Will US Regime’s Cuts in Science Funding Surrender Antarctica to the Russians and Chinese?

Posted on by August 10, 2025

Under one of the most successful treaties in the world, Antarctica has been a refuge for peace and science. Military activity has been prohibited, and the environment has been protected. The Antarctic Treaty, in force since 1961, promotes international collaboration and lays aside the territorial claims of seven countries, which have all agreed not to act on their claimed ownership.

There are real concerns that all this may change as the current US regime slashes funding to key science programs on the frozen continent. The National Science Foundation — the primary agency that funds and oversees activities in both Antarctica and the Arctic — is proposing massive research cuts to polar science in 2026. Around 70 percent of the money currently in that pot for both poles could vanish.

There are also cuts being finalised for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which leads US Antarctic fisheries science, and the lease on the US icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer is also set to be terminated.

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Update: Terminally Ill Sailor, Jazz Turner, Plans to Compete in Round the World Race

Posted on by August 8, 2025

We recently posted about Jazz Turner, a terminally ill sailor, who became the first disabled person to circumnavigate the British Isles non-stop and unassisted. Now, the 27-year-old engineer, a full-time wheelchair user, has a new goal.  She has set her sights on becoming the first disabled female sailor to complete a solo global race. She hopes to sail in the Royal Western Yacht Club’s around-the-world WorldStar challenge.

The 27-year-old told BBC Radio Sussex that she had started planning the challenge three hours after completing the 2,070 mile (3,331km) trip around the British Isles. Turner said the challenge will require sourcing the right boat and sponsorship. “I’ve always been drawn to challenges that push me to my edge. I face many a ‘no’ in my life, but I do my best to turn them into ‘yes’,” she said. “The right partnership could turn this vision into reality.”

Turner lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a debilitating genetic condition that affects connective tissue. Her doctors have told her that her condition is now terminal, due to complications.

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The Silence of the Blue Whales and the Blob

Posted on by August 7, 2025

A recent study by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) observed that blue whale vocalizations off the coast of Northern California decreased by 40% over a six-year period. 

Blue whales are the largest animals to ever live on Earth. They surpass even the largest dinosaurs in size, reaching lengths of up to 100 feet and weights of 200 tons. Researchers were concerned about what the observed decrease in the blue whale song meant to the health of the whale population. 

Researchers observed that the dramatic drop in whale song coincided with an oceanic heat wave in the Northern Pacific. The heat wave began in 2013, when a stubborn, dense pool of hot water — later dubbed The Blob — moved from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska down the eastern North American coast.

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Over 90 Dead In Yemen Migrant Shipwreck

Posted on by August 6, 2025

On Tuesday, Yemeni officials said that at least 96 people died when a migrant boat sank in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen’s coast. Officials said that 32 people were rescued and dozens were still missing in what a senior official from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) described as “one of the deadliest” shipwrecks off Yemen this year. The UN migration agency said 157 people were onboard the boat when it capsized.

The boat carrying mostly Ethiopian migrants sank on Sunday. The IOM’s Yemen head, Abdusattor Esoev, said the boat had been on a dangerous route often used by people-smugglers and was heading to Abyan governorate in southern Yemen, a frequent destination for boats smuggling African people hoping to reach the wealthy Gulf states.

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USCG Report: Titan Implosion and the Loss of Five Lives was Preventable Tragedy

Posted on by August 5, 2025

After a two-year investigation, the US Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) has released a 335-page report on the loss of the Titan, a submersible designed, built, and operated by the American underwater-tourism company OceanGate. The submersible imploded during a June 2023 dive to the Titanic, killing five people. The report concluded that the loss of the commercial submersible was a preventable tragedy.

The board determined the primary contributing factors were OceanGate’s inadequate design, certification, maintenance, and inspection process for the Titan. Other factors cited in the report include a toxic workplace culture at OceanGate, an inadequate domestic and international regulatory framework for submersible operations and vessels of novel design, and an ineffective whistleblower process under the Seaman’s Protection Act.

Much of the blame goes to the Chief Executive Stockton Rush, the US Coast Guard said. He was on board and also died in the disaster. The report found he “exhibited negligence that contributed to the deaths of four individuals”.

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USCG Investigation of Desmasting of Schooner Grace Bailey Cites Rotten Mast & Faulty Inspection

Posted on by August 4, 2025

On Monday, October 9, 2023, the schooner Grace Bailey was returning to Rockland, ME, from a four-day Fall Foliage cruise, when an upper section of the main mast broke and fell to the deck, killing one passenger and injuring five others. Last Thursday, the US Coast Guard’s Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis published a report of the investigation into the dismasting of the 1882-built schooner. 

The report concluded that the mast failed due to severe internal rot, which significantly weakened the structural integrity of the mast, making it prone to failure under stress. Based on the observed mast conditions and assumed fungal growth rates, it was clear that rot had existed for several years.

Also, inadequate protection, treatment, and inspections allowed undetected
rot to spread throughout the Grace Bailey mainmast, ultimately leading
to failure.

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Court Orders $1 Bn Payment in X-Press Pearl Disaster as the Nurdle Nightmare Continues

Posted on by July 29, 2025

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered the owners and operators of the container ship  X-Press Pearl to pay $1bn USD in compensation for the devastating environmental and economic damage caused when the ship caught fire and sank off Colombo in 2021.

The sinking has been described as the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history. X-Press Pearl was loaded with 1,486 containers, containing a range of chemicals, including 25 tons of nitric acid, as well as 1,600 tonnes of low-density polyethylene pellets, commonly referred to as nurdles. 

Nurdles are the raw materials that are melted to make plastic products. An estimated 70 to 75 billion plastic nurdles spilled along Sri Lanka’s western coastline in the sinking, covering the shoreline in a toxic blizzard of white plastic pellets, creating the largest plastic spill ever recorded. 

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Legendary Schooner Shenandoah to be Retired

Posted on by July 27, 2025

Sad news reported by the Vineyard Gazette. After 63 years sailing the waters around Martha’s Vineyard, the legendary schooner Shenandoah will sail her last season next summer.

Martha’s Vineyard Ocean Academy, the educational nonprofit that currently owns and operates Shenandoah, announced that the final voyage will take place at the end of the 2026 summer season.

The Gazette reports that the decision to retire the boat began after the spring haul-out and a U.S. Coast Guard inspection that showed continued repairs and upkeep would no longer be feasible, according to Ian Ridgeway and Casey Blum, the sailing captains who co-founded Martha’s Vineyard Ocean Academy.

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Crew Member Dies After Stabbing Colleague Then Jumping Overboard on World’s Largest Cruise Ship

Posted on by July 25, 2025

A crew member on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is reported to have stabbed a fellow crew member multiple times before jumping overboard to his death as the ship cruised off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas on Thursday night.

According to the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), the unidentified male crew member allegedly stabbed a female co-worker during a dispute.

“Shortly before 7:30 p.m., a 28-year-old South African female crew member was allegedly stabbed multiple times by another crew member, a 35-year-old South African male,” reads an RBPF press release.

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The Long Goodbye to the Historic Sailing Ship Falls of Clyde

Posted on by July 23, 2025

It has been a long time coming, but it appears that the historic sailing ship Falls of Clyde will finally be removed from Honolulu Harbor to be sunk about 12 miles south of the harbor. The ship has been threatened with scuttling twice before in her long history, but this time it is likely to come to pass.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) announced that Shipwright LLC, a Florida-based maritime technical consulting firm, has been hired to prepare the ship for disposal. The $4.9 million removal project includes removal of debris from the ship and hull strengthening and reinforcement to allow the vessel to be safely towed to be sunk in late November.

Falls of Clyde is the world’s only surviving iron-hulled, four-masted, fully-rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker. She was built in Glasgow in 1878, during a shipbuilding boom inspired by increased trade with the U.S., and she made several voyages to American ports while under the British flag.

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Indonesian Ferry KM Barcelona VA Catches Fire — 575 Rescued, 3 Dead, 2 Missing

Posted on by July 21, 2025

On Sunday, a fire broke out on the ferry KM Barcelona VA in the Celebes Sea off the northern coast of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. The ferry was en route to Manado, on its regular half-day journey from Melonguane port, according to First Adm. Franky Pasuna Sihombing, chief of the Manado navy base. Officials reported that 575 people were rescued, while three had died and two were still missing.

The ferry’s manifest listed only 280 passengers and 15 crew members at the time of the fire. It is common for the number of passengers on a boat or ferry to differ from the manifest in Indonesia. This discrepancy can contribute to accidents and can complicate search and rescue efforts, Sihombing said.

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Tourist Boat Capsizes in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, 35 Dead Including at Least 8 Children

Posted on by July 20, 2025

On Saturday afternoon, Wonder Seas, a tourist excursion boat, capsized in Ha Long Bay, in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province, around 100 miles east of Hanoi, after encountering a sudden storm. State media reported that at least 35 people have died, including 8 children. The boat had 46 Vietnamese tourists and three crew members aboard when it capsized. Four are still missing.

Navy divers were deployed to help with the search, which was hampered by rough seas, strong winds and heavy rains. At least 10 people were rescued, and the capsized vessel was salvaged and towed ashore, Viet Nam News reported.

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Russia May Finally Scrap its Smoking Aircraft Carrier with a Weak Heart, Admiral Kuznetsov

Posted on by July 16, 2025

There are reports that the Russian Navy may soon scrap its notional flagship, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Since the 1990s, the Kuznetsov has been the only remaining aircraft carrier in the Russian fleet. Built in the final days of the Soviet Union, the ship has an unenviable record of repeated breakdowns and casualties. It has been out of service for repairs and upgrading since March 2017. 

The Kuznetsov was ordered in 1981, commissioned in 1990, but was not fully operational until 1995. Between bad boiler tubes, combustion problems, and burning Mazut, a Russian version of Bunker C, the carrier is notorious for belching a vast cloud of black smoke whenever underway. Given its fuel and chronic boiler problems, the Kuznetsov is often referred to as having a “weak heart.”

Beyond the oily smoke, the carrier’s operating history has been troubled. The ship has never been deployed for longer than six months and was famously followed by oceangoing tugboats during all of its sea voyages in case the ship breaks down. There were reports that in a 2011 deployment, the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet kept close by so it could rescue crew, in case the Admiral Kuznetsov happened to sink. 

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Saving Lafayette ‘s L’Hermione — “It’s Now or Never”

Posted on by July 15, 2025

French maritime enthusiasts are scrambling to raise funds to save the replica of the 18th-century 32-gun frigate, L’Hermione. The Hermione-La Fayette Association says that to finance the ship’s restoration,” It’s now or never.“

The original frigate carried the Marquis de Lafayette across the Atlantic to announce France’s support for American independence from Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War. 

During a dry docking in 2021, significant rot was discovered, representing about 10% of the frigate’s hull structure. Since then, the ship has been in dry dock at Anglet, near Bayonne, while the association has attempted to raise funds for the repairs. So far, they have raised €5m, but say they need another €5m to make the vessel seaworthy again. 

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Houthis Resume Attacks in Red Sea, Hitting Two Bulk Carriers

Posted on by July 10, 2025

The Houthis had not attacked a commercial ship in the Red Sea in approximately seven months. That lull ended on Sunday and Monday when two bulk carriers were struck by gunfire, rocket propelled grenades, small boats and drones. Both ships were about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the port of Hodeida, Yemen, when attacked.

On Sunday night, the Houthis attacked the 63,000 dwt Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MV Magic Seas. Hit by gunfire, rockets and bomb-laden drone boats, the bulker caught fire and took on water, forcing its 19 crew and three armed guards to abandon ship. The United Arab Emirates said that it had rescued all of those who had been on board the Magic Seas. The bulker was managed by Allseas Marine of Greece

The ship is reported to have sunk. Magic Seas is now the third ship to have been sunk by Hiuthus attack.

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