15 JULY 2019 China’s trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) reached $617.5 billion in the first half of 2019, up 9.7 percent year-on-year. This increase was greater than the growth rate of the country’s total trade for the period which remained stable at 3.9 percent, …
Read More »IRCLASS’ ARUN SHARMA TAKES THE HELM AT IACS
14 JULY 2019 Arun Sharma, the head of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass), has been elected to a one-year term as chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) in a recent council meeting in Busan, Korea. Sharma took over as chair on July 1, and his key …
Read More »PANAMA TO PULL MORE FLAGS FROM VESSELS VIOLATING SANCTIONS
12 JULY 2019 Panama will withdraw its flag from more vessels that violate sanctions and international legislation, the country’s maritime authority told Reuters, following the removal of about 60 ships linked to Iran and Syria from the Panamanian registry in recent months. After the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran by …
Read More »SOVIET NUCLEAR SUB THAT SANK OFF NORWAY IN 1989 STILL EMITTING RADIATION
11 JULY 2019 A Soviet nuclear submarine which sank off Norway in 1989 is still emitting radiation, researchers said on Wednesday following an expedition that used a remotely controlled vehicle for the first time. The wreck of the Komsomolets lies on the bottom of the Norwegian Sea at a depth …
Read More »WORLD’S LARGEST CRANE VESSEL TO DEPART ON MAIDEN VOYAGE
10 JULY 2019 The world’s largest and strongest crane vessel is getting ready to depart Indonesia on its maiden voyage to following the completion of construction in Singapore recently. Heerema’s newest vessel, named Sleipnir, is designed to work on large offshore projects such as installing and removing jackets, topsides, deep-water …
Read More »TANKERS DODGE TOP MIDEAST BUNKERING HUB AFTER SHIP ATTACKS
09 JULY 2019 Oil tanker owners are avoiding sending their ships to the Middle East’s main refueling hub after a spate of attacks on vessels in the past two months ratcheted up tensions and highlighted the growing risks of operating in the region. Strikes on tankers just outside the Persian …
Read More »WHEN TO WORK OUT EACH DAY TO KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF, STUDY SUGGESTS
08 JUL 2019 Finding time to commit to exercise can be a real challenge, forcing many of us to squeeze in a quick run or gym session whenever there’s a spare moment. It might be time to rethink those habits. New evidence suggests if you really want to make the …
Read More »PROSPECTS FOR LONG-LIFE BATTERIES IN WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION
07 july 2019 Until very recently, the short useable life expectancy of electrochemical batteries and their high replacement cost deterred companies engaged in inland waterway transportation from investing in electrical vessel propulsion. New developments in grid-scale vanadium-oxide flow batteries and in molten metal battery technology now offer the sector batteries …
Read More »‘DESERT’ IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC, AND WE FINALLY KNOW WHAT LIVES THERE
05 JUL 2019 In the centre of the South Pacific, there’s a place as far away from land as anyone on Earth could ever hope to get. The ocean is different there. These distant waters lie at the heart of the South Pacific Gyre, the centre of which holds the ‘oceanic pole …
Read More »GUIDE TO THE GENIUS CHEMISTRY BEHIND FIREWORK COLOURS
05 JUL 2019 It may be Independence Day, but there’s nothing revolutionary about the way your 4th of July fireworks are made. Fireworks have been built from a mix of explosive powder, chemicals, and glue for ages. The earliest fireworks shows date back more than a thousand years. But not …
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