Messages

1

Shipping News and information / Re: Rolls Royce Developing Drone Cargo Ships

« on: March 14, 2014, 01:58:48 AM »

When I was Third Mate of the LNG tanker "Methane Princess" in 1971, we had a new radar installed. The installation technician told me that his internationally-known company were writing a computer program which would mean that all ships would be unmanned by the end of the decade, i.e. 1980. Whilst I believe that a "drone" ship is now technically possible, I suspect that it would suffer the same fate as did nuclear-powered merchant ships; technically feasible, but scuppered by the opposition of coastal states to the technology being used in their waters.

2

Shipping News and information / Re: Icebreaking future on the St-Lawrence ;private larger tugs or medium CCGS?

« on: February 04, 2014, 10:46:43 PM »

The Canadian government has starved the Canadian Coast Guard of money for 10 years, and the ice-breakers are all at the end of there life. Makes it easy for politicians to say "We cannot afford to replace the ice-breakers; private industry will have to do it." That way the government can let the well-paid CCG workforce atrophy, and replace them with cheaper labour, hired on a seasonal basis.