MSNBC is quoting Adam Smallman, editor of Lloyd’s List, as saying that the Costa Concordia took close to the same route in August, based on satellite tracking, as it took when it ran aground last Friday night. He also is … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
As the tragedy of the Costa Concordia plays out, newspapers still need to sell ads. Recently some of the juxtapositions have been, well, unfortunate. (Click on any of the thumbnails below for a larger image.) Italy’s Il Gazzettino featured a … Continue reading
HMB Endeavour is embarking on a special cruise to observe the transit of Venus – a very rare astronomical event when the planet Venus moves across the sun on June 6th 2012. The next transit of Venus will take place on … Continue reading
Divers searching the wreck of the Costa Concordia have found five more bodies in the submerged section of the ship. All were wearing life jackets and are believed to be passengers. The number of missing, which had been as low … Continue reading
There is a wonderful article in today’s New York Times about Jon Turk and Erik Boomer, who recently became the first to circumnavigate Canada’s Ellesmere Island, roughly 1,000 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Jon Turk, 65, is an author, scientist and … Continue reading
The Costa Concordia “Saluting” Giglio Last August In a recent press conference, Costa Crociere chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi blamed the grounding of the Costa Concordia on an “inexplicable” error by the captain. Mr Foschi said: “This route was put in … Continue reading
Alan Olson, a Sausalito boat builder and founder of the educational sailing nonprofit Call of the Sea, has some ambitious plans. He wants to build a new 140-foot wood long brigantine to be used as a sail training ship for … Continue reading
One of the more alarming aspects of the sinking of the Costa Concordia was the dramatic roll that the ship took after the grounding. She is now sitting with a list of roughly 80 degrees with almost half of the ship … Continue reading
On Sunday, the 6535 dwt South Korean tanker, Doola No. 3, exploded in the Yellow Sea near the port of Incheon. Of the crew of 16, 5 are confirmed dead while 6 are missing. The explosion ripped the tanker in half. The … Continue reading
The United States has something like eleven aircraft carriers, fifty nine destroyers, thirty frigates, seventy nine submarines, thirty amphibious assault ships as well as numerous minesweepers patrol craft and supply ships. The navy’s battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. Quite a … Continue reading
The Italian Coast Guard announced that the bodies of two elderly people were found in a flooded restaurant and the body of one passenger was located in a passageway on the Costa Concordia, raising the confirmed deaths from the grounding and sinking of the ship to six. … Continue reading
The question being asked by almost everyone is “how could this have happened to a modern cruise ship?” The Costa Concordia was a modern ship, operating in well charted waters, in good weather and calm seas. Obviously, despite a wide range … Continue reading
A Korean couple on their honeymoon, who had been trapped below decks on the cruise ship Costa Concordia for over 24 hours after the ship ran aground and sank in shallow water near the island of Giglio, off Italy’s Tuscan coast, were rescued yesterday. A third … Continue reading
Just two hours after leaving port in Civitavecchia, the cruise ship Costa Concordia hit a reef near the island of Giglio, off Italy’s Tuscan coast, reportedly ripping a 165-foot gash in its hull. The ship began flooding and rolled on its … Continue reading
The Confederate Navy submarine H.L. Hunley was unveiled yesterday for the first time since it was recovered from the ocean floor near Charleston more than a decade ago. The vessel, a 42 feet long iron cylinder, is credited as the first “successful” submarine … Continue reading
The Russian tanker Renda, carrying 1.3 million gallons of emergency fuel, escorted by the USCG icebreaker Healy are within 6 NM of Nome, Alaska on Friday morning. They are waiting for sunrise before advancing closer. Daylight will make moving though the ice safer and will help to … Continue reading
We recently posted about a minor kerfuffle involving Dutch bureaucrats who were unhappy over 16 year old Laura Dekker not keeping up with her school work while sailing alone around the world. It brought to mind the old adage from Mark Twain, “Don’t … Continue reading
The internet is a wonderful thing. I am sitting in my office, which is around 70 degrees F (21 degrees C), drinking a hot cup of coffee, while tracking the painfully slow progress of the USCG Icebreaker Healy as it … Continue reading
The Patagonian toothfish, better known on Western restaurant menus as Chilean sea bass, is in high demand. Living in the colder waters of the southern oceans, including Antarctica’s Ross Sea, fishing for the toothfish can be hazardous. Within the last 30 days, 25 sailors … Continue reading
When the sled dog, Balto, arrived with emergency supplies for the icebound town of Nome in 1926, a statue was erected in his honor in New York City’s Central park. When the Russian ice strengthened tanker Renda, escorted by the USCG’s icebreaker Healy arrive … Continue reading