web statisticswebsite tracking software
bradskelton.com theshippingbloke.com
Showing posts with label Aerospace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aerospace. Show all posts

Monday 31 July 2017

The Demise of Antonov Cargo Aircraft

The Ukraine government has just recently commenced a special commission to manage the process of liquidating aircraft maker Antonov.
Antonov was established in 1946 as a top secret top-secret Soviet aviation design and research bureau. It manufactured passenger, cargo, and special purpose aircraft. Among the company's best-known aircraft are the giant AN124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya cargo planes. The world's largest airplane AN225 was built to carry the Soviet Buran shuttle orbiter.
In 2010, Antonov and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) signed a deal to form a joint company. They agreed to cooperate in marketing, sales, design, and production of military, civilian and cargo aircraft as well as modifying new Antonov airplanes.
Most recently however, the Ukrainian government has forced Antonov, a state owned company, to sever its contract with UAC, leading to its liquidation. This comes as part of a wider action to freeze all Ukrainian-Russian Projects.
The demise of Antonov will leave a huge gap in the project airfreight market as there simply isn't any other aircraft currently flying commercially that have the same heavy lift capability that these incredible aircraft do.


It will be sad to see these aircraft eventually go even though the demand for them has decreased with the downturn in resources globally.
The last time I was on board an Antanov was at the Avalon Airshow in Victoria earlier this year. The last three pictures in this blog were taken there. This aircraft was not only on display but carrying American Apache helicopters back to the US after the show.
Please contact myself or the team at Depth Logistics for any heavy lift cargo you may ever need to transport.
All for now,

Sunday 5 February 2017

Rolls Royce shipping gamechanger arriving fast

I have made posts in the past showing how technology is transforming transportation at all levels.

Rolls Royce have an amazing vision for the future that cannot be ignored as most of the technology already exists. Integration is the key.

Here is a phenomenal YouTube clip showing what is coming.


All for now

Saturday 19 November 2016

Lockheed Martin Airships are the next generation in transport

About four years ago +Julie Magnone and I were meeting with one of our energy logistics clients. We had been engaged for our oversize logistics expertise to collaborate with their engineers in designing modules of their gas production plant. The goal being to optimise the design for operational efficiency, cost effective construction and transport.
From a pure construction and operational integrity standpoint the engineers were wanting to build modules as large as possible. So large that it made the land transport task impossible. We could easily transport the module sizes they wanted from overseas to the Port of Brisbane but getting them to site in central Queensland at that size was impossible due to numerous overhead bridges, power lines, railway lines, narrow roads etc en-route.
I remember clearly one of the engineers refusing to accept it was impossible and seriously demanding that we find airships that could move the cargo to site from the Port of Brisbane. Julie and I left the meeting thinking that he was slightly mad but nonetheless we did some research anyway and at that time there wasn't any airship flying capable of lifting more than a few tonnes at the most.
Well...not anymore thanks to Lockheed Martin.

A prototype, like the one pictured, is operational. It has a 7X improved cargo payload compared to what we found in earlier generation airships of 21000kg. The cargo bay is 18m long x 3m wide x 3m high and able to accommodate standard shipping containers and various other types of loads.
These airships can travel at a speed of 60 knots or 111km/h and have a range of about 2500km. Due to a special air cushion landing system, much like a hovercraft concept, they can land on water as well.
For transport into remote areas these airships are far superior than helicopters in nearly every respect. They are quieter and more fuel efficient as well!

While the current prototype still could not solve the transport task our client set for us it is fair to say it probably won't be too long before cargo bays and payloads starting increasing making Airship cargo transport a commercial reality.
Depth Airships here we come!
All for now,

Monday 6 January 2014

Rolls Royce is predicting drone cargo ships will be operating within a decade.

I recently blogged about Amazon working toward octocopter drones to deliver orders to customers within 30mins from the time of order. At the time of writing this blog I didn't realise that Rolls Royce , who is a major supplier to the maritime industry, are on a similar path with unmanned drone cargo ships likely to become a reality in less than ten years.

Existing GPS, radar and visual controls make this is entirely possible. The main stumbling block is complex international rules governing shipping and environmental considerations in case of mishaps. For example there is a current requirement in international maritime law for another vessel to go to the aid of another. Perhaps drone ships could be exempted from this requirement?

Another potential impediment is navigating around other vessels at sea that might not have GPS navigation and anti-collision technology such as small fishing or recreational boats. This is currently done by radar and visual sighting of craft from the bridge of the vessel. It is likely that control rooms would be set up to monitor unmanned vessels and take remote control to deal with certain situations that may arise. Real time video feeds can go to the control room from cameras installed around the unmanned vessel so they can physically see what the vessel may be confronting.

There is a research project already running called "MUNIN" which stands for "Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligent Networks. Learn more about Munin.

The MUNIN concept of unmanned vessel operation
The current thinking is that ships would be only be manned as they navigate departure and arrival of ports and their associated channels. Pilots roles would change to accomplish this where they would physically operate the vessel for these segments of the vessels voyage and then switch the vessel to remote and then get off the ship.

Operationally there are some significant gains commercially and environmentally. Vessels can steam more slowly thus using less fuel and creating less emissions. The reason they can steam more slowly is because is purely due to the fact that there is less pressure from the crew to get back to shore. The design of vessels can also change allowing more room for stowage of cargo as there will be no need for accommodation quarters and amenities for the crew. Obviously the ship owners would no longer have to pay the salary of crew as well.

For shippers drone cargo ships would translate into lower freight and charter rates. Of course not every type of vessel would be able to operate with this technology. In the short term bulk carriers and pure container ships would likely be enabled first.

Technology is impacting numerous industries and their are winners and losers but I am excited about the future and pleased to see the shipping industry actively embracing it.

All for now,

+Brad Skelton