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Uber News

14 Apr 2023

Wight Shipyard Launches Hybrid Ferry for Uber Boat by Thames Clippers

(Photo: Wight Shipyard)

British aluminum shipbuilder Wight Shipyard has launched Earth Clipper, the first in a series of series of two new Clipper-class hybrid passenger vessels for Uber Boat by Thames Clippers.One of the key features of the new ferry is its hybrid propulsion system, which combines electric and diesel engines to reduce emissions and minimize our environmental impact making it one of the most eco-friendly options for river transport in London.The hybrid design will allow the new Uber…

21 Feb 2022

World's Largest Cruise Ship Makes US Debut

Wonder of the Seas (Photo: Port Everglades)

Port Everglades once again welcomes the largest cruise ship in the world. Royal Caribbean International's Wonder of the Seas docked at her homeport, Port Everglades, this weekend for her inaugural season beginning March 4. This is the fourth Oasis-Class ship to make its U.S. debut at Port Everglades.Built by French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique, the new 236,857 GT cruise ship takes the title of world's largest from its 228,081 GT sister ship Symphony of the Seas, in service since 2018.

08 Feb 2022

Shipbuilding Merger: Wight Shipyard and OCEA Reach All-share Deal

(Photo: The Wight Shipyard Co)

British aluminum shipbuilder The Wight Shipyard Co. on Tuesday announced an all-share merger with France-based shipbuilder OCEA to create a combined group aiming to capitalize on the fast ferry and offshore renewable energy markets opportunities. The deal is scheduled to complete by March 2022 and will see The Wight Shipyard Co. nearly double in size.Peter Morton, CEO of The Wight Shipyard Co., said, “This is a transformational deal for The Wight Shipyard Co. and for the Isle of Wight, confirming the resurgence of the shipbuilding industry in the United Kingdom.

06 Oct 2021

ZIM Establishes Digital Freight Forwarding Company

Carmit Hoshen-Glik, Ship4wd CEO (Photo: ZIM)

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. on Wednesday announced the creation of a new subsidiary, Ship4wd, a digital freight forwarding platform offering an online self-service end to end shipping solution.Launching October 18, 2021, Ship4wd is intended to be a one-stop-shop international shipping service targeting U.S. and Canadian small and medium-sized businesses importing and exporting from China, Vietnam and Israel, ZIM said. The Ship4wd platform consists of both sea and air shipping services up to the final destination…

21 Jun 2021

Maersk VC co-leads Funding Round in Egyptian Freight Logistics Start Up

Photo courtesy © putilov_denis

Egyptian startup Trella, a digital platform connecting truckers with freight loads, has raised $42 million in equity and debt, including from the venture capital arm of shipping giant Maersk, its chief executive said.Founded three years ago in Cairo, Trella operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It is one of several technology firms around the world seeking to upend traditional truck brokerages.Through Trella's online platform, shippers and truckers can directly book freight loads for transport.

24 May 2021

Sea Change: Global Freight Sails Out of the Digital Dark Ages

© hit1912 / Adobe Stock

If suppliers in China fail to pick up freight containers to fill an order for MediaShop, Marcel Schneider gets an alert via a digital freight system, allowing the retailer to reach out and fix the problem swiftly.Before July 2020, Austria-based MediaShop’s deputy supply chain director says he would discover problems in his supply chain only when containers failed to arrive in Hamburg as scheduled.“It was like being in a tunnel where you had only a limited view of what was going on…

11 Aug 2020

Uber Boat Launches in London

(Photo: Uber Boat by Thames Clippers)

Uber is taking to the water in London. Earlier this month the international ride-hailing company marked the start of a partnership with water taxi operator Thames Clippers to provide its services on the River Thames.The first vessel donning Uber Boat by Thames Clippers branding set sail on August 3 as part of a fleet of 20 passenger vessels departing from 23 piers across London from Putney in the west to Woolwich Royal Arsenal in the east.Uber is rolling out the service on its app…

31 May 2020

Jeff Bezos Invests in Digital Freight Forwarder Beacon

© THATREE / Adobe Stock

Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has picked British startup Beacon, a digital freight forwarder, for his latest investment.Beacon said on Sunday it raised over $15 million in Series A fundraising, from investors including Bezos and venture capital firm 8VC.The startup, formed by two former Uber Technologies Inc executives two years ago, is already backed by Uber founders Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, along with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.Beacon is also a supply chain finance firm that provides real-time data of cargo delivery and a marketplace view of global shipping costs and

20 Mar 2019

Uber Freight Expands into Europe

Uber has announced that its lesser-known service, Uber Freight, will be arriving in Europe helping independent trucking companies with logistics.Next month, Uber Freight will start operations in the Netherlands, marking the unit’s first international expansion, the company said.The newly spun out Uber business unit that helps truck drivers connect with shipping companies sad that Holland was selected as the launch country due to its “dense logistics hub connecting Europe.”"The inroads we have made in the U.S. are exciting, and we recognized from the start that freight logistics is a global industry and an integral part of the world economy.

18 Oct 2022

Marine Hybrid quietly arrives … positioned to explode

The Harbor Harvest vessel under construction (CREDIT: Robert Kunkel)

Hybrid is not only here, it is growing, and with that growth it will soon reach far beyond coastal applications.For those who were around for the arrival of Y2K, you will remember the anticipation, preparation and perspiration as the maritime world waited for the failure of communications, navigation, security and machinery associated with the digital change of the clock. The forecasts, now historical urban legend, left the world without a digital catastrophe.We wait now for 2020 and the advent of the IMO maritime emissions regulations.

27 Sep 2018

Petrobras to Resume Building Its Own Platforms

(Photo: Petrobras)

Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA will build its own oil platforms again from 2023, regardless of who wins the presidential election next month, an executive at the state-run oil company said.Petrobras' 2019-2023 business plan, set to be released in December, should include a resumption of platform construction thanks to the company's improving finances, Petrobras' director for production and technology development Hugo Repsold said."We will build platforms independently of who is president…

30 Jan 2018

Driving the Digital Ecosystem

As one of the most important megatrends this decade, digitalization is already moving beyond the concept of connectivity and data gathering towards a greater and more integrated future where the entire industry coexists as one digital ecosystem. As this vision becomes a reality, we will see a new era of partnerships, knowledge sharing, and AI-led practices. Disruptive technologies and ground-breaking projects have begun to transform the maritime landscape, and the opportunities that emerge from this transition will avail the innovators and organizations that are already embracing the digital frontier. “Digitization and cloud computing are enablers for an industry that needs to remain relevant, cost-effective and drive value to all of its customers. We are an industry in change.

03 Jan 2018

Navigating the New Norm

Christopher J. Wiernicki (Photo: ABS)

It is not business as usual in the world where we do business. Things are changing. Even regulations themselves are changing from less prescriptive in nature to more performance-based. As Chairman, President and CEO of a global classification and technology-centric company that operates in 70 countries with 5,000 employees, I am continually assessing the impact of these changes on the capabilities ABS needs to fulfill its mission and maintain its leadership position in the maritime, offshore and government industries it serves. To know where we are heading, we have to know where we began.

20 Nov 2017

Crowley in Command

Tom Crowley (Photo: © Brian Moran)

Tom Crowley has become the face of the U.S. maritime industry, steadily building his transport and logistics company into a formidable goliath. From Jones Act waivers to emerging emissions technology to the devastation of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, Crowley weighs in on the pressing matters of maritime with refreshing candor. The last time we caught up with Tom Crowley two years ago at this headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., we were handed a safety bulletin and Tom Crowley himself came down to the lobby to greet us.

24 Aug 2017

Clean Tanker Rates Soar on Strong Fuel Consumption

Mideast demand especially strong due to refinery outages. Rates for tankers carrying refined fuels like gasoline and diesel have soared this month as trade activity picked up and caused a supply crunch in ships, several shipbrokers and traders said. The high rates indicate strong consumer fuel demand due to the persistently low crude oil prices that have resulted from years of oversupply, refiners said. "Our order books are pretty good. Whether it's gasoline for cars or diesel for industry, we're receiving calls to ship more fuel," said one shipper based in Singapore. Rates for medium-range (MR) tankers carrying about 30,000 tonnes of oil products like gasoline…

19 Jun 2017

Disruption 'Powered by Transas'

Frank Coles (Photo: Transas)

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News caught up with Frank Coles, the ubiquitous leader of Transas, fresh from his company’s user’s conference in Malta. In typical candor, Coles paints his picture of maritime and shipping’s future. With a captive audience of more than 400 clients in scenic Malta for several days earlier this year, one might be surprised when Frank Coles admits that the meeting was not all about Transas. “I wanted something completely different. I didn’t want to talk about Transas, I wanted to talk about the industry and what we can learn from aviation.

08 Mar 2017

Rolls-Royce Blue Ocean Team Looks to the Future

Esa Jokioinen (Photo: Rolls-Royce)

Esa Jokioinen leads Rolls-Royce Marine’s Blue Ocean Team, a team that looks five to 10 years into the future to evaluate evolving technology trends, helping to determine where the company will invest. Jokioinen sat in Maritime Reporter & Engineering News’ New York City headquarters to discuss the look of maritime’s future: All arrows point toward digitalization. When Esa Jokioinen and his Rolls-Royce Blue Ocean Team look at future technology trajectory, he admits that there are some things related to energy storage (batteries), new fuel and exhaust cleaning that hold promise.

02 Mar 2015

Uber-Style Cargo Moving App Catching on at Congested LA Ports

Photo courtesy of the Port of Los Angeles

Los Angeles area ports are using a Uber-style app called Cargomatic to help clear congestion from recent slowdowns, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. After labor strife created what may be delays of up to two months, container terminals on the Pacific coast have no choice but to find new ways to speed the unloading of cargo. At the Port of Los Angeles, the use of the new Cargomatic app is allowing drivers to pick up whatever cargo is coming off a vessel the moment the truck arrives and deliver it to waiting customers.

31 Jan 2017

Smart Shipping: Transas CEO Sifts through the Hype

Frank Coles at 2017 SMART4SEA Conference & Awards (Photo: Transas)

Transas CEO Frank Coles delivered a presentation at 2017 SMART4SEA Conference & Awards, where he voiced his views on “smart shipping”, from big data and cyber security to unmanned ships. We live in a world where we hear the words, smart ships, connected ships, unmanned ships, automated ships, etc. We hear statements about a digital shipping world and a forecast of new business models in shipping. It’s a confusing world, a fast moving world. What is the reality and how do we sift through the hype?

09 Feb 2016

Amazon Expands Logistics Reach in China

Amazon.com Inc is aggressively expanding its logistics operations in China as part of a broader effort to control the rising cost of shipping billions of packages. Its plans in China, outlined in filings there, include handling cargo and customs for goods headed to ports in Japan, Europe and the United States. Some analysts say the move could help position Amazon to offer shipping services to other companies, eventually competing with the likes of United Parcel Service Inc and DHL Worldwide Express BV. That would mirror the strategy of Amazon's cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services, which is now the company's fastest growing unit. The service was launched to serve Amazon's own retail operations but now hosts data for other companies.

13 Mar 2017

The Perfect Storm of Digitalization and Commoditization

Frank Coles, Transas CEO (Photo: Transas)

Frank Coles, Transas CEO, delivered the keynote speech at the Transas Global Conference in Malta. We are faced with the perfect storm in the next few years. Many will conclude it is all the fault of President Trump, but in fact it is actually nothing to do with him. If anything he is going to enable the industry to think smarter because he is also bringing change. The perfect storm is the one confronting the maritime industry. It is one which will disrupt all elements of the shipping industry – is technology-driven and in some cases is also self-inflicted.

08 Jul 2015

Uber Boats Seek to Bypass Istanbul's Road Traffic

Image: Uber

With the towering bridges that span the Bosphorus choked by traffic, a new boat service from Uber aims to capitalise on Istanbul's infamous road congestion. In partnership with local sea transport company Navette the Uber Boat venture is unlikely to net a significant chunk of the company's Turkey revenue, but it is further evidence of the strategy underpinning its offerings - making it easier to transport anything, in any way, by first booking a pickup through a mobile app. "If we can get you a car in five minutes…