The USS Kittiwake, a 1945-vintage submarine rescue ship, was scuttled this week off Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach in the Caribbean to become a destination for reef fish and sport divers. The ship settled onto the bottom on an even keel … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
The cruise industry continues to change. While Boston reported a record number of cruise passengers traveling through its cruise terminal in 2010, the city of Philadelphia is planning on turning its cruise terminal into an an Urban Outfitters retail store, having only two cruise ships scheduled to call … Continue reading
Rather than pressuring the Japanese to stop whaling, the vigilante violence of the Sea Shepherds made it more difficult for Japanese diplomats to compromise in negotiations to reduce whaling according to documents released by WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks releases documents about anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd … Continue reading
The “Support Captain Owen Honors – USS Enterprise” Facebook page has over 11,000 supporters. Admiral John C. Harvey is not one of them. This afternoon, Admiral Harvey relieved Captain Honors of his command. Enterprise captain out; former Ike skipper … Continue reading
Today is the first day back to work for many after a bit of time off for the holidays. And how has the New Year begun? More or less the same as the last year which just ended. On … Continue reading
It is difficult to imagine how anyone thought that this was a good idea. The XO (Executive Officer) on the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise made a series of videos to “entertain the crew.” They were a bit on the raunchy side, involving … Continue reading
Several news agencies are reporting that more than 600 crewmembers are aboard ten vessels trapped in the ice in the Sea of Okhotsk. More than 600 people aboard ice-trapped vessels in Sea of Okhotsk … Continue reading
While I don’t normally associate show tunes from “Guys and Dolls” with foul weather and tug boats, Captain Brucato‘s video does a great job of capturing a tug’s-eye view of the recent blizzard that hit the US East coast the day after Christmas. The Last Blizzard … Continue reading
The 160,000 dwt tanker Aegean Angel was en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Houston, Texas when it encountered heavy weather northeast of Bermuda on Thursday. A large wave is reported to have struck the ship, killing the captain and the … Continue reading
A weird dissonance between two cruise stories struck me recently. On one hand, Carnival Cruise Lines is “the official confetti sponsor of the Times Square New Year’s Eve 2011 celebration.” As reported by the the Maritime Executive “the sponsorship includes multiple opportunities to associate the … Continue reading
A lousy time of the year to run aground off Finland. Then again, there aren’t too many good times of the year to run aground. Thanks to Dick Bal for passing the news along. Dutch freighter “Stadiongracht” aground off Rauma … Continue reading
The South Street Seaport Museum in New York City is reported to be attempting to sell off the historic schooner, Lettie G. Howard. The Lettie G. Howard is a wooden Fredonia schooner built in 1893 in Essex, Massachusetts, USA. In past … Continue reading
Forty seven years ago, passengers on the cruise ship Lakonia were promised “a marvelous Christmas cruise to sunny Madeira and the Canary Islands.” The brochure read – “Have your holiday with all risk eliminated. Enjoy a holiday you will remember for … Continue reading
Of all the various holiday greeting from shipping ventures this season this has to be my favorite. A Moss Rosenberg design LNG ship transformed to a Christmas ball carrier. From the Maasmond Maritime. … Continue reading
A glimpse at the new Mary Rose museum, hosted by Alan Titchmarch. The museum is intended to open in 2012, the 500th anniversary of the delivery of the Mary Rose. Alan Titchmarsh explores the Mary Rose Museum and encourages fundraising … Continue reading
David Hayes passed along a video of the USS Pegasus, a hydrofoil patrol boat that was billed as the “vanguard of the new navy,” thirty five years ago. While the Pegasus was not the first of many hydrofoils as was intended in 1975, the development … Continue reading
The Maritime Blog and the Professional Mariner are pointing to two Marine Safety Alerts issued by the Coast Guard today which may suggest that the fixed CO2 system on the Carnival Splendor failed. The Safety Alerts do not identify the ship by … Continue reading
The brigantine Soren Larsen was built in Denamrk in 1948 and traded extensively in Baltic, British and European ports until 1972. In the 1970s she starred in the popular BBC television drama series, The Onedin Line. She has also … Continue reading
What is AMVER? They are the most amazing world-wide maritime search and rescue network that you probably have never heard of. AMVER stands for the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System. It was founded over fifty years ago, in 1958, and currently over 19,000 ships … Continue reading
Bernard Cornwell‘s introduction to his review of Sam Willis’s book, “The Fighting Temeraire,” is as dramatic as it is sadly accurate. He writes: At Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, the battle-cruiser USS Olympia lies glorious and doomed. The oldest steel warship in … Continue reading