On August 10th, inventor Peter Madsen took Swedish journalist Kim Wall on a trip aboard his private submarine UC3 Nautilus in Copenhagen harbor as part of an interview. The submarine sank under mysterious circumstances. Madsen was rescued but Wall disappeared. Madsen initially … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Two Scottish brothers, eight-year-old, Ollie and five-year-old, Harry Ferguson, are too young to go to sea themselves, so instead, they sent their toy pirate sailing ship on a voyage from the fine old port of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire earlier this year. … Continue reading
One day, I really want to make it to Gloucester, MA for the yearly schooner festival held over the Labor Day weekend. Perhaps one year I will sail there in my own boat, which is definitely not a schooner. In … Continue reading
Here is a fascinating new approach to the design of a mast and sail. The developers at Next Technologies claim that their Inflated Wing Sail (IWS) is stable in every wind conditions and offers a smooth balanced new way of … Continue reading
The Pacific bluefin tuna is at risk of becoming commercially extinct. Overfishing has depleted stocks of the fish by an estimated 97%. Now the principle tuna-fishing nations have reached an agreement to gradually rebuild the depleted stocks, while still allowing Japan, … Continue reading
I recently learned that Meade Gougeon has died at aged 78 of melanoma. More than 45 years ago, I was a young student of naval architecture at the University of Michigan. I met Meade when he came to speak to … Continue reading
Lewis Bennett, 38, a British engineer, was recently arrested by the FBI on charges related to possession of stolen rare silver and gold coins. The story behind the arrest gets very strange, involving a Caribbean theft, a missing wife, and … Continue reading
The last of Corpus Christi’s Columbus replica ships has sunk. In 1992, the quincentenary of Columbus’ first voyage, replicas of his ships; the Niña, Pinta and the Santa Maria; arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas after sailing from Spain and touring the US … Continue reading
The boats and the circumstances are all different and yet each in its way is the same, from the “little ships” of Dunkirk, to the Manhattan Boat-Lift of 9/11, to the jon-boat navy of the Texas Gulf coast. When people … Continue reading
Two high tech guided missile destroyers charged with protecting the fleet from incoming missiles somehow failed to avoid collision with two slow-speed commercial vessels. Tragically, seventeen sailors died in the collisions. Some immediately blamed cyber-hacking, although a Navy investigation has turned … Continue reading
The arrogance is as impressive as the yachts themselves. Rather than paying for dockage, in recent years, billionaire Russian oligarchs have taken to anchoring their yachts in the public anchorage in front of the Statue of Liberty while in New … Continue reading
Remarkably, Scotland’s Mylne Yacht Design was founded by Alfred Mylne I in 1896 and has been in continuous operation for more than 120 years. Alfred Mylne designed over 400 yachts in his career. Here is a short video of classic … Continue reading
For those in and around New York harbor, the 25th Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition, sponsored by the Working Harbor Committee, is coming up on Sunday, September 3rd. The Parade of Tugs starts on the Hudson River at 10 … Continue reading
PortSide New York is a non-profit based in New York harbor on the historic tanker Mary A. Whalen. Their goal is to create a new kind of maritime destination in NYC, one that sets a new standard for how to … Continue reading
Following the recent collision of a tanker with the US Navy destroyer USS John S. McCain, in which 10 sailors are missing, the US Navy has dismissed Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin as commander of the 7th Fleet. There have been four significant casualties involving … Continue reading
The “Fat Leonard” Navy bribery and corruption scandal just keeps rolling on. In September of 2013, Navy investigators arrested a 350 pound Malaysian businessman, Leonard Glenn Francis, who was CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a contractor that provided port … Continue reading
Updated: Danish police have announced that DNA from a headless torso found washed up on an island near Copenhagen matches that of missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall. We recently posted about the strange saga of the UC3 Nautilus. The private submarine, … Continue reading
In the second major collision between a US Navy destroyer and a merchant ship in the last three months, the USS John S. McCain was damaged in a collision with a tanker near Singapore. Five sailors were injured and 10 are missing. … Continue reading
Paul Allen, billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, announced that wreckage from the USS Indianapolis was discovered on Aug. 18 by the expedition crew of Paul G. Allen’s Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel. The Indianapolis was found 5,500 meters below the surface, resting on the floor of … Continue reading
The Dutch three-masted topsail schooner Oosterschelde will be 100 years old next year, but she is still fast. She just finished first in the trans-Atlantic race from Halifax to Le Havre. After a voyage of 2,500 nautical miles (4,500 km) the ship … Continue reading