Car Carrier Baltic Ace Sinks After Collision with Container Ship Corvus J in Shipping Lanes Off Rotterdam

The car carrier, Baltic Ace, is reported to have collided with the container ship, Corvus J, this evening in crowded shipping lanes around 60 miles off the coast of Rotterdam.  The Baltic Ace is believed to have sunk. Her crew of 24 took to … Continue reading

Tension Rising in the South China Sea – Chinese Threatens to Board Ships, India and Vietnam Respond

Tensions are rising in the South China Sea, where at least a half dozen nations are asserting a jumble of overlapping claims of sovereignty, fishing and mineral rights.  China is now ramping up their claims by announcing that as of … Continue reading

The Hurricane Sandy Pollution Response Unified Command Tackles the John B. Caddell

I have great admiration for those whose successfully navigate the rocks and shoals of the bureaucracy in order to get anything done around New York harbor. A Coast Guard press release brought this to mind. The US Coast Guard is … Continue reading

Will the South Street Seaport Sink Post-Sandy?

The news this week from the South Street Seaport Museum was good. The Museum’s Bowne Stationers has reopened its doors after being flooded by Superstorm Sandy.  There had been serious concern that the 19th century type and letterpress equipment  might be seriously damaged or destroyed by the flood. … Continue reading

Fireboat John J. Harvey – 2012 Fall Benefit, Sunday December 2, Pier 66 on the Hudson River

About a month ago, we posted about the Fireboat John J. Harvey – 2012 Fall Benefit which was originally scheduled for October 22nd.  Superstorm Sandy’s arrival the next day, however  made rescheduling necessary.  It is on again, this Sunday, December 2nd, and it sounds like a great … Continue reading

Single-Handing Minus One – The Strange Voyage of the Bela Bartok

Here is a wonderful story from Cruising World’s Editor’s Log about the very strange voyage of the 31-foot cruising sailboat, Bela Bartok. Derk Wolmuth was sailing Bela Bartok in last summer’s Singlehanded TransPac race between San Francisco and Kaua’i, Hawaii … Continue reading

J-15 Fighter Jet Lands and Takes Off from China’s First Aircraft Carrier Liaoning

At the end of last September, the New York Times quoted un-named “Chinese and other military experts”  regarding the Liaoning, the first Chinese aircraft carrier to go into service, that “China does not have planes capable of landing on the carrier and so far … Continue reading

Un-Discovering Sandy Island : the Well-Charted Pacific Island That Isn’t There

Scientists from Australia have just returned from a voyage of un-discovery.  They have proven that Sandy Island, which appears on many nautical charts and on Google Earth and Google Maps, does no exist. The island which is depicted on Google Earth as a dark oval, … Continue reading

On Thanksgiving – A Look at the Mayflower II

In the United States, today is celebrated as Thanksgiving, commermorating a 1621 feast of thanks-giving at the Plymouth colony in present-day Massachusetts. The year before in November of 1620 the ship Mayflower had carried a group of just over 100 English and Dutch Separatists, known as Pilgrims, across the … Continue reading

Vendée Globe: Leaders Cross the Equator & ‘Gutek’ Retires due to Autopilot Failures

The six boats leading in the Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race have all crossed the equator and are heading for the Southern Ocean.  The leaders are, respectively – Armel Le Cléac´h,  François Gabart, Bernard Stamm, Vincent Riou, Jean-Pierre Dick, and Alex Thomson.  Meanwhile, Zbigniew Gutikowski, … Continue reading

PortSide NY, the Tanker Mary A. Whalen, Superstorm Sandy and Redhook

Like most of the historic vessels in and around New York harbor, the tanker Mary A. Whalen survived Superstorm Sandy Sandy better than her shore based neighbors. The tanker, which weathered Sandy at the inshore end of Pier 9B in … Continue reading

Schooner Bessie A. White – Hide & Seek Beneath the Sands of Fire Island

Last Wednesday, we posted about the wreck of a wooden ship uncovered by Superstorm Sandy beneath the dunes of Fire Island, east of Davis Park.  The remains are thought to be the Bessie A. White, more than 90 years old, said Paula Valentine, public affairs specialist for … Continue reading