UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2023 calls for a “just and equitable transition” to a decarbonized shipping industry. The sector, whose greenhouse gas emissions have risen 20% over the last decade, operates an ageing fleet that runs almost exclusively on fossil fuels. As global leaders prepare for the next UN …
The first commercial marine vessel to be powered by solar and wind energy was launched at Jervis Bay, Australia recently. The craft is scheduled to begin cruise operations in the Sydney harbour area throughout the Sydney 2000 Olympic Green Games. An earlier prototype has demonstrated, reasonably well, the speed, versatility …
the us department of justice has ordered a shipping company to pay compen-sation for an oil spill, which killed millions of lobsters and other wildlife of the Block Island Sound, near Rhode Island, usa . The department has directed Eklof Marine Corporation ( emc ) to pay us $16 million, …
at last, after innumerable accidents and deaths of workers in the Alang ship-breaking yard in Gujarat, chief minister Keshubhai Patel has pulled up maritime officials for maintaining poor working conditions and negligence in the yards. Admitting that the deaths were "black spots' on Gujarat's progressive image, Patel lauded efforts to …
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has ordered the release of the ship Camouco registered in Panama and its Spanish master against a security of us $1.2 million. The vessel, licensed to catch Patagonian toothfish, was arrested by a French frigate for illegally fishing in the exclusive …
the Union ministry of labour has taken a serious note of the continuing deaths of workers involved in shipbreaking at Alang in Gujarat. Recently, a carbon monoxide gas leak in one of the ships killed three workers. On January 7, 2000, the ministry held a meeting in New Delhi to …
in his budget speech on February 27,1999, Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha announced the abolition of the five per cent additional customs duty on all foreign ships that are brought to the country for scrapping. Obviously, the government is trying to boost the scrap steel industry. This particular step might …
The stand-off between Greenpeace activists and a shipping company at Botany Bay harbour in Sydney, Australia, has come as a wake-up call for South Asian countries where ship-breaking is a growing and for few, a very lucrative industry (Down To Earth, Vol 6, No 20). In a high-pitch drama, activists …
The ministry of environment and forests has banned setting up of new units to manufacture aerosols products using ozone depleting substances (ODS). Aerosols use ODS such as Chlorofluorocarbons as propellants to spray chemicals or fragrances. Two of the three artificially reared Siberian cranes that visited Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur in …
Traces of an oil slick from a damaged tanker have reached Pakistan's southern shore, threatening marine life and beaches, maritime and environment officials said. They estimate that nearly 5,000 tonnes of oil leaked from the Belize-registered ship Yashika , that was abandoned after it was damaged by unknown causes about …
The ministry of environment and forests has barred entry to ships that carry hazardous wastes, like polychlorinated biphenyl, which are banned under the Basel Convention. The decision has been taken in order to check the threat posed to the marine ecosystem by ship-breaking yards at Alang. Complying with the order, …
The US has plans to continue sending ships to the ship breaking units in India. This decision has brought mixed news for nearly 45,000 workers at Alang, Gujarat. While the recommendation of the US department of Navy and the Maritime Administration (USMA) brings employment opportunity, the workers at Alang will …
baleshwar, 24, will never walk again. While scrapping a ship at one of the 183 shipbreaking yards at Alang in district Bhavnagar, Gujarat, he fell from a height of 10 metres, suffering multiple fractures in his legs. His one-year tenure at the shipbreaking yard has also left Baleshwar with respiratory …
The geography of Alang makes it ideal for shipbreaking. The beach is low and tides are as high as 10 metres. During low tide, the sea recedes by three km. The industry was set up in Alang in 1982, egged by the demand for a safe haven for shipbreaking. By …
The living conditions in labourers' settlements are indeed sub-human, admits a government official, asking not to be named. High pollution levels, lack of clean drinking water and cramped living conditions in Alang have badly affec-ted the health of labourers. There is no provision for potable water. "We have to buy …
US Navy will modify its Quickstrike naval mines so that they can disable enemy mines and clear a safe passage for its ships. The mine is usually dropped from a fighter aircraft. As it falls, air pressure and impact with the water arm the warhead, causing it to detonate when …
engineers are planning to build highly efficient ships and submarines that would be based on penguin's propulsion system. Michael Triantafyllou, a professor at the department of ocean engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, usa , and graduate student James Czarnowski have built a prototype vessel called
A LARGE crude carrier and an oil tanker collided, causing an oil spill of about 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes in the Singapore Strait on October 15. Port authorities said that no one was injured in the accident. They also said that the vessel was in no danger of sinking. The …
scientists are employing various techniques to develop metal foams that are sound and heat absorbent, lightweight and fireproof. These unique properties of the foams could soon attract wide-ranging applications in manufacturing cars, ships and aeroplanes. Metal foams are made up of metals such as aluminium and require less material to …
