Update: SS Badger – Days May Be Numbered as Special Provision Removed from Funding Bill

We recently posted about the SS Badger, a 410-foot long coal-fired passenger and vehicle ferry operating in Lake Michigan and the last coal-fired passenger vessel operating on the Great Lakes. Her supporters call her a national treasure, while to her … Continue reading

Bulk Carrier Cape Apricot Takes Out Largest Berth at North America’s Largest Coal Exporter

At around 1 AM on Friday morning, the Cape Apricot, a cape-sized bulk carrier, chartered to K Line, smashed through a coal conveyor serving the largest of two berths at Westshore Terminals in Vancouver, Canada.  An undetermined amount of coal … Continue reading

The Battle of Plattsburgh and Pearl Harbor

It seems to me that history is all about connections. Lawrence Gooley, writing in the Adirondack Almanack, notes how many ships present at the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, were named in remembrance of those who fought … Continue reading

Five Dead, Six Missing After Car Carrier Baltic Ace Sinks in Collision

Following the sinking last night of the car carrier Baltic Ace, the bodies of five sailors have been recovered.  Six of the crew are missing and presumed dead in the icy waters of the North Sea. The 485-foot long Bahamain-flagged   car … Continue reading

Car Carrier Baltic Ace Sinks After Collision with Container Ship Corvus J in Shipping Lanes Off Rotterdam

The car carrier, Baltic Ace, is reported to have collided with the container ship, Corvus J, this evening in crowded shipping lanes around 60 miles off the coast of Rotterdam.  The Baltic Ace is believed to have sunk. Her crew of 24 took to … Continue reading

Fireboat John J. Harvey – 2012 Fall Benefit, Sunday December 2, Pier 66 on the Hudson River

About a month ago, we posted about the Fireboat John J. Harvey – 2012 Fall Benefit which was originally scheduled for October 22nd.  Superstorm Sandy’s arrival the next day, however  made rescheduling necessary.  It is on again, this Sunday, December 2nd, and it sounds like a great … Continue reading

J-15 Fighter Jet Lands and Takes Off from China’s First Aircraft Carrier Liaoning

At the end of last September, the New York Times quoted un-named “Chinese and other military experts”  regarding the Liaoning, the first Chinese aircraft carrier to go into service, that “China does not have planes capable of landing on the carrier and so far … Continue reading

On Thanksgiving – A Look at the Mayflower II

In the United States, today is celebrated as Thanksgiving, commermorating a 1621 feast of thanks-giving at the Plymouth colony in present-day Massachusetts. The year before in November of 1620 the ship Mayflower had carried a group of just over 100 English and Dutch Separatists, known as Pilgrims, across the … Continue reading

Schooner Bessie A. White – Hide & Seek Beneath the Sands of Fire Island

Last Wednesday, we posted about the wreck of a wooden ship uncovered by Superstorm Sandy beneath the dunes of Fire Island, east of Davis Park.  The remains are thought to be the Bessie A. White, more than 90 years old, said Paula Valentine, public affairs specialist for … Continue reading

Superstorm Sandy, the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid, the Space Shuttle Enterprise and the Titanic II

When we posted yesterday about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island being closed by superstorm Sandy, Liam Hegarty pointed out in a comment that the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is also closed until December due to storm damage. … Continue reading

Superstorm Sandy Reveals Shipwrecks and Shuts Down the Statue of Liberty

When Superstorm Sandy came ashore roughly two weeks ago, she uncovered at least two shipwrecks.  On Fire Island, New York, the storm washed away dunes east of Davis Park revealing the remains of a wooden ship believed to be a post-Civil War cargo … Continue reading