After more than a year long ordeal, British sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler were released today by Somali pirates. The retired couple was seized by the pirates on October 22, 2009. Paul and Rachel Chandler released by Somali pirates … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
How could an fire in one of two engine rooms do sufficient damage to the electrical distribution system on the Carnival Splendor to completely disable the ship? The answer isn’t obvious. The Carnival Splendor is diesel electric powered, which is to say, instead of … Continue reading
Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born today 160 years ago in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father grandfather and great-uncles were light house engineers and designers, but Robert was too sickly as a child to follow in the family profession. Instead, he became a writer, … Continue reading
It started as a tweet ( a post on Twitter) from Carnival Cruise Lines: “You can view Sr Cruise Director, John Heald’s new blog post about his experience onboard Carnival Splendor here.” OK, that sounded interesting, I suppose. … Continue reading
On Thursday morning, Nasco Diamond loaded with 55,000 tonnes of nickel ore from Indonesia to China was reported missing and believed to have sunk off the southern coast of Japan. Five of the twenty five crew have been accounted for, with at least … Continue reading
The Canadian War Museum is marking the 100th anniversary of Canada’s navy with a fascinating new online exhibit – Canada’s Naval History. Canadian War Museum launches online naval history exhibition “Canada’s Naval History explores the wide range of this country’s … Continue reading
On this anniversary of the armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day or the eleventh month that ended the “war to end all wars,” it seems worthwhile to remember the often overlooked role of merchant mariners in national defense. Though it … Continue reading
Update: One blogger has plotted the trajectories and determined that the contrail was that of US Airways flight 808. At least no one is claiming that it was a weather balloon. The Daily Show has its own spin. On … Continue reading
Perhaps the best news for the stranded passengers on the disabled cruise ship, Carnival Splendor, is that the flush toilets aboard are back in service and that the ship is proceeding slowly under tow to the mainland. Still lacking refrigeration on … Continue reading
Thirty five years ago today the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, loaded with more 26,000 tons of taconite pellets, sank in a November gale in Lake Superior. All 29 of her officers and crew were lost. The sinking was the greatest … Continue reading
Klondike shipwreck brought to life with 3D scans A Gold Rush-era shipwreck at the bottom of a Yukon lake is coming to life with the help of cutting-edge digital 3D scan images. The images were produced in June by researchers … Continue reading
Update: Tugs have been dispatched from Long Beach to tow the stricken cruise ship to Ensenada, Mexico to disembark passengers. An early morning fire on Monday in the engine room on the Carnival Splendor has left the ship dead in the water in … Continue reading
Sad news from over the weekend. A post-mortem on the 35 dead pilot whales was cancelled Sunday due to bad weather. Whales found dead on Donegal beach … Continue reading
Bayshore Discovery Project, the good folks who keep the historic schooner A.J. Meerwald sailing, are having their yearly Oyster Fest! this Friday, November 12th at the Centerton Country Club in Pittsgrove, NJ. Today, Monday November 8th, is the last day to reserve tickets. From … Continue reading
The CBC’s program “Land and Sea” broadcast their documentary “Concordia: Tall Ship Down” today, focusing on the knockdown and sinking of the SV Concordia. It can be watched on-line at the link below. The documentary doesn’t answer the outstanding questions about … Continue reading
In September, we posted that the Gipsy Moth IV, the famous yacht sailed by Sir Francis Chichester singlehanded around the world was for sale. Last week, it was reported that two anonymous donors donated more than £250,000 to the United … Continue reading
The 150 windowless inside staterooms on the new 4,000 passenger cruise ship, Disney Dream, will have something unusual – virtual portholes. High def cameras pointing port, starboard, fore and aft will transmit the appropriate view to the cabin “port holes” … Continue reading
The MV Samho Dream, a Korean VLCC, and its crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos, was ransomed for $9.5 million dollars. It had by hijacked by Somali pirates last April. The MV Golden Blessing, a Singaporean chemical tanker, … Continue reading
The 36 meter steel schooner Noorderlicht celebrates her one hundredth birthday this year. With ten double cabins for passengers, she cruises along the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the summer and coastal Norway in the Autumn. Her winter employment is what … Continue reading
The Penobscot Marine Museum is seeking submissions from artists in all visual media for a juried art exhibit entitled “The Art of the Boat.” The show will examine the artistic aspects of boat design and construction, and will run from May through … Continue reading