According to the Russian magazine Vlast, “Russia [was] … on the verge of the largest man-made disaster since Chernobyl” when a fire broke out on December 29th, 2011 on the K-84 Ekaterinburg, a Russian nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, in a dry-dock in Murmansk. Sparks … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Happy Valentines Day to all. In honor of the day, here is a video by Tying It All Together showing how to tie a Celtic Heart Knot. How to Tie the Celtic Heart Knot by TIAT (A Knotty Valentine) [iframe: width=”560″ … Continue reading
Many years ago, I was in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on a container ship having major steel work done in the CSBS drydock. In those days, there was a scrap yard within sight of the drydock and for the week or so that … Continue reading
The Falklands War, or the Guerra de las Malvinas, depending on which side you choose, began on April 2, 1982. As the thirtieth anniversary of the war approaches, a war of worlds between the ex-combatants, the UK and Argentina, has escalated. Eggs and … Continue reading
Costa Lines has asked ten companies to bid on salvaging the Costa Concordia. The bids are due early next month and Costa has plans to award a contract by the end of March. Smit Salvage, Svitzer Salvage, Mammoet Salvage, Titan … Continue reading
Earlier this week, we posted that a circuit court had upheld previous rulings against Odyssey Marine Exploration, requiring the company to return to Spain $500m (£308m) worth of gold and silver coins it had recovered from the wreck of the Nuestra Señora de las … Continue reading
Pity the river boatman. Just a few months ago, a European drought lowered the water levels on many rivers and canals, significantly limiting barge and ship traffic. The lower river levels also unexpectedly exposed un-exploded ordinance from World War II. In … Continue reading
The Lettie G. Howard is in trouble. The wooden Fredonia schooner was built in Essex, Massachusetts in 1893. She was acquired by the South Street Seaport Museum in 1968 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. She was recently drydocked … Continue reading
The Navy newest Littoral Combat Ship will be named the USS Gabrielle Giffords in honor of the former Arizona Congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt one year ago. The USS Gabrielle Giffords will be the 17th ship to be named … Continue reading
It is easy to forget how many ships and boats are indeed operated by the United States Army. Earlier this week the 80 feet long vessel, Enin Meto, with 101 people aboard, was bound from Lib to Ebeye, two island … Continue reading
What is the oldest living thing on the planet? My first guess would have been the giant sequoia, which can grow to be several hundred feet tall and live to be several thousand years old. It turns out that the … Continue reading
At around 2AM local time Wednesday, the container ship Horizon Reliance rescued three Canadians, two men and a 9 year old boy, from the 33 foot disabled sailboat, Liahona, about 411 nautical miles east of Honolulu, Hawaii. The winds were gusting over 40 knots … Continue reading
I saw it on the Internet so it must be true! The Lagarfljóts Worm has gone viral. A video of what appears to be a large serpent-like creature swimming in the the glacial river, Jökulsá í Fljótsdal, in east Iceland, has been … Continue reading
The Battle of Cape Santa Maria was one of the most controversial naval engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The attack on a Spanish treasure fleet on October 5, 1804 by a British squadron, without a declaration of war, was considered to be an act of piracy … Continue reading
If a single fact can explain why an armada of high tech naval ships from around the world has failed to control, much less to eradicate, gangs of Somali pirates operating from hijacked fishing trawlers and open boats, this is … Continue reading
The first documented European to land on Australia was the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon aboard the Duyfken in March 1606. Duyfken was also one of the first Dutch ships to got directly to the East Indies to load spices. The Dutch would long … Continue reading
Pity the poor taxpayer. The headline was short and simple – U.S. Navy Buys Hawaii Superferries. For only $35 million dollars, the US Navy is buying two aluminum, high-speed, ro/ro ferries built for Hawaii Superferry for inter-island service in Hawaii. The ferries were … Continue reading
It is easy to focus of the plight of the 34 dead or missing from the Costa Concordia. Regrettably, these casualties have not been the only recent deaths on the water. The past week has been particularly brutal with ship and boat sinkings in … Continue reading
We recently posted about a press release by Sub Sea Research (SSR) claiming to have located the wreck of a British cargo ship sunk in June 1942 by the German submarine U87. Sub Sea Research claims that the ship was carrying 70 tons of platinum … Continue reading
The photos look Photoshopped. A man wearing a dark suit stands on the exposed articulated keel of the Open 60 racing sail boat, Hugo Boss, as she sails along heeled over on her starboard gunnel. The photo and several similar showed up in ads for Hugo Boss … Continue reading