Carnival Triumph Adrift After Breaking Moorings in High Winds, One Man Missing

Posted on by April 4, 2013

Winds gusting to near hurricane strength broke the moorings on the already damaged cruise ship Carnival Triumph at her berth at BAE Shipyard in the Port of Mobile, Alabama at 1:45 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The cruise ship, which had recently been adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for five days after a fire and an electrical failure, was adrift again, this time down the Mobile ship channel where it is reported to have collided with another ship. Two men were in a guard shack that was blown into the river. One man was recovered and the other is still missing.

The AP reports that new damage to the cruise ship included “a 20-foot gash about 2 to 3 feet wide … visible about halfway up the hull from the water … wrapped partway around the stern. Underneath the gashed area, two levels of railing were dangling and broken.”  The Carnival Triumph is reported to have drifted for several hours before tugs could secure the ship at the Mobile Cruise Terminal. Thanks to Brian Frissel for passing along the news.

Update: EPA Consent Decree Allows SS Badger to Keep Sailing and Dumping Coal Ash for Two More Years

Posted on by March 28, 2013

Toward the end of last year, we posted about the the battle over the continued operation of the SS Badger, the last coal-fired passenger vessel operating on the Great Lakes.  To her admirers she is a national treasure.  To her detractors she is a an environmental menace, dumping 4 tons of coal ash into Lake Michigan every day.   The ferry’s EPA waiver which allowed her to dump the ash expired in December.  Now an EPA Consent Decree has been issued allowing the ship to continue operating and dumping ash, although in lesser quantities, for the next two years.

Consent decree allows SS Badger to sail 2 more years

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April Fool’s Pirates Mistake USS Nicholas for a Merchant Ship – No Joke

Posted on by March 27, 2013

USS_NicholasAn April Fool’s post that is no joke. At 12:27 a.m. on April 1, 2010, in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, three Somali pirates in a small skiff attacked what they thought was a merchant vessel.  It wasn’t. They had attacked the USS Nicholas, an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, on anti-piracy patrol.  The USS Nicholas returned fire, captured the three pirates and sank their skiff.   Subsequently, two suspected pirates were captured on a mother ship, which was also confiscated.  The five pirates were tried and convicted in US court,  the first piracy conviction in an American courtroom since 1819. The five April Fool’s pirates were each convicted to life plus 80 years. No joke. 

Sperm Whale Skeletons and Blue Whale Hearts – New Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History

Posted on by March 28, 2013

skeleton3.jpg-1-of-1A new exhibit has just opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. While  perhaps not as controversial as the exhibit at the Vancouver Maritime Museum which we posted recently, it includes many whales bones, but, at least to our knowledge, no whale bone porn.  The new exhibit, Whales: Giants of the Deep, includes more than 20 skulls and skeletons from a range of whale species, including a skeleton of a male sperm whale that measures 58 feet long. Visitors are also invited to climb through the replica of a blue whale’s heart.  The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 5, 2014, is on loan from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Giants of the Deep: Whales Exhibit to Open in Manhattan

The Squid Wars and Outlaw Fleets in the Argentine Waters Off the Falkland Ilsands

Posted on by March 30, 2013
squidwar

Photo: Alamy

The ongoing dispute over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands and adjoining waters, has created an opportunity for an outlaw fleet of industrial fishing trawlers to fish, and over-fish, the rich stocks of squid in Argentine waters near the islands. Illegal fishing is estimated to be catching 300,000 tons of squid a year. The squid is key to a food chain that sustains penguins, seals, birds and whales.  In 2005 Argentina pulled out of a fisheries management organization it had shared with Falklands. The lack of cooperation between the UK and Argentina has left both sides ill-equipped to deal with the fleet scooping up squid.

Outlaw fleet scoops squid from Argentine waters

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Wind Farm vs the Blowhard – Donald Trumped in Scotland

Posted on by March 27, 2013

Donald-TrumpThe Scottish government ignored the bluff, bluster and threats made by the bilious, billionaire blowhard, Donald Trump, and approved the installation of eleven wind turbines in an experimental offshore wind farm off the coast of Aberdeen. Trump is strongly of the view that the wind turbines will spoil the view from a golf course that he is developing nearby.  The real-estate magnate and reality TV show opined, in a bizarre, yet not untypical tirade, ““All over the world they are being abandoned, but in Scotland they are being built. We will put our future plans in Aberdeen on hold, as will many others, until this ridiculous proposal is defeated. Likewise, we will be bringing a lawsuit within the allocated period of time to stop what will definitely be the destruction of Aberdeen and Scotland itself.”

Scottish government ignores Donald Trump’s threats and approves windfarm

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Vancouver Maritime Museum, Stephen Colbert & Whale Bone Porn

Posted on by March 28, 2013

The Vancouver Maritime Museum has an exhibit which opened this month, Tattoos & Scrimshaw: the Art of the Sailor, which has generated a surprising amount of controversy. It seems that some of the scrimshaw on display features explicit erotic scenes. Ann Pimentel, a Vancouver mother and schoolteacher, has complained vociferously, charging that some of the scrimsaw is “whale bone porn.” As reported by the National Post: “Ironically, Ms. Pimentel’s one-woman crusade has created more interest in the VMM show than the museum could have mustered on its own.”  Even Stephen Colbert has weighed in on the topic.

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for pointing out the story.

Buying Time – Scrambling to Raise Half Million to Save SS United States from Scrap Yard

Posted on by March 27, 2013

ssus2The SS United States Conservancy is scrambling to raise $500,000 to buy time in their effort to save the ex-passenger liner SS United States.  If they fail, the ship could be sold for scrap.  The conservancy is exploring potential partnerships with four entities in Philadelphia and New York City to refashion the vessel as a stationary entertainment complex with 500,000 square feet of space for a hotel, theater, restaurants and shopping, but no deal has been made and time is running out.  It  costs $80,000 a month just for mooring, basic maintenance, insurance and security for the old ship at her berth in Philadelphia. Thanks to Irwin Bryan for contributing to this post.

Rust in peace: SS United States faces the scrap heap unless $500,000 can be found to save the historic transatlantic cruise liner

Why the Emma Mærsk’s Engine Room Flooded – the Watertight Bulkhead that Wasn’t

Posted on by March 26, 2013

Emma_Mærsk2In the beginning of February, we posted about the flooding of the engine room on the Emma Mærsk, as the ship was entering the Suez Canal. The flooding put 16 feet of water in the engine room of ship, which is one of the largest container ships in the world.  The flooding was reported to be caused by a failure in an aft thruster.  The question of why a failure in the ship’s shaft alley would also cause such a major flooding of the engine room itself has finally been answered.  Apparently, the watertight bulkhead that is designed to isolate the shaft alley from the engine wasn’t watertight.  The watertight doors closed as designed but the wireway penetrations through the bulkheads are reported to have not been properly sealed, allowing the significant flooding.

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Challenged America – Disabled Sailors Competing in the Transpac

Posted on by March 26, 2013

cropped-IMG_4338-2011-heade

Urban Miyares, a Vietnam vet, is totally blind, suffering from diabetes, has several organ transplants, and a whole number of medical issues, including severe nerve damage in his lower extremities making him a walking paraplegic. He is also the current president and co-founder of the adaptive sailing program Challenged America. He and his crew David Hopkins will be racing this July from Los Angelos to Honolulu in the Transpac Race in the double-handed division aboard their Tripp 40 B’Quest. This is not the first Transpac race in which Challenged America sailors have competed. Miyares comments “We’ve taken her two times before on Transpac, 2003 and 2005, with a crew with disabilities. We’ve modified the boat quite a bit for the different disabilities; we’ve added quite a bit of weight, and this time we’re going to take the boat again.” The Challenged America program is dedicated to introduce sailing as a therapeutic and rehabilitative enhancing activity to individuals with disabilities, their loved ones, and professionals in healthcare and rehabilitation.

A short video about Challenged America: Challenged America March 2013

Killer Dolphins Looking for Love, or Maybe Not – a Look at Military Marine Mammals

Posted on by March 23, 2013

dolph3A bit over a week ago there were news reports with headlines that sounded like the  plot of a low-budget sc-fi thriller. Huffington Post posted: “Ukrainian ‘Killer’ Dolphins Escape Naval Training Base In Search Of Love, Report Says.” Killer Dolphins Looking for Love! Terror with just the right mix of pathos. Great!

It turns out that it was a likely hoax. Dolphins trained by the Ukrainian military to detect mines and attack enemy swimmers, apparently did not escape after all. It is also likely that the title “killer dolphins” was a wild exaggeration was well. The US Navy has been using dolphins and other marine mammals since the 1950s, primarily to help in identifying underwater mines.  The Russians also have been reported to have a dolphin training program but that it was shut down in 2000.  Last year, it was reported that the Ukrainian navy has restarted special training for dolphins and other animals.

Update: Ukrainian Military Dolphins Not Actually on the Loose

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USS Freedom Limping Toward Singapore – The US Navy’s Sorry LCS Saga Continues

Posted on by March 22, 2013

USS-FreedomThe USS Freedom, the first of the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), is on her way to Singapore. The press has reported that the ship is intended to show the US’s commitment to counter China in the region. Before it can do that however, the $670 million ship has to get there. The USS Freedom has suffered three blackouts so far in its transit between Hawaii and Guam. As reported by Aviation Week: The most recent two this week — including one March 21 — brings the outage total to three, all during the ship’s transit from Pearl Harbor to Guam en route to Singapore, says U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Darryn James. The outage problems appear to be similar to those the ship suffered during a deployment in the Atlantic when the vessel was first pressed into Navy service, a source intimately familiar with Freedom operations says.

Other than not being able to keep the lights on, the guns on the USS Freedom are also reported not to work properly, and her helicopter is too small to perform mine-sweeping. Additionally  the Navy has admitted in a recent report that the “LCS is not expected to be survivable…” in combat.  So to counter the Chinese, the US is sending a ship with an unreliable power plant and ineffective weapons — a ship that even the Navy says may not survive a fight a sea.   Good luck with that.

Navy’s $670 Million Fighting Ship Is ‘Not Expected to Be Survivable,’ Pentagon Says

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Apollo Saturn V Moon Rocket Engines Recovered from Ocean Deep by Amazon CEO

Posted on by March 21, 2013

An underwater expedition led by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos successfully recovered the mangled wreckage of two rocket engines from NASA’s Apollo Moon program from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The F-1 engines, which powered the first-stage Saturn V boosters that fell back to Earth after their fuel was depleted, were found at a depth of 14,000 feet, Bezos’ expedition announced Wednesday. NASA will not try to determine on which Apollo mission the rocket engines were used. Thanks to Alaric Bond and Tony Seideman for passing the news along.

Amazon CEO Recovers NASA’s Apollo Engines from Ocean Deep

USCG Barque Eagle Bound for Baltimore Overhaul?

Posted on by March 20, 2013

Eagle_1Interesting news about the US Coast Guard training ship, the barque Eagle. As reported by The Day, The Coast Guard barque Eagle may go to Baltimore for extensive repairs so future officers can keep training on the ship for years to come. The barque underwent a service-life extension at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Md., more than 30 years ago and it is due for another.

“The Coast Guard is looking at Eagle being the training vessel for cadets and officer candidates for hopefully another 40 years,” said Capt. Raymond “Wes” Pulver, Eagle’s commanding officer. “A final decision has not been made on the service-life extension project for Eagle but I’m optimistic we’re going to do something to keep Eagle in very valuable service.”  

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Lord Nelson Action Figure & Napoleon’s Horse

Posted on by March 20, 2013

lordnelsonAccomplished historian and archivist, Allan Janus has reviewed the Lord Nelson action figure now available on Amazon.  His review:

“An excellent action figure of Horatio, Viscount Nelson – complete with sword, eyepatch, empty sleeve and chelengk. The one minor negative is that Nelson’s stance is quite wide, making it difficult at the outset for him to stand. But a bit of judicious leg-bending brought him round, and now he’s quite upstanding and quarterdeck-ready. Probably the finest Nelson action figure available today.”

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Senator Rockefeller to Carnival’s Micky Arison – Will You Reimburse Taxpayers?

Posted on by March 19, 2013

368659Carnival Cruise Line pays virtually no Federal taxes, yet without the docks, roads, and airports provided by local, state and the federal governments, it would be unable to operate its cruise line.  And, when one of its ships gets into trouble, Carnival feels free to call on all the support that the US Coast Guard and Navy can offer.  Overall, the company pays about 1% of its profits in US taxes.  Forbes magazine recently reported that Micky Arison, the CEO of Carnival has a net worth of $5.7 billion.

Senator Jay Rockefeller in his capacity as chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation recently wrote Mickey Arison a letter asking if Carnival intended to reimburse the $4.2 million dollars spent by the US Coast Guard and Navy in responding to the Carnival Splendor and Carnival Triumph casualties.

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MV Danio on the Rocks off Farne Islands, Salvage Delayed by Weather

Posted on by March 18, 2013

Early on Saturday, the 80 m coaster MV Danio hit the rocks on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast, after sailing from Perth, Scotland to Antwerp, Belgium with a cargo of timber.  The German-owned, Antigua-registered vessel is stuck near the Longstone Lighthouse, close to where heroine Grace Darling and her lighthouse keeper father carried out the famous rescue from the steamship Forfarshire in 1838.   The Farne Islands are internationally known for the thousands of puffins which live there, as well as 6,000 grey seals and more than 20 bird species that breed there.  Plans to salvage the ship and crew may be delayed until next week due to the bad weather. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along the news.

Fears over stricken cargo ship off Northumberland coast

Container Ship Nose Jobs – Maersk Retrofits Bulbous Bows for Slow Steaming

Posted on by March 17, 2013

maesrskbulbOver the next several months, Maersk Lines will be giving ten container ships in its fleet nose jobs. They will be cutting off the existing bulbous bows and retrofitting them with new more energy-efficient designs.

It all has to do with slow steaming.  Bulbous bows are designed to work at a particular range of speeds and drafts. A well designed bulbous bow can reduce fuel consumption by 10-12%.  Many of the Maersk ships were originally designed to operate at around 24 knots. With the dramatic rise in fuel costs and continued container ship overcapacity, many ships are now operating at speeds as low as 12 knots. At such slow speeds the original bulbous bow designs can actually increase hull resistance and increase fuel costs. The new bulbs should save 1-2% in fuel costs.

The nose job: Why 10 of our ships are getting a new bulbous bow

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