New maritime fuels are coming or are already here, and the associated changes are raising concerns about the readiness of today’s mariners. For example, the rise of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is handled in ways dramatically different from fuel…
Beyond collisions with ships, whales inhabiting the waters of North America are vulnerable to injury or death from another human-related threat: fishing gear entanglement. Research conducted by the New England Aquarium and the Center for Coastal Studies showed that scars…
While humans once stood in awe of the size and strength of whales, the roles have been nearly reversed since the mid-20th century as increasing ship traffic has added insult to the injury done by the era of whaling. To…
It took a decade or two from the invention of the marine propeller in the 19th century for the technology to become widely accepted. Thereafter, adoption has been nearly universal, but progress toward improved efficiencies has come in fits…
Drones are everywhere these days,…
Cordage, mainly towing and mooring lines, is being required to do more in a new maritime age as cargo vessels get larger and tugboats get more powerful. In response, manufacturers have continued to innovate.
Marine environments are notoriously rough on cordage.
For more than a century, marine radio has been a boon to all who work on the water, providing first for improved safety and, over time, becoming an indispensable operational tool.
Security vessels for civilian operators have been getting a lot more attention in recent years, and that has been driving a wave of purchases.
A wireless helm developed by Sea Machines has received approval for use on a class of U.S.-flag tugboats that support articulated tug-barge (ATB) sets, a new way of doing business that is bound to generate comment among mariners.
The tools and techniques for salvaging ships improved dramatically in the 20th century with the advent of more powerful pumps, safer diving apparatus and a host of other advancements.
The increasingly sophisticated and regulated maritime world needs professionals with stronger skill sets than in the past.
Beeps, buzzes and flashing lights are an increasingly common soundtrack for life on the bridge of any modern vessel.
In the wake of high-profile collisions involving U.S. Navy destroyers, including a 2017 incident that killed 10 sailors aboard USS John S. McCain, the service is revising bridge training practices and addressing what it sees as an over-reliance on computer touch screens for ship control.
Fuel and engine monitoring is a growing tool to help vessel operators improve efficiencies.
For 12 seasons, American viewers have been engrossed by the Smithsonian Channel’s “Air Disasters” series, which combines dramatizations of actual aircraft mishaps with accounts of how investigators ultimately determined what went wrong — and how to prevent similar accidents.
After decades of neglect and slow progress, mariners have grown more accustomed to donning survival gear — life jackets and immersion suits — or at least keeping the protection close at hand.
While there may have been some lag in the adoption of mobile devices in the maritime world, that’s changing these days with the rapid evolution of mobile apps in communication, navigation and beyond.
Popular culture has been inundated with stories about autonomous or semi-autonomous cars.
Fire on the water is serious business — every mariner knows that.
When the chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) made comments in Manila in November proposing a comprehensive revision of the global convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), it probably caught many in the maritime community off guard.
The U.S. Coast Guard recently released its Maritime Commerce Strategic Outlook, a long-term vision to support and grow the nation’s maritime trade, in particular by integrating modern and traditional navigation tools.
The last thing a mariner wants to worry about is an unreliable prime mover.
The recent news out of the Golden State was surely eye-catching: a glimpse of a trim, twin-hull ferry called Water-Go-Round from Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine, being built with a cool $3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
