Last Wednesday, we posted about Svendborg Maersk, which last an estimated 520 containers in a storm in the Bay of Biscay. What happened to all the containers that fell overboard? One of them, loaded with a million cigarettes, may have just washed … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
During the Siege of Syracuse, 214–212 BC, Archimedes was said to have used “burning mirrors” to set fire to a Roman fleet attacking the city. The mirrors focused the rays of the sun and generated enough heat to set ships … Continue reading
CNN is reporting that hypodermic needles and traces of narcotics were found with the bodies of two American security officers on the container ship Maersk Alabama, suggesting that the deaths resulted from drug overdoses, according to a Seychelles government official. … Continue reading
Some are predicting that the world will end Saturday, February 22, 2013, with Ragnarök, also known as Götterdämmerung, by the operatic among us. A reasonable response might be, “the world is ending — again?” We have lived through Y2k, the … Continue reading
It is being reported that two American security guards, both former Navy SEALs, have been found dead on the Maersk Alabama while in Port Victoria, in the Seychelles. The men have been identified as Jeffrey Reynolds and Mark Kennedy, both … Continue reading
The initial reports that the Svendborg Maersk lost 200-300 containers in a storm on Friday in the Bay of Biscay have turned out to be optimistic. The number is now estimated to be around 520. 85% of the boxes lost … Continue reading
International Salt, a major salt company, has just about run out of salt to supply the State of New Jersey. The salt is used to control ice on the roads, and to run out in the middle of a very … Continue reading
Maersk Lines is reporting that the 7,200 TEU container ship Svendborg Maersk lost a “significant number of containers over board” on Friday while crossing the Bay of Biscay. Lloyds List is reporting that 200-300 containers were lost in heavy weather while … Continue reading
Sadly, just before Christmas, the schooner Nathaniel Bowditch, owned by Owen and Cathie Dorr, was seized at its Rockland Harbor berth in Lermond Cove by U.S. Marshals and towed to Camden Harbor, Maine. The Nathaniel Bowditch is one of the … Continue reading
The Great Lakes between the United States and Canada were formed by the passage of ice at end of the last glacial period around 10,000 years ago. They are now being covered by near record ice once again (although, not … Continue reading
A unusually large wave killed an 85 year old man and injured a woman in her 70s on the cruise ship MS Marco Polo in the English Channel, as it headed for its home port of Tilbury, in Essex. Both were … Continue reading
Recently, the press has been abuzz with the lack of sightings of Loch Ness monster. There have been no sightings of the famous beastie in the last 18 months. The Daily Mail asks “Is Nessie DEAD?” The BBC notes: No Loch … Continue reading
The crew of the HMS Daring spelled out a message on the the flight deck to their loved ones at home. The Type 45 destroyer is on her way home to Portsmouth, Hampshire, after having spent nine months on deployment. … Continue reading
Sometime around the 60 CE, a Greek merchant, whose name is lost to history, wrote a guide, The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Periplus is the Latinization of the Greek word περίπλους (periplous, contracted from periploos), literally “a sailing-around.” While Erythraean literally … Continue reading
The NTSB Report conclusion came as no real surprise. Captain Robin Walbridge; who was lost along with a crew member, Claudene Christian, in the sinking of the replica of the HMS Bounty; should never have taken the ship to sea with … Continue reading
Joseph Conrad, who claimed not to be a sentimentalist when came to the life at sea, waxed poetic when writing of the trade winds: In the middle belt of the earth the Trade Winds reign supreme, undisputed, like monarchs of … Continue reading
José Salvador Alvarenga, the fisherman who apparently drifted for 13 months at sea in open boat, has been released from the hospital in the Marshall Islands. How is it possible that he could have survived for over a year, while … Continue reading
We recently endured the media farce in which dozens of newspapers and websites reported that “a ghost ship filled with cannibal rats may be headed straight for Britain,” even though the ship has probably sunk and the bit about the rats … Continue reading
The USS Forrestal left Phildelphia yesterday, under tow on her way to a scrap yard in Beaumont, Texas. The USS Forrestal (CV-59) was the first US “supercarrier” and the first American aircraft carrier to be built with an angled flight deck, steam … Continue reading
Fascinating commentary on the joys and sacrifices of following her dreams by three-time Olympian sailor Nikola Girke, as she prepares for Rio 2016. “It takes guts to dream” – Canadian Olympian – Nikola Girke … Continue reading