Sometimes size matters. We have recently seen ever-larger container ships delivered from Asian shipyards. This year, the HMM Algeciras claimed the title of the world’s largest container ship with a carrying capacity of 24,000 TEUs. It is one of twelve … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Here is a fascinating short video of British riveted steel shipbuilding in the 1940s. The shipyard in the film is the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Fife. The ship being built is thought to be either the MV Dalhousie or the … Continue reading
Last October, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard completed the year-long dismantling of the US Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Narwhal (SSN-671). Commissioned in 1969, the submarine was a one-of-a-kind, an experimental design that would become one of the most successful … Continue reading
As the race is on to distribute Covid-19 vaccines around the globe, horseshoe crabs, or more specifically, horseshoe crab blood, is playing a major role in ensuring that the vaccines are safe to be injected into peoples’ arms. In fact, … Continue reading
The salvage of the stranded car carrier Golden Ray is accelerating. Salvors on the heavy-lift barge VB-10,000 are using a heavy chain to cut the ship into sections to be carried away by barge. The recently completed the second cut, separating … Continue reading
Thanks to Captain Richard Bailey for mentioning the time ball on the Titanic Memorial in the Financial District of downtown New York City. We neglected to mention it in our post “Watching the Ball Drop — the Nautical Origins of … Continue reading
In recognition of his accomplishments and service, Lt Cmdr Sean “Central” Heaton has been made an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), in the New Year Honours list. World War II had been over for more than 70 … Continue reading
A video for a Sunday afternoon. In March, the US Navy officially commenced Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2020 in the Arctic Ocean with the construction of a temporary ice camp, Camp Seadragon, and the arrival of two US Navy fast-attack submarines. … Continue reading
In early February, outbreaks of the coronavirus began to occur on cruise ships. On one quarantined ship, the Diamond Princess, one infection spread to over 700 cases and seven deaths from COVID-19. In March of 2020, the cruise industry was … Continue reading
Last night in New York City, people watched, primarily on-line or on television, as a jeweled ball dropped in Times Square at exactly midnight to mark the arrival of the New Year, 2021. In past years, the crowd in Times … Continue reading
A few years ago, we posted about the RMS Warrimoo, which is remembered, as the story goes, for crossing the intersection of the international dateline and the equator at precisely the turn of the century from 1899 to 1900. In … Continue reading
The pandemic has been brutal to the restaurant industry. Likewise, the small-scale oyster growers of Barnegat and Delaware bays have been extremely hard hit as restaurants cut back on their orders or shut down altogether. One bit of good news, … Continue reading
A new blue whale population has been discovered in the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean according to a study recently published in the journal Endangered Species Research. The conclusion is based not on sightings or DNA samples, but rather … Continue reading
Almost a decade ago, the container ship MV Rena ran hard aground on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga on New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty. The ship, carrying 2,100 containers and 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel, would break up resulting in New Zealand’s … Continue reading
Salvors on the heavy-lift barge VB-10,000 have begun making the second cut through the hull of the stranded car carrier Golden Ray which rolled over in shallow water shortly after departing the Port of Brunswick, Georgia on St. Simons Sound … Continue reading