In January we posted that the Hudson River Park Trust was seeking proposals to dock historic vessels on the newly refurbished Pier 25 in the Hudson River off Tribecca. Earlier this month the the Hudson River Park Trust announced … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
The Greek-owned 75,000 tonne bulk carrier, MV Oliva, ran aground on March 16th on Nightingale Island, a 4 square kilometer island in the Tristan da Cuhna archipelago in the South Atlantic. The resulting oil spill threatened nearly half of the world population … Continue reading
A group in Beaufort, SC is bidding on acquiring the Cruiser Olympia. Beaufort group bids on century-old ship A Beaufort organization is bidding to become the next home of the ship Commodore George Dewey used as his flagship at the Battle of … Continue reading
On April 28, 1947, a six-man expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Callao, Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia. Heyerdahl’s book, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft, … Continue reading
Hailing from Florida, I am a huge fan of brown pelicans. I was therefore very pleased to hear that after several years where brown pelicans on the West Coast of the US have been mysteriously dying off, this year the flocks of pelicans … Continue reading
I am always amazed by how well darkness, cold and a lack of oxygen can preserve a wooden ship wreck. Thanks to Badewanne, a non-profit group of divers that has been documenting shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland for more … Continue reading
Last August, we posted about the collision of the containership MSC Chitra and the bulk carrier Khalijia 3 which resulting in the sinking of the Chitra with a significant oil spill, a loss of cargo containers and the blockage of the port of Mumbai for five … Continue reading
The Ohio River may just be too high to allow the running of the Great Steamboat Race on May 4th, between the Belle of Louisville and the Belle of Cincinnati on May 4. If the river doesn’t fall, officials are … Continue reading
In yesterday’s New York Times, Rose George of Leeds, UK was an Op-Ed Contributor. In her essay, Flying the Flag, Fleeing the State, she starts off by calling many ship operators criminals and comparing them to Somali pirates: But maritime lawlessness … Continue reading
A sign of changing times. A Russian submarine will be participating in a NATO undersea rescue exercise off the Spanish coast scheduled for next month. Russian submarine to participate in first-ever naval exercise with NATO warships … Continue reading
For hundreds of years, coastal schooners carried cargoes up and down the hundred harbored coast of Maine. By the early part of the last century, the schooners were being replaced by trucks and trains. In 1936 Captain Frank Swift started buying laid up … Continue reading
As the sands of Fire Island are swallowing Le Papillon, Cyclone Yasi has uncovered a mysterious shipwreck on an island off the Queensland coast. Cyclone Winds Unbury Island’s 130-Year-Old Shipwreck The huge cyclone’s intense winds blew away sand on one … Continue reading
If Detroit was and is the “motor city,” then perhaps Bivalve, New Jersey was the Oyster Capital of the World. By the late 1880s, 90 railcars full of oysters were shipped from Bivalve every week. Oysters were once the largest … Continue reading
The Ducks have returned to the Delaware River. Not mallards, but duck boats. Last July a tug pushing a barge ran down a disabled “Duck boat” DUKW 34 at anchor in the Delaware River off Philadelphia. Two of the 35 … Continue reading
The Coast Guard released a report yesterday that was highly critical of Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drill rig, which exploded and sank last year. Transocean contributed to Gulf disaster, Coast Guard report says Flaws in Transocean Ltd.’s … Continue reading