Beginning the New Year – A Sinking, Pirate Hijacking, Round the World Race and Smoke-Free Subs

Posted on by January 3, 2011

MV Blida hijacked on New Years Day in the Gulf of Aden

Today is the first day back to work for many after a bit of time off for the holidays. And how has the New Year begun?   More or less the same as the last year which just ended.  On the New Years Eve, the North Korean freighter,  the Kang Bong sank. Three crew were rescued,  two were confirmed dead and fifteen remain missing.   (Thanks to Phil for passing along the article.)  On a  very different note, New Years Eve also saw the start of the Barcelona World Race, the  “first only double-handed (two-crew) regatta around the world.”   Fifteen boats are competing in the non-stop race.   Piracy remains with us. On New Year’s Day, the 20,586 tonne Algerian bulker, MV Blida ,  with a crew, of 27 was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.   Also on New Year’s Day, the US Navy ended all smoking on US submarines.  Nicotine gum and patches will be available for the estimated 40% of submariners who smoke. We wish them all the very best during the no-doubt difficult transition.  See our post from last April.

So, we have had a mixed start to the new year. Let us all hope that it is better than the last.

XO Movie Night on USS Enterprise – a bad idea

Posted on by January 2, 2011

It is difficult to imagine how anyone thought that this was a good idea.  The XO (Executive Officer) on the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise made a series of videos to “entertain the crew.”  They were a bit on the raunchy side, involving masturbation, “chicks in the shower” sailors in drag, gay slurs, rectal exams – that sort of thing.   Some people on board were offended.  Complaints were ignored.   The XO,  Owen Honors, who is now the captain of the ship, suggested that if people did not  like the videos, they shouldn’t  watch them. He also states at the beginning of each video that “the captain and the admiral – they don’t know anything at all about the content of this video or the movie this evening, and they should absolutely not be held accountable in any judicial setting.” OK, fine.   How the XO, now the captain, thought that the videos would not find their way to the world outside the ship, to say, I don’t know, the internet, is frankly a bit beyond me.   Captain Honors is now in hot water for his lack of judgement and his video directing and editing skills are on display all over the web.   Here is a sample as provided in reporting by the Virginia Pilot:

America’s Cup to be sailed in San Francisco in 2013

Posted on by January 1, 2011

The 34th America’s Cup races will be sailed in San Francisco bay in 2013.   San Francisco  beat out Newport and an unnamed Italian port city.  This will be the first time that America’s Cup races will be hosted by the city by the bay and and the first time in 15 years that the races have been held in the US.

San Francisco picked as venue for 34th edition of America’s Cup

Happy New Year – New York & Key West Style: Crystal Ball, Conch Shell, Pirate Wench & Drag Queen

Posted on by December 31, 2010

Dropping a Pirate Wench in Key West

In New York City tonight, just on the other side of the Hudson River from where I am now typing, roughly one million people gather  in Times Square to watch a crystal ball being dropped on exactly midnight to celebrate the new year.  (To be precise, it is actually carefully lowered to coincide with the stroke of midnight.)   Another hundred million or so folks will be watching the ball drop on television in the US and an estimated billion people will see the event on video around the world.

In Key West, Florida, the southernmost city in the  United States, they do things just a bit differently.  They will celebrate the New Year with  three different “drops” – a giant conch shell at Sloppy Joe’s Bar on Duval Street,  a pirate’s wench from the masthead of a tall ship at Key West’s Historic Seaport, and if conchs and wenches are too tame for you, Sushi, a drag queen, will be dropped at the Bourbon St. Pub also on Duval Street.

New Year’s Eve in Key West: A Wench, A Shell and A Drag Queen

Wherever you may be, we here at at the Old Salt Blog wish you all a most Happy New Year!

Captain & Chief Engineer of Tanker Aegean Angel Killed in Heavy Weather in the Atlantic

Posted on by December 31, 2010

The 160,000 dwt  tanker Aegean Angel was en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Houston, Texas when it encountered heavy weather northeast of Bermuda on Thursday.  A large wave is reported to have struck the ship, killing the captain and the chief engineer, who had gone forward to inspect for damage.  Several others, including the first officer, were reported to have been injured.

Wave hits tanker in mid-Atlantic, two killed
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Ten Years of Cruise Ship Fires and Carnival Confetti

Posted on by December 29, 2010

A weird dissonance between two cruise stories struck me recently.   On one hand, Carnival Cruise Lines is “the official confetti sponsor of the Times Square New Year’s Eve 2011 celebration.”   As reported by the the Maritime Executive “the sponsorship includes multiple opportunities to associate the “Fun Ship” brand with the annual excitement.”   A You-tube video of Carnival’s Senior Cruise Director is also featured.  On the other hand several media sources have been quoting from an excellent and timely post from last March on Jim Walker’s Cruise Law News blog,  Ten Years of Cruise Ship Fires – Has the Cruise Industry Learned Anything?
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South Street Seaport Museum May Sell Off Historic Schooner Lettie G Howard

Posted on by December 28, 2010

The South Street Seaport Museum in New York City is reported to be attempting to sell off the historic schooner, Lettie G. Howard.   The Lettie G. Howard is a wooden Fredonia schooner built in 1893 in Essex, Massachusetts, USA.   In past years the museum has often not succeeded in booking revenue generating educational programing on the schooner.  Sources are now quoted as saying that the schooner costs too much to maintain given that it has not been sailing frequently.
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The Last Voyage of the Lakonia – Deadly Christmas Cruise

Posted on by January 21, 2023

Forty seven years ago, passengers on the cruise ship Lakonia were promised  “a marvelous Christmas cruise to sunny Madeira and the Canary Islands.”   The brochure read –  “Have your holiday with all risk eliminated. Enjoy a holiday you will remember for the rest of your life.”    When the fire broke out on December 22, 1963,  the promise of a risk-free holiday proved tragically ironic, though the promise of a unforgettable holiday, no doubt, became regrettably too true.   One hundred twenty eight 128 people died in the Lakonia fire and its aftermath, of which 95 were passengers and 33 were crew members.  Given the recent news that the CO2 firefighting system on the Carnival Splendor failed during the fire aboard the ship in November, the story of the Lakonia remains timely.  Notably, AMVER, which we posted about recently, coordinated the rescue by directing five merchant ships to the burning ship.  The first ship arrived within four hours of the first distress call.   As reported by Time magazine on January 3, 1963:

High Seas: The Last Voyage of the Lakonia
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The 12 Plankton of Christmas

Posted on by December 25, 2010

Sing with me now – “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a Phaeocystis globosa.”  OK, it may not be a melodic as “a partridge in a pear tree,” but it may be more interesting.  Dr. Richard Kirby, a Royal Society Research Fellow at Plymouth University has come up with the “12 Plankton of Christmas.”    To see more of Dr. Kirby’s work check out his book, Ocean Drifters: A Secret World Beneath the Waves.

Thanks to Julian Stockwin for tweeting about the 12 Plankton of Christmas.

Abby Sunderland’s “Unsinkable: A Young Woman’s Courageous Battle on the High Seas”

Posted on by December 22, 2010

Last June, we posted about Jessica Watson’s book and album release.   Jessica Watson is the now 17 year old Australian sailor who can rightly claim the title of the “youngest to sail solo and unassisted around the world.”    Now Abby Sunderland,  who attempted to claim that title as well, but whose boat was dismasted in the Indian Ocean, has teamed up with Lynn Vincent to write a book of her own.   Vincent, was the ghost writer for Sarah Palin’s book, “Going Rogue.”    Sunderland’s book will be titled, Unsinkable: A Young Woman’s Courageous Battle on the High Seas.   It will be available this spring, but can be pre-ordered from Amazon.

500 Seafarers held hostage by pirates at Christmas

Posted on by December 23, 2010

The real victims of piracy are invariably the seafarers who are held for ransom often under grim conditions for long periods of time.  From a statement relased by the Round Table of international shipping associations – and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF):

500 Seafarers held hostage by pirates at Christmas
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USS Pegasus and the Littoral Combat Ships

Posted on by April 5, 2012

David Hayes passed along a video of the USS Pegasus, a hydrofoil patrol boat that was billed as the “vanguard of the new navy,”  thirty five years ago.   While the Pegasus was not the first of many hydrofoils as was intended in 1975, the development of high speed coastal craft did not stop.   The US Navy is currently building two classes of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).    Maritime Executive reported today that the Congress has approved contracts for Marinette Marine and Austal to each build ten littoral combat ships for the US Navy.   Will the new LCS class ships serve as the “vanguard of the new navy?” Only time will tell.   Video of the USS Independence (LCS2) after the jump.

Pegasus : Vanguard of the New Navy (1975)

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Did the Fixed CO2 System on the Carnival Splendor Fail?

Posted on by December 21, 2010

The Maritime Blog and the Professional Mariner are pointing to two Marine Safety Alerts issued by the Coast Guard today which may suggest that the fixed CO2 system on the Carnival Splendor failed.

The Safety Alerts do not identify the ship by name but note:

A machinery space fire onboard a relatively new vessel was effectively responded to and extinguished by the vessel’s quick response team firefighters using portable extinguishing equipment.  However, before it was declared completely extinguished and approximately five hours after the fire started, the master of the vessel made the decision to release CO2 from the vessel’s fixed firefighting system. It failed to operate as designed. Subsequently, crew members were unable to activate it manually and CO2 was never directed into the machinery space.
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