Dede Sophie

The re-opening of cruise borders in Papua New Guinea welcomed the arrival of its first maiden cruise ship in Alotau, on Friday 7th October 2022, by the stunning Pacific Encounter. The cruise ship had a total of 2400 cruise tourists on board that arrived from Carins Australia, with Alotau being its first port of call in PNG waters. The cruise ship was escorted into the wharf area by traditional war canoes then followed by local sing-sing groups that danced and sang to the cruise tourists as they disembarked to go on their pre-booked tours or independent tours. The Milne Bay Tourism Bureau also had Volunteer Youth Ambassadors (VYA) on the ground ready and waiting to assist any tourist that needed a guide to tour the town. The official welcome ceremony was held at the wharf area to commemorate the cruise ship’s arrival. It was attended by the Captain Roger Bilton of Pacific Encounter and his crew who were received by PNG dignitaries; the Minister for Tourism Arts and Culture Hon.Henry Isi...

The BMW Group has revealed its iX5 Hydrogen pilot fleet that will go into service this year, writes Trish Whelan. After four years of development work, the iX5 Hydrogen vehicle and development project is entering its critical next phase. The fleet of under 100 vehicles will be employed internationally for demonstration and trial purposes for various target groups. The iX5 Hydrogen was developed on the basis of the current X5.  The BMW Group sources the individual fuel cells from the Toyota Motor Corporation. The two companies have enjoyed a partnership for many years and have been collaborating on fuel cell drive systems since 2013.  BMW say the car will have a range of 504km in the WLTP cycle. Filling up the hydrogen tanks only takes three to four minutes and that the car can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 6 secs.  The iX5 Hydrogen is being built in the BMW Group’s pilot plant at its Research and Innovation Centre in Munich.