In December, Totem Ocean Transport Express (TOTE) ordered two new LNG powered container ships from NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. Late last month they also signed a contract with NASSCO to convert two existing roll-on/roll-off ships to LNG fuel. These ships will be the largest ships in the world powered primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The contracts raise the question – is LNG the fuel of the future for shipping?
For roughly the past hundred years, since shifting over from coal, most ships have burned “residual fuel.” Known by various names; 6 Oil, Bunker C, and heavy oil; it is dirty and cheap. Well, over the past few years, it has no longer been as cheap but it has gotten no cleaner. A few years ago, a headline appeared in US and international newspapers – “How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world.” The headline was an overstatement but was accurate in at least one regard – residual fuel is very dirty and ships that burn residual fuel produce a lot of sulfur dioxide and particulate pollution.
New energy is coming to Fukushima, the region in Japan best known for a nuclear disaster following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011. The 
Every year in the village of
The Navy has announced that the minesweeper, 
In its more than 60 year history, the 
The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is credited as the first successful submarine, in that it was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat. New findings, however, might cause some to reconsider this “success.” The Hunley may have been sunk by the force of its own explosive mine.
Tomorrow, January 27th, at 8 PM ET & PT, the Discovery Channel is airing 
François Gabart sailing MCIF in the 