Record Ransoms paid to Somali Pirates for MV Samho Dream & MV Golden Blessing

The MV Samho Dream, a Korean VLCC,  and  its crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos, was ransomed for $9.5 million dollars.  It had by hijacked by Somali pirates last April.    The MV Golden Blessing, a Singaporean chemical tanker, … Continue reading

Noorderlicht – Summer Nordic Cruiser & Winter Ice Hotel

The 36 meter steel schooner Noorderlicht celebrates her one hundredth birthday this year.  With ten double cabins for passengers, she cruises along the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the summer and coastal Norway in the Autumn. Her winter employment is what … Continue reading

New York’s Graveyard of Ships on TV and Radio

The Witte boneyard, often referred to as New York’s graveyard of ships, usually sits unnoticed on the shore of Staten Island on the Arthur Kill in a far corner of New York harbor.   In the last week, however, it has … Continue reading

The Famous Sailing Barge Cambria Reborn

The Thames sailing barge Cambria was built in Greenhithe, Kent in 1906.  Remarkably, she kept sailing  and carrying commercial cargo under sail alone until 1970.  She is now undergoing a complete restoration by the Cambria Trust with major funding from the Heritage Lottery … Continue reading

Teenage Trainees from brig Fryderyk Chopin Safely Ashore

The British Maritime And Coastguard Agency has reported that the sail-training vessel, Fryderyk Chopin, has been secured to a buoy in Falmouth harbour, Cornwall, and the crew of 47, including 36 cadets, aged between 14 and 16, has been taken … Continue reading

Tall Ships 2011 Calendar by Thad Koza

The calendar has been out since July, but I only got around to ordering mine yesterday. Thad Koza’s Tall Ships 2011 calendar features  SAGRESs II, JOLIE BRISE, PICTON CASTLE, WESTWARD, BOUNTY, EUROPA, the schooner THOMAS E LANNON, and five other tall ships. … Continue reading

Bulgarian Women Now Allowed on Bulgarian Submarines, if They Had Any in Service

Last Thursday, Bulgaria’s defence ministry lifted the ban on women serving aboard Bulgarian submarines. Also on Thursday, the Bulgarian parliament voted to moth-ball the only Bulgarian submarine. Bulgaria lifts women in submarines ban — but too late … Continue reading

Vote for the Falls of Clyde !!!

The Falls of Clyde, built in 1878, is the only surviving iron-hulled four-masted full rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world.  After years of neglect by the Bishop Museum, the ship has been taken over … Continue reading

Military ammunition discovered under Seattle cruise ship terminal

The new cruise ship terminal at Pier 91 in the Port of Seattle appears to have been built over an old munitions terminal. Live high explosive ammunition dating back to World War II, and possibly earlier, has been found beneath the … Continue reading

Factory Fishing Ship Athena on Fire in the Atlantic

The factory fishing ship Athena caught fire early today in the Atlantic, 230 miles south-west of the Isles of Scilly. Eighty one non-essential personnel were evacuated to liferafts and subsequently rescued as the  remaining  30 aboard fought the fire, which is now reported … Continue reading

Robert Bourne, Radioman in the Battle Between Navy Blimp and German sub

Robert Bourne, who died on Oct. 13, at the age of 88, was the radioman on the Navy blimp, Airship K-74, on anti-submarine patrol off the southeast coast of Florida on the night of July 18, 1943.  The lookout spotted a German submarine … Continue reading

MV Beluga Fortune Foils Pirates, MV York Not so Fortunate

Over the weekend, Somali pirates seized two ships in two days.  On Saturday, pirates seized the MV York, a liquefied petroleum gas tanker, off the coast of Kenya.   On Sunday, pirates seized the MV Beluga Fortune about 1,200 miles east of … Continue reading

New Russian Masts on HMS Belfast – The Last Convoy Escort

The HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy light cruiser, now a museum ship on the Thames, is the last surviving  escort ship from the Arctic convoy run to Russia during World War II.  Last week, in a ceremony attended by HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, … Continue reading