When things are going well, the international shipping supply chain is largely invisible and can be taken for granted by most of us. These days things are not going well. The pandemic has triggered massive trade imbalances. Critical links in … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
Interesting news from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). While exploring a seamount by ROV from aboard the R/V Western Flyer in 2019 the MBARI team spotted what looked like an elephant’s tusk. The seamount is located 300 kilometers … Continue reading
Divers and scientists recorded the massive spawning of coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef last week in a yearly show of life that signals hope that the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem can recover from climate change. “It’s a sign … Continue reading
Crowdsourcing has arrived on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Thousands of “citizen scientist” volunteers have spent the last 12 weeks participating in the Great Reef Census 2021. Volunteer teams of scientists, divers, tourists, and skippers have ventured to the far corners … Continue reading
The University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center recently used its 3D printer to construct the world’s largest 3D-printed boat. In doing so, the university was awarded three Guinness World Records for the world’s largest prototype polymer 3D printer, … Continue reading
Would you rather take a voyage to the wreck of the Titanic or to the edge of space? A ticket for either happens to start at around $250,000, which makes the likelihood of experiencing either well out of reach for … Continue reading
In what is described as the first carbon-free humanitarian logistics effort, Grain de Sail has announced that it is partnering with two non-profits to deliver unused medical supplies from New York to the Dominican Republic by sail. Grain de Sail … Continue reading
A recent report by the National Academy of Public Administration concluded that the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point has “lost its way.” The congressionally ordered review of the federal merchant marine academy determined that the school was beset … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving to those on this side of the pond and below the 49th parallel. (The Canadians celebrated the holiday in October.) Here is an updated repost of a story I think is well worth retelling. Until the Civil War, … Continue reading
In 2017, we posted about an attempt to use Navy-trained dolphins in a last-ditch effort to capture and save the few surviving vaquita. The vaquita is a small porpoise found only in the Gulf of California that is in imminent … Continue reading
In August we posted Yara Birkeland, Crewless Electric Container Ship, First Voyage by Year’s End. We noted that if all went according to plan, the ship would make its first journey between two Norwegian towns before the end of the … Continue reading
For several years, we have followed the Planetary Society‘s efforts to launch a solar sail that would be propelled by the light radiating from the Sun. In July 2019, the society’s LightSail 2 deployed a 32-square-meter solar sail, about the … Continue reading
Following pressure from the United States, work has been halted on what intelligence agencies believe was a secret Chinese military facility under construction in a commercial port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Wall Street Journal reported that satellite imagery … Continue reading
A number of small Pacific island nations, including Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshal Islands, are facing an existential threat from rising sea levels. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), sea level in the western Pacific Ocean has been … Continue reading
Millions of bright red crabs have begun their yearly mating migration from the forest to the sea on Australia’s Christmas Island. The scarlet crabs are marching from the jungle toward the Indian Ocean, swarming roadways, parks, and residential neighborhoods, so … Continue reading
The maxi-trimaran Sails of Change (ex-Spindrift 2) and its crew of 11, led by Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard, are awaiting a favorable weather window to set off from La Trinité-sur-Mer, in southwest Brittany, on their latest attempt to claim … Continue reading
Recently, the media has been reporting the capture by lobsterman Billy Coppersmith of a rare “cotton candy” colored lobster. The speckled iridescent blue lobster, said to be a one in a 100 million catch, will not be sold or cooked. … Continue reading
Great news! David O’Neill, director of the Falls of Clyde International, announced yesterday on Facebook that their bid to remove the historic tall ship Falls of Clyde, from Honolulu harbor, has been accepted by the state officials at the Department … Continue reading
On late Thursday, November 18, and early Friday, November 19, those watching the sky over much of the globe will see the longest partial lunar eclipse in almost 600 years. The eclipse will last for nearly 3 and a half … Continue reading
The Barents Observer reports that more than 20 ships are either stuck or struggling to make it through increasingly thick sea-ice on the Arctic Northern Sea Route. They report that over the past several years, shipping along the Russian northern … Continue reading