BIMCO seascapes begins 2008 with a six month programme which demonstrates just how “sustainable” shipping really is! At a time when everyone is worried about the damage our modern industrial way of life is doing to the planet, we need to be assured that the ships which carry the necessities of life are as clean and green as possible. The new seascapes series will focus on a number of important ways in which the shipping industry, its designers and engineers are improving its environmental credentials.

Seascapes, which has built up a substantial on-line database of information on contemporary maritime transport topics continues each month to demonstrate the interest in ships and the issues which surround marine transport. It is designed for teachers, students, and those merely curious about an essential global shipping industry. There are four elements in each monthly issue of Seascapes:

Maritime Matters will prove that shipping is environmentally sound, show how the industry attracts a new generation of seafarers and explain how engineers are designing cleaner propulsion machinery. It will consider how naval architects are designing ships to resist heavy weather, review the evidence which suggests that the shipbuilding industry is heading for global over-capacity, and show how technology helps shipping become more secure.

Ships that Serve us will look at six brand new vessels now entering service or under construction. A special tanker for Arctic operation will be reviewed, while an amazing concept to make ship handling tugs safer will be introduced. We will consider what a floating production and storage vessel offers the offshore oil industry, and a new way of transporting clean natural gas in a compressed form by sea. Other articles will look at how inland container ships are beating road congestion, and provide a portrait of extraordinary ships designed to deliver giant port cranes around the world.

Questions of Shipping offer answers to current queries. The new programme will look at the way that corrosion can be controlled; the way new short sea shipping can be encouraged and take the user through the process of buying a new ship. We will answer the difficult question of how “food miles” can be justified, why pirates can exist in the 21st century and ask if seafarers should be worried by worsening weather at sea.

Sea View looks at a range of fascinating maritime issues. seascapes 2008 will take a voyage through the challenging Straits of Magellan, examine the case for “Sea Traffic Controllers”, take a look at an entirely new method of ship construction and offer advice to those who want to identify merchant ships. Other articles will show how ships can be recycled more safely and environmentally soundly, and how oil is being won from deeper and deeper waters.