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The Waveswing device is now ready for testing.

A project centered around the development of a subsea wave energy converter has taken another step forward after its two major constituent parts were joined together at a facility in Scotland.

According to a statement from AWS Ocean Energy on Wednesday, the assembly, which it described as “a critical milestone”, took place last week. A “final hook-up” of internal systems is now taking place and commissioning and dry testing of the 16 kilowatt device, known as the Archimedes Waveswing, is expected to happen in early July.

The plan is to deploy and test the tech at the European Marine Energy Center in Orkney, an archipelago located north of mainland Scotland, later this year. The site for this testing will be in the sheltered waters of Scapa Flow.

The Waveswing — which has been described as a “submerged wave power buoy” — weighs 50 metric tons, has a diameter of 4-meters and stands 7-meters tall. The device, AWS Ocean Energy says, “reacts to changes in sub-sea water pressure caused by passing waves and converts the resulting motion to electricity via a direct-drive generator.”

Funding for the £3.4 million ($4.73 million) project has come from Wave Energy Scotland, which is itself funded by the Scottish government.

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The progress update on AWS Ocean Energy’s device comes in the same month that another firm, Mocean Energy, said its Blue X wave machine — which is 20-meters long and weighs 38 metric tons — had started testing. Mocean Energy’s testing is also taking place at EMEC’s Scapa Flow site.

In a statement issued on June 14, Cameron McNatt, the firm’s managing director, said: “In the Scapa testing phase, we will test power production, comparing results against our numerical predictions, and we will test operations including towing, installation, removal, and access at sea.”

“The device is standalone and operated wirelessly,” he added. “A 4G connection allows us to send commands and download data from shore.”

Since its inception in 2003, EMEC has become a hub for the development of wave and tidal power, helping to put the U.K. at the heart of the planet’s emerging marine energy sector.

A wide range of companies have undertaken testing at the site over the years. These include Scotland’s Orbital Marine Power, which is working on what it describes as the world’s most powerful tidal turbine, and Spain-based tidal power firm Magallanes Renovables. 

There may be excitement in some quarters regarding the potential of marine energy, but its current footprint is tiny compared to other renewable technologies such as solar and wind. 

Recent figures from Ocean Energy Europe show that only 260 kW of tidal stream capacity was added in Europe last year, while just 200 kW of wave energy was installed.

In comparison, 2020 saw 14.7 gigawatts of wind energy capacity installed in Europe, according to industry body WindEurope.

Outgoing Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito told CNBC on Friday that people have been eager to return to pre-pandemic drinking routines as coronavirus vaccinations picked up across the U.S. and bars and restaurants faced fewer restrictions.

“Once vaccines were being rolled out, we saw some states ahead of others and we saw how consumers were reacting to this new normal,” Brito told “Squawk Box.”  “And we saw that a lot of the new normal was just like the old normal in that people were dying to go back to old habits.”

Brito — who steps down July 1 after 15 years leading the world’s largest beer brewer — said AB InBev adjusted its supply chain to produce a more “normal balance” of bottles and draft beer, anticipating that home consumption would take a less prominent role.

The home had became the “hub” for living, entertainment and working all at once during the pandemic, Brito noted, commending the company for how it responded to that change.

“Our guys in supply chain, sales had to be very agile, very flexible,” Brito said. “There was a big shift in dislocation among channels, packaging, brands because consumers couldn’t buy in pubs and restaurants so they had to resort to grocery stores, and they found their way to loved products.”

AB InBev shares are now up about 50% in the past 12 months and more than 7% year to date.

The Bud Light brewer also has seen the emergence of what Brito dubbed a “fourth category” of drinks that covers the intersection of wine, beer and cocktail beverages. Ready-to-drink cocktails is the fastest-growing alcohol category, with beverage companies and industry experts predicting further growth.

“It’s an amazing category. It’s growing. It goes to specific consumer needs of lower calories, lower carbs, gluten free, in many instances, more co-ed,” Brito said. “It’s something that’s great for us because it’s very profitable.”

Beer consumption has been declining in recent years as consumers either opt for substitutes such as hard seltzer and canned cocktails or choose to drink less or not at all. AB InBev has added new products, such as Bud Light Seltzer, to adapt to changing tastes.

Michel Doukeris, who serves as the head of the company’s North American business, will take the reins from Brito. During Brito’s leadership, he led the acquisitions of Anheuser-Busch and SABMiller, which revolutionized the company’s global scale and cut costs along the way.

Two guests on board Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Adventure of the Seas ship tested positive for Covid-19 in routine tests and are now returning home, the company said on Thursday.

This comes after two guests tested positive on Royal Caribbean’s Celebrity Millennium cruise and the company’s Odyssey of the Seas was delayed from sailing after eight crew members tested positive.

Both guests were unvaccinated and under 16 years old. One guest is asymptomatic and the other has mild symptoms.

Other guests traveling with the two minors and guests who have come into close contact with them have all been vaccinated and tested negative, according to the company.

The guests and fellow travelers disembarked in the Bahamas and are on their way home to Florida.

According to Royal Caribbean, 92% of guests on the Adventures of the Seas ship are fully vaccinated, and the remaining 8% of guests are under 16 years of age. All crew members are fully vaccinated.

The CDC allowed cruises to return this year with strict safety protocols and requirements to prevent outbreaks from occurring on board after multiple outbreaks on board ships last year.

The cruise industry is among the last to return to pre-pandemic surgery due to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s strict guidelines.

Cruise ship stocks have fallen again after taking a major blow during the pandemic.

Royal Caribbean Cruises line stocks are up more than 16% this year, hitting a market cap of just over $ 22 billion.

Sir Richard Branson (left) and CEO Michael Colglazier celebrate the company’s third space test on May 22, 2021.

Virgo galactic

Jeff Bezos plans to venture to the edge of space on July 20th, but his billionaire colleague Sir Richard Branson could still try to fly Virgin Galactic first.

Virgin Galactic’s leadership previously announced that the company would conduct three more space flights to complete development tests of the VSS Unity spacecraft. The company is working to start flying paying passengers in early 2022 after completing a successful mission with just two pilots last month

Under this plan, the first of the next three flights would carry four passengers to test the spacecraft’s cabin, the second would fly with Branson, and the third would fly members of the Italian Air Force for professional astronaut training.

But a report earlier this month from a blogger based in Mojave, Calif. – where Virgin Galactic makes its vehicles – said the company is considering reorganizing its flight schedule to take Branson off next instead of the second. The report came shortly after Bezos announced that he would be flying on Blue Origin’s first passenger space flight, which was scheduled to take off on July 20 – suggesting that Branson might still try to beat Bezos by hitting on the weekend of April 4 July personally flies into space.

Jeff Bezos is heading to where the New Shepard capsule landed in the Texas desert after a test flight in April 2021.

Blue origin

Virgin Galactic has neither confirmed nor denied that it is considering reorganizing its space plan, CEO Michael Colglazier emphasized in an interview with CNBC.

“I know there is a lot of interest and speculation, but we haven’t announced the date or the people who will be there,” said Colglazier. “We have three more flights in our flight test program and we are on this path and will continue on this path.”

Branson’s Virgin Galactic, founded in 2004, and Bezos’ Blue Origin, founded in 2000, compete to take passengers to the edge of space on short flights, a sector known as suborbital tourism. The company’s space probes reach an altitude of around 80 to 100 kilometers (or around 260,000 to 330,000 feet) and spend a few minutes in weightlessness.

Virgin Galactic’s shares rose more than 30% in trading Friday after it was announced that the FAA had granted the company the license it needs to fly passengers on future space flights.

“The flight test program is now shifting from … some of the technical aspects – which we have continued to prove for ourselves and for the FAA – and are now shifting to the cabin experience,” said Colglazier. “The first of these [next three spaceflights] we said we would have four mission specialists, the second also, and then one, followed by the Italian astronauts. “

Changing sides

Virgin Galactic’s Unity spacecraft prepares for flight.

Virgo galactic

Colglazier emphasized that “the May 22 flight was very successful for us” and with the FAA approval now in place, Virgin Galactic is “turning to see when we will be ready for our next space flight”.

While Virgin Galactic is hoping to fly multiple starships each week, the company’s VSS Unity spacecraft is currently the only one in its fleet, making turnaround time a key factor if Branson plans to launch before July 20th.

When Virgin Galactic made its first and second spaceflights more than two years ago, it took the company 71 days to turn the spacecraft around between launches.

In order to be able to start the next space flight by the 4th of July weekend, the spaceship has to be prepared in just 43 days. But a turnaround time of 71 days would mean Virgin Galactic’s next space flight departs on August 1st, a few weeks after Bezos plans the flight.

However, Virgin Galactic used to launch rocket-powered test flights faster. When the company began testing in 2018, it launched VSS Unity on three rocket-powered flights at increasingly higher altitudes as it got closer to space. On these three rocket-powered flights – launched on April 5, May 29 and July 26, 2018 – VSS turned Unity around in 54 and 58 days, respectively.

Launching before July 20 would require Virgin Galactic to prepare VSS Unity in 58 days or less – essentially faster than ever.

At the moment, Colglazier said Virgin Galactic was “just not at one point” to discuss when the next spaceflight would be possible.

“We are very methodical about this, with safety first, and when we have checked all of those boxes and taken all steps, then we can go ahead and make that known,” said Colglazier.

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