Tag: Maripedia

Managing cost, digitalization and environmental regulations are some of the key challenges shipping will have to encounter in the next 5-10 years, industry experts said on the sidelines of the latest SAFETY4SEA Athens Forum, which took place in Eugenides Foundation on 2 October.

Seasickness is the top worst holiday discomfort and all of us have—or will—succumb to seasickness on rough waters, research shows. Seasickness is a result of a conflict in the inner ear, where the human balance mechanism resides, and is caused by a vessel’s erratic motion on the water.

Port and starboard never change, they are unambiguous references that are independent of a mariner’s orientation, and mariners use these nautical terms instead of left and right.

An oil spill is the potential adverse effect of most maritime incidents. Oil spills can have disastrous consequences, environmentally and economically. Oil spill response at sea is most times a complex procedure, because of the remoteness of the site or the number of interested parties.

Compliance with 2020 sulphur cap is more than simply switching to a low sulphur fuel. HSFO, the fuel that was used so far but now will be inappropriate unless there are scrubbers installed, is primarily based on residual fuel and tends to adhere to the inside of fuel tanks. As such, a proper tank cleaning becomes necessary.

As the North P&I Club informs, it is well known that in most places around the world the presence of pilot on the bridge does not relieve the Master or officer in charge of the watch from their duties or obligations for the safety of the ship. However, there are many cases where the Master appears to relinquish control to the pilot or fails to challenge a possible unsafe instruction, sometimes leading to an incident.

Inert gas is an asphyxiant due to the low oxygen content and contains low oxygen levels for life support, CO2, CO, NOx, SOx and traces of other substances. In addition, some of its components (e.g. carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, etc.) are toxic. Thus, all personnel onboard need to be aware of potential hazards.

Why is a ship called she? “Ships are referred to as ‘she’ because men love them” or “like a woman, a ship is unpredictable”, tradition used to say. But seriously, what is lagging behind this language idiom?  

Plastics are the most common form of marine debris. It is estimated that 8.8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped in the world's oceans each year. UN says that plastic debris results in an estimated $13 billion a year in losses from damage to marine ecosystems, including financial losses to fisheries and tourism as well as time spent cleaning beaches.