The Panama Canal is a strategic crossroads for maritime traffic, and is arguably one of the most important maritime developments in the past century. Here we take a deeper dive into the history behind that famous strip of waterway.The present canal, which saw its first vessel transits in 1914, along with possible alternatives through Nicaragua and Mexico
An interview with Ian Sage, director for marine operations, NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation, La Spezia, Italy.NATO’s 3,100-ton, 305-foot research vessel NRV Alliance has been a leading platform for underwater acoustics research to the benefit of NATO navies. The ship operated with a civilian crew under the German flag for many years for the NATO SACLANT Center
While nothing lasts forever, the cruise industry – and particularly the ‘expedition’ cruise sector – remain on a historic run with no indication of a near-term slowdown.The leisure travel sector, of which expedition cruising is a part, offers numerous possibilities for delivering new “experiences” unlike industrial shipping businesses (or even conventional ferry and passenger transport)
Taking technology from academia to market is a well-worn tradition across the maritime and subsea sectors. In this case the ‘innovative’ adhesive technology is actually born from the sea. There is a new underwater adhesive technology based on a glue used naturally by marine creatures. Mussel Polymers Inc. (MPI) – a startup created by Wardenclyffe Chemicals Inc.
The Panama Canal has closed the 2019 fiscal year (FY19) with a record tonnage of 469 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS), a 6.2 percent increase compared to FY2018.With this figure, the waterway exceeds the 450.7 million PC/UMS tons projection for FY2019, as well as the record tonnage of 442 million PC/UMS tons registered in the previous fiscal year.
USA-based shipbuilder Metal Shark and Sea Machines, a Boston-based developer of autonomous marine technology, have partnered on the introduction of a new 29-foot autonomous vessel now being offered through Metal Shark’s “Sharktech” autonomous division.The new Sharktech 29 Defiant welded aluminum monohull pilothouse vessel features OEM-integrated Sea Machines technology offering a full range of
South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) is to build 10 LNG-powered crude tanker vessels.The order was placed by an unnamed "Oceanian" customer. The contract for the vessels was valued at KRW 751.3 billion (US$621 million), which is around $62 million per vessel.Samsung Heavy said in a statement that it will deliver the 113,000 dwt LNG-fueled tankers by January 2022.
Taiwan’s Yang Ming Transport Corp. selected VisionMaster Net from Sperry Marine as the cornerstone of its digital navigation strategy on 10 new containerships it recently ordered.Yang Ming is building a series of 10 2,800 teu feeder vessels at CSBC Shipyard in Kaohsiung, with sea trials on the first ships scheduled for early 2020.
Since the founding in 2016, cyber defence company Naval Dome has won awards for its Endpoint cyber defense system and achieved the highest level of security certification from classification society DNV GL, helping to protect merchant ships, cruise ships and yachts from cyber-attack.
ABB upgraded digital platform ABB Ability Tekomar XPERT, for use on a fleet-wide scale.Offering an easy-access web portal interface, ABB Ability Tekomar XPERT for fleet provides accurate insight into engine performance from fleet to vessel level with all key indicators available at a glance, it said in a press release.
Nippon Paint Marine has added to its NOA range of self-indicating epoxy coatings with a new system specially developed to protect chemical and product carrier tanks from corrosion and cargo contamination.NOA PC 700, a phenolic/novolac-based epoxy, is resistant to a wide range of chemicals, solvents and petroleum products, including those containing xylenes, methyl ethyl ketone, methanol
Marlink has announced the launch of ITLink, a complete portfolio of IT solutions for standardizing, simplifying and automating IT operations at sea and delivering substantial time and cost savings related to on board network IT administration and management through advanced dashboard and intelligent applications.