Free Republic

Rescue workers in Baltimore are working furiously in an attempt to save the lives of dozens of people who were plunged into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit by a container ship. Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time. The workers were pouring concrete on to the bridge at the time of crash. At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Baltimore Fire Chief...

Suez Canal ship freed: Everything you need to know about the Ever Given drama The Ever Given was stuck for nearly a week, but now traffic can resume on the Suez Canal. You'll notice "Evergreen" is written across the Ever Given's body, but confusingly, that's branding for the Taiwanese company that operates the ship. Julianne Cona/Instagram After nearly six days lodged aground in the Suez Canal, the cargo ship Ever Given was finally freed Monday, according to CNBC and ship tracker Vessel Finder. Traffic in the waterway can now resume, the canal authority told Reuters. The Suez Canal is one...

Rut Roh – A “Refugee Relief Supply” cargo container arrives In Greece devoid of “Refugee Relief Supplies”… Watch the video to see what the “aid for Syrian refugees” was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-UCR5p0y0#t=10

The Maersk Tigris was released Thursday, more than a week after the ship was seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement from the shipping company. The cargo vessel was transiting the Strait of Hormuz on April 28 when Iranian military vessels fired warning shots at the ship and directed it to proceed into Iranian waters. The ship and crew has been held ever since over a business dispute with Maersk Line. “The release follows a constructive dialogue with the Iranian authorities, including the Ports & Maritime Organization, and the provision of a letter of undertaking...

Shipping group Maersk is bringing the world's largest ship into service this month - but the vessel's sheer size could mean beginning its working life under capacity. The company has taken delivery of the first of 10 massive "Triple E" container ships each measuring 1,312ft long and capable of holding more than 18,000 standard 20ft shipping containers. Capable of carrying 16pc more cargo than Maersk's largest vessel currently plying the oceans, the Triple E class was designed to cut costs through economies of scale. However, the new ship - named Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller - might not deliver those cost savings...

– Boeing Co.'s giant 747-8 freighter — the biggest plane the company has ever built — successfully completed its first flight Monday, a year later than originally planned. The huge plane took off from Everett's Paine Field shortly after noon and returned to Paine at 4:18 p.m. PST after an approximately 3 1/2-hour flight. A crowd Boeing estimated at more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and other airplane fans gathered to watch the plane take to the air. The flight came just one day short of the 41st anniversary of the first flight of the original 747 model. At 250...

China calls on Russia to explain cargo ship sinking 59 mins ago China called on Russia on Thursday to explain how a Chinese cargo ship sank in Russian waters after reports it was fired on by the Russian military. Seven Chinese sailors were missing after the "New Star" sank on Saturday in stormy seas off Vladivostok and after a Russian warship shot at least 500 rounds into it, the official China Daily newspaper said, quoting a Chinese-language paper which in turned quoted a Russian newspaper. The "New Star" was held at the Russian port of Nakhodka earlier this month, suspected...

A ship bound for Syria from North Korea and detained in Cyprus on an Interpol alert for suspected arms smuggling was carrying an air defense system, Cypriot authorities said. The shipment was billed as weather-observation equipment on the freight manifest of the Panamanian-flagged Grigorio 1. The ship was carrying 18 truck-mounted mobile radar systems and three command vehicles. "The radars on the 18 trucks appear to be part of an air defense system," a police spokeswoman said.

<p>On Sept. 6, something important happened in northern Syria. Problem is, no one knows exactly what. Except for those few who were involved, and they're not saying.</p> <p>We do know that Israel carried out an airstrike. How then do we know it was important? Because in Israel, where leaking is an art form, even the best-informed don't have a clue. They tell me they have never seen a better-kept secret. Which suggests that whatever happened near Dayr az Zawr was no accidental intrusion into Syrian airspace, no dry run for an attack on Iran, no strike on some conventional target such as an Iranian Revolutionary Guard base or a weapons shipment on its way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.</p>

<p>NAIROBI -- A North Korean-flagged freighter has gone missing off the Horn of Africa coastline after last being spotted seven weeks ago, a Kenyan maritime official said Friday.</p> <p>The MV Sea Prince was last seen loading cargo in Djibouti port in May, Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers' Assistance Program, said.</p>

Boeing is working with two potential customers to define a commercial freighter variant of its blended wing body large transport aircraft as it prepares to fly a subscale model of the flying-wing design at NASA Dryden in California. “We have been working with a couple of customers,” says George Muellner, president, advanced systems, for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. “We have a customer, we have finalised what they want, and it is now an issue of customer funding and our desire to invest.” Boeing has been working on the BWB concept for years, but the design is still at an early...

Cargo company cancels order with Airbus By JAMES WALLACE P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER Airbus was rocked by a major defection in its A380 program Tuesday when cargo express giant FedEx switched to The Boeing Co. for large-capacity freighters. It is the first time that any A380 customer has canceled an order because of a series of embarrassing delays at Airbus that have pushed the program back about two years. FedEx said its decision to cancel firm orders for 10 A380 freighters, as well as 10 options, was the result of not being able to get its planes soon enough. FedEx was...

KODIAK -- Taking a helicopter through a winter gale over the Bering Sea may be the most demanding flying on earth. Hurricane-force gusts can knock the copter side to side, up and down. The sea can rise and fall the height of a three-story building in a minute. Driving sleet combines with Alaska's early nightfall to consume visibility, making conditions as dark as the inside of an orca's mouth. Night vision goggles help, but whipping snow reflects what little light that exists, partly blinding the view. And then there's the moment when the flight mechanic stands in an open hatch...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under its new chairman, Richard Lugar, should make its first order of business an inquiry into President Bush's maladroit and shortsighted decision-making in the So San affair. Our National Security Agency, to its credit, spotted the movement of 15 Scud missiles and 85 drums of chemicals from a factory in North Korea to its secret loading aboard the freighter So San, and tracked the unflagged ship around the world to the Arabian Sea. The C.I.A. was unable to determine the customer of these offensive weapons, unreliable in military combat but useful in striking terror into...

MIAMI (Reuters) - A cargo ship and a ferry boat collided off the Bahamian island of Eleuthera on Saturday, killing six people and injuring at least 16 others, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Rescuers from the Coast Guard, the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and the Royal Bahamas Police were searching an area about 9 miles southwest of Eleuthera, where the collision took place, for other possible victims, the Coast Guard said. The 98-foot ferry Sea Hauler and the 170-foot cargo vessel United Star collided before 1:30 a.m. EDT Saturday, the Coast Guard said in a written statement. U.S. Coast Guard...

Since this is Washington Post, excerpts only Following a tip from U.S. naval intelligence officers, Italian authorities last month seized a ship carrying 15 suspected terrorists off the island of Sicily, Italian officials said today. The men, identified by Italian authorities as Pakistanis, were charged today with "association" to commit terrorist acts. "We are certain that these people are part of a terrorist organization and we are almost certain that the organization is al Qaeda," said Santi Giuffre, police chief of Caltanissetta, where the group is being held." "Officials here said the decision to board the ship last month was...