Hundreds of icebergs have entered North Atlantic shipping lanes over the past few weeks - unusually large numbers this early in the season. This has forced vessels to slow down or take long detours around swarms of floating ice. Weather experts blame strong counter-clockwise winds for drawing the icebergs south while … [Read more...]
FSG Launches Innovative Ice-Classed ConRo Ferry, the Oceanex Connaigra
8 months after the first plate of steel was cut, Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard has launched the 210 meter-long ConRo ferry Oceanex Connaigra for the Canadian shipping company Oceanex. Once delivered this fall, she will be the largest Canadian-flagged ConRo vessel. The Oceanex Connaigra has a deadweight tonnage 19,300, 13,700 square meters of available … [Read more...]
Optimum Ship Routing – From Prevailing Winds To Modern Technology
By Fred Pickhardt of Ocean Weather Services The earliest form of ship routing may have been when early humans used the prevailing easterly winds to sail from island to island in the Pacific or when Arab traders sailed portions of the Indian Ocean based on the prevailing monsoons. By the time of Columbus, Portuguese sailors had taken advantage of their knowledge of the … [Read more...]