A few days ago we posted about the boats Washington used to cross the Delaware. Designs have changed since then, Here is a wonderful animation by Raphaël Pierrot of the new French Navy landing craft, the engin de débarquement amphibie rapide … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
The reality TV stars, the Sea Shepherds, took their newest speed boat, the Brigitte Bardot, out on the Southern Ocean recently, which proved to be more than it could handle. The Brigitte Bardot reportedly cracked its main hull and severely damaged the port … Continue reading
In 2009, the non profit foundation that owns the schooner Virginia, the Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation, ran out of cash. Burdened with $1.6 million of debt, they were forced to lay up the schooner. Now, the outlook for the schooner … Continue reading
The Russian fishing vessel Sparta, which was holed by ice below the waterline in the Ross Sea off Antarctica on December 16th and has been trapped in the ice for over ten days, is now undergoing temporary repairs. On Monday, … Continue reading
More progress in the completion of Rhode Island’s tall ship, SSV Oliver Hazard Perry. The not yet tall ship was recently launched at Sims Metal Management in Providence and towed to Senesco Marine in North Kingstown to continue construction, including … Continue reading
In 2008, a young Kemp’s ridley sea turtle washed up, stranded, in the Netherlands. Kemp’s ridleys are the smallest and rarest of all sea turtles and are a critically endangered species. The Kemp’s ridley turtles typically live in the warm waters of the Gulf … Continue reading
The plan was for the South Korean icebreaker Araon accompanied by the fishing vessel Chiyo Maru No 3 to break through the ice to reach the stricken Russian fishing vessel Sparta today on Christmas Day. The Sparta was holed below … Continue reading
Scuba Santa swimming with sharks may be a relatively new Christmas tradition but it is remarkably widespread. From the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky; to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston; to … Continue reading
I love walking the beach in the wintertime, though I would be surprised to come across a 100 foot long Santa Claus. In 2008, sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik and his team created a sand sculpture of Santa Claus at Puri beach … Continue reading
The South Korean icebreaker Araon and the fishing vessel Chiyo Maru No 3 may reach the stricken Russian fishing vessel Sparta on Christmas Day. The Sparta is a 157 feet long fishing vessel with a crew of 32 aboard which … Continue reading
The maxi-trimaran Banque Populaire V has now rounded all three of the major capes; Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and now Cape Horn; in its quest to set the record for the fastest non-stop sail around the world. This … Continue reading
Lobster traps, also known as lobster pots, are ubiquitous around the coastal towns of New England. Around this time of year, Christmas trees built from stacked lobster pots rise in many towns along the coast. With fishermen being fishermen, a friendly competition between the … Continue reading
According to an ancient sailors’ legend, we are in the middle of the Halcyon days – seven days of calm on either side of the winter solstice. The legend says that the halycon bird lays its eggs on the winter … Continue reading
The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge which bills itself as “The World’s Roughest Rowing Race” is living up to its name. As we posted previously, seventeen boats set off December 4th to row across the Atlantic from Spain’s San Sebastian de la Gomera … Continue reading
Last September, PortSide New York mounted a multi-media exhibit on the historic buoy tender, Lilac, about the extraordinary and little-known maritime role played in the recovery from the attacks of 9/11, from the evacuation to refuse removal and rebuilding. A video … Continue reading
A fascinating glimpse in today’s New York Times at the work of Dr. Edith Widder who is using bioluminescence to measure the level of pollution in coastal sediments. Illuminating the Perils of Pollution, Nature’s Way [iframe: width=”480″ height=”373″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” … Continue reading
The Russian fishing vessel Sparta is afloat, though just barely after being holed by ice at the edge of the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica. Why was an non-ice strengthened fishing boat fishing in such treacherous waters in the first place? That is the question being raised by the Vyacheslav Martyanov, … Continue reading
Perhaps if I worked as fast as the folks in this video, I might get something done. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along the link to the building of the lugger Grayhound. In March of 2010, we posted about … Continue reading
On December 15th last year a boat loaded with asylum seekers wrecked on Australia’s Christmas Island, killing 48 or more than half of the passengers aboard. On Saturday, a boat bound for Christmas Island sank off Indonesia roughly 50 miles off … Continue reading
The Russian jack-up drilling rig, Kolskaya, capsized while under tow in a storm in the Sea of Okhotsk, 200 KM off Sakhalin Island at 12.45 local time (0145 GMT) Sunday. Of the 67 crew on board, 14 were rescued, four are reported to have … Continue reading