In a pre-dawn raid, US Navy SEAL commandos freed two hostages; an American, Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a Dane, Poul Thisted, 60; being held for ransom in a pirate compound 12 miles north of the Somali town of Adado. Members of SEAL Team … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
Crews from the Dutch salvage company SMIT are setting up to begin pumping 2,300 tonnes of diesel fuel from the sunken cruise ship Costa Concordia. A crane barge and temporary tanks have been moved alongside the stricken ship. Pumping is expected to begin … Continue reading
In May of 2010, we posted about a serious rigging failure suffered by the schooner Amistad while in heavy seas off the Florida coast. The schooner limped back to Mystic, CT, where she built, to undergo $100,000 in repairs. She has not sailed … Continue reading
Today begins the new lunar year – the Year of the Black Water Dragon. The lunar new year is celebrated for 15 days, from the first day of the first new moon of the year to the first full moon. … Continue reading
The dangerous practice of the “inchino,” Italian for “bow” and often translated as “salute,” appears to be widespread and not limited to Costa. The “inchino” is performed by sailing a ship close to an island or port and blowing the ship’s horn, figuratively bowing … Continue reading
The Volvo Ocean Race is off on the third leg from the Maldives to Sanya, China. The Volvo fleet was again transported from Abu Dhabi by ship to avoid potential attacks by pirates. During the fleet stop over in Abu Dhabi, a number of the Volvo sailors were … Continue reading
Cosmo Power, a Japanese engineering company, has developed the “Noah” a four person mini-ark to help residents along Japan’s coast survive a future tsunami. The “Noah” is a four foot diameter bright yellow sphere made of fiber-reinforced plastic. It is self righting … Continue reading
The death toll from the sinking of the Costa Concordia has risen to thirteen as divers discovered another body of a woman wearing a life jacket in a submerged passageway. Eight of the thirteen victims have now been identified according to Italian officials. Four of the … Continue reading
A well done video by the Maritime Museum of San Diego shot on the 1863 built iron windjammer Star of India. Thanks to the Tall Ship Morgenster for pointing it out on Facebook. Setting square sails [iframe: width=”480″ height=”360″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/c97N5Ht_jkY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen] … Continue reading
After spending the better part of a month getting to Nome, Alaska to deliver an emergency supply of fuel to last the winter, the ice-strengthened Russian tanker Renda has finally off-loaded its cargo – 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline … Continue reading
Laura Dekker has arrived in St. Maarten, having sailed her 38 ft Jeanneau Gin Fizz ketch, Guppy, successfully around the world alone. Her voyage began when she quietly slipped out of Gibraltar on August 21, 2010. At only 16 years and four … Continue reading
It appears that the question of where and on what the Costa Concordia ran aground is a bit more clear. Wreckage, believed to be from the collision, has been photographed at Le Scole rock. Thanks to Andy Hall at the Maritime Texas … Continue reading
One week ago, the Costa Concordia grounded off the island of Giglio. Eleven passengers or crew are confirmed dead. Twenty four people are missing. The ship itself has sunk in shallow water having rolled 80 degrees on its side. What else do we … Continue reading
Shortly after Costa Crociere chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi blamed the grounding of the Costa Concordia on an ”inexplicable” error by the captain, Gianni Scerni, the president of RINA, sat down for an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Secolo XIX. RINA, Registro … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful 20 minute film made in 1947 about, as the tile suggests, shipbuilding in Essex, Massachusetts. It has the slightly corny Hollywood production values of its time but does a good job at showing the construction of a … Continue reading
Reuters reports that Italy is enthralled by the tale of the “two captains,” while on CNN another Italian captain, from another ship and another time, is remembered – In Andrea Doria wreck, a captain who shone. … Continue reading
Every year, around 26,000 gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) make the 10,000 mile journey from their feeding grounds in the Arctic Sea south to their breeding groups in the lagoons of Baja. (For an interesting view of the migration see Whale … Continue reading
Last October, we posted about the shipping cradle that had been fabricated in Australia and shipped to Scotland which will be used to transport the oldest composite clipper ship, the City of Adelaide, back to her namesake city in South … Continue reading
Lloyd’s List Intelligence has published its AIS plots of the course of the Costa Concordia on January 13th, when she ran aground and sank, and her course on August 14th when she came within 230 meters of the shore of the island … Continue reading
MSNBC is quoting Adam Smallman, editor of Lloyd’s List, as saying that the Costa Concordia took close to the same route in August, based on satellite tracking, as it took when it ran aground last Friday night. He also is … Continue reading