Update: Deadly Distraction Led to Duck Boat Deaths

Posted on by June 28, 2011

Not quite a year ago, a tourist amphibious “duck boat” was run down on the Delaware River  by barge on the hip of  the tug boat, Caribbean Sea.  Two passengers died in the collision.   The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a press release regarding their findings.  The press release suggests that  the tug’s mate on watch was distracted  by his use of his cell phone and laptop computer which led to his failure to maintain a proper look-out.   The mate reportedly was also in the tug’s  lower wheel house which had limited visibility, rather than in the tug’s upper wheel house.

MATE’S DISTRACTION LEAD TO FATAL 2010 “DUCK BOAT” ACCIDENT
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Found: $500k Emerald Ring from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha

Posted on by June 27, 2011

Last week, divers from Mel Fisher’s Treasures found an emerald ring, valued at $500 thousand dollars, believed to be from the wreck of the 1662 wreck of the Spanish treasure ship, Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which sank in 1662.

If anyone thinks of treasure hunting as a “get rich quick” scheme, they should look to one of the world’s most successful treasure hunters, Mel Fisher, who began his search for the Atocha in 1969.   In 1985, his team discovered part of the wreck and located over 40 tons of silver and gold, including over 100,000 Spanish silver and gold coins, Columbian emeralds, silver and gold artifacts and over 1000 silver bars.  Nevetheless, after forty years of searching, they have yet to find the ship’s stern castle, which many experts believe would hold  gold and rare Muzo emeralds stored in the Captain’s cabin for safekeeping.   Until they find the rest of it, the divers at Mel Fischer’s Treasures will keep searching the ocean floor for the illusive treasure of the Atocha. For these treasure hinters, last week was a very good week indeed.

Now that’s buried treasure! $500k emerald ring found by divers in wreck of 17th century Spanish ship
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U.S. Coast Guard Punishes 7 for Sexual Hazing Aboard Cutter Venturous

Posted on by June 28, 2011

Navy Times is reporting that seven US Coast Guard personnel have been found guilty of various charges; including indecent exposure, assault and disorderly conduct; related to tying down and stripping fellow crew members aboard the cutter Venturous.  The hazing incidents took place between summer 2007 and winter 2009.    Hazing has been an ongoing  concern in the Coast Guard which has had anti-hazing awareness training in place for the last two decades.

Sex hazing aboard U.S. Coast Guard cutter

Coast Guard punishes 7 for hazing aboard ship
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The Queen Mary 2 – Dirtier than a Queen Ought to Be

Posted on by June 25, 2011

The RMS Queen Mary 2,  flagship of the Cunard fleet,  recently failed a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program inspection.  A scores of 86 or higher is considered “satisfactory.”  Anything below is considered “not satisfactory.”  The Queen Mary 2 received a score of  84.

Queen Mary 2 fails sanitation inspection
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Work Begins on Transporting the Clipper Ship City of Adelaide

Posted on by June 24, 2011

The clipper ship City of Adelaide (later HMS Carrick), the oldest surviving composite clipper ship in the world, was at serious risk of being broken up until a deal was  struck last August to move the ship from the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, Scotland, back to its namesake city in Australia – Adelaide.   Next week, the fabrication of a 100-tonne steel cradle, to support the historic clipper will begin.   See our previous posts about the efforts to save the City of Adelaide.

City of Adelaide work to begin
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20th Annual Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show

Posted on by June 24, 2011

For anyone in the area, the Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show, which starts today and runs through Sunday,  is well worth stopping by.   The show is sponsored in partnership with WoodenBoat  Publications.

The WoodenBoat Show

A video about the show: 20th Annual WoodenBoat Show

[iframe: width=”475″ height=”300″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/eJWJq98Ep78″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]
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Day of the Seafarer – What if the Ships and Seafarers Just Vanished?

Posted on by June 24, 2011

Tomorrow is the IMO “Day of the Seafarer.”  Around here we think that every day should be the day of the seafarer.   Seafarers and the ships that they sail are the connective tissue that keeps our world turning.  Seafarers UK , has produced a video that asks the question – “What would the world be like if ships and those who sailed them simply vanished?”

The Vanished

[iframe: width=”475″ height=”300″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/XW_85PaHS28″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]

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A Meandering Maiden Voyage for the World’s Largest Bulk Carrier, Vale Brasil

Posted on by June 23, 2011

The Vale Brasil is the world’s largest dry bulk carrier with a deadweight of over 400,000 tons.  The Singapore flag ship is currently on her maiden voyage with a cargo of 391,000 tons of iron ore.   This is enough iron ore to make about 261,000 tonnes of steel, or almost three and a half times the amount used to build San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge.   The original port of call for the ship was changed in the last several days from the Chinese port of Dalian to an Italian port.  Early speculation was that dredging hadn’t been completed to allow the ship to dock or that China would not accept ships over 300,000 dwt.  Vale SA, the ship’s owner denies that this is the case and says that redirecting the ship in mid-voyage was strictly a commercial decision.

Vale diverts China ore ship for commercial reasons
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The Folly of the MV Wisdom

Posted on by June 22, 2011

The MV Wisdom is a small 26-year-old container ship.  She has had 14 name changes in her life and no one knows how many owners. The current owner may be unknown as well.  She was being towed from Colombo to the scrap-yard in Alang, India when the tug lost control and the MV Wisdom ended up off the beach  in Bandra, in suburban Mumbai.   She very nearly drifted into the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, a major bridge, but seems to have missed it, as much by luck, as anything else.   No one can explain why the tow was so close to shore in the first place.  The course was reportedly inshore of several oil rigs.    Indian police have detained 15 crew members of the tug,  Minerva, for negligence.
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Timelapse of New York Harbor

Posted on by June 22, 2011

I love sitting and just watching the harbor; watching the boats go by and the turn of the tide.   But who has the time these days?  For those too busy and/or  not geographically convenient, here is  about four hours of New York harbor just off the Battery in 42 seconds from John Huntington’s blog.   Thanks to bowsprite for passing the clip along

[iframe: src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/25437171?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0″ width=”400″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]

Time Lapse of New York Harbor www.controlgeek.net from John Huntington on Vimeo.

Channel Island Tall Ships Festival June 24-26, 2011

Posted on by June 22, 2011

An impressive fleet of schooners and brigantines will be featured in the the Channel Islands Harbor Tall Ships Festival, this Friday through Sunday at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California.    The visiting vessels include the topsail schooner Californian, topsail schooner Amazing Grace, schooner Curlew, topsail schooner Bill of Rights, topsail schooner The Spirit of Dana Point, brigantine Irving Johnson, and the schooner Patricia Belle.

Tall Ships Return to Channel Islands Harbor
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The Maritime Museum of San Diego

Posted on by June 27, 2011

The first you notice about the Maritime Museum of San Diego are the ships.    When I  visited last week, the 1863 windjammer Star of India was  hove to with two staysails and her spanker set and drawing, and with her main topsail backed, tied up on the seawall  right alongside North Harbor Drive in downtown San Diego.   Directly off the Star of India‘s stern is the HMS Surprise, the replica of the a 24 gun British frigate the  HMS Rose. The Surprise is tied up alongside the steam ferry Berkeley. Down the dock the masts of the replica Revenue Cutter Californian are visible rising above the ferry.  Taking a closer look, there are also two submarines, a steam yacht and a pilot boat in the collection. Overall, a very impressive collection of ships and boats, all well maintained and cared-for.
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USC Container Ship Al Rawdah Aground on the Reefs off Batam

Posted on by June 21, 2011

Photo:Tribun Batam/Zabur Anjasfianto

Just in case you think you had a bad Monday, yesterday the USC container ship Al Rawdah ran aground on a reef in the waters of Pulau Sambu Stone Chain, Rear Padang, Batam, not long after leaving Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.   The ship was bound for China.

Al Rawdah Hit Ship Reefs in Batam

A New Sport? Sunken Ship Scuba Racing?

Posted on by June 20, 2011

Apparently something called “wreck racing”  is a new sport.  The website Formula H2O  – Underwater Scooter Racing explains it as follows:

The Wreck Racing League or WRL is the sanctioning body for scuba divers racing using underwater scooters or diver propulsion vehicles on natural wrecks of ships sunk to create artificial reefs.

A video demonstrating the “sport”:

Atocha Scooter Racers

[iframe: width=”480″ height=”303″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/1Cvm2iIJdWI” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]

University of Hawaii Research Vessel, Ka’imikai-o-Kanaloa, Studies Japanese Radiation Leaks

Posted on by June 19, 2011

The University of Hawaii research vessel, Ka’imikai-o-Kanaloa, set sail earlier this month to studying the impact of radiation releases in the waters off Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Scientists on UH research ship study impact of radiation releases
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Herb Kawainui Kāne – Artist, Historian, Founder of the Polynesian Voyaging Society

Posted on by June 19, 2011

Yesterday we posted about the arrival of seven vaka, Polynesian voyaging canoes, in Hilo, Hawaii.    This seems an appropriate time to remember Herb Kawainui Kāne, an Hawaiian  artist, historian and one of the  founders of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, who died last March at the age of 82.  Kāne  was also one of the designers of the Hōkūleʻa,  a double-hulled voyaging canoe, built by the the Polynesian Voyaging Society.  In 1976, the Hōkūleʻa sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti using only Polynesian navigation techniques  without modern navigational instruments.

This month, Honolulu Magazine looked back on the life of Herb Kawainui Kāne, who they had only interviewed months before. They called Kāne “one of the principal figures of the Hawaiian Renaissance, that resurgence of Hawaiian culture that began in the 1970s and culminated in the rebirth of hula, the Hawaiian language, traditional Hawaiian music, Hawaiian voyaging canoes, and a growing sense of Hawaiian social and political identity.”

Herb Kane: The Last Interview
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Collision between New York City Fireboats Firefighter II and 343

Posted on by June 19, 2011

New York City's Fireboat 343

In  a lawsuit  a whistleblower is charging that New York City’s new $27 million Fireboat 343, named after the number of New York firefighters killed on 9/11, was damaged in a storm last winter when sideswiped by another fireboat, the Firefighter II, which apparently had lost control in the rough currents.  The lawsuit filed by Frederick Domini – a city firefighter and licensed marine engineer – alleges that the Firefighter II had been taken out against the advice of the vessel’s pilot.

FDNY’s $27M fireboat, the 343, damaged in collision with sister ship: whisteblower’s lawsuit
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