SpeedFerries purchases 'SpeedOne' from Incat

British operator SpeedFerries has purchased the 86-metre wave piercing catamaran ‘SpeedOne' from Incat.

SpeedFerries entered the market with a new low-cost model in May 2004, launching sailings between Dover and Boulogne with the ‘SpeedOne' on charter from Incat. The deal marks a £13.5 million (US$26.6 million) investment for SpeedFerries and follows a recent move to a dedicated and exclusive terminal at Dover's Western Docks. The next stage in the company's development is to source a second Incat vessel to partner ‘SpeedOne', bringing a higher frequency of sailings and possible new route opportunities. ‘SpeedOne' was formerly known as HMAS ‘Jervis Bay', when operating for the Australian Defence Force between Darwin and Dili during the East Timor crisis.

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European Maritime Day

ICS/ISF welcome EU support for global shipping regulation

Speaking on European Maritime Day yesterday, at a reception in Athens during the annual general meetings of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Shipping Federation (ISF), ICS/ISF chairman/president Spyros M Polemis remarked: "At the risk of tempting fate, relations between the international industry and the European Union institutions seem to have improved, when contrasted with the situation after the losses of the ‘Erika' and the ‘Prestige'." "ICS and ISF have been especially pleased by the message conveyed by the EU Maritime Policy Review ‘Blue Paper', published last autumn, to the effect that the European Commission's preference is to give IMO a chance to develop global regulations to cover international shipping.

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Impacts Due to Climate Change

Climate change and environmental impacts on Australia's coast

"Climate change has serious implications for coastal areas as much of Australia's population and infrastructure is in the coastal zone," Committee Chair Jennie George said. "The growth in population along the coast is also increasing pressure on the environment in many areas. "The committee has received excellent submissions to date, raising significant coastal management issues. The committee is keen to hear the views of interested persons and groups across Australia and encourages them to put in their submissions by the end of May."

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Pilot Boat Launched by Kvichak

Kvichak Marine, a Seattle-Based designer and builder of aluminum vessels, has launched a Fast Pilot with excellent performance

Guido Perla and Associates, Inc. (GPA) said that Kvichak Marine, a Seattle-Based designer and builder of aluminum vessels, has launched a Fast Pilot Boat for which GPA provided total production engineering for the construction of the hull, piping, propulsion, outfitting and electrical systems. The Pilot Boat, measuring 22 m long, is an all welded aluminum monohull of significant deadrise with a double chine. The vessel is designed as an all-weather pilot launch and will provide exceptional sea-keeping, a comfortable ride, and excellent performance in the planing regime, where sea and weather conditions allow. The vessel is self-righting and is equipped with twin-engine propulsion with excellent all round visibility, an aft mounted wheelhouse, an energy absorbing fender system and a large clear deck layout.
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Rejuvenation of Natural Gas after the Powerful Quake

Sinopec's Chuanxi gasfield has restored natural gas output to about 40% of its normal levels nearly a week after a powerful quake disrupted production, a company paper reported today

As of Sunday, gas output in the field close to regions badly hit by the 7.9-magnitude quake had reached more than 3 million cubic metres per day, the China Petrochemical News reported.The field's output was reduced to 10% of its capacity of 8 million cubic metres per day after the earthquake on 12 May forced the closure of chemical plants that use gas, which led Sinopec to shut down nearly 1000 wells. After safety checks and repairs, all production and transport facilities in the gasfield are now ready for full-scale operation and can increase output if gas users restore operation, the report said. Gas supply to Chengdu, the capital of earthquake-devastated Sichuan province, by Sinopec's Southwest Petroleum Company, the gasfield’s operator, has resumed to over 3 million cubic metres a day, largely the same as before the quake, the paper added.
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The Grid System

Imagine being able to download a movie within seconds or send your entire music collection at the same high speed ??

The new lightning fast “Grid" system will be unlocked this summer, which will be able to process information at 10,000 times faster than a current broadband connection and is poised to make the current Internet seem slower than snail mail. The Grid is expected to make the Internet obsolete and will have the capability to download movies, music catalogues, and databases in seconds. "The Grid”, at speeds of 10,000 times faster than broadband, created by scientists at Cern, the center for experimental physics will become a web of its own.

Scientists realized that the data from the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) would generate more annual data than it could be stored – approximately 56m CDs. Thus, the Grid project began, seven years ago at CERN, near Geneva. In order to accommodate the influx of data, CERN had to develop another solution. The lightning-fast Grid will become visible after Scientists at Cern decide for their "red button” day, when they will switch-on the LHC, a new particle accelerator built to probe the origin of the universe and the grid will be activated at the same time to capture the data it generates.

As the Internet was evolved by linking together of a hotchpotch of cables and routing equipment, it lacks the capacity for high-speed data transmission. Links that connected the servers and systems determined the current speed of the Internet but as the connectors and routers were designed for telephone calls, processes were limited to a degree. By contrast, the grid has been built with dedicated fibre optic cables and modern routing centres and as a result, there are no outdated components to slow the deluge of data. "The Grid" will be able to provide enough power needed to transmit holographic images; allow instant online gaming with hundreds of thousands of players; and offer high-definition video telephony for the price of a local call due to accelerated power.

David Britton, a Physics professor at Glasgow University and one of the principal figures in the Grid project, believes that the new technology could "revolutionize" society. "With this kind of computing power, future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot even imagine," he said. There are 55,000 grid servers already installed, a figure that is expected to rise to 200,000 within the next two years.

Professor Tony Doyle, the Grid project’s technical director said, "We need so much processing power, there would even be an issue about getting enough electricity to run the computers if they were all at CERN. The only answer was a new network powerful enough to send the data instantly to research centers in other countries."

Ian Bird, project leader for CERN’s high-speed computing project opinionates that grid technology could make the Internet so fast that people would stop using desktop computers to store information and entrust it all to the Internet. Users would use the new "Cloud computing" as a common way to organize personal and private information that would be stored on the Grid and accessible from anywhere.

The Grid will allow thousands of Research Centers, Universities, etc. share their data storage resources and computing power transforming the Internet into a giant global "Super Computer" and building capacity for the science of tomorrow.

However, the grid is unlikely to be directly available to domestic internet users, many telecoms providers and businesses are already introducing its pioneering technologies. One of the most potent is so-called dynamic switching, which creates a dedicated channel for internet users trying to download large volumes of data such as films. In theory, this would give a standard desktop computer the ability to download a movie in five seconds rather than the current three hours or so.

Moreover, the grid is being made available to dozens of other academic researchers including astronomers, molecular biologists and even to design new drugs against malaria, the mosquito-borne disease that kills a large number of people worldwide each year. Researchers used the grid to analyse 140m compounds - a task that would have taken a standard internet-linked PC 420 years. Irrespective of names, all sectors are going to reap huge benefits on the discovery of the latest Grid system.

Aries Chundan to enter Guinness Book of World Records

Aries Chundan, the first ever snake boat made of steel and a design wonder crafted by Aries Marine is all set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. Breaking the existing record, Aries Chundan has successfully completed the record attempt for the largest canoe crew with a crew of 141 rowers and five helmsmen on board on 1 May 2008 at Alleppey backwaters in Kerala.

Aries Chundan is the longest steel made snake boat with 143 feet and a masterpiece design of Aries Marine. The attempt for the world record was in comparison to ‘Nadumbhagam Chundan’, which had only 118 crewmembers and holds the existing record. Several international dignitaries, including representatives of RINA, Italy and Germanischer Lloyd, Germany who visited Cochin for ShipTek 2008 have witnessed the rowing of Aries Chundan held at the Punnamada Lake. Members of Legislative Assembly, Thomas Chandy and K.K Shaju inaugurated the Guinness attempt of Aries Chundan. Mr. Sohan Roy S.K, CEO Aries Group was also present on the occasion.

The entire event has been covered and will be sent to the Guinness Book authorities for verification. Aries Chundan has already found place in the Limca Book of Records as the longest snake boat made of steel. This innovative steel snake boat has a scientific design, based on the latest scientific methods in Naval Architecture. Its shape and stability have been designed using the world famous ‘AUTOSHIP’ software.