After seven years of reconstruction and restoration in Boothbay Harbor, ME, the historic schooner Ernestina-Morrissey returned to her home port in New Bedford, MA earlier this week. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the Ernestina-Morrissey sailing into New … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
When the 51,000 DWT Maltese-flagged tanker Alithina II sailed in ballast from Nigeria to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria she carried a most unusual cargo. Because she sailed in ballast and was riding high in the water, three stowaways were found … Continue reading
More news of orcas attacking sailboats in the Atlantic off the Iberian peninsula, in this case involving a sailing icon. Scuttlebutt Sailing News reports that a pod of orcas attacked Sir Robin Knox-Johnson while sailing his Farr 56 Sanjula, damaging … Continue reading
Yesterday, the US Coast Guard rescued an unidentified passenger who had gone overboard in the Gulf of Mexico from the cruise ship Carnival Valor on a voyage from New Orleans to Cozumel. While most cases of passengers who fall or … Continue reading
Last week, we posted about the drone attack on the 50,000 DWT product tanker Pacific Zircon, off the coast of Oman. Investigators sent aboard to assess the damage and to collect debris from the drone determined that the tanker was … Continue reading
LightSail 2, the Planetary Society‘s solar sailing spacecraft, is no more. On November 17th, the crowdfunded solar sailing spacecraft burned in a blaze of glory as it re-entered earth’s atmosphere after traveling 8 million kilometers (5 million miles) powered only … Continue reading
In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s like deja vu all over again.” Masks and vaccination mandates are returning to the cruise industry, at least for many cruise ships calling in Australia. In March of 2020 at the beginning of … Continue reading
Having overfished its own coastal waters, China is aggressively deploying a global fishing fleet to exploit fishing grounds thousands of miles from its shores. The New York Times reports that over the last two decades, China has built the world’s … Continue reading
The 50,000 DWT product tanker Pacific Zircon was struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman on Tuesday night. The ship is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. In a … Continue reading
Congratulations to Rear Admiral Joanna Nunan, a retired US Coast Guard two-star admiral, recently appointed to be the superintendent of the US Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point, NY, the first woman appointed as superintendent in the academy’s eight-decade history. … Continue reading
At the end of October, Russia announced that Ukraine had launched the “most massive attack by drones and remotely piloted surface vehicles on the waters of the Bay of Sevastopol in the history of the conflict.” Unconfirmed sources claim that … Continue reading
The US military has been having problems meeting its recruiting targets. In response, the US Coast Guard and the US Navy have been offering signing bonuses of up to $50,000 for certain billets, after the number of sailors plummeted, in … Continue reading
Coronet is a 131′ wooden-hull schooner yacht built for oil tycoon Rufus T. Bush in 1885. It is one of the oldest and largest vessels of its type in the world, and one of the last surviving grand sailing yachts … Continue reading
In June of last year, we posted that UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had announced the construction of a new national flagship intended to promote British businesses around the world. The proposal received a mixed response. As we noted in … Continue reading
An encouraging news story from Reuters. A smart buoy that can “hear” the ocean and monitor climate change is part of a new effort to help endangered whales avoid ship collisions on their journey from Antarctica to the equator. The … Continue reading
In June 2019, Federal authorities raided the container ship MSC Gayane when the ship docked in Philadephia. They found and seized 20 tonnes of cocaine, worth over a billion dollars, stashed in shipping containers. The seizure was the largest cocaine … Continue reading
Last year, we posted about French tire manufacturer Michelin’s Wing Sail Mobility (WISAMO) project design that features an automated, telescopic, inflatable wing sail system, which is expected to reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%. The project is taking a … Continue reading
A fascinating study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that seven ancient “clans” of sperm whales living in the vast Pacific Ocean maintain their cultural identity by distinctive patterns of clicks within their songs. … Continue reading
Analysis by H I Sutton, writing in NavalNews.com, suggests that the Russian Navy is re-establishing a base at Balaklava, a small inlet 5 miles south of Sevastopol that was the site of a major naval base during the Cold War. … Continue reading
Sky News reports that HMS Medway, a Royal Navy River-class offshore patrol vessel, pursued a drug smuggler’s boat after it was spotted near the Dominican Republic, alongside a US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment and accompanying aircraft. Once it was … Continue reading