Franklin Records Found as Search Resumes for Franklin’s Ships

An update to a previous post. An Inuit family says a box that was hidden for over 80 years in the Arctic contains documents linked to the doomed Franklin expedition and has just turned the box over to the the Canadian Conservation … Continue reading

Tight Race for Favorite Tug of 2010 – W.O. Decker in the Lead

The Waterford Tugboat Roundup 2010 starts tomorrow with a Parade of  Tugs past the Albany, NY waterfront before all return to Waterford at the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers for a  full weekend of competitions and entertainment.   The Roundup Favorite Tug of 2010 competition … Continue reading

US Marines Recapture M/V Magellan Star from Somali Pirates

Twenty-four U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime Raid Force stormed the German-owned containership M/V Magellan Star today, capturing the pirates that had seized control of the ship in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.   No … Continue reading

The Pacific Sun and the Pacific Star: “Lessons Learnt and Heeded” – Or Maybe Not

The video of unsecured furniture flying about on the P&O cruise ship, Pacific Sun, is all over the internet.  A Carnival spokesperson (Carnival owns P&O) is quoted as saying, “The incident was fully investigated and lessons learnt have been heeded, including the … Continue reading

P&O Cruise Ship, Pacific Sun, in Heavy Seas – Alarming Video

Cruise ship operators would prefer that their passengers exist in a hermetically sealed bubble, where they can enjoy the sea without ever having to be exposed to it;  where their passengers can look up occasionally from drinking, dining and spending money in the onboard … Continue reading

The Search for the Bonhomme Richard

The Ocean Technology Foundation has been searching for John Paul Jones’  famous flagship, the Bonhomme Richard for the last five years.  They now believe that they are closing in on the wreck. On this year’s expedition both the US and French Navies are joining … Continue reading

Brig Niagara Brings Unwelcome Stowaways to Isle Royale National Park

Another article about stowaways, though of a completely different sort – zebra mussels on the Brig Niagara.  Earlier this month, the Niagara, a historically accurate reconstruction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s victorious 1813 flagship,  visited Isle Royale, an island National Park in northwestern Lake … Continue reading

Clipper Ship City of Adelaide to be Sent to Australia

Great news!  The oldest just barely surviving composite clipper ship in the world, the City of Adelaide appears  likely to be moved to Australia to its namesake city, Adelaide.  The ship, which is currently at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, Scotland, has … Continue reading

Atlantic Container Line to Take Delivery of Prison Containers

One of the ways that stowaways can get aboard liner ships these days is to hide in cargo containers.  Atlantic Container Lines will be using containers for a related if rather different purpose.  The shipping line will soon take delivery … Continue reading

“Sisters Under Sail” – Schooner Unicorn at Tall Ships Chicago

Earlier this week we posted about Tall Ships Chicago 2010.   Among the roughly 20 tall ships participating is the 118-foot topsail schooner Unicorn whose crew includes six Chicago-area girls from the “Sisters Under Sail” program. “Adventure of a Lifetime” is About … Continue reading

Camden’s Windjammer Festival Starts Friday

Camden, Maine’s Windjammer Festival starts  Friday, September 3rd, and runs through Sunday.   Camden’s harbor always seemed to me to be a windjammer festival on virtually any summer day so this gathering  of the Maine Windjammer fleet and the dockside Maritime Heritage Fair should be quite an … Continue reading

HMS Cassandra, HMS Myrtle and HMS Gentian, Sunk in the Russia Revolution, Located

Ninety years on, locations of Royal Navy warships sunk in Russian Revolution are found The wrecks of three British warships sunk more than 90 years ago – seeking to prevent the Bolshevik Revolution from spreading West – have been located … Continue reading

Online Tour of NS Savanah – World’s first nuclear powered merchant ship

In 1819, the SS Savannah was first steamship in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean.   Despite this accomplishment, the Savannah was a commercial failure and was converted back to sail shortly after returning from Europe.   It is somehow fitting that … Continue reading