It’s quite possible that in the near future a warning of a deadly tsunami could come from a commercial ship.

The aim of the Wind Challenger Project is to substantially reduce fuel consumption by large merchant vessels. Under development by a group including members from the University of Tokyo, the idea is to utilize giant retractable sails, 20m wide by 50m high, to make maximal use of wind energy. The group has done simulations for shipping routes such as Yokohama-Seattle. The results indicate that hybrid ships with sails and engines could reduce annual fuel consumption by about 30% on average.

Shipping isn’t known for being environmentally-conscious, but Nissan’s new car carrier is packed with eco-friendly tech.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) returned to its homeport of Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka May 16, after completing sea trials.

Sea trials is the testing phase of a U.S. Navy warship designed to measure a vessel’s performance and general seaworthiness.

During this five-day evolution, George Washington completed drop tests on both anchors; conducted several aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) countermeasures drills and high-speed runs and rudder swing checks; as well as on-loaded both JP-5 jet fuel and various ordnance.

“Sea trials are where we put the past six months of maintenance to the test,” said Capt. David Lausman, USS George Washington commanding officer. “The crew worked extremely hard to make this warship the best in the Navy, and I could not be happier to see the way the crew and this ship have responded.”

George Washington’s Deck department spent the first day of sea trials conducting anchor drop tests that tested the durability and integrity of the ship’s two 30-ton anchors.

The anchor drop tests were conducted by 40 deck Sailors and involved lowering both anchors more than 60 feet to the sea below. These tests not only ensured the stability of the anchor and chain, but familiarized the crew with this dangerous evolution.

“This was the first time we released the anchor in quite some time,” said Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class John McNeil, from Conway, S.C. “I feel that our Sailors gained a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge. And that will translate into them getting the job done faster and safer when they are called upon.”

George Washington was coated with foam from a chemical fire-fighting agent known as AFFF. This was a part of a two-day long test of the ship’s counter-measure washdown system conducted by the ship’s engineering department.

Over three football fields of AFFF covered the ship, but all hands picked-up brooms to join the ship’s air department and scrubbed the aircraft carrier from stem to stern.

George Washington also conducted rudder swing checks and high-speed runs to test not only the ship’s seaworthiness, but the crew’s ability to perform in extreme high seas conditions. The ship maneuvered approximately 60,000 tons of steel and traveled more than 30 knots while conducting sharp turns. George Washington also conducted a ‘raging bull’ maneuver that began with the ship moving at top speed and then braking to a complete stop.

The crew worked diligently for a full two days of replenishments-at-sea (RAS) and vertical replenishments (VERTREP) with the USNS Tippacanoe (T-AO-199) and USNS Earhart (T-AKE-6). The ship received more than 1.9 million gallons of JP-5 jet fuel and approximately 3.7 million pounds of ammunition.

Each department contributed to the ship’s overall mission readiness by conducting its own set of evolutions and tasks – including the ship’s Air department, which is preparing for Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5′s arrival.

“We’re using our time wisely,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 3rd Class Yves Marlo Aguirre, from Manila, Philippines. “When we embark the air wing, we’ll be ready to go. “

CVW-5 will combine with George Washington to support U.S. 7th Fleet operations during its upcoming patrol.
The ship is working diligently to complete sea trials and pre-deployment preparations before returning to Yokosuka, Japan.

George Washington was commissioned July 4, 1992, and is the fifth of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers exercise the Navy core capabilities of power projection, forward presence, humanitarian assistance, deterrence, sea control and maritime security.

Ireland-based d’Amico Dry, the fully owned subsidiary of the d’Amico group, has ordered six 40,000 dwt bulk carrier newbuildings, with options for further six vessels, from China’s Yangfan Group.

The $134m deal, which values each handymax at $22.3m, has been financed through bank lending.

d’Amico chief executive Cesare d’Amico said: “The new vessels will strengthen our position in the handysize market, which we feel has a great capacity for future growth, and also demonstrate our commitment to the environment by significantly reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions when compared with both existing vessels, and other newbuilding designs available.

“Given their characteristics, the vessels have also attracted strong interest from the financial world and, as a consequence, financing for the project has been offered by a number of European banks at very competitive pricing compared to today’s market terms.”

At the Mare Forum Italy in Sorrento this week, Naples-based shipowner Giuseppe Bottiglieri said now was the right time to invest in ships. “At present there are just 157 bulk carrier newbuildings scheduled for delivery in 2014 and 17 in 2015, while the demolition trend is increasing,” Mr Bottiglieri said.

“I think the tonnage oversupply in the dry bulk market will reduce significantly in the next two years and the daily charter rate are expected to rise constantly in the mid-term.”

The new d’Amico vessels were designed by Deltamarin of Finland and optimised to d’Amico’s requirements, including being built with box-shaped holds. The Italian shipowning group also has the option to ask the shipyard to build the new vessels on a fully open hatch design.

Delivery is scheduled from mid-2014 from Yangfan’s Zhoushan shipyard.

MMT Group has signed a long term charter agreement for the Survey Vessel Oceanstar.

Oceanstar is a 26 m converted Dutch fishing trawler. MMT Group have fitted her out with the latest state-of-the-art survey equipment including a Kongsberg EM2040 dual head multibeam system, Applanix POSMV 320 inertial system and QPS QINSy and Fledermaus software for acquisition and data processing. Oceanstar will be utilised primarily for our Hydrographic Survey contract with the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.

A new stance by Indonesia has made a major difference in what was once the world’s top piracy blackspot.

Noel Choong, of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), said now most attacks in the busy shipping lanes between Indonesia and Malaysia could be stopped, as long as crews maintained a careful anti-piracy watch and raised the alarm quickly.

A decade ago, Indonesia’s lawless waters headed the world’s list of piracy trouble spots, particularly the Malacca Straits between Sumatra and West Malaysia.

Choong, head of the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, said alerting the Indonesian authorities then brought few results. But international pressure prompted Indonesia’s navy and marine police to take a tougher stance.

Located on a shipping route linking China, Japan, Korea and other Asian countries to Europe and the Middle East, the waterways around Singapore and Malaysia carry a massive proportion of the world’s commercial shipping.

Ships must pass through the Malacca Straits, Singapore Straits and the South China Sea, and into Indonesian waters. Often they carry vast sums of cash in the ship’s safe – frequently the pirates’ prime target.

The nature of the attacks is quite different to Somalia, Choong said.

“Somali pirates have little to fear, even if they commit murder, and will not give up even when spotted. But these days the criminal gangs behind the Asian attacks can usually be scared off.

“In Somalia, pirates go home to a country without an effective government. In Indonesia and its neighbours, they know they face prosecution and jail.”

He said attacks still happened, but the authorities now responded quickly.

The design and construction contract has been signed at the Port of Rijeka Authority with a consortium of Italian companies and Croatian “Osijek Koteks” for the container terminal at the Zagreb pier.

During the tender process for the most favourable bidder for designing and constructing the container terminal, the offer submitted by an Italian and Croatian business association was chosen, namely an Italian consortium composed of the following companies: JV Construction Co.Ed.Mar. S.r.l., Grandi Lavori Fincosit S.p.a., Impresa Construzioni Giuseppe Maltauro S.p.a., and the Croatain company “Osijek-Koteks” d.d. The contract is worth EUR 70.585.015,45 and the first phase of the new container terminal on the Zagreb Pier should be completed by 2017.

The Zagreb Pier Container Terminal is one of the basic components of the Rijeka Gateway Project, which first phase of construction will be realised by a loan granted by the World Bank, while the second phase of construction, including complete infrastructure and equipment, would be financed through private investment, modelled on a public and private partnership.