Update: Fate of Pocket Battleship Graf Spee’s Nazi Eagle Still Undecided

Posted on by June 27, 2023

The Battle of the River Plate, fought in the South Atlantic in December 1939 was the first naval battle of the Second World War and ended with the scuttling of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. While the battle itself may have ended 84 years ago, the conflict over the fate of the 770-pound bronze eagle, holding a Nazi swastika in its talons, once mounted on the stern of the ship, continues on unabated.

There had been a decades-long three-way legal battle between an Uruguayan businessman who salvaged the eagle, the Uruguayan government, and the government of Germany, which has been concerned that the eagle and swastika will fall into the hands of Nazi sympathizers.

A court ruled last year that it belonged to the Uruguayan state, in whose waters it was found.

Continue reading →

Behavior May be Spreading — Orca Rams Yacht Off Shetland Islands

Posted on by June 26, 2023

For the last several years, we have been posting about orca attacks on yachts and fishing boats in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Iberian peninsula. Pods of orcas have been ramming sailboats and often grabbing their rudders and keels, and have caused significant damage, most often to the boat’s steering. In the last three years, there have been close o 500 such attacks and at least three sailboats have been sunk.

What has prompted the attacks remains a mystery to scientists. 

Until recently, the attacks were confined to the coastal waters of Spain and Portugal.  Now, the Guardian reports that an orca repeatedly rammed a yacht in the North Sea off Shetland earlier this month.

Continue reading →

Jubilee Sailing Trust’s Tall Ship Lord Nelson to be Auctioned to Pay Off Charity’s Debts

Posted on by June 23, 2023

STS Lord Nelson

The tall ship Lord Nelson is being offered for sale at an online auction by the global advisory and investment firm Gordon Brothers, acting on behalf of Richard Lewis and Sarah O’Toole, the joint administrators of Jubilee Sailing Trust Limited.

Jubilee Sailing Trust was forced into administration in August 2022, after one of the charity’s principal creditors ‘threatened imminent legal proceedings to reclaim their owed credit’, JST says.

The JST has so far operated through its two subsidiaries, Jubilee Sailing Trust Ltd and Jubilee Sailing Trust (Tenacious) Ltd. Tall ship Tenacious remains operational, the charity has stressed.

Continue reading →

Debris Found from Submersible Titan — Five Onboard Believed to Have Died in Catastrophic Implosion

Posted on by June 22, 2023

Pieces of the Titan submersible were found today on the ocean floor, about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. The debris was ‘consistent with a catastrophic implosion,’ the Coast Guard says. All five onboard the submersible are believed to have died. The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic deployed a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) that discovered the debris field.

“On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families,” Rear Admiral John Mauger said in a news conference on Thursday.

Continue reading →

Long-Standing Concerns About Safety of Missing Titan Submersible

Posted on by June 21, 2023

As frantic search and rescue efforts continue to attempt to locate the missing submersible Titan, which went missing on Sunday on an expedition to dive on the wreck of the Titanic, long-standing concerns about the safety of the submersible have resurfaced. 

Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the firm that built and operated the submersible has been a vocal advocate of innovation while at times downplaying the primacy of safety in submersible design.

In an interview last year, Rush said, “‘You know, there’s a limit. At some point safety just is pure waste. I mean if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed.”

Continue reading →

Update: the Race to Find Missing Submersible Titan With Five Onboard — 40 Hours of Air Remaining

Posted on by June 20, 2023

Titan submersible. Source: OceanGate Expeditions

The US Coast Guard is racing against time to locate and rescue a submersible with five people onboard that went missing on Sunday morning in the North Atlantic while attempting to dive on the wreck of the Titanic. The area being searched for the 22′ submersible, Titan, is larger than the state of Connecticut, in waters 2 nautical miles deep.

US Coast Guard officials said Tuesday afternoon that the five people inside the submersible were believed to have roughly 40 hours of breathable air left. 

Speaking at a news conference in Boston, Capt. Jamie Frederick said that crews were “doing everything possible” as part of a “complex search effort.” But so far, he said, those efforts “have not yielded any results.” 

Continue reading →

Search Underway for Submersible Missing on Titanic Wreck Dive

Posted on by June 19, 2023

Missing submersible Titan

The US Coast Guard is searching for a submersible carrying five people on a dive on the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland. The submersible Titan, which began its dive towards the Titanic wreck site on Sunday morning, lost contact with the research vessel Polar Prince an hour and 45 minutes into the dive, according to the US Coast Guard. 

Sky News is reporting that UK billionaire Hamish Harding is one of five people on board the missing tourist submersible. Two others reported to be on board are French submersible pilot, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush.

OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the submersible, said in a statement on Monday that it was “mobilizing all options” to rescue those on the underwater vessel. 
Continue reading →

Happy Juneteenth — When Emancipation Arrived by Steamship

Posted on by June 19, 2024

USS Cornubia, ex Lady Davis

Happy Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth National Independence Day is also the newest Federal holiday. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden in 2020. The holiday commemorates when emancipation arrived in Galveston, Texas by steamship, 158 years ago today. Here is an updated repost. 

Although the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the nation’s Civil War on April 9, 1865, emancipation did not arrive in Texas until two ex-Confederate steamships sailed into Galveston Harbor two months later. 

Continue reading →

Update: Ship Tracking Casts Doubt on Coastguard’s Account of Boat Disaster Off Greece

Posted on by June 18, 2023

We recently posted about an overloaded fishing boat carrying migrants that capsized and sank early on Wednesday morning in deep waters about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern Greek coastal town of Pylos. The BBC reports on evidence casting doubt on the Greek coastguard’s account of the migrant shipwreck in which hundreds are feared to have died.

Analysis of the movement of other ships in the area suggests the overcrowded fishing vessel was not moving for at least seven hours before it capsized.

The coastguard still claims that during these hours the boat was on a course to Italy and not in need of rescue. Greek authorities have not yet responded to the BBC’s findings.

Continue reading →

Roger Payne, Biologist Who Discovered Whale Song, Has Died at 88

Posted on by June 17, 2023

Harrison Smith, writing in the Washington Post, describes Roger Payne as “a biologist who put his ear to the ocean and pioneered the study of whale songs.” His recordings of their hypnotic, intricately patterned vocalizations — haunting wails, birdlike chirps, playful squeals, and mournful moos — suggested that the animals had a far richer inner life than previously imagined and helped to galvanize the anti-whaling movement. 

Roger Payne died of cancer on June 10 at his home in South Woodstock, Vt. He was 88.

Continue reading →

Overloaded Migrant Boat Sinks Near Greece — at Least 78 Dead, Hundreds Feared Drowned

Posted on by June 16, 2023

Reuters reports that rescuers scoured the seas off Greece on Thursday following a shipwreck that killed at least 78 migrants, as hopes of survivors dwindled and fears grew that hundreds more, including children, may have drowned inside the crowded vessel’s hold.

Reports suggested between 400 and 750 people had packed the 20 to 30-meter-long fishing boat that capsized and sank early on Wednesday morning in deep waters about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern coastal town of Pylos. Greek authorities said 104 survivors had been brought ashore.

Continue reading →

At Least 103 Drown After Wedding When Boat Capsizes in Nigeria

Posted on by June 14, 2023

The death toll from an overloaded boat that capsized in a remote part of Nigeria’s north central region has risen to more than 100, police and officials said on Wednesday, in one of the worst such disasters in recent years.

The wooden boat was ferrying people to Kwara state across the Niger River from neighboring Niger state after a wedding party when it capsized on Monday night. Approximately 270 individuals were loaded on the boat, well above its capacity of 100 people.

Kwara state police spokesperson Ajayi Okasanmi told Reuters on Wednesday that 103 people had been confirmed dead.

Continue reading →

Retired Passenger Liner SS United States Threatened by Eviction From Philadelphia Pier

Posted on by June 13, 2023

The SS United States, the largest and fastest transatlantic passenger liner ever built in America, has spent the last 27 years moored at Philadephia’s Pier 82 on the Delaware River. The venerable ship is now threatened with eviction.

 Yahoo reports that during the pandemic in 2021, the vessel’s landlords doubled the dockage fees. Now, according to federal legal filings, pier operators would like the ship gone. 

Continue reading →

Secrets Lurking Beneath the Black Sea — Pristine Ancient Shipwrecks & Underwater Rivers

Posted on by June 12, 2023

A short but fascinating video by the BBC’s Dan John about the ancient secrets lurking beneath the Black Sea.

After Russia delved the depths of the Black Sea in search of the crashed US drone, the video takes a look at what else might be lurking beneath the waves.

See also our previous post, Scientists Find Oldest Intact Shipwreck in Black Sea.

The hidden world beneath the Black Sea – BBC News

Three British Tourists Missing After Fire on Dive Boat in Egyptian Red Sea

Posted on by June 11, 2023

The BBC reports that three British tourists are missing after a fire broke out on board a dive boat on the Egyptian Red Sea.  

Twenty-six other people, including 12 Britons, were rescued from the boat, called Hurricane. Initial reports suggested the fire was caused by an electrical fault. The boat caught fire at about 9 am on Sunday morning in the Elphistone region of the Red Sea, about 25 kilometers north of Marsa Alam.

Continue reading →

Endangered Vaquita Porpoises Hanging on, Conservation Efforts May be Working

Posted on by June 10, 2023

Great News. The vaquita porpoise, the world’s rarest marine mammal, swimming right on the edge of extinction, appears to be hanging on. Conservation measures in Mexico to save the endangered porpoise may be working.    

The New York Times reports that an international team of scientists estimated that at least 10 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California, the waters that separate Baja California from the Mexican mainland. The porpoises are found nowhere else and have been driven to the brink of extinction by drowning in gill nets, a type of fishing gear that drifts like a huge mesh curtain, catching fish by their gills. Dolphins, sea turtles, and vaquitas get stuck, too, dying when they can’t surface to breathe.

Continue reading →

The Mighty Windjammer Preussen — Animation From Mariner’s Mirror Podcast

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Here is an animation from a Mariner’s Mirror podcast about perhaps the greatest windjammer of the early twentieth century, the Preussen. One of the Flying P-Liners, built for the F. Laeisz shipping company in 1902, she was the only five-masted full-rigged steel ship ever built at that time. She remains one of only two five-masted full-rigged ships ever built. The second such ship, the Star Clipper’s  Royal Clipper, launched in 2000, was inspired by the Preussen.

The animation is designed to go alongside an episode of the Mariner’s Mirror Podcast in which Dr Sam Willis speaks with Frank Scott, a retired naval aviator and qualified square rig ship-master, who commanded various square riggers ranging from 80 to 800 gross tonnes. In his long sail training career he served in fourteen square riggers, under seven different national flags.

Hurtigruten to Launch Zero Emissions Electric Cruise Ship With Solar Sails by 2030

Posted on by June 7, 2023

Norwegian ferry and expedition cruise operator Hurtigruten has revealed plans for a zero-emissions electric cruise ship with retractable sails fitted with solar panels, that will sail the Norwegian coast by 2030.

The 500-passenger ship is designed for coastal service with an estimated range of 300 to 350 NM when powered by its 60-megawatt batteries. The line’s Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Express stops at 34 ports, which means there are good opportunities for fully electric ships to use future clean energy infrastructure. Renewable energy accounts for 98% of Norway’s electricity supply.

In addition to being powered by batteries, the ship will also feature three 50-meter-high wing sails that can be retracted to pass under bridges. The wing sails will be covered in a total of 1,500 square meters of solar panels that will generate electricity to top up the batteries while sailing.

Continue reading →

On the 79th Anniversary of D-Day, Remembering Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Higgins Boat

Posted on by June 6, 2023

I am aware of only one man who was praised by both Eisenhower and Hitler. A repost on the 79th anniversary of D-Day.

General Dwight David Eisenhower said that “Andrew Higgins … is the man who won the war for us. … If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.”  

Adolph Hitler referred to Andrew Higgins as the “new Noah,” though his admiration was more begrudging. On the 79th anniversary of the Normandy landings, better known as D-Day, it seems worthwhile to remember Andrew Higgins and the amazing Higgins boat.

Continue reading →

More Supply Chains Woes — Strikes at West Coast Ports

Posted on by June 5, 2023

Following over a year of negotiations, labor negotiations at US West Coast ports have stalled, resulting in a wave of strikes.

As reported by Splash247.com, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents more than 22,000 dock workers at West Coast ports, said Friday that dockworkers were “staging concerted and disruptive work actions” that had stopped or severely disrupted operations stretching from terminals at southern California’s big container port complex at Los Angeles and Long Beach to Seattle, with Oakland suffering the largest disruptions. 

The industry group representing shippers announced that operations at some marine terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were “effectively shut down.”

Continue reading →