|
Shipping lines to test bubble lubrication scheme |
|
|
|
Monday, 01 March 2010 |
 NYK and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. are to begin experiments on an air-lubrication system to reduce CO2 emissions during marine transport. Jointly developed by the two companies,
the system effectively reduces the frictional resistance between a
vessel’s bottom and the seawater by means of bubbles generated by
supplying air to the vessel’s bottom. The world's first permanent
installation of the system using an air-blower is expected to reduce CO2
emissions by approximately 10 percent. The experiments will be
conducted using module carriers operated by an NYK Group company,
NYK-Hinode Line, Ltd. Construction of the vessels will be completed on
March 31 and in late November 2010. — The American Trucking
Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage
Index jumped 3.1 percent in January, following a revised 1.3 percent
increase in December 2009. The latest gain boosted the SA index from 107
(2000=100) in December to 110.4 in January, its highest level since
September 2008. The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the
change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal
adjustment, equaled 99.5 in January, down 3.3 percent from the previous
month. ATA recently revised the seasonally adjusted index back five
years as part of its annual revision. Compared with January 2009, SA
tonnage surged 5.7 percent, which was the best year-over-year reading
since January 2005 and the second consecutive increase. For all of 2009,
the tonnage index was down 8.7 percent (slightly larger than the
previously reported 8.3 percent drop), which was the largest annual
decrease since a 12.3 percent plunge in 1982.
Source: WWShipper
|
Rss
Online - Contact Send us your news
