Panama Canal closes due to flooding

Posted on by December 9, 2010

In only the third time in 96 years, the Panama Canal closed yesterday due to flooding. After being shut down for ten hours it reopened early this morning.   Heavy rains around the Chagres River, caused the water in Lake Gatun, a significant part of the canal, to rise, forcing the shutdown.   The last time the canal closed was in 1989, after the United States invaded Panama to topple strongman Manuel Noriega.  Landslides forced the canal to close for several months from late 1915 to mid-1916, just months after it opened.

Panama Canal reopens after closure from heavy rain

Wrens set to serve on Royal Navy submarines

Posted on by December 9, 2010

What I found surprising about the headline in the Mail Online was not that women would be serving on Royal Navy submarines but that they were still being called Wrens.   Demonstrating my own ignorance, I thought that designation had been phased out sometime after World War II.  Indeed it was, but only seventeen years ago in 1993.   In the US in WWII, Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) served only until the end of the war.

But returning to submarines, the women serving on Royal Navy submarines will  be provided with separate berthing and showering facilities.  The women will be hot bunking (or hot-bedding as the Brits would say) but only with other women aboard.   Does anyone know if smoking is still allowed on Royal Navy subs?  In the US Navy smoking on subs will be banned as of 2011.   By 2012 the first 19 women will be assigned to US Navy four ballistic missile submarines.

Diving belles! Wrens set to serve on Navy submarines… and they’ll get their own bunks to avoid ‘hot-bedding’ with the men

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the article along.

The Unsinkable HMAS Adelaide: Costs Sink Scuttling?

Posted on by December 9, 2010

Photo: Kate Geraghty

As difficult as it is to keep ships afloat, sometimes they can be devilishly hard to sink as well.   At least that has been the experience of a group trying to scuttle the decommissioned HMAS Adelaide as an artificial reef and recreational diving site off the central coast of Australia.  After years of lawsuits, the project is over budget by several million dollars and is facing even further delays.

Cost bombshell sinks hopes of scuttling warship

Cruise ship Clelia II Limping Home After Encounter with Wave in Drake Passage

Posted on by December 8, 2010

While the circumstances were completely different from those on the Carnival Splendor, the problem encountered by the cruise ship Clelia II is apparently another example of a ship’s engines being impacted by damage to electrical control systems.  The Clelia II‘s bridge was reported to be damaged by a large wave which broke the bridge windows and damaged the ship’s controls, cutting power to one engine.

Cruise ship Clelia II Limping Home

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An Old Problem, Warnings Unheeded – 3 Ships Sunk, 44 Dead in 39 Days

Posted on by December 8, 2010

MV Black Rose

Ships carrying metallic ores should be the most stable ships on the ocean. These cargoes are dense and carried in low the ship. If improperly loaded, ore cargoes can indeed break a ship in half, but stability should not be an issue.  Nevertheless, three ships carrying nickel ore have capsized over a period of only 39 days with the loss of 44 officers and crew.
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Titantic eaten by bacteria while shipwrecked fleets in Baltic well preserved

Posted on by December 8, 2010

Rusticles on the Titanic

Two interesting stories of shipwrecks in the press recently – the wreck of the Titanic is being consumed by newly identified steel-munching bacteria, while scientists are discovering large numbers of well preserved shipwrecks in the dark and cold Baltic where there are 1,500 confirmed wrecks in Finnish waters, nearly half of which them are more than a century old.   Most experts believe the actual number is much higher.

Steel-munching bacteria are devouring the Titanic, say scientists
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Update: Raw Faith Sinks – Crew Rescued

Posted on by December 8, 2010

Raw Faith

Update: The three masted schooner Raw Faith is reported to now have sunk after the crew of two was rescued by the Coast Guard.

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Two men were rescued by the Coast Guard from Raw Faith, a home-built 118′ three masted schooner, one hundred miles south-east of  Nantucket today.    Reportedly the two had set sail from Salem, Massachusetts on December 4th bound for Bermuda.

Why anyone would set attempt to sail in December to Bermuda on a 118′ foot schooner with a crew of only two is unclear.  The rescue involved multiple aircraft and two Coast Guard cutters.
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Tall Ship Sailing on EBay – the Other Perfect Holiday Gift?

Posted on by December 7, 2010

A bit over a week ago we suggested an aircraft carrier as a holiday gift for the person who has everything.   OK, we admit that was not the most useful gift suggestion.  We now wish to suggest something far more practical and which also supports a great cause.  The American Sail Training Association (ASTA) in association with more than a dozen North American tall ships, including the USS Constellation, the Pride of Baltimore II , the A.J. Meerwald and the Lady Washington, are holding an eBay auction of tall ship sailing and sail training adventure this month as a holiday gift alternative.   Visit the ASTA E-Bay store for more information.

Memorial and Dedication of New Visitors Center at Pearl Harbor

Posted on by December 7, 2010

New Pearl Harbor Visitors Center

The attack on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, on Oʻahu, Hawaii by Japan on December 7th 1941 still resonates with Americans as evidenced by the literally hundreds of  Pearl  Harbor  memorials  scheduled around the country  in remembrance of what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt referred to as a “Day of Infamy.”  In Pearl Harbor itself, the memorial will include the the dedication of the new $56 million Pearl Harbor Visitor Center is a highlight event.

New Visitor Center To Be Dedicated Tomorrow
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Meet Sailor and Author John Rousmaniere at Mystic Seaport

Posted on by December 6, 2010

For anyone in the area, sailor and author John Rousmaniere will be a guest at Mystic Seaport Museum on Thursday, December 9th for a wine and cheese reception beginning at at 5:30 p.m, followed by a presentation of  sea stories beginning around 6:00 p.m.  The program concludes by 7:30 p.m. after questions and answers, book signings, and the drawing of the prize-winning raffle ticket for a free copy of one of his books, the winner’s choice.
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A Redcoat Storms Aboard Old Ironsides!

Posted on by December 6, 2010

The Boston Globe has documented the boarding of the USS Constitution by a Redcoat!  During her long years of active duty, the USS Constitution, known as Old Ironsides, was never successfully boarded by enemy marines.  Yet, here we see the distinctive uniform of a Royal Navy Marine – a red coat with white trim and a black belt.  Immediately behind the Redcoat was a gentlemen in green. Could that be a British rifleman?  The hat definably looks wrong however.  (Looks more like an elf than a rifleman. )  And I didn’t think the Royal Navy allowed their marines to have such long white beards. Very confusing.

Update: Disabled bulker MV Golden Seas under tow to Dutch Harbor

Posted on by December 5, 2010

Tor Viking

MV Golden Seas, a 74,475 DWT  bulk carrier, which suffered a turbocharger failure on its main engines and was in danger of drifting onto the Aleutian Islands, has been taken under tow by the tug/supply boat Tor Viking II.   The bulk carrier is being towed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska and is expected to arrive early Tuesday.  The  US Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley is escorting the two vessels.

Bulk Carrier Rescued After Being Disabled & Adrift in Bering Sea

Not Swords into Plowshores but Marine Mines into Furniture

Posted on by December 5, 2010

Mati Karmin, an Estonian sculptor, is not turning swords into plowshares, but he is turning marine mines into some rather remarkable furniture and household appliances.  Karmin’s mine furniture is steampunk with a post-apocalyptic twist.   On the northern coast of Estonia, especially on Naissaar and other islands, there were large fields of anti-submarine mines left behind when the Soviets withdrew in the early 90s. The explosives in the mines had been burned out, leaving rusting steel spheres.  Karmin has turned these relics of war into armchairs, fireplaces, baby carriages, swings, beds, desks and and a variety of other useful and quirky items.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing this along.

MV Hong Wei, Nickel Ore Carrier Sinks, 10 Sailors Missing

Posted on by December 4, 2010

The MV Hong Wei with a cargo of 40,000 tons of nickel ore, sank Saturday off the northern Philippines. Fourteen crew were rescued and ten remain missing.   The ship was Panamanian flag and had a Chinese crew.   The Hong Wei is the second bulker carrying nickel ore to sink in the Pacific in the last month.  On November 11th, the Nasco Diamond loaded with 55,000 tonnes of nickel ore from Indonesia to China sank off the southern coast of Japan.

10 Chinese sailors missing, 14 rescued after cargo ship sinks

MV Golden Seas Struggles To Avoid the Aleutian Islands

Posted on by December 4, 2010

Photo: Sara Francis

The 74, 475 DWT  MV Golden Seas carrying a cargo of rapeseed oil suffered a turbocharger failure on its main engine late Thursday night,  reducing main engine power sufficiently so that the ship could not make headway against the 29 foot seas and 35 knot winds.   The ship was drifting perilously close to the shore of the Aleutian Islands. The Coast Guard reported that with moderating weather conditions, the crew had regained control of the ship while roughly 24 miles from shore and was now steaming at about 3.5 knots.
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Ockels’ Ecolution to be Repaired

Posted on by December 4, 2010

Ockels’ sustainable voyage to go ahead

Wubbo Ockels, a former Dutch astronaut, says he is convinced his sailing yacht Ecolution, which was sunk by unknown assailants earlier this week, will soon be repaired, so he can continue his sustainable energy campaign. Mr Ockels has since received thousands of messages of support.
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HMS Victory in the Snow

Posted on by December 3, 2010

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has posted some lovely photos of HMS Victory and the dockyard after a recent snowfall. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.   To see more visit their website or Facebook album page.