10 april 2019 In the coming months, a large drone will check emissions from ships in Danish waters to make sure they comply with sulfur emissions limits. The drone is being provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency and is fitted with a so-called “sniffer” capable of measuring sulfur emissions. …
Read More »MATHEMATICIANS JUST DISCOVERED AN ‘ASTONISHING’ NEW WAY TO MULTIPLY LARGE NUMBERS
9 APR 2019 A pair of mathematicians from Australia and France have devised a new way to multiply numbers together, while solving an algorithmic puzzle that has perplexed some of the greatest math minds for almost half a century. For most of us, the way we multiply relatively small numbers …
Read More »ELECTRONIC INFORMATION EXCHANGE NOW MANDATORY FOR PORTS
09 april 2019 A mandatory requirement for national governments to introduce electronic information exchange between ships and ports came into effect from April 8, 2019. The requirement, mandatory under IMO’s Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention), is part of a package of amendments under the revised Annex …
Read More »U.S. BLACKLISTS GREEK TANKER FOR SANCTIONS-BUSTING
08 april 2019 The U.S. Department of the Treasury has blacklisted two shipping firms and dozens of vessels, including one Greek tanker, in connection with U.S. sanctions on Venezuela. The two companies are Ballito Bay Shipping and “ProPer In Management Inc.” of Athens. Both share the same address in Piraeus. …
Read More »MAGIC PIPE MARPOL VIOLATIONS CAN BE SPOTTED FROM SPACE
07 april 2019 Environmental monitoring organization SkyTruth watches for illegal activity using satellite data, and over the past several years, they’ve made it clear that “magic pipe” bilge water disposal can no longer be hidden at sea. Bypassing the ship’s oily water separator to dump bilge waste is an illegal but …
Read More »DNA AND RNA MAY HAVE EXISTED TOGETHER BEFORE LIFE BEGAN ON EARTH
06 APR 2019 Before there was life, ribonucleic acid (RNA) ruled the primordial soup. Or so the story goes, according to what’s known as the RNA World hypothesis. But it seems we may have been too hasty in leaving out RNA’s more complex cousin, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Chemists from the UK …
Read More »ICS: OVERSUPPLY STILL A MAJOR CHALLENGE
05 APRIL 2019 Simon Bennett, Deputy Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has warned that avoiding overcapacity and unsustainably low freight rates is still a major challenge 10 years after the massive downturn of 2008. “In that time shipping companies needed to show restraint when ordering new …
Read More »MALAYSIA TO BUILD SHIP-TO-SHIP FACILITY IN JOHOR STRAIT
04 APRIL 2019 Malaysia has announced plans to build a ship-to-ship transfer facility near Johor’s Port of Tanjung Pelepas. The 1,200 hectare (3,000 acre) facility, estimated to cost up to $180 million, will be build in the Strait of Johor opposite Singapore’s Port of Tuas and is touted as the …
Read More »GPS ROLLOVER HAPPENS APRIL 6
03 april 2019 The IMO has reminded maritime users of the Global Positioning System Standard Positioning Service (GPS-SPS) to check their systems ahead of the week counter roll over on April 6, 2019. Some outdated GPS receiver systems may cease to function properly – with potentially serious impacts on navigation. …
Read More »GLOBAL TRADE GROWTH COULD REBOUND IN 2020
02 APRIL 2019 World trade will continue to face strong headwinds in 2019 and 2020 after growing more slowly than expected in 2018 due to rising trade tensions and increased economic uncertainty, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO). WTO economists expect merchandise trade volume growth to fall to 2.6 …
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