We recently posted about the tanker Mary A. Whalen‘s 80th birthday. The historic lighthouse tender Lilac is also celebrating her 85th birthday. 2018 Season Opening — 85th Birthday with Cake The ex-USCG Cutter Lilac, originally built for the U.S. Lighthouse Service, was launched on May … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
The historic tanker Mary A. Whalen is turning 80 on May 21st. As part of a month-long celebration, Portside NewYork and the Mary A. Whalen is hosting an Art Inspiration Day and Birthday Tanker Tours. The events take place tomorrow, Sunday, May 20th, from … Continue reading
After almost a decade, the Queen Elizabeth 2 has finally opened as a luxury hotel in Dubai. There was a “soft opening” in the middle of April and the hotel will have its formal opening around October of this year. So far seven of … Continue reading
This Thursday, the Working Harbor Committee is hosting a Hidden Harbor Tour of Port Newark. The tour is one is one of the best ways to see the mighty port hard at work. The tour features guest speakers Mitch Waxman of … Continue reading
If you are around Annapolis tomorrow, May 12th, the 200-foot Class A Tall Ship, SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will be at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and will be open for public tours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dewey Seawall (Gate 1 … Continue reading
Last October we posted about the Providence, a replica of a Revolutionary War sloop, which in the summer of 2019, will be moving to its new home port, Old Town Alexandria, VA. Old Town Alexandria is certainly no stranger to 18th-century ships. … Continue reading
The Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are not the only small new Navy ships with serious operating deficiencies. Recently, the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General released a report on the shortcomings of a new class of fast, shallow draft, transport ship, … Continue reading
When the keel on the Cheeki Rafiki, a Beneteau 40.7 sailing yacht, broke off in a storm in the mid-Atlantic in May 2014, the yacht capsized and four UK sailors died. Why did the keel fall off and who was to blame … Continue reading
The saga of the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) continues. The ships were intended to be small, versatile and relatively inexpensive. So far they have succeeded only in being small. The Navy intends to have around 30 of these ships … Continue reading
SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is the largest civilian sailing school vessel in the United States and the first ocean-going full-rigged ship to built in the U.S. in over 100 years. Her accommodations hold 32 people overnight in addition to her 17 professional … Continue reading
Here is a short and beautiful video to end the week. The video by Paul Demonte features two historic vessels in New York harbor — the 1907 built tug Pegasus and the Hudson River railroad barge, Lehigh Valley No. 79, … Continue reading
We have been following the grim saga of the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall since last August. Ms. Wall disappeared after going on a trip in Copenhagen harbor onboard Peter Madsen’s private submarine, UC3 Nautulis, as part of an interview. The … Continue reading
Years ago, when I sailed briefly on tall ships, I heard that the two most at-risk groups when going aloft were total novices and the most experienced old hands. The novices knew little, while the experienced sailors grew complacent. This came to … Continue reading
The Flettner fleet is growing slowly but steadily. The LNG powered cruise ferry Viking Grace has become the latest commercial ship and the first passenger vessel to install a modern Flettner rotor sail. The 80-foot-tall rotor is expected to save … Continue reading
One hundred and six years ago today, the White Star liner Titanic sank after striking an iceberg. Over 1,500 lives were lost. Here is a repost from 2012 of Joseph Conrad’s commentary on the sinking. In June of 1912, Joseph Conrad wrote … Continue reading
The Sea War Museum Jutland made an amazing discovery while scanning the sea floor off Denmark. They have identified the wreckage of one of the most technologically advanced German submarines of World War II, the U-3523. The submarine was found with its bow … Continue reading
Talk about unintended consequences. The Washington State Ferry system and the US Coast Guard have a problem with forgotten bicycles. Over the last 18 months, 12 bicycles have been left aboard ferries, including three bike-share bikes. This turns out to be … Continue reading
Next January and February, an expedition to Antarctica will search for Ernest Shackleton‘s doomed ship, Endurance, crushed by the ice in 1915. Finding the wreck of the ship is not the primary objective of the venture, however, which is to study … Continue reading
Fifty years ago today, the interisland ferryWahine capsized and sank in shallow water after running aground near the mouth of Wellington harbor in New Zealand. The ship had been caught in a storm caused by Tropical Cyclone Giselle. Wahine was a twin-screw, turbo-electric, roll-on/roll-off passenger and … Continue reading
Saturday was a bad day on the Bosphorus. The Maltese-flagged 74,269 DWT bulk carrierVitaspirit suffered a steering gear failure while transiting Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. The ship was traveling south, approaching the Second Bosphorus Bridge, when it veered out of control. Fortunately, it missed … Continue reading