For several years now, there has been a webcam of the 90,000 gallon treatment tank where the 120 ton wrought iron turret of the USS Monitor is being preserved by electrolysis and desalination. After spending 111 years underwater, the turret will need … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
I will admit to having mixed feelings about assigning names to winter storms. Hurricanes are momentous enough to be worthy of names, but most winter storms, nasty and dangerous though they may indeed be, don’t seem worth naming. I will … Continue reading
What is more powerful than an icebreaker? The answer is: the wind. Following a wind shift, the expedition cruise ship, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, and Chinese icebreaker Xue Long or Snow Dragon have broken free from the pack ice off Antarctica. … Continue reading
On Sunday, the USCG Cutter Hollyhock was conducting an ice escort for six Great Lakes ore boats.in Northern Lake Michigan. The Hollyhock is a 225 feet long, Juniper Class Seagoing Buoy Tender displacing 2.000 long tons. Following close behind, perhaps too … Continue reading
The USCGC Polar Star is on its way to attempt to break free two ice-bound ship off Antarctica. So far, three icebreakers have attempted to free the the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been stuck in Antarctic ice south of Tasmania … Continue reading
The Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis, currently carrying passengers rescued from a stricken Antarctic expedition cruise ship, has been told to stand by to assist the Chinese icebreaker, Snow Dragon, as necessary. The icebreaker Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, notified rescue authorities … Continue reading
Fortunately, the stranded scientists and tourists appear to be bearing up well under the strain on the MV Akademik Shokalskiy. New Year’s festivities on the ship, courtesy of the Guardian. New year on board the Akademik Shokalskiy – video … Continue reading
We posted recently about the Chinese icebreaker, Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, which came within about 6 miles of the expedition cruise ship, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, before being forced to turn back. MV Akademik Shokalskiy has been trapped in pack ice off Antarctica south … Continue reading
MSC Monterey, a 4,892 TEU container ship, was bound from the Belgium port of Antwerp to Newark, NJ, but diverted to Newfoundland after cracks in her hull were discovered. The ship is now at anchor south of Newfoundland, near Trepassey … Continue reading
By definition, shipping is the ultimate offshore industry. For most, the business of shipping is largely invisible, literally beyond the horizon. I recently came across two representations of global shipping – a plot developed from ship’s logs from the 18th … Continue reading
The Chinese icebreaker Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, has gotten to within around 6-7 miles of the expedition cruise ship, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, before it too was stopped by thick ice off the coast of Antarctica, south of Tasmania. Three icebreakers … Continue reading
The brochure for for the cruise liner Lakonia promised “A MARVELOUS CHRISTMAS CRUISE TO SUNNY MADEIRA AND THE CANARY ISLANDS…HAVE YOUR HOLIDAY WITH ALL RISK ELIMINATED. ENJOY A HOLIDAY YOU WILL REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.” Now fifty years later, … Continue reading
There was a recent story in the press about the wreckage of a German World War I submarine beached of mudflats on the banks of the River Medway in Hoo, Kent. The sub is, believed to be the UB-122, one … Continue reading
A recent article in PastHorizons – Adventures in Archaeology looks at the images of ships scratched in the stones of medieval churches of England. This sailor’s graffiti shows a wide range of vessels that would have plied the waters … Continue reading
Recently there has been disturbing news that the wreck of HMAS Perth is being stripped by scrap merchants in the sea off Java. In February 1942, the Leander class cruiser HMAS Perth was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the Battle … Continue reading
Robert Redford was recently nominated for a Golden Globe award for his remarkable one man performance in the movie, “All is Lost.” While Redford’s acting was impressive, the movie was marred by an apparent lack of even a basic understand … Continue reading
On a winter’s day, when the temperature here on the banks of the Hudson River is in the low 30s F, but with the wind off the water feels more like the low 20s, there are many reasons to want … Continue reading
On the morning of December 7, 1941, USS Oklahoma was moored at an outside berth in the inner harbor at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor that day, the USS Oklahoma was directly in the flight path of … Continue reading
Recently, the crew of the the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory‘s submersible Pisces V announced finding the hull of the Japanese mega-submarine I-400 at a depth of 2,300 feet on the sea floor off Hawaii. The huge submarine survived World War II but … Continue reading
At the end of last May, the Jascon 4 sank in about 100 feet of water off the coast of Nigeria. All twelve of the crew were believed to have drowned. Three days later, divers were sent into the sunken tug … Continue reading