The 77-year-old cruise ship MV Astoria has been sold for scrap. The Belgian recycling firm Galloo was the only bidder, acquiring the ship for €200,000. In her over seven decades of service, she sailed for multiple owners, under many names, … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
The fire-damaged car carrier Morning Midas sank while under tow in the North Pacific Ocean. The ship, with 3,048 vehicles aboard, including over 700 fully electric or hybrid electric vehicles, caught fire three weeks ago on one of the decks … Continue reading
Happy Juneteenth! Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is also the newest Federal holiday, signed into law in 2020. The holiday commemorates the arrival of emancipation in Galveston, Texas, … Continue reading
On June 2, Jazz Turner set sail from Brighton, UK, to attempt to become the first disabled person to complete a solo, non-stop, and unassisted 2,070 mile (3,331km) circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland in a sail boat. Turner, a … Continue reading
The car carrier Morning Midas, adrift off the coast of Alaska, is still burning, with the first salvage tug arriving at the scene on Monday, as reported by Splash. The tug Gretchen Dunlap arrived Monday afternoon with salvage personnel and has … Continue reading
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming the USNS Harvey Milk, an underway replenishment oiler, named after the late gay rights leader. The Pentagon is also reviewing changing the names of … Continue reading
The car carrier Morning Midas was on a voyage from China to Mexico when it caught fire on Tuesday in the mid-Pacific, some 300 miles southwest of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The ship was carrying 3,048 vehicles, including over 700 fully … Continue reading
Last June, we posted about the arrest of Robert P. Burke, a retired four-star Navy Admiral, on bribery charges. This week, a federal jury convicted the former Vice Chief of Naval Operations of four counts of bribery for steering a … Continue reading
Lighthouse keepers had more to worry about than simply storms and terrible conditions. In the 19th century, lighthouse keepers had a high frequency of madness and suicide. Many assumed that they went mad from solitude and the demands of the … Continue reading
On Saturday evening, shortly after the Mexican Navy sail training ship ARM Cuauhtémoc departed New York City’s South Street Seaport, Pier 17, on the East River, something went terribly wrong. The roughly 300′ long, steel-hulled, three-masted bark reportedly suffered some … Continue reading
General Order 99 One hundred and eleven years ago on July 1, 1914, Secretary of the US Navy Josephus Daniels issued General Order 99, banning “the use or introduction for drinking purposes of alcoholic liquors on board any naval vessel, … Continue reading
On June 21, 1898, HMS Albion sat on the launching ways at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall. The launching that would soon end in tragedy was also one of the first disasters to be captured on film. … Continue reading
A Facebook video by my friend Frank Hanavan showing him inserting a ship in a bottle (after the page break) got me thinking about, well, ships in bottles. When, where and why did sailors start putting ships in bottles? After … Continue reading
During the “Golden Age of Piracy,” the most successful pirates amassed huge fortunes over short periods and then died bloody deaths in combat, on the gallows, or in shipwrecks. The one notable exception was Captain Henry Every. While his career … Continue reading
Salt in their Veins is a breathtaking and thought-provoking short documentary by German photographer & filmmaker Rita Hencke. The documentary explores the lives of the Bajo people of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, descendants of sea nomads with a deep connection to … Continue reading