Beauty

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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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EMISSIONS PROJECTED TO RISE 50 PERCENT BY 2050 IN IMO FOURTH GHG STUDY

05 AUG 2020 The International Maritime Organization (IMO) released the long-awaited 575-page final report for its Fourth IMO Greenhouse Gas Study. Coming six years after the third report, the results are viewed as a critical scorecard measuring the success of the shipping industry towards the goals of reducing greenhouse gas …

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QUICK MOORING ALLOWS 75 PEOPLE TO SAFELY DISEMBARK SINKING CRUISE BOAT

02 AUG 2020  On Sunday evening, a river cruise boat sank on Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. All 60 passengers and 15 crewmembers aboard were safely evacuated to a nearby pier. According to local media, the three-deck dinner cruise boat High Season 1 picked up a company of Chinese and Thai tourists at …

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SUICIDE ABOARD MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND SHIP PROMPTS UNIONS TO CALL FOR END TO “GANGWAYS UP” ORDER

01 AUG 2020 The heads of the three unions representing Military Sealift Command civilian mariners are calling on MSC to reevaluate the “Gangways-Up” order as concerns mount over the mental health safety of the mariners. In a July 29 letter to Admiral Michael A. Wettlauer, Commander of the Military Sealift Command, the …

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MISSION TO SEAFARERS REPORTS “SEAFARER WELFARE CRISIS” DUE TO COVID-19

30 JUL 2020  The Mission to Seafarers’ latest Seafarer Happiness Index survey shows growing levels of stress and unease amongst the seafaring community due to the COVID-19 crisis, the maritime charity reported Wednesday. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 seafarers are stuck on board because of government policies that prohibit regular …

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HONG KONG SHIPPERS AND DUBAI SPEAK OUT ON CREW CHANGE CHALLENGES

29 JUL 2020  Three weeks after coming together to address the challenges imposed on seafarers due to the travel restrictions due to COVID-19, countries around the world continue to struggle with permitting crew changes while seeking to continue to mitigate the spread of the virus. Several countries have been forced …

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THE SOUTH ATLANTIC ANOMALY MAY GO BACK FAR LONGER THAN ANYBODY KNEW

24 JULY 2020 For years, scientists have been gripped by the existence of a strange anomaly weakening Earth’s magnetic field. It’s located in the midst of the South Atlantic ocean, extending all the way from South America to the west coast of southern Africa. This giant, puzzling expanse of reduced magnetic intensity …

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