Numbers are fine but sometimes the best way to communicate scale is visually. The image above is what it would have looked like if the largest passenger liner of roughly 100 years ago, RMS Titanic, was followed closely by the … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Here on the west bank of the Hudson River, I spent most of the morning digging out from yesterday’s blizzard, which dumped around 30 inches of snow on us. So, it seems like a good time to think of sunshine … Continue reading
Anyone who may doubt that we live on a water planet or that what happens at sea has a huge impact for everyone, even those living far inland, need only look to this year’s El Niño . The US East … Continue reading
The sad saga of the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) continues. The USS Fort Worth, the third Freedom Class LCS delivered, was testing its engines at dockside in Singapore and seriously damaged the ship’s combining gear. The LCS have both diesel and … Continue reading
Only days after hearing good news about funding for the Pride of Baltimore II, there is very grim news about the organization which operates the Hudson River sloop Clearwater. The Clearwater organization announced that it is facing deep financial problems … Continue reading
When I hear “Volvo Round ….” I immediately fill in the blank with “the World.” (OK, technically, the race is named the Volvo Ocean Race, not the Volvo Round the Word Race.) I had never heard of the Volvo Round … Continue reading
Tremendous news for a great ship. On Monday, Maryland’s Governor Hogan announced a $1.5 million private-public partnership with the replica Baltimore clipper, Pride of Baltimore II. Under a new agreement, the state will commit the funds to Pride of Baltimore … Continue reading
When I was in high school in Florida in the 70s, the question was not “will the manatees become extinct?” but “how fast?” The manatees appeared to be doomed by a loss of habitat, pollution, slow birth rates and being … Continue reading
In 2009, Rich Wilson at 58 was the oldest sailor in the Vendee Globe non-stop single-handed round-the-world yacht race. He finished ninth of the thirty boats which began the race. Wilson was the only American in the eleven finished. The Vendee … Continue reading
The CBS news program “60 Minutes” recently did a report on the sinking of El Faro. Overall, they did a reasonably good job for a mainstream media report on shipping. There were a few minor glitches but overall, not a … Continue reading
A long time ago, on an island far, far away…. In the final scene of the new movie, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the young heroes finally track down Luke Skywalker, the Jedi master who has gone into hiding. They … Continue reading
More than 80,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles) of the seafloor in the Indian Ocean west of Australia have been searched, looking for where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is believed to have crashed with 239 people aboard in March 2014. So far, … Continue reading
Yesterday, two US Navy Riverine Command Boats (RCBs) with a combined crew of ten sailors were apprehended by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats. One or both of the RCBs had suffered a mechanical failure and had drifted into Iranian waters. The Iranians released … Continue reading
Atlantic Container Lines’ (ACL) Atlantic Star, the newest and world’s largest Container/Roll-on Roll-off ship, has arrived on the North American East Coast, calling at Halifax and on Saturday, in New York. Notwithstanding its name, the ships of Atlantic Container Lines … Continue reading
Even for the professional sailors on the Volvo Ocean Race, not everything always goes well. A video for a Monday morning. Boom! | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 … Continue reading