The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded nearly $12 million in grants to eight marine highway projects across the nation under the United States Marine Highway Program (USMHP).
One of these grants, $600,000 awarded to Lake Michigan Carferry, Inc., is to study the feasibility of converting the historic steamship SS Badger, the last coal-fired, passenger car ferry operating on the Great Lakes, to a zero-emission ferry vessel.
Recently, Bertie Gregory, a National Geographic Explorer and host of Animals Up Close on Disney+, observed a remarkable attempt by two humpback whales to protect a seal under attack by a pod of orcas in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea.
National Geographic reports that Gregory and his crew had traveled across the Drake Passage that separates South America from the southernmost continent to film a rare orca population called B1. Known for their unique strategy of creating waves that knock seals off pieces of ice, these genetically distinct Antarctic orcas, likely number only around a hundred.
Gregory and his crew of filmmakers and scientists began following a small pod of B1s hunting seals in the driving snow. Soon, the pod zeroed in on their prey—a Weddell seal lying smack-dab in the middle of a large piece of ice.
On August 13 2023, British endurance swimmer and environmental activist Lewis Pugh began his 315-mile (507-km) swim down the Hudson River, from its source at Lake Tear of the Clouds, to its end at New York City. He finished the swim, ‘exhausted but rejuvenated’, on Wednesday, September 13, at Battery Park. Pugh made the epic swim to raise awareness of water quality.
The 53-year-old endurance swimmer emerged from the water off the lower tip of Manhattan after a month-long journey, clad in a Speedo, cap and goggles. He smiled and raised his fist in triumph as he climbed out. Supporters who had gathered despite light rain cheered.
Photo: Sheila Weir / Royal Navy
The War Zone column from the Drive.com blog recently featured photographs of a Royal Navy Vanguard class submarine returning to HM Naval Base Clyde, which is also known as Faslane, on the west coast of Scotland, after a 197-day nuclear deterrent patrol. The nuclear ballistic missile sub looked like what they describe as a “sea monster that had emerged from a long slumber at the bottom of the ocean.” The hull is indeed covered by an impressive growth of marine fouling.
Of course, the mission of ballistic missile submarines, often referred to as “boomers,” is to serve as undetectable launch platforms for intercontinental missiles, which is to say that their job is to go find a place to hide in the ocean for extended periods of time. The opportunity to keep the hull free of maritime growth is, at best, limited, even with the latest anti-fouling coatings now available.
An updated repost. There is a line from a Paul Simon song, “these are the days of miracle and wonder.” One might not think to apply that lyric to the events of 9/11, 22 years ago today. Yet for at least part of that strange and horrible day, they fit.
The great New York boatlift was part of the “miracle and wonder.” The wholly unplanned boatlift was the spontaneous maritime evacuation of an estimated 500,000 people trapped in Lower Manhattan in less than 10 hours. The boatlift has been under-reported by the media, which is all the more reason to remember the mariners of New York who stepped up to perform what has been called the largest sea rescue in history.
North Korea has unveiled a new “tactical nuclear attack submarine,” based on a remodeled Soviet-era vessel, equipped with multiple launching tubes capable of launching nuclear missiles. Submarine No. 841 – named Hero Kim Kun Ok – will be one of the main “underwater offensive means of the naval force” of North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un said at the launch ceremony on Wednesday.
But South Korea’s military expressed skepticism about the submarine on Friday, saying that it “doesn’t look capable of normal operation” and that there were signs of “deception and exaggeration” in the North’s report.
Photo: FLAGLER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Reza Baluchi is at it again. The US Coast Guard intercepted Baluchi in the Atlantic about 70 miles (110km) off Tybee Island, Georgia on August 26 in his most recent attempt to run across the ocean, this time from the US East Coast to London, in what the Coast Guard refers to as a “Hamster Wheel of Doom.”
For over a decade, extreme runner Baluchi has set off on a series of quixotic voyages in a homemade bubble contraption with a metal frame that looks like a human hamster wheel. This is at least his fourth attempted transit, all of which have ended with his being rescued or stopped by the Coast Guard.
This time the Coast Guard says its cutter encountered Baluchi while making preparations for an offshore hurricane. Officials said the 44-year-old marathon runner refused to leave the vessel for three days. Baluchi refused to step off the vessel and threatened to kill himself. He also claimed that he had a bomb on board, according to court papers.
The dive boat Conception smolders at sunrise on Sept. 2, 2019, before sinking. (National Transportation Safety Board)
The LA Times reports that the deadly fire that broke out four years ago aboard the Conception dive boat, killing 34 people, started in a plastic trash can on the main deck, a confidential report reviewed by The Times shows.
Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) built a full-scale mock-up of the middle deck of the 75-foot vessel in their quest to determine the fire’s point of origin and cause. They conducted a series of burn tests at their Maryland research lab, which concluded the blaze began in a rubbish container and then quickly spread. Within minutes, the boat’s main salon was in flames, the testing showed.
The findings shed new light on the deadliest maritime disaster in modern California history, adding to the mystery surrounding its cause. However, due to ongoing criminal and civil court proceedings related to the incident, the report has not been publicly disclosed.
We recently posted about the remarkable 61-year career of the one-of-a-kind research vessel FLoating Instrument Platform, known as FLIP. FLIP was essentially a massive 355-foot-long spar buoy used to study oceanic wave height, acoustic signals, water temperature, and density.
Now, if all goes to plan, the Polar Pod, a new oceanographic research station in the form of a ‘vertical ship, inspired by FLIP, will commence operations in the Southern Ocean from 2024-2026.
In orbit around Antarctica, the Polar Pod will be carried along on the circumpolar current, and will circle the earth between 50 ° and 55 ° S.
We are saddened to learn that Captain William “Bill” Pinkney died on August 31, 2023 at the age of 87. Captain Pinkney was the first Black man to sail solo around the world via the 5 Great Capes.
Captain Pinkney was in Atlanta, GA serving as an advisor for an upcoming documentary. He passed away on Thursday morning from injuries he suffered after falling down a flight of stairs a few days ago.
Captain Pinkney’s voyage featured the rounding of the five great capes including Cape Horn. The 27,000-mile circumnavigation took 22 months and ended on June 9, 1992. Throughout the trip, Pinkney sent footage back to Globe TV and communicated with some 30,000 school children. The finished production titled, “The Incredible Voyage of Bill Pinkney,” won the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in children’s television programming. The film has aired on the Disney Channel, National Geographic, and PBS stations and is now available on YouTube.
Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Star, wrote the song, Octopus’s Garden, for the Beatles 1969 album Abbey Road. The first verse goes:
I’d like to be/Under the sea/In an octopus’ garden/In the shade…
In a recent study, researchers describe finding an octopus’s garden beneath the sea about 80 miles from the coast of central California. It is believed to be the largest congregation of deep-sea octopuses ever discovered on Earth, where over 6,000, and possibly as many as 20,000, octopuses huddle around an extinct underwater volcano in the black, cold ocean depths, almost two miles below the surface.
The aggregation of octopus was discovered in 2018 and has remained something of a mystery. Octopuses are generally antisocial loners that would rather fight each other than live in close quarters.
In 2021, we posted about the start of construction of a sail-assisted cargo ship, built to carry Ariane 6 rockets for the European Space Agency (ESA). Now, the ro-ro cargo ship, Canopée, has completed sea trials and is ready to begin commercial service carrying launcher parts from European ports to the Pariacabo port in Kourou, French Guiana.
In addition to diesel propulsion, the 121-meter long Canopée is equipped with four 30-meter high Oceanwings, automated and reefable soft wingsails.
The Oceanwing sails, developed by AYRO, each have a surface area of 363 square meters. The sails consist of two flaps, one forward and one aft. The design makes it possible to adjust the angle of incidence of the wings, which turn 360 degrees in relation to the wind while the rear flap can pivot around the secondary mast to create a camber in relation to the front flap. The sails are collapsible.
The P&O cruise ship MV Britannia was blown from her dockside moorings in Mallorca, Spain on Sunday during a sudden and intense storm. The ship drifted across the harbor and collided with a moored oil tanker, the Castillo de Arteaga. Both ships suffered minor damage.
A spokesperson for P&O Cruises, owned by Carnival (CCL.L), said, “P&O Cruises Britannia was involved in a weather-related incident while alongside in Palma de Mallorca. A small number of individuals sustained minor injuries and are being cared for by the onboard medical center.”
A technical assessment was carried out on the cruise ship in Palma, where experts found “structural issues” with one of the lifeboats.
We recently posted Ukrainian Naval Drones Redefining Warfare in the Black Sea, discussing naval drones developed by the Ukrainians with formidable ranges and increasing lethality. These sea drones are explosive uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) that have been used to attack Russian ships and shore infrastructure.
Now, following successful attacks by sea drones on one high value target, the bridge across the Kerch Strait which connects Russian-occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland, the Russians have fallen back on an ancient defensive technique, the use of blockships, to respond to a 21st century technology.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence reports that the Russians are preparing to sink a second ferry in the Kerch Strait near the Crimean bridge connecting Russian-occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland, to protect it from attacks by Ukrainian sea drones.
In addition to devastating the historic town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the recent wild fires also destroyed most of the boats in the harbor. After almost two weeks, Channel KHON2 News reports that the US Coast Guard’s Pacific Strike Team said they have counted about 49 sunken vessels in the Lahaina Harbor as they work to mitigate maritime environmental impacts from the burn zone.
Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team Lt. Trent Brown said crews are working to remove the fuel from the vessels to prevent it from leaking into the ocean. They have set a boom on the mouth of the Lahaina Harbor to help soak up fuel that may rise to the surface. Divers are also searching for bodies.
An unlikely nautical relic of World War II, the BRP Sierra Madre, sits hard aground on Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Manned by a handful of Philippine marines, the rusting hulk serves as an isolated outpost defending Philippine sovereignty in highly contested waters.
Recently, two ships carrying supplies, escorted by two coast guard ships, delivered fresh provisions to the Sierra Madre, breaking a blockade by the Chinese coast guard. Two weeks prior, the Chinese prevented a previous Philippine supply mission from reaching the ship by firing water cannon at the supply ships. The Chinese have also been accused of using a “military grade” laser light on a Philippine coast guard boat in past encounters.
The 100 meter-long BRP Sierra Madre, originally the USS LST-821, then the USS Harnett County, was a tank-landing ship built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. It also served in the Vietnam War and was transferred to the Philippines in 1976 and renamed for a third time.
Panama, the fifth wettest country, is experiencing one of the two driest years in the country’s 143-year record. The historic drought has impacted the water levels in Gatun Lake and the Panama Canal resulting in the Canal Authority introducing ship draft restrictions and in cutting back on the number of ships allowed to transit the canal.
More than 200 ships are stuck on both sides of the Panama Canal after authorities capped the number of crossings because of the drought. The entrances on both sides of the Panama Canal are jammed with some ships backed up for more than 20 days.
The number of daily transits through the canal has been capped at 32 by the authorities in a bid to conserve water. Restrictions for the number of vessels passing through the canal has been extended until September 2.
Pyxis Ocean, an 80,000 DWT bulk carrier, fitted with two WindWings, a pioneering rigid wing technology, has set sail on its maiden voyage from China to Brazil.
The bulker, owned by Mitsubishi Corporation has been chartered by Cargill, one of the world’s biggest ship charterers. Cargill has been actively exploring wind assisted propulsion as one cleaner energy option.
“It is risk taking. There is no guarantee … that the economics are going to work,” Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill’s ocean transportation division, told Reuters.
After 61 years of service, the one of its kind research vessel FLoating Instrument Platform, known as FLIP, has been retired and sent to a scrapyard. I distinctly recall being absolutely fascinated by this engineering marvel when it was almost brand new. As not quite a teenager, I remember being taken by both the simplicity and wonderful weirdness of the 355-foot-long research platform with a generally ship-shaped bow and a largely cylindrical hull.
The vessel would be towed to deep water, where the ballast tanks in the stern would be filled with seawater and the craft would literally “flip” from horizontal to vertical. With 300 feet of the hull floating upright underwater, the research platform would float serenely in deep water, literally unmoved by ocean swells. (If this description doesn’t make any sense to you, check out the video below of the FLIP flipping.”
The sad saga of the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) is winding down. The small surface vessels, built in two classes, and designed for operations near shore, were intended to be inexpensive and flexible. Instead, they proved to be unreliable, relatively costly, and plagued by technical problems. Worse yet, the Pentagon concluded that the ships were not “survivable in a hostile combat environment” and that neither ship class could withstand the Navy’s full ship shock trials.
Recently, the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship, USS Sioux City, was decommissioned after less than five years in service. Such ships were meant to serve for 25 years.
The Navy announced its intent to decommission Sioux City and eight other Freedom-class LCS early in the spring of 2022, part of a move to divest the sea service of as many LCS as possible in order to free up funding for other priorities, a tacit acknowledgment that the LCS fleet has not done what it was originally envisioned to do.