Vehicles News

Melding advanced software, intelligence, robotics and navigation, Armach Robotics – a spinoff of Greensea Systems – leads a step change in ship hull cleaning and maintenance with its Robotics as a Service model. Ben Kinnaman, the CEO of Greensea Systems, explains.Ben, to start us off, please give us a background on Armach Robotics? Where did the idea come from and where are we today?Greensea Systems is a software company, well-known for our software platform on ocean robotics. We're also well-known for our unique navigation and autonomy solutions.

COVID-19 has hit the vehicle carrier market hard. The world vehicle demand has dropped by c.35%. Consequently, shipping these vehicles has fallen considerably.The only order to take place earlier this year is one from NYK line for a large LCTC for $95 million.No deals have taken place since the beginning of the year, this is a figure we have not seen historically. A break of five months on the S&P side of things in the Vehicle carrier market. One of the main reasons for this low period and a fall in the values is the drop in rates for the 6…

Driver-less heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) will be to ship freight between the UK and continental Europe in the future, according to a new white paper published by the British Ports Association (BPA) and the specialist freight transport consultancy MDS Transmodal.Commercial and environmental pressures will encourage freight operators to look at autonomous trucks and they would transform the way the ro-ro market works in Great Britain."Changes anticipated include significant growth in the market share of ‘driverless accompanied’ RORO traffic – particularly through North Sea and Western English Channel ports," it said.Technical developments…

European providers of transportation and logistics services P&O Ferrymasters has announced plans to open five new offices across Turkey over the next two years as it continues the expansion of its pan-European logistics services into Asia.In addition to its existing base in Istanbul, P&O Ferrymasters will develop a comprehensive network across the strategically vital country by opening offices in Izmir on the Aegean coast, the capital city Ankara, Mersin on the south coast, Bursa in the Marmara region and Gaziantep near the border with Syria.Murat Bog, Freight Management Director at P&O Ferrymasters, said: “This expansion will further…

The opening of the Port Said tunnel, under the Suez Canal just south of Port Said last week is an important piece of the jigsaw required to position the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT) as Egypt’s primary gateway terminal.Construction of the twin-tubed, 4-lane road tunnel began in 2017. Its inauguration follows the opening of the Ismailia tunnel earlier this year and the 30th June Axis road, a 10-lane highway with 2+2 dedicated lanes for trucks.With the terminals strategic location offering no deviation from the main routes on trade lanes between Asia and Europe, around 95% of SCCT’s traffic has historically been made up of transshipment volume.“The new tunnel…

Norwegian shipping company Hurtigruten has announced a partnership between Hurtigruten’s land-based adventure travel company Hurtigruten Svalbard, and the Finnish start-up company, Aurora Powertrains.The agreement is an industry first for snowmobiles, and starts a new era of silent and emission-free exploration by snowmobiling.“Exploring some of the most pristine areas of our planet has never been eco-friendlier. We firmly believe the future of travel is emission-free. Introducing electrical solutions in our land-based operations and activities is a major step in this direction; with the introduction of eSleds, Hurtigruten Svalbard once again leads the way with groundbreaking green technology…

Kalmar, the provider of cargo handling solutions and services to ports, is to supply NFI Industries with 25 Kalmar Ottawa Electric T2E Terminal Tractors for use in their selected distribution centers in California.The order was booked in Cargotec's 2019 Q2 order intake with delivery scheduled to be completed during the first half of 2020, said a press release from the Cargotec's unit.NFI is a fully integrated third-party supply chain solutions provider with locations across North America. Serving customers throughout a variety of industries, NFI is dedicated to providing customized engineered solutions that propel a business to succeed.NFI operates approximately 50 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space…

Kalmar, the provider of cargo-handling solutions and services to ports, has signed a contract with Cikarang Dry Port, for the delivery of the first Kalmar Eco Reachstacker in Indonesia. Kalmar is part of Cargotec group.The order was booked into Cargotec’s 2019 second quarter order intake and scheduled for delivery in July of 2019.Cikarang Dry Port is a public inland port located in the eastern corridor of greater Jakarta. It serves direct export import for the surrounding industries under multimodal transport bill of lading provided by shipping lines partners. Kalmar first established its footprint in Indonesia in the 1980’s and during the past decades, it has worked in partnership with local dealer PT.

U.S. distributor of Toyota lift trucks and tow tractors Toyota Material Handling has announced the approval of a new lineup of lithium-ion batteries for use in its 3- and 4-wheel electric sit-down models.The  provider of material handling and industrial lift trucks and equipment, this introduction makes Toyota the first manufacturer in the industry to obtain UL-E and UL-EE certification for the combination of lift truck and lithium-ion batteries on a sit-down counterbalanced forklift.Toyota engineers worked directly with Underwriters Laboratory (UL) to test and certify the use of four new Navitas lithium-ion batteries in Toyota forklifts.