In 1866, five clipper ships set out together from Foochow, China bound for England in what would be the last Great Tea Race. On September 6th, one hundred and fifty years ago today, after sailing more than 15,000 nautical miles, … Continue reading
Tag Archives: China
For those concerned by China’s aggressive expansion into the South China Sea, there is some very good news and some not so good news. The very good news is that an international tribunal in The Hague has overwhelmingly rejected Chinese claims … Continue reading
For several years now, we have posted about the so-called ocean garbage patches, the great swaths of the oceans where plastic and other floating debris accumulate while riding on vast circular currents. The problem is that an estimated 8 million … Continue reading
Explosions at a warehouse containing hazardous materials rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin on Wednesday, killing at least 50 and injuring over 700, 71 critically. Tianjin, 100 miles east of Beijing, is the fourth largest urban area in China. Buildings within a 1.5 miles … Continue reading
A few years ago, we posted about a new competitive sport in which dogs compete by jumping off docks. Apparently, the competitions are continuing. The DockDogs website describes it as the “The World’s Premier Canine Aquatics Competition.” As no other canine … Continue reading
On Sunday, the government of South Korea announced that it was extending its air defense zone to include Socotra Rock, a submerged pinnacle in the Yellow Sea. The Korean air defense zone now overlaps with the air defense zones already … Continue reading
Things are getting tense again in the East China Sea, specifically between the Chinese and Japanese. The dispute is over a small group of uninhabited islands that lie between Okinawa and Taiwan and are known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu … Continue reading
A new report, published in the journal Marine Policy, assesses the the impact of commercial fishing on sharks and estimates that around 100 million sharks are being killed each year. The rate is higher than sustainable for most shark species and is … Continue reading
Tensions are rising in the South China Sea, where at least a half dozen nations are asserting a jumble of overlapping claims of sovereignty, fishing and mineral rights. China is now ramping up their claims by announcing that as of … Continue reading
At the end of last September, the New York Times quoted un-named “Chinese and other military experts” regarding the Liaoning, the first Chinese aircraft carrier to go into service, that “China does not have planes capable of landing on the carrier and so far … Continue reading
Now that China has finally commissioned Liaoning, its first aircraft carrier, the discussion has focused on whether the ship is a meaningful addition to the Chinese Navy or merely a symbol of status and prestige. Some have pointed out that the … Continue reading
After ten sea trials and over 25 years of construction and refitting, China has put its first aircraft carrier into service. Long rumored to be named Shi Lang, the carrier has instead been named Liaoning, after the province where it was rebuilt and refitted. … Continue reading
This seems like a suitable post for a Monday morning. The tide was high, the bridge was low and the ship was light. Captain Guo Lai, 48, was in command of the brand new luxury cruise liner, Pearl No 7, on … Continue reading
Last month we posted about a stand-off between Chinese fishing vessels and Philippine Coast Guard ships at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Both nations claim sovereignty over the area. Even the island name is in contention. The Philipines refers to Scarborough Shoal as Panatag … Continue reading
It is easy to focus of the plight of the 34 dead or missing from the Costa Concordia. Regrettably, these casualties have not been the only recent deaths on the water. The past week has been particularly brutal with ship and boat sinkings in … Continue reading
It would have been almost funny, if billions of dollars were not at stake. As we posted last June, the Vale Brasil, first of the Valemax class of Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC) sailed on its maiden voyage with 391,000 tons of iron … Continue reading
The world’ s longest bridge over salt water, the 26.4 mile-long Qingdao Haiwan Bridge, in China, has opened to traffic. It makes me wonder how you say in Mandarin, “OK, kids. Who needs to go to the bathroom? No … Continue reading
As we posted last week, the US Navy has five times more aircraft carrier flight deck capacity than the rest of the world combined. Nevertheless the Chinese have leapt ahead in the construction of a concrete air craft carrier on … Continue reading
Day 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Qingdao, China provided more than a few thrills and spills among the eleven “eXtreme 40” catamarans engaged in what has been described as “close combat racing.” DAY 3: EXTREME! A major collision, … Continue reading
Lloyds List is reporting that the Skimmer “A Whale” which failed to collect significant amounts of oil in the Gulf of mexico from the BP spill is now en-route to the major spill in Dalian, China. The more concentrated oil on the … Continue reading