The fifth and latest Disney Cruise Line ship, Disney Wish, was floated out of the massive Meyer Werft construction hall in Papenberg, Germany, last week, and she is the first new ship for Disney to be fuelled by low-emission Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Many ferries & commercial...
The long-awaited new sea lock at IJmuiden opens on Weds (26 Jan). This massive marine engineering project at the gateway to the North Sea Canal (Noordzeekanaal) which leads to Amsterdam, got underway back in 2016. Now, finally* the new lock, which replaces the old North Lock (Noordersluis)**...
I-124 was a WWII Japanese submarine that was sunk with all hands (80 crew) by Allied forces on 20 Jan 1942 while on a mine-laying mission in the Beagle Gulf, Australia. She lies in 46 metres (150 ft) of water, 84 kilometres north-west of Darwin, NT. In...
The luxury hotel brand Kempinski is to open a floating hotel in Dubai in 2023. The Kempinski Floating Palace will be anchored next to one of the most exclusive beach stretches in Dubai on Jumeirah Beach Road. The main hotel building will be surrounded by 12 floating...
The city of Erie in Pennsylvania on the east bank of Lake Erie, is considering the creation of a new ship museum using a Cold War era, Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate. The connection is Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the 19th century American naval commander, who...
Last week saw the very first competitive race for the new sport of flying car racing or eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off & Landing) racing. The landmark event, held in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, was a simple drag race between two remotely piloted ‘Airspeeders’, but soon...
Shanghai-based avtech company, Autoflight, has debuted its autonomous fixed-wing passenger electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) concept at the China Airshow in Zhuhai. The V1500M, which is designed to carry 3-4 passengers at 200 km/h for up to 250 kilometres, is expected to have its maiden...
The ‘We Have Ways to Make You Talk’ podcast has become hugely popular with WW2 history fans, experts and historians alike since it began in March 2019. Last weekend many of them gathered in some fields near Silverstone, Buckinghamshire, for the first 2-day ‘We Have Ways Fest’...
This looks good! It’s a behind-the-scenes video about a new crowd-funded movie called ‘Litvyak’ about WW2 Soviet fighter pilot, Lidiya Litvyak, flight commander of the 3rd Aviation Squadron and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Before she was shot down and killed, aged just 22, on 1st...
The Rotonde Ferroviaire (‘railway roundhouse’) at Montabon in La Vallée du Loir* is very much a ‘work in progress’ and it is going to be fabulous in a few years. The roundhouse and turntable were originally built in 1891 on the edge of the village of Montabon...
The Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association (JHNSA) has been trying to secure a warship to be the centrepiece of the city’s huge downtown waterfront regeneration programme, and the first warship museum in Florida, for almost 12 years. By 2018 they had settled on the former cold-war guided-missile...
This is an interesting and timely piece of engineering design. This modular hospital is the winner of the ‘Health’ category in this year’s World Architecture Festival. It is currently under construction in a park on Mincheng Road, Minhang District, Shanghai. The modular hospital is designed by Professor...
Brooklands Museum will be telling the story of the first British Grand Prix and its place in history at a special event, Brooklands Relived, on 7th Aug. Britain was first awarded the opportunity to run a Grand Prix after Sir Henry Segrave won the French Grand Prix...
Istanbul Airport has put Turkey’s first official “Spotter Area” into service, for those who are interested in aviation photography. In recent years, plane spotting has been growing, and according to Airways Magazine, airports all over the world have recognised the growing demand from aviation enthusiasts, who want...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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