Free Republic

Authorities are investigating the events that led up to the ships crash into the bridge, causing the collapse. ... The FBI has opened up a criminal investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland after a boat crashed into it last month. ... The boat reportedly lost power briefly before veering one of the bridge's support, sending the bridge cascading into the water below. Six lives were lost. On Monday, federal agents boarded the crashed boat to conduct a search. Agents wore yellow and orange life jackets as they boarded the Dali, standing where it...

Iranian authorities seized an alleged Israeli-linked cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday morning, in the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries, amid concerns of an Iranian attack in response to an airstrike on an Iranian embassy earlier this month.

Modern container ships already face a number of serious perils at sea. Now new research from Pen Test Partners shows just how vulnerable these ships are to new dangers from hacking–including being steered off course and sunk–thanks to their use of always-on satellite communications and general lax security practices on board.

A Republican candidate for governor of Utah has linked diversity, equity, and inclusion to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The bridge collapsed early Tuesday after the cargo ship Dali drifted into a bridge support. Among the reactions that looked past the immediate cause, state Rep. Phil Lyman appeared to indicate that the makeup of the commissioners for the Port of Baltimore was a factor in the incident. Lyman is challenging Gov. Spencer Cox for the Republican nomination... This is what happens when you have Governors who prioritize diversity over the wellbeing and security of citizens,”...

An attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels on a Belize-flagged ship earlier this month caused an 18-mile (29-kilometer) oil slick, the U.S. military said Saturday. It also warned of the danger of a spill from the vessel’s cargo of fertilizer. The Rubymar, a British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo vessel, was attacked on Feb. 18 while sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said. The missile attack forced the crew to abandon the vessel, which had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates. It was...

A large cargo ship carrying lithium batteries which caught on fire has reached Alaska but continues to be held two miles offshore while responders attempt to extinguish the blaze. The 19-strong crew managed to make it to shore with no injuries reported, according to the US Coast Guard. The Genius Star XI was carrying a load of lithium-ion batteries across the Pacific Ocean, from Vietnam to San Diego when the cargo caught on fire, the guard's Alaska district said in a release. The fire started on Christmas Day in cargo hold No. 1, a spokesperson for ship owner Wisdom Marine...

The massive roll-on, roll-off ship ablaze off the Dutch coast is transporting 500 electric vehicles. The ship's total cargo is around 3,800 vehicles, some of which are BMWs and Mercedes. Shipping blog TradeWinds reported Japan's K Line is the operator of "Fremantle Highway." According to K Line's figures, there are 3,783 vehicles, of which 489 are EVs. Earlier estimates had the number of EVs at 25. "The figure is far higher than first estimated and appears to raise the likelihood that a lithium-ion battery in an EV either caused the blaze in the 6,210-ceu Fremantle Highway (built 2013) or added...

The race is on to prevent the sinking of a cargo ship off the Dutch coast which is carrying almost 3,000 vehicles, including 350 Mercedes-Benz, as it burns out of control with an electric car believed to be behind the deadly fire. At least one crew member died and others were injured after fire ripped through the Fremantle Highway, a 18,500-ton car-carrying vessel. Rescue helicopters and boats evacuated 23 crew members from the Panamanian-registered ship. Officials have said there are 'many' wounded. Some suffered broken bones, burns and breathing problems and were taken to hospitals in the northern Netherlands, emergency...

Firefighters are struggling to extinguish a fire that broke out last week on a cargo ship that is carrying thousands of luxury cars and is adrift off the coast of Portugal's Azores islands. A port official said it was unclear when crews would succeed. The vessel, Felicity Ace, which is carrying about 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some electric with lithium-ion batteries, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. The 22 crew members on board were evacuated on the same day. "The intervention [to put out the blaze] has to be done very slowly,"...

January 23, 2017 In the opening hours of his first formal day in the White House on Monday, President Trump welcomed leaders from several of the country's largest corporations and promised to wipe out at least 75 percent of government regulations that hinder their businesses, fast-track their plans to open factories and cut taxes “massively.” And he again threatened to impose a “substantial border tax” on companies that move production out of the country. “We're going to be cutting regulation massively,” Trump told a large group of business chief executives over breakfast, which was briefly open to the news media....

Six crew members of a cargo ship in San Francisco Bay have been transported to hospitals to be treated for COVID-19, officials said. None of the crew members who were transported Monday afternoon appeared to be severely ill, but they requested transport to hospitals, authorities said. Of 21 crew members aboard the ship Global Striker, 19 are positive for the coronavirus, said Pete Vasilarakis, the on-duty public affairs officer for the Coast Guard’s San Francisco sector. The six who were transported by San Francisco firefighters to Pier 26 were taken to UC San Francisco and California Pacific Medical Center. According...

A cargo ship ran aground and broke into two off northern Japan, the coast guard said Thursday, with the crew of the Panama-flagged vessel taken to safety. Aerial images showed the separated stern of the Crimson Polaris tipped upwards and the other part of the stricken boat listing into the sea.... ..Authorities were trying to contain the oil leak but had not yet been able to erect an oil fence around the boat, the spokesman said...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection ordered a Panama-flagged bulk carrier to immediately depart U.S. waters earlier this month after the discovery of invasive insects on board. CBP says the M/V Pan Jasmine arrived at an anchorage down river from New Orleans on July 17th, arriving from Paradip, India via Vera Cruz, Mexico. An initial inspection of the vessel raised some red flags after it was discovered that the wood used secure a previous cargo of aluminum, known as “dunnage”, was left scatted on the deck, rather than offloaded in Mexico. This prompted a closer inspection by CBP and USDA personnel...

Not every day does a large cargo vessel get booted from U.S. waters after the discovery of invasive insects from China. According to marine news website gCaptain, a Panama-flagged bulk carrier called M/V Pan Jasmine was anchored downriver from New Orleans on July 17 when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered five different pests, including two species (namely Cerambycidae, a type of beetle, and Myrmicinae, colonizing queen ants) that are known to pose a significant agriculture threats to U.S. farmland. The significant presence of pests onboard the vessel forced CBP to expel it from U.S. waters. New Orleans...

An examination of damage to an Israeli-owned cargo ship currently docked in Dubai indicates an explosion that hit it in the Gulf of Oman was caused by mines covertly attached to the ship, according to a Sunday TV report. Channel 13 news did not cite sources for the report, which contradicted earlier reported assessments in Israel that that blast was caused by missiles. An Israeli team is believed to be in Dubai to examine the ship following the suspected attack. The ship is undergoing repairs in Dubai. Limpet mines are a type of naval explosive that attach to targets using...

The Coast Guard has so far freed three of the four crew members stuck in a capsized South Korea-owned cargo ship off the Georgia coast, officials said at a Monday afternoon news conference. Efforts to save the fourth, who is trapped on another deck, are continuing. Earlier Monday, rescuers made contact with the four crew members stuck inside the South Korea-owned cargo ship that overturned and caught fire near a major port in Georgia over the weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Golden Ray, a 656-foot vehicle carrier, listed "heavily" and then rolled over on its side early Sunday...

Rescuers made contact Monday with four crew members stuck inside a South Korea-owned cargo ship that overturned and caught fire near a major port in Georgia over the weekend, said the U.S. Coast Guard, adding that officials are working to free the quartet from the massive vessel, The Golden Ray, a 656-foot vehicle carrier, listed "heavily" and then rolled over on its side early Sunday in St. Simons Sound near Brunswick, Ga., according to the Coast Guard. Rescuers drilled a hole overnight through the ship's hull and made contact with the four crew members, who had been listed as missing....

Rescue crews are searching for four crew members of a cargo ship that overturned in the early hours of Sunday morning off the coast of Brunswick, Ga., approximately 80 miles south of Savannah. There were 23 crew members and a pilot aboard the Golden Ray when the 656-foot carrier became disabled in St. Simons Sound, according to the Coast Guard. Twenty people on the vessel were rescued. Capt. John Reed, Commander of Coast Guard Sector Charleston, told reporters at a Sunday afternoon press conference that several people were rescued from the vessel "at multiple points." Then rescue operations were suspended...

Solid cargoes like crushed ore or sand can suddenly turn to liquid… and cause the ship to sink. And the phenomenon happens more frequently than you might think... Solid bulk cargoes are typically ‘two-phase’ materials as they contain water between the solid particles. When the particles can touch, the friction between them makes the material act like a solid (even though there is liquid present). But when the water pressure rises, these inter-particle forces reduce and the strength of the material decreases. When the friction is reduced to zero, the material acts like a liquid (even though the solid particles...

Tampa (AFP) - A ball-shaped artificial intelligence robot nicknamed the "flying brain" because it is trained to follow and interact with a German astronaut blasted off Friday toward the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship. A spare hand for the station's robotic arm, an experiment to measure plant stress and a study of a new cancer treatment were also on board as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:42 am (0942 GMT). "We have ignition and liftoff! The Falcon 9 rocket powers the Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station," said a NASA...