Farrell Lines was a grand old US steamship company. It had an office in downtown Manhattan full of ship models and paintings of ships. Behind the receptionist, as you came in the door, there was a world map with chains of white lights showing the various trade routes served by Farrell Lines ships. The world was illuminated by the white lights across the Atlantic, Pacific, the Mediterranean and the Indian Oceans. As the company declined I recall the sense of both sadness and impending doom as fewer and fewer lights lit the globe.
Continue reading
Disturbing news from Patagonia:
MORE than 300 southern right whales, most of them young calves, have been found dead in the past five years in the waters off Argentina’s Patagonian coast, one of their most important breeding grounds.
Continue reading
We are a week late in noting this but Franck Cammas and and his nine-men crew onboard their 105 ft trimaran, Groupama 3, have won the Jules Verne trophy by setting a new round the world sailing record of 48 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes and 55 seconds. The boat left Brest on January 31 and sailed around Cape Leewin, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.
Franck Cammas and Groupama 3’s around-the-world sailing record
Paul Janse van Rensburg’s sailboat, Tafadzwa, was found drifting near the Chatham Islands in the Pacific east of New Zealand. A search of the boat found van Rensburg’s dog alive and the boat’s life raft still aboard. No sign was found of van Rensburg who has been missing for 16 days.
Forty six crew members are reported missing from the South Korean Cruiser Cheonan which sank late Friday. South Korean officials are all but ruling out direct North Korean involvement in the sinking. Fifty eight of the crew were rescued.
An update from Sail-World. Abby Sunderland is close to rounding Cape Horn, while malfunctioning autopilots may threaten her circumnavigation attempt.
Teen sailor Abby Sunderland to round Cape Horn Tuesday
16-year-old Californian sailor Abby Sunderland, following Jessica Watson in her attempt to be the youngest non-stop circumnavigator, is only a couple of days away from sailing around her first big milestone, Cape Horn.
Continue reading
The HMAS Adelaide is still afloat, as much due to court action as to Archimedes Law. The HMAS Adelaide was the lead ship of the Adelaide class of guided missile frigates built for the Royal Australian Navy, not to be confused with the clipper ship City of Adelaide. She was scheduled to be scuttled as an artificial reef but an environmental action group has managed to stop the scuttling over concerns regarding possible PCBs in her electrical wiring and lead paint on the ship. This is notwithstanding that there was never any reported lead paint used on the ship and that tests performed on behalf of the Australian government showed no evidence of PCBs. In the mean time representatives of another Australian community have said, “You don’t want the HMAS Adelaide? We’ll take her!”
Dennis M. Powers’ Tales of the Seven Seas: The Escapades of Captain Dynamite Johnny O’Brien recounts the story of a larger than life sailor who rose from being a bullied sixteen year old ship’s boy sailing before the mast to become a ship’s captain at only 25. Over his more than 60 year career, Captain “Dynamite” Johnny O’Brien would sail as master of both sail and steam ships and would fight pirates, his own crews and the very sea itself. It is quite a tale to tell.
Continue reading
Report: South Korean navy ship sinks
A South Korean navy ship sank in the Yellow Sea near North Korea late Friday, and the navy shot at an unidentified ship toward the north, according to reports quoting South Korean government officials.
Continue reading
One hundred and seventy one years after the slave ship Amistad sailed from Havana carrying a cargo of captives from Sierra Leone, the replica of the Amistad arrived in Havannah harbor yesterday. The captives on the original slave ship seized control of the vessel and sailed the ship to the United States where they were finally granted their freedom in 1841 by a ruling of the Supreme Court.
Schooner Amistad sails into Havana Harbor – March 25th, 2010
Amistad sails into Old Havana harbor
Built in Connecticut, the black-hulled, two-masted re-creation of the schooner, whose name means “Friendship,” flew the flags of the United States, Cuba and United Nations. It was one of the few times a ship under Cuba’s flag and the Stars and Stripes has called on the island in 51 years of estrangement since Fidel Castro took power.
As the Amistad neared shore, the crew of 19 mostly students — all Americans except for one from the African nation of Sierra Leone — lowered the sails, taking the U.S. flag down with them. Once the ship docked, however, the flags of both nations again flew high.
Molly Shakespear Rimington died at age 93 at the end of January but her obituary only appeared in the Telegraph this week. She was a fascinating individual. The daughter of Brigadier Talbot Shakespear, she joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service, WRNS, popularly and officially known as the Wrens just before the start of World War II. In 1942 she was given the job of writing the war diary for Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, who was Naval Commander Expeditionary Force, North Africa.
She would later marry the submarine ace, Commander Michael Rimington, DSO and Bar. At her wedding Admiral Sir George Creasy commented that Rimington was marrying a woman “who has a war record almost as distinguished as his own.”
Thanks to Alaric Bond for pointing out the obituary
OK, I admit it. I am posting this because I like the title of the article.
Peru has bought, real cheap, two Dutch maritime reconnaissance aircraft (Fokker 60s).
These are slightly longer and heavier versions of the twin engine Fokker 50 (which, in turn, was a larger version of the very popular Fokker F27). Only four Fokker 60s were built, in the 1990s, and all served as military transport aircraft. But six years ago, the Netherlands found itself temporarily short of maritime patrol aircraft. So two of the Fokker 60s were fitted with radar and other equipment, and served for two years as patrol aircraft. Then they were retired. Someone in Peru noted that the aircraft were still in good shape, still had their maritime patrol equipment, and were just sitting there. A deal was made, and the Fokker 60s will be back to work in the east Pacific.
Private security guards shot and killed a Somali pirate during an attack on the the MV Almezaan off the coast of East Africa. This is believed to be the first killing of a pirate by armed private contractors. The MV Almezaan has been hijacked twice before. Six other pirates were captured by EU naval forces and then released for lack of evidence despite being found in the same boat with the dead pirate.
EU Naval Force: Private guards on ship have killed an attacking Somali pirate for first time
EU Naval Force frees 6 Somalis seized after fatal shooting by private guard aboard ship
Scientists watch whale’s birth near Navy training range
Scientists surveying the area near a planned Navy training range said Tuesday they witnessed an endangered right whale giving birth off the Northeast Florida coast. It was only the second time a right whale’s birth has been seen and studied, and it gave researchers new insights into the lives of some of the world’s most endangered mammals. It also gave hope to environmental groups that sued to stop the Navy’s plans.
Continue reading
There is a certain irony that a sailing ship would have to be taken out of service because its engine did not meet current emission standards, but such was the case with the Lady Washington, the Official Ship of the State of Washington. She ran afoul of tough new California pollution regulations. She is now, however, back in service, with a new cleaner engine as well as a new foremast. The Lady Washington should be rejoining the Hawaiian Chieftain on April 10th.
A deficiency of vitamin C from green leafy vegetables caused the dreaded sailor’s sickness scurvy. A vertical garden installed on the Plastiki, which sailed this week on its 3-month voyage across the Pacific, may provide fresh greens for the six person crew while at sea.
Thanks to Your Garden Show for pointing out their video:
Maine man creates huge online ship database
Thousands of ships over hundreds of years have navigated the rolling waters of Maine’s Penobscot River across the street from Jon Johansen’s home.
Inspired by that history, Johansen set about documenting every ship ever built along the shores of the state’s largest river. What started as a modest endeavor has turned into a gargantuan undertaking: Johansen is attempting to create a database of virtually every vessel built in the United States.
Continue reading
SS Wimmera
It appears that the wreck of the SS Wimmera, an Australian passenger ship sunk by a mine north of New Zealand in 1918 has been located.
A fascinating post from the Lawyers, Guns and Money blog. Thanks to Andy from the Maritime Texas blog for passing it along. The bottom line seems to be that piracy is an expensive business and may be progressively less profitable as ship operators make hijacking more difficult and as the international navies get more aggressive in arresting pirates and sinking motherships.
Mass surrender of Nazi U-boats documented in new book
For 65 years residents of a remote Scottish village have paid heed to the wartime warning that “loose lips sink ships”.
The surrender of German submarines in Loch Eriboll in Sutherland was one of the strangest episodes at the end of World War II. Locals were sworn to secrecy and it has often been assumed that only “two or three” crews gave themselves up in the sheltered inlet.
But a new book marking the 65th anniversary of the incident reveals that no fewer than 33 U-boat commanders surrendered in the space of 12 days in the 10-mile long loch.
Continue reading