ship

New clean fuel regulations in California and voluntary slowdowns by shipping companies substantially reduce air pollution caused by near-shore ships, according to a new NOAA-led study published online in Environmental Science & Technology.

The study examined a container ship operating under a 2009 California regulation requiring that ships switch to low-sulphur fuels as they approach the California coast, and also adhering to a voluntary state slowdown policy, intended to reduce pollution. The research team found that emissions of several health-damaging pollutants, including sulphur dioxide and particulate matter, dropped by as much as 90 per cent.

Maersk set the standard for the world's largest container ship by TEU capacity when its first "Triple E" vessel set sail from as Asia to Europe in 2013. The new generation of Maersk ships can hold a little over 18,000 TEU, and Maersk ordered some 20 of them in total from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding - the first of its container ships that Maersk did not construct itself.

But the Triple E's title as largest ship on the seas didn't last long, as in December the new CSCL Globe from Hong Kong-based China Shipping Container Lines - capable of holding 19,000 TEU - set sail, arriving in the UK port at Suffolk this week. The ship is 400 meters long, and is said to have the capacity to move 300 million tablet computers. If the containers it can hold were laid end to end, they would stretch on for an incredible 72 miles.

But the CSCML Globe itself will hold the top spot for an even shorter period than the Triple E did. Soon to set sail in its first voyage is the MSC Oscar, which is capable of carrying about 120 more containers than the new CSCL ship.

Where will it end? Industry experts say there are designs on the table for ships capable of carrying perhaps 22,000 TEU.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) будет осуществлять доставку на суда с помощью дронов.

«Будь то доставка документов или жизненно важных лекарств, инспекция емкостей или мониторинг грузов и припасов, мы можем предложить нашим клиентам полуавтономные дроны, - сообщил вице-президент Business Solutions & Marketing WSS Ships Agency Мариус Йохансен. – С помощью беспилотников в кратчайшие сроки можно доставить все, что необходимо, – запчасти, лекарства, документы или наличные для капитана. Этот сервис является естественным дополнением к нашему портфелю услуг».