One hundred years ago today, the RMS Titanic sailed from Southampton. She then called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland to take on more passengers. She then sailed on her maiden voyage proper across the Atlantic towards … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
After posting about far too many needless tragedies on poorly maintained third world ferry boats which sink and kill their passengers, here is something completely different, though still involving a ferry. Last week, fitting enough on April Fool’s Day, two hundred students from two British universities, … Continue reading
In the last days of the age of sail, British sailing ships, limejuicers, as they were known, had reputation as “hungry ships,” of offering poor quality provisions and not much of those. Whether that reputation was or was not wholly justified at the end … Continue reading
The Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency received a distress call Sunday night from the captain of a wooden ship bound for Australia. The ship was taking on water and carrying 120 Afghan refugees. The Afghans were picked up and taken by tanker … Continue reading
Arthur John Priest was a stoker, or fireman, on the RMS Titanic. His job was to shovel coal into the ship’s boilers. He survived the Titanic’s sinking of 1912. He also was aboard the RMS Olympic, the sistership to the Titanic, when she collided with HMS … Continue reading
A very well done documentary from PBS, Saving the Titanic. Watch Full Program on PBS. See more from Saving the Titanic. … Continue reading
In early October, the container ship MV Rena ran hard aground on the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand, resulting in an oil spill which the New Zealand Environment minister Nick Smith has referred to as the country’s most serious maritime environmental … Continue reading
We posted recently about the discovery of the 164′ Japanese fishing vessel, Ryou-Un Maru, which had been carried out to sea from the port of Hachinohe, a year ago by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The ship was found drifting 120 miles off Haida Gwaii, British … Continue reading
Robert Ballard, the oceanographer who lead the expedition which discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, was interviewed by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report last night. He discusses how the search for the Titanic was a cover for … Continue reading
The truly Titanic obsessed do not have to wait for the centennial of the tragic sinking of the so-called “unsinkable” passenger liner. They now can follow the Titanic via either a Twitter feed or an iPad app which mark down the events of leading up to … Continue reading
We recently posted about an upcoming event at Mystic Seaport Museum honoring the bicentenial of the War of 1812 which features the privateer schooner Lynx. We also posted about an on-line documentary, the Privateer Lynx. While we are focussing on on the … Continue reading
On Tuesday evening, the 82m general cargo ship, Carrier, was blown ashore in high winds and seas near a quarry jetty at Llanddulas, near Colwyn Bay, Wales. Two lifeboats and an RAF helicopter successfully rescued seven Polish crew members from … Continue reading
In November we posted about the first shakedown day cruise of the Alexander von Humboldt II, Germany’s newest tall ship. The new ship, operated by Deutsche Stiftung Sail Training (DSST), is replacing the 1906 built Alexander von Humboldt which has been sailing as a … Continue reading
Yesterday we posted the Clipper Round the World 68′ racer, Geraldton Western Australia, which was struck by a large wave in a storm in the Pacific. The wave sheared off the boat’s steering pedestal, damaged electronics and injured four crew, who were … Continue reading
In a pleasant contrast to events surrounding the sinking of the Costa Concordia, the passengers aboard the fire damaged cruise ship Azamara Quest are reported to have high praise for the actions of the captain and crew. A fire broke out in one of the ship’s engine … Continue reading
Hammacher Schlemmer’s catalog is subtitled: “Offering the Best, the Only and the Unexpected for 164 years.” One item for sale certainly qualifies as “unique.” They currently list for sale the World War II PT-728, the only PT boat in existence licensed … Continue reading
Update: The MS Carnival Triumph was allowed to sail as scheduled following last minute negotiations. The 2,758-passenger cruise ship MS Carnival Triumph was supposed to sail today for a five-day cruise to Yucatan and Cozumel. Instead, a Texas judge has ordered the ship … Continue reading
The fire on the MV Azamara Quest, is one of a recent series of disabling fires and power failures on diesel-electric powered cruise ships. Unlike the MV Azamara Quest, however, the ship’s crews aboard the Costa Allegra, the Carnival Splendor, and the MSC Opera were unable to effect … Continue reading
Update: A fire broke out late Friday in an engine room on the luxury cruise ship, MV Azamara Quest, while en route from Manila to Sandakan in Sabah, Malaysia. Five members of the crew were injured, suffering smoke inhallation. One crew member is reported … Continue reading
Through an agreement with Snag Films, TheSailingChannel is showing the documentary, Tall Ships: The Privateer Lynx, in HD, free of charge, for a limited time. Thanks to Tom Russell on the Linked-in Traditional Sail Professionals group for pointing out the … Continue reading