Eiffel Tower News

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.

The biggest operational crane on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard towered over Baltimore's port on Friday, ready to begin clearing the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge days after a cargo ship crashed into it, sending the span crashing into the harbor.Crews were still surveying the damage as of midday Friday. The crane, which can lift up to 1,000 tons, arrived late Thursday night and will probably start hauling debris out of the water on Saturday morning, according to U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Carmen Carver.A second crane is en route and expected to arrive soon to assist the effort…

The heads of NATO and the European Commission flew on Friday to a North Sea platform bigger than the Eiffel Tower in a visit underlining Norway's importance for gas supplies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The Troll A platform extracts gas from Norway's biggest gas field. After a drop in Russian flows, the Nordic country last year became the largest gas supplier to the EU.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will discuss the protection of infrastructure and gas supplies to Europe with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere…

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has approved in principle the Bassoe D-Floater, a floating offshore wind turbine foundation.It is said that the Bassoe D-Floater foundations will be able to handle 15 megawatt offshore turbines, which will be among the world's largest. Apart from prototypes being tested onshore, there are no 15 MW turbines installed offshore as of yet. They can be as tall as the Eiffel Tower and can weigh upwards of 2,000 tons.What is more, according to the press statement announcing the ABS AiP…

As of end-June 2021, more than 100 turbine and foundation installation and maintenance vessels will be required for offshore wind projects planned over this decade.More than 100 turbine and foundation installation and maintenance vessels will be required for offshore wind projects planned over this decade. Almost all of the current fleet of international wind turbine installation vessels will be technically redundant as installation vessels by 2025 as a consequence of the rapidly growing wind turbine sizes, greater water depths and increase in foundation size.

The 23,656 teu MSC Isabella became the largest containership to call the Port of Singapore when it berthed on 10 November 2019.The MSC’s Gülsün-Class of container vessels is currently the world’s largest series of container ships.To date, MSC Isabella is the biggest container ship to call at Singapore, the world’s top transshipment hub. Measuring around 400 meters long and 61 meters wide, the ship can carry up to 24 rows of containers, with a height of 13 tiers on deck. Its total capacity is 23,656 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). Its length exceeds that of the Eiffel Tower and it can transport the equivalent of about 384 million pairs of shoes.Singapore is the ship’s first port-of-call in Asia after sailing back from Europe. The ship was delivered to MSC in August 2019.

Offshore wind could become a cornerstone of the world's power supply as steep cost reductions and improved technology unleash the potential of the green energy source, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Friday.Renewables replacing fossil fuel is crucial to meet a globally-agreed goal of limiting temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius this century and the expansion of offshore wind could avoid 5-7 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions from the power sector globally, said the IEA.Power generated from wind turbines at sea only accounts for 0.3% of global electricity generation today…

Offshore renewable energy is gaining investment support in the United States, particularly on the east coast. While the U.S. is a full generation behind its European counterparts in tapping the wind as an energy source, if current plans come to fruition it could gain ground quickly. Recently we spoke with Astrid Skarheim Onsum, SVP, Head of Wind Aker Solutions, for her view on the path ahead and the growing role and promising future of ‘floating wind.’Please give an overview of your responsibilities as SVP…

The offshore converter platform, BorWin gamma, has now safely set sail from Dubai and begun its journey to  its offshore site in the German part of the North Sea.Through the Gulf of Oman, the 18,000 ton ‘topside’ will pass into the Red Sea before going through the Suez Canal onto the Mediterranean and past Gibraltar. The journey then moves through the Bay of Biscay, to the English Channel and into the North Sea where it will be integrated with the ‘jacket’ nearly 130 kilometres off the German coast.Along with BorWin3, a 900-megawatt connection for two offshore wind farms will go into operation next year and be able to supply more than one million households.It will be one of the world’s heaviest and largest HVDC platforms…

The world’s biggest specialized vessel to import liquefied natural gas (LNG)  is scheduled to be operational in November to contribute to Turkey's energy supply security, Bloomberg reported. The MOL FSRU Challenger, as long as the Eiffel Tower, is expected to arrive from South Korea this month and start by year-end. Last winter, a cold snap gripped the whole region, including Iran, where Turkey gets some of its gas from. That meant the nation couldn’t get hold of enough fuel to meet its booming gas demand and the grid asked private power plants to reduce fuel demand by as much as 90 percent. A first floating storage and regasification unit, the Neptune, arrived in December to complement two onshore terminals at Aliağa and Marmara Ereğlisi.

Successful completion of the Petronas Floating LNG facility (PFLNG) Satu is a milestone for the oil and gas industry and for the Malaysian energy giant. Designed by consortium leader TechnipFMC and fabricated at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering yard in South Korea, PFLNG Satu achieved the first-ever production of LNG offshore in December 2016. The 365-meter by 60-meter facility processes, produces and offloads LNG in situ, directly above natural gas reservoirs. FLNG allows the monetization of remote…

The world’s first icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, Christophe de Margerie, has berthed at the gas terminal at Sabetta Port in Russia, becoming the first vessel to do so. Built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) in South Korea, the tanker was designed to order for SCF Group, specifically to serve Russia’s Yamal LNG project, and transport LNG year round in the difficult ice conditions of the Ob Bay and Kara Sea. On March 30 the vessel’s master…

The two main construction projects in the Marseille harbor area of leading French port Marseille Fos are nearing completion following a decisive stage in works costing almost €64 million ($70.6 mln) that will cater for mega-ships by enlarging the Passe Nord port entrance and recommissioning the giant No.10 drydock. The drydock has been flooded for the first time since work started in January 2014 to enable flotation of a new 9,100 tonne dock gate and three 4,500 tonne caissons – under construction there since March - that will form the remodelled ends of sea walls guarding the harbor entrance.

Tens of thousands of French well-wishers waved goodbye to the largest luxurious cruise ship named “Harmony of the Seas”as it set sail on its maiden voyage to the U.K. after 32 months in a French shipyard in Saint-Nazaire. The $1 billion Harmony of the Seas cut a gargantuan silhouette Sunday as it left the western port town of Saint-Nazaire. The 120,000-tonne giant is the widest — 66 meters — and the longest — 362 meters — cruise ship ever built. At 362 metres (1,187 feet) long, the 16-deck ship is bigger than the Eiffel Tower and holds the record for being the widest cruise ship ever built — boasting a 6,360-passenger capacity. It’s been compared to a floating city with more than 2,500 staterooms, 20 dining venues, 23 swimming pools and a park with more than 10,000 plants and 50 trees.

The world's largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas – which cost US$1 billion to build over 32 months – has been finished and was delivered to owner Royal Caribbean International. The immense floating town has 18 decks and will be able to carry 6,360 passengers and 2,100 crew members. At 66 metres (217 feet), it is the widest cruise ship ever built, while its 362-metre length makes it 50 metres longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower. Barcelona will be Harmony's home port for the next few months – it has 34 seven-night voyages scheduled, first sailing June 7 – before relocating to Port Everglades, Florida, for the winter Caribbean cruising season. The ship was built for the US-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) by the STX France boatyard in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast.

ABB will deploy 40 special transformers to equip wind turbines for an offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea. The MHI Vestas Offshore Wind turbines are 195 m (640 ft) tall - around two-thirds the height of the Eiffel Tower - and weigh 1000 metric tons, approximately double a fully-loaded Airbus A380 plane. Its 80 m (262 ft) rotor blades sweep through an area equivalent of three soccer fields and can produce up to eight megawatts of power, making it the most powerful wind turbine in the world. ABB received the order from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind for the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm, located around 19 kilometers west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, England. The offshore wind farm is owned by the Danish utility DONG Energy A/S.

Harmony of the Seas, the world's largest luxury cruise ship took to the seas for the first time on Thursday afternoon as it slides into the waters of western France, in the port of Saint Nazaire. Thousands of people gathered at the dock to watch as the 120,000-tonne ship was helped out to sea by six tugs. Some 500 people – mostly crew as well as engineers, suppliers and Royal Caribbean International staff – were on board for the trial, which is set to continue until Sunday. The next trials will take place before the end of April, with delivery set for May 12. Harmony of the Seas, built by STX France at a cost of $1.1bn (£770m), is 362m (1,187 ft) long and weighs 227,000 tonnes.

The hulking shell of Royal Caribbean’s “Harmony of the Seas” — the world’s largest cruise ship — entered the water in France on Friday. It’s expected to take its maiden voyage in 2016. The huge vessel has been under construction since September 2013 in the shipyards in Saint-Nazaire. The 16-deck ship will carry 6,360 passengers along with 2,100 staff. It weighs 227,000 tons and measures 1,187 feet — that’s 50 meters longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower. Harmony is also a metre wider than the current twin ocean-going monsters of the pleasure cruise world, which are also 362 metres long. "Allure of the Seas" and "Oasis of the Seas", the world's biggest cruise ships in current service, is 65 metres wide and come in at 225,000 tonnes a piece.

Britain's newest ever superliner Britannia has arrived in its home port Southampton ahead of its official naming ceremony. It’s the largest cruise ship built for the British market. It will bear the same name as the Queen's former Royal Yacht Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997 after more than 50 years of service. The Queen will officially name the vessel in Southampton on 10 March. Capable of carrying more than 3,600 passengers and 1,350 crew, the 1,082-ft long vessel is the largest cruise ship designed specifically for the British holiday market. Boasting 15 passenger decks, 13 bars and 13 places to eat, the £473 million Britannia has a three-tier atrium, a 936-seater theatre, four swimming pools, and a multi-million pound art collection.

Jewish groups in the Netherlands and Britain have reacted with rage and despair at the arrival in Rotterdam of the world's biggest ship, the Pieter Schelte, named after a Dutch officer in the Waffen-SS. The Pieter Schelte, which is so big it can lift oil rigs out of the water, is docked in Rotterdam after being constructed at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering shipyard in South Korea. A statement from Jonathan Arkush, the vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, appeared in the Guardian news paper says: “Naming such a ship after an SS officer who was convicted of war crimes is an insult to the millions who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis.

Pieter Schelte Heerema, one of the largest ships in the world with a length of more than three football fields, arrives at the port of Rotterdam for the last works before it is operational. Pieter Schelte Heerema, one of the largest ships in the world, which is capable of lifting oil platforms weighing almost five times the weight of the Eiffel Tower, arrived Thursday in Rotterdam for the last work before it goes into service. The nearly 400-metre (440-yard) long crane ship arrived in Europe's largest port from South Korea where it was built at DSME’s Okpo shipyard, ahead of starting work lifting rigs and laying pipelines this summer. The vessel is 124m (407ft) wide and 382m (1,253ft) long – as long as the Empire State Building is high.

Cruise tourism set a new record in Gothenburg this year. From April to October, 73 cruise ships visited Gothenburg, carrying 110,000 visitors. In total, cruise tourism generated around SEK 60 million in pure tourist revenue for the city. Cruising is the most rapidly growing travel segment in the world and this is definitely noticeable in Gothenburg. This year, 73 ships, carrying 110,000 cruise travellers, visited the city. Jill Söderwall, Head of Cruise Operations at the Port of Gothenburg, said: "This is an all-time high. Never before have we had so many calls. The peak was in May when we had seven calls and 12,500 guests in just two days.

Beloved ocean liner Queen Mary turns 80 on September 26, and the public is invited to join a ship-wide celebration. The Queen Mary will open her gangways and ballrooms, decks and salons, attractions and eateries to a daylong celebration. There will be no charge for admission to the ship (10 a.m. - 7 p.m.), discounted ship tours and $5 parking. Commemorations will include the reading of letters by King George V at the ship's launch on Sept. 26, 1934, and a recent congratulatory message from Queen Elizabeth II on the ship's 80th anniversary.