Three Teenagers Found Alive after Fifty Days adrift in Pacific Ocean

Posted on by November 27, 2010

Photo: Tai Fredricsen

Three boys had attempted to row the sixty miles between two small Pacific islands. Instead they became lost at sea and drifted  for fifty days across nearly 1,000 miles of ocean in a small aluminum dinghy, surviving on raw seagull and fish, until they were rescued yesterday.  The three boys, ages 14 and 15,  are reported to be in remarkably good health.

Three teenagers, who survived on raw seagull and fish, found alive after FIFTY DAYS adrift in tiny dinghy in Pacific Ocean
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After 67 years, the truth of HMS Dasher tragedy is revealed

Posted on by February 6, 2015

In 1940 and 1941, Moore McCormack Lines took delivery of four Rio class C3 Class passenger/cargo liners from Sun Shipbuilding.   They were the Rio Hudson, the Rio Parana, the Rio de la Plata and the  Rio de Janeiro.  In May of 1942, they were all requisitioned by the US government and converted to small aircraft carriers known as “baby flat-tops.”   Three were given to the Royal Navy and one was retained by the US Navy.   The Rio Parana, renamed HMS Biter, had a difficult service life, being hit by a torpedo from one of her own aircraft and then later being damaged by fire while in port.  The Rio de Janeiro, however had the most tragic history.  Renamed HMS Dasher, she sank after an explosion during aircraft refueling on March 27, 1943, with a loss of 379 out of 528 crewmen.    At the time, the cause of the explosion was covered up.  Now author and historian John Steele and his wife Noreen have written a book, The American Connection to the Sinking of HMS Dasher, examining the causes of the tragic sinking.

After 67 years, the truth of HMS Dasher tragedy is revealed
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Sea Shepherd Farce Continues with New Toy Boat and Movie Star

Posted on by November 23, 2010

Paul Watson and his merry band of bumbling pirates, the Sea Shepherds, stars of the “reality” TV show, Whale Wars, have a new high speed toy boat and have recruited Michelle Rodriguez, the actor who played the kick-ass helicopter pilot in the hit movie, Avatar, to join them at some point, her schedule permitting, on a voyage in the Southern Ocean.  Nothing like a flashy boat  and Hollywood tough-girl glamor when violating international law on “reality TV.”
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The Big U to become a dockside casino? What are the odds?

Posted on by November 23, 2010

Photo: MICHAEL S. WIRTZ

They are two projects in trouble.  One is a group of ship enthusiasts trying to save the rusting hulk of an historic passenger liner and the other, an Indian tribe trying to save a long-delayed casino project.

Yesterday, the SS United States Conservancy proposed moving the SS United States upriver to become part of the new Foxwoods/Harrah’s casino project on the Delaware River in Philadelphia.  So far, the casino group has shown no interest in the proposal, facing challenges and deadlines of its own.
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Tasting the Shipwreck Champagne and Brewing Shipwreck Beer

Posted on by November 22, 2010

Last July, we posted about Baltic Bubbly – ‘World’s oldest champagne’, bottles of champagne thought to pre-date the French Revolution found in a shipwreck on the Baltic seabed.  Recently there was a tasting of one of the bottles of the historic champagne in Mariehamn.  The champagne was judged to be quite palatable and is expected to fetch up to £40,000 a bottle at an upcoming public auction.

Bottles of beer were also found at the same shipwreck.  Last week, Finnish authorities said that they would allow one or several modern breweries to replicate the recipe of beer.

Shipwreck champagne could fetch £40,000 a bottle

Minsento’s Deep Green Underwater Kite

Posted on by November 23, 2010

Minesto, a spin-off of the Swedish-based Saab Group, has a new approach to harnessing tidal energy – underwater kites.   They have recently raised an excessive of €2 million in new capital to test the company’s underwater kite generator design, Deep Green, off the coast of Northern Ireland.

Deep Green Tidal Kites: The Newest Underwater Green Energy Initiative
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Fire on the Carnival Splendor – What did it cost?

Posted on by November 21, 2010

What did the fire on the Carnival Splendor cost Carnival Corporation?  No one really knows exactly, but Carnival announced that they estimate a cost of 7 cents per share.   Based on the number of outstanding shares from their 2009 10k, on a fully diluted basis, that puts the estimated cost at around $56 million dollars.   Most of this is presumably lost revenue from the cruise operations. The Splendor will be out of service until mid January, 2011.

HMS Ark Royal on her Final Voyage Home

Posted on by November 21, 2010

Thirty years ago HMS Ark Royal was built on the River Tyne at the Swan Hunter shipyard.  Last Friday, she sailed home for the last time to be decommissioned and ultimately scrapped.  As she moved up river, spectators said their final goodbyes to the ship known as the Mighty Arc.

Poignant final journey for pride of the Royal Navy
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“Arctic Adventures Aboard the Wanderbird”

Posted on by November 20, 2010

For anyone around New York harbor this afternoon and evening, Captains Rick and Karen Miles will be presenting a  slide show of  their “Arctic Adventures Aboard the Wanderbird” at 4pm and  7pm  in the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, Pier 12, Red Hook, Brooklyn. The slideshow covers their cruise this summer of 6,000 miles from Maine to Greenland to Lat 72N.

Wanderbird is a 90′ converted North Sea trawler, now refitted as an expedition cruise vessel accommodating 12 passengers.  The cruises and the accommodations look wonderful. Wanderbird is on her south for the season to the island of Culebra, where she will be offering week long cruises.  Will over at the Tugster blog has some great shots of Wanderbird in New York harbor, here and here.

Thanks to the good folks at PortSide New York for the heads up about the slide show.

The Silent Spill – Exxon Reaches Settlement Over Newtown Creek Oil Spill

Posted on by November 20, 2010

Photo: Jeff Riedel

No one knows exactly how much oil was spilled at Newtown Creek, an industrial canal between the boroughs of  Brooklyn and Queens in New York harbor, but the best estimates are between between 17 million and 30 million gallons, which is more oil than was spilled by the  Deepwater Horizon blowout and three times larger than the Exxon Valdez spill.   Oil refineries, storage and transfer facilities along the creek  are believed to have leaked the oil into the  ground over many decades, polluting the soil, groundwater and sending oil seeping into Newtown Creek.   Last Wednesday, Exxon agreed to a settlement to clean up the spill.   Video of a cruise up Newtown Creek, after the jump.

Exxon Reaches Settlement Over Newtown Creek Oil Spill
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Cruiser Olympia to Stay Open, At Least For Now

Posted on by November 20, 2010

Photo: CLEM MURRAY

The troubled Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia announced on Monday that it would continue to keep the cruiser ex USS Olympia open though the end of the year and shift to a three day schedule through the end of March.

Spanish-American warship spared, at least for now
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Falls of Clyde – Video Tour & Interview & Have You Voted Yet?

Posted on by November 18, 2010

April M. Williams hosts the “Where Are You Today?” Travel Blog.  She recently posted a video tour of the Falls of Clyde and an interview with Bruce McEwen, president of the Friends of the Falls of Clyde.  The Falls of Clyde, built in 1878, is the only surviving iron-hulled four-masted full rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world.    Have you voted for the Falls of Clyde yet?   There is still time. Read more after the jump.

Preserving Last Iron Hulled Tall Ship Honolulu Hawaii


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Christmas by the Sea at Mystic Seaport

Posted on by November 15, 2010

I almost prefer visiting Mystic Seaport in the wintertime.  The summertime crowds are gone, wood or coal stoves heat the chandlery and the rope walk and the ships are as lovely as ever against a winter sky.   Mystic Seaport is especially lovely around Christmas.   This year Mystic Seaport is hosting, Christmas by the Sea, a new holiday maritime experience, Thursdays through Sundays, November 26 – January 2, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Christmas by the Sea
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SS Great Britain’s ‘significant’ new maritime library

Posted on by November 18, 2010

A wonderful collection of more than 9,000 books and periodicals on ships and the sea has gone on display in a new library in Bristol.

SS Great Britain’s ‘significant’ new maritime library

The David MacGregor Library, named after a life-long supporter of the ss Great Britain, is free to the public and also includes an historic archive.
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Dive to the Titanic from your Desktop

Posted on by November 18, 2010

I am not much of a computer gamer, but this looks like fun.   Astragon\TML Studios has a new diving simulator that lets you pilot a submersible and ROV around and through the wreck of the Titanic.  The graphics may not be quite James Cameron’s standards but do look pretty good nevertheless.

Dive to the Titanic

Dive to the Titanic – Trailer

What secrets lie in Sydney’s ship cemetery?

Posted on by November 17, 2010

Photo: Craig Greenhill Source: The Daily Telegraph

Earlier in the month we posted about New York harbor’s “graveyard of ships”.  Yesterday the Daily Telegraph featured an interesting article about Sydney’s ship cemetery – an abandoned wrecking yard in Homebush Bay where several wooden barges and at least five ships slowly rot or rust away.

What secrets lie in Sydney’s ship cemetery?
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Tacoma Tallships Festival is dead – Australian Wooden Boat Festival on its way February 2011

Posted on by November 16, 2010

Bad news and good news.  The Tacoma Tall Ships Organization is no more and the hoped for Tacoma Tall Ships Festival in 2011 will not be happening, a victim of the recession.   On the other side of the globe, however, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival on Hobart’s historic  Sullivan’s Cove waterfront is on its way in February 2011, and this year it will be free!

Tacoma Tall Ships Festival sunk by recession

Tasmania’s Wooden Boat Festival free next year

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing on the information about the Australian Wooden Boat Festival

Van Liew wins 1st leg of Velux 5 Oceans Round the World Race

Posted on by November 16, 2010

Brad Van Liew has won the first leg of the Velux 5 Oceans Singlehanded Round the World Race arriving in South Africa in only 28 days after his departure from La Rochelle, France.

Van Liew wins 1st leg of race – Charleston sailor reaches Cape Town tired but happy
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Donald McNarry – Master of “Extreme” Miniature Shipbuilding

Posted on by November 15, 2010

Donald McNarry

Donald McNarry, who has died aged 89, was considered by model ship enthusiasts to be the master of “extreme” miniature shipbuilding.

He took up model making as a hobby when he was a boy and built model ships for the rest of his life. From 1955 he worked as a freelance professional and created some 350 models of historic ships covering the period from 700BC to the late 1960s. His styles of presentation included scenic, waterline, full-hull and the traditional Navy Board type – almost all of them constructed according to miniature scales ranging from 100ft to one inch to 16ft to one inch.
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