Sails as wings of ship

 Hi there!

This article will focus on the use of sails to power a ship. From the very beginning of shipping the principle way for propelling a ship was wind. The wind applied thrust on the sails and in return the sails powered the ship to move. But after the invention of engine the shipping shifted to them but still in some places sailing is done for leisure and as sport.

Now many shipping companies and enthusiasts are coming up to the option of using sail for wind propulsion of ships, reason being the need of decarbonisation of the emissions. There is practically no emissions because nothing is burnt whatsoever in this type of propulsion. 

Challenges 

The small ships can be powered by small sails but when it comes to mega ships they need sails high up to 95 m. This high sail restricts the movements under the bridge and also hinders the port operations. Also it can cause problem in the storing the cargo. 

SOLUTION 

For this problem many organizations like French shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique are coming up with ideas of retractable sails, which will be a composite made sail by carbon and steel. These sails will also be able to tilt and rotate to harness power from air. The tilting ability will help it to be able to pass under the bridges. This technology is called Solid Sail/AeolDrive.

Image credits:    cruiseindustrynews.com/

This concept will provide us ability to save fuels and reduce the emissions up to 50 percent. One of the ships under consideration is Oceanbird a transatlantic car carrier which will use sails fir propulsion and is still thought upon. 

This revolution in shipping will provide us the ability to propel our ships without any filthy emission. 

Hope this article satisfy and inform about the sailing in modern world.

"Dwelling in dream kills the present."

Thank you !

THE WHALE DILEMMA

Hi there ! 

Today nearly 80% of the total cargo transfer activity is done by maritime transfer. And this transference is proving to be disastrous for the WHALES.

Yes you all read it right. THE WHALES. Whales are one of the majestic fauna on Earth and they are really big. One of the biggest mammal Whale is negatively bouyant which means their density is more than that of water. Yet they are able to swim. Also to prey on there food they have to go deep down the ocean. And they dive to the depth of 500m sometimes. Then for their breathing activity they have to come up at the sea level. 

The whales sometimes when they come up, they collide with the ships. Now giving you all a rough idea of how big a ship is- nearly 700ft long and can weigh about 25000 tons . Such a heavy floating object with a good speed is just a nightmare for the whales. The collisions sometimes wound them and most of the times they get killed and since they are negatively bouyant they just get swallowed up in sea. 

Image source: www.savecoastalwildlife.org

This topic started when the whales started appearing on the sea shores and beaches dead. Whale researchers today believe the accidents are a lot in numbers and are growing rapidly. These are not in concern that much just because we don't see any floating whales on the sea level. 

After being hit they either go deep inside the ocean or only some reach the shore with the waves. Some researchers assumed the number of Total encounter of whale by ship to be 1200 in 5 years. But the whale enthusiasts seem to give different information. They think that the actual number must be 20 to 30 times more than this number. 

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ?

Actually there hasn’t been long studies over this topics but in this particular blog we will try some of the potential solutions for the issue. These are:-

1. As the whale are not able to see the approaching ships most of the time, it's our duty to save whales from collision with us. Probable solution can be diverting the routes of ship to remain away from the whale areas. This also reduced the collisions when practically applied in Panama region.  But this was only 90% decrease which is not enough as whales are one of the most slow reproducing animals. In thus rate they will be extinct.
2. Second way is alerting them beforehand a Ship approaches the region. This can be done by introducing a device on ship that can pre locate the whales and if possible get away and if get approached by whale, emit sound wave to alert them. But this is not implemented yet.

This shows the whole situation. A head always has a tails in other side. Same thing happens with the shipping industry. 

Let's hope for a better future as always we do. And let's make Earth more livable and lovable.

"An unexamined life is not worth living"

                                                                      --   Socrates 

THANK YOU !

Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion

 Hi readers !

Its very difficult to stay away from you guys and I have prepared the topic as interesting as anybody would have want.

                   The topic that we will discuss about is Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion. As we all know the whole global commerce rests on the maritime shipping. In 2017 UNCTAD ( United Nation conference on Trade And Development ) marked it 10.7 billion tons. This heavy transfer ensures that the sea routes are always busy. These routes are such busy that even marking the number Of ships currently on voyage is very difficult. Maritime transport accounts for over 80% of world trade by volume and for approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while it is also a contributor to air pollution close to coastal regions.

In response to this the maritime community is moving towards the alternative fuels. The immediate effect of introducing alternative fuels will be a strong reduction in SOx, NOx, and PM, while greenhouse gas reductions will also be possible, depending on what types of fuel are used. One of these options is the Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion.

It is rapidly gaining applause in the industry due to the high working efficiency of these engines. The fuel is durable and the power generation is also better than the old common engines. 

HISTORY

The Nuclear propulsion in ships was started by the US Navy by the 'USS Nautilus' a submarine, which was enriched with Uranium fuelled PWR ( Pressurised Water Reactor ). Continuing its legacy US Navy is currently the leader in the Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion. Given below is the US Nautilus.

Image source:  Google Images

Currently Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion is exhausted by 6 countries worldwide. They are 

1. United States of America 
2. India
3. China
4. France
5. United Kingdom 
6. Russia

Merchant fleets have had but very scarce Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion. It was applied but for a very small period of time. They were 2 general cargo and one experimental ship just for a technical showoff you all know that.

WHY THEY USE NUCLEAR-POWERED PROPULSION 

This question is very obvious but important. We will be reading it in points as points are rather easy to digest. 

• They have practically zero emissions. With the world going towards the green energy concept, this nuclear propulsion is proving to be a good move.
• Once fuelled this Nuclear engine doesn't require any refuelling atleast for 20 years ! Do you believe it ? It's just phenomenal. 
• Also the nuclear powered ships are very important asset as, the new era wants the cargo transference to be agile and the nuclear ships are a lot faster than the regular steam turbine engines.
• Not only the shipping is faster but also we have to do less maneuvering at ports as there is no need of refuelling. 
• A Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion is most efficient when it comes to Global warming consideration. There is absolutely nothing in emissions whatsoever.
• There is low noise and vibrational problems in the Nuclear-powered Marine engines.

CURRENT SCENARIO 

Currently the fleets which are running on the nuclear technology are given below. I have also included the old ships which were made for experimentation.

* Ton Arktika was made in 1975 and it is a fleet of 6 different ships. One of them is NS ARKTIKA the first vessel to reach North pole. 

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT US NAVY FLEETS 

When it comes to US Navy we will again do it by points. 

• USS NAUTILUS was first ever nuclear powered marine vehicle. Made in 1958
• Currently US Navy has 10 USS Nimitz and 1 Gerald R Ford Class vesseland nearly 74 submarines
• USS Enterprise is only aircraft carrier to house more than 2 reactors. It had 8 reactor units. Really mammoth. While USS Nimitz had only 2 reactor units.

INDIAN NAVY EFFORTS FOR THE NUCLEAR PROPULSION 

• INS Arihant is a Nuclear-powered submarine which is the only marine vehicle to be Nuclear-powered.
• Rumors are made that the commenced Aircraft carrier  INS Vishal which is in building yet would be a nuclear powered ship. But there is no confirmation yet whatsoever.

_______________________________________________________

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts"

                                                   - Winston Churchill

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Introduction to my content

Hi readers !

I am Samarth Upadhyay here and this is my first blog. And I am sort of introducing myself in this. I am currently a Cadet at Indian Maritime University kolkata campus erstwhile DMET. And I am pursuing Bachelor of technology in Marine engineering. 

I loved the idea of blogging as it can be used as a good source of knowledge sharing. In the coming blogs of mine I will be sharing some of the topics which are generally not found in the books and are connected to the deep research by the enthusiastic people.

I think my content of the upcoming blogs will satisfy my dear viewers and will provide them the periodic dose of the amazing knowledge. And at the end of each blog we will surely write a good thought to make this world a better place.

" Life is a flower of which love is the honey" 

                                                                     - Victor Hugo

Thank you and please keep visiting.......