Tag Archives: New Zealand

‘Tsunami Bomb’ Tested Off New Zealand Coast During WWII

Posted on January 8, 2013 by

During World War II, the United States worked to develop a “bat bomb” that consisted of an air dropped canister containing Mexican free-tailed bats with a small timed incendiary bombs attached to their tails. Work on the bat bomb was cancelled due to the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Lore of the Sea | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Spade-toothed Beaked Whale, the Rarest of All Whales, Beached in New Zealand

Posted on November 6, 2012 by

Spade-toothed beaked whales (Mesoplodon traversii) are so rare that they had never been seen alive.  Until recently, the only evidence of their existence were portions of three skulls found in 1872 and in the 1950s in New Zealand  and in 1986 … Continue reading →

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Update: Owners of Container Ship MV Rena Plead Guilty, Pay NZ$300K Fine

Posted on October 27, 2012 by

Daina Shipping, owner of the container ship MV Rena, has been fined NZ $300,000 (US $246,000) for discharging harmful substances after the Liberian flagged ship, ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand in early October of last year. The ship subsequently broke up … Continue reading →

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Update: MV Rena – Cover-up Revealed and Jail Time for Captain and Second Officer

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

On October 5, 2011, the containership MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, resulting in one of the worst maritime environmental disasters in New Zealand history.  Yesterday, in a New Zealand court, the captain, Mauro Balomaga, and second officer, Leonil Relon, were … Continue reading →

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Update – Slavery at Sea? Abuse of Indonesian Sailors on Chartered Fishing Vessels

Posted on February 26, 2012 by

Last April we posted, Slavery at Sea ? Abuse of Sailors on New Zealand Chartered Fishing Vessels. Secret papers reveal the government has allowed fishermen from poor countries to be exploited in New Zealand waters.  Workers are fishing in rusting boats turned … Continue reading →

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Oil on the Water – Barge Spill on the Mississippi, Progress on the Concordia and Chances Missed on the Rena

Posted on February 18, 2012 by

Three stories this weekend of oil spills, a successful oil transfer and opportunities lost in mitigating a spill.  Two barges collided on the Mississippi River on Friday upriver from New Orleans.  A roughly 3,500 barrel capacity double hulled tank barge suffered damage … Continue reading →

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The Return of the Bureaucrats – Laura Dekker Strikes the Dutch Flag

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

Laura Dekker’s sailboat, Guppy, now flies a New Zealand flag from her stern.  Laura has struck the Dutch colors as the bureaucrats who tried and initially succeeded in stopping her solo voyage have returned to pester her and her family once more. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Update: Container Ship Rena Breaks Up on New Zealand’s Astrolabe Reef

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

In early October, the MV Rena, a container ship owned by the Greek shipping company Costamare Inc, ran hard aground on the Astrolabe Reef in in the Bay of Plenty off New Zealand’s North Island.  When she struck the reef, the Rena was … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Update: MV Rena – Unloading Containers & Little Blue Penguins Released

Posted on November 24, 2011 by

The clean-up continues on the MV Rena which ran  hard aground on Astrolabe Reef near Tauranga, New Zealand on October 5, 2011. The remaining oil has been pumped off and efforts are beginning to remove the container cargo from the stricken ship.  Roughly forty containers have been … Continue reading →

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MV Rena Cracking, Risking Breaking Up, Containers Washing Ashore

Posted on October 13, 2011 by

The Liberian flagged container ship, MV Rena, which ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand last week is continuing to suffer structural cracking and is continuing to spill bunker oil and losing containers overboard. Several beaches on the … Continue reading →

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Update: MV Rena – Increasing Oil Spill and Container Loss

Posted on October 11, 2011 by

Bad weather is adding to an already bad situation as salvage and clean up crews struggle to staunch the flow of oil from the container ship, MV Rena, which has been grounded on Astrolabe Reef in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty near Tauranga for … Continue reading →

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Oil Spill from MV Rena – A Small Leak or Looming Environmental Disaster ?

Posted on October 6, 2011 by

Depending on what one reads, the oil spill associated with the grounding of the MV Rena on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand is either a “small leak” or a “looming environmental disaster.”  Conceivably, depending on the integrity of the ship’s hull, both … Continue reading →

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MV Rena Aground on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand

Posted on October 5, 2011 by

The Liberian flagged container ship, MV Rena, ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand yesterday, flooding two cargo holds.   The ship is loaded with approximately 2,100 containers and has around 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel.  There has been no spillage of … Continue reading →

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America’s Cup Test Sessions: a Brave New World

Posted on May 7, 2011 by

I remember when America’s Cup racing was fairly tame –  beautiful 12M yachts gliding in light air in the waters of Rhode Island Sound.   Times have indeed changed.  The new AC45 wing-sailed catamarans recently underwent two weeks of testing in Auckland, New Zealand. … Continue reading →

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Slavery at sea ? Abuse of Sailors on New Zealand Chartered Fishing Vessles

Posted on April 6, 2011 by

A disturbing report from New Zealand on abusive conditions for  seamen  aboard  chartered  fishing vessels in New Zealand waters. Slavery at sea exposed Alerted to terrible conditions on foreign fishing vessels after nearly 30 people lost their lives, Michael Field began asking questions. … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

New Zealand Model Fleets to do Battle

Posted on March 24, 2011 by

This Sunday a grand of fleet of miniature ships will sail the lake at East Tamaki, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.  The event is being hosted by Task Force 48, a group of radio-controlled model ship enthusiasts. Model boats battle The 1:48 scale … Continue reading →

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Tallship Soren Larsen – New Zealand March 2011

Posted on March 23, 2011 by

The calendar says that Spring is here on the banks of the Hudson River, but it is nevertheless snowing outside.  On mornings like this it is good to be reminded of warm seas and white sails. The good folks on the Soren Larsen … Continue reading →

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Joan Druett’s Tupaia – Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator : A Review

Posted on January 19, 2011 by

Joan Druett’s new book, Tupaia – Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator, fills an important blank space in the history, as well as the legend, of Captain Cook. On his first voyage to the Pacific in HMS Endeavour, during a stop in … Continue reading →

Posted in Newbooks, Reviews, Seastories | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Death on the Volendam in Lyttelton Harbour – crew member killed in lifeboat accident

Posted on January 9, 2011 by

Update: While originally reported that two crew members were knocked overboard during “a lifeboat training exercise,” it is now being reported that the sailors were performing lifeboat maintenance. The commenter (below) reports that both men were wearing safety harnesses which … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Three Teenagers Found Alive after Fifty Days adrift in Pacific Ocean

Posted on November 25, 2010 by

Three boys had attempted to row the sixty miles between two small Pacific islands. Instead they became lost at sea and drifted  for fifty days across nearly 1,000 miles of ocean in a small aluminum dinghy, surviving on raw seagull and … Continue reading →

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