The Sea War Museum Jutland made an amazing discovery while scanning the sea floor off Denmark. They have identified the wreckage of one of the most technologically advanced German submarines of World War II, the U-3523. The submarine was found with its bow … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Talk about unintended consequences. The Washington State Ferry system and the US Coast Guard have a problem with forgotten bicycles. Over the last 18 months, 12 bicycles have been left aboard ferries, including three bike-share bikes. This turns out to be … Continue reading
Next January and February, an expedition to Antarctica will search for Ernest Shackleton‘s doomed ship, Endurance, crushed by the ice in 1915. Finding the wreck of the ship is not the primary objective of the venture, however, which is to study … Continue reading
Fifty years ago today, the interisland ferryWahine capsized and sank in shallow water after running aground near the mouth of Wellington harbor in New Zealand. The ship had been caught in a storm caused by Tropical Cyclone Giselle. Wahine was a twin-screw, turbo-electric, roll-on/roll-off passenger and … Continue reading
Yesterday we posted about an out-of-control bulk carrier which, after losing its steering gear, destroyed a mansion on the banks of the Bosphorus. By my count, roughly half of the media reports described the ship as a tanker, because apparently, many … Continue reading
Saturday was a bad day on the Bosphorus. The Maltese-flagged 74,269 DWT bulk carrierVitaspirit suffered a steering gear failure while transiting Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. The ship was traveling south, approaching the Second Bosphorus Bridge, when it veered out of control. Fortunately, it missed … Continue reading
Yesterday, we posted about the upcoming Golden Globe 2018 Race in which traditional sailboats will race around the globe using only the technology available in the original race in 1968. The idea has a certain appeal but also definite limitations. There … Continue reading
Fifty years ago this year, nine sailors set off in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Only one, Robin Knox-Johnston sailing his 32-foot Bermudan ketch Suhaili, finished the race, becoming the first person ever to sail single-handed non-stop around the globe. This June, the race is … Continue reading
Six days ago, oil began spilling into Borneo’s Balikpapan Bay. The oil would spread to cover an area of nearly 13,000 hectares and pollute 60 km of coastal ecosystems, including mangrove wetlands and marine mammal habitats. At least one protected dugong … Continue reading
A new exhibit has recently opened at the Postal Museum in London — Voices from the Deep. The exhibit features undeliveredd letters retrieved from the wreck of the SS Gairsoppa, a British merchant ship which was sunk by a U-boat 300 miles southwest of Galway … Continue reading
A fleet of tall ships is sailing to Galveston Island, Texas which will host Tall Ships Galveston from April 5 – 8th to kick off the Tall Ships Challenge Gulf Coast 2018 tall ship race. Included in the fleet will be: Galveston’s … Continue reading
As if things were not complicated enough, it appears that North Korea is building a second and more capable ballistic missile submarine. In addition to developing inter-continental range ballistic missiles launched from land, North Korea has for several years been … Continue reading
The remarkable discovery of 29 ancient footprints just above what would have been the tide line on Calvert Island in British Columbia provides new evidence to support the idea that early humans first migrated to America by sea along what is termed … Continue reading
The Southern Ocean has been battering the rigs of the boats sailing in the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) as the fleet rounds Cape Horn. On Friday, Vestas 11th Hour Racing was dismasted. The Vestas boat lost its mast in 25 … Continue reading
A new study published in Nature suggests that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing “exponentially” and now spans roughly 617,763 square miles (1.6 million square km), or about three times the size of France. The garbage patch is an … Continue reading
Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag has put out a timeline of events in the recent loss of John Fisher overboard while sailing in high winds and seas in the Southern Ocean in the Volvo Ocean Race. They were sailing in Leg 7 … Continue reading
Shipbuilding is a capital intensive and highly competitive business. Remarkably, Jeffboat of Jeffersonville, Indiana, lasted for 184 years. Now, the longest continually operated inland shipyard in the U.S., is reported to be shutting down. Founded in 1834 on the banks of … Continue reading
British sailor, John Fisher, crew on the Volvo Ocean 65 Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, went overboard on Monday and is presumed lost. Fisher went missing while on watch approximately 1,400 miles west of Cape Horn, in high seas, with winds at 35 … Continue reading
On Sunday, the Pink Dolphin, a 223-ton high-speed ferry loaded with 158 passengers and five crew, ran up on rocks while operating in fog, near the port of Mokpo on the southwest coast of Korea, 400 km south of Seoul. The captain … Continue reading
Here is a time-lapse video of the U.S. Coast Guard’s 81-year-old Barque Eagle departing the floating drydock, the ex-USS Oak Ridge, on February 27, 2018, at the Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore, Maryland. The 295-foot Eagle went on dock in August … Continue reading