Bristol Holds First Sea Shanty Festival in Brunel Square

On Sunday, October 10, from noon to 6PM, Bristol, England will host its first sea shanty festival with ten shanty crews performing on outdoor stages on the city’s harborside. Classicalmusic.com reports that crews will perform in Brunel Square beside the … Continue reading

Submarine USS Connecticut Collides With Underwater Object in South China Sea

Yesterday, the US Navy Pacific Fleet announced that the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut struck an object in international waters while submerged on the afternoon of Oct. 2. While the announcement did not identify where the collision took place, reports … Continue reading

San Diego’s Foxtrot-Class Sub B-39 Heading to Scrap Yard

For the last 15 years, the Soviet-era Foxtrot-class diesel-electric submarine B-39 has been a museum ship at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Now, with its outer hull deteriorating, the museum has decided to scrap the retired attack submarine.  Stars … Continue reading

California Oil Spill — Possibly a Ship’s Anchor & an Ignored Oil Low-Pressure Alarm

We have posted about the ongoing port congestion that has resulted in as many as 70 ships being anchored off the Southern Californian coast waiting for berths. While no one knows for certain what caused the pipeline rupture that leaked … Continue reading

Echoes of Fat Leonard — Navy Hit by New Contractor Bribery Scandal

For almost a decade the US Navy has struggled through an ongoing corruption and bribery scandal involving ship support contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a firm run by Leonard Glenn Francis, a Malaysian national known as “Fat Leonard.” U.S. federal … Continue reading

Coca Cola Charters Handysized Bulkers to Keep Production Running

We recently posted about Home Depot and Costco independently chartering containerships to address ship and port congestion problems. Now, Coca-Cola is taking another approach to fix its broken supply chains. Splash247.com reports that Coca-Cola becomes the latest global mega-brand to decide … Continue reading

Maersk Bets on Methanol — Orders One Feeder and Eight Large Dual Fuel Containerships

In February we posted about an announcement by A.P. Moller-Maersk, the largest container ship operator in the world, that it would launch the world’s first carbon-neutral cargo liner vessel in 2023 – seven years ahead of its initial 2030 target. Maersk’s … Continue reading

Saildrone Captures Video from Inside Category 4 Hurricane Sam

Saildrone Inc. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have released the first video footage gathered by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) from inside a major hurricane barreling across the Atlantic Ocean. From the Saidrone announcement: The Saildrone Explorer … Continue reading

North Pole Race in the Northwest Passage to Highlight Climate Change

Interesting news from France24.com: A French sports group on Saturday announced plans to launch a sailing race in the thawing Canadian Arctic to raise awareness of global warming. Due to kick-off in 2023, the North Pole Race will be run … Continue reading

New York City Investing in Offshore Wind

 Last week Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) committed to a plan called Offshore Wind NYC that will invest more than $191 million to make New York City a hub for the offshore … Continue reading

‘Dinger’ Bell Completes 119 Day Unsupported Solo Transatlantic Row

The BBC reports that former Royal Marine Dave ‘Dinger’ Bell has successfully completed a 119-day, 3,118-mile, solo row the “wrong way” across the North Atlantic. He arrived in Newlyn in Cornwall at about 13:00 BST on Sunday. His team believes … Continue reading

Port Congestion Spreads to East Coast & Major Shippers Charter Ships Independently

We recently posted about the record congestion in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach where over 60 container ships wait at anchor or simply drift offshore awaiting berth space.  The port congestion has spread to the East Coast … Continue reading

Noah’s Violin Serenades Venice as it Sails the Grand Canal

We recently posted A Look at Venetian Gondolas — Designs New and Old.  Here is a post about a very different watercraft that graced Venetian waters last weekend. Named Noah’s Violin, it is a 12-meter electric-powered giant floating violin, the … Continue reading

World’s Largest Floating Wind Farm Goes Online Off Scotland

The world’s largest offshore floating wind farm has begun operation off Kincardine, approximately 15 kilometers off the southeast coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at water depths ranging between 60 and 80 meters. The five floating turbines are expected to generate up … Continue reading

Maersk Invests in Prometheus, Start-up Electrofuels Company

A.P. Moller – Maersk has announced that Maersk Growth, its venture capital arm, has made a leading investment in Prometheus Fuels, a Silicon Valley-based startup with a promising direct air capture technology to enable cost-efficient, carbon-neutral e-fuels for shipping. From … Continue reading

Trawling For Plastic — Ocean Cleanup Boom Yields Meager Results

The Ocean Cleanup‘s latest attempt to clean plastic from the Northern Pacific has proven to be unimpressive.  After two offshore supply vessels, donated by Maersk, towed a 520-meter wide boom for 120 hours, they succeeded in collecting around 8 tonnes … Continue reading

Sailing on Bubbles of Air — MSC Orders 30 Silverstream Hull Air Lubrication Systems

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has ordered more than 30 hull air lubrication systems from UK firm Silverstream Technologies to be installed on current orders of newbuild large container ships. The vessels applying the air lubrication systems are expected to be delivered … Continue reading

A Look at Venetian Gondolas — Designs New and Old

This is a post about contrasts – new and old, fanciful and time-tested, inspiration and tradition. This is also a post about Venetian gondolas. The gondola, the iconic Venetian rowing boat, has been around since at least the 11th century. … Continue reading

Record Slaughter of 1,400 Dolphins in Faroe Islands Triggers Anger and Review

The inhabitants of the Faroe Islands, a windswept archipelago in the North Atlantic roughly halfway between Norway and Iceland, have been hunting long-finned pilot whales and white-sided dolphins for food for almost a thousand years. The summer hunt is known … Continue reading