Saildrones in the Gulf Stream

Posted on by April 19, 2021

For several years now we have followed the progress of the autonomous sailing drones developed by the aptly name firm, Saildrone, in oceanographic service in the Pacific and Bering Seas. In January, we posted about Saildrone’s new 72’ long Surveyor, which is described as the world’s most advanced uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), equipped for high-resolution mapping of the ocean seafloor.

Now, Saildrone is broadening its mission and geography to study the Atlantic’s Gulf Stream. Funded in part by a grant of roughly $1 million from Google.org, the 12-month mission is expected to yield insights into the impact of the Gulf Stream on weather forecasting and global carbon models. Saildrone will be launching a half dozen of its 23-foot Explorer model drones to roam the North Atlantic. 

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Update: Iceberg A68, Once World’s Biggest & Social Media Star, Has Broken Up

Posted on by April 18, 2021

Antarctica’s iceberg A68 has broken up into a myriad of small pieces so that the US National Ice Center says are no longer worth tracking. Once the world’s biggest iceberg in existence, A68 became an unexpected social media star in its own right. A brief look back at the journey of this remarkable berg.

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SCA Arrests Ever Given, Claims $916 MM, Including $300 MM for “Lost Reputation”

Posted on by April 17, 2021

The American Bureau of Shipping completed its survey and concluded that the ultra-large container ship Ever Given, which had blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week at the end of March, was fit for onward passage. Unfortunately, the ship will remain at anchor in the canal’s Great Bitter Lake, as the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) had the ship arrested the day before.

The ship is being held in the waterway as authorities pursue a $916 million compensation claim against its owner, according to the vessel’s insurer. The SCA claim includes $300m for salvage and $300m for “loss of reputation”, which appears set to be rejected by the vessel’s insurer.

The UK P&I  Club, an insurer for the Ever Given, said in a statement Tuesday that the ship’s Japanese owners received a claim from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), which runs the canal, on April 7.  The insurer revealed it had already made a compensation offer to the SCA this week. The $300 million for salvage is in addition to the actual charges for services by the salvage contractors who freed the grounded ship.

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French Cuts Two Submarines in Half to Create One Functioning Sub

Posted on by April 16, 2021

In June 2020, an intense fire broke out in the bow of the French nuclear attack submarine Perle, while the ship was in drydock in Toulon in southern France. The submarine’s 48-megawatt  nuclear reactor that had been removed when it entered the drydock in January 2020, was unharmed. While the bow was seriously damaged in the blaze, the stern section of the submarine was relatively unscathed by the fire. Now, the French Navy is endeavoring to repair the submarine by cutting off Perle‘s damaged bow and welding on the bow section of a decommissioned sister submarine to the undamaged stern.  

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Searching For And Discovering the Titanic as a Cover for Surveying the Submarines Thresher and Scorpion

Posted on by April 15, 2021

One 109 years ago today, the RMS Titanic slipped below the icy waters of the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. Close to 1,500 passengers and crew were lost, making the sinking the deadliest peacetime sinking of a passenger liner in history.

The Titanic had sailed from Southampton, UK five days earlier on April 10th. Coincidentally, 51 years later, on April 10, 1963, the nuclear attack submarine USS Thresher sank during deep-diving tests killing all 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard. Also coincidentally, the Thresher sank relatively close to the wreck of the Titanic, although when the submarine sank, no one knew quite how close.

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Lift Boat SEACOR Power Capsizes in Gulf — a Dozen Missing

Posted on by April 14, 2021

The lift boat SEACOR Power capsized in the Gulf of Mexico in high winds. The 129′ vessel, used in oil and gas exploration, capsized eight miles from Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Tuesday afternoon. Eighteen were reported to be aboard the vessel when she capsized. So far six have been rescued and a dozen are missing.

“There was a microburst of weather that came through the area at the time of the incident,” Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Lally said. “I don’t know whether that was the cause, but we can say is that inclement weather did hit the area at the time.” A search by air and sea was ongoing Wednesday, he said.

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Ever Given — No Longer Blocking Traffic, But Still Stuck in the Canal

Posted on by April 13, 2021

The Ever Given no longer blocks traffic in the Suez Canal but, in a very real sense, the ship is still stuck in the canal. The ultra-large container ship ran aground for about a week in late March, blocking ships transiting the canal in both directions. Although the ship was freed on March 29th and is currently at anchor in the canal’s Great Bitter Lake, it is not allowed to leave until unspecified damages are paid, according to officials with the Suez Canal Authority. While the shipowner has not officially heard from Egyptian authorities, there are reports that the claimed compensation could reach $1 billion.

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Hydrogen-Powered Cargo Vessel to Operate on River Seine

Posted on by April 11, 2021

We recently posted about plans to build an emission-free bulk carrier powered by compressed hydrogen and rotors sails to be in service by 20204. The European Flagships Project has announced plans to begin operations of a hydrogen-powered cargo vessel on the River Seine in Paris by the end of 2021.

The hydrogen-powered cargo vessel will be owned by French inland shipowner Compagnie Fluvial de Transport (CFT), a subsidiary of the Sogestran Group. The company is currently developing a new business for urban distribution with transport vessels in the Paris area.

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Prince Philip’s Legacy — Saving the Clipper Ship Cutty Sark

Posted on by April 10, 2021

Great Britain’s Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died yesterday at the age of 99. He has been referred to as a sailor prince. The grandson of an admiral of the fleet and first sea lord, he was commissioned as a midshipman in the Royal Navy at 19. He would earn decorations for valor during World War II. 

The Duke was a patron for many charities and causes but may be best remembered by the nautical community for his efforts to save and restore the world’s only remaining tea clipper, the Cutty Sark.

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11,000 Year Old Glass Sponge a Living Ocean Climate Archive

Posted on by April 9, 2021

In the deep ocean, the Monorhaphis chuni, a type of glass sponge, can grow to be 10 feet long. A single silicon spine, or spicule, anchors itself to the seafloor, around which the softer sponge body is supported. The spine of the Monorhaphis chuni is by far the largest bio-silica structure of any known animal. The sponge is also among the longest-lived animals on earth, living many thousands of years. One Monorhaphis chuni spine investigated by researchers is from a sponge believed to approximately 11,000 years old. 

Scientists have discovered that the structure and chemistry of the long-lived sponge can provide a record of ocean temperature and sealife diversity. In the past 20 years, climate scientists have been researching the possible uses of sponges as proxies for long-term changes in the climate.

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World’s First Zero-Emission Bulker Expected in 2024

Posted on by April 8, 2021

Marine Log reports that Norwegian shipping firm Egil Ulvan Rederi has been awarded a contract to build what is claimed will be the world’s first zero-emission bulk carrier.

The 88-meter, 5,000 DWT self-unloading vessel will be used on a Norwegian route to transport aggregates from Heidelberg Cement Norway in western Norway in one direction and grain from farmer-owned cooperative Felleskjøpet AGRI, in eastern Norway, on the backhaul.

The ship design concept was developed in close cooperation with Norwegian Ship Design — TNSDC — and has the project name “With Orca – Powered by Nature.” Continue reading →

Heritage Desks From USS Constitution For Veep & SecNav

Posted on by April 7, 2021

The Vice President and the Secretary of the Navy now each have new “heritage desks,”  built by Navy Seabees, using wood, fasteners, and fittings from historic US Navy ships. 

The desk for Vice President Kamala Harris is made from wood, copper, and nails taken from the USS Constitution, one of the country’s first frigates. The Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat. The wood came from two restorations of the frigate conducted in 2007 and 2017.

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In 1800s, Sperm Whales Learned to Avoid Whalers

Posted on by April 6, 2021

Image: Gabriel Barathieu

When American and British whaling ships hunted for sperm whales in the North Pacific in the early 1800s, they noted something disturbing. After initially good results, the whalers’ success in harpooning the whales fell by about 58% over the first few years of whaling. Now, a study led by Hal Whitehead, a whale biologist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, may have found the answer as to why this happened. Using data from digitized whaleship logbooks, his team determined that the most likely explanation is that the sperm whales learned how to avoid the whalers and taught other groups of whales how to do the same.

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The Northern Sea Route as an Alternative to the Suez Canal

Posted on by April 4, 2021

When the ultra-large container ship Ever Given blocked traffic in the Suez Canal recently, Russia’s energy ministry saw an opportunity. The ministry suggested that the shutdown of the canal highlighted the safety and sustainability of its Northern Sea Route (NSR).

Nikolai Korchunov, Russia’s envoy for international cooperation in the Arctic, said that the Suez Canal blockage should press the world to look at the NSR as an alternative.

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