Smart “Robot Containers” to Carry Aquaculture Products

A group of Norwegian graduates have developed smart “robot containers” with cooling systems that can sail to ports without any human interaction, classification society DNV GL informed.

The graduates developed SEAtrue, a supply chain for offshore distribution of aquaculture products. The consumer application TraceEat sends information about consumer preferences to the digital platform Veracity, which enables best possible use of resources. The seafood is transported in autonomous smart “robot containers” which employ sophisticated cooling techniques to extend shelf life.

The self-propelled containers are released from the processing vessel and either positions itself for pick up by a designated container ship or sails directly to a nearby port. That way, transportation by sea becomes more effective and efficient.

“SEAtrue is a cutting-edge supply chain system that allows for optimal distribution and lower emissions. Moreover, it adjusts production to meet demand and thereby enhance a sustainable aquaculture industry,” project manager Ole Johan Lønnum, a marine technology graduate at NTNU, said.

Presented at DNV GL’s Høvik headquarter, the solution “can revolutionise production and distribution of aquaculture products,” the classification society said.

Why do ship crashes continue?

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Although oceans are vast and navigational technology is well developed, conditions are still favorable for ocean collision incidents, such as the collision of a US-destroyed oil tanker a few days ago. What precautions can we take to prevent disasters of this kind in the future?

In the middle of the night, off the coast of Malaysia, a huge ship loaded with about 12 thousand tons of oil hit the left side of the US Navy destroyer "John S. McCain," named after the father of US Senator John McCain, and his grandfather.

Ten sailors from the destroyer are still missing, but the ship has now settled at Singapore's Changi Air Base.

The incident was particularly dramatic, as it took place just two months after a similar incident. The USS Fitzgerald crashed into a large cargo ship off the coast of Japan, killing seven sailors.

Although the ships that collided in the last two incidents are huge and equipped with radar and navigation systems at the highest level, as well as the existence of GPS to track the location of ships and the availability of wireless communications, how are collisions of this type? What precautions can we take to prevent their recurrence?

"As long as you monitor the radar and monitor the situation at sea moment by moment, collision events can be avoided," says Peter Roberts, director of military science at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSSI).

Although we do not know after the recent crash, some ships rely on the equipment, not the crew, to warn of an imminent collision.

Roberts says he traveled on merchant ships, where the driving rooms were sometimes completely empty. "The siren goes off from the radar and relies on this whistle to alert the person in charge of the surveillance mission, whatever."

Roberts adds that what is surprising is that two incidents of this magnitude in a few months, including each ship of the US Navy, "This is rarely happening," he said.

Of course, it is not a coincidence that the two US naval vessel collisions at this time are coincidental, but some raise questions about the possibility of a criminal suspicion or intentional damage or damage to ships. For example, it penetrated ship navigation systems to increase the likelihood of a collision ?.

At least one report indicates that the GPS receiver may have been deceived, affecting one ship in the Black Sea in recent months. Some observers have been concerned about the involvement of some countries in penetrating ship navigation systems in order to keep them off track.

There is no evidence yet that the recent collision of Fitzgerald and McCain resulted from the intentional deception of GPS, despite the spread of conspiracy theories over the Internet. Roberts says this possibility deserves study.

"We should not rule out any of the possibilities at the moment."

Large ship collisions occur from time to time, although some are not exciting enough to attract media attention.

Another collision occurred between two cargo ships off China's Fujian coast just one or two days before the American destroyer McCain. For example, the incident reportedly killed sailors aboard the ships.

"Investigators who investigate the causes of such accidents often find that human error is the main cause of the accident, not the deliberate destruction," says Heinrich Outh, chief executive of the Marine Survey Service, a Danish marine surveying firm that contracts ship insurance companies.

The company's investigators have encountered many cases in which crew members have already helped avoid imminent collisions with other ships, he said.

"When there's a bug, it's easy to blame the ship's captain, but we do not pay tribute to him every time he saves the ship," says O'Huth.

The risks to ships and their crews are not limited to collisions. A few days ago, a British ship, MV Cheshire, loaded with thousands of tons of manure, has been burning. The fire has been raging so far and washed away a few days ago near the Canary Islands. Helicopters have helped evacuate the crew from the ship.

The seas are becoming more overcrowded, and the number of merchant vessels in the world is increasing. According to British government statistics, the global merchant marine fleet was about 58,000 at the end of 2016. If the size of the fleet is measured by weight, it is doubled since 2004. So, will we see an increase in the number of crashes?

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wth believes that the financial crisis of 2008 led to a reduction in the profit margin achieved by many shipping companies, which led to a reduction in spending on crews.

"Cargo companies should look for and maintain crews of competent personnel, and individuals should know about the ship and make it well because it is a complex device," says O'Huth.

Any large ship with a mix of people who speak different languages, come from different nationalities, and follow safety procedures that vary from one country to another makes it more difficult to maintain the safety of the ship, he said.

Arun Sorensen, a former navigator and head of the maritime regulation and technology division of the International Maritime Council (BIMCO), said one of the recent concerns was the sailors' reliance on technological devices.

"Instead of staring at the hardware, you have to look through the window to see how the situation actually evolves," Sorensen said.

Sorensen says ship workers are also looking at surveillance and imaging devices, and do not care to follow the situation themselves from the windows.

But Sorensen referred to attempts by navigational organizations to find ways to reduce the likelihood of collisions.

One of the ideas cited is the separation of vessel traffic, which means coordinating the flow of vessels that pass through carefully packed straits by directing them towards separate passages in the same direction, for example.

The ship separation system was first implemented in the Dover Strait in 1967 and there are about 100 systems to coordinate ship traffic around the world.

There is no doubt that it is in everyone's interest to avoid collisions for many reasons. First and foremost, international laws and regulations stipulate that both parties are responsible for such collisions.

This means that ship captains are bound by law to avoid colliding with another ship, even if their ship has the right to remain in orbit.

Although recent incidents are worrisome, Owth says there is reason to be optimistic about shipping, pointing out that the number of total losses, for example, when the ship sinks, is falling year after year.

The total loss is intended to exceed the value of the damage or the value of the repair of the insured subject, according to the insurance company's estimate, the value of the insurance policy.

According to data from Allianz Insurance Company, there were 85 total losses in large vessels in 2016, a decrease of 16 percent from last year. Of the total losses of 85 cases, only one resulted from the collision.

Technological development has, in many ways, contributed to increased safety in shipping, but the lives of seafarers are still at risk.

With the increasing number of ships sailing the world's seas, the need for a captain to command these giant ships has not diminished, and their presence on board has become more important than ever.

Fire engulfs Ahmed al-Issa's oil-laden ship off the coast of Aden

A fire broke out in an oil transport vessel owned by Yemeni businessman Ahmed al-Issa, off the coast of Brega in the Yemeni capital Aden, Sunday afternoon, without knowing the reasons.

According to local sources, the crew of the C-Dragon escaped on board after the sudden fire, and no efforts were made to extinguish the fire, which could cause sinking and a major environmental disaster, especially with oil.

Fishermen said they had taken the ship's crew after they fled after the fire broke out. They confirmed that a naval ship belonging to Aden port tried to extinguish the fire but to no avail.

The damage was not known, but marine sources said the fire might threaten to sink the ship.

Al-Issa, the monopolist of oil transport to Aden, has had many disagreements with the government at different times, where he stopped pumping oil to power plants more than once against the backdrop of financial claims to him at the government
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The discovery of eight ships sunk in the Forney Islands in Greece

A team of archaeologists have discovered eight sunken ships around Forney, a group of Greek islands that are a hot spot for shipwrecks.

Archaeologists said the Forni Islands had an area of 17 square miles, or 44 square kilometers, adding that in ancient times the archipelago was a popular station along the commercial routes of the Aegean Sea, according to Livescience.

Archaeologists said the researchers believed that there were many ships that had been passing through the Aegean Sea for thousands of years, asserting that many of the ships were destroyed by the storms.

Archaeologists said they discovered the Forni Islands in 2015, found 22 shipwrecks, discovered ceramic vases that transported the goods, and found wine, olive oil and salted fish.

A scientific research team confirmed that they are currently documenting the shipwrecks they found during the past years. They also took a sample of vases and many artifacts.

The largest container ship in the world crosses the Suez Canal

The container ship, Oocl Hong Kong, the world's largest container ship with a cargo capacity of 216,700 tons, carrying 21,413 containers from the British port of Flexton to the port of Suez in the northern convoy, crossed the Suez Canal on Saturday. 

The giant ship was built on May 18 by South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries, and surpassed the Danish container ship Maersk Meddrayd, which was the world's largest container ship with 827 containers, a shipping source said. The source pointed out that the international companies compete to build giant ships to benefit from economies of scale. He pointed out that the ship sailed for the first time on June 3, and it is 400 meters long and 59 meters wide and 16 meters deep and 32.5 meters deep.

After the disruption .. UAE accuses Red Sea ports to seize one of its vessels

 Thursday, Jul 13 2017

An Emirati company accused the Red Sea Ports Authority of taking over one of its vessels after it was disrupted and towed by a locomotive belonging to the Red Sea Ports Authority, according to the ship's crew, who were evacuated to evacuate the ship. The owner to accuse the Port Authority of seizing it and making a formal complaint to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). 

The cargo ship, Nur al-Huda, belonging to an UAE company, carrying Tanzania flag, sailed from Port Tawfiq in Suez towards Saudi Arabia, loaded with 4,300 tons of sugar and flour. One of the oil pumps was disrupted by the boat. One of the locomotives responded to them and the boat crew left after seeing one of the locomotives heading to retrieve the vessel. After that, all the devices were closed by the ship. The crew or the company responsible for them did not know anything about them. The owner submitted many complaints in vain. Progress on Wei to the International Maritime Organization; to demand the disclosure of the circumstances of the incident and the location of the ship.

The captain of the ship, Salim al-Sufi, a Syrian national, said that one of the oil pumps was disrupted after the launch of the ship from Port Tawfiq port. The ship was hit on one side and reached 15 degrees. They sent a distress message and notified the search and rescue center in Cairo. Marina Port Gharb south of the Red Sea, and left the crew immediately after seeing one of the ships coming to Qatar and towing the ship.

He pointed out that the vessels of the vessel were closed, and this is not happening except by an effective act, stressing that the holidays were not serious and that the diameter of the vessel was for the purpose of repair. All the ship was hit by the oil pump and the crew did not leave until it was confirmed and watched for one of the next locomotives In the direction of the distress, which they sent, stressing that the ship has not been drowned yet, as it holds two boxes similar to the black box aircraft, which are located in two different places, and work automatically after drowning; Lersla signals indicate the location of drowning, as well as sensors that work Also in the case of drowning, the anchors L SOS signals even in case of extinguishing devices or fire and explosion, they did not work, which is compelling evidence that the ship did not sink.

He confirmed that the ship was loaded with 4300 tons of sugar and flour goods coming from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, carrying the flag of Tanzania, and the beginning of the journey was from the Port of Tawfiq Egyptian, and was supposed to end its journey in the Saudi port of Jeddah, and took order to enable navigation, In Suez Governorate, and after about an hour the holidays and the distress call.

Ahmed Amin, technical director of the ship's owner, Noor al-Huda, said that the ship's agent had informed them of the distress based on a letter sent to them by the ship's search and rescue organization, which according to the request of a maintenance technician due to a fault with the oil pump. It was found that this took time. The best option was to send a locomotive to the nearest port. A locomotive of the Red Sea Ports Authority had already pulled out. The instructions were to preserve the life of the captain and crew.

He added that the crew photographed the locomotive several photos and videos of them parked next to the boat, but the communications were disconnected from the boat, and asked the body denied the departure of locomotives, and the company filed a complaint on this matter, accompanied by pictures and video, but the response that it does not prove anything; We have resorted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), an international body responsible for maritime issues and ships around the world, demanding the disclosure of the circumstances and location of the ship because of the denial of its existence by the officials.

For his part, General Hisham Abu Sunna, head of the Red Sea Ports Authority, said that the ship Nur al-Huda after a failure in its oil pump, and was exposed during the attempt to repair the holidays on one side to the extent of up to 15 degrees, immediately sent the ship's captain, In order to take action on sending a technician to the ship, after sending the first distress, the captain of the vessel returned to send a second distress signal that he had stopped sailing and requested the dispatch of technicians and engineers to repair the holidays. The crew of 16 Of different nationalities : Egyptian, Indian, Syrian, and dealing with the situation and the transfer of crew to another ship was close to the scene of the accident; to preserve their lives.

The head of the Commission denied what some claim to be any responsibility on the body towards the boat or the presence of locomotives belonging to the Authority went out to Qatar, stressing that there are already two locomotives were monitored by the diameter of the ship, not one locomotive, which are not affiliated to the body, stressing that it is an internal affair of the company owner and the power of attorney, The distress was a technical request after the boat was attacked, pointing out that there were no missing or injured among the crew of the ship.

China's Cosco buys its rival in Hong Kong to become the third largest shipping company in the world

COSCO, the Chinese shipping company, bought its rival in Hong Kong, OIL, for $ 6.3 billion. 

The transaction would make Cusco the third largest shipping company in the world with more than 400 ships. Most of the OOL shareholders have accepted the offer but the deal needs regulatory approval.

OWL has OCL, currently the seventh largest shipping company in the world with 3.2% of the global market, established by the family of Chief Executive Officer Tung Chee Hwa and still owns 69% of the company. .

The latest deal will be part of a wave of mergers that has led to the acquisition of six shipping companies by nearly two-thirds of the market, with excessive production capacity and slowing demand causing significant changes in the shipping industry.

Holding for Maritime Transport co. plans to establish a container terminal at East Port Said Port

The Chairman of the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport said on Thursday that his company completed the study of the construction of a second container terminal at East Port Said Port at a total cost of 765 million dollars.

Mohammed Yousuf said in a press statement that Holding Transport is coordinating with the Economic Authority for the Development of the Suez Canal to establish the second container terminal through Port Said Container and Cargo Handling Company.

Youssef said that the holding company is seeking to form an alliance with Port Said for the handling of containers and goods and any of the international lines or alliances for the implementation of the new station.

He explained that the preliminary proposal for the study of the feasibility of the project was completed along the berth 1200 meters and an area of ​​540 thousand square meters.

He pointed out that the study set the period of construction of the new station in East Port Said by about 36 months and that the rate of internal return of the project to 15%

The Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Mihab Mamesh, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Executive Director of Singapore Ports Group to manage, operate and market a new container terminal at East Port Said Port.

The company provides technical assistance in the development and marketing of container terminal.

Kuwait enters Gulf competition on ports with «Mubarak Al-Kabeer»

The competition between ports has caught competition for control of the maritime transport and logistics sector in the Arabian Gulf region. Kuwait is competing through three ports - Shuwaikh, Shu'aybah and Mubarak al-Kabeer - which have not yet started operation and are still in the implementation phase. 

The report pointed out that the investment cost of the first phase of the mega port project of Mubarak to $ 1.4 billion to compete with the ports of Hamad in Qatar, which the investment cost of the project $ 2 billion for the second phase of it and the No. 4 berth in the Jebel Ali Port in the UAE, which cost $ 1.6 billion.

Kuwait is seeking to increase the capacity of its ports to accommodate a larger number of containers, where the current capacity of 1.2 million containers per year with the capacity of 850 thousand containers to the port of Shuwaikh annually and 350 thousand containers to the port of Shuaiba annually and completion of the port of Mubarak Al-Kabeer capacity of the three Kuwaiti ports to 3 million containers per year The addition of 1.8 million containers per year is the expected capacity of Mubarak Al Kabeer port.

The report pointed to the need to take into account a range of factors in view of the large expansion of the region in the construction of ports, warning that further expansion may affect the profitability of these new ports and expansions in the future:

The global shipping industry has turned to giant vessels, which must be equipped with port capacity for these vessels in the future.

Focus on competition in terms of the ability to provide better services at low prices in light of the increase in the number of ports, especially in light of increasing competition from outside the GCC region in Iran and Pakistan, which is seeking part of the large market share.

Taking into account the availability of internet services, modern databases and digital services in these new ports.

The new and existing ports are planned to be placed on the new Silk Road linking China to Europe and Africa.

In comparison to the capacity of ports in the Gulf States, the UAE has the capacity to accommodate 27.25 million TEUs annually through Jebel Ali Port, which has a capacity of 18 million containers per year and four other ports. Saudi Arabia is competing through two ports in Jeddah and Dammam with a capacity of 9.6 million containers Oman and two ports also have a capacity of 6.2 million containers per year while Qatar competes with Wahid port and Bahrain with the port of Khalifa bin Salman with a capacity of only 1 million containers per year.