Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas — the largest cruise ship in the world, is being taken out of service in February due a failure in one of its Azipod propulsion pods. Here we go again.
Royal Caribbean announces Allure of the Seas will undergo repairs in February 2014
Propulsion pods may be the greatest thing that ever happened to cruise ships. Or maybe the worst, when they don’t work, which is far too often. A propulsion pod is an electric motor which drives a propeller mounted on a rotating “pod” which extends out from the bottom of the ship. Because they can be made to rotate 360 degrees, the pod replaces the traditional rudder and stern thrusters and does away with the need for long propeller shaft runs. They are more fuel efficient than conventionally mounted propellers, by around 6-9%, which given today’s fuel costs is significant. Two manufacturers dominate pod propulsion — Rolls Royce who manufactures the “Mermaid pod” and ABB which manufactures the “Azipod.”
The Indian Navy has finally taken delivery of a modified the Kiev class aircraft carrier, which it purchased from the Russians in 2002. The ship was actually given to the Indian Navy with the stipulation that the estimated $800 million in modifications and repairs would be done in a Russian shipyard. Now, 11 years later and after spending approximately $2.3 billion dollars, the Indian Navy has finally commissioned the carrier, 
This is not supposed to happen. Two sailors on the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser 
I recently came across a video of the Viking longship replica 
Great news. The captain and chief engineer of the 222′ supply boat C-Retriever, who were kidnapped off the coast of Nigeria on October 23th, have been released following the payment of ransom. The two Americans are reported to be in good health and en-route to the United States. The supply boat is owned Edison Chouest Offshore, based in Louisiana.
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