24 AUGUST 2020 As fall approaches rapidly, many are wondering if the race for a vaccine will bear fruit as early as January 2021. I am a physician-scientist and infectious diseases specialist at the University of Virginia, where I care for patients and conduct research into COVID-19. I am occasionally asked how …
Read More »INTERMANAGER: RENEWED RESTRICTIONS ARE DENYING SEAFARERS’ RIGHTS
23 AUG 2020 After garnering worldwide attention and promises to address the challenges COVID-19 restrictions had created for crew changes, the issues faced by seafarers in the pandemic mostly faded from public attention. InterManager, the international trade association for ship and crew managers, however, is seeking to reignite the discussion, issuing …
Read More »JAPANESE CLASS SOCIETY APPROVES CONCEPT WIND KITE TO AID PROPULSION
22 AUG 2020 Japan’s classification society, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) has issued an “Approval in Principle” (AIP) for a wind kite system under development by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) and France’s Airseas SAS. Granted under ClassNK’s Wind Assisted Propulsion Systems guidelines, the system, which is known as Seawing, …
Read More »NEWLY DESIGNED NANOWIRE MATERIAL FOR FACE MASKS CAN ACTUALLY DESTROY PATHOGENS
22 AUG 2020 The benefits of wearing face masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19 are now well understood, but scientists are still searching for better materials to use – and a filter ‘paper’ made up of titanium oxide nanowires is showing a lot of promise. The new material is so good at …
Read More »HEAD OF LEBANESE CUSTOMS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH BEIRUT EXPLOSION
21 AUG 2020 The chief of Lebanon’s customs agency has been arrested in connection with the deadly ammonium nitrate explosion at the Port of Beirut earlier this month. Badri Daher, director general of the Lebanese Customs Administration, was questioned by judicial authorities in an extended session on Monday. He was …
Read More »MAURITIUS ARRESTS OFFICERS AND TOWS WAKASHIO AS QUESTIONS PERSIST
20 AUG 2020 The Government of Mauritius today arrested the captain of the bulk carrier Wakashio while it also moved ahead with the plans to tow the forward section of the wrecked ship out to sea and sink it. All of this was happening as increasing questions emerged over why the vessel …
Read More »GREENLAND’S MELTING ICE SHEET HAS ‘PASSED THE POINT OF NO RETURN’, SCIENTISTS SAY
19 AUG 2020 Greenland’s ice sheet may have hit a tipping point that sets it on an irreversible path to completely disappearing. Snowfall that normally replenishes Greenland’s glaciers each year can no longer keep up with the pace of ice melt, according to researchers at Ohio State University. That means …
Read More »FDA GRANTS EMERGENCY AUTHORISATION TO CHEAP NEW COVID-19 SALIVA TEST
18 AUG 2020 On Saturday, the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to a saliva-based test funded by the NBA and National Basketball Players Association to be available for public use, the agency announced. The test was developed by researchers at Yale and jointly funded by the …
Read More »GROUNDED BULKER WAKASHIO BREAKS APART OFF MAURITIUS
17 AUG 2020 The situation at the grounded bulk carrier Wakashio started to deteriorate overnight on Friday, August 14, and on Saturday, August 15 the end came when the 203,000 DWT Panama flagged bulk carrier broke apart. The drama had begun three weeks earlier when the ship sailing from China to Brazil …
Read More »BEIRUT PORT A MASSIVE BLAST 130 DEAD
06 AUG 2020 A series of two massive blasts at the port of Beirut, Lebanon caused extensive damage Tuesday, leveling multiple buildings and damaging vessels. Bystander video shows that the both blasts originated in a warehouse complex on the east side of the port’s large concrete silo, next to Basin Number …
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