In late February 2022, an iceberg with an area of about 490 square miles, or slightly less than twice the size of the City of New York, calved from the Brunt Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea section of Antarctica. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
Last Saturday, a ragtag pirate band calling itself Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla invaded the port of Tampa, FL, kicking off the Gasparilla Pirate Fest, notionally in honor of Jose Gaspar, a brigand reputed to be the “Last Buccaneer.” The festival … Continue reading
We recently posted about the burial of the carcass of a beached humpback whale in the beach at Atlantic City, NJ. It was the second whale to come ashore in the city in the last month. Overall nine dead whales … Continue reading
Russia’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, has been out of service for years while undergoing maintenance for chronic operational problems. In just the most recent mishap, a fire broke out on the carrier, a few days before Christmas, while undergoing … Continue reading
The BBC reports that several popular beaches in Sydney, Australia have been closed after sharks attacked a dolphin in waters near the city. At least two bull sharks were spotted in the Shelly Beach area, in northern Sydney, after the … Continue reading
In June 2002 in the city of Newport, South East Wales, a mid-fifteenth-century sailing vessel was discovered during the construction of the Riverfront Theatre in the banks of the River Usk. Now, after two decades of documenting the remains of … Continue reading
At the end of December, we posted about a disturbing report that Greenland’s glaciers are melting 100 times faster than previously calculated. Now, a new study published this week in the journal Nature reveals that Greenland is warmer than it … Continue reading
The SS United States is a ship from another era. One of the last great ocean liners, very different from modern cruise ships, she was designed to carry passengers across oceans. On her maiden voyage in 1952, she set speed … Continue reading
On Saturday, January 14, the US Coast Guard rescued seven crewmembers from the tug Legacy, disabled and drifting about 30 miles off the coast of Ocean City, New Jersey. The Coast Guard reports that the tug Legacy notified watchstanders at Coast … Continue reading
Marine Log reports that French hospitality giant Accor S.A. has signed a letter of intent with Chantiers de l’Atlantique covering the construction of two very large luxury sailing cruise ships. The shipbuilder says “the order will be signed within a few … Continue reading
Charles Eugene Morgan Jr., 93, known to all as Charley, passed away last weekend, just a few hours after his wife Maurine died. It has been said that Charley Morgan is the only person to ever single-handedly design, build, and … Continue reading
Fifty years ago this November, the residents of Florence, Oregon learned how not to dispose of a dead whale We recently posted about the burial of a dead humpback whale on the beach in Atlantic City. This was the correct … Continue reading
The Maryland Board of Pilots has decided to enact a rule change that forbids on-duty pilots from using their phones after the Coast Guard determined that a distracted pilot’s cell phone use contributed to a container ship grounding. In March … Continue reading
On Sunday, a crowd gathered to watch the examination and burial of the carcass of a beached humpback whale in the sand in the beach at Atlantic City, NJ. It was the second whale to come ashore in the city … Continue reading
The East Bay Light Station Bed and Breakfast Inn, at the entrance to San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay, is looking to hire two innkeepers for a period of two years. The joint positions, which start in April of … Continue reading
In 1982 during the Falklands conflict, the Royal Navy commandeered two British container ships and converted them into impromptu carriers carrying Harrier jump jets and Harrier helicopters. Now over 40 years later, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard is reported to … Continue reading
On December 22, the new Ollis Class Staten Island ferry Sandy Ground suffered an engine room fire at the height of rush hour, requiring the evacuation of 866 passengers and 16 crew members aboard. The ferry was anchored as firefighters … Continue reading
Eight hundred passengers, reported to be mostly Americans, found themselves stranded on the cruise ship Viking Orion off South Australia for seven days after the ship was denied permission to dock in Adelaide, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Hobart, due to marine growth … Continue reading
Happy New Year to all! Here is a poem by Cicely Fox Smith, from Full Sail: More Sea Songs and Ballads, sung as a ballad by Larry Kaplan. New Year by Cicely Fox Smith … Continue reading
Tonight, millions will watch in person, online, or on television, as a jeweled ball drops in Times Square in New York City at exactly midnight to mark the arrival of the New Year, 2023. In recent years, the crowd in … Continue reading