Travel Time News

A new report provides insights into animal welfare issues during transport within and from the EU.Around 44 million farmed animals a year are transported, including unweaned calves and lambs on journeys from Europe lasting up to three weeks.Inadequate and misleading official records are masking the true horror and scale of the EU’s long-distance trade in farmed animals, say the international NGOs Eurogroup for Animals and Compassion in World Farming, on release of the report.

Finnlines will make major investments in its route between Sweden and mainland Finland via Åland during 2023 as the freight and passenger shipping company continues to bounce back from the pandemic slowdown.The company announced on Tuesday that it is introducing two new Superstar cargo-passenger vessels as part of general plans for increasing passenger comfort on the Kapellskär–Långnäs–Naantali route, with the first ro-pax vessel set to start operating on the route in autumn 2023.The new vessels Finnsirius and Finncanopus are part of Finnlines EUR 500 million investment program…

Mariners and other transport workers seeking to renew their Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) will now be able to do so online following recent changes enacted by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA).Starting August 11, 2022, current TWIC holders are able to renew their credentials online, which eliminates the need to go to an enrollment center for most applicants, including U.S. citizens, nationals and lawful permanent residents, and makes…

Edison Chouest Offshore's affiliate C-Innovation has, through its C-Survey (C-S) division, brought its remote survey operations to the Gulf of Mexico for the first time, after two years of successful operation in Guyana.According to C-Innovation, remote surveys enable C-S to be fully operational 24/7 without personnel being onboard a vessel, eliminating associated travel time and expenses, offshore health and safety exposure, and the need for COVID-19 related measures.Credit: C-Innovation"After two years of successful operations in Guyana…

A newly retrofitted electric ferry is the first in Canada to be powered completely by a zero-emissions, lithium-ion power and propulsion system containing no diesel fuel components.In 2018, PortsToronto issued a request for expression of interest (RFEOI) to reduce air and noise emissions from its 96-foot Marilyn Bell I, used for transporting passengers, vehicles and supplies the very short distance (90-second trips) to and from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on Toronto Island.St. Catharines-based marine electrical engineering firm Canal Marine & Industrial Inc.

The Suez Canal blockage laid bare many of the challenges being faced by the global shipping industry today. With 12% of global trade passing through the canal each day, the total revenue lost from delayed, damaged or lost goods due to its blockage is estimated to be up to $10 billion. Many of the organizations that faced a logistical nightmare in the face of the Ever Given blockage struggled to respond to things as they happened and make informed predictions about future occurrences…

Who do you call when you need a job done on short notice, in total darkness, under 100-percent ice cover, thousands of meters at the bottom of the sea? In the case of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), you call your friends in Norway.That is exactly what the Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Lorin C. Selby did when he enlisted the help of the Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker and offshore patrol vessel, the CGV Svalbard, to retrieve oceanographic moorings containing irreplaceable data.

A true family business, Stan and Mary Helen Stephens started operating fishing and hunting charters out of Valdez, Alaska on their first vessel the 26-foot m/v Mary Helen, in 1971. Soon after, the rest of the family joined in, operating tours on the waters around Valdez and in Prince William Sound. They have been promoting the beautiful scenery and important resources of this community ever since, officially as Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises. The business has remained a valuable community asset, contributing economic, educational and environmental benefits to this region.

The North Carolina Ferry System (NCFS) has been designated by the federal Maritime Administration as a Marine Highway Project, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced ThursdayThe designation, a first for the state, will allow the ferry system to apply to the Marine Highway Grant Program, which awards federal funding to modernize vessels and improve infrastructure at terminals. This year’s grant program awarded $9.7 million to marine highway projects across the…

Maritime electrical and automation systems integrator RH Marine reports it is performing an increasing number of its services remotely amid travel restrictions and other challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.The engineers and people from RH Marine that normally go on board vessels to solve malfunctions, update software or for sea trials and other testing have not always been able to do so due to various COVID-19 measures due to reduced airline availability, government…

A set of complicated lock-and-dam projects on the Illinois Waterway, from Chicago to the Mississippi, has yellow lights flashing throughout the Midwest freight industry. In effect, the entire Waterway will be shut down next summer as the Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island Division, starts some hefty replacement and maintenance projects, from LaGrange to Brandon Road locks and dams.Officials advise maritime, freight and agricultural businesses to look ahead now, to prepare a logistics scenario that will be ready by July 1, 2020.

The Ferry’s second season this year presents permanent possibilities.The Cross Bay Ferry from Tampa’s Florida Aquarium dock to the dock at the North Yacht Basin in St. Petersburg, Florida is off to a rollicking start, with 3,000 more passengers in it’s debut month of November 2018 than its strongest month during the 2016/2017 test period, and with continued support from Tampa Bay area leadership.“We are very encouraged by the numbers we are seeing so far,” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said.

Global hyperloop pioneer Virgin Hyperloop One elects Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as Chairman and Jay Walder as CEO as company leverages new round of funding to begin implementation of hyperloop from Pune to Mumbai.Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem is the Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. Jay Walder, who is one of the world’s leading mass transportation and technology executives, has been appointed as its new CEO. Walder will also join the company’s Board of Directors.The selection of a new senior management team will allow Virgin Hyperloop One to transition its focus from technology startup to mass transportation company beginning with the implementation of the world’s first hyperloop system running from Pune to Mumbai.

Innovative waterway concept vessel could deliver transportation savings for shippers on the Mississippi River. Plans to transport freight via innovative waterway vessels that backers say will revolutionize the inland waterway system and provide significant transportation cost savings for shippers, especially those accessing the Midwest by utilizing the Mississippi River and its tributaries, are underway, according to Sal Litrico, CEO for American Patriot Container Transport, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Patriot Holdings LLC.Litrico presented information about Container on Vessel (COV) innovations at two St. Louis Regional Freightway Industry Forums in late August in St.

Finland’s ESL Shipping, an Aspo Group company, has taken delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled bulker Viikki from the Jinling shipyard in Nanjing, China.Viikki's sister ship Haaga was delivered on August 20. The 160-meter, LNG-fueled vessel of 25,600 dwt emits over 50 percent less carbon dioxide than the previous generation of vessels.Like its sister ship Haaga, Viikki will first head from the shipyard to Japan, from where it will arrive fully laden at the Baltic Sea approximately at the end of October. The plan is that both vessels will travel to the Baltic Sea via the Northern Sea Route.This shortens the travel time by nearly three weeks compared to the route via the Panama Canal and, therefore, significantly reduces the environmental impact of the trip.

Mississippi shipbuilder VT Halter Marine, Inc. has launched a new ferry, Powhatam, for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).In November 2016, VT Halter Marine was awarded the contract for the design, construction and delivery of the new 499-passenger/70-vehicle ferry that will replace the current vessel, the Virginia, which was built in 1936. The new ferry Powhatam, measuring 270ft x 65ft x 15ft, is capable of holding up to 70 passenger vehicles, or 14 trucks/buses…

Rolls-Royce is to supply more MTU engines to fast ferry operator Majestic Ferry in Singapore. Designed by Incat Crowther, a total of seven new fast ferries are being built at PT Cahaya shipyard in Batam, Indonesia over the next two years. Rolls-Royce is to supply 14 MTU engines for them by 2019. Each of the twin-hulled vessels is to be powered by two MTU 16V 2000 M72 units. “The determining factor for this follow-on order is the positive experience the operator has had with MTU engines and with our service,” said Chew Xiang Yu, a member of marine sales staff at MTU Asia.

A federal FASTLANE grant has been approved for S.S. Badger Ports & Harbor project impacting Manitowoc, Wis. and Ludington, Mich. A primer on how things get done. This is a story about two communities on the shores of Lake Michigan and the unique car ferry that connects them. The SS Badger provides a nautical “highway” across one of our nation’s major waterways, carrying passengers, oversized loads and trucks of nearly every kind. Essentially, the ferry provides a vital lifeline of commerce, tourism and economic growth between the cities of Manitowoc, Wis. and Ludington, Mich.

Brazil's Itaqui port, the country's closest deepwater gateway to the Panama Canal, has projected a rise in 2017 shipping volumes thanks to a record grain harvest and development of a new northern farming frontier. Most of Itaqui's export cargo arrives by train instead of roads. It is the deepest public port in Brazil, and its travel time to Europe and North America is seven days shorter than from rivals in the South. Itaqui can handle minerals, grains, fertilizers, fuel and woodpulp consignments. Until recently, it was strategic to oil company Petroleo Brasileiro, which accessed its deepwater berth to import fuel in large vessels. With a change in Petrobras' strategy causing its fuel transshipment activity to fall to almost zero…

A Container-on-Barge service intended to be an integral part of the regional intermodal equation is gathering momentum – and customers. Quietly, the Port of New Orleans (NOLA) has marked some important accomplishments in the past two years, across multiple business sectors. For example, in April 2016, NOLA’s Board dedicated a $25 million Mississippi River intermodal terminal, capable of handling 160,000 twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU) units per year by rail. CN Railroad signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) a year earlier (2015)…

Russia was now pitching itself as an important transporter of European gas to Asia, reports  Sputnik quoting Danila Bochkarev, a senior fellow at the EastWest Institute in Brussels. The Russian supertanker Christophe de Margerie is en route to South Korea, sailing the Northern Sea Route with a load of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Norway. The shipment is a major step for Russia’s Sovcomflot to enter the global gas transportation market said the report. The Northern Sea Route cuts the travel time from Europe to Asia by a hefty 40 percent and the Christophe de Margerie will cover this distance in just 15 days. Sovcomflot has 128 tankers and 13 LNG transport ships.

Norway is going to build the world’s first tunnel for ships, a 1,700-meter (5,610-feet) which will  cost over $300 million USD (NOK 2.7 billion) and allow cruise ships to bypass the most risky area along the coast of Norway. The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) will spearhead the project which is expected to start in 2019. The passageway burrowed through a piece of rocky peninsula will allow vessels to avoid a treacherous part of sea. Construction of the Stad Ship Tunnel, which would be able to accommodate cruise and freight ships weighing up to 16,000 tons, is expected to open in 2023. As per plans, the megastructure has a ground to ceiling height of 49 meters, a cross-sectional area of 1625m2 and a width of 36m between tunnel walls.

Mumbai, 13th December 2016: Digitization is the need of the hour. Understanding its need and importance in today’s world, Safmarine launched its own mobile app today. The newly launched app will allow to manage and track cargo on the go. The customers will be able to track their shipments in real time. Commenting on this announcement Mr Bimal Kanal, Cluster Manager-Safmarine India, said, “At Safmarine, we always work towards an environment, where ease of doing business takes precedence for our customers. Launching this app makes Safmarine one of the very few companies to offer such services. Digitization continues to transform industrial processes all over the world. Shipping is no exception.