Galleon San Jose, the “Holy Grail of Ship Wrecks”

Yesterday, we posted about the lawsuits still ongoing related to the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes and quoted Cecilia Rodriguez, writing for Forbes.  Today Ms. Rodriguez has a wonderful article about the Galleon San Jose, often referred to as the “Holy … Continue reading

Update – Costa Allegra: A Big Catch for the Fishing Vessel Trevignon

The 275′ French tuna purse seiner Trevignon has made a much bigger catch than normal – the 28,430 gross tonne cruise ship Costa Allegra.   The Trevignon is slowly towing the cruise ship to Mahé, in the Seychelles, and is expected to arrive early … Continue reading

Danish Warship Absalon Rescues 16 Hostages from Hijacked Ship, 2 Hostages Die in Attack

Sixteen hostages were freed when the Danish warship HDMS Absalon attacked pirates in control of a hijacker vessel off the coast of Somalia late Sunday.  Two crew from the hijacked ship were found to have severe injuries and subsequently died.   The circumstances of … Continue reading

Plunderers Plundering the Plunder – Peru Claims Share of Coin Treasure

The silver and gold coins valued at $500 million that Odyssey Marine recovered from the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes have now been flown to Spain.  American courts ruled that the coins had been removed illegally and that they … Continue reading

Costa Allegra: Not A Sister Ship – the Unusual Transformation from Container Ship to Cruise Ship

The headlines from several media sources (see here or here) have referred to the Costa Allegra, the cruise ship adrift in the Indian Ocean after an engine room fire, as a sister ship to the Costa Concordia.  A sister ship is generally defined as a “a ship of the … Continue reading

Cruise Ship Costa Allegra Adrift off Seychelles After Fire

Sixteen months after the Carnival Splendor was blacked out by an engine room fire in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico, another Carnival owned cruise ship is drifting, dead in the water, after an engine room fire.  The Costa Allegra, a cruise ship … Continue reading

Peter Maddison Occupying Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Again

Just as preparations for moving the world’s oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide, to her namesake city in Australia, are getting underway, Peter Maddison, a former councillor from Sunderland, where the ship was built, has occupied the old clipper, … Continue reading

Update – Slavery at Sea? Abuse of Indonesian Sailors on Chartered Fishing Vessels

Last April we posted, Slavery at Sea ? Abuse of Sailors on New Zealand Chartered Fishing Vessels. Secret papers reveal the government has allowed fishermen from poor countries to be exploited in New Zealand waters.  Workers are fishing in rusting boats turned … Continue reading

Update: Admiral Confirms Nuclear Submarine Ekaterinburg Fully Armed During Fire

Last week we posted about a report by to the Russian magazine Vlast  that claimed that “Russia [was] … on the verge of the largest man-made disaster since Chernobyl” when a fire broke out on December 29th, 2011 on the K-84 Ekaterinburg, a … Continue reading

Rebuilding the Whaleship Charles W. Morgan – First Hull Plank

The Charles W. Morgan was launched in 1841. She is America’s last surviving wooden whaleship and is the “crown jewel” of the Mystic Seaport Museum collection.  She has been undergoing restoration at the Henry B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport … Continue reading

Matt Rutherford Sailing Singlehanded Around the Americas – In Need of Resupply

Matt Rutherford set out from Annapolis, Maryland last June 11th with an audacious goal. He intended to sail single-handed entirely around the Americas in a 27′ Albin Vega.  He planned to sail a counterclockwise loop up the East Coast, cross the … Continue reading

Return to the Mariana Trench – Teams Racing to Dive 6 NM Down

Fifty two years ago, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and oceanographer Jacques Piccard dove to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the bathyscaphe Trieste. They were the first, and so far, the only humans to have ventured to the deepest … Continue reading

Rum Running – Documentary Now Online at CBC’s “Land and Sea”

Last week we posted about “Rum Running,” a new documentary which was broadcast last weekend on CBCs “Land and Sea.”   It is now online and definitely worth watching.  It is a fascinating look at when many sailors in Nova Scotia stopped fishing and became international smugglers during Prohibition in the … Continue reading

The Ruth Montgomery Collection at the Penobscot Marine Museum

The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine documents the rich and deep maritime history of the region and the town that was famous for its ship captains. The museum has a wonderful set of on-line, searchable, photography collections documenting the area’s ships, … Continue reading

$500 Million Treasure of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes Returning Soon to Spain

Within the next day or so, two Spanish Air Force C-130 transport planes will land at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base to load 17 tons of gold and silver coins and other artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Spanish Navy’s Nuestra … Continue reading

ROV Video – Costa Concordia Perched Perilously on Rocks, Bow & Stern

Video shot by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), roughly a month after the ship ran aground, shows that the Costa Concordia is not sitting evenly on the bottom.  Instead, the 950′ long ship is perched perilously on two rocky outcroppings at the bow … Continue reading