Vice Adm. Linda L. Fagan was nominated as the next Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday. The nomination by President Biden, pending approval by the U.S. Senate, would make Fagan the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
For several years now we have followed the progress of the autonomous sailing drones developed by the aptly name firm, Saildrone, in oceanographic service in the Pacific and Bering Seas. In January, we posted about Saildrone’s new 72’ long Surveyor, … Continue reading
Antarctica’s iceberg A68 has broken up into a myriad of small pieces so that the US National Ice Center says are no longer worth tracking. Once the world’s biggest iceberg in existence, A68 became an unexpected social media star in … Continue reading
The American Bureau of Shipping completed its survey and concluded that the ultra-large container ship Ever Given, which had blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week at the end of March, was fit for onward passage. Unfortunately, the ship … Continue reading
In June 2020, an intense fire broke out in the bow of the French nuclear attack submarine Perle, while the ship was in drydock in Toulon in southern France. The submarine’s 48-megawatt nuclear reactor that had been removed when it … Continue reading
The lift boat SEACOR Power capsized in the Gulf of Mexico in high winds. The 129′ vessel, used in oil and gas exploration, capsized eight miles from Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Tuesday afternoon. Eighteen were reported to be aboard the … Continue reading
Here is a short video from a 2021 day sail out of Galveston on the 1877-built square-rigged iron barque Elissa. The Elissa Sail Out of Galveston April 2021 Galveston Historical Foundation … Continue reading
We recently posted about plans to build an emission-free bulk carrier powered by compressed hydrogen and rotors sails to be in service by 20204. The European Flagships Project has announced plans to begin operations of a hydrogen-powered cargo vessel on … Continue reading
Great Britain’s Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died yesterday at the age of 99. He has been referred to as a sailor prince. The grandson of an admiral of the fleet and first sea lord, he was commissioned as … Continue reading
In the deep ocean, the Monorhaphis chuni, a type of glass sponge, can grow to be 10 feet long. A single silicon spine, or spicule, anchors itself to the seafloor, around which the softer sponge body is supported. The spine … Continue reading
Marine Log reports that Norwegian shipping firm Egil Ulvan Rederi has been awarded a contract to build what is claimed will be the world’s first zero-emission bulk carrier. The 88-meter, 5,000 DWT self-unloading vessel will be used on a Norwegian … Continue reading
The Vice President and the Secretary of the Navy now each have new “heritage desks,” built by Navy Seabees, using wood, fasteners, and fittings from historic US Navy ships. The desk for Vice President Kamala Harris is made from wood, … Continue reading
When American and British whaling ships hunted for sperm whales in the North Pacific in the early 1800s, they noted something disturbing. After initially good results, the whalers’ success in harpooning the whales fell by about 58% over the first … Continue reading
When the ultra-large container ship Ever Given blocked traffic in the Suez Canal recently, Russia’s energy ministry saw an opportunity. The ministry suggested that the shutdown of the canal highlighted the safety and sustainability of its Northern Sea Route (NSR). … Continue reading
In November 2019, RV Petrel located the scattered wreckage of a World War II warship at a depth of 21,180 ft in the Philippine Sea. The wreck, thought to be the deepest wreck of a warship ever discovered, was suspected to … Continue reading
One year ago today, Captain Brett Crozier walked down the gangway of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. He had been relieved of command after the San Francisco Chronicle reported the contents of a leaked letter he wrote to his … Continue reading
The combination of a peak high tide, excavation by dredgers, and the combined pull of more than a dozen tugs has finally freed the ultra-large container ship Ever Given. The 400-meter long container ship carrying 18,000 containers ran aground last … Continue reading
Tugs and dredgers have been making some progress in refloated the stranded ultra-large container ship, Ever Given, that has blocked traffic in the Suez Canal since last Tuesday. The next best hope of freeing the stranded ship will come on … Continue reading
The saying goes that the tide floats all boats. The current hope is that a peak high tide on Monday may allow salvors to refloat the ultra-large container ship Ever Given that has been blocking all traffic in the Suez … Continue reading
The Ever Given, the 20,000 TEU container that has been blocking all traffic on the Suez Canal since Tuesday, is one of the largest container ships in the world and one of the largest ships allowed to transit the Canal. … Continue reading