This year’s nominee from Iceland for best foreign film in the Academy Awards is The Deep (Djúpið) directed by Baltasar Kormákur. The movie is based on a true story. In 1984, a fishing boat sank off the south coast of Iceland. Four of the … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
For almost a month, the small cruise ship MV Lyubov Orlova has been adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, a “ghost ship” without power, lights or passengers, except for the rats left aboard. The 295′ ice strengthened cruise ship, built in Yugoslavia in 1976, has been abandoned twice – once … Continue reading
The US Coast Guard has wrapped up eight days of hearings on the sinking of the replica of the HMS Bounty on October 29th of last year. Two died in the sinking, crew member Claudine Christian and Captain Robin Waldridge … Continue reading
A wonderful video of the Swedish ship Götheborg sailing in the Roaring Forties. The ship is a replica of the Swedish East Indiaman of the same name which sank in 1747. The ship is described as the world’s largest operational … Continue reading
Trevor Grill was a self employed builder from Port Isaac on Cornwall’s rugged north coast, who enjoyed getting together with friends to sing sea shanties and folk songs. The group came to call themselves the Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends and they performed at … Continue reading
A huge group of an estimated 10,000 dolphins was sighted off the coast of San Diego last week. Captain Joe Dutra, of Hornblower Cruises, called the gathering of adult and juvenile common dolphins a “super mega-pod.” Dolphins typically travel in pods … Continue reading
In an announcement that raises as many questions as it answers, U.S. Coast Guard marine casualty investigation team leader, Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Hatfield, said in a conference call with reporters that the fuel oil return line in the No. 6 … Continue reading
Here is a time-lapse video of the assembly of an ice sculpture of a tall-ship being at Pickering Wharf in Salem, MA last Saturday as part of the 11th annual Salem So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Sculpture Festival. Sadly, the … Continue reading
Jeanne Socrates, a 70 year old British grandmother, has rounded the Cape of Good Hope on her sailboat, Nereida, in her attempt to become the oldest non-stop solo circumnavigator. She left Victoria, British Columbia in October and successfully rounded Cape Horn in January. … Continue reading
A large round hole in the ice of Lake Chebarkul, 80 kilometers west of the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals, may have been made by a fragment of the meteor which exploded in a massive fireball above the region … Continue reading
On Monday, April 8 at 8:00 PM at the New York Academy of Medicine, Rosanne Cash is singing at a benefit concert to help save the schooner Lettie G. Howard. Rosanne Cash is a gifted, Grammy award winning singer/songwriter and … Continue reading
UPDATE: The Soldini Maserati team set a new New York to San Francisco sailing record of 47 days, 2 hours and 33 minutes, breaking the previous record by ten days. Sometime Saturday, the Soldini team sailing the 70′ Maserati is expected … Continue reading
In October 2009, we posted “Rich Men’s Toys – Battleships, Helipads & Submarines,” about several mega-yachts, including the world’s largest, Roman Abramovich’s 557 feet (170 meters) M/Y Eclipse. The yacht arrived in New York harbor this week and is now tied up … Continue reading
Today is third day of hearings by the US Coast Guard on the sinking of the HMS Bounty on October 29, 2012, with loss of crew member Claudene Christian and Captain Robin Walbridge. The hearings will continue in Portsmouth VA through … Continue reading
There is virtually no place on earth beyond its reach. No, not the US Navy. Starbucks. The coffee seller is now even opening a store on a navy warship, the amphibious assault ship, USS Boxer. The “Starboxer” is the first … Continue reading
There is a fire in one of two engine rooms on a cruise ship. The fire is extinguished but the damage has been done. The cruise ship blacks out – losing power and most electricity. The ship is adrift in the ocean. There is so hot … Continue reading
Conditions aboard the Carnival Triumph are reported to be growing increasingly grim. Since the ship was disabled by an engine room fire on Sunday off the coast of Mexico with over 4,000 passengers and crew aboard, there has no hot food, … Continue reading
Congratulations to Matt Rutherford who was recently awarded the Ocean Cruising Club’s Jester Medal, for an outstanding contribution to the art of single-handed sailing. In April of last year, Matt completed a record breaking 309 day, more than 27,000 mile, … Continue reading
An engine room fire has knocked out the propulsion and the primary electrical system on the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula. Emergency generators are providing limited power to the passenger areas. The ship … Continue reading
Five crew members on the cruise ship Thomson Majesty are reported to have died and three others were injured after a lifeboat fell 65 feet into the water during a safety drill at the port of Santa Cruz in La Palma, in Spain’s … Continue reading