Proctor in Admiralty

400 Years of transportation on the Hudson River

400 years ago Henry Hudson, a Dutch explorer engaged by the Dutch East India Company to find an alternate way to the Orient sailed up the tidal river that now bears his name and found . . . Albany.  This week New York marks the 400th anniversary of that historic voyage with a flotilla of historic, reproduction and modern day vessels sailing the 140 miles from the mouth of the river to Albany.  There are numerous articles and accounts on line including this editorial from the New York TImes discussing the environmental reclamation of the river and this article from the Smithsonian Magazine online describing the construction of a reproduction of the ONRUST, the first covered deck vessel built in New York which played an important role in exploration of the mid Atlantic region during the early 17th century.

For more insight into Henry Hudson and his famous voyage along with the celebration underway, check out both Henry Hudson 400 and Hudson 400 plus NY400 and ExploreNY400.  I am sensing a theme!

2261 square feet of living space?

I came across an interesting post  by blogger Melissa Hincha-Ownby about the growing use of old shipping containers, also known as boxes (on the East Coast) and cans (West Coast) for constructing office space.  The author references the popularity of containers as a basis for home construction by citing the existance of a section of Bob Vila's website devoted to the trend.

The article mentions a new 12 container office building under construction in Providence, Rhode Island and also cites Shipping Container Architecture, a website devoted to webpage devoted to listing as many examples of the use of shipping containers as architectual elements as the author, Zack Smith can find.

My curiosty peaked, I found numerous other website and blog postings devoted to the subject of recycling shipping containers as housing, office space and hotel rooms.  Fast Company blogger Michael Cannell had a particularly interesting post with numerous comments discussing the design of architect Adam Kalkin. Kalin has designed the Quik House - a prefabricated kit house from recycled shipping containers. It has three bedrooms and two and one-half baths in its 2,000 square foot plan.

  

Given the number of vessels laid up around the world, the number of idle containers must be staggering.

Environmental Shipping for Earth Day

According to a press release in the Journal of Commerce, Japanese container carrier, NYK Line has released an initial design for its NYK Super Eco Ship 2030, an energy-efficient ship expected to emit far fewer CO2 emissions than current vessel design.

The design was created by Monohakobi Technology Institute Co., Ltd. (MTI), a wholly owned NYK subsidiary focused on technological advances in shipping and logistics, together with Garroni Progetti s.r.l, an Italian designer of ships, and Elomatic Marine, a Finnish marine-technology consultant. The Japanese word "Monohakobi" means the carriage of goods.

The press release, well timed for Earth Day, advises that:

NYK Super Eco Ship 2030 will make use of progressive technologies that have the potential of being realized by 2030. The power needed to propel the ship can be lessened by decreasing the weight of the hull and reducing water friction. Propulsion power can be increased through use of LNG-based fuel cells, solar cells, and wind power, all of which will lead to a reduction of CO2 by 69 percent per container carried.

 Comparison of NYK Super Eco-ship 2030 with a conventional 8,000 TEU container vessel is provided below.

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

| | Conventional Vessel | NYK Super Eco-ship 2030 |

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

| Length Overall | 338 meters | 353 meters |

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

| Breadth | 45.8 meters | 54.6 meters |

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

| Draft | 13.0 meters | 11.5 meters |

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

| Main power|Diesel Engine (C heavy oil) | Battery (LNG) |

| (Fuel) | 64 megawatts | 40 megawatts |

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

| Natural power | None | Solar: 1–2 megawatts |

| | | Wind: 1–3 megawatts |

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

| CO2 emissions* | 195 g/TEU-miles | 62 g/TEU-miles |

|-----------------+----------------------------+----------------------------|

*TEU-mile: Unit for the carriage of one TEU a distance of one mile

MTI is working on many other significant projects including R&D projects for new lashing and twist-lock systems and development of a ballast water treatment system.

NYK’s design is the latest in a move by shipping companies to promote their commitment to environmental protection.  Other examples include the E/S Orcelle and CMA CGM’s Eco Containers.

The E/S Orcelle is auto carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s visionary concept car carrier with a "zero emissions" capability which carries no ballast water on board.   The E/S Orcelle, unveiled in 2005 was promoted as viable by 2025 and uses only renewable energy sources, including the sun, wind and waves as well as fuel cell technology, to meet all its propulsion and onboard power requirements. 

French container carrier CMA CGM, has developed a fleet of environmentally sensitive shipping containers dubbed Eco-Containers which include bamboo flooring, reducing the use of rare tropical wood species, while improving technical performance.  CMA CGM has also deployed low energy reefer container (specialized containers for perishable goods, requiring energy and refrigerant gases), to reduce fuel consumption and Light Steel containers, manufactured from an extremely strong high tensile steel which reduces the weight of these containers by 1200 pounds and thus consumes less fuel, further reducing emissions.

These are all very worthwhile projects and hopefully we will see more development coming from some of the other shipping lines around the world.

Technology solutions to reducing emissions from vessels

Emissions of Carbon dioxide and other pollutants from vessels has gained increased attention in both the US and around the world over the past few years.  In January, 21 countries agreed to promote reduction in such emissions as a means to control global warming as part of the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. In March, the US and Canada made a joint request to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to require vessels to use low-sulfur fuel or technology to reduce emissions within 200 nautical miles of the US and Canadian coastline. Of course, back in October, the IMO unanimously adopted amendments to MARPOL Annex VI which mandated a progressive reduction in sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxide emissions from ships initially from the current level of 4.5% to 3.5% and then progressively down to .5% by January 2020.

Now, technology may play in important role in reducing these pollutants.  According to an article today in Hellenic Shipping News:

Just a few kilometres from one of the busiest ports in the world, a Singapore firm says it has the answer that can help the shipping industry clean up its act. Ecospec says it has invented and tested a patented method that removes planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides; sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain; and soot from ship exhausts.

The process, which uses very alkaline sea water sprayed into the exhaust funnel to scrub out the gases and soot, has already been tested on a tanker and earned the backing of the American Bureau of Shipping.

The company claims to have received 60 inquiries from shipping companies since announcing the development of this product.  We will continue to follow the development and implementation of this technology on-board ships.

EPA's Most Wanted List

The Environmental Protection Agency has created a "Most Wanted" list on its website listing what whom it describes as: defendants charged with environmental crimes or violations of the U.S. Federal Criminal Code who have fled the court’s jurisdiction and/or the USA rather than face prosecution or to serve a sentence. When these circumstances occur, the defendants become fugitives from justice.  (Note to Dick Wolf - get Steve Zirnkilton to voice the foregoing and add on "These are their stories ..." {BOMP BOMP} and I think you have an new installment for the Law and Order franchise!) 

Included on the list are five mariners charged with false entries into Oil Record Books. Another fugitive is a mariner charged with dumping oil contaminated grain from a vessel into the ocean. 5 other defendants on the list are charged with illegal dumping of pollutants into the navigable waterways of the US.  

U.S Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of ATA

Lat Friday, March 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the American Trucking Association in the ongoing battle with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach over their controversial concession plan.

The Court stated in part, "motor carriers should not be required to adhere to the various unconstitutional provisions in the Ports' (concession) agreements, and are likely to suffer irrevocably if forced to do that or give up their businesses," 

Truckinginfo.com reported as follows:

"We are extremely pleased with the decision," says Robert Digges Jr., ATA Vice President and Chief Counsel. "The judges understood that most of the elements of the Plans are not about safety, but rather are a regulatory effort by the Ports to create what they believe would be a more efficient drayage system."

As of Oct. 1, 2008, any motor carrier out of compliance with a Port's Concession agreement had been barred from entering that Port, a situation that caused motor carriers to suffer both short and long-term capital losses and injuries to business goodwill, ATA alleged.

The Court of Appeal's instructions to the District Court made clear that many elements of the Concession Plans must be enjoined, but leaves it to the District Court as to whether the entire Concession Plans should be halted, according to ATA.

The Court of Appeals indicated one aspect that must be enjoined is the Port of Los Angeles' ban on owner-operators. "That requirement is dead," said Curtis Whalen, executive director of the Intermodal Motor Carrier Conference of the ATA. The Port of Long Beach Concession Plan did not ban owner-operators.

The Court of Appeals decision said it would not entertain any petition for rehearing, although the Ports could appeal to the Supreme Court.

"Our Clean Truck Program is reducing toxic port truck pollution at an accelerated pace, and today's ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals does not challenge the truck ban schedule or truck fees that are helping us successfully battle this health crisis," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement "We are committed to fighting this case because our Clean Truck Program is the most sustainable plan for ensuring a clean, safe and secure trucking system for the long-haul at the Port of Los Angeles."

The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, a group of 40 public health environmental, community, labor and faith-based organizations, issued a statement expressing outrage at the decision, and anger at the ATA for fighting the plans. "This is more dirty tricks from a shameless industry that has bullied its way around our backyard for too long," said Alicia Carrera, a Long Beach mother of three asthmatic children, in the coalition's statement.

"This decision places in jeopardy the clean-air goals at the ports, as well as every port infrastructure expansion project that relies on clean trucks," said attorney David Pettit of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which successfully sued the Port of Los Angeles in 2001 alongside community groups, forcing the harbor commissions of the San Pedro Bay to get serious about clean-up. "We are going to vigorously fight to protect these truck plans in court."

The Maritime Homeland & Port Security Blog

I came across a blog that has been around for awhile but which I had missed until now.  The Maritime Homeland & Port Security Blog written by the folks at Wave Dispersion Technologies, Inc.  (WPT).  WPT develop products based on a technology they call WhisprWave which they describe as follows:

Since it's founding in 1995, Wave Dispersion Technologies, Inc. (WDT) has been developing the WhisprWave® floating articulated breakwater technology to afford erosion control protection to shoreline beaches, coastal marinas, anchorages, and other areas subject to destructive or nnoying erosionary wave / wake forces. The potential uses for the WhisprWave® Technology have, over the last few years, expanded far beyond its stricly environmentally focused beach and sand erosion protection beginnings to encompass marine port security and global antiterrorism applications.

You can read more about the WhisprWave technology here.  The Port Secuirty Blog is filled with interesting posts concerning the Department of Homeland Security and port security initatives in the US and abroad.

WPT also authors the Coastal Erosion Blog, which might be of interest to some.

120 year old schooner technologically savvy

According to a press release from earlier today,  Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the New York Department of Environmental Protection announced a joint project to measure water conditions in New York Harbor.

According to the press release:

The Seaport Museum's 1885 schooner The Pioneer, which celebrated its 120th anniversary this month, now carries the latest technology in the form of a computerized water monitoring system as part of the Urban Ocean Observatory at Stevens. In partnership with the New York Department of Environmental Protection, the system measures water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen in New York Harbor from The Pioneer as it conducts its public sails. The data is fed via a wireless network to computers at Stevens' Center for Maritime Systems (CMS) in Hoboken. Data collected includes water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen.

The public can sail on the Pioneer as well as on the schooner Lettie G. Howard, built in 1893 and on the wooden tug W. O. Decker.  Check out the Seaport Museum website for more details.

 

Environmentally Friendly Shipping

Kudos to Wallenius Wilhelmsen for commissioning the design of an environmentally friendly ro-ro vessel.  Accoding to Wallenius Wilhelmsen's press release,  a scale model of the ship that demonstrates some of the exciting technical ideas produced by the design team, has now been constructed and will take centre stage in the Nordic Pavilion at the forthcoming World Expo 2005, Aichi, Japan. A working version of the vessel, which does not require ballast water tanks and produces no emissions is expected around 2025.  The vessel, dubbed the E/S (Environmentally sound Ship) Orcelle,  is named after the Irrawaddy dolphin, also known as the Orcelle dolphin, and is currently on the endangered species list.