The British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is asking for suggestions for a name for the new polar research ship, currently under construction at Cammell Laird’s yard in Birkenhead. The closing date for entries is 16th April 2016. They have gotten … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
The wreck of the Esmeralda, a ship from Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India in 1502 and 1503, is believed to have been found close to Al Hallaniyah island, near the coast of Oman according to an … Continue reading
Last November, we posted about two balsa rafts which had set out from Lima, Peru, intending to sail to Easter Island and back, on the Kon-Tiki 2 expedition. Yesterday, the Chilean Navy rescued 14 crew members from the two rafts … Continue reading
SeaWorld has announced that they are ending their program to breed captive orcas. The 24 orcas, also known as killer whales, currently held at parks in California, Texas and Florida will be the last generation of captive orcas at SeaWorld. … Continue reading
One celebrity at Weymouth during the Weymouth Leviathan was the tall ship Earl of Pembroke. The barque has been featured in seventeen movies of TV shows. Unfortunately, like so many other movie stars, the ship was not accessible, behind locked … Continue reading
From 1862 to 1956, yachts competing in the America’s Cup were required to sail to the races “on their own bottoms.” My, how things have changed. Today, the AC 45 foiling catamarans sailing in the current America’s Cup Races … Continue reading
I am attending the Weymouth Leviathan, a maritime literary festival, in the lovely, historic port at the mouth of the River Wey in Dorset on the south-western coast of England. It is a fitting locale. Most of the writers attending … Continue reading
The headlines are great. “Iceberg that Sank the Titanic 100,000 years old” and “Titanic iceberg was a 100,000-year-old giant” and “Iceberg that sank the Titanic was 100,000-years-old and of monstrous size” and so and so on. Dozens of headlines and … Continue reading
A week ago, we posted about the corpse of a German sailor aboard the yacht SAYO, a Jeanneau Sun Magic 44, which was found adrift off the Philippines on around the end of February. The body was described as “mummified,” … Continue reading
We recently posted about Scott Kelly, the American astronaut who spent almost a year in space on the international Space Station. Scott Kelly is an alumnus of the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler. Before graduating … Continue reading
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have spotted a translucent white octopod at a depth of 4,300 meters while collecting geological samples with a remote-operated vehicle on Necker Ridge in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Described as a “remarkable … Continue reading
For the last few years, we have followed the sad saga of the “rebuilding” of the schooner Bluenose II. The latest development involves the replacement of the existing steel rudder and steering system at an estimated additional cost of $1 … Continue reading
Originally posted on gCaptain by Rick Spilman, on March 3, 2016. Reposted with permission. Rogue waves are real sea monsters. Rising many times higher than surrounding waves, they have the power to sink ships and to cripple offshore platforms. Recently, … Continue reading
For several years now we have been posting about Scott and Mark Kelly, the identical twins who both graduated from merchant marine academies and served in the Navy. Each became astronauts and both have traveled in space. Recently, Scott Kelly … Continue reading
Two fisherman came across a macabre scene on a dismasted derelict sailboat, drifting 40 miles off the coast of Barobo in Surigao del Sur in the Philippines. A figure, the color of dry plaster, was slumped over the chart table … Continue reading