Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, who steered his ship into a reef off the island of Giglio and then delayed the order to evacuate the sinking ship, resulting in or contributing to the deaths of 32 passengers and crew, was … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
Congratulations to Richard Bailey who has been appointed captain of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, which, when commissioned next summer, will be among the largest and most sophisticated school ships built in America in recent decades. The Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island organization … Continue reading
Video surveillance footage on the dock shows a group of people boarding the 130′ three masted schooner Silva in Halifax harbor at about 1:30 am, early Monday morning. They raised one sail and untied all but one mooring line. Around 5am, the remaining line parted and the … Continue reading
The brigantine Robert C. Seamans, owned and operated by Sea Education Association (SEA) is off on a 37 day Plastics at SEA: North Pacific Expedition 2012 into the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” to examine the effects of plastic debris, including debris generated by … Continue reading
Update: The death toll from the ferry collision has risen to 39 after a nine year old girl, Tsui Hoi-ying, who had been of life support in a Hong Kong hospital, is reported to have died. It only took about … Continue reading
Yesterday we posted about Nannie Dee, the erotic yet frightening witch figurehead on the composite clipper Cutty Sark. The figurehead on Galveston’s tall ship, the 1887 barque Eliisa, is quite different. When the ship was restored in the early 1980s, she was … Continue reading
The figurehead on the Cutty Sark is dramatic – a woman, all in white, wearing a flowing robe which leaves her upper body uncovered. He face is fixed in a scowl or grimace and she is reaching out with one … Continue reading
The Argentine Navy training ship Libertad and her crew of over 200, docked in port of Tema, Ghana, were seized by a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd., a subsidiary of Elliot Capital Management, a hedge fund run by the US billionaire Paul Singer. … Continue reading
After a multi-year, £50 million restoration, interrupted by a near catastrophic fire, the composite clipper ship, Cutty Sark, reopened last April. Not everyone was impressed. Andrew Gilligan, the Telegraph‘s London Editor, called the restoration “a clucking, Grade A, … turkey.” In September, the British architectural trade journal, Building Design, awarded … Continue reading
At least 36 people drowned when a ferry carrying more than 120 collided with another vessel and sank last night around 8:30 pm local time near Lamma island off Hong Kong. The ferry was taking staff and family members of … Continue reading
The schooner Bluenose II has been launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The local news outlets referred to the event as the “relaunching” of the schooner though as the hull was completely replaced and only some portion of the Douglas fir deck was re-used, it … Continue reading
An interesting article on the day after Nelson’s birthday – after using synthetic mastic, a modern caulking material commonly used in yachts, for the last fifteen year without success, the folks restoring Nelson’s HMS Victory have returned to using hemp oakum … Continue reading
The replica of the HMS Bounty built for the 1962 movie, Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando make the port of Galveston, its winter home. The deal apparently has not been finalized but the Galveston Daily News reports that negotiations … Continue reading
The press release says that the Lloyd’s List Global Awards are “a celebration of the best that shipping industry has to offer and the finalists are the innovators and the visionaries. They are the boldest and the brightest. They are shipping’s success … Continue reading
Now that China has finally commissioned Liaoning, its first aircraft carrier, the discussion has focused on whether the ship is a meaningful addition to the Chinese Navy or merely a symbol of status and prestige. Some have pointed out that the … Continue reading
After ten sea trials and over 25 years of construction and refitting, China has put its first aircraft carrier into service. Long rumored to be named Shi Lang, the carrier has instead been named Liaoning, after the province where it was rebuilt and refitted. … Continue reading
The American singer/songwriter, Paul Simon, had a hit in 1975 titled “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Sending an email to your mistress telling her that you are dead is definitely not on the list. Commander Michael P. Ward II was recently relieved of … Continue reading
We have posted about new ventures to return commercial sail to the seas, including the brigantine Tres Hombres and the ketch Irene. We have posted about new designs for large ships from rigid sails to the Dyna-rig, as well as … Continue reading
In our post about the passing of Bill King, we originally referred to him as the last surviving World War II submarine commander. Apparently, that is not the case. We learned from Pat Barnhouse on the MarHist list that “Lieutenant Commander … Continue reading
The first word one associates with speed under sail is probably not barge. Nevertheless, Thames River barges are no slackers when the wind is blowing. Recently, the folks at Cambria Trust posted a photo of a GPS screen on restored … Continue reading