Grounded Airliners Could Provide Hope for COVID-19

Grounded Airliners Could Provide Hope for COVID-19

A coalition of professionals from the medical, advanced nursing, hyperbarics, military, aviation, and business fields have developed a plan to use large commercial and military aircraft as hyperbaric treatment facilities for use in the mass casualty treatment of those affected by COVID-19 respiratory crisis. Current therapies are insufficient at overcoming the deadly hypoxemia (low oxygen) caused by the Novel Coronavirus. While many carriers are asymptomatic or only have minor symptoms, severely affected people require hospitalization. Currently, emergency treatment for the profound oxygen deprivation of COVID-19 respiratory crisis includes the use of mechanical ventilators, which has a mortality rate as high…
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Astoria Completing $10 million Renewal of Six Waterfront Bridges

Astoria Completing $10 million Renewal of Six Waterfront Bridges

By Peter Marsh In the boom years of the 1890’s, there were more than 20 salmon canneries on the Astoria waterfront, but a century later, when developers began restoring these properties, they concentrated their efforts on the five blocks from 6th to 11th Street in the downtown area. Over the next 20 years, several successful businesses had replaced the canneries, including breweries and restaurants with front seat views of the Columbia River. In 2017, this business model was threatened when the Oregon Department of Transportation condemned the short bridges that allowed for vehicular access to the piers and supported the…
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Chinese VLCCs to Test New Technologies

Chinese VLCCs to Test New Technologies

Hong Kong’s China Merchants Group has ordered a further two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) from the China Shipbuilding Group’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation after taking delivery of four similar vessels from China Shipbuilding last year. However, the two latest 307,000-dwt ships will be used to test new technologies to reduce both fuel consumption and ship emissions. One will be fitted with an air-lubricated hull and the other with a newly-developed auxiliary sail assistance system. The former has already been used on several Japanese-built vessels with good results while the latter was previously tested using China Merchants Energy Shipping’s 306,752-dwt…
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Bio-Fuel and Hydrogen Ferries

Bio-Fuel and Hydrogen Ferries

The Ada Shipyard in Turkey is completing two double-ended ferries designed by LMG Marin for Norwegian operator Norled that will make use of bio-diesel engines to drive Schottel SRE 270 EcoPellers, one installed at each end of the hull. To be employed in southwestern Norway, each of the 74-meter-long vessels will accommodate 199 passengers and carry 60 cars at a service speed of 11.5 knots. One of the ferries is expected to be modified to test hydrogen propulsion if funding is received from the European Union’s Flagship program, which is already funding development of a hydrogen powered pushtug for operation…
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Norsepower Rotor Fitted  to Scandlines Ferry

Norsepower Rotor Fitted to Scandlines Ferry

Finland-based Norsepower Oy has successfully installed one of its rotor sails on the Baltic Sea ferry Copenhagen, which is operated by Scandlines between Rostock, Germany and Gedser, Denmark. The installation was carried out during a scheduled overnight stop of the hybrid ferry and took place in a matter of hours following meticulous preparation work over the preceding months. The 5-meter diameter cylinder, which stands 30-meters high, uses the Magnus effect while spinning to aid in a ship’s propulsion and the Norsepower unit is expected to save fuel and reduce emissions by approximately 5 percent depending upon daily wind conditions.
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Prince of Wales Ferry Service Interrupted

Prince of Wales Ferry Service Interrupted

Ferry service between Prince of Wales Island and Ketchikan was hit in May and early June when the ferry Prince of Wales, operated by the Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA), suffered a major propulsion system failure. The breakdown came as the Authority’s other ferry, Stikine, was also in the shop for repairs but was late in returning to service because of Covid-19 induced travel difficulties for technicians and spare parts. To continue service on the 72-mile round trip route between Ketchikan and Hollis the Alaska Marine Highway System volunteered its ferry Lituya, which made several runs before Stikine could be returned…
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Large Crude Carriers Chartered

Large Crude Carriers Chartered

Bermuda-based DHT (Double Hull Tankers Inc) has entered into time charter contracts for six of its large VLCCs, including DHL Edelweiss, DHL Lake, DHL Raven, DHL Scandinavia, DHL Bauhinia, and DHL Lion, for firm periods of 12 months at an average fixed daily hire of $67,300 per day. All the contracts have come with options for extensions. DHT, which counts Norway’s BW Group as one of its major investors, operates one of the world’s largest crude carrying fleets through integrated management companies based in Monaco, Singapore and Oslo.
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New Philippine Ferry

New Philippine Ferry

Japan’s Kegoya Dock Company has launched the ro/ro passenger ferry Starlite Venus for Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corporation of the Philippines. To be delivered later this year the 97.78-meter vessel will be operated in the inter-island trades by Chelsea subsidiary, Starlite Ferries. The new ship has a carrying capacity of 740 passengers, 22 buses, and six commercial trucks and brings Chelsea’s combined fleet to 74 vessels consisting of ferries, tankers, cargo ships and tugboats.
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Deck Carrier Delivered

Deck Carrier Delivered

China’s Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard has delivered the 148.5-meter by 28-meter deck carrier Boldwind to Germany’s United Wind Logistics as the first in a series of two specialized vessels it is building for the German company, both to be chartered by Denmark-based MHI Vestas for the transportation of offshore wind energy components.
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New Cat for Trinidad and Tobago

New Cat for Trinidad and Tobago

Austal’s Ving Tau shipyard has rolled out the new high-seed ferry A.P.T. James and expects to deliver the 94-meter vessel to the government of Trinidad and Tobago’s National Infrastructure Development Company (NIDCO) later this year for operation between the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The fast catamaran, financed through an export loan from Australia’s Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, will carry 926 passengers and 250 cars at a speed of 37.5 knots.
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