Isports ATBP.

The global transshipment industry had been vital to the world economy. It makes sure goods and other products reach their destinations fast and on time. It is one of the backbones of the world’s commercial fishing industry, a multimillion-dollar network composed of refrigerated cargo vessels crisscrossing the seas and transporting the fish and other seafood caught from the ocean to shore. The practice of transshipment covers a wide range of seafood products like the popular tuna—bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin—salmon, mackerel, and crab where thousands of fishing vessels transport the catch from the sea to the markets and producers until it reaches your plate. But while it speeds up the process of transporting fish and other edible marine resources, it also has damaging effects like the lack of conservation and management efforts due to overfishing which further threatens the improvement of the health of diminishing fish stocks. As the global population increases by a rate of 1.08...

The Marianas Trench continues to be a mysterious place for scientists and human beings in general. It remains one of the most inaccessible places on our planet where species of some known and unknown creatures inhabit the area. That’s why it was surprising to know that radioactive material was detected in one of the most remote regions in the Pacific. The Marianas Trench is a crescent-shaped trough located in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is believed to be roughly 2,550 kilometers long and 69 kilometers wide, with a depth of 36,201 feet below sea level. It is located 200 miles east of the Marianas island chain, in between Japan and Papua New Guinea. Despite its remote location, this has not stopped humanity to have an environmental impact on its unique ecosystem. A group of scientists, led by earth experts from the Shanghai Ocean University, found traces of the radioactive element Carbon-14, which dates back from the nuclear weapons detonations conducted in the mid-1940s. Tra...

Photos courtesy of Ronnie Lanuza This is a celebration of my second life. After the car I’m driving last Friday afternoon, July 31, was hit by a speeding bus, I’m glad to be alive. Alive with just minor cuts and bruises on my face and body, and a fractured collar bone. But if you saw my car, you will think I didn’t survive the accident. The blue Mazda MPV, named “ Sky ” by my daughter, is a total wreck. The incident, or accident, happened at the intersection of Bank of Hawaii and Smiling Cove Marina at around two in the afternoon. I was waiting for the stop light to turn green. When I saw the green light, I went ahead and started to drive. Out of nowhere, a speeding tourist bus, heading North of Saipan, rammed the van that I’m driving. My one-week-old car was a total wreck, unrepairable. This time, the reporter who regularly writes news, became part of the news. Thank you for your help former Saipan Tribune sports reporter Brad Ruszala and to the...

Saipan, CNMI—Choosing to use a pair of tires with tubes proved to be costly for Joe Miller as the Filipino bet finished sixth among the pros that competed in the 2015 XTERRA Saipan Championship last Saturday here in the United States territory’s largest island. The two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion completed the 1.5-kilometer swim at Micro Beach, a 40K bike ride around the steep hills of Mt. Tapochao, and a 10K run through the rugged jungle trails in three hours, 22 minutes, and 33 seconds. Miller submitted times of 22;:10  in the swim, 1:37:46 in the bike, and 1:01:12 in the run legs in his first try in the Crown Jewel of the Global XTERRA Circuit. He was 22:08 behind Australian Ben Allen, who claimed his fourth XTERRA Saipan crown with the fastest time of 2:40:25, 13:09 slower than the record held by International Triathlon Union World Championships gold medalist Olivier Marceau of France (2:27:16) in 2007. Miller said he was supposed to use...

Filipino triathlete Joe Miller used to hear stories from fellow pro Ben Allen of Australia and two others on how beautiful and challenging the XTERRA Saipan Championship course was. On Saturday, the first-year pro and former two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion will finally try his luck in conquering the first stop of the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Off-Road Triathlon series. “A lot of the pros that I used to compete with like Ben, Jacqui Slack, and Daz Parker used to tell me stories about XTERRA Saipan. How beautiful and challenging the course is, and that I should try competing in it,” said the Zamboanga City native. “I trained for 13 weeks for XTERRA Saipan and I’m targeting a third or fourth-place finish. I really wanted to see the result of my training that’s why I’m pushing myself hard. I wasn’t satisfied with my performance in XTERRA Philippines and I’m craving more. I want to challenge myself,” Miller said. XTERRA Saipan starts wit...

Ms. Elisa Cruz, my English and Filipino teacher in my junior and senior years, respectively, at San Sebastian College's high school department, introduced me to the Japanese poetry called haiku. A haiku is characterized by three lines in a 5-7-5 syllabic structure. Now, I decided to review my past tweets and posted them on my own blog. I'm used to writing news and sports stories, but a friend of mine told me to sometimes get out of my comfort zone. I'm not much of a literature or poetry kind of guy, so bear with me in my attempt to write haiku. Daybreak Gentle morning breeze. Waking me up at this hour. I went back to sleep. Horizon A bird takes its flight. Free to widely spread its wings. Soaring with the wind. Meditation Deafening silence. Teach me to see the real things. The world's true colors. Night Neighbor's dog howling. Other dogs are joining in. Disturbing my peace. Setback Humbled in defeat. Choosing to do what is right. Re...

I am not a guru nor a philosopher but most of the time, especially when my mind is wandering to another place, I think of words, those words become phrases, and those phrases become quotes or sayings. Here are some that I came up with and posted on Twitter. Some are self-explanatory, while others are quirky or out of this world. Enjoy reading... Why let anger and hate consume or control your life? Detach yourself from the chains that hold you down. Good and evil are always at war within ourselves. Climb a mountain to see blue skies. Every journey begins with one small step. The adventure continues... Get out of your comfort zone. When we're angry, our judgment gets clouded. The choices we make shape our future. Give me courage and strength. In humble silence, I submit! We are but a tiny blip on the radar. Let God be our judge. Football players are goal-oriented. Sprinters are always in a hurry. We are constantly searching for ...