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+12 +1
A Panama Canal for bigger cargo ships opens after $5.25B expansion
Fireworks exploded as a huge container ship made an inaugural passage through the newly expanded Panama Canal on Sunday, formally launching the Central American nation's multibillion-dollar bet on a bright economic future despite tough times for global shipping. The Chinese-owned Cosco Shipping Panama passed through the Atlantic locks in the early morning and by afternoon had completed the 80-kilometre journey to the Pacific, stewarded by tugboats and cheered by dignitaries and exuberant crowds of thousands.
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+24 +1
Rolls Royce reveals remote controlled 'roboship'
Rolls Royce said it has already begun testing the technology needed to make the ships a reality, and expected them to take to the sea by the end of the decade. It is the future of shipping - and there's not a single sailor on board. Rolls Royce has revealed planed for fleets of 'drone ships' to ferry carry around the world - all controlled from a central 'holodeck'. It believes an entirely unmanned ship could take to the seas by 2020.
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+30 +1
The New Panama Canal: A Risky Bet - How a $3.1 Billion Expansion Collided With Reality
On July 8, 2009, the champagne finally flowed. After an intense two-year competition, a consortium led by a Spanish company in severe financial distress learned that its rock-bottom bid of $3.1 billion had won the worldwide competition to build a new set of locks for the historic Panama Canal. The unlikely victors toasted their win at La Vitrola, a sleek restaurant in an upscale neighborhood east of downtown Panama City. Within days, executives of the four-nation consortium, Grupo Unidos por el Canal, flew to Europe to begin planning the project.
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+4 +1
Lost at Sea on the Brink of the Second World War
The S.S. Robin Moor set out from New York City on May 6, 1941, for a routine shipping run to Africa. All did not go as planned. By Amanda Schaffer.
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+31 +1
An Illustrated History of Unbelievably Camouflaged Ships
It's difficult to hide from an enemy when you're inside an enormous ship, or part of a vast Naval fleet. And yet many ships in history have been well-camouflaged, despite a distinct lack of cloaking devices. Here are some of the most amazing examples.
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+3 +1
One of the “most important” shipwreck treasures ever discovered
Preserved under a layer of [North Sea] sand, it offers a glimpse of 17th-century aristocratic life. By Annalee Newitz.
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+4 +1
Ghost Boat
An open investigation into the disappearance of 243 men, women and children. Where are they? And why does nobody know?
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+7 +1
After 95 years, a Navy ship lost at sea with all hands is finally discovered
USS Conestoga, believed sunk near Hawaii, was 2,000 miles away, near San Francisco. By Michael E. Ruan.
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+15 +1
The time for unmanned ships has arrived
Unmanned ships have received relatively little media attention compared to aerial drones and self-driving cars. Researchers in Korea have been developing technologies to enable and facilitate the realization of unmanned autonomous ships in the near future. Unmanned ships (i.e. robotic ships or drone ships) have received relatively little media attention compared to aerial drones and self-driving cars. However, their potential benefit and impact to scientific...
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+38 +1
After 95 years, a Navy ship lost at sea with all hands is finally discovered
The USS Conestoga left the Navy yard at Mare Island, Calif., on Good Friday, 1921, bound for Pearl Harbor, with a complement of 56 sailors. It cleared the Golden Gate at 3:25 p.m. and steamed into the Gulf of the Farallones in heavy seas. The Conestoga was a rugged oceangoing tug that had once hauled coal barges for a Pennsylvania railroad. But 17 years after its launch in Baltimore, it had undergone hard use and had a reputation as a “wet boat,” one that took on water easily.
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0 +1
Cheap oil is taking shipping routes back to the 1800s
The Suez Canal was one of the most significant engineering projects of the 19th Century. It was a gargantuan task that took nearly 20 years to build and an estimated 1.5 million workers took part – with many thousands dying in the process. But when it finally opened in 1869, ships could travel from the Red Sea – between Africa and Asia – to the Mediterranean, cutting weeks off a journey. It was a revolution for trade.
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+26 +1
A New Generation of Airships Is Born
More than half the world’s population has no access to paved roads, so engineers are using an old technology to bring trucking to the sky. By Jeanne Marie Laskas.
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+29 +1
Fleet of 20 Tall Ships to Race Across Great Lakes this Summer
At least 20 tall ships are scheduled to visit each of the Great Lakes this year; a fleet that includes a replica Viking longship and a 170-foot Spanish Galleon making their debut on America's freshwater seas.
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+39 +1
Is the US Navy building ships that can’t weather rough seas?
The Navy’s newest class of transport ships is currently undergoing maintenance to make the vessels seaworthy, after it was found that design compromises led to weakened hulls susceptible to damage by waves. By Ben Thompson.
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+3 +1
Mega-ship docks US port as change roils shipping industry
Its hailed as the biggest ship in history to dock in a US port. But the arrival of the giant vessel packed with containers also shows how the US is lagging behind the world-wide shipping industry. Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan reports from Oakland.
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+21 +1
Maritime ‘Repo Men’: A Last Resort for Stolen Ships
Thousands of boats are stolen each year, and some are recovered using alcohol, prostitutes, witch doctors and other forms of guile. By Ian Urbina.
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+28 +1
After 35 Years, U.S. Set to Finally Build More Icebreakers
After a 35 year hiatus, the U.S. Coast Guard is set to build a new heavy endurance icebreaker. The head of the sea service's acquisition office believes production on a new ship could start in five years—and will cost at least a billion dollars. According to USNI News, acquisition chief Rear Admiral Mike Haycock said the Coast Guard has finalized plans to buy a ship to replace the Polar Star, the service's only heavy icebreaker.
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+26 +1
Colombia says treasure-laden San Jose galleon found
The wreck of the San Jose, a treasure-laden Spanish galleon sunk by the British 300 years ago, has been found off the Colombian city of Cartagena, President Juan Manuel Santos announces.
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+28 +1
10th November 1975 - Cargo ship suddenly sinks in Lake Superior
40 years ago on this day, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks in Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew members on board. It was the worst single accident in Lake Superior’s history. The ship weighed more than 13,000 tons and was 730 feet long. It was launched in 1958 as the biggest carrier in the Great Lakes and became the first ship to carry more than a million tons of iron ore through the Soo Locks.
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+20 +1
The Curse of the Charles Haskell: Strange Attractors, Creep Factors, and the Advantages of Asymmetry
“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats” – Voltaire.
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