Commercial sail has not yet returned, but there are interesting niche players who are doing what they can to change that. The sailing brigantine Tres Hombres recently carried 10 tons of French wine from Brest to Copenhagen for delivery to … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
Last week it was announced that the wreck of SS Terra Nova, the ship that had carried Robert Scott on his ill-fated quest to be the first to reach the South Pole, had been located off Greenland. In July, the … Continue reading
I am very fond of William Faulkner’s maxim, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” What brought this to mind was recent news from the Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent. Back in 1995, parts of a ship’s framing was found … Continue reading
On August 19, 1812, the 44-gun USS Constitution met the 38 gun HMS Guerriere in single ship combat off the coast of Nova Scotia. During the battle the Constitution earned her nickname “Old Ironsides” when the British 18 pound shot was seen to bounce off … Continue reading
The bulk carrier Ocean Breeze came shore on Llolleo Beach, near the port of San Antonio, Chile yesterday in high winds and seas. In a dramatic rescue, all 24 crew members were airlifted off the ship by Chilean Navy helicopters. No … Continue reading
When the Swedish warship Vasa was raised from the seabed in 1961, to prevent her her waterlogged timbers from shrinking and cracking, the hull was sprayed, inside and out, continuously with polyethylene glycol for 17 years, followed by 9 years of slow drying. The British … Continue reading
Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered the wreck of the 215 foot long, three masted sailing ship, W.R. Grace, which sank in a hurricane near Cape Henlopen in 1889 . Shipwreck mystery solved … Continue reading
A new documentary by Thomas Michael Conner, “Once Upon a Nuclear Ship,” tells the story of the NS Savannah, the world’s first nuclear powered merchant ship. It is an interesting and worthy tale to tell. Without having seen the documentary, however, the … Continue reading
Two years ago, we posted about the delivery of the E-Ship 1, a ship built for Enercon, a German producer of wind turbines. The ship is intended to demonstrate energy saving technology as well as to deliver Enercon wind turbine assemblies … Continue reading
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Porter collided with the Japanese owned, Panamanian flag, Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) M/V Otowasan in the the Strait of Hormuz at around 1 am Sunday, local time. While few details are currently available, the … Continue reading
Divers may have found the wreck of a British privateer, Port-au-Prince, which was sunk off the island of Lifuka in the Ha’apai island group of Tonga, in December 1806. The ship was attacked by Tongan warriors on the orders of King Finau ‘Ulukalala II. The Tongans … Continue reading
France Telecom-Orange announced today that an unexplained fire had broken out on Thursday on the cable laying ship, the Chamarel, in the Atlantic Ocean off Namibia’s Skeleton Coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The crew of 56 abandoned ship after attempts at firefighting … Continue reading
Tipped off by fisherman who caught amphorae in their nets, the wreck of a Roman merchant ship, believed to date from between the 1st century B.C. and the 2nd century, has been located in 230 feet of water near the Italian port city of … Continue reading
In the middle of July, we posted about a fire and explosion on the 6,750 TEU container ship MSC Flaminia in the mid-Atlantic, resulting in the death of one of the crew and one crew member missing and presumed dead. The surviving crew abandoned the ship. … Continue reading
After being threatened the by Republican cost-cutters, the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee recently voted to continue funding the Navy’s “Great green Fleet” alternative energy program. In 2009, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the Navy’s “Great Green Fleet” initiative with the goals … Continue reading
In 1606, the Duyfken, commanded by Willem Janszoon, became the first European vessel to sail to the continent of Australia. In 1999, in an act of “experimental archaeology,” a replica of of the Dutch ship was built in Freemantle, Australia. The … Continue reading
Billionaire and philanthropist, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is loaning his 126 metre superyacht Octopus to the British Royal Navy to mount an expedition to locate and raise the bell from the battle cruiser HMS Hood (51) sunk by the German battleship Bismark in the Denmark … Continue reading
Yesterday we posted about the possible discovery of a German WWII submarine sunk in the Churchill River in Labrador, Canada. Now we have learned that the German World War II submarine U-550 has been located in the Atlantic, 70 miles … Continue reading
Searchers using side scanning sonar believe that they may have located a German U-boat from World War II on the bottom in the Churchill River not far from Muskrat Falls in Labrador, Canada, more than 100 kilometres from the ocean. German submarines operated … Continue reading
Last April we posted about Australian mining billionaire Clive Palmer’s plans to build a 21st-century replica of the Titanic. I am not sure how I feel about naming new vessels after maritime tragedies. On the other hand, the Titanic may … Continue reading