Latest news with #RobertClifford
ABC News
23-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Danish operator orders two electric ferries from Incat amid plans to expand the Tasmanian company
Tasmania-based shipbuilder Incat has been commissioned to design and build two new electric ferries for Danish operator Molslinjen, to run on one of Europe's busiest routes. Incat said the order for the two 129-metre, 45-megawatt vessels formed the largest individual export contract for a manufactured good in Tasmania's history. The cost of the ferries has not be disclosed. Each ferry will each carry up to 1,483 passengers and 500 cars, and will operate at speeds over of 40 knots across the Kattegat Sea between Jutland and Zealand in Denmark. Incat founder and chairman Robert Clifford said the order marked "a turning point not just for Incat but the for the global maritime industry". "This project aligns perfectly with our strategic vision. "As global demand for sustainable ferries accelerates, our expanded facilities will ensure we're ready to lead the way in both innovation and volume." Incat plans to expand its production facilities in Hobart's Prince of Wales Bay, as well as build a new facility further up the Derwent River. It aims to double its production capacity and workforce over the next three years. The Hobart-based company was established in 1977, and has since become an industry leader in building lightweight catamarans. More recently, it has branched out into electric passenger ferries. Incat managing director Craig Clifford, who also serves as the honorary consul for Denmark in Tasmania, said the partnership reflected "a shared commitment to the green transition". The order follows the launch in May of Incat's latest vessel HSC China Zorrilla — the world's largest electric vehicle. Launched in May, the ferry — also known as Hull 096 — has the largest electric battery ever installed on a ship, and will run on a roughly 55-kilometre route across the Rio de la Plata for operator Buquebus, between the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires and Montevideo in Uruguay. The ferry has the capacity to carry over 2,000 passengers and is equipped with more than 5,000 battery modules stacked together, weighing a total of 280 tonnes and delivering 43-megawatt hours. It was described as the "future of sea shipping" by Mr Clifford, and a milestone in the industry's bid to decarbonise. Electric maritime vessels are dependent on short journeys and ports with adequate charging infrastructure and renewable energy resources. To address the lack of charging infrastructure globally, Incat is also building a diesel-electric hybrid ferry which will be designed so that it can be retrofitted to become fully electric. Mr Clifford told ABC Breakfast he anticipated demand for electric ferries to grow. "There's not the slightest doubt that 1,000 ships are needed in the very near future, electric ships, to replace the fossil fuel ships — no question of that," he said. "We can do it in Tasmania; it won't be without challenges. Mr Clifford said the Hobart shipbuilder was uniquely placed to meet demand for large electric ferries compared to other international major shipbuilders due to his team's specialisation in working with aluminium. "Aluminium and electricity go together because … a lightweight ship takes a lot less power and electricity is in scarce supply at all the ports." "So, the ship that takes the least electricity will get the orders. "We should be able to bring out at least four ships a year," Mr Clifford said. Incat said early-stage construction of the two new ferries would begin in the coming months, and it aimed to deliver them in late 2027.
ABC News
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- ABC News
Incat signs deal to build two electric ferries bound for Denmark
Incat has just signed the biggest contract in the company's history, according to founder and chair Robert Clifford, for two electric ferries bound for Denmark. The ships are 129-metres long and hold approximately 500 cars and 1,400 passengers each. Speaking on Hobart Breakfast, Clifford claims that the need for electric vehicles will continue to grow, and while building them in Tasmania will be possible, it will require training more people. "There's very very few people in the world that have the skill to build aluminium ships. ... The expertise in the major shipyards is just not there. "No doubt we can do it here. There will be limits ... but we certainly can build up to multiple numbers, five to ten times larger than we are today." Incat is currently building electric ferries at Prince of Wales Bay, but are planning new facilities at Sorell Creek where they hope to build four ships per year.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Yahoo
Boeing settles with a man whose family died in a 737 Max crash
Boeing has reached a settlement with a Canadian man whose wife and three children were killed in a deadly 2019 crash in Ethiopia, averting the first trial connected to the devastating event that led to a worldwide grounding of Max jets. The settlement on Friday came just days before a jury trial at Chicago's federal court was set to start Monday to determine damages for Paul Njoroge of Canada. His family was heading to their native Kenya in March 2019 aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 when it malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground, killing all 157 people on board. Njoroge, 41, had planned to testify about how the crash affected his life. He has been unable to return to his family home in Toronto because the memories are too painful. He hasn't been able to find a job. And he has weathered criticism from relatives for not traveling alongside his wife and children. 'He's got complicated grief and sorrow and his own emotional stress,' said Njoroge's attorney, Robert Clifford. 'He's haunted by nightmares and the loss of his wife and children.' Clifford said his client intended to seek 'millions' in damages on behalf of his wife and children, but declined to publicly specify an amount ahead of the trial. Terms of the deal were not disclosed publicly. The proceedings were not expected to delve into technicalities involving the Max version of Boeing's bestselling 737 airplane, which has been the source of persistent troubles for the company since the Ethiopia crash and one year before in Indonesia. A combined 346 people, including passengers and crew members, died in those crashes. In 2021, Chicago-based Boeing accepted responsibility for the Ethiopia crash in a deal with the victims' families that allowed them to pursue individual claims in U.S. courts instead of their home countries. Citizens of 35 countries were killed. Several families of victims have already settled. The terms of those agreements were also not made public. The jetliner heading to Nairobi lost control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and nose-dived into a barren patch of land. Investigators determined the Ethiopia and Indonesia crashes were caused by a system that relied on a sensor that provided faulty readings and pushed the plane's noses down, leaving pilots unable to regain control. After the Ethiopian crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned the system. This year, Boeing reached a deal with the Justice Department to avoid criminal prosecutions in both crashes. Among the dead were Njoroge's wife, Carolyne, and three small children, Ryan, age 6, Kellie, 4, and Rubi, 9 months old, the youngest to die on the plane. Njoroge also lost his mother-in-law, whose family has a separate case. Njoroge, who met his wife in college in Nairobi, was living in Canada at the time of the crash. He had planned to join his family in Kenya later. He testified before Congress in 2019 about repeatedly imagining how his family suffered during the flight, which lasted only six minutes. He has pictured his wife struggling to hold their infant in her lap with two other children seated nearby. 'I stay up nights thinking of the horror that they must have endured,' Njoroge said. 'The six minutes will forever be embedded in my mind. I was not there to help them. I couldn't save them.'
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Yahoo
Boeing settles with a man whose family died in a 737 Max crash
Boeing has reached a settlement with a Canadian man whose wife and three children were killed in a deadly 2019 crash in Ethiopia, averting the first trial connected to the devastating event that led to a worldwide grounding of Max jets. The settlement on Friday came just days before a jury trial at Chicago's federal court was set to start Monday to determine damages for Paul Njoroge of Canada. His family was heading to their native Kenya in March 2019 aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 when it malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground, killing all 157 people on board. Njoroge, 41, had planned to testify about how the crash affected his life. He has been unable to return to his family home in Toronto because the memories are too painful. He hasn't been able to find a job. And he has weathered criticism from relatives for not traveling alongside his wife and children. 'He's got complicated grief and sorrow and his own emotional stress,' said Njoroge's attorney, Robert Clifford. 'He's haunted by nightmares and the loss of his wife and children.' Clifford said his client intended to seek 'millions' in damages on behalf of his wife and children, but declined to publicly specify an amount ahead of the trial. Terms of the deal were not disclosed publicly. The proceedings were not expected to delve into technicalities involving the Max version of Boeing's bestselling 737 airplane, which has been the source of persistent troubles for the company since the Ethiopia crash and one year before in Indonesia. A combined 346 people, including passengers and crew members, died in those crashes. In 2021, Chicago-based Boeing accepted responsibility for the Ethiopia crash in a deal with the victims' families that allowed them to pursue individual claims in U.S. courts instead of their home countries. Citizens of 35 countries were killed. Several families of victims have already settled. The terms of those agreements were also not made public. The jetliner heading to Nairobi lost control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and nose-dived into a barren patch of land. Investigators determined the Ethiopia and Indonesia crashes were caused by a system that relied on a sensor that provided faulty readings and pushed the plane's noses down, leaving pilots unable to regain control. After the Ethiopian crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned the system. This year, Boeing reached a deal with the Justice Department to avoid criminal prosecutions in both crashes. Among the dead were Njoroge's wife, Carolyne, and three small children, Ryan, age 6, Kellie, 4, and Rubi, 9 months old, the youngest to die on the plane. Njoroge also lost his mother-in-law, whose family has a separate case. Njoroge, who met his wife in college in Nairobi, was living in Canada at the time of the crash. He had planned to join his family in Kenya later. He testified before Congress in 2019 about repeatedly imagining how his family suffered during the flight, which lasted only six minutes. He has pictured his wife struggling to hold their infant in her lap with two other children seated nearby. 'I stay up nights thinking of the horror that they must have endured,' Njoroge said. 'The six minutes will forever be embedded in my mind. I was not there to help them. I couldn't save them.'
The Independent
12-07-2025
- The Independent
Boeing settles with a man whose family died in a 737 Max crash
Boeing has reached a settlement with a Canadian man whose wife and three children were killed in a deadly 2019 crash in Ethiopia, averting the first trial connected to the devastating event that led to a worldwide grounding of Max jets. The settlement on Friday came just days before a jury trial at Chicago's federal court was set to start Monday to determine damages for Paul Njoroge of Canada. His family was heading to their native Kenya in March 2019 aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 when it malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground, killing all 157 people on board. Njoroge, 41, had planned to testify about how the crash affected his life. He has been unable to return to his family home in Toronto because the memories are too painful. He hasn't been able to find a job. And he has weathered criticism from relatives for not traveling alongside his wife and children. 'He's got complicated grief and sorrow and his own emotional stress,' said Njoroge's attorney, Robert Clifford. 'He's haunted by nightmares and the loss of his wife and children.' Clifford said his client intended to seek 'millions' in damages on behalf of his wife and children, but declined to publicly specify an amount ahead of the trial. Terms of the deal were not disclosed publicly. The proceedings were not expected to delve into technicalities involving the Max version of Boeing 's bestselling 737 airplane, which has been the source of persistent troubles for the company since the Ethiopia crash and one year before in Indonesia. A combined 346 people, including passengers and crew members, died in those crashes. In 2021, Chicago-based Boeing accepted responsibility for the Ethiopia crash in a deal with the victims' families that allowed them to pursue individual claims in U.S. courts instead of their home countries. Citizens of 35 countries were killed. Several families of victims have already settled. The terms of those agreements were also not made public. The jetliner heading to Nairobi lost control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and nose-dived into a barren patch of land. Investigators determined the Ethiopia and Indonesia crashes were caused by a system that relied on a sensor that provided faulty readings and pushed the plane's noses down, leaving pilots unable to regain control. After the Ethiopian crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned the system. This year, Boeing reached a deal with the Justice Department to avoid criminal prosecutions in both crashes. Among the dead were Njoroge's wife, Carolyne, and three small children, Ryan, age 6, Kellie, 4, and Rubi, 9 months old, the youngest to die on the plane. Njoroge also lost his mother-in-law, whose family has a separate case. Njoroge, who met his wife in college in Nairobi, was living in Canada at the time of the crash. He had planned to join his family in Kenya later. He testified before Congress in 2019 about repeatedly imagining how his family suffered during the flight, which lasted only six minutes. He has pictured his wife struggling to hold their infant in her lap with two other children seated nearby. 'I stay up nights thinking of the horror that they must have endured,' Njoroge said. 'The six minutes will forever be embedded in my mind. I was not there to help them. I couldn't save them.'
