Fortnightly maritime news for the industry and PortXL community
Mental Health Support & Solutions: Fake news heightens seafarer anxiety
Fake news and misinformation about the impact of Covid-19, exacerbated by social media usage, could be seriously impacting seafarers’ mental health and the industry needs to tackle the root cause before it gets much worse.
Commercial methanol fuel cell production reaches the viable stage
After some set-backs, the two-year old start-up company Blue World Technologies of Denmark is about to commence limited production of its methanol fuel-cell technology.
‘An energy basin like no other’: why North Sea can lead global transition offshore
The North Sea can be an international beacon of industrial transition thanks to its unique evolution over the last 50 years into an “energy basin like no other in the world”, according to a panel of leading sector developers.
Modern atomic versus future fuels
The reality is that the only viable technology which can deliver a durable combination of close-to-zero emissions, marine-level reliability, walk-away safety and competitive economics, is atomic energy. Not ‘old nuclear’, like the technology that is used in power stations, on naval submarines, aircraft carriers and ice breakers, but new advanced ‘atomic battery’ technology in the form of the marine Molten Salt Reactor (the m-MSR). The m-MSR can provide all the positive benefits of atomic energy, without the negative problems of old nuclear.
14 million tonnes of microplastics on seafloor
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has provided the first ever global estimate for microplastics on the seafloor, with results suggesting there are 14 million tonnes in the deep ocean.
Cargotec and Konecranes to merge
The combination agreement, which will face regulator scrutiny and need shareholder approval, is expected to go through in 2022, creating a Finnish giant in ship equipment with annuals sales of EUR7bn ($8.2bn) and a global staff of 29,400.
Amsterdam-based accelerator to boost energy startups in Europe with new €21M fund
Currently, energy production is a big concern for us and the answer to it might decide our fate as a species. We realised how fossil fuels are eroding our environment and causing accelerated global warming. Since this sombre realisation, there has been an almost unanimous push by countries worldwide to move towards greener energy alternatives. To help startups dealing with energy production, Amsterdam-based accelerator, Rockstart has now raised €21M in fresh funding.
