The New York Times has a wonderful account of the rescue of John Aldridge, a commercial fisherman who fell off a lobsterboat in the middle of the night last July, over forty miles off Montauk, Long Island, NY. Aldridge spent … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Every year I go to the New York Boat Show. In recent years, it has been a sad pilgrimage. Where once a wide range of boat types were represented, for the past decade or so most of the boats on … Continue reading
The Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis, currently carrying passengers rescued from a stricken Antarctic expedition cruise ship, has been told to stand by to assist the Chinese icebreaker, Snow Dragon, as necessary. The icebreaker Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, notified rescue authorities … Continue reading
I am surprised that the Vikings didn’t discover this first. The Vikings did, after all, develop a sun compass for use on sunny days and used sunstones to find the direction of the sun when it was overcast. One might … Continue reading
All 52 passengers have been airlifted from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy by a helicopter from the Chinese Icebreaker Xue Long or Snow Dragon. The passengers were ferried to the Australian ice breaker Aurora Australis. Both icebreakers had attempted, but failed, to break through the … Continue reading
Disturbing video of the Giant Yellow Duck exploding shortly before a New Year’s Day celebration in the northern Taiwan port city of Keeling. it is unclear what caused the duck to explode though some are speculating that it was attacked … Continue reading
Happy New Year! The New Year 2014 begins with both a new moon and a supermoon. The month also ends with a both a new moon and and a supermoon on the 30th. A supermoon is the term applied when … Continue reading
Fortunately, the stranded scientists and tourists appear to be bearing up well under the strain on the MV Akademik Shokalskiy. New Year’s festivities on the ship, courtesy of the Guardian. New year on board the Akademik Shokalskiy – video … Continue reading
In the list of the world’s 25 largest operating offshore wind farms, 11 are based off the United Kingdom. Denmark has five; China three; Belgium and the Netherlands each have two, while Germany and Sweden each have one. Don’t look for … Continue reading
We posted recently about the Chinese icebreaker, Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, which came within about 6 miles of the expedition cruise ship, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, before being forced to turn back. MV Akademik Shokalskiy has been trapped in pack ice off Antarctica south … Continue reading
MSC Monterey, a 4,892 TEU container ship, was bound from the Belgium port of Antwerp to Newark, NJ, but diverted to Newfoundland after cracks in her hull were discovered. The ship is now at anchor south of Newfoundland, near Trepassey … Continue reading
Two recent items on sharks in the news — a photobombing shark off the coast of California and Australian sharks posting warnings on Twitter. Off Manhattan Beach, California, June Emerson took a photograph of her son and a friend playing in … Continue reading
By definition, shipping is the ultimate offshore industry. For most, the business of shipping is largely invisible, literally beyond the horizon. I recently came across two representations of global shipping – a plot developed from ship’s logs from the 18th … Continue reading
The Chinese icebreaker Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, has gotten to within around 6-7 miles of the expedition cruise ship, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, before it too was stopped by thick ice off the coast of Antarctica, south of Tasmania. Three icebreakers … Continue reading
A few hours ago, Professor Chris Turney, on the MV Akademik Shokalskiy currently trapped in pack ice off Antarctica, south of Tasmania, tweeted: Great news. Icebreaker Snow Dragon on horizon with penguins! Everyone very happy! We suspect that the penguins are … Continue reading