Was MV Dong Fang Zhi Xing (Oriental Star) unsafe and unstable or was she just at the wrong place at the wrong time? Should the captain have anchored, as did several other ships on the river, when he received warning of bad weather, or would the ship have capsized at anchor or underway when hit by the tornado? As the Chinese come to terms with the greatest nautical tragedy in decades, there are far more questions than answers.
The official Xinhua News Agency is reporting that only 14 had been rescued, and more than 70 confirmed dead, of the 458 aboard the ill-fated passenger ship that capsized in the Yangtze River on Monday night. The captain, Zhang Shunwen, along with the chief engineer, was one of the few survivors. He has been detained by the police for questioning.
If you are in the area tomorrow night, June 4th, be sure to stop by the 
Last night, around 9:28 p.m, the river cruise vessel, 
First of all, notwithstanding the name, there is no point, as in point of land, to 
Great news. 
The Voice Tube: One day in February last year, our Museum Director got an email asking, “Is LILAC missing a voice tube from her bridge?” The ship was missing the mouthpiece to that very voice tube, but, how did the writer know to ask that question? He had it, of course. Ed Hlywa did, however, come by it honestly, buying it for $10 in the 1980s from LILAC’s last owner, Henry Houck. He says, “I always assumed that LILAC was heading to a shipbreaker and that I was preserving a little bit of nautical history.” Reminiscing one day, he Googled “LILAC Falling Creek” and was amazed to discover that she had survived and that the Lilac Preservation Project was working to restore her. Ed graciously offered to return this little piece of history, saying, “It has served me well and if you hold it to your ear, you may be able to still hear the orders being called down to the engine room.”
There is good and bad news about California blue whales. The good news is that the 
Earlier this month, 