BRITTANY Ferries has taken delivery of the largest high-speed vessel to operate on the English Channel.

Measuring in at 98m, the Incat-designed Normandie Express provides crossing times of only three hours to Cherbourg and three hours 45 minutes to Caen.

Accounting for over 50% of the traffic on the Western Channel, equating to more than 2.6M passengers, 780 000 cars and 170 000 trucks a year, Brittany Ferries considers the latest acquisition as a valuable plus in its quest to maintain its dominance of the western English Channel, as Managing Director, David Longden, explains: ‘The new high-speed crossings from Portsmouth complement our existing 135 minute express service from Poole to Cherbourg, to give customers even more choice on how they cross the Channel. The important thing for us is to provide the market with the widest possible choice.’

Robert Clifford, Incat Chairman, believes that the deployment of the first of its Evolution 10B vessel in the UK waters rewarded the marketing commitment Incat has dedicated to the 98m design: ‘We have been promoting the vast improvements the 98m vessels brings to all aspects of high-speed operations over the many early generation fast craft to be found in UK waters and have always believed the English Channel in particular offered significant potential for new generation Incat ferries.’

Designed to accommodate 900 persons, all passenger areas are located on one deck, with three lounge areas along its length, each featuring its own distinctive style of seating colour scheme and facilities.

A total of 380 truck lane/m and 360 car lane/m is provided over the vessel’s vehicle decks, while the fitting of nine portable mezzanine vehicle decks gives the operator additional flexibility to transport a variety of cars and heavy vehicles.

Power is supplied by four MAN B&W 20RK270 medium-speed diesels developing 28 000kW, and driving transom-mounted steerable Wärtsilä LIPS LJ120E waterjets via Reintjes VLJ6831 gearboxes.

Another notable improvement with the new design has been its seakeeping qualities. The Maritime Dynamics/Incat Ride Control system, made up of transom- mounted trim tabs and retractable bow T-foil, combined with a hull form featuring longer outer bows, fuller midship sections, stern skeglets and improved centrebow clearances, is claimed to reduce levels of motion sickness incidence by up to 40% in higher sea states.

[SOURCE SHIPPING WORLD AND SHIP BUILDER ]

Findings from a recent study show how differences in mid-ocean ridge magma-induced activity produce distinctly different types of ocean floor faulting. The research, conducted by senior research scientist Roger Buck at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), challenges the predominant theory that the fracturing of the Earth’s brittle outer shell into faults along the deep ocean’s mountainous landscape occurs only during long periods when no magma has intruded.

Dr Buck is one of a trio of scientists who developed these new models for faults seen at mid-ocean ridges where the Earth’s tectonic plates split apart and basaltic magma rises to form the oceanic crust that today covers two-thirds of the planet.

Unlike faults on land, those formed along mid-ocean ridges are extremely common. “The rate of fault generation across these ridges is a hundred times greater than on land,” explains Dr Buck. “And while land faults are easily eroded and often cut older faults in complex, hard-to-untangle ways, submarine faults break into newly formed crust and lithosphere and are little obscured by erosion. Recent observations show a huge range of fault types and sizes at ridges. These combined factors make mid-ocean ridges the place to learn about how faults form and grow.”

“It is pretty clear that magma plays a big role in determining the style of faulting at a ridge. The places where the faults were smallest had the greatest supply of magma,” says Dr Buck. “At ridges, magma frequently cracks through the ridge axis.”

NEW SOFTWARE DEVELOPED BY Zellweger Analytics for the Neotronics Impact Pro enables the portable gas detector to be more versatile, cost effective and easier to customise. Offering password-protected data storage, automated graphical presentation, automated event history reporting and a calibration wizard, Impact Pro data logging software is a Windows platform utility that allows the user to configure, calibrate and interrogate the Impact Pro via any PC. Installation via the smart on-screen menu is quick and simple and the Impact ICU software begins working from the moment an Impact Pro is connected to a PC, with built-in diagnostics testing for a successful connection.

An intuitive Windows interface makes it easy to configure an Impact Pro and use the data stored on the unit. The user interface is designed with easy accessibility in mind and features a toolbar menu displaying settings and functions, a main information window regarding the unit identity, operator information and sensors used, and a data Window showing session event history.

Data retrieval and storage is simple and can be also exported as a report which records operator information, number of alarms seen and other events performed by the operator, while a log chart view displays activity as graphs that can be saved to archive or insert into safety reports. Data and event logs can be also be fully customised for printing, as well as be exported into database programs such as Microsoft Excel.

Impact ICU can customise Impact Pro units by type of gas, range, alarm level, instrument information, data logging interval and the unique SafeLink safety message communication system. Full PC control of the Impact Pro calibration process is also offered, as well as a calibration certificate and calibration history, a feature that will save money by speeding up the testing process on large fleets of Impact Pro users as well as using less gas.

Impact ICU itself can be extensively configured for user preferences, from the set-up of print and charting options to the selection of data storage and language selection for the operator. The program is also secure, with users able to define access rights to the data as well as supervisor access levels. contact: sales@zalana.com

[SOURCE JOURNAL OF OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY]

Climate changes in the northern and southern hemispheres are linked by a phenomenon by which the oceans react to changes on either side of the planet, according to a study conducted by a research team from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Cardiff University.

They have shown for the first time that ocean circulation in the southern hemisphere has, in the past, adapted to sudden changes in the north. The research will enable more accurate forecasts to be made on how the oceans will react to climate change, said the team.

The scientists have observed that at several periods in history when the temperature has increased in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere has entered a cooling period, which creates a decrease in the amount of deep water transported to the Atlantic Ocean from the south. The opposite effect also took place when the climate cooled in the North Atlantic, the southern hemisphere entered a warmer period, causing water to be transported northwards.

These mechanisms linking the two hemispheres had already been observed in computer climate simulations, but this is the first time they have been confirmed with detailed data obtained from scientific experiments using weather records from the past. This is the first evidence showing that waters in the southern hemisphere play an active role in sudden climate changes.

[SOURCE THE MARINE SCIENTIST]