Name UK’s New Polar Research Ship, But RRS Boaty McBoatface ?

The British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is asking for suggestions for a name for the new polar research ship, currently under construction at Cammell Laird’s yard in Birkenhead.  The closing date for entries is 16th April 2016. They have gotten … Continue reading

Help SUNY Maritime at Fort Schuyler Replace the Empire State VI

We recently posted about Scott Kelly, the American astronaut who spent almost a year in space on the international Space Station. Scott Kelly is an alumnus of the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler.  Before graduating … Continue reading

Warning: Rogue Wave Ahead — Predicting the Ship Killing Waves

Originally posted on gCaptain by Rick Spilman, on March 3, 2016. Reposted with permission. Rogue waves are real sea monsters. Rising many times higher than surrounding waves, they have the power to sink ships and to cripple offshore platforms. Recently, … Continue reading

Lessons Learned? Anthem of the Seas Cruise Cut Short to Avoid Storm

Has Royal Caribbean Lines learned its lesson? Just days after a passenger filed a lawsuit against RCL for knowingly sending the cruise ship Anthem of the Seas into a winter storm off Hatteras in early February, the cruise line cut … Continue reading

Update: Battle over the Pocket Battleship Graf Spee’s Nazi Eagle

What has been referred to as the Second Battle of the River Platte, may be coming to an end. In 2010, we posted about a legal battle over the salvaging of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee which was scuttled … Continue reading

Coast Guard Rescues Fishermen Off New York’s Rockaway Inlet

Those of us around New York harbor have been watching a dramatic rescue unfold this morning. Around 2 AM, the 76-foot scallop fishing vessel Carolina Queen III, with 7 aboard, ran aground off Rockaway beach near the East Rockaway Inlet, … Continue reading

Remembering the SS Marine Electric — a Tragedy that Made Us All Safer

Thirty-three years ago today, on February 12, 1983, the collier SS Marine Electric loaded with 24,800 tons of steam coal, capsized and sank in a storm 30 miles off the coast of Virginia. Thirty-one of the 34 crew members died. While nothing … Continue reading