I don’t watch a lot of television, though it seems every time that I turn the set on I see another commercial touting how wonderful things are on the Gulf of Mexico. The sun is shining, the beaches are beautiful, and the food is tasty. The commercials are intended to attract tourists dollars to the Gulf Coast and they are all paid for by BP. There are other commercials where BP employees address the camera to talk about their commitment to the Gulf and all the good and wonderful things that they and the company are doing. There is no mention, of course, of BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill that killed eleven workers and spilled an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf. It was the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
If the commercials do not mention the spill, it is the center of conversation in a civil trial that began last week where BP may face up to another $17 billion in penalties and fines. This in addition to the $4.5 billion criminal settlement in which BP pleaded guilty to eleven felonies last year.
No discussion of the Titanic II is complete without a mention of the lifeboats. The lack of adequate lifeboats on the original Titanic was a major contributor to the deaths of over 1,500 passengers. Unfortunately, as reported in the press, it appears that the new ship will not have adequate lifeboat capacity to meet the current Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) rules. Frankly, we think that this is carrying authenticity a bit too far. As reported by the 
How should we think about the 
Late Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the anti-whaling extremists and reality TV show stars, the 
It is generally considered rude to look under a lady’s skirt, though when the lady is a ship in a drydock, it is usually OK. The three masted steel clipper 
In the construction of replica sailing ships, the 18th century is reasonably well represented. The 17th also has not been left out. Replicas of Columbus’ ships have ensured that 15th century replicas still sail. Recently two replica ships from the 16th century have been in the news, one in the planning stages and the other nearly completed.
For almost a month, the small cruise ship 
The US Coast Guard has wrapped up eight days of hearings on