New Plan Pledges Ferry Safety Lead
Interferry has unveiled a strategic plan promising to put safety issues at the heart of its work as the voice of the worldwide ferry industry. The pledge came at the global trade association’s 41st annual conference in Manila – a venue chosen to spotlight the challenges of domestic ferry safety in developing nations. According to Interferry, the plan signals its overriding ambition to help lift ferry safety in all parts of the world to the very high standard already in place in North America and Europe, where casualties in recent decades have been extremely rare.
Marine Fouling: Surface Texture Investigations May Provide Solution
Investigating surface texture could offer a non-toxic solution to marine fouling. Engineering and marine biology experts at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China are using innovative approaches to develop non-toxic solutions to the global problem of marine fouling, in the hope of reducing its environmental and economic costs. Marine industries have long sought chemical solutions to the problem of marine fouling but now researchers at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) are using innovative approaches to look at how surface texture can be used as a non-toxic solution.
Navy's Top Engineers and Scientists Honored
By Lt. Cmdr. John T. The Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, John S. Thackrah, today honored 46 of the Department of the Navy's top scientists and engineers at the second annual Top Navy Scientists and Engineers of the Year award ceremony at the Pentagon, May 29. The Department of the Navy has over 35,000 scientists and engineers pursuing research, development, acquisition and sustainment. The award was established to honor those who reached superior technical achievements and to promote continued scientific and engineering excellence. "This award ceremony recognizes the top scientists and engineers in the Department of the Navy," Thackrah said.
Toxic Chemical Clean Up Continues
Reports indicate that owners of a container ship which is leaking a toxic chemical may face prosecution as investigations continue into how the dangerous substance became exposed. Emergency Services were continuing to remove the substance from the Kota Pahlawan which was forced to dock in Brisbane, Australia. The fire brigade boarded the Liberian container ship off Caloundra to make sure the vessel was safe. They conducted gas and heat testing on the container itself, and sealed it, before allowing the ship to continue to Brisbane. The chemical, Xanthate - a powder used in the mining industry - is safe when dry. But it had become wet, giving off a potentially explosive toxic gas.
