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.

Port of Djibouti as a Future African Trading Gateway

By Harry Valentine 2018-06-14 17:32:30

At the present time, a group of African governments assisted by China are planning future trans-African transportation corridors. Should some of these plans come to fruition many years into the future, the Port of Djibouti could emerge as an important...

Winged-boat Aircraft Carrier for Commercial Transportation

By Harry Valentine 2018-06-09 19:12:04

While aircraft carriers were initially developed for military service, there may be commercial application for fast wing-in-ground effect vessels designed to carry an onboard payload was well as an aircraft. Introduction There are military transport aircraft that due to their...

Tandem Wing Boats Could Suit Fast Freight Transport

By Harry Valentine 2018-06-02 19:53:45

While the original wing-in-ground (WIG) effect vessels used a single wing to travel above the water surface, German engineer Gunther Jorg focused on developing tandem wing versions of the technology, called “Flair boats.” There may be scope to develop the...

A New Navigation Lock for the Upper Great Lakes

By Harry Valentine 2018-05-30 05:05:41

U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced his support to build a new navigation lock between Lakes Superior and Huron, presently the location of a largest navigation lock between the North Atlantic and the Great Lakes. Any malfunction of the lock...

A Maritime Market Niche for Autonomous Parcel Delivery

By Harry Valentine 2018-05-27 01:30:47

Marketing and distribution companies such as Amazon are exploring the option of direct delivery of small parcels using autonomous programmable drones capable of dropping off packages at customers’ doorsteps or balconies. In some regions and during some seasons, there would...

Sanctions on Iran May Foster Alternative Trade Routes

By Harry Valentine 2018-05-20 23:21:24

While American President Donald Trump has canceled the Iran nuclear agreement and imposed economic sanctions on that nation, several European and Asian nations have announced that they will disregard the sanctions. Several ship transport companies that also sail to American...

Market Potential for Ferry Service on Lake Superior

By Harry Valentine 2018-05-17 19:00:18

The market for seasonal ferry services that operate on North America’s Upper Great Lakes involves shorter travel distance than road transportation. A mega-size Ro-Ro ferry could operate voyages of 380 kilometers (235 miles) on the Canadian side of Lake Superior...

Rising Sea Levels and Alternative Strategies

By Harry Valentine 2018-05-06 19:45:50

Several regions internationally that include the low lying Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, Laccadive Islands and even the coastal region of Norfolk, Virginia in the U.S. have reported recent occurrences of rising sea levels and coastal flooding involving seawater. While slow...

Competition Increases in Maritime Battery Technology

By Harry Valentine 2018-04-28 20:08:55

There are geographic locations where fuel oil prices are high and electric power prices comparatively low. Such locations enhance the business case to operate electric propulsion along inland waterways and coastal services. New battery technologies include carbon-foam sulfuric acid technology,...

Mayan Engineering Could Help Today's Flooded Waterways

By Harry Valentine 2018-04-22 20:07:23

Seasonal flooding has on occasion suspended maritime transportation along inland waterways. However, over 1,000 years ago, the engineers of the Mayan Empire devised a method that was implemented at higher elevations that reduced flooding at lower elevations. Introduction While Swiss...