Why Did Sailors Pull the Gun Carriage Bearing the Queen’s Coffin?

The BBC recently reported on a young Royal Navy sailor, Able Seaman Hollie Randle, one of 142 sailors who pulled the gun carriage bearing Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin in the state funeral procession. Seaman Randle said that she was “overwhelmed” … Continue reading

Saildrone Sails Through 50′ Waves Inside Cat 4 Hurricane Fiona

Saildrone, Inc. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have released video footage gathered by a Saildrone uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) from inside Hurricane Fiona, a Category 4 hurricane, barreling across the Atlantic Ocean. For the second year, NOAA … Continue reading

Update: “Fat Leonard” Detained in Venezuela, Trying to Flee to Russia

In early September, just weeks before his sentencing in a decade-long Navy bribery and corruption scandal, Leonard Glenn Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” escaped from house arrest in his San Diego home and fled the country. The Malaysian businessman is … Continue reading

Researcher Solves Mystery of Ancient Mediterranean Trade Routes Sailing Replica Ship

Ancient trade routes in the Mediterranean have long been a mystery. How was it that sailing ships of antiquity, that could not sail well to weather, succeeded in carrying grain and other cargoes from the east to Rome against the … Continue reading

S/V Denis Sullivan Sold, Leaving the Great Lakes for Boston

The 137-foot Denis Sullivan — the world’s only replica of a 19th-century three-masted Great Lakes schooner — will soon be leaving the Great Lakes bound for Boston, MA. Milwaukee’s Discovery World has sold the schooner to World Ocean School, a nonprofit … Continue reading

Scientists May Have Found a ‘Super-Earth’ That Could Be an Ocean-Covered Water World

ScienceAlert.com reports the discovery of an exoplanet just 100 light-years from Earth that appears to be the best candidate yet for a sloshy, water-covered ocean world. It’s called TOI-1452b, and measurements of its size and mass suggest a density profile consistent … Continue reading

When the Frigate USS Stein Was Attacked by a Colossal Squid

The legend of the Kraken, a giant cephalopod from Greek and Norse mythology that attacked ships and dragged sailors to their doom, is many hundreds of years old. Here is an unlikely, but apparently true, story of the US Navy … Continue reading

Sailor Who Died on Battleship USS Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor Attack Finally Laid to Rest

Herbert “Bert” Jacobson was 21 when he died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Over 80 years later, he was finally laid to rest yesterday in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. He was one of … Continue reading

Losing “Fat Leonard” — More Major Blunders in Long-Running Navy Corruption Scandal

On the morning of September 4, at 7:35 AM, Leonard Glenn Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” cut his ankle bracelet monitor and fled house arrest in San Diego. “Fat Leonard,” the 350 pound Malaysian businessman at the center of the … Continue reading

Boat Capsize in NZ That Killed Five May Have Been Caused by Whale

The BBC reports that five people died in New Zealand after a birdwatching boat capsized, possibly after colliding with a whale. Eleven people, mostly from the birdwatching group, were onboard when the boat capsized on Saturday in Goose Bay near … Continue reading

Megamax Container Cranes Arrive in New York Harbor on BigLift Baffin

Three megamax container cranes have arrived in the Port of New York and New Jersey on the Netherlands-flagged heavy-lift ship BigLift Baffin. They will be offloaded and installed at the Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  The new cranes, built … Continue reading

From Carp to Copi — Renaming an Invasive Species to Make it More Palatable

If you can’t beat them, eat them. That is the idea at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as one approach to managing the ongoing invasion of invasive carp in the Mississippi and connecting rivers. They even propose renaming the … Continue reading

More Navy Corruption — MSC Director Convicted of Bribery in Korea

In a case with distinct echoes of the Navy’s almost decade-long “Fat Leonard” scandal, a former U.S. Navy director was convicted for his role in a bribery conspiracy and for lying to federal officials, according to authorities. Stars and Stripes reports … Continue reading

Breaking News : Fat Leonard Escapes House Arrest

When it appeared that the decade-long US Navy corruption scandal focused on Leonard Glenn Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” was winding down, the saga takes a new turn. The Malaysian businessman, who confessed to directing a massive bribery scandal of … Continue reading

African Penguins Endangered by Shipping Noise in Algoa Bay

A disturbing report from Reuters:  The already endangered African penguin is being driven away from its natural habitat off the east coast of South Africa due to noise from ship refueling, a scientific study has found. The number of African … Continue reading