Happy Thanksgiving to those on this side of the pond and below the 49th parallel. (The Canadians celebrated the holiday in October.) What do whaling ships, a child’s nursery rhyme, a female magazine editor, and Abraham Lincoln have to do … Continue reading
After the Egyptian liveaboard dive boat, Sea Story, capsized and sank in heavy weather in the Red Sea early Monday morning, 28 of the 44 passengers and crew were rescued. On Tuesday, divers rescued five additional survivors trapped in air … Continue reading
Good news for change. On Sunday, a pod of more than 30 pilot whales became stranded on Ruakākā Beach near Whangārei in northern New Zealand. Hundreds of residents joined forces with conservationists to save the pod. The rescue effort was … Continue reading
The Sea Story, a 44m Egyptian tourist liveaboard dive boat, sank in the Red Sea early this morning. Of the 44 aboard, including 13 crew, 28 were rescued while 16 remain missing. The crew was all Egyptian, while the tourists … Continue reading
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) operates approximately 125 replenishment and military transport ships to support the US Navy. Currently, MSC has more ships than it has civilian mariners to sustainably operate them. MSC’s commander confirmed Thursday that the command will … Continue reading
The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is facing an existential threat due to rising sea levels, caused by climate change. According to NASA, the sea level in Tuvalu has risen nearly 6 inches in the past 30 years and is expected … Continue reading
We posted yesterday about a telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Germany that was severed Monday morning, and a 218km internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island that stopped working on Sunday. Chinese Bulk Carrier Detained … Continue reading
Early Monday morning, a 1,170km (730-mile) telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Germany was severed, while a 218km internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island stopped working on Sunday. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said … Continue reading
An interesting story from the Guardian. When the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912, approximately 1,500 died. The RMS Carpathia, under the command of Captain Arthur Rostron, rescued 706 passengers and crew from the Titanic‘s lifeboats. A … Continue reading
In November 1878, the wooden schooner James R. Bentley set sail from Chicago bound for Buffalo loaded with a large shipment of rye. It encountered heavy seas and gale-force winds during the voyage, struck a shoal, and sank near 40 … Continue reading
On the chart, it was marked as a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean near the Solomon Islands, but when scientists and filmmakers from the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas took a closer look, they were shocked to find the world’s … Continue reading
Last Saturday morning at Pier 88 on the Hudson River, the US Navy commissioned its newest destroyer, USS John Basilone. With the New York City skyline as a backdrop, the ceremony took place between the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid and the … Continue reading
In the US, today is Veteran’s Day, when we honor those who have served in the military. It coincides with Armistice Day, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice which ended World War I, on the 11th hour of … Continue reading
In 1964, pop-artist Andy Warhol shocked the art world by making hundreds of replicas of supermarket cartons and presenting them as art. He painted screenprints of soup cans, then sculptures of packaging for Kellogg’s cornflakes and Heinz ketchup. Among the … Continue reading
The decades-long “Fat Leonard” bribery and corruption scandal may finally have come to an end. This week, Malaysian ship-supply contractor, Leonard Glenn Francis, 60, known as “Fat Leonard” was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribing US Navy officials … Continue reading
A sad account that reinforces an old lesson, while also highlighting an unexpected risk of social media. Vice reports that two Brazilian Instagram “influencers” drowned in a boating accident off the coast of São Paulo after opting not to wear … Continue reading
The first American naval ship lost in World War II was not sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Over a month before, on October 31, 1941, the destroyer USS Reuben James, escorting a convoy bound … Continue reading
In August of last year, we bade a sad farewell to the Floating Instrument Platform, known as FLIP, which after 61 years of service, had been retired and was scheduled to be sent to a scrapyard. Fortunately, our reporting was … Continue reading
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought eighty years ago this week between the US and Australian navies and the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some standards the largest naval … Continue reading
After being closed for five years for renovations, the Xiaomeisha Sea World aquarium in Shenzhen, China reopened its doors on October 1. During its week-long trial run, the 60,000 sqm sea park attracted around 100,000 visitors who each paid around … Continue reading