Water Transport

Uber rolls out India's first water transport service with shikara bookings

Ride-hailing app Uber has launched its first water transport service in India, with a booking of a shikara at Dal Lake in Srinagar through its app, a senior company official said on Monday. The company introduced the first service of its kind in Asia. "Uber Shikara is our humble attempt to blend technology and tradition to give a seamless experience to travellers for their shikara ride. We are proud to create this iconic experience enhancing accessibility and uplifting tourism in the breathtaking landscape of Kashmir," Uber India and South Asia, President, Prabhjeet Singh said. An Uber spokesperson confirmed that Uber's water transport service in India is also the first in Asia. Uber offers water transport booking in some of the European countries including Venice in Italy. In India, the company has initially onboarded seven shikaras and plans to gradually expand the fleet based on the service's traction. Uber users will be able to book shikara at government-determined rates. Th

8 crew members of ship that crashed into Baltimore bridge leave for India

Eight Indian crew members of the cargo ship 'Dali' that crashed into a famed Baltimore bridge in March left for India on Friday after nearly three months on the mammoth vessel. According to Baltimore Maritime Exchange, four of the 21 crew members are still on board the 984-foot cargo ship MV Dali, which is tentatively scheduled to leave Friday evening for Norfolk, Virginia. The rest of the crew has been moved to a service apartment in Baltimore and will remain there pending an investigation. Notably, 20 of the crew members were Indian nationals. They were on board the MV Dali Cargo, which struck the pillars of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge resulting in its collapse and the death of six construction workers in the tragic incident. Dali will undergo repair at Norfolk. The departure of eight Indian crew members including a cook, a fitter and seamen follows a deal approved by the judge. None of these are officers. The rest 13 would remain in the US, mainly because of the pendin

Indian ship recyclers' revenue likely to rise 15% this fiscal: CRISIL

The Indian ship recycling industry will see revenue growth of 15 per cent this fiscal after two years of decline, Crisil ratings said on Thursday. The rating agency said the growth will be supported by the increased availability of ageing vessels for recycling due to addition of new vessel capacity globally and higher competitiveness of Indian ship recyclers compared to key rival nations -- Bangladesh and Pakistan. "The Indian ship recycling industry will see revenue growth of 15 per cent this fiscal after two years of decline -- 22 per cent in fiscal 2024 and 8.5 per cent in fiscal 2023," it said. According to the rating agency, the increased availability of ageing vessels will bring down input cost for ship recyclers. "This, along with higher capacity utilization leading to better efficiency, will improve operating profitability by 75 basis points (bps) to 6.5 per cent this fiscal," it said. Crisil ratings said higher cash generation and absence of capital expenditure (capex), a

Baltimore Port's key transit channel reopens following bridge collapse

Army Corps of Engineers said a survey on Monday certified the riverbed as safe for transit

Baltimore Bridge collapse: Ship behind mishap to be refloated and moved

The container ship that caused the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is scheduled to be refloated on Monday and moved to a nearby marine terminal. The Dali has remained at the collapse site since it lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns on March 26, killing six construction workers and snarling traffic into Baltimore Harbour. High tide Monday morning is expected to bring the best conditions for crews to start refloating and transit work on the ship, according to a statement from the Key Bridge Response Unified Command. Up to five tugboats will escort the Dali on its 2.5-mile (4-kilometre) path to the marine terminal. The work is expected to last at least 21 hours. Crews conducted a controlled demolition on May 13 to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed bridge. The Dali experienced four electrical blackouts within about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore for Sri Lanka and hitting the bridge, according t

Crews prepare for demolition at Francis Scott Key bridge collapse site

After weeks of preparation, crews are scheduled to conduct a controlled demolition Sunday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, which came crashing down under the impact of a massive container ship on March 26. Of the crew members, 20 are from India and one is Sri Lankan. The steel span landed on the ship's bow after the Dali lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's support columns shortly after leaving Baltimore. Since then, the ship has been stuck among the wreckage and Baltimore's busy port has been closed to most maritime traffic. Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths in the collapse. The last of their bodies was recovered from the underwater wreckage earlier this week. All the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the U.S. for job opportunities. They were filling potholes on an overnight shift when the bridge was destroyed. The controlled demolition will allow the Dali to be refloated and ..

Baltimore bridge collapse: Officials release timeline, cost for rebuilding

Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an estimated cost between USD 1.7 billion and USD 1.9 billion, a state transportation official said Thursday. The state plans to build a new span by fall of 2028, said David Broughton, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He said the cost estimate is preliminary, and detailed engineering specifics have not been confirmed. As salvage efforts continue, authorities also announced late Wednesday they had recovered the body of a fifth person who was missing after the bridge's March 26 collapse, which shut down the port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports in the country. Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns. The Key Bridge Response Unified Command announced that the victim found Wednesday was identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. All of the .

Loved ones await recovery of 2 bodies from Baltimore bridge wreckage

A wooden cross is laden with Miguel Luna's personal belongings his construction uniform and work boots, a family photo, the flag of his native El Salvador but his body remains missing after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. More than a month has passed since six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns. Four bodies have been recovered, but Luna and another worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, have not been found. They were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. They were fathers and husbands, brothers and grandfathers. They shared a common dream and a determination to achieve it. In an effort to honour their lives and their work, Baltimore County's close-knit Latino community has constructed an elaborate memorial near the south end of the bridge. It includes decorated wooden crosses, a painted canvas backdrop, bunches of

Baltimore bridge collapse: Crews to remove debris from ship's deck

Salvage crews at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore are turning their focus to the thousands of tons of debris sitting atop the Dali, a massive cargo ship that veered off course and caused the deadly catastrophe last month. An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 tons of steel and concrete landed on the ship's deck after it crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns and toppled the span, officials said at a news conference Friday. Crews will have to remove all that before refloating the stationary ship and guiding it back into the Port of Baltimore. Officials displayed overhead photos of the ship with an entire section of fallen roadway crushing its bow. So far, cranes have lifted about 120 containers from the Dali, with another 20 to go before workers can build a staging area and begin removing pieces of the mangled steel and crumbling concrete. The ship was laden with about 4,000 containers and headed for Sri Lanka when it lost power shortly after leaving

Shipping industry set for tougher times ahead due to tensions in West Asia

The global maritime industry is set for tougher and more challenging times after Iran ramped up West Asia tensions by launching an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel, causing supply chain disruption and increasing the probability of choking shipping routes, experts here have said. Iran's attack on Israel marks a distinct escalation in hostilities by bringing the two nations into direct conflict. Iran and its proxies launched 330 missiles and drones on Israel late on Saturday night in retaliation to an alleged attack by Israel on a diplomatic mission of the Islamic Republic in Damascus on April 1 in which several people, including two top commanders, were killed. There is a concern about the probability of a Persian Gulf shutdown, though many maintain hope of defusing fierce tension in the region, a delegate at the opening of Singapore Maritime Week on Monday, told PTI. The Persian Gulf is a Mediterranean Sea in West Asia. It is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the eas

Port workers' federation won't handle military cargo bound for Israel

The federation, which has representatives at 11 of the country's 12 major ports, said that loading and unloading these weapons helps provide organisations with the ability to kill innocent people

Food security to hydrogen transport: Formats exist for IMEC's success

India's initiatives have already laid some of the groundwork for the proposed infrastructure corridor

Cost benefit study needed before spending money on inland water transport

Given the shape of peninsular India it makes far more sense to run trains from one coast to the other than ships.

Northern Chinese port city uses boats, scoops to fight algae bloom

The northern Chinese port city of Qingdao has deployed thousands of boats and powered scoops to deal with a massive algae bloom that is threatening sea life, tourism and water transport

Water transport: Still missing the link

It holds out great promise for improving India's logistics and therefore needs to be pushed aggressively

Water transport of cargo

A good beginning but challenges abound