOAA’s GOES East satellite captured imagery of the world’s largest current iceberg, A23a, slowly drifting northeastward in the Southern Ocean.
According to the U.S. National Ice Center—the global entity that names, tracks and documents Antarctic icebergs that meet specific size criteria—Iceberg A23a was 1062.22 nautical miles in area as of Jan. 16, 2025, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island.
Scientists are monitoring A23a closely due to concerns that it may collide with South Georgia Island, potentially threatening a delicate ecosystem which is home to penguins and seals.

Satellites play a crucial role in tracking its journey as it travels through the icy waters surrounding Antarctica.
The GOES East geostationary satellite, also known as GOES-16, keeps watch over most of North America, including the contiguous United States and Mexico, as well as Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Africa.

The satellite's high-resolution imagery provides optimal viewing of severe weather events, including thunderstorms, tropical storms, and hurricanes.
source : NOAA 

 

Links:

• BBC : How mega icebergs change the ocean
• SciTechDaily : Iceberg Grinds to a Stop off South Georgia Island
• NYTimes : World's largest iceberg runs aground
• Gizmodo : The World’s Biggest Iceberg Is Threatening a Wildlife Haven
  
• GeoGarage blog : A23a: World's biggest iceberg on the move after 30 years

Submarine cables keep the world connected. They can also help us study climate change

Gail Johnson/Shutterstock

From The Conversation by Cynthia Mehboob

Last month tech giant Meta announced plans to build the world’s longest submarine communication cable.

Known as Project Waterworth, the 50,000-kilometre cable would link five continents.

Meta says it would improve connectivity and technological development in countries including the United States, India and Brazil.

Van Hoven /Lips Map of International Telgraph network (1893)

source : Geographicus

 

Improving global connectivity has been the main purpose of submarine cables since the first one was laid across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858.

Globally, there are currently around 1.4 million kilometres of these garden hose-sized, plastic-wrapped cables.

The optical fibres inside can transmit data at speeds of up to 300 terabits per second.

But submarine cables can do far more than just enhance telecommunications.

In fact, a recent conference I attended in London highlighted how a relatively new generation of cables can also be used to keep us safe from threats such as climate change and natural disasters.
 

Multipurpose cables

SMART – short for Scientific Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications – cables are designed for environmental monitoring.

They are a joint initiative by the International Telecommunications Union, the World Meteorological Organization and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

The Transatlantic submarine cable, connecting British North America to Ireland, was laid in 1858.  

Rod Allday, CC BY-SA

These cables are equipped with sensors that measure vital environmental data in the ocean.

This data includes seismic activity, temperature fluctuations and pressure changes.

It can be used to improve early-warning systems for tsunamis and earthquakes as well as tracking changes in the climate.

OFS – short for optical fibre sensing – cables are aimed at protecting critical infrastructure.

They use the fibre within to detect vibrations surrounding the cable.

This allows cable operators to identify potential disruptions from fishing activity, ship anchors and other physical disturbances.

A handful of countries, including France and Portugal, are actively investing in these cables.

The European Commission is also supporting SMART cable projects within broader infrastructure strategies.

A slow uptake

The topic of sensing cables comes up at conferences, thanks to industry professionals who work on it pro bono.

But the technology isn’t widely adopted by the broader industry and governments.

For example, SMART cables have been around since 2010, but there are only two projects in development.

The reasons for this slow uptake boil down to three major concerns, as discussed at the conference.

1. Outdated regulation 

The legal framework governing undersea cables is outdated.

While the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea regulates international waters, it doesn’t address cables equipped with environmental sensors.

This legal ambiguity introduces additional complexities to already lengthy and complex processes for obtaining permits when sensing technologies are integrated into cables.

2. No clear business model 

Industry executives question the financial feasibility of sensing cables.

For example, during the conference in London, several industry executives suggested adding sensors raises costs by approximately 15%, with no clear revenue return.
Unlike data traffic, environmental data doesn’t directly generate income. Unless governments intervene with funding, tax incentives or expedited permits, cable operators have little incentive to absorb these added costs and complexities.

3. Security risks
At the subsea cable conference in London, several industry insiders also warned embedding sensors in cables could create new security risks.
Some governments might view sensing-equipped cables as surveillance tools rather than neutral scientific infrastructure.
There is also concern such cables could become attractive targets for malicious actors.

 

Large ships are used to deploy and repair submarine cables in the ocean.

Korn Srirawan/Shutterstock

 

A need for more ocean data

But there are good reasons for more countries and industry to invest in SMART cables.

For example, information on ocean depth, seabed composition and temperature fluctuations is valuable. A wide array of industries, from shipping and offshore energy to fisheries and insurance, could leverage this data to enhance their operations and mitigate risks.

Scientists have also pointed out that in order to better understand climate change, we need more and better data about what’s happening in the ocean.
Current subsea cable regulatory hurdles make investing in sensing technology challenging.

But if regulation is updated, projects such as Meta’s Waterworth Project could more easily integrate sensors.

With experts suggesting the Waterworth Project be viewed as multiple cables instead of one, sensors could just be deployed on less geopolitically sensitive cable branches.
They could facilitate the creation of an open-access, publicly funded database for ocean observation data.

Such a platform could consolidate real-time data from sensing cables, satellites and marine sensors.

This would provide a transparent, shared resource for scientists, policymakers and industries alike.

Of course, deploying sensing technology may not be feasible in volatile regions such as the Baltic or South China seas.
But there is potential in areas especially vulnerable to climate change, such as the Pacific.

Here, scientific data could be harnessed to model oceanic changes and explore solutions to rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns.

 

A path forward

Portugal demonstrates a path forward for SMART cables.

Despite the regulatory challenges, it is actively investing in SMART cables in order to improve climate data.

Other governments can learn from this if they wish to fulfil their moral duty to invest in infrastructure that serves as a public good.

The idea of embedding sensors in cables may not be the perfect climate change fix.

But it’s a step toward understanding the ocean’s invisible rhythms – a small but necessary gesture to stop pretending our planet’s breakdown will fix itself.

 

Links :

• Maritime Exceutive : Meta's Waterworth Subsea Cable is About Geopolitics and Geoeconomics
• Reuters : Finland's secret service says frequency of cable incidents is 'exceptional'
• EJIL Talk : Piracy and Undersea Cables: An Overlooked Interpretation of UNCLOS?
• AlJazeera : As undersea cables break off Europe and Taiwan, proving sabotage is tough 
• FT : Inside Russia'shadow war in the Baltic

China’s Belt and Road Initiative: A revival of the historical maritime Silk Road?

Chinese sailing ships in Hong Kong during the 1920s.

(Photos courtesy of Hsu Chung-mao, unless otherwise stated.)

From ThinkChina by Hsu Chung-mao

China’s attempts to expand its maritime trade networks through the Belt and Road Initiative are reminiscent of its participation in the maritime Silk Road during the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, says historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao.
Here, he shares a collection of photos and illustrations that encapsulate China’s historical maritime heyday.

US President Donald Trump has declared that he wants to “take back the Panama Canal”, because he thinks that China is “operating” it.
However, Panama President José Raúl Mulino and major international media outlets have denied this assertion.
As China’s total international trade continues to grow and maritime transportation flourishes, China has become the second-largest user of the Panama Canal after the US.
It is reasonable to say that in recent years, China has made significant infrastructure investments in ports around the Panama Canal and has participated in port operations, but this is far from “operating the Panama Canal”.

So why does Trump have this impression? It likely stems from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which focuses on expanding international investment and trade through land and maritime routes.
Many countries outside Europe and the US have embraced China’s development policies, leading to a sense of competition in the West.
These international political developments may also reflect recurring historical patterns.

In modern times, China’s decline and subsequent rebuilding efforts started with strengthening land-based national defence and trade expansion.
While China’s maritime development has not left a particularly strong impression on outsiders, it has historically played a significant role in maritime trade and prosperity.

 

A container ship crosses the Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal in Panama City, Panama, on 21 February 2025.

(Tarina Rodriguez/Bloomberg)

The Han empire expanded westward through military force, fostering trade in Central Asia.
The Tang empire, founded by nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe, established a vast empire spanning both continents, promoting trade and cultural exchange in Central Asia.
The Tang capital, Chang’an, was home to tens of thousands of Persian and Central Asian diplomats, merchants, and immigrants.
The golden age of the Tang dynasty is perhaps the most admired period in Chinese history — militarily powerful, economically prosperous and culturally and religiously vibrant.
Chang’an was a city that never slept, filled with music, dance and a romantic, intoxicating atmosphere at night.

The rise of maritime trade in China

During the Song dynasty, China’s territory shrank significantly, and its military strength was much weaker than before.
However, the Southern Song dynasty’s core region was in coastal Zhejiang, a famous water town in China, where maritime trade flourished and helped to drive the development of urban civilisation in southern China.
Although the Southern Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol empire, China’s maritime trade entered a new stage of development.

 

The Tatars of Crimea in the 1900s, descendants of the Mongols.

The Yuan empire had two distinct aspects.
One was the division of the Mongol empire into four major khanates after Genghis Khan: the Golden Horde (or Kipchak Khanate), the Chagatai Khanate, the Ögedei Khanate (the Yuan dynasty) and the Ilkhanate.
This vast and diverse empire, spanning Eurasia, reached an unprecedented peak in human history in terms of territorial expanse and ethnic diversity.

The second aspect was the Yuan dynasty, which governed China while maintaining traditional Chinese administrative institutions and cultural practices.
Meanwhile, China’s coastal regions continued to thrive in maritime trade, with Quanzhou Port in Fujian province being the most prominent example.

China as a naval power: the height of Chinese maritime trade and prowess

Italian traveller Marco Polo specifically mentioned in his memoirs that the two most prosperous ports in the world at the time were Alexandria and Quanzhou.
Ships travelling from the Middle East to China would dock at Quanzhou, and the port was home to nearly 10,000 Muslim merchants and their families.
In the city were mosques and Islamic cemeteries, including the tombs of notable Islamic scholars.
This port became the starting point of what China refers to as the Maritime Silk Road.

 

Florence, Italy, in the 1880s, where the development of city-state maritime trade generated immense wealth and gave birth to the Renaissance.

 

The pyramids of Cairo in the 1860s, located in an important city along the Maritime Silk Road in North Africa.

 

Istanbul, Turkey, in the 1870s, situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

 

The Gulf of Aden in the 1880s, a key passage between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

 

Rotterdam Port, Netherlands, in the 1900s, once the world’s largest port.

 

Tower Bridge on the River Thames in London, 1900s.

China’s three main export commodities were porcelain, tea and raw silk, which were in high demand in Middle Eastern and European markets.
China hardly needed to actively promote these products — Arab merchants would sail across the seas in large numbers to purchase Chinese goods, transporting them to the Middle East, then to Italy, and from Italian port cities to Western Europe and Britain.


This trade fueled the prosperity of various Mediterranean city-states.
In this maritime trade network, China played a passive role, simply waiting for Arab ships to arrive and purchase goods.
Many sunken Arab ships full of Chinese porcelain have been discovered in southern China’s waters, serving as historical evidence of this period of global commerce.

...
unlike Western maritime expeditions, which aimed to discover new markets and raw materials, the Ming dynasty’s purpose in sending Zheng He overseas was primarily to project national prestige, rather than economic gain.


During the Ming dynasty, the Chinese emperor actively organised naval expeditions to explore overseas territories.
The most famous of these was the series of voyages from 1405 to 1433, when the ambitious Yongle Emperor of the Ming empire dispatched his envoy, Zheng He, to lead seven grand maritime expeditions known as the “voyages of Zheng He to the Western oceans” (郑和下西洋).


These large-scale voyages spanned East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian peninsula and various regions of East Africa.
They are considered the largest maritime expeditions of their time, with each voyage consisting of over 200 ships and more than 27,000 crew members, visiting more than 30 countries and reaching as far as the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.
This remarkable feat took place nearly 80 years before Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas.

 

An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing the Ming Empire’s envoy Zheng He’s seven voyages to the Western Ocean.

 

An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing the grand fleet led by Zheng He.

 

An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing Zheng He’s fleet arriving at the Arabian Peninsula.

 

An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing Zheng He’s treasure ship.

However, unlike Western maritime expeditions, which aimed to discover new markets and raw materials, the Ming dynasty’s purpose in sending Zheng He overseas was primarily to project national prestige, rather than economic gain.
Since these costly expeditions lacked commercial incentives for wealth accumulation, they were eventually discontinued.


This historical phenomenon has long been a subject of study in modern international academia, raising questions such as: Why did China’s large-scale maritime explorations not develop into modern capitalism? Why did they fail to drive technological advancements? Why did they not lead to an industrial revolution? And why did they not result in overseas military expansion? These questions continue to spark debate within Chinese academia and serve as a point of reflection, shaping discussions on how China should adjust its maritime strategy if it seeks to re-establish itself as a naval power.

By the time of the Opium Wars in the 19th century, China’s technological capabilities had already fallen more than a century behind the West.


In fact, by the late Ming dynasty, southeastern China had already developed a regionally driven maritime force.
Armed maritime groups emerged in Fujian and Guangdong, engaging in international trade for profit and sometimes posing political challenges to the central government.
One notable example was the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), who led a military campaign to expel the Dutch from Taiwan, turning the island into a base for counterattacks against the Qing dynasty.
The military campaign marked the first time that an Eastern naval force successfully defeated a Western colonial empire.

 

A nautical map of Xiamen and Kinmen drawn by the Dutch in the 17th century.

 

A 17th-century Dutch depiction of Taiwanese people worshipping Mazu.

 

A 17th-century Dutch illustration of the Dutch army cooperating with Qing forces to attack Zheng Chenggong’s army in Kinmen.

 

A 17th-century Dutch illustration of the Battle of Xiamen at sea.

 

A 17th-century Dutch depiction of Fort Zeelandia in Tainan, a military fortress built by the Dutch.

The Qing dynasty onwards: a decline in Chinese maritime networks and capabilities

The establishment of the Qing empire represented the peak of China’s land-based power.
The ruling Qing emperors came from the Manchu nomadic tribes and created the largest territorial empire in Chinese history.
However, they showed little interest in maritime affairs, viewing China as the centre of the world and believing there was no need to learn from the outside.


As a result, China missed the crucial period to connect with the Western Industrial Revolution.
By the time of the Opium Wars in the 19th century, China’s technological capabilities had already fallen more than a century behind the West.
Facing Western military forces, China was utterly defenceless and became a target for invasion and colonisation.

 

Yokohama Port, Japan, in the 1880s, an important port in Japan’s modernisation and opening to the outside world.

 

Nanjing, China, in the 1880s, a key city for China’s maritime expansion.

 

Suzhou, China, in the 1910s, an important centre for silk production.

 

Penang Port, Malaya, in the 1910s, a crucial port in the Straits Settlements.

After the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, both the Chinese government and intellectuals regarded openness and maritime expansion as essential national policies.
During the Republican era, many Chinese emigrated abroad, establishing successful businesses and accumulating vast wealth, which later became an important source of support for China’s development.
However, following the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the country entered nearly 30 years of isolationism.
It was only after its economic reforms that China once again pursued an active overseas strategy.


Can China re-establish itself as a maritime power?

Today, China’s maritime trade expansion is backed by both historical precedent and contemporary realities, especially with the vast network of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs and investors.
During times when the Chinese government was weak, overseas Chinese merchants naturally formed powerful commercial networks.
Now, the Chinese government is stronger and has become more capable of providing comprehensive development plans, funding, and technology.
Cooperation between domestic enterprises and overseas Chinese business communities enables China to offer significant construction support to port-based nations, so that the influence of China’s maritime commercial activities is expected to grow rapidly.

 

Links :

• GeoGarage blog : The new Silk Road: A visionary dream for the 21st century / The Arctic silk road: Belt and road in North dimension. Fight for ... / China wants to build a “Polar Silk Road” in the Arctic / Spice and vice / Italy signs on for Chinese "Belt and Road" port investments