A federal judge dismissed the most recent felony convictions of five retired military officers who had admitted to accepting bribes from Leonard Francis, a Malaysian contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard,” in one of the biggest corruption scandals in Navy history. The … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
The Department of Justice announced yesterday the arrest of Robert P. Burke, a retired four-star Navy Admiral, on criminal charges in a bribery scheme that allegedly awarded a sole-source contract to a company in 2021 in exchange for a $500,000-a-year … Continue reading
Back in 2021, we posted about Mohammed Aisha, the First Officer of the MV Aman, who had been stranded on the ship for almost four years, stuck off the Egyptian coast after the ship’s owners in Bahrain faced financial difficulties. … Continue reading
A recent article in the journal Oceanus, hosted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), raises the question, “Are offshore wind farms harming whales?” The short answer is “no.” They write: A collection of seemingly grass-roots organizations claim that offshore … Continue reading
BBC reports that after decades of legal wrangling, the Colombian government has started exploring the wreck of the 18th-century Spanish galleon San José, dubbed the “holy grail of shipwrecks.” The South American nation has also declared a protected archaeological area around … Continue reading
The USS Harder, said to be the US Navy submarine that sank the most Japanese warships during World War Two, has been found in the South China Sea, some 80 years after it was sunk. The Harder, a Gato class … Continue reading
We recently posted about the sinking of the cargo schooner De Gallant early Tuesday morning, 22 nautical miles north of the Bahamas island of Great Inagua, with eight sailors on board. Six of the crew were rescued from life rafts … Continue reading
After more than seven years in US waters, the longship Draken Harald Hårfagre, known as the world’s largest Viking ship currently sailing, is returning home to Norway. The 115-foot-long ship left its temporary home at Mystic Seaport Museum on Sunday, … Continue reading
The cargo schooner De Gallant capsized and sank early Tuesday morning 22 nautical miles north of the Bahamas island of Great Inagua with eight sailors on board. So far, six people have been rescued from a life raft with two … Continue reading
Researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Kelpie Geosciences in the U.K. recently caught some amazing video footage of a terrifying deep-sea squid that flashed a pair of brilliant “headlights” at the moment it goes in for the … Continue reading
The trapped container ship Dali will “hopefully” be refloated this week after authorities set off charges at a key portion of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Monday evening, an official said. The charges helped demolish a portion of … Continue reading
An updated repost appropriate for Mother’s Day. Sailors choose their tattoos for various reasons. Among the most popular sailor tattoos are anchors, hearts, and swallows. Not infrequently, “Mom” also appeared as a reminder of loved ones and home. On Mother’s … Continue reading
Tens of thousands of people welcomed the Olympic torch Wednesday in the southern French city of Marseille, marking another milestone in the lead-up to the Summer Games in Paris. The flame arrived after a 12-day trip from Greece onboard the … Continue reading
On Saturday, May 4, the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia arrived at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in New York Harbor dragging the carcass of a 44-foot-long endangered sei whale, caught on the ship’s bulbous bow. Sei whales are endangered and are … Continue reading
Still catching-up on interesting nautical news that transpired while I away. We would be remiss to not offer our belated congratulations to Skipper Heather Thomas and the crew of the yacht Maiden, who beat 14 other teams to win the … Continue reading
Update: One of the world’s busiest shipping channels was closed to traffic in both directions after Alexis, an 81,623 dwt bulk carrier, ran aground on May 8, in the Bosporus Strait, connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Four tugs, … Continue reading
In the last week or so, over 1,000 sea lions have hauled out on San Francisco’s Pier 39, K-Dock, the largest assembly of the boisterous pinnipeds in roughly 15 years. As noted on the Pier 39 website: A few California … Continue reading
I have been away for the better part of a month on a transatlantic sail from Barbados to Malta on a five-masted square rigger. (Click here for a short video of the ship under sail.) I had limited internet access … Continue reading
A short video of the Iowa-class battleship USS New Jersey on the blocks in drydock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. As noted by the New York Times, no other U.S. battleship served in more military campaigns. Christened on the first … Continue reading
Over Labor Day weekend in 2019, a fire broke out in the early morning hours on the Conception, a 75-foot wood and fiberglass dive vessel in Santa Barbara Harbor, CA. All 33 passengers sleeping below decks and one of the … Continue reading