By Alice Rogoff* For eight years since anonymous “little green men” from Russia invaded Crimea, the Arctic Council has continued to operate under the illusion of the Arctic nations’ “peaceful collaboration.” Russia, with its one-half share of Arctic landmass, has remained a member in good standing of the council and even become its chair, […]
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By Michael Grey Here is a useful motoring tip that you probably will not discover in your service manual, should your new, all-electric vehicle inadvertently burst into flames. While your natural inclination might be to run for your life, it is suggested that the terrifying fire might be smothered in a blanket, or better still,
On our Forum: Beware of risks for ships carrying EV vehicles… Read More »
By Michael Grey* You would be, to say the least, extremely angry, if your car came to a grinding halt and the nice person from the emergency services looked up from the engine compartment and told you the engine had been wrecked because of the fuel you had been supplied by the filling station.
On our Forum: Questions aplenty about ship fuel problems and ‘green’ solutions Read More »
By Michael Grey* It’s New Year’s Eve, when people of kindly disposition wish each other the hope that the coming twelve months might be happy, or even prosperous. So let me begin with such a wish for our readers, despite most of the evidence suggesting that much of what made 2021 such a miserable experience
On our Forum: New Year thoughts on supporting seafarers and… handling fanatics Read More »
By Michael Grey* In the compromise that dictates the design of a ship, you don’t have to be cynical to observe that the needs of the crew come last, after the cargo, machinery and anything else that might remunerate the owner. The crew, it might be said “just fit in where they can”. It has
On our Forum: Crew needs come last in revolutionary new ship shapes Read More »
By Michael Grey* As the governmental delegates to Cop26, safely delivered home after their Scottish excursion, start to work out how they can deliver their extravagant zero-carbon pledges by the due date, it is becoming manifestly clear that it will be neither cheap nor easy. It is very easy for politicians and environmental interests to
On our Forum: Will there be any sea left? Read More »
By Michael Grey* It is funny how different items of news mesh with each other. Cop 26 is over, thank goodness and the thousands of delegates have jetted off to their homelands, leaving a heavy smell of jetfuel over Argyll, but what we are learning to call “the supply chain problem” remains. A queue of
On our Forum: The real cause of the supply chain quagmires… Read More »
By Michael Grey* In this world where virtue-signalling competes with the need to blame everyone, maybe we should not be surprised at the growing enthusiasm to second-guess somebody else’s decision-making. The dogs of blame are clearly out for the master of the 4526teu Zim Kingston, which in late October lost some 100 boxes over the side
The shipping industry needs to set ambitious targets to help prevent global climate catastrophe, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) cautions in a new position paper launched today. There are currently more than 50,000 cargo ships on the world’s oceans, the majority of which run on low-grade, heavy ‘bunker’ fuel. Together, the ships emit as
By Michael Grey* “Am I a man – or an animal?” This was a question dramatically posed by a huge Sicilian lorry driver on a ferry that was carrying his truck full of vegetables on the overnight run up to Genoa. It was a very new service, designed to move cargo off the country’s north-south
On our Forum: Seafarers and truckers: supply chain’s most vulnerable providers Read More »