“Fat Leonard” Scandal Rolls On — Two Naval Officers Plead Guilty, Two Execs Sentenced

Posted on by June 1, 2024

“Fat Leonard” Francis

The “Fat Leonard” Navy bribery and corruption scandal just keeps rolling on. In September of 2013, Navy investigators arrested a 350 pound Malaysian businessman, Leonard Glenn Francis, who was CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a contractor that provided port services to the US Navy. Known universally as “Fat Leonard,” Francis was charged with paying bribes, providing prostitutes and handing out Lady Gaga tickets to naval officers in exchange for classified information to be used to help direct business to GDMA. GMDA the overcharged the Navy for port services by millions of dollars. “Fat Leonard” Francis plead guilty in 2015.  

So far 28 individuals have been charged and 18 have pleaded guilty in the decade-long multi-million dollar bribery scam. Recently two more Navy officers and two executives of GDMA entered guilty pleas or were sentenced in the scandal. On August 5th, the Navy announced that “U.S. Navy commander Bobby Pitts pleaded guilty today in connection with his efforts to obstruct a federal criminal investigation.” Then three days later, Jesus V. Cantu, 59, a retired Navy captain and Stanford graduate, pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego to conspiracy to commit bribery.  

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Update #1: Sunken Submarine, a Headless Torso & Murdered Journalist

Posted on by August 23, 2017

Missing Journalist Kim wall and submarine UC3 Nautilus

Updated: Danish police have announced that DNA from a headless torso found washed up on an island near Copenhagen matches that of missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall.

We recently posted about the strange saga of the UC3 Nautilus. The private submarine, one of the largest private subs in the world, owned by Peter Madsen, sank mysteriously.  Kim Wall, a journalist last seen departing Copenhagen harbor on the sub, was missing. Madsen was held by the Danish police charged with negligent manslaughter.

The story only gets stranger and darker. After first claiming that he dropped off Ms. Wall on an island in the harbor, Madsen later admitted to the police that Ms. Wall had died aboard the sub in some sort of accident and that he had “buried” her at sea.  Danish police believe the 40-tonne vessel was deliberately sunk by Madsen.

Now, a cyclist has made a grisly discovery — the headless, legless and armless torso of a woman washed up on Amager Island, near where the sub sank. The police are awaiting DNA testing to attempt to identify the body. 

Destroyer USS John S. McCain Collides with Tanker — 10 Missing, 5 Injured

Posted on by August 21, 2017

In the second major collision between a US Navy destroyer and a merchant ship in the last three months, the USS John S. McCain was damaged in a collision with a tanker near Singapore. Five sailors were injured and 10 are missing. There are reports of flooding in berthing compartments as well as machinery and communication rooms. Despite the damage, the destroyer was able to proceed under its own power to Singapore’s Changi Naval Base.

The US Navy announced: The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca on Aug. 21. 

The collision was reported at 6:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time, while the ship was transiting to a routine port visit in Singapore. Initial reports indicate John S. McCain sustained damage to her port side aft. Search and rescue efforts are underway in coordination with local authorities.

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Lost World War II Cruiser USS Indianapolis Found in Philippine Sea by Billionaire Paul Allen

Posted on by August 20, 2017

Paul Allen, billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, announced that wreckage from the USS Indianapolis was discovered on Aug. 18 by the expedition crew of Paul G. Allen’s Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel. The Indianapolis was found 5,500 meters below the surface, resting on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean. The sinking of USS Indianapolis in 1945 resulted in the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.

The press release went on to say: “To be able to honor the brave men of the USS Indianapolis and their families through the discovery of a ship that played such a significant role during World War II is truly humbling,” Mr. Allen said. “As Americans, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the crew for their courage, persistence and sacrifice in the face of horrendous circumstances.  While our search for the rest of the wreckage will continue, I hope everyone connected to this historic ship will feel some measure of closure at this discovery so long in coming.”

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Topsail Schooner Oosterschelde Wins Transatlantic Race

Posted on by August 19, 2017

The Dutch three-masted topsail schooner Oosterschelde will be 100 years old next year, but she is still fast. She just finished first in the trans-Atlantic race from Halifax to Le Havre. After a voyage of 2,500 nautical miles (4,500 km) the ship left all her competitors behind and won the final leg of the Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta. From their newsletter, Captain Arain reports: “Warren at the helm when we passed the finish line south of Eddystone lighthouse, off the coast of Plymouth UK at 16:02 UTC. First in class A and overall. A huge thanks to the crew!!!”

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USS Fitzgerald Update — Ship Returning Home, Sailors Disciplined, Navy Report

Posted on by August 19, 2017

The USS Fitzgerald, seriously damaged in a collision with a container ship on June 17th that killed seven U.S. sailors, will be transported back to the United States for repairs. The destroyer will be carried via heavy lift ship between mid-September and the end of October, Cmdr. Clay Doss, a 7th Fleet spokesman, told Stars and Stripes. 

The BBC reports that the US Navy has announced that about a dozen sailors are to be disciplined on the USS Fitzgerald due to the collision. The deputy chief of naval operations, Admiral Bill Moran, said the commanding officer and two other senior crew would no longer serve aboard the ship.

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Quadriga — Lloyd’s Register Joins Project to Build Sailing Car-Carrier

Posted on by August 17, 2017

Lloyd’s Register (LR) announced recently that it has joined the Quadriga sustainable shipping project – an initiative from Hamburg-based Sailing Cargo, which aims to build a sailing car-carrier, which would be the world’s largest sailing cargo ship. The 170-meter long design features four DynaRig masts with a sail area of 5,000 M2 and would be capable of carrying between 1,700 to 2,000 cars. The ship will be powered by sails and diesel-electric engines with an initial design speed of 10-12 knots, with the goal of achieving 14-16 knots in the next few years as the design is developed.

In addition to LR, Sailing Cargo is also partnering with ship operator, Peter Döhle Schifffahrts KG, naval architects, Dykstra Naval Architects and SDC Ship Design & Consult GmbH, hydrodynamicists, Hamburgische Schiffbau-Versuchsanstalt, and sailmaker, North Sails GmbH. 

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Time Short to Save Battleship USS Texas

Posted on by August 16, 2017

For several years now, we have followed the progressive decline of the battleship USS Texas, commissioned in 1914. She is the only remaining World War I-era dreadnought battleship and is one of only seven remaining ships and the only remaining capital ship to have served in both World Wars. The USS Texas, now berthed in the salty waters of the Houston Ship Channel, continues to be losing a battle with time and corrosion. 

As reported by the Houston Chronicle: “We pump about 300,000 gallons of water a day out of the Battleship Texas,” said Bruce Bramlett, executive director of the Battleship Texas Foundation. “There are places on the ship where the hull is so thin you can poke your finger through it. So we’re constantly pumping water out and patching holes and the water is constantly seeping back in.”

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Sailing Great, Edward Allcard, Dies at 102

Posted on by August 15, 2017

Edward Allcard, an English naval architect, marine surveyor, yachtsman and author, died at the end of last month at the age of 102. We will probably be best remembered as the first person to sail solo across the Atlantic in both directions, voyages he undertook on his 34-foot yawl, Temptress, in 1949 and 1951.

Between 1957 and 1973, he would undertake an extended solo circumnavigation on Sea Wanderer, a 36-foot ketch, which he had bought as a derelict hull abandoned in the mud in the Hudson River in New York in 1950 for $250.

Allcard met his future wife, Clare, in 1967. Their daughter, Kate, was born in 1969. The family moved aboard and extensively sailed the 69 ft gaff-rigged ex-Baltic trader Johanne Regina, built in 1929.  Edward Allcard continued sailing until the age of 91.

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The Submarine is Raised but the Mystery Deepens — Where is Kim Wall?

Posted on by August 14, 2017

Missing Journalist Kim Wall and Submarine UC3 Nautilus

On Saturday, we posted that the Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been held on suspicion of murder following the disappearance of Kim Wall, a Swedish journalist, and the sinking of the privately owned submarine UC3 Nautilus on Friday off Denmark. Madsen claimed that he dropped Wall off on an island before the submarine sank. Wall, however, remains missing. She was last seen with Madsen on the privately-owned submarine. 

The Danish police suspect that Madsen sank the submarine intentionally. The Guardia reports: Police spokesman Jens Møller Jensen said on Sunday that the submarine had been raised from the sea bed and searched but no body had been discovered. The search for Wall in the water, from the air and on land, continues. Møller Jensen added that there were indications that Madsen deliberately sank his submarine.

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The Strange Saga of UC3 Nautilus — Sub Sinks, Inventor Held for Murder — Updated

Posted on by August 12, 2017

In a bizarre and developing story, the Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been held on suspicion of murder following the disappearance of a Swedish journalist and the sinking of the privately owned submarine UC3 Nautilus on Thursday off Denmark. 

Madsen denies the charges and claims that he dropped off the female journalist, Kim Wall, 30, on Refshale Island on Thursday evening before the submarine sank suddenly sometime early Friday morning. Madsen has said that the submarine sank in roughly 30 seconds due to a problem with the ballast system.  Madsen and the journalist are reported to be the only ones aboard the Nautilus when it sailed from Copenhagen Harbor around 7 PM on Thursday. 

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Pen Hadow’s Expedition to Sail to the North Pole

Posted on by August 11, 2017

Photo: arcticmission.com

In 2003, Pen Hadow walked to the North Pole. He became the first person to trek to the Pole solo without being resupplied. Now, Pen Hadow is returning to the North Pole, but he won’t be able to walk. The Arctic ice pack has become too thin to repeat his previous expedition. So, he will soon be setting off with a crew of ten in an attempt to sail two yachts to the Pole. The expedition will set off from Nome in Alaska in early August. The expedition team will not see land again for six weeks and is expected to cover about 3,500 miles by the time they return to Nome in mid-September. They will be sailing the 52′ Bagheera and 49′ Snow Dragon II, two ice-strengthened sailing vessels.

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TBT — Pinky, Albino Pink Dolphin in Louisiana, Doing Fine

Posted on by August 10, 2017

Updating a previous post for Throw-Back Thursday. Two years ago, we posted about “Pinky,” a pink dolphin that was seen swimming in the Calcasieu River in Louisianna. Pinky is believed to be an albino and was first sighted in the area in 2007. We are pleased to have learned that Pinky appears to be doing well, having made a recent appearance again in the Calcasieu Ship Channel.  A second pink dolphin was also reported but not photographed.

While Pinky appears to be a rare albino bottle nose dolphin, there are naturally pink fresh water dolphins in the Amazon River. Locally known as botos, the dolphins are typically gray when young and grow more pink with age. The pinkest are often mature male dolphins.  No one knows why the dolphins are pink although there is speculation that it helps the dolphins to blend in with the red river mud bottom. 

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4,000 Ton Steam Generator Sails Slowly Down the Hudson River

Posted on by August 9, 2017

Rivers have always made the best highways. On Monday, a massive heat-recovery steam generator left the Port of Coeymans, near Albany, on the Hudson River, on a barge bound for a new power plant under construction in Sewaren, NJ. The generator weighs in at an impressive 4,000 short tons, is 130 feet tall and costs $195 million. 

The generator was welded to the deck of a 400′ long deck barge with a 100′ beam and was taken under tow down the Hudson River.  Once in New York harbor, the barge was towed up the Arthur Kill to Sewaren.  The pace of the voyage was determined by the currents and several bridges, including the Mid-Hudson Bridge and the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge, which the generator could only pass under at low water.  

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