ShipSure 2.0: Big Data, Bigger Benefits
Ship owners can derive imperative business and operational insights from integrated, real-time data which is readily accessible via a single platform, especially if it can be taken away with you, writes V.Group CIO Stephen MacfarlaneFor the maritime industry, these are exciting and momentous times, with digitalization as an emphatic and decisive pivot point in operational, business and environmental sustainability. The potential is now incontestable for businesses along the entire length of the supply chain to effect the requisite changes and witness substantial digital advantages – or…
The Nuclear Option
In the eyes of some, the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was the event that would signal the end of nuclear power for electrical power generation and would end any hope of the world utilizing nuclear-powered commercial vessels other than the Russian barge carrier, SEVMORPUT and numerous Russian ice breakers. Contrary to the afore mentioned opinion, I believe that not only are selected-route nuclear powered commercial vessels good for the marine industry but they…
A Case for Commercial Nuclear Power Vessels, Post the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster
Russian ice breakers. Contrary to the afore mentioned opinion, I believe that not only are selected-route nuclear powered commercial vessels good for the marine industry but they also offer the world the most environmentally friendly and potentially the most economical and efficient way of shipping trans-ocean cargo. Although the Fukushima Daiichi disaster was a disaster of major proportions, we must not forget that it was initiated by a much more deadly and destructive disaster; a tsunami caused by a magnitude 9.0 Richter scale underwater earthquake. The nuclear disaster that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi complex was not caused by inherent problems with the reactor…
MarAd Awards Contract to Battle Invasive Species
The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has awarded a $350,000 contract to the Northwest-Midwest Institute’s Great Ships Initiative to develop appropriate protocols for ballast water discharge sampling. Ballast water has been a major factor in the spread of invasive species. Proper and standardized ballast discharge sampling protocols are fundamental to verifying that ballast water treatment technology is effective aboard a working ship, as well as in the laboratory. The new contract is for targeted, empirical, engineering and biological research to design and validate a ballast sampling method that is reliable, replicable, and cost-effective for both the ship owner and the regulatory community.