Vehicle News

The FBI said on Monday it opened a criminal probe into the collapse of a Baltimore bridge in March when a ship crashed into a bridge support, while local officials confirmed the recovery of a fourth body from the incident.FBI agents boarded the cargo ship Dali to conduct court-authorized law enforcement activity regarding the crash, an FBI spokesperson said. The spokesperson said there was no other public information available and the bureau will have no further comment.The body…

Chinese automakers and shippers are ordering a record number of car-carrying vessels to support a boom in EV exports, data showed, putting China on course to amass the world's fourth-largest fleet by 2028.China currently has the world's eighth-largest fleet with 33 car-carrying ships, showed data from shipping consultancy Veson Nautical. Japan has the world's largest with 283 ships, followed by Norway's 102, South Korea's 72 and Isle of Man's 61.But Chinese companies have 47 ships on order, accounting for a quarter of all orders globally.

The cargo ship Dali knocked down three main truss spans, constructed with connected steel elements forming triangles, on the Francis Scott Key Bridge just seconds after crashing into one of the bridge piers early on Tuesday morning, March 26, 2024.The bridge collapse happened so fast that it left little time for the work crews on the bridge to escape. Civil engineers like me have been paying attention to this disaster, because we want to find ways to make infrastructure like these large bridges more resilient. For a bridge this large to collapse would require a catastrophic collision force.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world’s largest RoRo vessel operator, has signed a multi-year contract with a leading global player in the premium car segment, valued at more than $1 billion.Spanning three years, the contract covers both shipping and logistics services, as well as the use of biofuel.The contract started between January and April 2024 with rates in line with current market levels, and also entails a mutual two-year extension option. “We see manufacturers shifting priorities and increasingly looking for solutions which provide predictability in their supply chains.

Houthi forces in Yemen said on Sunday they had launched rockets and drones at British, U.S. and Israeli ships, the latest in a campaign of attacks on shipping in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war.The Iran-aligned group said it had targeted a British ship and a number of U.S. frigates in the Red Sea, while in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean it had attacked two Israeli vessels heading to Israeli ports.The operations took place during the last 72 hours, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised statement…

Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark has unveiled Prowler, its new autonomous, amphibious, and semi-submersible military craft engineered to meet the current and near future warfighting requirements of the U.S. military and its allies. The company is also debuting Frenzy, a high-performance, low-cost, amphibious micro-USV (uncrewed surface vehicle) with a payload carrying capacity of up to 14 pounds.“Prowler represents the sum total of everything we’ve learned while building 400-plus autonomous and remote operated vessels for our military customers over the past decade…

Norwegian car shipping firm Wallenius Wilhelmsen estimates a $5 million to $10 million hit to core earnings from last week's U.S. Baltimore bridge collapse and expects the key ship channel to be closed for weeks, it said on Wednesday.The company said its vessel Carmen - which according to shipping data is among the biggest car carriers in its fleet - remained stuck in Baltimore's port, with the ship and its crew ready to sail as soon as the channel was reopened.Recovery teams opened a second channel enabling smaller vessels to navigate the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday…

Van Oord’s cutter suction dredger Biesbosch and trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Apolonia are teaming up to dredge the Prinses Amaliahaven located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.A consortium of Van Oord, HOCHTIEF and Ballast Nedam has constructed 2.4 kilometres of new quay wall. The new quays are being dredged to a depth of more than 20 metres below sea level. This development means that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is ensuring an expansion of container capacity in Rotterdam.In total 1…

The U.S. state of Maryland has opened a temporary channel on the northbound side of the collapsed Baltimore bridge, allowing limited tug and barge traffic around the container ship stuck at the disaster site, Governor Wes Moore said on Monday."It will help us to get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse," Moore told a news conference.The Port of Baltimore's shipping channel has been blocked since a fully loaded container ship lost power and collided with a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge last Tuesday…

U.S.-based Chance Maritime Technologies, a startup and service provider of uncrewed vessel technology, reports it has completed long-endurance commissioning trials of its MC-29: a 29-foot-long, mission-capable USV that operates at high power with long endurance. The vehicle completed over 40 total operational days, which included 24 operational days of 24-hour operation in Vermilion Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.This new class of utility vessel offers kilowatts of continuously available payload power…

Salvage crews worked to lift the first piece of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday to allow barges and tugboats to access the disaster site, Maryland and U.S. officials said, the first step in a complex effort to reopen the city's blocked port.The steel truss bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning, killing six road workers, when a massive container ship lost power and crashed into a support pylon. Much of the span crashed into the Patapsco River…

With efforts underway to clean up thousands of tons of steel debris from the collapsed bridge in Baltimore's harbor, Maryland Governor Wes Moore on Sunday urged Republicans to work with Democrats to approve the federal funding needed for rebuilding the bridge and to get the port economy back on its feet.Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning, killing six road workers, when a container ship nearly the size of the Eiffel Tower lost power and crashed into a support pylon.

Austal Limited announced Austal Vietnam has been awarded a contract to design and construct a 71-meter roll-on-roll-off (RORO) passenger cargo vessel for The Degage Group of French Polynesia.The new steel monohull ferry design includes an aluminium superstructure accommodating up to 140 seated passengers and 17 crew, and features a main cargo deck area of 494 square meters; capable of transporting a combination of 10- and 20-foot containers, palletized cargo and vehicles.With a cruising speed of 12 knots and a range of 1…

The catastrophic bridge collapse that closed the Port of Baltimore to ship traffic is unlikely to trigger a major new U.S. supply chain crisis or spike goods prices, due to ample and growing spare capacity at competing East Coast ports, economists and logistics experts say.With six people still missing after a container ship collision destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, it remained unclear how long the span's twisted superstructure would block the harbor's mouth.But port officials…

U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford will reroute affected shipments after a bridge collapse in the U.S. shuttered the Port of Baltimore, but the companies said on Tuesday the impact will be minimal."We expect the situation to have minimal impact to our operations. We are working to re-route any vehicle shipments to other ports," GM said in a statement.The Port of Baltimore is the busiest U.S. port for car shipments, handling at least 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration.

The containership allision that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore could cause "significant disruption" to shipping supply chains, according to industry analyst Xeneta.The 10,000 TEU Singapore-flagged Dali was operating on a 2M alliance service between Baltimore and the Far East when it struck the bridge around 1:35 a.m. on Tuesday, sending cars and people plunging into the river below."The immediate focus is the rescue operation, but there will clearly…

A container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the U.S. port of Baltimore in darkness on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below.Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one in a "very serious condition," and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.The ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving port, and crew on board notified Maryland officials they had lost control of the vessel, ABC News reported, citing an unclassified U.S.

A major bridge collapsed in the U.S. port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, plunging cars and as many as 20 people into the river below.Rescuers were searching for survivors in the Patapsco Riverafter huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.As many as 20 people could be in the river along with "numerous vehicles, and possibly a tractor-trailer or a vehicle as large as a tractor-trailer…

Demopolis Lock—which suffered a recent catastrophic failure—is a cautionary tale for other locks and those in Congress and the White House who may fail to see the urgency and importance of investing in the inland waterways system.The nation’s inland waterways lock and dam infrastructure, largely constructed in the 1930s, has seen modernization and rehabilitation across the system, albeit very slowly. Despite those efforts, lock failures continue, and the risk of failure persists.While…

Somali police and international navies were preparing on Monday to attack a commercial ship that was hijacked by pirates last week, the Puntland region's police force said, two days after Indian commandos rescued another cargo vessel held by pirates.The MV Abdullah was hijacked off the coast of Somalia last week, the latest of more than 20 attacks since November by Somali pirates who had laid dormant for nearly a decade.On Saturday, the Indian navy rescued another cargo vessel, the Maltese-flagged MV Ruen, which had been seized in December, freeing its 17 crew members and arresting 35 pirates.

Bayou la Batre, Ala. shipbuilder Steiner Shipyard reports it has launched a new ferry it is building for the Maine Department of Transportation.The 104-foot passenger/vehicle ferry, named Charles Norman Shay, is designed by Gilbert Associates and is scheduled to be delivered in the near future.Once completed, the brand-new vessel will service the Maine State Ferry Service’s (MSFS) longest route, between Rockland and Matinicus Island (23 miles). It will provide the necessary upgrade to the ferry service that transports nearly 500…

Spain-based Gondan Shipbuilders has started the construction of an advanced remotely operated unmanned surface vehicle (USV) for a company made up of DeepOcean, Solstad and Østensjø Rederi alliance called USV A/S.The project focuses on improving subsea operations, targeting a reduction of CO2 emissions by more than 90% compared to conventional methods.The new USV will be used for underwater maintenance and inspection missions.Designed by Salt Ship Design, the vessel will feature a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system…

Esgian reports that drilling contracts have been announced this week for operations in Brazil and the Philippines, and new discoveries have been confirmed in the UK and Namibia in its Week 11 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsCOSL Drilling has emerged as the winner for Petrobras' moored semisubmersible tender with the 4,600-ft Nanhai 8 (also known as Nan Hai Ba Hao).Noble has secured a high-dayrate drillship contract with Prime Energy in the Philippines.Drilling Activity and…