The Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Spey was on a mission to check and update charts of waters around British Overseas Territories scattered around the globe. It recently observed that Henderson Island in the South Pacific is one mile south … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
On St. Patrick’s Day, a post about another Irish saint, St. Brendan the Navigator, and the adventurer who sought to replicate his epic voyage. Who was the first European to sail to North America? According to Irish tradition, it was … Continue reading
Spain has recently seized three Russian superyachts believed to be subject to EU sanctions, including the 48-meter-long $7 million Lady Anastasia, which was partially sunk when sabotaged by its Ukrainian chief engineer. Taras Ostapchuk, 55, the engineer was said to … Continue reading
Almost one year ago, the container ship Ever Given ran aground, blocking the Suez Canal for six days. Now, another ship operated by the same shipping company, Evergreen Marine Corporation, has run hard aground. The Ever Forward, a 1,095-foot, 12,000 … Continue reading
During Women’s History Month it is worthwhile remembering Eleanor Creesy, the navigator of the clipper ship Flying Cloud, who with her husband, Captain Josiah Creesy, set world sailing records for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco. Eleanor … Continue reading
Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko’s superyacht Sailing Yacht A is nothing if not distinctive. It is one of the largest sail-assisted vessels afloat, with a singularly terrible name, and is arguably the ugliest large yacht in service. It is also … Continue reading
On the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian naval vessel Vasily Bykov ordered the 13 Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender. The border guards replied, “go f*** yourself“. The warship … Continue reading
Military.com reports that a federal judge in Florida has ruled that the US Navy cannot do anything to remove a commander of a destroyer, despite testimony that he has flouted the service’s rules for COVID-19 mitigation while seeking a religious … Continue reading
The Endurance22 Expedition announced yesterday that they have discovered the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton‘s ship Endurance, which was crushed by pack ice off Antarctica in 1915. The ship was in remarkably good condition. How is it that the ship is so … Continue reading
The Endurance22 Expedition announced today that they have discovered the remarkably intact remains of Sir Ernest Shackleton‘s ship Endurance, which was crushed by pack ice off Antarctica in 1915. A team of marine archeologists, adventurers, and technicians on the icebreaking … Continue reading
As Western governments scrabble to identify the luxury yachts of sanctioned Russian oligarchs, the ownership of Scheherazade, a 495′ long superyacht, docked in Marina di Carrara, a small Italian town on the Tuscan coast, remains a mystery. Valued at $700 … Continue reading
In honor of both Women’s History Month and last month’s Black History Month, an updated repost about the barrier-shattering naval engineer Raye Montague, who died at the age of 83 in 2018. At the age of 7, she was inspired … Continue reading
During Women’s History Month, it is a good time to honor Winnie Breegle who celebrated her 100th birthday last month. She served in World War II as a WAVE (Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) cryptographer and a Navajo code … Continue reading
Last week, representatives from 175 nations agreed to begin writing a global treaty that would restrict the explosive growth of plastic pollution on land and sea. The agreement commits nations to work on a broad and legally binding treaty that … Continue reading
In early February, the Endurance22 expedition set off from Cape Town, South Africa for Antarctica’s Weddell Sea aboard the icebreaking research ship, SA Agulhas II. Their objective is to locate, survey, and film the wreck of Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s ship that … Continue reading
The net of sanctions is tightening around the superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs. Yesterday, Germany seized the 512-foot yacht Dilbar, valued at nearly $600 million, owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who faces European Union sanctions over Russia’s invasion of … Continue reading
The car carrier Felicity Ace, carrying upwards of 4,000 vehicles, including more than 1,000 Porsches and 200 Bentleys, caught fire in the Atlantic off the Azores on February 16. After almost two weeks ablaze, the fire appeared to be under … Continue reading
The impact of Russian sanctions is spreading across the shipping industry. Yesterday, Britain announced that Russian ships would be banned from UK ports as part of a new package of sanctions against Russia. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that he … Continue reading
A Ukrainian marine engineer was detained after attempting to sink the Lady Anastasia, a 48-meter-long $7 million superyacht owned by Russian oligarch and arms tycoon, Alexander Mijeev. The attempt took place on Saturday at Port Adriano in Mallorca. The 55-year-old … Continue reading
Over nearly three centuries of whaling, some 175,000 men went to sea in 2,700 ships. Of the 2,500 masters who captained whaling ships, at least 63 were men of color. Many of the 63 sailed from the US East Coast, … Continue reading