Congratulations to Cmdr. Billie J. Farrell, First Woman to Command USS Constitution

Posted on by January 7, 2022

Congratulations to Commander Billie J. Farrell who will be the 77th commanding officer and the first woman in the 224-year ship’s history to command the USS Constitution. She will assume command of the ship, known as Old Ironsides, during a change-of-command ceremony on Friday, January 21.

USS Constitution, based at Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard, is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat. It played a crucial role in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812 and defended sea lanes from 1797 until 1855. The ship was undefeated in battle and destroyed or captured 33 opposing vessels. It earned the nickname Old Ironsides during the War of 1812, when British cannonballs were seen bouncing off its wooden hull.

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On 100th Anniversary of Shackleton’s Death, Two Memorial Expeditions in His Honor

Posted on by January 6, 2022

Endurance trapped in the ice.

Sir Ernest Shackleton died 100 years ago yesterday, on January 5, 1922, of a heart attack on South Georgia on an expedition to map the still uncharted coastal regions of Antarctica. He was only 47 when he died. Now, two very different expeditions will honor the memory and the accomplishments of the intrepid explorer. 

A team of scientists, part of the Shackleton Commemoration Expedition by Antarctic Quest 21, held a ceremony in the Antarctic honoring Shackleton. The expedition in his memory will cross Antarctica’s Forbidden Plateau to discover whether microplastics have permeated the peninsula.

Yesterday, there was also an update on a quite different expedition. The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust confirmed that the Endurance22 Expedition, which is aiming to locate, survey and film the wreck of Endurance, the lost ship of renowned polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, is undertaking final preparations ahead of its scheduled departure for Antarctica’s Weddell Sea from Cape Town, South Africa, on 5th February 2022.

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Ex-Queen Mary Operators in Alleged $2.4 Million PPP Loan Fraud

Posted on by January 5, 2022

In January of last year, we posted that the operator of the ex-Cunard Queen Mary filed for bankruptcy. The converted ship is owned by the City of Long Beach and has been managed by Eagle Hospitality, ex-Urban Commons, since 2016. Now, two executives of the bankrupt operator have been accused of stealing $2.4 million from a COVID-19 relief loan meant to pay their employees during the pandemic.

As reported by the LA Times: At the center of the bankruptcy proceedings are Urban Commons executives Howard Wu and Taylor Woods. In court filings, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi has labeled the two as “fraudsters.”

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Will Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford be Ready to Deploy in 2022?

Posted on by January 4, 2022

When the USS Gerald R. Ford was delivered in 2017, it was still years away from deployment as an aircraft carrier. Most of the 11 Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWE) didn’t work. The electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) that make up the Ford’s next-generation aircraft launch and retrieval capabilities were very unreliable. The new Dual Band Radar (DBR) system had problems. Even the toilets were not working. Some predicted that the ship would not be ready to deploy until 2024. Critics referred to the most expensive warship the world has ever seen as a $13 billion dollar berthing barge.

Now, it appears that the Ford may be ready to deploy in 2022, still years late and billions over budget but earlier than the worse case predictions. Just days before Christmas, the Navy announced that the last of the 11 weapons elevators was finally functional, fulfilling a promise made by the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Mike Gilday, that the last of the troublesome elevators would be operational by the end of the year.

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CDC : Avoid Cruise Ship Travel Due to COVID-19 Omicron Variant

Posted on by January 3, 2022

Late last week, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised its COVID-19 travel health notice level for cruise ships to its highest warning level and said people should avoid traveling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status, as daily COVID-19 cases in the country climb to record highs due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

The health agency has or is investigating COVID-19 cases on more than 90 ships. It starts an investigation if 0.10% or more passengers on guest voyages test positive for COVID-19.

CLIA, the Cruise Lines International Association, responded:

The decision by the CDC to raise the travel level for cruise is particularly perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population onboard—far fewer than on land—and the majority of those cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, posing little to no burden on medical resources onboard or onshore. No setting can be immune from this virus—however, it is also the case that cruise provides one of the highest levels of demonstrated mitigation against the virus. Cruise ships offer a highly controlled environment with science-backed measures, known testing and vaccination levels far above other venues or modes of transportation and travel, and significantly lower incidence rates than land.

The CLIA went on to note that COVID-19 infection rates on cruise ships are 33 percent lower than occurring currently onshore and that vaccination rates onboard cruise ships typically are upwards of 95 percent—significantly higher than the overall U.S. population which is hovering at 62 percent.  

Murdoch McGregor, UK Sailor of the Year for 2021 at Age 82

Posted on by January 2, 2022

Congratulations to Murdoch McGregor, who was named Sailor of the Year 2021 at the British Yachting Awards. At the age of 82, Murdoch McGregor completed a 1,900-mile trip around the UK in June.

The 80-day-long solo voyage in his 23-foot yacht, Artemis, raised more than £10,000 for the Mental Health UK charity.

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New Year’s Repost: Watching the Ball Drop — the Nautical Origins of a New Year’s Tradition

Posted on by December 31, 2021

The USNO Millennium Time Ball

Tonight, many will watch in person, online, or on television, as a jeweled ball drops in Times Square in New York City at exactly midnight to mark the arrival of the New Year, 2022. In past years, the crowd in Times Square numbered up to a million people. This year, as a result of the pandemic, there will be only a few thousand in attendance.

Nevertheless, the ball will still drop at midnight. The six-ton Waterford crystal ball covered in 32,276 LED lights will not actually be “dropped” but lowered from a flag pole on the roof of One Times Square. In New York City, the tradition dates back to 1907. But where did the tradition of dropping a ball to mark the time originate?  

The practice dates back to 1829 and was related to helping sailors calculate their position at sea. Here is an updated repost.

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Hawaii Deputy AG: Pearl Harbor Leaking Fuel Tanks a “Ticking Time Bomb”

Posted on by December 30, 2021

We recently posted about how on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, over 1,000 military families have been forced from their homes and suffered illness by drinking water apparently contaminated by petroleum from a leaking, World War II era, underground fuel storage facility on the base in Oahu, Hawaii. The State of Hawaii issued an emergency order compelling the Navy to empty the massive storage tanks and make needed repairs. The Navy objected to the order.

Now, David Day, Hawaii deputy attorney general, has upheld the emergency order, saying that the fuel storage facility at Pearl Harbor is a “ticking time bomb” that the U.S. military is unable to manage. 

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CDC Investigating 86 Cruise Ships With Covid-19 Cases

Posted on by December 29, 2021

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) updated its color-coded list of ships that tracks where passengers or crew have tested positive for Covid-19. The list is updated multiple times a week.

The agency currently identifies 86 ships where the number of Covid-19 cases meets the threshold for investigation — a 178% jump in 10 days — as the omicron variant spreads quickly across the U.S.

Forbes reports that the 86 ships are on yellow status, which signifies that the number of reported Covid-19 cases exceeds .10% — or one-tenth of one percent — of the total number of people onboard the ship.

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Largest Kite Sail Wind-Assisted Propulsion Being Tested on Ro/Ro Ville de Bordeaux

Posted on by December 28, 2021

Kites may be returning to provide wind-assisted propulsion to commercial ships. In January of next year, the 5,200 dwt Ro/Ro Ville de Bordeaux, chartered by Airbus and operated by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, will begin testing a 500-square-meter half-size demonstration version of a Seawing automated kite on its monthly transatlantic journeys. The intent is to conduct six months of sea trials and testing ahead of its full operation.

Airseas, the firm that developed the Seawing automated kite system, has received formal approval from Bureau Veritas to begin operations at sea, following three years of close collaboration on the development and early trials of the Seawing. 

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Driller Liquidated to Help Clean Up Long Running Gulf Oil Spill

Posted on by December 27, 2021

Seventeen years ago, Hurricane Ivan destroyed an oil-production platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The wells associated with the platform have been leaking ever since and may be one of the largest and longest-running offshore spills in US history. 

Now, the Department of Justice has announced an agreement in which Louisiana-based Taylor Energy will pay $43 million in civil penalties and damages for a leak that has been releasing oil since 2004. The settlement, representing all of Taylor’s remaining available assets, will liquidate the firm.

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Wreck of “Last Slave Ship” Clotilda Remarkably Well Preserved

Posted on by December 26, 2021

An interesting article from the New York Times —  In 2019, a team of researchers confirmed that a wooden wreck resting in the murky waters of the Mobile River in Alabama was the schooner  Clotilda, the last known ship to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States.

Now, the researchers say they have made another startling discovery: The wreck is remarkably well-preserved. As much as two-thirds of the original structure remains, including the hold below the main deck where 110 people were imprisoned during the ship’s final, brutal journey from Benin to Mobile in 1860.

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Over the Holidays & in the New Year, May St. Nicholas Hold the Tiller

Posted on by December 24, 2021

An updated holiday season repost.

Saint Nicholas, long associated with Christmas and gift-giving, is also the patron saint of ships and sailors. The St. Nicholas Center notes: “Many ports, most notably in Greece, have icons of Nicholas, surrounded by ex-votos of small ships made of silver or carved of wood. Sailors returning safely from sea, place these in gratitude to St. Nicholas for protection received. In some places, sailors, instead of wishing one another luck, say, “May St. Nicholas hold the tiller.”

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