55-gallon drums of chemical weapons near the mouth of the Mississippi River found by Texas A&M University researchers. Photo:Texas A&M University
We have previously posted about unexploded bombs from World War II being exposed by drought along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers in Germany, about similar bombs being found in the port of Marseille and about World War II phosphorus munitions burning two beachcombers at a seaside resort in the north of the island of Usedom on the German Baltic coast. Now, as offshore drilling returns to the Gulf of Mexico following the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, Texas A&M oceanographer William Bryant warns that the thousands of tons of bombs, ordnance and chemical weapons, including mustard gas, dumped by the US military in the Gulf after World War II, could pose a serious risk to new drilling.
World War II bombs, mustard gas in Gulf of Mexico need to be checked, experts warn
On March 29, 2010, the Panamanian-flagged ro/ro 
The schooner Bluenose II has been launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The local news outlets referred to the event as the “relaunching” of the schooner though as the hull was completely replaced and only some portion of the Douglas fir deck was re-used, it is effectively a newly built vessel. The Bluenose II is a replica of the original Bluenose, a Grand Banks fishing schooner famous for its graceful lines and speed under sail. See our previous post, 
An interesting article on the day after Nelson’s birthday – after using synthetic mastic, a modern caulking material commonly used in yachts, for the last fifteen year without success, the folks restoring Nelson’s 
The replica of the 
The press release says that the 
Imagine an antique Victorian desk purchased for £30, that has a stuck drawer. A determined auctioneer, working on the drawer with a screw driver for around 20 minutes, managed to un-stick it only to find that the object blocking the drawer was a small bone cribbage board with a label on the back that read: ‘The cribbage board used by Victory Nelson & Admiral Quilliam.‘ The cribbage board had been hidden in the drawer for more than 70 years. The cribbage board will be auctioned and is expected to attract bids of several thousand pounds. Thanks to 
After ten sea trials and over 25 years of construction and refitting, China has put its first aircraft carrier into service. Long rumored to be named Shi Lang, the carrier has instead been named 
Bill King
Scientists have said that global climate change will bring us severe and unusual weather. That would be a hard point to argue. Here are two recent, apparently somewhat contradictory or perhaps merely odd, news stories about the sea and the global climate. The ice on the Arctic Sea has melted to record low levels while it has reached record highs in the Antarctic.
The first word one associates with speed under sail is probably not barge. Nevertheless, Thames River barges are no slackers when the wind is blowing. Recently, the folks at