Two years ago we posted about the largely overlooked maritime evacuation of lower Manhattan on 9/11. With the bridges and tunnels shut down, between 350,000 and 500,000 people were evacuated by water in just a few hours. It was the largest maritime evacuation since … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
I am trying to decide whether this story is more funny or scary. As there were no serious injuries, I am leaning toward funny. Thanks to Dirk Bal for passing it along. Finnish ferry ran aground while the captain was stuck in the … Continue reading
The National Park Service has decided to dismantle the 96-year-old steam lumber schooner, Wapama, a National Historic Landmark. The ship is the last of of some 225 steam schooners that served the lumber trade and other coastal services along the Pacific Coast. … Continue reading
Five years ago, a three month old dolphin’s tale became caught in a blue crab trap off the coast of Florida. The blood supply to her tail was cut off by the trap rope. The dolphin, which was given the … Continue reading
One year ago, Laura Dekker, now 15, set sail on her attempt to sail around the world alone. If she continues at her current pace, she will be the youngest person to ever complete a solo circumnavigation. Perhaps the most interesting … Continue reading
Just over a week ago we posted about a a bright orange jelly or “goo” that floated up on the beaches of Kivalina, a remote Alaskan village of just over 400 residents. At the time scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric … Continue reading
Last July, a Parks Canada expedition discovered the wreck of HMS Investigator, a ship which sank in 1853 after becoming trapped in the ice while searching for Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition in the Canadian Arctic. Exploration of the wreck … Continue reading
In June we posted that the 31-meter Turanor PlanetSolar, a catamaran yacht fitted with 536 square meters of photovoltaic panels, had successfully sailed halfway around the world, from Monaco to Brisbane, Australia, powered solely by the sun. The yacht recently arrived in … Continue reading
The Federated States of Micronesia, along with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, announced earlier this month that they were establishing a shark sanctuary … Continue reading
The Manchester Ship Canal, from Liverpool to Manchester, was built in 1894 and was once large enough to serve any ocean-going ship. Now a new container barge service is operating on the canal, saving on costs and cutting carbon emissions. … Continue reading
In 1914, the opening of the Panama Canal shortened the distance by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by almost 7,000 miles, eliminating the need to round treacherous Cape Horn. One hundred years later, in 2014, a new third set of locks … Continue reading
I am glad that I am of the age to have seen ships constructed the old fashioned way. Not all that long ago, shipyards still built ships from the bottom up. The shipyard first fabricated the double bottom sub-assemblies and then … Continue reading
The most interesting question about the recently revealed cheating scandal on personnel training exams on the nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, USS Memphis, is whether the cheating was an isolated case or whether the practice is more widespread. The Navy says the … Continue reading
Having recently visited the USCG Cutter Barque Eagle, I can wholeheartedly agree with the title of Tido Holtkamp’s book, A Perfect Lady: A Pictorial History of the Coast Guard Barque Eagle, which has recently gone into its second printing. The ship is indeed a … Continue reading
In May, we posted about the death of Claude Choules at 110. Choules was the last surviving veteran of World War I. Yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that the ex-Royal Navy Largs Bay, a Bay class landing ship dock, would be commissioned as … Continue reading