The ongoing cleanup following the fuel oil spill from the grounded bulk carrier Wakashio off Mauritius turned deadly when a tug assisting in the effort sank after colliding with an oil barge. The tug Sir Gaetan Duval had a crew … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
SINKEX sounds to me like a drain cleaner and RIMPAC could be something for a spare tire. In fact, RIMPAC is an acronym for Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, held in biennially on … Continue reading
This seems like a suitable post for an overcast Monday morning. In the town of Antirrio in southern Greece, a three-year-old girl climbed aboard a unicorn at the beach. The unicorn’s wings caught the wind and soon the little girl … Continue reading
We recently posted about the arrest of Steven Bannon, ex-senior advisor to Trump, aboard Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui’s 152′ yacht, cruising in Long Island Sound. Earlier in August, another mega-yacht was central in an unfolding scandal that brought down yet … Continue reading
The two items in the news appeared within hours of each other. The first, dated August 28, 17:09, was headlined, “Street artist Banksy funds pink boat to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.” The second dated August 29, 5:45 AM was … Continue reading
The government of Mauritius announced last Monday that “the planned sinking of the stem (forward) section of the [bulk carrier Wakashio] has been completed and at around 3.30pm was no longer visible on the sea surface. While some sources referred … Continue reading
A fire broke out on the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard on July 12 while the ship was dockside at the Naval Base San Diego. Now, the Navy is investigating whether arson was the cause of the fire. A … Continue reading
US Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a medium icebreaker, is limping back to its homeport in Seattle after suffering a machinery space fire on Aug. 18, the Coast Guard announced on Tuesday. When the fire broke out, Healy was underway on a … Continue reading
Covid-19 has claimed its first U.S, flagged cruise operator. Citing the pandemic, Blount announced that it is ending its cruise operations and is selling its three small overnight cruise ships. The family will focus on its shipbuilding activities. “It was … Continue reading
Here is wonderful drone footage from Ryan Smith of the Mayflower II transiting the Cape Cod Canal and then arriving in its homeport of Plymouth, MS. Her arrival had been delayed by the pandemic and then by Tropical Storm Isaias. … Continue reading
2020 has been quite a year so far. A global pandemic, economic collapse, a derecho in the Midwest, and out of control wildfires in California. What next? Now, for the first time in recorded history, we may see two hurricanes … Continue reading
The Associated Press is reporting that the RV Polarstern, a German icebreaker carrying scientists on a year-long international expedition in the high Arctic, has reached the North Pole after making an unplanned detour there due to lighter-than-usual sea ice conditions. … Continue reading
Steve Bannon, ex-Trump adviser and campaign chief executive, was arrested on Wednesday, aboard the Lady May, a 152′ aluminum luxury yacht, owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui. The yacht was cruising in Long Island Sound near Westport, CT, when … Continue reading
The 99-year-old four-masted steel bark Sedov is sailing home by an unusual route. She is sailing North from Vladivostok and transiting the Arctic by the Northern Sea Route to reach her home port of Kaliningrad. Crossing the Arctic will be … Continue reading
The Capesize bulk carrier Wakashio, which ran hard aground on a reef in Mauritius on July 25, broke in two this Sunday. The bow of the ship has been taken under tow and moved away from the reef. Reports are … Continue reading
Martin Creamer, who died recently at the age of 104, was a retired professor of geography at Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, in Glassboro, N.J. He is best remembered, however, for sailing around the world on a 36-foot sailboat … Continue reading
In May of this year, we posted Scrambling to Save an Engine for the Historic Tanker Mary A. Whalen. The post described how the historic tanker Mary A. Whalen was in dire need of parts to restore its diesel engine. … Continue reading
Earlier this year, we posted “The Incredible Journey of Belugas Little White and Little Grey,” about the 6,000-mile transport in June 2019 of the two whales by air, land, and sea from an aquarium in Shanghai to a new home … Continue reading
Comment/Replies to Posts are now back. We have also shifted to a much more mobile-friendly format, which is to say that the blog should be easier to read from a phone or tablet. There is still some tweaking and updating … Continue reading
USS Essex, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, recently arrived in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor. Rather than carrying just helicopters, MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, or even F-35B Lightning II fighter jets, the ship had a deck load of historic World War II warplanes. … Continue reading