Harry Valentine

Author and Researcher

Mr. Valentine has a degree in mechanical engineering from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada specializing in thermodynamics (energy conversion) and transportation technology. He has worked as a technical journalist for the past 10-years and has more than 2 decades of research in the transportation industry.

Western Med Transshipment Ports and Northeastern North America

By Harry Valentine 2019-07-11 19:00:52

The opening of deep-draft container ports in East Asia invites future development of larger container ships of 28,000 to 35,000-TEU that would expand transshipment opportunities at Western Mediterranean container ports to include Northeastern American destinations. Introduction Work is underway along the Suez Canal to reduce future transit time from 18-hours to 11-hours, increasing permissible draft to 20 meters (66 feet) and doubling the number of vessels that sail the canal by 2023. By the end of 2020 (or perhaps very...

Prospects for Long-Life Batteries in Waterway Transportation

By Harry Valentine 2019-07-06 18:12:01

Until very recently, the short useable life expectancy of electrochemical batteries and their high replacement cost deterred companies engaged in inland waterway transportation from investing in electrical vessel propulsion. New developments in grid-scale vanadium-oxide flow batteries and in molten metal battery technology now offer the sector batteries capable of delivering 15 to 20 years of service. Ongoing development in electrical battery storage technology seeks to increase both the storage density along with useable life expectancy. For stationary application, large grid...

Chondrus crispus has been called sea moss.

Commercial Opportunities from Oceanic Vegetation

By Harry Valentine 2019-06-23 00:19:10

While drought decimates land grown crops, sea vegetation thrives despite growing offshore from drought stricken locations. Over 200 varieties of ocean vegetation are edible while other forms of oceanic vegetation have alternative commercial applications such as textile fabric, fertilizer and pharmaceuticals. Introduction Recent occurrences of prolonged drought in areas of Australia and South Africa threatened the supply of available feed for farm livestock such as sheep, goats and cattle. It was previously thought that such animals could only graze on...

Incident at Venice - Loss of Cruise Ship Engine Control

By Harry Valentine 2019-06-04 00:34:11

People at the Port of Venice were horrified to witness the cruise ship MSC Opera sailing toward and colliding with a small cruise vessel and a dock. Unlike a sudden engine shut down, some reports suggest that the engine was “blocked” and with thrust still fully operational, causing the ship to accelerate. If this is indeed the case, the presence and operation of the emergency engine shut-off system becomes an area of focus. Introduction The smallest of modern powered vessels...

Re-Introducing Steam Power into Commercial Maritime Propulsion

By Harry Valentine 2019-05-27 06:18:02

While naval vessels have traditionally used combined-cycle gas-turbine-and-steam propulsion, there is emerging potential to apply the combined-cycle system to raise the overall thermal efficiency of commercial vessels powered by diesel and LNG piston engines. Introduction The most thermally efficient low-speed marine diesel engine is rated at 50 percent between fuel energy content and crankshaft power. During an earlier period of naturally aspirated diesel engines, peak efficiency of around 40 percent was common. One of the early diesel-steam combined-cycle engines dating...

Government Decree On San Francisco Rail Opens Up New Possibilities

By Harry Valentine 2019-05-22 21:41:05

The U.S. Federal Railway Administration (FRA) has canceled a grant of $929-billion from California’s high-speed bullet train project. This decision from Washington opens the door for a discussion on high-speed maritime passenger transportation between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Introduction The travel volumes between the Californian cities of San Francisco (metro population 4.7-million), Los Angeles (metro population 13-million) and San Diego (metro population 3.3-million) prompted the state government to develop a high-speed passenger railway line, to divert people from crowded...

A Future Option for African Fast Intercity Coastal Transportation

By Harry Valentine 2019-05-19 18:05:17

The recent redevelopment and upgrading of Kenya’s Mombasa – Nairobi railway line has revealed a market for faster, affordable intercity passenger transportation services between African cities. Following the recent tragedy of Ethiopian Airlines, the African passenger transportation market might be ready to consider an alternative technology capable of providing affordable, fast travel between several pairs of African coastal cities. Introduction A transportation technology that is currently being developed in locations such as South Korea, West Germany and Singapore offers the...

On May 8, 2018, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum ordering the reinstatement of harsher sanctions against Iran.

On-Going Middle East Tensions Affecting Asian – European Trade

By Harry Valentine 2019-05-14 02:28:35

The alleged damage sustained by Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf is escalating political tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, also between the U.S. and Iran. These tensions have the potential to adversely affect regional trade as well as future maritime transportation. Introduction For the past several years, political – religious tension has prevailed between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iran are also competing oil producing nations. Political tension between Israel and Iran is the result...

Ongoing Advances in the China – European Container Trade

By Harry Valentine 2019-05-12 02:12:33

Today, the largest container ships afloat carry international trade between several Chinese ports to several European ports, sailing at comparatively low speeds. While super-size ships incur very low transportation costs per container, the extended time-durations-in-transit between Eastern Asian and Western European ports has prompted a segment of the market to seek faster delivery of containers. Railway lines extend across Russia between borders with China and with Europe, but Russian trains operate on a different railway gauge to China and Europe...

Brazil’s Maritime Industrial Transportation Opportunity

By Harry Valentine 2019-04-18 17:45:48

Brazil’s coastline of some 3,000 nautical miles includes several large cities in a layout that makes Brazil the ideal location to develop, manufacture and operate maritime transportation technology that could also have international market potential. Introduction While Russia is internationally recognized in high-speed maritime transportation technology courtesy of their construction and demonstration of the Caspian Sea Monster ground-effect plane, Russia is also at a disadvantage in terms of testing, demonstrating, domestically operating and improving a commercial version of such technology....