Repost: The Zong Massacre, General Average and Abolition

Posted on by April 12, 2022

Yesterday we posted about the What, How, & Why of the Ancient Principle of General Average. Here is a repost about a massacre, in which general average was declared involving a shipment of human cargo.

On November 29, 1781, the British slave ship Zong was desperately short of potable water, in part due to an error in navigation and in part due to an incompetent cooper. Captain Luke Collingwood, in command of the ship, ordered his crew to throw one-third of the ship’s cargo overboard — a shipment of Africans bound for slavery in Jamaica. Between November 29th and December 1st, 132 Africans, still bound in shackles, were thrown overboard and drowned.  The ship and its human cargo had been insured in England for £8,000.  After the ship finally arrived in port, the ship’s owners filed an insurance claim for the Africans killed by the officers and crew, claiming general average.

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The What, How, & Why of the Ancient Principle of General Average

Posted on by April 12, 2022

Kyrenia Ship. When the original ship was sailing in around 300 BC, General Average had already been in practice for 500-1,000 years.

Following several attempts to free the Ever Forward, the ship’s owner declared General Average, citing “the increasing costs arising from the continued attempts to refloat the vessel.” What this means, in practice, is that the owners of the cargo now stuck aboard the ship will not only have to wait longer to receive their cargo but will have to pay more to get it. 

The principle of general average is that all partners in a maritime venture share the risk of the venture. Specifically, the costs of any cargo loss resulting from necessary efforts to save the ship, the crew, and the rest of the cargo will be shared among the rest of the cargo owners.
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Update: Floating Cranes Begin to Unload Containers from Stranded Ever Forward

Posted on by April 11, 2022

Container News is reporting that the unloading of containers from Ever Forward has begun. The plan is to unload 550 containers over the next few days to lighten the load of the ship before the next refloat attempt. Salvors are currently moving a box every ten minutes on average.

As of 11:00 am, local time, today, April 11, 54 containers have been removed, according to Container News sources. “More containers will be unloaded today as both crane barges are now unloading the containers simultaneously,” an official told Container News.

During daylight hours, cranes will lift the containers onto receiving barges. Those barges will ferry the containers back to the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore. Continue reading →

Repost: Snorkeling With Manatees in a Murky Crystal River

Posted on by April 10, 2022

Yesterday, we posted about Florida manatees that are starving because pollution in Florida waterways has decimated the sea grass that manatees rely on as food during the winter months.  I was reminded of a post from 2017 about snorkeling with manatees in Crystal River, Florida that captured both the hope for manatee recovery while also observing the problem of water pollution.

2017 was actually a very good year for Florida manatees. The state manatee population had grown from just over a thousand in 1991 to over 6,000.  Regulations to limit boat speed in areas frequented by manatees have been largely successful as have efforts to preserve winter habitats.

Nevertheless, water pollution was an increasing problem. Crystal River, known for gin clear water, had grown murky due to a type of alga known as Lyngbya, fed by excess fertilizer, leaky sewer and septic tanks, and domestic animal waste leaching into the local springs from the groundwater. Here is a 2017 repost, including video of snorkeling with manatees:

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Update: Florida Manatees Are Starving, 10 Tons of Lettuce May Be Too Little, Too Late

Posted on by April 9, 2022

In December we posted about an emergency feeding program for starving Florida manatees to help them survive the winter. The sea grass that manatees rely on for food has been decimated by pollution, killed off by algae blooms fueled largely by human waste and fertilizer runoff from lawns and farms. As more people moved to the region and wastewater infrastructure aged, more toxins leaked into the waterways.

Over the winter, state and federal wildlife officials fed manatees in the Indian River Lagoon ten tons of romaine lettuce to supplement their dwindling food supply. 

The New York Times reports that the feeding experiment, funded by $116,000 in public donations, was a gamble. Between Jan. 1 and April 1, the number of confirmed deaths fell to 479, down from 612 in 2021. In 2020, that figure was 205.

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Virginia, Maine’s First Ship, Scheduled For Early June Launch

Posted on by June 6, 2022

Pinnace Virginia, Image: Maine’s First Ship

A reconstruction of the pinnace Virginia is nearing completion after being under construction for over a decade in Bath, Maine. The original 51-foot pinnace, built in 1607 by the Popham Colony at its settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec River, was the first English ocean-going ship built in the Americas. If all goes well, the new Virginia will be launched into the Kennebec River on June 4th.

The new Virginia’s keel was laid in 2011, said Maine’s First Ship Executive Director, Kirstie Truluck. Research, planning and construction, however, dates back to 1994 when the remains of the Popham Colony were discovered at the southernmost end of Phippsburg.

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Navy Seeks To Dispose of All Freedom-Class Littoral Combat Ships Now in Service

Posted on by April 8, 2022

USS Little Rock

USNI News reports that the nine Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) currently in Navy service – the youngest of which commissioned in 2020 – have been marked for disposal as part of the Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal.

The ships – USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), USS Milwaukee (LCS-5), USS Detroit (LCS-7), USS Little Rock (LCS-9), USS Sioux City (LCS-11), USS Wichita (LCS-13), USS Billings (LCS-15), and USS St. Louis (LCS-19) – are part of the 24 ships the service has chosen to decommission in FY 2023 for an estimated $3.6 billion in savings.

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Changes at the Helm of the Historic Maine Schooner Lewis R. French

Posted on by April 7, 2022

Congratulations to Captain Becky Wright and Nathan Sigouin who have taken over the helm and the stewardship of the historic Maine schooner Lewis R. French. Launched in April 1871, the French is a National Historic Landmark and the oldest commercial sailing vessel in the U.S.  

From the schooner’s website:

Captain Becky Wright and Nathan Sigouin take great pride in owning a vessel as wonderful as the Lewis R. French.

Captain Becky

Becky grew up in the woods of New Hampshire, taking trips to visit family on the Maine Coast. Starting as a young teenager she began reading every bit of material on traditional sailing she could get her hands on, from Chapman’s Piloting and Small Boat Handling to the writings of Patrick O’Brian and C.S. Forester.

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Congratulations to Glaciologist Dr. Heïdi Sevestre on Winning Inaugural Shackleton Medal

Posted on by April 6, 2022

Congratulations to glaciologist Dr. Heïdi Sevestre on winning the inaugural Shackleton Medal for the Protection of the Polar Regions. Dr. Sevestre, a pioneering climate activist, expedition leader, scientific researcher, documentary maker, and lobbyist, receives a prize of £10,000 as a contribution towards her ongoing work in the polar regions and the very first Shackleton Medal.

An international jury of polar experts – chaired by Prof. Lewis Dartnell – debated the shortlist and decided the winner at the Royal Geographical Society in London. 

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Update: Containers to be Unloaded From Seriously Stuck Ever Forward in Chesapeake Bay

Posted on by April 5, 2022

On March 13th, the container ship Ever Forward missed a turn in the Craighill Channel in the Chesapeake Bay, not long after leaving the Port of Baltimore, and ran up on a mudbank just outside the channel while traveling at a speed of 13 knots. The ship had a draft of 42 feet when it hit the bank, in water only 24 feet deep, burying its bow and much of the hull up to 18 feet deep in the muddy bottom.

Now, 23 days later, after dredging around the ship and several failed attempts to pull the ship free by six tugs, the 1,095-foot long Ever Forward remains seriously stuck. The salvors working with the Coast Guard have now decided to lighten the ship by using floating cranes to unload a portion of the reported 5,000 containers onboard.

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Back From the Dead: Snake Island Border Guards & the Russian Warship

Posted on by April 4, 2022

On February 24, 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian naval vessel Vasily Bykov ordered the 13 Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender. The border guards replied, “Russian warship, go f*** yourself“. The warship shelled the island in response and the soldiers were reported to have been killed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he would “posthumously” award the soldiers on Snake Island with the highest Ukrainian honor, the Hero of Ukraine.

Then on March 7, 2022, Ukrainian sources claimed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had attacked Vasily Bykov using a shore-based multiple rocket launcher system off the coast of Odessa, stating that the ship had been heavily damaged or even sunk.

Call it the fog of war. While both accounts had a basis in fact, neither the deaths of the Ukrainian border guards nor the sinking of the Vasily Bykov turned out to be true.

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US Navy Naming Replenishment Oiler for Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Posted on by April 3, 2022

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has announced that the US Navy will name a replenishment oiler now on order in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The new ship will be the eighth of the John Lewis Class and will be referred to as the USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“As we close out women’s history month, it is my absolute honor to name the next T-AO after the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She is a historic figure who vigorously advocated for women’s rights and gender equality,” Del Toro announced.

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Holland America Cruise Ship Volendam to Provide Housing For Ukrainian Refugees

Posted on by April 2, 2022

Cruise Industry News reports that Holland America Line‘s Volendam will be used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees as part of an agreement announced by Netherlands and City of Rotterdam government officials.

According to a press release, the ship will dock in Rotterdam for three months to provide a temporary home for approximately 1,500 Ukrainians, part of a larger commitment from the Netherlands to accommodate 50,000 people who fled the war in their homeland.

“We are in a unique position to accommodate the immediate need for food and housing, so we felt it was very important to work with the City of Rotterdam and charter this ship,” said Gus Antorcha, president, of Holland America Line. “Our company was founded in Rotterdam around the mission of helping immigrants find a better life. So today we’re proud to be a small part of a similar mission for Ukrainians who have tragically been displaced.”

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More Than a Decade of Women Serving on US Navy Submarines

Posted on by March 31, 2022

Women in Submarines Class of 2021

On the last day of Women’s History Month, it is worthwhile celebrating more than a decade of women’s service on US Navy submarines. In 2010, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates lifted the ban on females serving aboard US submarines. A year later, the first female officers began reporting for duty on Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines.

The United States was not the first nation to allow female submariners. Indeed, the US was at least the sixth country to allow women to serve in the Silent Service.  Norway was the first in 1985, followed by Denmark in 1988 and Sweden in 1989. Australia followed suit in 1999 while Germany and Canada allowed women onboard in 2001 and 2002 respectively. 

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