Emergency Power System News

The captain of the Costa Concordia tried to persuade the crisis coordinator of the cruise line to pretend an electrical blackout had caused the shipwreck, a court was told on Monday. The luxury liner hit rocks as it sailed close to the island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 people and setting off a chaotic evacuation of crew and passengers, some of who jumped into the sea and swam ashore. "He suggested we say an (electrical) blackout had caused the collision. I said absolutely not…

The Norwegian Navy's submarine base. The Barents Observer asks: Ever dreamt of having your own Arctic submarine base? For less than € 14 million you can become owner of Norway’s Olavsvern Naval Base outside Tromsø. In spite of Norway’s bid to step up its military presence in the High North, the country’s only submarine base north of the Polar Circle was closed in 2009. The abandoned naval base has been for sale since January 2011, but has only been on Norway’s most popular open market web site for a couple of weeks. The base consists of 13.500 square meters of buildings and a 25.000 square meter mountain plant, including a large dock and a deep-water berth. Included in the facilities are a fuel depot, a tunnel system and emergency power system.

Following successful sea trials, Austal’s latest cruise yacht, the 36 passenger “True North” has been handed over to its owner and operator, North Star Cruises Australia. Several high-profile promotional events for local media were held whilst the vessel was in Fremantle, including a visit from rock music legend, Sting. North Star Cruises Australia Director, Craig Howson commented “True North appears to have captured the imagination of the luxury adventure cruise market. We are thrilled with the early response of both passengers and industry alike. We are particularly thrilled with the current level of enquiry and everyone at North Star is looking forward to a very successful year”.