A brief overview of US Coast Guard navigation buoys
Long awaited by the global maritime industry and much feared by American educators in particular, the newly adopted additions to the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) code for Seafarers are here. Last Week’s 2nd Annual International Maritime eLearning Conference brought the enhanced STCW code – and the blended, eLearning techniques that will allow it to be implemented – under the harsh glare of collective scrutiny. By week’s end, conference attendees had every reason to be cautiously optimistic. More importantly, a cogent way forward had been defined for both issues.
Inventor of the modern navigational chart
Rearranging the tow is more than playing a game of Tetris. Sometimes it's like playing chess with Bobby Fischer.
Ispat Industries’ port, Geetapuram, near the West coast of India, is ready for capacity enhancement
Projects running with NYK Line ships under the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism are investigating technological developments to curtail CO2 emissions from marine vessels. In the main project, two NYK ships, are equipped with an air blower to supply air to the vessel's bottom to reduce frictional resistance. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries supplied the engines and is also participating in the experiment. It was decided that, a module carrier, would be best type of vessel for this experiment. she has a wide, shallow-draft hull minimizing the energy required by the electrically blower supplying air to the vessel's bottom and should better retain the supplied air under the vessel's bottom.
Since the beginning of the year in the SECA emission control areas of Europe, only residual fuels with a maximum sulfur content of one per cent is permitted. On the West Coast of the United States a similar ban has been in force since July 1, 2009. The application of the new regulations is not without hazards. A higher number of propulsion failures directly associated with switching over from one fuel to another have been reported. Due to fuel temperature considerations, the changeover from one fuel to the other is not immediate but must be a gradually spread out over a period that can easily last from 30 to 60 minutes. Failure to do this gradually, could lead to seizure of the fuel pump due to low viscosity of the diesel fuel and thermal shock. This delay needs to be taken into account in the ship’s navigational planning of arrival or departure to ensure an orderly fuel change-over prior to entering the ECA. During changeover there is a danger of sludge formation, clogged fuel filters and separators, sticking fuel injection pumps and plugged fuel nozzles. Longer term effects if using a lubrication oil that is not matched to the fuel in use, can lead to cylinder liner lacquering on four-stroke engines with prolonged operation on low sulfur (mainly distillate) fuels causing expensive repair bills! Let’s hope that lessons are learned from the experience of others and these problems are avoided.
India’s first ship lift repair yard being set up at Jaigarh will greatly meet the country’s growing demand
Portolan charts were the primary navigational charts used by European mariners in the years prior to development of the Mercator projection charts.
The gateway between the Great Lakes of North America and the world’s seaports