In early 2012, we posted about claims made by Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research that they had found “the worlds richest shipwreck,” the British freighter, SS Port Nicholson, carrying a secret cargo of 71 tons of platinum, sunk by the German submarine U-87 on June 16th, 1942, northeast of Cape
Cod, MS. The claim was met with skepticism, as there was no platinum on the ship’s Bill of Lading or any other evidence of the precious metal. The platinum could be worth $3 billion once salvaged, if it exists at all. There were also claims made about jewels, gold and silver aboard the ship. At the time, we commented that “press releases are not platinum.”
Since then Brooks and his group have retrieved artifacts from the ship, including a broken compass, a fire extinguisher, and a brick. As Michael Kaplan, an attorney represented the United Kingdom’s interest in the ship, commented to the Bangor Daily News, the salvors are missing the claimed “jewels, gold, platinum, and silver.” Kaplan also pointed out that world platinum production in the years prior to World War II averaged around 15.5 tons per year, so it is unlikely that a single ship would be carrying 71tons, roughly equal to 4.5 years of worldwide platinum production.
After reportedly spending $8 million of his investor’s money, Brooks may now be considering ending his hunt and selling off expedition assets, including the main salvage vessel.
The Navy is issuing five Navy e-Reader Devices, or NeRDs, each preloaded with 300 books to each of the submarines in the fleet, and if all goes well plans to send NeRDs to all Navy vessels. The e-Readers are pretty basic. They have no wi-fi connectivity and no ports or card readers. They will be loaded with current best-sellers and public domain classics as well as titles from the Navy reading list and professional development texts.
Columbus’ flagship, Santa Maria, ran aground and sank on Christmas Day 1492 off Haiti, on Columbus’ first voyage to the New World. Now after more than a decade’s research, u
I was saddened to hear of 
Fin and sei whale are not usually seen in New York’s upper harbor, yet in a period of less than a month, two have made an appearance. Unfortunately, both were dead, pinned to the bows of ships.
The
Update: The dead whale is now identified as a 
The Norwegian Breakway is one year old this week. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a particularly auspicious birthday. As the cruise ship entered New York harbor yesterday, after a seven day cruise, the captain reported some sort of problem related to the ship’s azipods, which prevented it from docking. Like most new cruise ships, the 1,068-foot Norwegian Breakway, which can carry 3,969 guests plus its crew of 1,651, does not have conventional shaft mounted propellers or rudders. Instead, it is powered by propellers mounted on streamlined pods, which can rotate, and therefore also serve as the ship’s rudders. The ship also has three bow thrusters.
It is not always easy to decipher the news being reported on the tragic sinking of the Korean ferry Sewol , which capsized in the Yellow Sea on April 16, leaving more than 300 dead or missing. There have been numerous reports that the ferry was overloaded when she sank, yet by all indications, the likely problem was that the ship had inadequate stability. The ferry sank while under the command of a relief captain. Last week the 
Last August we asked “
When the Cunard liner 
Update: