Saving Robbins Reef Light – a Noble Effort

Posted on by February 4, 2013
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Photo: Brian DeForest

In November we posted about the Old Orchard Shoals Light, off Staten Island, NY, which was completely destroyed on October 30th by Hurricane Sandy.  The 130-year-old Robbins Reef Lighthouse, on the other side of the island   survived the storm, but still suffered significant damage.  As reported by the Staten Island Advance:  The back door of the 46-feet-tall “sparkplug” or “bug light” was blown in and the door frame and moldings were lost. Several feet of seawater sloshed into the first floor, destroying tools and other material; railings were bent and heavy granite paving stones were shifted.  The Noble Maritime Collection, which acquired the unmanned lighthouse in 2011, is seeking help to raise around $20,000 to repair the lighthouse.

More about the lighthouse from the  Noble Maritime Collection:

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Flyboard Zapata Racing – A New Sport?

Posted on by February 3, 2013

In December of 2011, we posted about the Zapata Water-Jet Flyboard, a sort of personal jetpack connected to a powerful jet ski. Now, just over a year later, we learn that the Flyboard World Cup competition took place in Doha, Qatar on the third weekend of October attracting 50 competitors from 17 countries. it appears that a new fringe sport may be developing.

Flyboard® World Cup Qatar

Drama in the Suez Canal – Engine Room Flooding on the Emma Mærsk

Posted on by February 2, 2013
emmamaerskportsaid

Emma Mærsk in Port Said 2/213

On Friday night, the Emma Mærsk, one of the world’s largest container ships, suffered flooding in the engine room and lost power as it was in the northern end of the Suez Canal.  Tugs were dispatched and the 1,300 foot long 14,700 TEU container ship was safely towed to a berth in Port Said.  Reports suggest that the flooding was caused by damage to a port side stern thruster.  The ship is single screw with both bow and stern thrusters.

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TOTE Orders New LNG Powered Container Ships and Conversions – Largest LNG Powered Ships in the World

Posted on by February 2, 2013

tote_lng_700In December, Totem Ocean Transport Express (TOTE) ordered two new LNG powered container ships from NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.   Late last month they also signed a contract with NASSCO to convert two existing roll-on/roll-off ships to LNG fuel.   These ships will be the largest ships in the world powered primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).  The contracts raise the question – is LNG the fuel of the future for shipping?

For roughly the past hundred years, since shifting over from coal, most ships have burned “residual fuel.”  Known by various names; 6 Oil, Bunker C, and heavy oil; it is dirty and cheap. Well, over the past few years, it has no longer been as cheap but it has gotten no cleaner.  A few years ago, a headline appeared in  US and international newspapers  – “How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world.”  The headline was an overstatement but was accurate in at least one regard – residual fuel is very dirty and ships that burn residual fuel produce a lot of sulfur dioxide and particulate pollution.

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Wandering Rock Star of Great White Sharks – Mary Lee Returns to the North-East

Posted on by February 2, 2013

In September, a 16 foot long 3,500-pound female great white shark was tagged by researchers off Cape Cod.   The shark was nicknamed Mary Lee.  Since then Ocearch, the group tracking the shark, have followed Mary Lee on a remarkable journey.   The shark swam as far south as Jacksonville Beach, FL in January, causing some alarm as she swam within 200 feet of the beach. Now she has traveled north again and is heading back toward Cape Cod.

Expert: Great White Shark Is ‘Blowing Our Minds’

Ocearch Global Shark Tracker

Briton Finds “Whale Vomit” Worth £100,000

Posted on by February 1, 2013
Ken Wilman, his dog Madge and their smelly find Photo:Manchester Evening News

Ken Wilman, his dog Madge and their smelly find Photo:Manchester Evening News

There is some very interesting beachcombing going on these days in the UK.  Two weeks ago, we posted about  four large, barrel-shaped pieces of lard that washed up on the beach at St.Cyrus nature reserve in Scotland.  Locals opined that it smelled “good enough to have a fry up with,”  which convinced me never to try fried food in that part of Scotland.  Now, Ken Wilman, who was out walking his dog on a beach in Lancashire, found a 6 pound smelly lump of what may be ambergris, the “whale vomit” valued in the manufacturing of perfume.  He has been offered £43,000 for the lump by a French dealer, though others have valued it at between £100,000 – 180,000. Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing the story along.

Dog walker finds smelly lump of whale vomit on beach that’s worth £100,000

World Largest Wind Farm Being Built Offshore at Fukushima

Posted on by February 1, 2013

WindmillsNew energy is coming to Fukushima, the region in Japan best known for a nuclear disaster following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011. The nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi was largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl meltdown of 1986, and only the second to measure Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.   Now, the world’s largest wind farm is set to begin construction this July, 16 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima.  The offshore wind farm will comprise 143 wind turbines capable of generating 1 gigawatt of electrical power.  The wind farm is part of Fukushima’s plan to become completely energy self-sufficient by 2040, using renewable sources alone.  The  prefecture also plans to build Japan’s largest solar energy park.

The Greater Gabbard farm off the coast of Suffolk, UK is currently the world’s largest offshore wind farm with 140 turbines generating 540 megawatts of power.

Japan to build world’s largest offshore wind farm

PETITION: Challenge Japan to END Taiji Dolphin Hunt for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bid

Posted on by January 31, 2013

J0B (1)Every year in the village of Taiji, Japan there is a yearly hunt which results in the slaughter of over a thousand dolphins.  Despite international protest including a 2009 documentary film, the Cove, which graphically displayed the mass dolphin killing, and won an Academy Award as best Best Documentary Feature in 2010, the yearly slaughter continues.  Now approach is being tried. A petition is circulating addressed to Jacques Rogge and the International Olympic Committee requesting that Japan’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid not be considered until the Japanese government agrees to end the brutal Taiji dolphin drive hunt and makes it illegal to hunt dolphins in Japan. Click the link below to learn more and to sign the petition. It costs nothing and may do considerable good.   Thanks to Scott Powell for passing the word along.

PETITION: Challenge Japan to END Taiji Dolphin Hunt for Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid

Update: USS Guardian – Will Be Broken Up But Why Was it Near the Reef in the First Place?

Posted on by January 31, 2013

guardianreef1The Navy has announced that the minesweeper, USS Guardian, which ran up on Tubbataha reef in the Philippines Sula Sea two weeks ago, will be cut up in place and hauled away.  The reason given is that the approach will “involve the least damage to the Tubbataha Reef.”   They had previously determined that the fiberglass sheathed wooden ship was too damaged to float if towed off the reef.  Depending on the availability of crane vessels, the Navy may have had no other choice.

All indications are that the electronic charts had the reef miss-plotted by roughly eight nautical miles.  The larger question, however, is what the minesweeper was doing so close to the reef which is part of the Philippines’ Tubbataha National Marine Park and a designated World Heritage Site.  Reportedly, the ship was warned that it was in protected area and that it was approaching the reef, but apparently ignored the warnings.  Thus far the grounding is reported to have damaged around 1,000 square meters of coral reef or about 1% of the reef withing the park.  Philippine President Benigno Aquino III is demanding an explanation as to why the ship grounded onthe reef.

Garrett McNamara Breaks World Record, Surfs Wave 100 Feet High

Posted on by January 30, 2013

The Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara is said to have broken his own world record for the largest wave surfed when he caught a wave reported to be around 100ft off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal.  McNamara set the previous record in 2011 also off Nazaré.

Daredevil Surfer Tackles Largest Wave Ever

Georg Büchner, ex-Charlesville, Last of the Belgian-Congo Liners, May Be Scrapped

Posted on by January 30, 2013

MS_Georg_BüchnerIn its more than 60 year history, the MS Georg Büchner, ex-Charlesville, served in liner service between Belgium and the Belgian Congo and Angola, was a DDR training ship and for the last decade was a hotel and youth hostel in the German city of Rostock. As the Charlesville, she was one of the ships to answer the call to rescue the passengers on the burning passenger liner Laconia in 1963.

Despite protests that the ship should be saved, the Georg Büchner may soon be towed from its current berth in Rostock to a scrap yard in Lithuania.  The remaining obstacle to scrapping may be the local Heritage Commission which must give its final approval. In the mean time, various proposals are being prepared to save the ship, including moving her to Belgium.  Thanks to Mary Habstritt of the Lilac Preservation Project for passing along the news.

Horse-trading with the “Georg Büchner”

New Research – Civil War Submarine Hunley Possibly Sunk by its Own Explosive

Posted on by January 29, 2013

The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is credited as the first successful submarine, in that it was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat.  New findings, however, might cause some to reconsider this “success.”  The Hunley may have been sunk by the force of its own explosive mine.

The H.L. Hunley sank the USS Housatonic on the night of February 17, 1864 at the entrance to Charleston, South Carolina harbor.  The Hunley never returned from the attack on the Union ship.  The Hunley carried a single 135 pound gunpowder explosive on a 16′ spar on its bow. It was long thought that the Hunley hooked the explosive on the Housatonic with a grappling hook then backed away before the explosive detonated.  Recent analysis of the spar, however, suggests that the explosive was bolted to the end of the spar itself and that the detonation took place with the Hunley less than 20 feet from its target.  The explosion, at that close range, could have also knocked the crew of the Hunley unconscious, leading to their deaths by suffocation.

The Hunley turned out to be a killing machine, but it killed mostly Confederates. In training and on its one mission, the submarine killed 21 Confederate officers and sailors, including its namesake, H.L. Hunley.  In the attack on the Housatonic, a total of five Union officers and sailors died.  Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.

Experts: Confederate sub near target at sinking    (See also our previous post – Civil War Confederate Submarine H.L. Hunley Unveiled.)

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North Atlantic Storm Jolle More Intense than Superstorm Sandy

Posted on by January 28, 2013
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Photo: Navy Research Lab, Monterey.

Last Saturday, in the Northern Atlantic to the south of Iceland, the extratropical storm Jolle, intensified dramatically.  Meteorologists use central pressure as a proxy for measuring the strength of a given storm. The lower the barometric pressure, the more intense the storm.  By this standard,  Jolle, whose central pressure dropped to slightly below 930 mb, was more intense than Superstorm Sandy, which dropped to a pressure of 940 mb.    Fortunately, the storm Jolle did not strike land.  The old expression to describe storms as moving “safely out to sea,” has never set very well with mariners, but one hopes that in these days of weather routing that most ships avoided Jolle.

The all time record for lowest barometric pressure for a North Atlantic extratropical storm is 913 mb, set on January 11, 1993. During that storm, the 90,000 dwt tanker Braer was caught out in the storm. Piping on deck broke allowing saltwater to enter the fuel tanks, disabling the engine and causing the ship to drift onto Garths Ness on the Shetland Islands, resulting in a significant oil spill.

Mighty North Atlantic low bombs to 930 mb

Around the World in 78 Days! François Gabart Sets New Record Winning Vendée Globe

Posted on by January 27, 2013

vendeewinFrançois Gabart, sailing MACIF, won the Vendée Globe round-the-world single-handed race in 78 days and two hours, shattering the previous record of 84 days and three hours, set in 2009 by Michel Desjoyeaux.   Ending what has been a round-the-world match-race between the two fastest boats, Armel Le Cléac’h, sailing Banque Populaire, crossed the finish line a mere 3 hours 17 minutes 12 seconds behind Gabart, to claim second place.  This is the closest finish between the first and second place boats in the history of the Vendée Globe.

Britain’s Alex Thomson, sailing Hugo Boss, is expected to arrive on Monday or Tuesday to claim third place.  After Jean-Pierre Dick lost his keel in the north Atlantic last week, Thomson diverted to offer assistance.  Dick has remained in the race and is currently in fourth place. The remaining fleet of eight boats range from Jean Le Cam, sailing SynerCiel, who is roughly 2,500 NM from the finish line to Alessandro Di Benedetto, on Team Plastique, who still has around 4,700 NM to sail.

What Big Eyes You Have, Mr. Giant Squid!

Posted on by January 27, 2013

Tomorrow, January 27th, at 8 PM ET & PT, the Discovery Channel is airing Monster Squid: The Giant is Real featuring the first video ever recorded of a  live giant squid in its natural habitat. (See our recent post Giant Squid Filmed for First Time in the Deep Sea.)

In addition to their great size, approaching fifty feet, the giant squid and its slightly larger relative, the colossal squid, each have the largest eyes of any animals for their size.   Scientists have been puzzled by this. Why would a creature that lives in almost total darkness need eyes the size of basketballs?  Even stranger, the eyes, collected from dead giant squids, do not appear to be very good at seeing any sort of detail.   What is the evolutionary point?

Researchers built a mathematical model to get an idea what a giant squid could see through these huge and strange eyes.  They determined that the squid is extremely far-sighted. Nothing up close would be very clear. About the only thing that the eyes would be good for is seeing large shapes at a distance. Which is, of course, exactly what the giant squid needs. Its primary predator is the sperm whale, the toothed leviathan large enough to battle the razor sharp suckers of the giant squid.  It appears that giant squid have “super-sperm-whale-vision.”

Giant Squid’s Basketball-Size Eyes Have Sperm Whale Vision