What Happened to the VLCC M. Star? Al Qaeda Group Claims Attack, Doubts Persist

Over the last week, there have been no shortage of theories and often contradictory claims about what caused the damage to the hull and deck house of the MOL tanker M. Star while transiting the Straits of Hormuz.   The initial … Continue reading

Barquentine Gazela Returns To Sea

Philadelphia’s tall ship, the barquentine Gazela has returned to to sea after five years of being limited to protected water sailing due to a damaged rudder.  With a new rudder, the turn-of-the-century Portuguese-built barquentine set sail from Philadelphia bound where she … Continue reading

Dead Humpback Whale Pinned to Bow of the Sapphire Princess

Last summer,  the Sapphire Princess, a cruise ship operating on the South-West coast of Alaska, arrived in the port of Vancouver with a 70 foot long fin whale impaled on its bulbous bow.   Wednesday, almost exactly a year later, … Continue reading

A Brigantine Beneath Washington Street – Identifying the World Trade Center Ship

Two weeks ago the remains of an 18th century ship were found in the excavation of the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.    On Thursday Warren Riess, an archaeologist specializing in marine history, speculated that the ship was  most likely a brigantine; … Continue reading

HMS Investigator, Abandoned in 1853, Found in Arctic

Earlier this month we posted about a new expedition by Parks Canada to search for Franklin’s ships, the Terrorand the Erebus.  Parks Canada also intended to search for theHMS Investigator, a ship which was caught in the ice and sank when sent … Continue reading

Tall Ships Duluth 2010 July 28 – August 3

Tall Ships Duluth 2010 has an impressive line up of ships scheduled for their tall ships festival.  The ships are expected to start arriving in Duluth today.  The Brig Niagara, the Barque Europa, HMS Bounty, the Pride of Baltimore II, the … Continue reading

Dismantling the Ground Zero Ship

A follow-up to our previous post – 18th Century Ship Found Buried at New York’s World Trade Center Site.  Workers are now beginning to dismantle what is left of the ship, plank by plank, for preservation.    Last week,  Atlantic Wire  posted an interesting … Continue reading

Plastiki arrives in Sydney after Pacific Crossing

We have previously posted about the experimental sailboat Plastiki, built using  12,500 recycled soda bottles.  The craft sailed last March from San Francisco and has now arrived in Sydney, Australia after a voyage of 9,000 miles (15,000 km.) Boat made from plastic bottles completes Pacific voyage … Continue reading

First Lady Michelle Obama Christens National Security Cutter Stratton

Last Friday, Michelle Obama was the first First Lady ever to christen a US Coast Guard Cutter, the National Security Cutter Stratton.   The cutter is named after the first woman to serve as a commissioned officer in the U. S. … Continue reading