Latest “Fat Leonard” Bribery Case Falls Apart

Posted on by June 5, 2024

A federal judge dismissed the most recent felony convictions of five retired military officers who had admitted to accepting bribes from Leonard Francis, a Malaysian contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard,” in one of the biggest corruption scandals in Navy history.

The dismissals came at the request of the government — not the defense — citing prosecutorial errors.

Retired US Navy officers Donald Hornbeck, Robert Gorsuch and Jose Luis Sanchez, and U.S. Marine Corps Col. Enrico DeGuzman had each admitted to accepting bribes from  Francis. Following the dismissals, the retired officers pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of disclosing information.

The judge also dismissed the entire case against former US Navy captain Stephen Shedd. In court documents and testimony, Shedd confessed to leaking military secrets on 10 occasions for prostitutes, vacations, luxury watches, and other bribes worth $105,000.

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Navy’s Former Second-Highest-Ranking Officer Arrested, Charged with Bribery

Posted on by June 1, 2024

The Department of Justice announced yesterday the arrest of Robert P. Burke, a retired four-star Navy Admiral, on criminal charges in a bribery scheme that allegedly awarded a sole-source contract to a company in 2021 in exchange for a $500,000-a-year job and stock options. Two business executives were also arrested and charged.

Adm. Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Fla., faces the prospect of becoming only the second U.S. admiral to be found guilty of committing a federal crime while on active duty, after his arrest on a five-count indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington.
 
Burke was arrested with Yongchul “Charlie” Kim, 50, and Meghan Messenger, 47, founders of the New York-based technology services firm Next Jump, prosecutors announced.
 
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The Problem of Sailors Stranded on Abandoned Ships Has Only Gotten Worse

Posted on by May 31, 2024

Back in 2021, we posted about Mohammed Aisha, the First Officer of the MV Aman, who had been stranded on the ship for almost four years, stuck off the Egyptian coast after the ship’s owners in Bahrain faced financial difficulties. He was finally freed and flown home to Syria.

Now, there are reports in the media of Abdul Nasser Saleh who finally returned home to Egypt after spending almost a decade working without pay on the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owner at ports along the Red Sea.

Sadly the problem of ship owners abandoning crews aboard ships has only gotten worse.  As reported by the Independent, Saleh’s plight is part of a global problem that shows no signs of abating. The United Nations has logged an increasing number of crew members abandoned by shipowners, leaving sailors aboard for months and sometimes years without pay. More than 2,000 seafarers on some 150 ships were abandoned last year.
 
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No, Offshore Wind Farms Are Not Harming Whales, But Risks Remain

Posted on by May 30, 2024

A recent article in the journal Oceanus, hosted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), raises the question, “Are offshore wind farms harming whales?”

The short answer is “no.”

They write: A collection of seemingly grass-roots organizations claim that offshore wind projects are responsible for an uptick in whale deaths. But there’s no evidence to support their claims. Whales have been dying in larger numbers for many years, but offshore wind isn’t the reason why.

Many whale deaths go unreported because the animals don’t always wash up on shore. For those that do, a team of scientists is often quick to secure the carcass for a necropsy, which can help determine the cause of death. According to WHOI whale biologist Mark Baumgartner, offshore wind has never been found to be a contributing factor.

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Colombia Begins Exploring Galleon San José, ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks

Posted on by May 29, 2024

BBC reports that after decades of legal wrangling, the Colombian government has started exploring the wreck of the 18th-century Spanish galleon San José, dubbed the “holy grail of shipwrecks.”

The South American nation has also declared a protected archaeological area around the galleon – which was sunk by the British Royal Navy in 1708 in the Caribbean Sea.

The ship, whose ownership remains contested, was carrying one of the largest hauls of valuables ever lost at sea when it was attacked just outside of the Colombian city of Cartagena.  It is estimated to be laden with as much as £16bn ($20bn) in treasure.

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Wreckage of USS Harder, Famous World War II Submarine, Lost for 80 Years, Found in the South China Sea

Posted on by May 27, 2024

The  USS Harder, said to be the US Navy submarine that sank the most Japanese warships during World War Two, has been found in the South China Sea, some 80 years after it was sunk. 

The Harder, a Gato class submarine, was sunk in battle on 29 August 1944, along with its crew of 79 men. Resting at a depth of more than 3,000 feet, the vessel sits upright on her keel relatively intact except for the depth-charge damage aft of the conning tower. The wreckage of the submarine was found off the Philippines’ northern island of Luzon.

 Nicknamed “Hit ‘em HARDER”, she was one of the most famous submarines of World War II. Harder received the Presidential Unit Citation for her first five patrols and six battle stars for World War II service. Her commanding officer throughout her service, Commander Samuel D. Dealey (1906–1944), described as “a submariner’s submariner”, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses during his lifetime.

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Schooner De Gallant Sinking Update: Coast Guard Suspends Search for Two Missing Mariners

Posted on by May 24, 2024

Photo: Fair Transport

We recently posted about the sinking of the cargo schooner De Gallant early Tuesday morning, 22 nautical miles north of the Bahamas island of Great Inagua, with eight sailors on board. Six of the crew were rescued from life rafts by the US Coast Guard, which began search and rescue operations to locate the two female crew members who were missing.

Yesterday, the Coast Guard announced that it had suspended its search for the two missing mariners. Since the initial report, rescue crews searched by air and sea for approximately 44 combined hours and covered more than 3,700 square miles.

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Viking Longship Draken Harald Hårfagre Returning Home to Norway

Posted on by May 23, 2024

Photo: https://www.drakenhh.com/

After more than seven years in US waters, the longship Draken Harald Hårfagre, known as the world’s largest Viking ship currently sailing, is returning home to Norway. The 115-foot-long ship left its temporary home at Mystic Seaport Museum on Sunday, May 19 bound for Newport, RI where it will await the arrival of the Dutch yacht transport ship Stadiongracht to arrive.

Draken is expected to be loaded onboard Stationgracht on May 26 outside Newport Harbor. Stadiongracht should arrive in Stavanger, Norway, on June 4, where Draken will be offloaded.

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Cargo Schooner De Gallant Sinks off the Bahamas, Two Crew Reported Missing

Posted on by May 22, 2024

Photo: Fair Transport

The cargo schooner De Gallant capsized and sank early Tuesday morning 22 nautical miles north of the Bahamas island of Great Inagua with eight sailors on board. So far, six people have been rescued from a life raft with two female crew members still missing. Rescue operations by the US Coast Guard are ongoing.

A statement by the Blue Schooner Company, the owner of De Gallant said that rescue operations carried out by the Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center (CROSS) in Miami, in conjunction with CROSS Gris-Nez, reported yesterday at 2:59 p.m. UTC or 10:59 a.m. local time the helicopter rescue of six of the eight crew.

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Video of Deep-Sea Dana Octopus Squid Flashing Brilliant “Headlights”

Posted on by May 17, 2024

Researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Kelpie Geosciences in the U.K. recently caught some amazing video footage of a terrifying deep-sea squid that flashed a pair of brilliant “headlights” at the moment it goes in for the kill. 

The scientists dropped a free-fall camera baited with mackerel just north of the Samoan Passage in the South Pacific. As the camera sank to the bottom, it was attacked by a Taningia danae—also known as the Dana octopus squid at a depth of around 3,366 feet.

“As we were reviewing the footage, we realized we had captured something very rare,” said Heather Stewart, an adjunct professor at UWA and a member of Kelpie Geosciences, in a statement.

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Container Ship Dali May be Refloated This Week After Controlled Demolition Removes Bridge Wreckage

Posted on by May 14, 2024

The trapped container ship Dali will “hopefully” be refloated this week after authorities set off charges at a key portion of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Monday evening, an official said.

The charges helped demolish a portion of the bridge wreckage resting on the ship – a move meant to help free the vessel, nearly seven weeks after it struck the bridge and caused the span to collapse. During the planned detonation, a chunk of the collapsed structure appeared to fall away from the ship and into the water, though a portion of wreckage remained on top of the ship, video showed.

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Sailors’ Tattoos on Mother’s Day

Posted on by May 12, 2024

An updated repost appropriate for Mother’s Day.

Sailors choose their tattoos for various reasons. Among the most popular sailor tattoos are anchors, hearts, and swallows.  Not infrequently, “Mom” also appeared as a reminder of loved ones and home.  On Mother’s Day, it seems worthwhile to look at sailors’ tattoos that remind them of “Mom.”

Remy Melina, in the Live Science blog, writes about the popularity of “I Love Mom” tattoos:  The “I Love Mom” tattoo first became popular during World War II. As they traveled around the world, U.S. Navy sailors got tattoos to document their achievements and memories. Tattoo parlors began to pop up near military bases and patriotic tattoos came into vogue, according to John Gray’s book “I Love Mom: An Irreverent History of the Tattoo.” Continue reading →

Olympic Torch Arrives in Marseille on Three Masted Barque Belem

Posted on by May 10, 2024

Tens of thousands of people welcomed the Olympic torch Wednesday in the southern French city of Marseille, marking another milestone in the lead-up to the Summer Games in Paris. The flame arrived after a 12-day trip from Greece onboard the Belem, a 128-year-old three-masted barque that once transported sugar from France’s colonies in the West Indies.

Reuters reports that the torch was brought to land by Florent Manaudou, France’s 2012 Olympic men’s 50 metres freestyle swimming champion, who handed it to Paralympic athlete Nantenin Keita, a 400 metres gold medallist at the Rio Games in 2016.
She then passed it on to Marseille-born rapper Jul, who lit the cauldron in front of an ecstatic crowd estimated at 150,000. Earlier a flotilla of pleasure boats had welcomed the Belem to French shores.

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Carcass of Endangered Sei Whale Arrives at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal Pinned to Bow of MSC Meraviglia

Posted on by May 9, 2024

On Saturday, May 4, the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia arrived at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in New York Harbor dragging the carcass of a 44-foot-long endangered sei whale, caught on the ship’s bulbous bow.

Sei whales are endangered and are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating this incident. The whale was relocated and towed to shore at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to allow for better access to heavy equipment and resources to conduct a necropsy.

According to the New York Times, results of a preliminary investigation show broken bones in the whale’s right flipper; tissue trauma along its right shoulder blade; a full stomach, and a decent layer of blubber.  These all point toward the animal having been in otherwise good health when it was likely struck and killed by the ship, said Robert A. DiGiovanni, the chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, which is leading the investigation.

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Belated Congratulations to Maiden’s All-Female Crew, Winners of the Ocean Globe Race

Posted on by May 8, 2024

Still catching-up on interesting nautical news that transpired while I away. We would be remiss to not offer our belated congratulations to Skipper Heather Thomas and the crew of the yacht Maiden, who beat 14 other teams to win the Ocean Globe Race on IRC handicap, becoming the first ever all-women crew to win an around-the-world yacht race.

The former Whitbread yacht, sailed by an international crew took the title after 153d 2h 16m 53s of racing around the world. Virtually none of the crew had previously faced such an epic challenge and only one had sailed in the Southern Ocean before.

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Update: Bosporus Strait Reopened After Bulker Alexis Refloated

Posted on by May 8, 2024

Update: One of the world’s busiest shipping channels was closed to traffic in both directions after Alexis, an 81,623 dwt bulk carrier, ran aground on May 8, in the Bosporus Strait, connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Four tugs, a fast rescue boat and divers were sent to the incident, which a Lloyd’s List casualty report said occurred at 0430 hrs. The tugs and rescue vessels were able to refloat the grounded bulk carrier. Vessel traffic in the Bosphorus was restored in both directions, the Directorate-General of Coastal Safety reported.

The Alexis is carrying food products from Ukraine to Egypt. The bulker experienced machinery failure, resulting in grounding near the Haydarpasa breakwater shallow water area during its passage through the Bosporus Strait towards the Sea of Marmara. No pollution has been reported.

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Record Number of Sea Lions Haul-Out on San Francisco’s Pier 39, K-Dock

Posted on by May 6, 2024

In the last week or so, over 1,000 sea lions have hauled out on San Francisco’s Pier 39, K-Dock, the largest assembly of the boisterous pinnipeds in roughly 15 years.

As noted on the Pier 39 website: A few California sea lions began “hauling out” on Pier 39’s K-Dock shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake hit San Francisco in October 1989. By January 1990, the boisterous barking pinnipeds started to arrive in droves and completely took over K-Dock, much to the exasperation of Pier 39’s Marina tenants.

The Marina Staff turned to The Marine Mammal Center, an organization devoted to the rescue and rehabilitation of marine mammals, for advice about their new slippery tenants. After much debate and research, the experts from The Marine Mammal Center recommended that the sea lions stay in their newfound home.

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Catching Up — Fireboat John J. Harvey Briefly Stolen by Homeless Man On Hudson River

Posted on by May 5, 2024

I have been away for the better part of a month on a transatlantic sail from Barbados to Malta on a five-masted square rigger. (Click here for a short video of the ship under sail.) I had limited internet access during the trip, so I am behind on posting.

I appreciate the support of readers in forwarding news of interest while I was away. I plan to work in these “catch-up” posts over the next week or two. Here is the first. Thanks to Roberta Weisbrod for passing along the story of the attempted theft of the historic fireboat John J. Harvey.

Around 2:30 AM on April 11th, Juan Hernandez, 22, reported to be a homeless immigrant from Ecuador, allegedly released the mooring lines on the John J. Harvey, a decommissioned fireboat built in 1931, from where it was docked at Pier 66 in Hudson River Park.

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Battleship USS New Jersey in Drydock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

Posted on by May 4, 2024

A short video of the Iowa-class battleship USS New Jersey on the blocks in drydock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.  As noted by the New York Times, no other U.S. battleship served in more military campaigns. Christened on the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1942, she went on to earn 19 battle stars during 21 years of active service. Roughly 45,000 sailors and Marines served on her decks in World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Lebanese Civil War and the Iran-Iraq Tanker War. After an illustrious career, she was retired as a museum ship in Camden, NJ in 2001.

The USS New Jersey is now undergoing a 60-day docking for preventive maintenance on Dock #3, the same dock she was launched from on Dec. 7, 1942. This is the first drydocking of the ship in 32 years.

Amazing views of historic USS New Jersey battleship while in dry dock for maintenance

Update: Dive Boat Captain Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison Over Deaths of 34 in 2019 Conception Fire

Posted on by May 3, 2024

The dive boat Conception smolders at sunrise on Sept. 2, 2019, before sinking. (National Transportation Safety Board)

Over Labor Day weekend in 2019, a fire broke out in the early morning hours on the Conception, a 75-foot wood and fiberglass dive vessel in Santa Barbara Harbor, CA. All 33 passengers sleeping below decks and one of the boat’s crew of six died in the blaze.

The Conception‘s captain, Jerry Boyle, 70, was sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday, according to a statement from the Justice Department. After a 10-day trial, a jury found Boylan guilty in November 2023 of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer – an offense commonly called “seaman’s manslaughter.”

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