Over the weekend, HMS Bounty, on the first stop of her four month European tour, was boarded by buccaneers on the Barbican in Plymouth. Plymouth’s “Pirate Days” coincided with the release of the latest Disney ‘Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, “On Stranger … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
I was out of town so I could not attend the Save our Ships Rally at the South Street Seaport yesterday. Fortunately foo those of us who couldn’t make it, there are some great photos at Will van Dorp’s Tugster blog, the Save … Continue reading
Happy National Maritime Day! The day has been celebrated in the US since 1933. After World War II US flag shipping accounted for over 40% of the world’s total fleet. Currently the US ranks around 10th in the world by … Continue reading
Shell is on its way to building the largest floating offshore facility in the world for its Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project in Australia. The FLNG facility will be 488 meters long and will weigh around 600,000 tonnes – … Continue reading
In the US, National Maritime Day is May 22nd. The day was chosen to commemorate the departure from Savannah, Georgia of the American steamship, SS Savannah, first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, on May 24, 1819. To celebrate National Maritime Day, the Baltimore Port … Continue reading
A preview of MaineSail Magazine, the first issue of which will be available for download June 1st, 2011 at www.themainesail.com. Looks beautiful. … Continue reading
Patrick McPherson is a 19 year surgeon’s mate in the Royal Navy. By all appearances, he is an upstanding young man with a promising future. The dark secret that the young mate carries is that he is indeed, a she. … Continue reading
A recent NOAA survey of the Caribbean off the southern coasts of the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. John and St. Thomas and off eastern Puerto Rico discovered six previously unknown shipwrecks. 6 Uncharted Shipwrecks Discovered in Caribbean … Continue reading
There is an old saying about an ax that never wears out so long as you keep replacing the head and the handle. But what happens if you replace the head and handle at the same time? Is it the … Continue reading
Following up on the previous news that the current board of the financially troubled South Street Seaport Museum is being replaced, that the Attorney General has barred the removal of the museum’s historic ships from New York harbor and that new funding is being arranged, the Save our Seaport … Continue reading
As we posted last week, the US Navy has five times more aircraft carrier flight deck capacity than the rest of the world combined. Nevertheless the Chinese have leapt ahead in the construction of a concrete air craft carrier on … Continue reading
On May 25th, in addition to other items in their collection, the Seaman’s Church Institute is auctioning off a letter written by Joseph Conrad in 1923 to the “owners and ship’s company of the Tusitala, ” in which he sends … Continue reading
Roughly a year ago I went skin diving with dolphins in Honduras. We were told that the dolphins liked to play catch with eel grass. I dove to the bottom, pulled up a handful of eel grass and held … Continue reading
Last week we posted about the upcoming first William Main Doerflinger Memorial Shanty Session to be held at the Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor. The shanty sing was well attended and the space was beautiful as well as historic. The … Continue reading
Mickey Mouse now apparently owns SEAL Team 6, or at least the name. Disney has filed three trademark applications to to claim the rights to the phrase “SEAL Team 6.” SEAL Team 6 is believed to be the Navy commando squad that … Continue reading