January 2007 | Page - 7
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GERMAN PROJECT TO USE KITES TO PROPEL SHIPS

For the past four years, SkySails, a German company, has been testing out the concept of tethering a kite to a ship’s mast in order to boost the vessel’s propulsion and conserve fuel. Early adopters, Bremen ship owners Beluga Shipping who believe the kites will help cut fuel consumption by 15 to 20 percent, have fitted their MV Beluga SkySails with a paraglider-shaped sail and a computerized steering unit for the same. The vessel will make its maiden voyage in early 2007.

Inventor Stephan Wrage says that by cutting fuel use, the SkySail could help reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Depending on the vessel and winds, fuel costs for shippers could be cut by more than USD 1,000 a day as SkySails use offshore winds between 330 and 985 feet above the surface of the water. However, they would be useless with head-on winds and would not benefit ships traveling above 16 knots.

Still, Wrage projects 1,500 vessels will have the system by 2015 in view of the European Union restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions that threaten penalties for those who fail to act to curb them, and the fuels that ships use are especially dirty.
IMO TO SHIFT SHIPPING LANES FOR WHALES
EU STEPS UP SAFETY INSPECTIONS AT ITS PORTS

European Transport Ministers have reached agreement on a directive aiming to ensure that safety inspections are carried out on all ships calling EU ports in a bid to prevent pollution at sea.

The EU has amended its maritime regulations a couple of times in the past decade to increase safety standards following the major oil spills caused off the coasts of France, Spain and Portugal by vessels such as ‘Erika’ and ‘Prestige’ that sunk at sea.

The proposed directive on port state control, which is part of the Commission’s third maritime safety package, will be transmitted to the European Parliament, where it will be debated before becoming law.

At present, individual countries of the EU set their own rules for vessel inspections, and approximately only 25% of vessels are checked. But if the ministers’ proposals are approved, all vessels calling EU ports will be checked, and inspections on vessels known to be substandard will last longer.

Three years ago, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) shifted shipping lanes in Canada’s Bay of Fundy to protect right whales from collisions with ships – the first time a shipping lane was altered to protect an endangered species. More recently, the IMO is expected to vote for a similar shift in shipping lanes off Massachusetts.

The alteration is expected to reduce the risk of ship strikes to the North Atlantic right whale by up to 60% and other large baleen whales by as much as 81%. If the US government’s request to the IMO is approved, the shift will be affected in June 2007 to ensure there is enough time to make changes to navigational charts.

However, not everyone concerned is happy about the plan. The Massachusetts Port Authority and the Boston Harbor Pilot Association claim that the proposed change could cause more ship collisions as it narrows each inbound and outbound lane by half, making them one mile wide rather than the traditional two miles. Ideally, rescuing an endangered species should not in turn pose a risk to maritime safety.
GIANT SQUID CAUGHT OFF THE JAPANESE COAST
Nobody has ever seen a live giant squid except fishermen. It is no wonder that the Zoologists at the National Science Museum of Japan were especially elated when they captured not only images of the squid – a small female about 3.5 metres in length and weighing 50kg – but also the squid itself that was caught at a depth of 650 metres off the Ogasawara Islands, Japan.

Unofficial reports claim giant squids can grow up to 20 metres long, but according to scientists they are unlikely to pose a threat to ships because they spend their lives hundreds of metres under the sea.
 
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