Amazon is rolling out its Rivian electric vans in Europe over the next few years,according to a pressrelease. The company will roll out 300 new electric vans in Munich, Berlin, and Dusseldorf. The move comes as part of Amazon’s plan — announced last year — to invest EUR 1 bn in electrifying its European transportation network.“Last year we delivered more than 45 mn packages in Germany with electric vans and e-cargo bikes, and these new additions from Rivian will help us deliver packages more sustainably and to more customers,” Country Manager for Amazon Germany Rocco Bräuniger said in the statement.

AI-based project optimizes vessel performance forecasting: Maritime tech firm YaraMarine Technologies, AI application developers Molflow, Chalmers University of Technology and social science specialists from Halmstad University and Gothenburg University have completed a three-year project to create an “AI-based semi-autonomous voyage planning system” to enhance sea voyages’ energy efficiency, according to a press release. The project, which was funded by the Swedish Transport Administration Trafikverket, used existing tools such as Yara Marine's FuelOpt and Molflow's Slipstream vessel modeling system to digitize and automate vessel operations.

Its implications: The developed system was tested on two vessels and demonstrated improved energy efficiency based on estimated time of arrival (ETA), with one vessel choosing to continue using the system. After the project was completed, Swedish innovation agency Vinnova provided additional funding to further delve into “a selection of its findings.”

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  • Canadian railroad company Canadian Pacific Kansas City has inked an agreement with US railroad firmGenesee and Wyoming to establish a new direct interchange rail connection in Alabama that links the US Southeast with Mexico. (Press release)
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