On July 2, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that a fire had broken out on a research submarine killing 14 sailors while the ship was operating in Russia’s territorial waters in the Barents Sea. Russian authorities declined to further identify the … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Japan has withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission, and the Japanese whaling fleet has abandoned their so-called “research whaling” to resume commercial whaling for the first time in 31 years. That is the bad news. There is another way to … Continue reading
The emergency appeal from the Jubilee Sailing Trust dated June 28th, could not be more dire. Our objective is to urgently raise £1m (one million pounds) of unrestricted funds by Friday July 5th 2019 … If we are unable to reach this target, then it … Continue reading
After completing his 10th circumnavigation of the globe under sail in December of 2017 at the age of 77, legendary West Australian sailor Jon Sanders said that he was done. He said that the 10th trip around would be his … Continue reading
Last November, the Norwegian navy frigate, KNM Helge Ingstad, was returning from NATO exercises when it mistook the Maltese flag, Aframax tanker, Sola TS, for an object onshore in the Hjeltefjord near Bergen, Norway. The subsequent collision did minor damage to the … Continue reading
Maiden, a new documentary by Alex Holmes, which opens today, tells the story of the first all-female team to race against all odds in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989-1990. Tracy Edwards, an experienced British sailor in her … Continue reading
Anyone who thinks that a Southern border wall will stop cocaine trafficking into this country has not been paying at attention to the news. Cocaine seizures from container ships have been setting records in ports along the East Coast for … Continue reading
Carnival Corporation is the world’s largest cruise line, operating over 100 ships across nine brands. Back in 1972, however, it owned only one ship, the TSS Mardi Gras, of 27,000 GRT and carrying roughly 1,000 passengers. Now, Carnival is building … Continue reading
On Friday afternoon, I headed over to North Cove in Lower Manhattan to watch the New York races of Sail GP. Sail GP is a global racing circuit of cutting edge one-design 15-meter-long foiling catamarans. The boats themselves are repurposed … Continue reading
The sailing auxiliary cargo ship Kwai arrived in Hawaii recently. The ship usually sails a regular route carrying cargo and passengers between Hawaii and the islands of Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tabuaeran (Fanning) and Teraina, (Washington Island) as well as the … Continue reading
I have been looking for a rigid dinghy for my sailboat. I have an inflatable but I like to row and inflatable dinghies just don’t row well, or sometimes at all. One of the dinghies that has caught my eye … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful short video by Ryan Smith featuring some really breathtaking drone footage of the rebuilding and rerigging of the Tall Ship Providence. The 1976 built replica of the Continental Navy sloop of the same name, was blown … Continue reading
On June 8th, the restored 1883 built pilot schooner No.5 Elbe sank following a collision with the container ship Astrosprinter. Salvors have now refloated the historic schooner using airbags and pumps and will now assess the extent of the damage. … Continue reading
On Monday, 15.5 tonnes of cocaine worth roughly $1 billion was seized by Federal authorities aboard the MSC Gayane in the Port of Philadelphia. The drugs were found in seven shipping containers. It was one of the largest drug seizures … Continue reading
Today is Juneteeth, a commemoration of the abolition of slavery in the state of Texas, in particular, and in the Confederate states in general, one hundred and fifty-four years ago today. Although the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the … Continue reading