The American Bureau of Shipping completed its survey and concluded that the ultra-large container ship Ever Given, which had blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week at the end of March, was fit for onward passage. Unfortunately, the ship … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
In June 2020, an intense fire broke out in the bow of the French nuclear attack submarine Perle, while the ship was in drydock in Toulon in southern France. The submarine’s 48-megawatt nuclear reactor that had been removed when it … Continue reading
One 109 years ago today, the RMS Titanic slipped below the icy waters of the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. Close to 1,500 passengers and crew were lost, making the sinking the deadliest peacetime sinking of a passenger liner … Continue reading
The lift boat SEACOR Power capsized in the Gulf of Mexico in high winds. The 129′ vessel, used in oil and gas exploration, capsized eight miles from Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Tuesday afternoon. Eighteen were reported to be aboard the … Continue reading
The Ever Given no longer blocks traffic in the Suez Canal but, in a very real sense, the ship is still stuck in the canal. The ultra-large container ship ran aground for about a week in late March, blocking ships transiting … Continue reading
Here is a short video from a 2021 day sail out of Galveston on the 1877-built square-rigged iron barque Elissa. The Elissa Sail Out of Galveston April 2021 Galveston Historical Foundation … Continue reading
We recently posted about plans to build an emission-free bulk carrier powered by compressed hydrogen and rotors sails to be in service by 20204. The European Flagships Project has announced plans to begin operations of a hydrogen-powered cargo vessel on … Continue reading
Great Britain’s Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died yesterday at the age of 99. He has been referred to as a sailor prince. The grandson of an admiral of the fleet and first sea lord, he was commissioned as … Continue reading
In the deep ocean, the Monorhaphis chuni, a type of glass sponge, can grow to be 10 feet long. A single silicon spine, or spicule, anchors itself to the seafloor, around which the softer sponge body is supported. The spine … Continue reading
Marine Log reports that Norwegian shipping firm Egil Ulvan Rederi has been awarded a contract to build what is claimed will be the world’s first zero-emission bulk carrier. The 88-meter, 5,000 DWT self-unloading vessel will be used on a Norwegian … Continue reading
The Vice President and the Secretary of the Navy now each have new “heritage desks,” built by Navy Seabees, using wood, fasteners, and fittings from historic US Navy ships. The desk for Vice President Kamala Harris is made from wood, … Continue reading
When American and British whaling ships hunted for sperm whales in the North Pacific in the early 1800s, they noted something disturbing. After initially good results, the whalers’ success in harpooning the whales fell by about 58% over the first … Continue reading
During the “Golden Age of Piracy,” the most successful pirates amassed huge fortunes over short periods of time and then died bloody deaths in combat, on the gallows, or in shipwrecks. The one notable exception was Captain Henry Every. While … Continue reading
When the ultra-large container ship Ever Given blocked traffic in the Suez Canal recently, Russia’s energy ministry saw an opportunity. The ministry suggested that the shutdown of the canal highlighted the safety and sustainability of its Northern Sea Route (NSR). … Continue reading
In November 2019, RV Petrel located the scattered wreckage of a World War II warship at a depth of 21,180 ft in the Philippine Sea. The wreck, thought to be the deepest wreck of a warship ever discovered, was suspected to … Continue reading
One year ago today, Captain Brett Crozier walked down the gangway of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. He had been relieved of command after the San Francisco Chronicle reported the contents of a leaked letter he wrote to his … Continue reading
On April Fool’s Day, a repost about not an April Fool’s Day prank but a hoax and a swindle. In October of 1897, at the height of the Alaskan Gold Rush, two men, Prescott Ford Jernegan, a Baptist minister, and … Continue reading
On the last day of 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 … Continue reading
On the next to last day of Women’s History Month, it is a good time to honor Winnie Breegle who served in World War II as a WAVE (Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) cryptographer and a Navajo code talker, … Continue reading
The combination of a peak high tide, excavation by dredgers, and the combined pull of more than a dozen tugs has finally freed the ultra-large container ship Ever Given. The 400-meter long container ship carrying 18,000 containers ran aground last … Continue reading