The incident took place in the early hours of Mar. 30, 2020, but the cruise ship operator only released an official statement on April 1st. It could almost be taken for an April Fool’s joke. It wasn’t.
The Portuguese flag expedition cruise ship RCGS Resolute was drifting just over 13 miles off the coast of Isla La Tortuga, a Venezuelan island 60 miles off the country’s northern coast. With no passengers aboard the crew was performing maintenance on one of the two engines. Around midnight on the 30th, the Venezuelan Navy patrol ship ANBV Naiguatá approached the cruise ship. The Resolute was ordered to follow Naiguatá to Puerto Moreno on Isla De Margarita, located to the east. The Venezuelans accused it of violating the country’s territorial waters.
Sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt cheered for Captain Brett Crozier as he departed the ship in Guam. Captain Crozier was removed from duty by the Navy after he raised concerns about the spreading coronavirus on his ship in a letter that was leaked to the media. 
Grasping at any excuse to stop thinking about the pandemic, for Throw-back Thursday, here is an updated repost from several years ago about an almost magical ghost ship.
Sadly, this is not an April Fools joke. The 
When particularly interesting ships arrive in New York harbor, I like to go down the waterfront, as time permits, to see them in. This morning was chilly and overcast and in the spirit of social distancing, I watched the arrival of the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort by 
The Navy hospital ship 
We recently 
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier 
Despite the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, known as Covid-19, ships keep moving across the oceans. Oil tankers, bulk carriers, and container ships carry critical resources and manufactured goods to industry and consumers across the globe. Now, however, dozens of nations, including the 27 nations of the European Union, have temporarily closed their external borders to most foreign nationals.
The US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, 
If you are among the hundreds of millions locked down during the current coronavirus outbreak and would like to get out, even virtually, you might want to take a virtual tour of the 
Social and the mainstream press have been running stories showing swans and dolphins returning to the canals of Venice in the wake of the shutdowns to limit the coronavirus. The possible silver lining to the overwhelming tragedy in Italy appears, however, to be largely fiction.
In the United States recently, there has been a lot of attention given to those who 
The plan was for the 
More that one hundred Australian doctors and dentists on a medical conference cruise have found themselves stranded onboard the cruise ship 
The story goes that somewhere around the year 400 AD, a lad of 16, named Maewyn Succat, was kidnapped by pirates from his home in what is now Wales and was taken as a slave to Ireland. He was enslaved for six years, during which time he converted to Christianity. He finally escaped and returned to his family. He became a priest and studied at a seminary in France. When he was almost 60, he returned to Ireland. By then Pope Celestine I had given him the name “Patercius” or “Patritius.” We know him better these days as Patrick. He did alright in Ireland. He founded over three hundred churches and apparently had a way with snakes. Today is his feast day or as we call it, St. Patrick’s Day. 
While there is an understandable concern for the passengers on cruise ships struck by the coronavirus, the crews are often overlooked. What challenges do they face and what happens to them when the last passengers leave the ships?