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Time to reinvent the lifeboat?

Members of the Container Ship Safety Forum (CSSF) have issued a call for a fundamental rethink of the design of lifeboats and lifeboat launching mechanisms on cargo ships. For too long, the focus has been on training and compliance, rather than rethinking the process to eliminate the risk at source.

‘We need to reinvent the lifeboat and its launching equipment onboard cargo vessels. For way too long, we have seen able seafarers being injured when launching lifeboats even though crews have been trained and the lifeboat is modern and fully compliant’, said Aslak Ross, Chairman of the CSSF. ‘Everyone knows we have a problem; seafarers are scared to launch lifeboats; however, no one has offered a plausible path towards a solution to the problem for cargo vessels. A change is needed to provide a safe environment for seafarers and to regain trust in lifesaving equipment’.

In 2017, the UK Chamber of Shipping issued an article ‘Lifeboat drills: We need to save lives, not lose them’ in which they identified 60 fatalities during testing of lifeboats over a 10-year period. ‘Simulation and use of new technology are ways to conduct drills in a safer environment, and we support the intent to reduce the risk of accidents, however, it does not solve the core of the problem: Launching a lifeboat is too dangerous. And even though simulation has its advantages, it should only be used as a supplement to well-conducted onboard abandon ship drills where crews are familiarised with the ship specific equipment’, said Ross. Alternative designs are already available for offshore installations and for passenger evacuation on PAX vessels through Marine Evacuation Systems (MES) and the like, he pointed out. ‘Such systems should also be made available to cargo vessels without delay. It is long overdue to change the current environment and innovate to eliminate the risk of lifeboat accidents. We need approved systems that can be fitted to new buildings – we need to safeguard our seafarers’, Ross concludes.

(From: Seaways, 2023)

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Bulker Damaged in Grounding Refloated and Moved Ahead of Typhoon

Vietnamese officials report efforts are underway to secure a larger dry bulk carrier that was damaged in a grounding a week ago. The goal is to secure the vessel ahead of a strong approaching typhoon.

The Star Bueno (178,978 dwt) was arriving from South Africa, carrying a load of iron ore and waiting for its berth on October 25. The area was overtaken by a strong monsoon with winds and waves which washed through the anchorage. The vessel dragged anchor and, even with its engines fully engaged, was unable to hold its position. By October 26, the vessel was reported to be aground with water ingress into portions of the hull.

The Vietnamese authorities arranged for tugs to assist the large bulker. They were also surveying to determine the level of damage to the hull. The 22 crewmembers, from the Philippines and Ukraine, were reported to be safe and uninjured.

Despite severe weather conditions, the crew was able to stabilize the vessel. Using portable pumps, they were able to begin dewatering the sections of the hull, and by October 29, they had succeeded in refloating the vessel.

(Adapted from: https:// The Maritime-Executive.com)

Text 2

Bulker Damaged in Grounding Refloated and Moved Ahead of Typhoon

Vietnamese officials report efforts are underway to secure a larger dry bulk carrier that was damaged in a grounding a week ago. The goal is to secure the vessel ahead of a strong approaching typhoon.

The Star Bueno (178,978 dwt) was arriving from South Africa, carrying a load of iron ore and waiting for its berth on October 25. The area was overtaken by a strong monsoon with winds and waves which washed through the anchorage. The vessel dragged anchor and, even with its engines fully engaged, was unable to hold its position. By October 26, the vessel was reported to be aground with water ingress into portions of the hull.

The Vietnamese authorities arranged for tugs to assist the large bulker. They were also surveying to determine the level of damage to the hull. The 22 crewmembers, from the Philippines and Ukraine, were reported to be safe and uninjured.

Despite severe weather conditions, the crew was able to stabilize the vessel. Using portable pumps, they were able to begin dewatering the sections of the hull, and by October 29, they had succeeded in refloating the vessel.

(Adapted from: https:// The Maritime-Executive.com)

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Superyachts: professionalism, manpower and training

There is a large regulatory difference between commercial and privately operated yachts. Budgets vary considerably even between similar sized yachts, which not only impacts salaries but also the safety emphasis on equipment and crew training. Employment across a fleet is rare, which tends to lead to limited promotion prospects. Even on the same yacht, employment patterns can vary between short seasonal jobs and permanent long periods. Low job security/high crew turnover is more typical than not, and in these cases operational knowledge is often lost.

Crew hiring decisions are generally made by the Captain, with the owner/management involved only for more senior positions. While there are a number of specialized yacht crew placement agencies, very few are staffed by Human Resources (HR) trained professionals. A large number of yacht positions are now advertised on the internet, potentially by-passing crew agencies, and competition for places is fierce. There is little ethnic and cultural diversity in yacht crews compared with general shipping.

(Adapted from: Seaways, 2018)

Text 1

Superyachts: professionalism, manpower and training

There is a large regulatory difference between commercial and privately operated yachts. Budgets vary considerably even between similar sized yachts, which not only impacts salaries but also the safety emphasis on equipment and crew training. Employment across a fleet is rare, which tends to lead to limited promotion prospects. Even on the same yacht, employment patterns can vary between short seasonal jobs and permanent long periods. Low job security/high crew turnover is more typical than not, and in these cases operational knowledge is often lost.

Crew hiring decisions are generally made by the Captain, with the owner/management involved only for more senior positions. While there are a number of specialized yacht crew placement agencies, very few are staffed by Human Resources (HR) trained professionals. A large number of yacht positions are now advertised on the internet, potentially by-passing crew agencies, and competition for places is fierce. There is little ethnic and cultural diversity in yacht crews compared with general shipping.

(Adapted from: Seaways, 2018)

As prominent artificial intelligence (AI) researchers eye limits to the current phase of the technology, a different approach is gaining attention: using living human brain cells as computational hardware. These "biocomputers" are still in their early days. They can play simple games such as Pong, and perform basic speech recognition.

But the excitement is fueled by three converging trends. First, venture capital is flowing into anything adjacent to AI, making speculative ideas suddenly fundable. Second, techniques for growing brain tissue outside the body have matured, with the pharmaceutical industry jumping on board. Third, rapid advances in brain-computer interfaces have seen growing acceptance of technologies that blur the line between biology and machines.

Nevertheless, plenty of questions remain. Are we witnessing genuine breakthroughs, or another round of tech-driven hype? And what ethical questions arise when human brain tissue becomes a computational component? For almost 50 years, neuroscientists have grown neurons on arrays of tiny electrodes to study how they fire under controlled conditions.

By the early 2000s, researchers attempted rudimentary two-way communication between neurons and electrodes, planting the first seeds of a bio-hybrid computer. But progress stalled until another strand of research took off: brain organoids.

In 2013, scientists demonstrated that stem cells could self-organise into three-dimensional brain-like structures. These organoids spread rapidly through biomedical research, increasingly aided by “organ-on-a-chip” devices designed to mimic aspects of human physiology outside the body.

Today, using stem-cell-derived neural tissue is commonplace — from drug testing to developmental research. Yet the neural activity in these models remains primitive, far from the organised firing patterns that underpin cognition or consciousness in a real brain. While complex network behaviour is beginning to emerge even without much external stimulation, experts generally agree that current organoids are not conscious, nor close to it.

Internet: <https://www.sciencealert.com> (adapted).

About the previous text, judge the following items.

Hyundai Motor Group says it will roll out human-like robots in its factories from 2028, as major companies race to use the new technology. The South Korean firm showed off Atlas, a humanoid robot developed by Boston Dynamics, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday. Hyundai says it "plans to integrate Atlas across its global network", including a plant in the US state of Georgia that was involved in a massive immigration raid in 2025. Other firms that have said they will use humanoid robots in their operations include Amazon, Tesla, and Chinese car making giant BYD.

The Atlas robots will gradually take on more tasks, said Hyundai. The firm owns a majority stake in Boston Dynamics, the technology company famous for Spot, the robot dog. Atlas, which is designed for general industrial use, is being developed to work alongside people and autonomously manage machines. Hyundai said the robots will help ease physical strain on human workers, handle potentially dangerous tasks and pave the way for wider use of the technology. The firm did not say how many robots it would initially deploy or how much the project will cost.

Internet: <www.bbc.com >(adapted).

Considering the previous text, judge the items that follow.

The changes to Earth’s natural patterns reveal an interconnected web of ecological systems that are undergoing profound changes beyond what many researchers have predicted. Scientists say the culprit is clear: Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the relentless burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas has been adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere, leading to a sharp rise in global temperatures. The hottest year in recorded history was 2024, and each of the 10 warmest years on record have come in the past decade.

Since 1997, when nations agreed to limit planet-warming gases as part of the landmark Kyoto Protocol, humanity has released more greenhouse gases than in all prior history. The temperature rise associated with the growing volume of heat-trapping gas has kicked in, and it is continuing to rise. And at the same time, the ability of the planet’s natural systems to absorb planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide appears to be diminishing.

David Gelles. One thing’s for sure, the weather is getting wilder. The New York Times International Edition, Nova York, 21-22 mar. 2026, p. 2 (adapted).

Considering the preceding text, judge the following items.