On Saturday, the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, set sail from Miami on its maiden voyage. The nearly 1,200-foot-long and 250,800 gross-ton behemoth can accommodate close to 8,000 passengers across 20 decks. The ship is … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, an updated repost, remembering the tragic voyage of the German passenger liner St. Louis in 1939. The ship carried 908 Jewish refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany. The ship and its passengers departed from Hamburg but were … Continue reading
Congratulations to Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Director Peter Christopher, on being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to Maritime History. Peter Christopher convened the first meeting of Adelaide volunteers to save the City of … Continue reading
Reports suggest that Iran is close to commissioning a drone carrier Shahid Bagheri, based on a converted container ship, previously named Sarvin. The converted ship features a 170 m runway, capable of accommodating the take-off and landing of a large … Continue reading
Last Saturday, January 20, a series of massive storm-driven waves struck the island of Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands causing considerable flooding and damage to the US Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll (USAG–KA). A video circulating on social media showed … Continue reading
Encouraging news! Following a devastating record year of manatee deaths in 2021, a record number of manatees was counted at Central Florida’s Blue Spring State Park on Sunday. Staff there counted 932 on Sunday, which is nearly 200 more than … Continue reading
In 1986, a massive iceberg, more than three times larger than New York City, calved off West Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf and immediately grounded on the floor of the Weddell Sea, where it remained stuck for almost four decades. In … Continue reading
UK Royal Navy minehunter HMS Chiddingfold collided with HMS Bangor while maneuvering in Bahrain harbor on January 18th. No one was reported to be injured but Bangor was seriously damaged, with a large hole ripped in its fiberglass hull. Both ships … Continue reading
A new analysis has concluded that a large, grassy hill in Norway known as the Herlaugshagen burial mound was likely the site of a pre-Viking ship burial. What is fascinating is that the site was excavated three times during the … Continue reading
The US Navy announced in a statement that on January 12, 2024, Commander, Submarine Group Ten, Rear Adm. Thomas “T.R.” Buchanan, relieved Capt. Geoffry Patterson as commanding officer of USS Georgia (SSGN 729) Blue Crew due to loss of confidence … Continue reading
Houthi anti-ship missiles struck two more commercial ships in the Red Sea off Yemen in the last two days. There were no reports of injuries on either ship. On Tuesday, the Greek-owned 57,000 DWT bulk carrier MT Zografia with 24 … Continue reading
An updated repost — a look back at the twin miracles on the Hudson from fifteen years ago today. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 lost all engine power after striking a flock of birds shortly after takeoff … Continue reading
Stars and Stripes reports that the US Navy is still searching for two SEALs missing in the Gulf of Aden more than two days after conducting nighttime operations off the coast of Somalia. The incident happened Thursday as the SEALs … Continue reading
Maersk Lines has announced that it will be routing containers on its Oceania-to-the Americas “OC1” service around the backlogged, drought-stricken Panama Canal. The line will be transporting cargo via the “land bridge” across the isthmus by the Panama Canal Railway … Continue reading
On January 5th, Stephen Davies was out on his daily run at New Brighton Beach near Liverpool, UK when he came across what appeared to be the carcass of a sea monster that had washed ashore. He said: “I was … Continue reading
The New York Times reports that Iran’s Navy confirmed it had seized St. Nikolas, a Suezmax tanker loaded with crude oil, off the coast of Oman on Thursday, apparently in retaliation for the United States confiscating oil from the same ship … Continue reading
Reuters reports that US and British naval forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday towards the southern Red Sea, with Britain hinting at further measures to protect international shipping lanes. Eighteen drones, two cruise missiles … Continue reading
Toward the end of December, the US Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was drained of fuel, after chronic fuel oil leaks into Oahu’s sole drinking-water aquifer from the World War II era underground tanks. … Continue reading
USNI News reports that Indian Navy commandos secured the hijacked Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MV Lila Norfolk last week after a 24-hour confrontation off the Somali Coast in the Arabian Sea. Five to six armed hijackers boarded Lila Norfolk on Thursday, which was sailing 450 … Continue reading
This year, the US and Royal navies have fallen short of meeting their recruiting goals, leaving both navies with more ships’ billets than they have personnel to fill them. In 2023, the US Navy missed its goal of recruiting 37,700 … Continue reading