This plane disappeared from radar on May 31 and a search and rescue operation went into effect.

One of the things I noticed while watching it on tv, and what it brought to mind, was the state of our oceans.

As the helicopter flew over the searching area, oil slicks and all sorts of rubble were quite visible. In fact, during the first few days searching for any evidence of the doomed flight, investigators announced they had found debris from the plane crash.. and it turned out to be a wooden pallet!..
..It happened on day 4 or 5.. with all the "fanfare" related when finally finding something, the investigators called the media to announce they finally found evidence of the plane.

A wooden pallet from a modern-day Airbus? What were they thinking? Were they looking for the Flyer 1 from Kitty Hawk or what :s

And when the oil slicks were spotted, they initially thought it was from the plane but later found out it was "just another" petrochemical slick from some ship that dumps that stuff into the ocean, like, who cares, these things (dumping trash into the ocean) happen all the time and no one is interested.. this is probably what the media thinks because they haven’t even mentioned or raised a few questions about the pollution. No one seemed to notice all the trash there.

Of course it is tragic that many people lost their lives in this accident and our thoughts and condolences are with their families. But if nothing is done about the state of our oceans, if nothing is done to stop polluting our fragile ecosystems, we all die.

Anyway, getting to where things stand in the investigation, there is so much trash in the ocean that the investigators are trying to sort out what is from the plane and what is not. And so far, the "black-boxes" haven't been found and they emit signals that are estimated to last 30 days from the time of the crash..

..the clock is ticking.

The companies that escape environmental laws and dump chemicals and other garbage into the ocean think that as long as we can’t see it, it doesn't happen.

If one country has stricter environmental laws than other countries, companies that have the chance and opportunity to move their business to less law enforcing countries will do so, and thereby escaping stricter laws and regulations.

It's crucial that every country works together in implementing environmental law. And it's essential that the logistics and capacity to monitor waterways, ships and their cargo improve.

The last time I heard about the fatal Air France flight 447, it was in August when the search for the "black boxes" were halted.

Huge resources were used trying to find them, including the mini-sub Nautile, which can descend to the ocean floor and was a key part for the search of the Titanic back in the 1980's. They also said that the search would resume in the autumn, but so far, I have no clue if they did, will or when.

However, I'm getting back to this topic because of an issue that was raised here. One in which was the point I was trying to raise in regards to our oceans.

When it comes to transporting goods from one place to another, it is most likely that the product we buy arrived at our home only after a long sea journey in a large container ship. Some sources say that 90% of what we receive at home uses that transportation mode.

The car manufacturers are working on "eco solutions", the aviation industry has its climate change plans, and the railroad is considered to be at the top of its class. But what has the marine-shipping industry been doing to improve its environmental credentials?

And what happens to those ships when they come to their end-of-life?

They have dismantled in poor coastal regions. I remember a documentary about a province of south India where even children take part to this work. The earn is the metal they collect and sell, but the danger oof the activity is very high.

About very old ships ... they keep on doing their work ... unfortunately. International sea rules say that local authorities can prohibit to vessels to dock, but no one can prohibit them to travel .... through international waters.

And ports are not so severe as they should be [also in EU and North America, to say all].

Nice one that you raised the shipwrecks and their further dismantling as done in Indian coastal regions. Ironically the dead elephants also costs diamonds. Same goes with ships they'are profitable trade than many other recycling industries. No matter how much protest take place questioning their security issues.



Above is the Alang dockyard,Asia's largest possibly worlds largest shipwreck disposal centre.

Inspite of Greenpeace-India and other protests against the conditions prevalent in Alang, the condition of the place remains to be same.

Shipbreaking in India and Bangladesh did cross my mind while I wrote "end-of-life".. you guys were probably reading my mind:P

Decommissioned vessels ram into what was once beautiful beaches and now its hell on earth. And many people that go to work there find their end of life.

That's right, B, Greenpeace has been giving the issue some exposure from time to time. I remember the one about a French military ship en route to India, where it would be dismantled, and activists boarded the ship once it left port in France. The French president at that time ordered the ship to return.

That Greenpeace campaign I think was the first time I heard about the shipbreaking yards in Asia. And like me, I think that most people believed that ships were dismantled in dry dock. Subsequent reports were made giving the shipbreaking "scandal" a human face .

I found an Interactive Ship and Port Traffic Map that can give us a good idea of how many vessels are at sea at this moment.

Their locations are accurate up to a few minutes and you can zoom in and check out some of the individual ships. A big percentage of them will end their days in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other South Asian countries.

Note: The system only works with vessels that have AIS transponders (gps and vhf transmitter) and a base station which picks up their signals, making it available to the public domain.