Homepage Top Section

In August this year came the announcement that a group of Japanese organisations had joined forces to come up with a new auto-berthing shipping technology.

The consortium, which includes shipping giant Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), alongside Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMST), aims to bring autonomous berthing and un-berthing tech to the Japanese market by 2025.

The project is ambitious in its scope, but comes as little surprise. Tokyo – which is funding the initiative – has made...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/berth-control-looking-potential-auto-berthing-technology/

The Senegalese region of Casamance, in West Africa, is a remote coastal area that, due to its location, has been excluded from world markets for many years. The population has faced poverty and isolation but were recently given a chance of economic rebirth.

In 2007, Madadh MacLaine, a Scottish activist and entrepreneur, landed in the Casamance region with her infant daughters and saw in the area and its inhabitants a business opportunity that is slowly becoming a reality.

A ship enthusiast and...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/fair-winds-trading-company-building-ethical-ship/

When Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, shares the figures that prove Viking’s success since sailing into the cruise market 21 years ago, he calls them “propaganda”.

A warm, straight-talking man, whose inherent modesty never fails to raise a smile, Hagen founded what is now one of the fastest-growing cruise lines in the industry, achieving $3bn a year in revenue.

Originally renowned for its high quality,...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/tour-de-force-viking-orions-maiden-voyage/

Last year, Havana’s port handled 328,000 passengers; in 2018, it is predicted that this number will reach 700,000 by the end of the year. The port currently has two cruise terminals, though with the assistance of Global Ports Holding (GPH) it plans to develop another four by 2024.  The world’s largest cruise port operator, GPH will be managing the development as part of a 15-year deal that will see the company operate a cruise port in Havana. The agreement sees GPH’s total number of ports rise...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/cuba-cashing-in-on-thawed-relations/

With a vast coastline spanning 7,500km and a strategic location nearby major shipping lanes, India has always been well-placed to enjoy the benefits of a burgeoning maritime sector. According to the country’s Ministry of Shipping, maritime transport accounts for around 95% of India’s trade by volume. Over the course of this year, nearly 680 million tonnes of cargo traffic passed through the country’s twelve major ports.

In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Make in India’, an...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/storm-brewing-indias-domestic-shipping-industry/

For decades, the European shipping industry has taken its decommissioned vessels to China to be recycled.

But from 1 January 2019, shipowners on the continent will need to find an alternative scrapping destination. As announced in May, the Chinese Government added old ships to its growing list of prohibited imports.

Beijing claims it has implemented the ban in the name of environmentalism, but this has done little to appease European shipowners, who fear the embargo will drastically reduce their...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/ship-recycling-can-europe-clean-mess/

In April 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced the world’s first full agreement on tackling climate change in the global shipping sector. Following a marathon two-week meeting involving representatives from more than 170 countries around the world, it was agreed that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions will be cut by 50% compared with 2008 levels.

The announcement was made amid mounting pressure on the IMO, after international shipping was left out of the 2015 Paris Climate...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/backing-biofuels-will-shipping-industry-ever-get-board/

Ship Technology Global is now available on all devices. Read it for free here.

In the aftermath of the tragic Maersk Honam fire, where five crew members lost their lives, the industry had to grapple with the realisation that precautions traditionally taken to avoid container ship fires are failing to adequately mitigate the risk to crews and cargoes. In this issue, we look into what’s causing fires on-board vessels and what can be done to prevent them.

China’s decision to ban the import of...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/ship-technology-global-october/

Cybersecurity in shipping is a hot topic. But at the same time, there is also a lot of inaction on the part of industry insiders, in spite of repeated warnings.

In June, a team of ethical breakers at Pen Test Partners (PTP) held a mock attack on a vessel, and found three different ways to intercept and modify serial data – which controls steering, engine control and more – on a ship’s network. The team proved that dedicated hackers could compromise security to such a degree that they could...

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/shipping-still-unprepared-cyberattacks/