50 years ago
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NewsBatteries, fuel cells and gas in 1969
The January 1969 issue of ‘The Motor Ship’ opened, not with the customary look back over the year, but a look at technical prospects for 1969 and beyond.
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NewsGlimpses of the future
Reading the December 1968 issue of The Motor Ship, so much seems to belong to a later period that I had to look twice to see that I had the right date, writes Bill Thomson.
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NewsCrude, gas and containers
The lead article in The Motor Ship, October 1968, concerned using crude oil as a ship fuel. The motivation came from some tanker owners, operating in isolated locations without normal bunkering facilities.
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Japan faces a crisis
Once again, in The Motor Ship of June 1968, the Japanese shipbuilding industry was making headlines. Following its rapid rise, thanks to high levels of government investment, shipyards in Japan faced the prospect of a decline thanks to rising costs and a general slowdown in orders.
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NewsAn automated future
Proof that, 50 years ago, Britain still regarded its shipbuilding industry as significant was evident in a full-page message in a prominent position in the January 1965 issue of The Motor Ship, from the Rt Hon Roy Mason, government minister responsible for shipbuilding and shipping (in that order, believe it ...
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NewsFirst regular LNG traffic begins
Although, as we know, transport by sea of gaseous cargoes is far from new, it may seem surprising that commercial international shipping of LNG began exactly 50 years ago.
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NewsSulzer to the fore
Big news back in October 1964 was that the first licence for building high power Diesel engines in the US had been awarded by Sulzer Bros to Nordberg Manufacturing.
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NewsUS embraces Diesel power at last
The September 1964 issue of The Motor Ship led with news that a US company was to build a European-designed large marine Diesel engine. This may not seem a particularly newsworthy story in a magazine devoted to large Diesel-powered ships, but as the US had resolutely stuck to steam turbines ...
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NewsThe nuclear age dawns
The big news in ‘The Motor Ship’, August 1964, was the US nuclear powered merchant ship, ‘Savannah’ undertaking its first voyages, including visiting several European ports.
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NewsNuclear and fuel cell alternatives foreseen
Such is today’s focus on alternative fuels that it seemed slightly odd to see that the same subject was a hot topic back in 1964.
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NewsDiesel benefits underlined
Such is the dominance of the internal combustion engine in today’s ships that it is easy to forget that the prime purpose of ‘The Motor Ship’ when launched in 1920 was to promote the advantages of the Diesel engine over steam power.
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NewsAutomation enters the fray
Automation was the hot topic in 1964. The April issue of The Motor Ship devoted several articles to the subject.
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NewsUS remains cool about Diesel power
The lead article in The Motor Ship, March 1964, suggested that the Diesel engine had been accepted as preferred ship propulsion technology everywhere except the USA.
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NewsSheep-shape in 1964
The pages of The Motor Ship, February 1964, provided a breath of fresh air. Rather than the emphasis on large-bore engines, the reader was presented with a somewhat broader range of topics.
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NewsJapan emerges while Britain falters
The January 1964 issue of ''The Motor Ship'' concentrated on reviewing shipbuilding in the previous year, with an emphasis on what were seen as the ‘hot topics’ of the time.
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NewsThe British marine engine
To many of us – myself included – 50 years doesn’t really seem that long ago. And looking at some items in old copies of The Motor Ship we think that little has really changed in that time.
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287 large bore engines on order
The hot topic in the November 1963 issue of The Motor Ship continued to be large bore engines. The fact that these were now firmly established in the ship propulsion universe was borne out by a five-page list of such engines in service and on order, grouped by engine type.
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NewsThe digital age appears on the horizon
The Motor Ship for October 1963 began with reports that Shell Tankers was bucking the trend away from opposed-piston engines by chartering a newbuild tanker with the latest Doxford J-type engine.
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NewsOne large or two small?
In The Motor Ship, September 1963, the debate raged on about large bore marine diesel engines. Then, as now, there was discussion about whether a single large engine was a more economic and safer option than two smaller units.
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NewsGas fuelled ships, 1963 style
One of ‘The Motor Ship’s’ campaigns was to promote the advantages of the Diesel engine over steam power. Therefore it was rather a surprise to read in the July 1963 issue a leading article on a ship powered by a steam turbine.
