A three-year project to research Wind-Assisted Sail Propulsion (WASP) has been launched in Europe supported by €5.4Mn (about $6 million) in funding provided by the Interreg North Sea Europe program, part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
A year ago we posted about the testing of two modern Rotor Sails installed on the MV Maersk Pelican, a 110,000 DWT Long Range 2 product tanker. The 30-meter tall and 5-meter diameter rotors were predicted to reduce fuel consumption … Continue reading
Suspected Niger River Delta pirates operating in the Gulf of Guinea have kidnapped 13 sailors from two ships in the last several days. The first abductions took place early Saturday morning at the port of Cotonou in Benin. Pirates kidnapped … Continue reading
For just over a century, an 80-foot long iron sand-dumping scow has been stuck on a rock in the raging currents of the Niagara River just upriver from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. After a powerful storm blew through … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful video from the 1950s focusing on the Port of New York, which the narrator proclaims is the “Best Port in the World.” It is wonderful to watch the old style cargo handling — hoisting bags, boxes, … Continue reading
The RV Petrel continues its amazing streak of underwater discoveries. Now, it has located the wreckage of what is believed to be the USS Johnston at a depth of 20,400 ft in the Philippine Sea. The wreck is believed to … Continue reading
Hurtigruten, a Norwegian ferry and expedition cruise operator, has put into service, MS Roald Amundsen, the world’s first hybrid electric-powered expedition cruise ship. The 530-passenger ship has twin battery banks that operate in conjunction with the ship’s four diesel generators … Continue reading
The so-called Ohio River ghost ship does not seem to be really haunted, except perhaps by a long and illustrious past. A vessel of many names, she has been known as Celt, Sachem, USS Phenakite, Sightseer, and Circle Line V. … Continue reading
I recently came back from a voyage on a small ship along the west coast of Iceland. One of the highlights of the trip were stops in ports in the Westfjords, an isolated peninsula in the northwest of the island. … Continue reading
Why is it that virtually any ship with square sails and masts is referred to by the media as a “pirate ship?” Yesterday, a replica of the Nao Santa Maria, the ship that carried Columbus across the Atlantic on his … Continue reading
We recently posted about the proposed testing of an amphibious electric flying car on the Hudson River, which may or may not be a good idea. On the other side of the Atlantic on the River Seine, tests are ongoing … Continue reading
One hundred and forty-two years ago today on October 27th, 1877, the three-masted iron-hulled merchant sailing ship Elissa was launched in Aberdeen, Scotland. She is now a museum ship at the Texas Seaport Museum. In honor of her birthday, here … Continue reading
Climate change deniers can choose to ignore the overwhelming scientific consensus of man-made climate change all they want. How long they will continue to deny the evidence before their own eyes? Two immediate examples — Fox Island and the US … Continue reading
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought seventy-five 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
Back in January, Richard V. Spencer, Secretary of the Navy, made a promise to President Trump that the advanced weapons elevators on the new carrier USS Gerald R. Ford would be operational by the end of the summer or the … Continue reading