title: English Electric Lightning

text: The Lightning had several distinctive design features, the primary being the twin-engine arrangement, notched delta wing, and low-mounted tailplane. The vertically stacked and longitudinally staggered engines were the solution devised by Petter to meet the conflicting requirements of minimising frontal area, providing undisturbed engine airflow across a wide speed range, and packaging two engines to provide sufficient thrust to meet performance goals. The unusual over/under configuration allowed for the thrust of two engines, with the drag equivalent to only 1.5 engines mounted side-by-side, a reduction in drag of 25% over more conventional twin-engine installations. The engines were fed by a single nose inlet (with inlet cone), with the flow split vertically aft of the cockpit, and the nozzles tightly stacked, effectively tucking one engine behind the cockpit. The result was a low frontal area, an efficient inlet, and excellent single-engine handling with no problems of asymmetrical thrust. Because the engines were close together, an uncontained failure of one engine was likely to damage the other. If desired, an engine could be shut down in flight and the remaining engine run at a more efficient power setting which increased range or endurance; although this was rarely done operationally because there would be no hydraulic power if the remaining engine failed.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Production aircraft were powered by various models of the Avon engine. This power-plant was initially rated as capable of generating of dry thrust, but when employing the four-stage afterburner this increased to a maximum thrust of . Later models of the Avon featured, in addition to increased thrust, a full-variable reheat arrangement. A special heat-reflecting paint containing gold was used to protect the aircraft's structure from the hot engine casing which could reach temperatures of 600 °C(1112F). Under optimum conditions, a well-equipped maintenance facility took four hours to perform an engine change so specialised ground test rigs were developed to speed up maintenance and remove the need to perform a full ground run of the engine after some maintenance tasks. The stacked engine configuration complicated maintenance work, and the leakage of fluid from the upper engine was a recurring fire hazard. The fire risk was reduced, but not eliminated, following remedial work during development. For removal, the lower No.1 engine was removed from below the aircraft, after removal of the ventral tank and lower fuselage access panels, by lowering the engine down, while the upper No.2 engine was lifted out from above via removable sections in the fuselage top.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The fuselage was tightly packed, leaving no room for fuel tankage or main landing gear. While the notched delta wing lacked the volume of a standard delta wing, each wing contained a fairly conventional three-section main fuel tank and leading-edge tank, holding ; the wing flaps also each contained a fuel tank and an additional was contained in a fuel recuperator, bringing the aircraft's total internal fuel capacity to . The main landing gear was sandwiched outboard of the main tanks and aft of the leading edge tanks, with the flap fuel tanks behind. The long main gear legs retracted toward the wingtip, necessitating an exceptionally thin main tyre inflated to the high pressure of . On landing the No. 1 engine was usually shut down when taxiing to save brake wear, as keeping both engines running at idle power was still sufficient to propel the Lightning to 80 mph if brakes were not used. Dunlop Maxaret anti-skid brakes were fitted.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The Lightning fuel capacity was increased with a conformal ventral fuel tank. A rocket engine pack containing a Napier Double Scorpion engine and of high-test peroxide (HTP) to drive the rocket turbopump, and act as an oxidiser, was planned to be located in place of the ventral tank and would boost performance if non-afterburning engines were fitted. Fuel for the rocket would come from the aircraft fuel supply. The rocket engine option was cancelled in 1958 when it was established that performance with afterburning Avon engines was acceptable. The ventral store was routinely used as an extra fuel tank, holding of usable fuel. On later variants of the Lightning, a ventral weapons pack could be installed to equip the aircraft alternatively with different armaments, including missiles, rockets, and cannons.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Early versions of the Lightning were equipped with the Ferranti-developed AI.23 monopulse radar, which was contained right at the front of the fuselage within an inlet cone at the centre of the engine intake. Radar information was displayed on an early head-up display and managed by onboard computers. The AI.23 supported several operational modes, which included autonomous search, automatic target tracking, and ranging for all weapons; the pilot attack sight provided gyroscopically-derived lead angle and backup stadiametric ranging for gun firing. The radar and gunsight were collectively designated the AIRPASS, for "Airborne Interception Radar and Pilot Attack Sight System". The radar was successively upgraded with the introduction of more capable Lightning variants, such as to provide guidance for the Red Top missile.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The cockpit of the Lightning was designed to meet the RAF's "OR946" specification for tactical air navigation technology, and thus featured an integrated flight instrument display arrangement, an Elliott Bros (London) Ltd auto-pilot, a master reference gyroscopic reader, an auto-attack system, and an instrument landing system. Despite initial scepticism of the aircraft's centralised detection and warning system, the system proved its merits during the development program and was redeveloped for greater reliability. Communications included UHF and VHF radios and a datalink. Unlike the previous generation of aircraft which used gaseous oxygen for lifesupport, the Lightning employed liquid oxygen-based apparatus for the pilot; cockpit pressurisation and conditioning was maintained through tappings from the engine compressors.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Electricity was provided via a bleed air-driven turbine housed in the rear fuselage, which drove an AC alternator and DC generator. This approach was unusual, since most aircraft used driveshaft-driven generators/alternators for electrical energy. A 28V DC battery provided emergency backup power. Aviation author Kev Darling stated of the Lightning: "Never before had a fighter been so dependent upon electronics". Each engine was equipped with a pair of hydraulic pumps, one of which powered the flight-control systems and the other power for the undercarriage, flaps, and airbrakes. Switchable hydraulic circuits were used for redundancy in the event of a leak or other failure. A combination of Dunlop Maxaret anti-skid brakes on the main wheels and an Irvin Air Chute braking parachute slowed the aircraft during landing. A tailhook was also fitted. Accumulators on the wheel brakes performed as backups to the hydraulics, providing minimal braking. Above a certain airspeed a stopped engine would 'windmill', that is, continue to be rotated by air flowing through it in a similar manner to a ram air turbine, sufficient to generate adequate hydraulic power for the powered controls during flight.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Toward the end of its service, the Lightning was increasingly outclassed by newer fighters, mainly due to avionics and armament obsolescence. The radar had a limited range and no track while scanning capability, and it could detect targets only in a narrow (40°) arc. While an automatic collision course attack system was developed and successfully demonstrated by English Electric, it was not adopted due to cost concerns. Plans were mooted to supplement or replace the obsolete Red Top and Firestreak missiles with modern AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles to help rectify some of the obsolescence, but these ambitions were not realised due to lack of funding. An alternative to the modernisation of existing aircraft would have been the development of more advanced variants; a proposed variable-sweep wing Lightning would have likely involved the adoption of a new powerplant and radar and was believed by BAC to significantly increase performance, but ultimately was not pursued.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Lightning, was designed...as an intercepter fighter. As such, it has probably the fastest rate-of-climb of any combat aircraft – "Flight International", 21 March 1968


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The Lightning possessed a remarkable climb rate. It was famous for its ability to rapidly rotate from takeoff to climb almost vertically from the runway, though this did not yield the best time-to-altitude. The Lightning's trademark tail-stand manoeuvre exchanged airspeed for altitude; it could slow to near-stall speeds before commencing level flight. The Lightning's optimum climb profile required the use of afterburners during takeoff. Immediately after takeoff, the nose would be lowered for rapid acceleration to IAS before initiating a climb, stabilising at . This would yield a constant climb rate of approximately . Around the Lightning would reach and maintain this speed until reaching the tropopause, on a standard day. If climbing further, pilots would accelerate to supersonic speed at the tropopause before resuming the climb. A Lightning flying at optimum climb profile would reach in under three minutes.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The official ceiling of the Lightning was kept secret. Low security RAF documents often stated "in excess of ". In September 1962, Fighter Command organised interception trials on Lockheed U-2As at heights of around , which were temporarily based at RAF Upper Heyford to monitor Soviet nuclear tests. Climb techniques and flight profiles were developed to put the Lightning into a suitable attack position. To avoid risking the U-2, the Lightning was not permitted any closer than and could not fly in front of the U-2. For the intercepts, four Lightning F1As conducted 18 solo sorties. The sorties proved that, under GCI, successful intercepts could be made at up to . Due to sensitivity, details of these flights were deliberately avoided in the pilot log books.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: In 1984, during a NATO exercise, Flt Lt Mike Hale intercepted a U-2 at a height which they had previously considered safe (thought to be ). Records show that Hale also climbed to in his Lightning F.3 "XR749". This was not sustained level flight but a ballistic climb, in which the pilot takes the aircraft to top speed and then puts the aircraft into a climb, exchanging speed for altitude. Hale also participated in time-to-height and acceleration trials against Lockheed F-104 Starfighters from Aalborg. He reports that the Lightnings won all races easily with the exception of the low-level supersonic acceleration, which was a "dead heat". Lightning pilot and Chief Examiner Brian Carroll reported taking a Lightning F.53 up to over Saudi Arabia at which level "Earth curvature was visible and the sky was quite dark", noting that control-wise "[it was] on a knife edge".


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Carroll compared the Lightning and the F-15C Eagle, having flown both aircraft, stating that: "Acceleration in both was impressive, you have all seen the Lightning leap away once brakes are released, the Eagle was almost as good, and climb speed was rapidly achieved. Takeoff roll is between , depending upon military or maximum afterburner-powered takeoff. The Lightning was quicker off the ground, reaching height in a horizontal distance of ". Chief test pilot for the Lightning Roland Beamont, who also flew most of the "Century Series" US aircraft, stated his opinion that nothing at that time had the inherent stability, control, and docile handling characteristics of the Lightning throughout the full flight envelope. The turn performance and buffet boundaries of the Lightning were well in advance of anything known to him.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Early Lightning models, the F.1, F.1A, and F.2, had a maximum speed of at in an ICAO standard atmosphere, and IAS at lower altitudes. Later models, the F.2A, F.3, F.3A, F.6, and F.53, had a maximum speed of at , and speeds up to indicated air speed for "operational necessity only". A Lightning fitted with Avon 200-series engines, a ventral tank, and two Firestreak missiles had a maximum speed of on a standard day; while a Lightning powered by the Avon 300-series engines, a ventral tank and two Red Top missiles had a maximum speed of Mach 2.0. Directional stability decreased as speed increased, with vertical fin failure likely if yaw was not correctly counteracted with rudder deflections. Imposed Mach limits during missile launches ensured adequate directional stability; later Lightning variants had a larger vertical fin, giving a greater stability margin at high speed.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: It was not known whether the fixed centre-body intake, with a design point of Mach 1.7, would encounter intake buzz, a vibration caused by oscillation of the shock positions at different combinations of Mach number and engine air flow/rpm. A Lightning prototype was taken to Mach 2.0 to check for this instability but none was found. Service trials with the F.6 found intake buzz when engine speed was rapidly reduced at speeds above Mach 1.85 as well as when manoeuvring (increased 'g') at other supersonic speeds and engine thrust settings. The buzz caused no damage.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Thermal and structural limits were also present. Air is heated considerably when compressed by the passage of an aircraft at supersonic speeds. The airframe absorbs heat from the surrounding air, the inlet shock cone at the front of the aircraft becoming the hottest part. The shock cone was fibreglass, necessary because the shock cone also served as a radar radome; a metal shock cone would have blocked the AI 23's radar emissions. The shock cone was eventually weakened due to the fatigue caused by the thermal cycles involved in regularly performing high-speed flights. At and , the heating conditions on the shock cone were similar to those at sea level and indicated airspeed, but if the speed was increased to at , the shock cone was exposed to higher temperatures than those at Mach 1.7. The shock cone was strengthened on the later Lightning F.2A, F.3, F.6, and F.53 models, thus allowing routine operation at up to Mach 2.0.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The small-fin variants could exceed Mach 1.7, but the stability limits and shock cone thermal and strength limits made such speeds risky. The large-fin variants, especially those equipped with Avon 300-series engines could safely reach Mach 2 and, given the right atmospheric conditions, might even achieve a few more tenths of a Mach. All Lightning variants had the excess thrust to slightly exceed indicated airspeed under certain conditions, and the service limit of was occasionally ignored. With the strengthened shock cone, the Lightning could safely approach its thrust limit, but fuel consumption at very high airspeeds was excessive and became a major limiting factor.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The first aircraft to enter service with the RAF, three pre-production P.1Bs, arrived at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk on 23 December 1959, joining the Air Fighting Development Squadron (AFDS) of the Central Fighter Establishment, where they were used to clear the Lightning for entry into service. The production Lightning F.1 entered service with the AFDS in May 1960, allowing the unit to take part in the air defence exercise "Yeoman" later that month. The Lightning F.1 entered frontline squadron service with 74 Squadron under the command of Squadron Leader John "Johnny" Howe at Coltishall from 11 July 1960. This made the Lightning the second Western European-built combat aircraft with true supersonic capability to enter service and the second fully supersonic aircraft to be deployed in Western Europe, the first one in both categories being the Swedish Saab 35 Draken on 8 March 1960 four months earlier.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The aircraft's radar and missiles proved to be effective and pilots reported that the Lightning was easy to fly. However, in the first few months of operation the aircraft's serviceability was extremely poor. This was due to the complexity of the aircraft systems and shortages of spares and ground support equipment. Even when the Lightning was not grounded by technical faults, the RAF initially struggled to get more than 20 flying hours per aircraft per month compared with the 40 flying hours that English Electric believed could be achieved with proper support. In spite of these concerns, within six months of the Lightning entering service, 74 Squadron was able to achieve 100 flying hours per aircraft.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: In addition to its training and operational roles, 74 Squadron was appointed as the official Fighter Command aerobatic team for 1961, flying at air shows throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. Deliveries of the slightly improved Lightning F.1A, with improved avionics and provision for an air-to-air refuelling probe, allowed two more squadrons, 56 and 111 Squadron, both based at RAF Wattisham to convert to the Lightning in 1960–1961. The Lightning F.1 would only be ordered in limited numbers and serve for a short time; nonetheless, it was viewed as a significant step forward in Britain's air defence capabilities. Following their replacement from frontline duties by the introduction of successively improved variants of the Lightning, the remaining F.1 aircraft were employed by the Lightning Conversion Squadron.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: An improved variant, the F.2 first flew on 11 July 1961 and entered service with 19 Squadron at the end of 1962 and 92 Squadron in early 1963. Conversion of these two squadrons was aided by the use of the two seat T.4 trainer, which entered service with the Lightning Conversion Squadron (later renamed 226 Operational Conversion Unit) in June 1962. While the OCU was the major user of the two seater, small numbers were also allocated to the front-line fighter squadrons. More F.2s were produced than there were available squadron slots so later production aircraft were stored for years before being used operationally; some Lightning F.2s were converted to F.2a's. They had some of the improvements added to the F.6.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The F.3, with more powerful engines and the new Red Top missile (but no cannon) was expected to be the definitive Lightning, and at one time it was planned to equip ten squadrons, with the remaining two squadrons retaining the F.2. On 16 June 1962, the F.3 flew for the first time. It had a short operational life and was withdrawn from service early due to defence cutbacks and the introduction of the F.6, some of which were converted F.3s.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The Lightning F.6 was a more capable and longer-range version of the F.3. It initially had no cannon, but installable gun packs were made available later. A few F.3s were upgraded to F.6s. Author Kev Darling suggests that decreasing British overseas defence commitments had led to those aircraft instead being prematurely withdrawn. The introduction of the F.3 and F.6 allowed the RAF to progressively reequip squadrons operating aircraft such as the Gloster Javelin and retire these types during the mid-1960s.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: A Lightning was tasked with shooting down a pilot-less Harrier over West Germany in 1972. The pilot had abandoned the Harrier which continued flying toward the East German border. It was shot down to avoid a diplomatic incident. During British Airways trials in April 1985, Concorde was offered as a target to NATO fighters including F-15 Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-14 Tomcats, Mirages, and F-104 Starfighters – but only Lightning "XR749", flown by Mike Hale and described by him as "a very hot ship, even for a Lightning", managed to overtake Concorde on a stern conversion intercept.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: During the 1960s, as strategic awareness increased and a multitude of alternative fighter designs were developed by Warsaw Pact and NATO members, the Lightning's range and firepower shortcomings became increasingly apparent. The transfer of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs from Royal Navy service enabled these much longer-ranged aircraft to be added to the RAF's interceptor force alongside those withdrawn from Germany as they were replaced by SEPECAT Jaguars in the ground attack role. The Lightning's direct replacement was the Tornado F3, an interceptor variant of the Panavia Tornado. The Tornado featured several advantages over the Lightning, including a far larger weapons load and considerably more advanced avionics. Lightnings were slowly phased out of service between 1974 and 1988. In their final years the airframes required considerable maintenance to keep them airworthy due to the sheer number of accumulated flight hours.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The main Lightning role was the air defence of the United Kingdom and was operated at first as part of Fighter Command and then from 1968 with No. 11 Group of Strike Command. At the formation of Strike Command nine Lightning squadrons were operational in the United Kingdom.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: In 1967 No. 74 Squadron was moved to RAF Tengah, Singapore to take over the air defence role from the Gloster Javelin equipped 60 Squadron. The squadron was disbanded in 1971 following the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: The Royal Air Force had detached Lightnings to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus to support the Near East Air Force and in 1967 No. 56 Squadron RAF moved from RAF Wattisham with the Lightning F.3 to provide a permanent air defence force, it converted to the F.6 in 1971 and returned to the United Kingdom in 1975.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: In the early 1960s No. 19 Squadron and No. 92 Squadron with Lightning F.2s, moved from RAF Leconfield to RAF Gütersloh in West Germany as part of Royal Air Force Germany and operated in the low-level air defence role until disbanded in 1977 when the role was taken over by the Phantom FGR2.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: On 21 December 1965, Saudi Arabia, keen to improve its air defences owing to the Saudi involvement in the North Yemen Civil War and the resultant air incursions into Saudi airspace by Egyptian forces supporting the Yemeni Republicans, placed a series of orders with Britain and the US to build a new integrated air defence system. BAC received orders for 34 multirole single-seat Lightning F.53s that could still retain very high performance and reasonable endurance, and six two-seat T.55 trainers, together with 25 BAC Strikemaster trainers, while the contract also included new radar systems, American HAWK surface-to-air missiles and training and support services.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: To provide an urgent counter to air incursions, with Saudi towns near the border being bombed by Egyptian aircraft, an additional interim contract, called "Magic Carpet", was placed in March 1966 for the supply of six ex-RAF Lightnings (four F.2s and two T.4 trainers, redesignated F.52 and T.54 respectively), six Hawker Hunters, two air defence radars and a number of Thunderbird surface-to-air missiles. The "Magic Carpet" Lightnings were delivered to Saudi Arabia in July 1966. One lost in an accident was later replaced (May 1967). The Lightnings and Hunters, flown by mercenary pilots, were deployed to Khamis Mushait airfield near the Yemeni border, resulting in the curtailing of operations by the Egyptian Air Force over the Yemeni-Saudi border.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Afterwards during the Al-Wadiah War RSAF Lightnings flown by Saudi & Pakistani pilots participated in the airstrikes on Yemeni militias after they captured a town in Saudi Arabia in 1969.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Kuwait ordered 14 Lightnings in December 1966, comprising 12 F.53Ks and two T.55Ks. The first Kuwait aircraft, a T.55K first flew on 24 May 1968 and deliveries to Kuwait started in December 1968. The Kuwaitis somewhat overestimated their ability to maintain such a complex aircraft, not adopting the extensive support from BAC and Airwork Services that the Saudis used to keep their Lightnings operational, so serviceability was poor.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Saudi Arabia officially received F.53 Lightnings in December 1967, although they were kept at Warton while trials and development continued and the first Saudi Lightnings to leave Warton were four T.55s delivered in early 1968 to the Royal Air Force 226 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Coltishall, the four T.55s were used to train Saudi aircrew for the next 18 months. The new-build Lightnings were delivered under Operation "Magic Palm" between July 1968 and August 1969. Two Lightnings, a F.53 and a T.55 were destroyed in accidents prior to delivery, and were replaced by two additional aircraft, the last of which was delivered in June 1972. The multirole F.53s served in the ground-attack and reconnaissance roles as well as an air defence fighter, with Lightnings of No 6 Squadron RSAF carrying out ground-attack missions using rockets and bombs during a border dispute with South Yemen between December 1969 and May 1970. One F.53 (53–697) was shot down by Yemeni ground fire on 3 May 1970 during a reconnaissance mission, with the pilot ejecting successfully and being rescued by Saudi forces. Saudi Arabia received Northrop F-5E fighters from 1971, which resulted in the Lightnings relinquishing the ground-attack mission, concentrating on air defence, and to a lesser extent, reconnaissance.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Kuwait's Lightnings did not have a long service career. After an unsuccessful attempt by the regime to sell them to Egypt in 1973, the last Lightnings were replaced with Dassault Mirage F1s in 1977. The remaining aircraft were stored at Kuwait International Airport, many were destroyed during the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq (August 1990).


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Until 1982, Saudi Arabia's Lightnings were mainly operated by 2 and 6 Squadron RSAF (although a few were also used by 13 Squadron RSAF), but when 6 Squadron re-equipped with the F-15 Eagle then all the remaining aircraft were operated by 2 Squadron at Tabuk. In 1985 as part of the agreement to sell the Panavia Tornado to the RSAF, the 22 flyable Lightnings were traded in to British Aerospace and returned to Warton in January 1986. While BAe offered the ex-Saudi Lightnings to Austria and Nigeria, no sales were made, and the aircraft were eventually disposed of to museums.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: Thunder City, a private company based at Cape Town International Airport, South Africa operated one Lightning T.5 and two single-seat F.6es. The T.5 XS452, (civil registration ZU-BBD) flew again on 14 January 2014 after restoration and is currently the only airworthy example.


title: English Electric Lightning

text: A Lightning T.5, XS451 (civil registration ZU-BEX) belonging to Thunder City crashed after developing mechanical problems during its display at the biennial South African Air Force Overberg Airshow held at AFB Overberg near Bredasdorp on 14 November 2009. The Silver Falcons, the South African Air Force's official aerobatic team, flew a missing man formation after it was announced that the pilot had died in the crash.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur Henrique Ramos de Oliveira Melo (; born 12 August 1996), known as Arthur, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool, on loan from Serie A club Juventus.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Born in Goiânia, Arthur began his career with Grêmio, and won the Copa Libertadores in 2017. He signed for Barcelona for an initial fee of €31 million in 2018. Arthur joined Italian club Juventus in 2020. On 1 September 2022, Arthur joined Liverpool on a 1 year loan.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur made his senior debut for Brazil in 2018 after previously being capped by Brazil youth team at under-17 level. He was later part of the squad that won the 2019 Copa América.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur began his career with his hometown club Goiás at age of 12. In 2010, after being spotted in a youth tournament, he moved to Grêmio.


title: Arthur Melo

text: In January 2015, following his impressive performances at the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, Arthur was promoted from Grêmio's youth team under first-team manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. He unexpectedly started in his first team debut, against Aimoré for the Campeonato Gaúcho. However, he was substituted at half-time by Argentine full-back Matías Rodríguez and made no more senior appearances that season. In 2016, Arthur made his league debut in the last match of the season, a 1–0 home loss against Botafogo, replacing Kaio in the second half.


title: Arthur Melo

text: In 2017, Arthur become a first-team regular after a string of good performances in Primeira Liga and Campeonato Gaúcho. In his Copa Libertadores debut, a 1–1 away draw against Club Guaraní, he was named man-of-the-match after completing 40 passes, with an impressive 100% success rate. His playing style and build earned drawn comparisons with Spanish midfielders Andrés Iniesta and Thiago, and attracted interest from European clubs such as Chelsea, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. In May, Arthur scored his first professional goal, the opener in a 3–1 victory against Fluminense for the Copa do Brasil. In July, he scored his first league goal, the second in a 3–1 away victory against Vitória. In November, was elected by Conmebol the man of match in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final against Lanús, despite playing only 50 minutes due to an injury.


title: Arthur Melo

text: On 11 March 2018, Barcelona reached an agreement with Grêmio for the transfer of Arthur. The Spaniards agreed to pay an initial fee of €31 million plus €9 million in added variables. Arthur signed a six-year contract and was officially announced as a "Barça" player on 9 July 2018. On 28 July, Arthur scored a goal on his debut against Tottenham Hotspur in a pre-season friendly match.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur made his competitive debut at the 2018 Supercopa de España on 12 August, in which Barcelona won 2–1 over Sevilla. Arthur made his league debut during the first league match of the season, also registering his first assist for the club in a 3–0 win against Alavés. On 31 August 2019, Arthur scored his first goal for Barcelona in 2–2 away draw against Osasuna.


title: Arthur Melo

text: On 29 June 2020, Barcelona announced that they had reached an agreement with Juventus for the transfer of Arthur on a five-year contract for €72 million, plus €10 million in variables; the deal was also coordinated with a swap of Miralem Pjanić. He made his club and Serie A debut on 27 September, coming on as substitute in a 2–2 away draw against Roma.


title: Arthur Melo

text: On 1 September 2022, Liverpool announced the loan signing of Arthur. Juventus specified that Liverpool had paid €4.5 million in loan fees, with an option to purchase the player for €37.5 million at the end of the one-year loan.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur's Liverpool experience started with physical condition problems having been forced to train alone while he was at Juventus. To increase his playing time, he was aggregated to Liverpool U21.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur has represented Brazil in under-17 level. He was part of the Brazil under-17 squad selected to play in the 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship.


title: Arthur Melo

text: On 15 September 2017, Arthur received his first senior call-up to the Brazil squad to face Bolivia and Chile for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. In May 2018, he was named in the standby list for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: Arthur Melo

text: He made his international debut against United States in a 2–0 friendly win on the 7th of September 2018 coming on as a substitute. The Brazilian's first start was against El Salvador in a 5–0 win on the 12th of September.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Tite praised the midfielder's playing style saying, "He always finds the best escape, the best pass out". Even if he doesn't provide the assist, he comes up with the pass that will help a player."


title: Arthur Melo

text: In May 2019, Arthur was included in Brazil's 23-man squad for the 2019 Copa América on home soil. In the 2019 Copa América Final against hosts Peru on 7 July, at the Maracanã Stadium, Arthur assisted Gabriel Jesus's match-winning goal towards the end of the first half; the match eventually ended in a 3–1 victory to Brazil.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur scored his first senior international goal for Brazil on 17 November 2020, the opener in an eventual 2–0 away win over Uruguay in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.


title: Arthur Melo

text: Arthur is capable of playing as a deep-lying playmaker, central midfielder, box-to-box midfielder, and occasionally also as a holding midfielder. His agility, technical ability, dribbling and movement – both on and off the ball – allow him to create space and control the flow of play in midfield, whilst his exceptional vision, playmaking ability, and precise passing allow him to retain possession, create chances, and make decisive passes for teammates. In 2020, former midfielder Enzo Maresca stated that he felt Arthur was best suited to the roles of either an attacking midfielder or a "mezzala".


title: Blue Mountain State

text: Blue Mountain State is an American television sitcom that premiered on Spike (now Paramount Network) on January 11, 2010. The series was created by Chris Romano and Eric Falconer, and produced by Lionsgate Television. The series is about a fictional university, Blue Mountain State, and its football team, the "Mountain Goats". It portrays certain aspects of American university life, including college football, sex, binge drinking, drugs, wild partying, and hazing. Over the years, due in large part to being streamable on Netflix, the series has developed a cult following.


title: Blue Mountain State

text: In February 2012, it was reported that "Blue Mountain State" would not be renewed for a fourth season. On April 8, 2014, "" was announced and a Kickstarter launched on April 15, 2014. The Kickstarter campaign reached its goal of $1.5 million on May 11, 2014, and the film was released in February 2016.


title: Blue Mountain State

text: Metacritic gave the series 38 out of 100, from the four reviews it collected. Brian Lowry of "Variety" found that ""Blue Mountain" embraces that (crude comedy) aspect of Spike's mandate over all else – putting the bodily function/semi-nudity cart before the sitcom horse." Lowry also stated: "["Spike"] has simply made this too-blue "Mountain" into a comedic molehill." Mark A. Perigard of the "Boston Herald" gave the series a favorable review saying, ""Blue" is also frequently funny in a raunchy "American Pie" way. It's a college comedy in which the guys want to get wasted and laid, in whatever order." Joe Walljasper of the "Columbia Daily Tribune" describes the series as appealing to those who viewed the film "Porky's" and "felt that the jokes were a little too high-brow.".


title: Blue Mountain State

text: In its first season, the show averaged 949,000 viewers in its first six episodes while improving on the time slot by 165% among men 18–24. In its second season, its premiere drew a 1.34 rating in Men 18–34, up 34% compared to the first season average and was ranked No. 2 in its timeslot. Over the season it showed significant ratings growth compared to season 1, delivering a +33% increase in Men 18–34, +50% in Men 18–24, and +14% in Men 18–49. Season 3 of Blue Mountain State started airing on September 21, 2011 on Spike.


title: Blue Mountain State

text: The show has gathered a small cult following after it was released on Netflix. Fans of the show often start petitions and Facebook pages to make Spike bring the show back for a fourth season. Many members of the cast, especially Page Kennedy, hinted at a reunion project in the month leading up the announcement of the film. Kennedy made Vines and tweeted with show stars Darin Brooks, Alan Ritchson, Frankie Shaw, Chris Romano and Sam Jones III.


title: Blue Mountain State

text: The series premiered on Spike on January 11, 2010 in the United States. In Australia and New Zealand, the series airs on MTV Australia and MTV New Zealand, respectively, beginning April 22, 2010. The series began airing in the United Kingdom April 18, 2010 on MTV. MTV Germany and Viva (TV station) also broadcast the series with great success in Germany and The Netherlands. MTV Brasil began airing the series August 3, 2010. The show also began airing on The Score in Canada in October 2011.


title: Blue Mountain State

text: In March 2013, Ed Marinaro stated in an interview with Class Act Sports that he was working on a Blue Mountain State film. He continued to hint on Twitter at some 'behind-the-scenes' work being done on said movie. In early March 2014, Page Kennedy started hinting at Blue Mountain State reunion project on Instagram, Vine and Twitter along with Darin Brooks, Kelly Kruger, Alan Ritchson, Sam Jones III, Frankie Shaw and Romanski.


title: Blue Mountain State

text: On April 8, 2014, "Blue Mountain State: The Movie" was officially announced. To help make the announcement, Alan Ritchson, in character as Thad Castle, made a fake video featuring Jimmy Kimmel (the Kimmel footage was from a 2013 interview with Kanye West).


title: Blue Mountain State

text: On April 15, the production launched a Kickstarter campaign, much like the hugely successful 2013 campaign by "Veronica Mars" to get the cancelled show made into a feature film. The project's goal was to raise $1.5 million by May 15 in order to fund the film. There were rewards for donating to campaign, such as personalized tweets from the cast (for donating $10), shot and pint glasses with the BMS logo ($20), and a speaking role in the film (for a $10,000 donation).


title: Blue Mountain State

text: On May 11, 2014, the Kickstarter goal of $1.5 million was reached. On May 15, 2014 the Kickstarter campaign ended, with the final funds raised being $1,911,827 from 23,999 backers.


title: Blue Mountain State

text: In May 2014, it was announced Jay Chandrasekhar would be the director of the film. However, on September 28, 2014, Lev L. Spiro was announced as the new director of "BMS: The Movie". The crew started filming in late 2014 on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. Filming was reportedly complete by December 14, 2014.


title: Species (film)

text: Species is a 1995 American science fiction horror film directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Dennis Feldman. It stars Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, Marg Helgenberger, and Natasha Henstridge in her film debut role. The film's plot concerns a motley crew of scientists and government agents who try to track down Sil (Henstridge), a seductive extraterrestrial-human hybrid, before she successfully mates with a human male.


title: Species (film)

text: The film was conceived by Feldman in 1987, and was originally pitched as a film treatment in the style of a police procedural, entitled "The Message". When "The Message" failed to attract the studios, Feldman re-wrote it as a spec script, which ultimately led to the making of the film. The extraterrestrial aspect of Sil's character was created by H. R. Giger, who was also responsible for the beings from the "Alien" franchise. The effects combined practical models designed by Giger collaborator Steve Johnson and XFX, with computer-generated imagery done by Richard Edlund's Boss Film Studios. Giger felt that the film and the character were too similar to "Alien", so he pushed for script changes.


title: Species (film)

text: Most of the principal photography was done in Los Angeles, California, where the film is set. Several scenes were filmed in Utah and at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. "Species" was met with mixed reviews from critics, who felt that the film's execution did not match the ambition of its premise, but nevertheless was a box office success, partly due to the hype surrounding Henstridge's nude scenes in various tabloid newspapers and lad mags of the time, grossing US$113 million ($ million in dollars). It spawned a franchise, which includes one theatrical sequel ("Species II"), as well as two direct-to-television sequels ("Species III" and "Species: The Awakening"). "Species" was adapted into a novel by Yvonne Navarro and two comic book series by Dark Horse Comics, one of which was written by Feldman.


title: Species (film)

text: During the SETI program, Earth's scientists send out transmissions (shown to be the Arecibo message) with information about Earth and its inhabitants, DNA structure, etc., in hopes of finding life beyond Earth. They then receive transmissions from an alien source on how to create endless fuel effortlessly. Therefore, the scientists assume that this is a friendly alien species. From a second alien transmission, the scientists receive information about an alien DNA along with instructions on how to splice it with human DNA. A government team led by Xavier Fitch goes forward with the genetic experiment attempting to induce a female, under the (later proved to be mistaken) assumption that a female would have "more docile and controllable" traits. One of the hundred experimental ova produces a girl named Sil, who looks like a normal human but develops into a 12-year-old in 3 months.


title: Species (film)

text: Sil's violent outbursts during sleep make the scientists consider her a threat. One day they try to kill her using cyanide gas, but she breaks out of her containment cell and escapes. The government assembles a team composed of anthropologist Dr. Stephen Arden, molecular biologist Dr. Laura Baker, "empath" Dan Smithson and mercenary Preston "Press" Lennox to track and destroy Sil. Sil matures rapidly into an adult in her early twenties and makes her way to Los Angeles. Her body strength, regenerative ability and intelligence make tracking her extremely difficult. The scientists fear she may mate with human males and produce offspring that could eventually eliminate the human race. Sil is intent on producing offspring as soon as possible, and kills several people to prevent them from notifying the authorities or simply to use their clothing.


title: Species (film)

text: She first tries to mate with Robbie, but after sensing that he is diabetic, she rejects him. Unsatisfied, he tries to assault her, prompting her to kill him by puncturing through his pharynx with her tongue. Later she tries to mate with John Carey, a man she meets after a car accident. They swim in Carey's hottub where Sil forces him to open his swimming trunks in order to mate, but he refuses. This act is interrupted by Preston and Laura. She soon kills Carey, morphing into her alien form, a bipedal mutant with tentacles on her shoulders and back, and flees naked into a forest without being seen by the team. She pretends to be a rape victim to kidnap a woman in order to assume her identity. Sitting in the car near Carey's home, she reads Fitch's lips, as she had done earlier, learning of their plan to stake out the nightclub for her return. There, she is seen by Dan, prompting a car chase. She fakes her death by crashing the car, which she has previously filled with gasoline containers, into a high-voltage transformer, using the kidnapped woman as a stand-in for her own body.


title: Species (film)

text: After cutting and dyeing her hair, Sil takes an attraction to Preston, having dreamt of him the previous night. After the team celebrates their apparent victory, she stalks them in their hotel, and they do not recognize her. Arden, who is upset at being alone, walks into his room to find Sil waiting there. She has intercourse with Arden, which results in her instantly getting impregnated by him, then kills him when he realizes who she is. Dan senses that Sil is in the hotel and he alerts Preston, Laura, and the rest of the team. She morphs again, escapes and they follow her into the sewers where Fitch is subsequently killed. Sil gives birth, and Dan finds her offspring in a cavern behind the sewers. The child morphs into alien form and attacks him and he incinerates it. Preston blows off Sil's head with a shotgun. The trio leaves the area. The last scene shows a rat chewing on one of Sil's severed tentacles; it starts to mutate into a vicious beast and devours another rat.


title: Species (film)

text: Since Sil grows rapidly and kills humans with ease, at a certain point film character Dr. Laura Baker speculates if she was a biological weapon sent by a species who thought humans were like an intergalactic weed. Feldman declared that he wanted to explore this theme further in the script, as it discussed mankind's place in the universe and how other civilizations would perceive and relate to humanity, considering that "maybe [humans are] not a potential threat, maybe a competitor, maybe a resource". He also declared that more could be said about Sil's existentialist doubts, as she does not know her origin or purpose, and only follows her instinct to mate and perpetuate the species.


title: Species (film)

text: Writing for the "Journal of Popular Film & Television", Susan George authored a paper that dealt with the portrayal of procreation in "Species", "Gattaca" and "Mimic". George compares the character of Fitch to "an updated Dr. Frankenstein", and explores the development of Sil's maternal aspirations, which convert the character into an "archaic mother" figure similar to the xenomorph creature in the "Alien" series, both of which are, she claims, portrayed negatively. George further states that a recurring theme in science fiction films is a response to "this kind of powerful female sexuality and 'alien-ness in that "the feminine monster must die as Sil does at the end of "Species"". Feldman himself considered that an underlying theme regarded "a female arriving and seeking to find a superior mate".


title: Species (film)

text: A five-year investigation into accounts of the chupacabra, a well known cryptid, revealed that the original sighting report of the creature in Puerto Rico by Madeline Tolentino may have been inspired by the character Sil. This was detailed in paranormal investigator and skeptic Benjamin Radford's book "Tracking the Chupacabra". According to Virginia Fugarino of Memorial University of Newfoundland writing for the "Journal of Folklore Research", Radford found a link between the original eyewitness report and the design of Sil in her alien form, and hypothesized that "["Species"], which [Tolentino] did see before her sighting, influenced what she believes she saw of the chupacabra".


title: Species (film)

text: Dennis Feldman had the idea for "Species" in 1987, as he worked on another film about an alien invasion, "Real Men". Having read an article by Arthur C. Clarke about the insurmountable odds against an extraterrestrial craft ever locating and visiting Earth, given that stellar distances are great, and faster-than-light travel is unlikely, Feldman started to think that it was "unsophisticated for any alien culture to come here in what [he]'d describe as a big tin can". Thus in turn he considered that the possibility of extraterrestrial contact was through information. Then he detailed that a message would contain instructions from across the void to build something that would talk to men. Instead of a mechanical device, Feldman imagined wetware. The visitor would adapt to Earth's environment through DNA belonging to Earth's organisms. Mankind has sent to space transmissions "giving out directions" such as the Arecibo message, which Feldman considered unwary, as they relay information to potential predators from outer space. He pointed out that "in nature, one species would not want a predator to know where it hides".


title: Species (film)

text: Therefrom emerged a film treatment called "The Message". The original script had more of a police procedural approach, with the alien being created by a "bathtub geneticist" who had just had his project aborted by the government, and a biologist who had worked on the project getting along with a police officer to search for the creature. Eventually Feldman came to believe this concept had some credibility issues, and instead changed the protagonists to a government team. After coining the name "Sil", Feldman initially thought of forming an acronym, but in the end chose only the three-letter name after learning about the codons of the genetic code, which can be represented in groups of three letters. Sil would originally emerge from a DNA sequence manipulating human DNA, and constantly mutate as she used the human junk DNA to access "all the defenses of the entire animal kingdom that [humans] evolved through – including ones that had never developed, plus ones [Earth's scientists] don't know about that have become extinct". Among the research Feldman did for the script included going to sessions of UCLA's Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life (CSEOL), talking to SETI scientists, and visiting the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to talk with researchers working on the Human Genome Project. "The Message" was offered to several studios, but was passed up.


title: Species (film)

text: In 1993, Feldman reworked his ideas into a spec script. This was sent to producer Frank Mancuso, Jr., who had hired Feldman to adapt Sidney Kirkpatrick's "A Cast of Killers". The producer got attracted to the creative possibilities as the film offered "the challenge of walking that fine line between believability and pushing something as far as it can go". Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer got interested on the project, and while Feldman had some initial disagreements on the budget, after considering other studios he signed with MGM. In turn, the now retitled "Species" attracted director Roger Donaldson, who was attracted to its blend of science fiction and thriller. The script underwent eight different drafts, written over an eight-month period, before Donaldson was content that flaws in the story's logic had been corrected. At one point another writer, Larry Gross, tried his hand with the script, but ultimately all the work was done by Feldman. Feldman would remain as a co-producer. While the initial "Species" script suggested a love triangle between Sil and two government team members, the dissatisfaction of the crew eventually led to changes to the ending, which ended up featuring Sil having a baby that would immediately prove dangerous.


title: Species (film)

text: When Donaldson was announced as the director in 1994, Mancuso stated that most of the $35 million budget would be spent on effects, as "it's not a movie that calls for stars. We're going to try and put as much money as we can below the line and allow the effects and the creature to be the highlights of the film". The lesser emphasis on actors included a newcomer as the human version of the creature, Sil, former model Natasha Henstridge.


title: Species (film)

text: Sil was designed by Swiss artist H. R. Giger, who also created the creatures in the "Alien" films. Donaldson thought Giger was the best man for the film after reading his compendium "Necronomicon", and eventually he and Mancuso flew to Switzerland to meet the artist. What attracted Giger was the opportunity to design "a monster in another way—an aesthetic warrior, also sensual and deadly, like the women look in [his] paintings". While Giger opted to stay in Switzerland to take care of his dying mother instead of flying to Los Angeles to accompany production, he built some puppets in his own studio, and later faxed sketches and airbrush paintings as production went through.


title: Species (film)

text: The practical models were made by Steve Johnson and his company XFX, which had already worked with Giger's designs in "". Giger had envisioned more stages of Sil's transformation, but the film only employed the last one, where she is "transparent outside and black inside—like a glass body but with carbon inside", with XFX doing the translucent skin based on what they had done for the aliens of "The Abyss". Sil's alien form had both full-body animatronics with replaceable arms, heads and torsos, and a body suit. Richard Edlund's Boss Film Studios was hired for over 50 shots of computer-generated imagery, which included one of the earliest forms of motion capture effects. Using a two-foot-high (60 cm) electric puppet that had sensors translating its movements to a digital Sil, Boss Films managed to achieve in one day what would have once taken as much as three weeks with practical effects.


title: Species (film)

text: Giger was unhappy with some elements he found to bear similarity with other films, particularly the "Alien" franchise. At one point he sent a fax to Mancuso finding five similarities: a "chestburster" (as Sil giving birth echoed the infant Alien breaking out of its host's chest), the creature having a punching tongue (Giger at first wanted Sil's tongue to be composed of barbed hooks), a cocoon, the use of flame throwers, and having Giger as the creature designer. A great point of contention was the ending, which Giger considered derivative from the climaxes from both "Alien 3" and "". The designer felt that horror films frequently held some final confrontation with fire, which he considered old-fashioned and linked to medieval witch trials. He sent some ideas for the climax to the producers, with them accepting to have Sil's ultimate death occurring by headshot.


title: Species (film)

text: Filming happened mostly in Los Angeles, including location shooting at Sunset Strip, Silver Lake, Pacific Palisades, the Hollywood Hills and the Biltmore Hotel. Id Club, the nightclub featured in the film, was built within Hollywood's Pantages Theater, while the hills above Dodger Stadium near Elysian Park were used for the car chase and crash where Sil fakes her death. For the opening scenes in Utah, the Tooele Army Depot dubbed as the outside of the research facility—the interiors were shot at the Rockwell International Corporation laboratory in California—and a Victorian-era train station in Brigham City was part of Sil's escape. Other locations included the Santa Monica Pier and the Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico. The most complex sets involved the sewer complex and a tar-filled granite cavern where the ending occurs. Donaldson wanted a maze quality for the sewers, which had traces of realism (such as tree roots breaking through from the ceiling) and artistic licenses. Production designer John Muto intentionally designed the sewers wider and taller than real ones, as well as with walkways, but nevertheless aiming for a claustrophobic and realistic atmosphere. The tunnels were built out of structural steel, metal rod, plaster and concrete to endure the fire effects, and had its design based on the La Brea Tar Pits, with Muto describing them as "just the sort of place in which a creature from another planet might feel at home".


title: Species (film)

text: "Species" received a wide theatrical release on July 7, 1995. Its opening weekend was $17.1 million, MGM's biggest opening at the time and second in the box office ranking behind "Apollo 13". Budgeted at $35 million, the film earned a total of $113 million worldwide ($ million adjusted for inflation), including $60 million in the United States. Audiences polled by CinemaScore during opening weekend gave the film an average grade of "B−" on a scale ranging from A+ to F.


title: Species (film)

text: MGM Home Entertainment released the film on DVD in March 1997, which contains a booklet with trivia and production notes, and on VHS in August 1999. In July 2006, MGM released it on Blu-ray, whose supplements includes several featurettes as well as two audio commentary tracks: one by director Roger Donaldson, Natasha Henstridge and Michael Madsen, and another from Donaldson, cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, make-up effects creator Steve Johnson, visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund and producer Frank Mancuso Jr. In July 2017, Scream Factory released a collector's edition Blu-ray, issued with a concoction of new and archival bonus contents which have been ported over from original DVD and Blu-ray versions.


title: Species (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 44% based on 71 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10 and a critical consensus which reads ""Species" shows flashes of the potential to blend exploitation and sci-fi horror in ingenious ways, but is ultimately mainly interested in flashing star Natasha Henstridge's skin". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Species (film)

text: Roger Ebert gave it 2 out of 4 stars, criticizing the film's plot and overall lack of intelligence. Cristine James from "Boxoffice" magazine gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, describing it as ""Alien" meets "V" meets "Splash" meets "Playboy's Erotic Fantasies: Forbidden Liaisons", diluted into a diffuse, misdirected bore". James Berardinelli gave the film 2½ out of 4 stars, stating that "as long as you don't stop to think about what's going on, "Species" is capable of offering its share of cheap thrills, with a laugh or two thrown in as well". Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" found the film lacking in imagination and special effects, also commenting that Alfred Molina "sport[s] a haircut that's scarier than the creature". "Variety"'s review of the film described it as a "gripping if not overly original account of an extraterrestrial species attempting to overwhelm our own" and that Ben Kingsley and other lead actors "have only two-dimensional roles to engage them". The review notes the similarity between H.R. Giger's design of Sil and his work on "Alien".


title: Species (film)

text: Scott Weinberg of "DVD Talk" praised the acting, Feldman's screenplay and Donaldson's direction. He concluded by saying that "Species" makes for "a very good time for the genre fans". Mick LaSalle, writing for "San Francisco Chronicle", was notedly less enthusiastic, quipping that if ""Species" were a little bit worse, it would have a shot at becoming a camp classic". "Los Angeles Times" critic Peter Rainer described "Species" as "a pretty good Boo! movie", finding it an entertaining thriller while unoriginal and with ineffective tonal shifts.


title: Species (film)

text: Yvonne Navarro co-wrote a novelization based on the original screenplay with Dennis Feldman. The book gives several in-depth details about the characters not seen in the film, such as Sil's ability to visualize odors and determine harmful substances from edible items by the color. Gas appears black, food appears pink, and an unhealthy potential mate appears to give off green fumes. Other character details include Preston's background in tracking down AWOL soldiers as well as the process of decoding the alien signal. Although no clues are given as to its origin, it is mentioned that the message was somehow routed through several black holes to mask its point of origin. An audiobook version narrated by Alfred Molina won the Audie Award for Solo Performance.


title: Species (film)

text: Dark Horse Comics published a four-issue comic book adapting the film, written by Feldman and penciled by Jon Foster. Dark Horse would also publish a mini-series with an all-new storyline, "Species: Human Race", released in 1997. West End Games released a "World of Species" sourcebook for its Masterbook role-playing game system. MGM had partnered with Cyberdreams to make a computer game based on the film, and while the company managed to release an H.R. Giger screen saver featuring "Species" images, the game never came to be due to Cyberdreams' closure.


title: Species (film)

text: The first sequel to "Species", "Species II" was released theatrically on April 10, 1998. The film depicts astronauts on a mission to Mars being attacked by the aliens from "Species", and the events that ensue upon their return to Earth. There, Dr. Baker has been working on Eve, a more docile clone of Sil. Madsen and Helgenberger reprised their roles, while Henstridge played Eve. "Species II" received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, garnering a 9% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and Madsen denounced it as a terrible film. The film's director, Peter Medak, attributed the failure of the film to not picking up the infected rat ending of the original film. Navarro later authored the novelization for "Species II" which followed the film's original screenplay with added scenes.


title: Species (film)

text: The second sequel, "Species III", followed in 2004. It premiered on Sci-Fi Channel on November 27, with a DVD release on December 7. The film's plot starts where "Species II" ends, revolving around Sunny Mabrey's character Sara, the daughter of Eve, reared by a doctor played by Robert Knepper. Sara, an alien-human hybrid, seeks other hybrids to mate with. Henstridge appears in a cameo at the beginning of the film. Two out of six critics mentioned on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a positive rating, with "DVD Talk"'s reviewer noting that it is "a more cohesive and sensible flick than ["Species II"] is, but ultimately, it's just a lot of the same old schtick", while Film Freak Central called it "amateurish" and "vapid". A fourth film, "Species: The Awakening" came out in 2007, following the schedule of "Species III" of Sci-Fi Channel premiere and subsequent DVD release. None of the actors from the original film returned in this sequel, which instead starred Helena Mattsson as the alien-hybrid seductress.


title: Container ship

text: A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.


title: Container ship

text: Container ship capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). Typical loads are a mix of 20-foot (1-TEU) and 40-foot (2-TEU) ISO-standard containers, with the latter predominant.


title: Container ship

text: Today, about 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is transported by container ships, and the largest modern container ships can carry up to 24,000 TEU (e.g., "Ever Ace"). Container ships now rival crude oil tankers and bulk carriers as the largest commercial seaborne vessels.


title: Container ship

text: There are two main types of dry cargo: bulk cargo and break bulk cargo. Bulk cargoes, like grain or coal, are transported unpackaged in the hull of the ship, generally in large volume. Break-bulk cargoes, on the other hand, are transported in packages, and are generally manufactured goods. Before the advent of containerization in the 1950s, break-bulk items were loaded, lashed, unlashed and unloaded from the ship one piece at a time. However, by grouping cargo into containers, of cargo, or up to about , is moved at once and each container is secured to the ship once in a standardized way. Containerization has increased the efficiency of moving traditional break-bulk cargoes significantly, reducing shipping time by 84% and costs by 35%. In 2001, more than 90% of world trade in non-bulk goods was transported in ISO containers. In 2009, almost one quarter of the world's dry cargo was shipped by container, an estimated 125 million TEU or 1.19 billion tonnes worth of cargo.


title: Container ship

text: The first ships designed to carry standardized load units were used in the late 18th century in England. In 1766 James Brindley designed the box boat "Starvationer" with 10 wooden containers, to transport coal from Worsley Delph to Manchester via the Bridgewater Canal. Before the Second World War, the first container ships were used to carry the baggage of the luxury passenger train from London to Paris (Southern Railway's Golden Arrow / La Flèche d'Or). These containers were loaded in London or Paris, and carried to ports of Dover or Calais on flat cars. In February 1931, the first container ship in the world was launched; the "Autocarrier", owned by Southern Railway UK. It had 21 slots for containers of Southern Railway.<ref name="S/S AUTOCARRIER"> | url= http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/autocarrier_1931_b_1.htm|</ref>


title: Container ship

text: The earliest container ships after the Second World War were converted oil tankers, built up from surplus T2 tankers after World War II. In 1951, the first purpose-built container vessels began operating in Denmark, and between Seattle and Alaska. The first commercially successful container ship was , a T2 tanker, owned by Malcom McLean, which carried 58 metal containers between Newark, New Jersey and Houston, Texas, on its first voyage. In 1955, McLean built his company, McLean Trucking into one of the United States' biggest freighter fleets. In 1955, he purchased the small Pan Atlantic Steamship Company from Waterman Steamship and adapted its ships to carry cargo in large uniform metal containers. On April 26, 1956, the first of these rebuilt container vessels, "Ideal X", left the Port Newark in New Jersey and a new revolution in modern shipping resulted.


title: Container ship

text: MV "Kooringa" was the world's first fully cellular purpose-built container ship and was built by Australian company, Associated Steamships Pty. Ltd. in partnership with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co and commissioned in May 1964.


title: Container ship

text: Container vessels eliminate the individual hatches, holds and dividers of the traditional general cargo vessels. The hull of a typical container ship is a huge warehouse divided into cells by vertical guide rails. These cells are designed to hold cargo in pre-packed units – containers. Shipping containers are usually made of steel, but other materials like aluminum, fiberglass or plywood are also used. They are designed to be entirely transferred to and from smaller coastal carriers, trains, trucks or semi-trailers (and so are carried by different "modes" of transport during one voyage, thus giving the name intermodal transport). There are several types of containers and they are categorized according to their size and functions.


title: Container ship

text: Today, about 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is transported by container, and modern container ships can carry over 24,000 TEU. As a class, container ships now rival crude oil tankers and bulk carriers as the largest commercial vessels on the ocean.


title: Container ship

text: Although containerization caused a revolution in the world of shipping, its introduction was not easy. Ports, railway (railroad in the US) companies, and shippers were concerned about the huge costs of developing the ports and railway infrastructure needed to handle container ships, and for the movement of containers on land by rail and road. Trade unions were concerned about massive job loss among port and dock workers at ports, as containers were sure to eliminate several manual jobs of cargo handling. It took ten years of legal battles before container ships would be pressed into international service. In 1966, a container liner service from the US to the Dutch city of Rotterdam commenced. Containerization changed not only the face of shipping, but it also revolutionized world trade. A container ship can be loaded and unloaded in a few hours compared to days in a traditional cargo vessel. This, besides cutting labor costs, has greatly reduced shipping times between ports; for example, it takes a few weeks instead of months for a consignment to be delivered from India to Europe and vice versa. It has resulted in less breakage due to less handling; also, there is less danger of cargo shifting during a voyage. As containers are sealed and only opened at the destination, theft has been greatly reduced.


title: Container ship

text: Containerization has lowered shipping expense and decreased shipping time, and this has in turn helped the growth of international trade. Cargo that once arrived in cartons, crates, bales, barrels or bags now comes in factory sealed containers, with no indication to the human eye of their contents, except for a product code that machines can scan and computers trace. This system of tracking has been so exact that a two-week voyage can be timed for arrival with an accuracy of under fifteen minutes. It has resulted in such revolutions as on time guaranteed delivery and just in time manufacturing. Raw materials arrive from factories in sealed containers less than an hour before they are required in manufacture, resulting in reduced inventory expense.


title: Container ship

text: Exporters load merchandise in boxes that are provided by the shipping companies. They are then delivered to the docks by road, rail or a combination of both for loading onto container ships. Prior to containerization, huge gangs of men would spend hours fitting various items of cargo into different holds. Today, cranes, installed either on the pier or on the ship, are used to place containers on board the ship. When the hull has been fully loaded, additional containers are stacked on the deck.


title: Container ship

text: Today's largest container ships measure in length. They carry loads equal to the cargo-carrying capacity of sixteen to seventeen pre-World War II freighter ships.


title: Container ship

text: There are several key points in the design of modern container ships. The hull, similar to that of bulk carriers and general cargo ships, is built around a strong keel. Into this frame is set one or more below-deck cargo holds, numerous tanks, and the engine room. The holds are topped by hatch covers, onto which more containers can be stacked. Many container ships have cargo cranes installed on them, and some have specialized systems for securing containers on board.


title: Container ship

text: The hull of a modern cargo ship is a complex arrangement of steel plates and strengthening beams. Resembling ribs, and fastened at right angles to the keel, are the ship's frames. The ship's main deck, the metal platework that covers the top of the hull framework, is supported by beams that are attached to the tops of the frames and run the full breadth of the ship. The beams not only support the deck, but along with the deck, frames, and transverse bulkheads, strengthen and reinforce the shell. Another feature of recent hulls is a set of double-bottom tanks, which provide a second watertight shell that runs most of the length of a ship. The double-bottoms generally hold liquids such as fuel oil, ballast water or fresh water.


title: Container ship

text: A ship's engine room houses its main engines and auxiliary machinery such as the fresh water and sewage systems, electrical generators, fire pumps, and air conditioners. In most new ships, the engine room is located in the aft portion.


title: Container ship

text: Container ships are distinguished into 7 major size categories: small feeder, feeder, feedermax, Panamax, Post-Panamax, New Panamax and ultra-large. As of December 2012, there were 161 container ships in the VLCS class (Very Large Container Ships, more than 10,000 TEU), and 51 ports in the world can accommodate them.


title: Container ship

text: The size of a Panamax vessel is limited by the original Panama canal's lock chambers, which can accommodate ships with a beam of up to 32.31 m, a length overall of up to 294.13 m, and a draft of up to 12.04 m. The Post-Panamax category has historically been used to describe ships with a moulded breadth over 32.31 m, however the Panama Canal expansion project has caused some changes in terminology. The New Panamax category is based on the maximum vessel-size that is able to transit a new third set of locks, which opened in June 2016. The third set of locks were built to accommodate a container ship with a length overall of , a maximum width of , and tropical fresh-water draft of . Such a vessel, called New Panamax class, is wide enough to carry 19 columns of containers, can have a total capacity of approximately 12,000 TEU and is comparable in size to a capesize bulk carrier or a Suezmax tanker.


title: Container ship

text: Container ships under 3,000 TEU are generally called feeder ships or feeders. They are small ships that typically operate between smaller container ports. Some feeders collect their cargo from small ports, drop it off at large ports for transshipment on larger ships, and distribute containers from the large port to smaller regional ports. This size of vessel is the most likely to carry cargo cranes on board.


title: Container ship

text: A major characteristic of a container ship is whether it has cranes installed for handling its cargo. Those that have cargo cranes are called "geared" and those that don't are called "ungeared" or "gearless". The earliest purpose-built container ships in the 1970s were all gearless. Since then, the percentage of geared newbuilds has fluctuated widely, but has been decreasing overall, with only 7.5% of the container ship capacity in 2009 being equipped with cranes.


title: Container ship

text: While geared container ships are more flexible in that they can visit ports that are not equipped with pierside container cranes, they suffer from several drawbacks. To begin with, geared ships will cost more to purchase than a gearless ship. Geared ships also incur greater recurring expenses, such as maintenance and fuel costs. The United Nations Council on Trade and Development characterizes geared ships as a "niche market only appropriate for those ports where low cargo volumes do not justify investment in port cranes or where the public sector does not have the financial resources for such investment".


title: Container ship

text: Instead of the rotary cranes, some geared ships have gantry cranes installed. These cranes, specialized for container work, are able to roll forward and aft on rails. In addition to the additional capital expense and maintenance costs, these cranes generally load and discharge containers much more slowly than their shoreside counterparts.


title: Container ship

text: The introduction and improvement of shoreside container cranes have been a key to the success of the container ship. The first crane that was specifically designed for container work was built in California's Port of Alameda in 1959. By the 1980s, shoreside gantry cranes were capable of moving containers on a 3-minute-cycle, or up to 400 tons per hour. In March 2010, at Port Klang in Malaysia, a new world record was set when 734 container moves were made in a single hour. The record was achieved using 9 cranes to simultaneously load and unload , a ship with a capacity of 9,600 TEU.


title: Container ship

text: Vessels in the 1,500–2,499 TEU range are the most likely size class to have cranes, with more than 60% of this category being geared ships. Slightly less than a third of the very smallest ships (from 100–499 TEU) are geared, and almost no ships with a capacity of over 4,000 TEU are geared.


title: Container ship

text: Efficiency has always been key in the design of container ships. While containers may be carried on conventional break-bulk ships, cargo holds for dedicated container ships are specially constructed to speed loading and unloading, and to efficiently keep containers secure while at sea. A key aspect of container ship specialization is the design of the hatches, the openings from the main deck to the cargo holds. The hatch openings stretch the entire breadth of the cargo holds, and are surrounded by a raised steel structure known as the "hatch coaming". On top of the hatch coamings are the hatch covers. Until the 1950s, hatches were typically secured with wooden boards and tarpaulins held down with battens. Today, some hatch covers can be solid metal plates that are lifted on and off the ship by cranes, while others are articulated mechanisms that are opened and closed using powerful hydraulic rams.


title: Container ship

text: Another key component of dedicated container-ship design is the use of "cell guides". Cell guides are strong vertical structures constructed of metal installed into a ship's cargo holds. These structures guide containers into well-defined rows during loading and provide some support for containers against the ship's rolling at sea. So fundamental to container ship design are cell guides that organizations such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development use their presence to distinguish dedicated container ships from general break-bulk cargo ships.


title: Container ship

text: A system of three dimensions is used in cargo plans to describe the position of a container aboard the ship. The first coordinate is the "bay", which starts at the front of the ship and increases aft. The second coordinate is the "row". Rows on the starboard side are given odd numbers and those on the port side are given even numbers. The rows nearest the centerline are given low numbers, and the numbers increase for slots further from the centerline. The third coordinate is the "tier", with the first tier at the bottom of the cargo holds, the second tier on top of that, and so forth.


title: Container ship

text: Container ships only take 20 foot, 40 foot, and 45 foot containers. 45 footers only fit above deck. 40 foot containers are the primary container size, making up about 90% of all container shipping and since container shipping moves 90% of the world's freight, over 80% of the world's freight moves via 40 foot containers.


title: Container ship

text: Numerous systems are used to secure containers aboard ships, depending on factors such as the type of ship, the type of container, and the location of the container. Stowage inside the holds of fully cellular (FC) ships is simplest, typically using simple metal forms called container guides, locating cones, and anti-rack spacers to lock the containers together. Above-decks, without the extra support of the cell guides, more complicated equipment is used. Three types of systems are currently in wide use: lashing systems, locking systems, and buttress systems. Lashing systems secure containers to the ship using devices made from wire rope, rigid rods, or chains and devices to tension the lashings, such as turnbuckles. The effectiveness of lashings is increased by securing containers to each other, either by simple metal forms (such as stacking cones) or more complicated devices such as twist-lock stackers. A typical twist-lock is inserted into the casting hole of one container and rotated to hold it in place, then another container is lowered on top of it. The two containers are locked together by twisting the device's handle. A typical twist-lock is constructed of forged steel and ductile iron and has a shear strength of 48 tonnes.


title: Container ship

text: The buttress system, used on some large container ships, uses a system of large towers attached to the ship at both ends of each cargo hold. As the ship is loaded, a rigid, removable stacking frame is added, structurally securing each tier of containers together.


title: Container ship

text: Container ships have typically had a single bridge and accommodation unit towards the rear, but to reconcile demand for larger container capacity with SOLAS visibility requirements, several new designs have been developed. , some large container ships are being developed with the bridge further forward, separate from the exhaust stack. Some smaller container ships working in European ports and rivers have liftable wheelhouses, which can be lowered to pass under low bridges.


title: Container ship

text: , container ships made up 13.3% of the world's fleet in terms of deadweight tonnage. The world's total of container ship deadweight tonnage has increased from in 1980 to in 2010. The combined deadweight tonnage of container ships and general cargo ships, which also often carry containers, represents 21.8% of the world's fleet.


title: Container ship

text: , the average age of container ships worldwide was 10.6 years, making them the youngest general vessel type, followed by bulk carriers at 16.6 years, oil tankers at 17 years, general cargo ships at 24.6 years, and others at 25.3 years.


title: Container ship

text: Most of the world's carrying capacity in fully cellular container ships is in the liner service, where ships trade on scheduled routes. As of January 2010, the top 20 liner companies controlled 67.5% of the world's fully cellular container capacity, with 2,673 vessels of an average capacity of 3,774 TEU. The remaining 6,862 fully cellular ships have an average capacity of 709 TEU each.


title: Container ship

text: The vast majority of the capacity of fully cellular container ships used in the liner trade is owned by German shipowners, with approximately 75% owned by Hamburg brokers. It is a common practice for the large container lines to supplement their own ships with chartered-in ships, for example in 2009, 48.9% of the tonnage of the top 20 liner companies was chartered-in in this manner.


title: Container ship

text: International law requires that every merchant ship be registered in a country, called its flag state. A ship's flag state exercises regulatory control over the vessel and is required to inspect it regularly, certify the ship's equipment and crew, and issue safety and pollution prevention documents. , the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics count 2,837 container ships of or greater worldwide. Panama was the world's largest flag state for container ships, with 541 of the vessels in its registry. Seven other flag states had more than 100 registered container ships: Liberia (415), Germany (248), Singapore (177), Cyprus (139), the Marshall Islands (118) and the United Kingdom (104). The Panamanian, Liberian, and Marshallese flags are open registries and considered by the International Transport Workers' Federation to be flags of convenience. By way of comparison, traditional maritime nations such as the United States and Japan only had 75 and 11 registered container ships, respectively.


title: Container ship

text: In recent years, oversupply of container ship capacity has caused prices for new and used ships to fall. From 2008 to 2009, new container ship prices dropped by 19–33%, while prices for 10-year-old container ships dropped by 47–69%. In March 2010, the average price for a geared 500-TEU container ship was $10 million, while gearless ships of 6,500 and 12,000 TEU averaged prices of $74 million and $105 million respectively. At the same time, secondhand prices for 10-year-old geared container ships of 500-, 2,500-, and 3,500-TEU capacity averaged prices of $4 million, $15 million, and $18 million respectively.


title: Container ship

text: In 2009, 11,669,000 gross tons of newly built container ships were delivered. Over 85% of this new capacity was built in the Republic of Korea, China, and Japan, with Korea accounting for over 57% of the world's total alone. New container ships accounted for 15% of the total new tonnage that year, behind bulk carriers at 28.9% and oil tankers at 22.6%.


title: Container ship

text: Most ships are removed from the fleet through a process known as scrapping. Scrapping is rare for ships under 18 years old and common for those over 40 years in age. Ship-owners and buyers negotiate scrap prices based on factors such as the ship's empty weight (called light ton displacement or LTD) and prices in the scrap metal market. Scrapping rates are volatile, the price per light ton displacement has swung from a high of $650 per LTD in mid-2008 to $200 per LTD in early 2009, before building to $400 per LTD in March 2010. , over 96% of the world's scrapping activity takes place in China, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.


title: Container ship

text: The global economic downturn of 2008–2009 resulted in more ships than usual being sold for scrap. In 2009, 364,300 TEU worth of container ship capacity was scrapped, up from 99,900 TEU in 2008. Container ships accounted for 22.6% of the total gross tonnage of ships scrapped that year. Despite the surge, the capacity removed from the fleet only accounted for 3% of the world's container ship capacity. The average age of container ships scrapped in 2009 was 27.0 years.


title: Container ship

text: Economies of scale have dictated an upward trend in the size of container ships in order to reduce expenses. However, there are certain limitations to the size of container ships. Primarily, these are the availability of sufficiently large main engines and the availability of a sufficient number of ports and terminals prepared and equipped to handle ultra-large container ships. Furthermore, the permissible maximum ship dimensions in some of the world's main waterways could present an upper limit in terms of vessel growth. This primarily concerns the Suez Canal and the Singapore Strait.


title: Container ship

text: In 2008 the South Korean shipbuilder STX announced plans to construct a container ship capable of carrying , and with a proposed length of and a beam of . If constructed, the container ship would become the largest seagoing vessel in the world.


title: Container ship

text: Since even very large container ships are vessels with relatively low draft compared to large tankers and bulk carriers, there is still considerable room for vessel growth. Compared to today's largest container ships, Maersk Line's "Emma Mærsk"-type series, a container ship would only be moderately larger in terms of exterior dimensions. According to a 2011 estimate, an ultra-large container ship of would measure , compared to for the "Emma Mærsk" class. It would have an estimated deadweight of circa 220,000 tons. While such a vessel might be near the upper limit for a Suez Canal passage, the so-called Malaccamax concept (for Straits of Malacca) does not apply for container ships, since the Malacca and Singapore Straits' draft limit of about is still above that of any conceivable container ship design. In 2011, Maersk announced plans to build a new "Triple E" family of container ships with a capacity of 18,000 TEU, with an emphasis on lower fuel consumption.


title: Container ship

text: In the present market situation, main engines will not be as much of a limiting factor for vessel growth either. The steadily rising expense of fuel oil in the early 2010s had prompted most container lines to adapt a slower, more economical voyage speed of about 21 knots, compared to earlier top speeds of 25 or more knots. Subsequently, newly built container ships can be fitted with a smaller main engine. Engine types fitted to today's ships of are thus sufficiently large to propel future vessels of or more. Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipping line, nevertheless opted for twin engines (two smaller engines working two separate propellers), when ordering a series of ten 18,000 TEU vessels from Daewoo Shipbuilding in February 2011. The ships were delivered between 2013 and 2014. In 2016, some experts believed that the current largest container ships are at the optimum size, and could not economically be larger, as port facilities would be too expensive, port handling too time consuming, the number of suitable ports too low, and insurance cost too high.


title: Container ship

text: In March 2017 the first ship with an official capacity over 20,000 TEUs was christened at Samsung Heavy Industries. "MOL Triumph" has a capacity of 20,150 TEUs. Samsung Heavy Industries was expected to deliver several ships of over 20,000 TEUs in 2017, and has orders for at least ten vessels in that size range for OOCL and MOL.


title: Container ship

text: The act of hiring a ship to carry cargo is called chartering. Outside special bulk cargo markets, ships are hired by three types of charter agreements: the voyage charter, the time charter, and the bareboat charter. In a voyage charter, the charterer rents the vessel from the loading port to the discharge port. In a time charter, the vessel is hired for a set period of time, to perform voyages as the charterer directs. In a bareboat charter, the charterer acts as the ship's operator and manager, taking on responsibilities such as providing the crew and maintaining the vessel. The completed chartering contract is known as a charter party.


title: Container ship

text: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD], tracks in its 2010 "Review of Maritime Trade" two aspects of container shipping prices: The first one is a chartering price, specifically the price to time-charter a 1 TEU slot for 14 tonnes of cargo on a container ship. The other is the freight rate; or comprehensive daily cost to deliver one-TEU worth of cargo on a given route. As a result of the late-2000s recession, both indicators showed sharp drops during 2008–2009, and have shown signs of stabilization since 2010.


title: Container ship

text: UNCTAD uses the Hamburg Shipbrokers’ Association (formally the "Vereinigung Hamburger Schiffsmakler und Schiffsagenten e. V." or VHSS for short) as its main industry source for container ship freight prices. The VHSS maintains a few indices of container ship charter prices. The oldest, which dates back to 1998, is called the "Hamburg Index". This index considers time-charters on fully cellular container ships controlled by Hamburg brokers. It is limited to charters of 3 months or more, and presented as the average daily cost in U.S. dollars for a one-TEU slot with a weight of 14 tonnes. The Hamburg Index data is divided into ten categories based primarily on vessel carrying capacity. Two additional categories exist for small vessels of under 500 TEU that carry their own cargo cranes. In 2007, VHSS started another index, the "New ConTex" which tracks similar data obtained from an international group of shipbrokers.


title: Container ship

text: The Hamburg Index shows some clear trends in recent chartering markets. First, rates were generally increasing from 2000 to 2005. From 2005 to 2008, rates slowly decreased, and in mid-2008 began a "dramatic decline" of approximately 75%, which lasted until rates stabilized in April 2009. Rates have ranged from $2.70 to $35.40 in this period, with prices generally lower on larger ships. The most resilient sized vessel in this time period were those from 200 to 300 TEU, a fact that the United Nations Council on Trade and Development attributes to lack of competition in this sector. Overall, in 2010, these rates rebounded somewhat, but remained at approximately half of their 2008 values. As of 2011, the index shows signs of recovery for container shipping, and combined with increases in global capacity, indicates a positive outlook for the sector in the near future.


title: Container ship

text: UNCTAD also tracks container freight rates. Freight rates are expressed as the total price in U.S. dollars for a shipper to transport one TEU worth of cargo along a given route. Data is given for the three main container liner routes: U.S.-Asia, U.S.-Europe, and Europe-Asia. Prices are typically different between the two legs of a voyage, for example the Asia-U.S. rates have been significantly higher than the return U.S.-Asia rates in recent years. Generally, from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the third quarter of 2009, both the volume of container cargo and freight rates have dropped sharply. In 2009, the freight rates on the U.S.–Europe route were sturdiest, while the Asia-U.S. route fell the most.


title: Container ship

text: Liner companies responded to their overcapacity in several ways. For example, in early 2009, some container lines dropped their freight rates to zero on the Asia-Europe route, charging shippers only a surcharge to cover operating costs. They decreased their overcapacity by lowering the ships' speed (a strategy called "slow steaming") and by laying up ships. Slow steaming increased the length of the Europe-Asia routes to a record high of over 40 days. Another strategy used by some companies was to manipulate the market by publishing notices of rate increases in the press, and when "a notice had been issued by one carrier, other carriers followed suit".


title: Container ship

text: The Trans-Siberian Railroad (TSR) has recently become a more viable alternative to container ships on the Asia-Europe route. This railroad can typically deliver containers in 1/3 to 1/2 of the time of a sea voyage, and in late 2009 announced a 20% reduction in its container shipping rates. With its 2009 rate schedule, the TSR will transport a forty-foot container to Poland from Yokohama for $2,820, or from Pusan for $2,154.


title: Container ship

text: In an effort to control costs and maximize capacity utilization on ever-larger ships, vessel sharing agreements, co-operative agreements, and slot-exchanges have become a growing feature of the maritime container shipping industry. As of March 2015, 16 of the world's largest container shipping lines had consolidated their routes and services accounting for 95 percent of container cargo volumes moving in the dominant east-west trade routes. Carriers remain operationally independent, as they are forbidden by antitrust regulators in multiple jurisdictions from colluding on freight rates or capacity. Similarities can be drawn with Airline alliances.


title: Container ship

text: Container traffic through a port is often tracked in terms of twenty foot equivalent units or TEU of throughput. , the Port of Shanghai was the world's busiest container port, with 43,303,000 TEU handled.


title: Container ship

text: That year, seven of the busiest ten container ports were in the People's Republic of China, with Shanghai in 1st place, Ningbo 3rd, Shenzhen 4th, Guangzhou 5th, Qingdao 7th, Hong Kong 8th and Tianjin 9th.


title: Container ship

text: Rounding out the top ten ports were Singapore at 2nd, Busan in South Korea at 6th and Rotterdam in the Netherlands in the 10th position.


title: Container ship

text: In total, the busiest twenty container ports handled 220,905,805 TEU in 2009, almost half of the world's total estimated container traffic that year of 465,597,537 TEU.


title: Container ship

text: It has been estimated that container ships lose between 2,000 and 10,000 containers at sea each year, costing $370 million. A survey for the six years 2008 through 2013 estimates average losses of individual containers overboard at 546 per year, and average total losses including catastrophic events such as vessel sinkings or groundings at 1,679 per year More recently, a survey conducted by the WSC from 2008-2019, saw an average of 1,382 shipping containers lost at sea. However, in the 3-year period from 2017-2019, that number was nearly halved, down to an average of 779 containers lost annually. Most go overboard on the open sea during storms but there are some examples of whole ships being lost with their cargo. One major shipping accident occurred in 2013 when the MOL Comfort sank with 4,293 containers onboard in the Indian Ocean. When containers are dropped, they immediately become an environmental threat – termed "marine debris". Once in the ocean, they fill with water and sink if the contents cannot hold air. Rough waters smash the container, sinking it quickly.


title: Container ship

text: As container ships get larger and stacking becomes higher, the threat of containers toppling into the sea during a storm increases. This results from a phenomenon called "parametric rolling," by which a ship can roll 30-40 degrees during rough seas creating a powerful torque on a 10-high stack of containers which can easily snap lashings and locks of the stack, resulting in losses into the sea.


title: Container ship

text: The threat of piracy can cost a container shipping company as much as $100 million per year due to longer routes and higher speed, particularly near East Africa.


title: Container ship

text: On 23 March 2021, the "Ever Given" container ship was passing through the Suez Canal on its way to Rotterdam from China when it became stuck and blocked the canal.


title: Colombian conflict

text: The Colombian conflict () began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left guerrilla groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory. Some of the most important international contributors to the Colombian conflict include multinational corporations, the United States, Cuba, and the drug trafficking industry.


title: Colombian conflict

text: The conflict is historically rooted in the conflict known as "La Violencia", which was triggered by the 1948 assassination of liberal political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, and in the aftermath of the anti-communist repression in rural Colombia in the 1960s that led Liberal and Communist militants to re-organize into FARC.


title: Colombian conflict

text: The reasons for fighting vary from group to group. The FARC and other guerrilla movements claim to be fighting for the rights of the poor in Colombia to protect them from government violence and to provide social justice through communism. The Colombian government claims to be fighting for order and stability, and to protect the rights and interests of its citizens. The paramilitary groups claim to be reacting to perceived threats by guerrilla movements.