Remembering Robert Smalls – Former Slave, Pilot of the Planter, First Black Captain in the US Navy & US Congressman

Here is a story well worth retelling; an updated repost in honor of Black History Month; the remarkable story of Robert Smalls. On May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls, a 23-year-old slave, who served as the pilot of the Confederate armed transport, CSS Planter, … Continue reading

SpaceX Launch Scrubbed Due to Cruise Ship in Exclusion Zone

On Sunday, 30 seconds before the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was due to take off from Florida, the launch was scrubbed when a cruise ship sailed into the launch hazard area. Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas ventured into the … Continue reading

Irish Fishermen Threaten To Disrupt Russian Naval Exercises, Russia Backs Down

Russia planned on holding naval exercises off the coast of Ireland. Fishermen from County Cork on Ireland’s southern coast saw the exercises as a threat to their livelihood and threatened to continue fishing as usual, despite the threatened use of … Continue reading

Researchers Discover Vast Icefish Colony with 60 Million Nests Beneath Antarctica’s Weddell Sea

In February 2021, researchers on the German research vessel Polarstern discovered, quite by accident, the largest fish breeding area ever found near the Filchner Ice Shelf in the south of the Antarctic Weddell Sea. A towed camera system filmed thousands … Continue reading

Nippon Foundation’s MEGURI 2040 Project Demonstrates Autonomous Car Ferry

The Nippon Foundation in partnership with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., and Shin Nihonkai Ferry Co., Ltd., successfully completed a demonstration test of the world’s first fully autonomous ship navigation systems on a large car ferry, conducted on the Iyonada Sea … Continue reading

Kat Cordiner, British Rower With Incurable Cancer, Sets New World Record With Two Teammates in Atlantic Crossing

SkyNews reports that three British women, one of whom has incurable cervical cancer, have shattered the world record for rowing across the Atlantic in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Kat Cordiner and teammates Abby Johnston and Charlotte Irving arrived in … Continue reading

Cruise Ship Crystal Symphony Diverted to Bahamas to Avoid Arrest

The Crystal Symphony left from Miami on January 8 on a two-week cruise and was supposed to return to the same port on Saturday. After a United States federal judge ordered the ship seized over a lawsuit regarding unpaid fuel … Continue reading

Jean-Jacques Savin’s “Last Challenge at Sea” Ends in Tragedy

Jean-Jacques Savin, a 75-year-old French adventurer, described his attempt to row across the Atlantic Ocean solo from Portugal to the Caribbean, as his “last challenge at sea.” Sadly, that challenge ended in tragedy. Savin was found dead inside his boat … Continue reading

No Joke — SNL Comedians Buy Staten Island Ferry

It sounds like the setup to a joke or a late-night skit — two comedians from NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Pete Davidson and Colin Jost, along with comedy club owner Paul Italia, just bought a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat. … Continue reading

In Aftermath of Volcanic Eruption, Tonga Plunged Into Digital Darkness

The underwater volcano that erupted off Tonga on Saturday with the force of 500 Hiroshima nuclear bombs covered the island nation with ash and sent tsunami waves of up 50 feet (15 meters) striking some islands, killing at least three. Efforts are … Continue reading

Congratulations to Admiral Jude Terry, First Female Royal Navy Admiral

Congratulations to ex-Commodore Judith Helen “Jude” Terry, who was appointed today the first female admiral in the history of the British Royal Navy.  Rear Admiral Terry, 48, with 25 years’ service around the globe and at home in the UK, … Continue reading

Flight 1549, NY Harbor Ferries, & the Two “Miracles on the Hudson”

An updated repost — a look back at the twin miracles on the Hudson from thirteen years ago yesterday. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency water landing in the Hudson River. If the plane’s pilots, … Continue reading

Underwater Volcanic Eruption Near Tonga Triggers Tsunami

Tsunami waves caused by a major underwater eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano have hit the Pacific country of Tonga. A tsunami warning sent residents scrambling to higher ground. Tonga’s capital lies just 65km north of the volcano, on … Continue reading

HMS Victory & the Ship of Theseus, Thoughts on Varied Lives of A Ship

We recently posted about an announcement that an additional £35m is being committed for continued repairs to the HMS Victory, specifically to replace rotting planking and frames and to complete the rerigging of the ship. As it has been 256 … Continue reading