The Tall Ship Elissa was built was built in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1877 by Alexander Hall and Co. She has been fully restored and is currently sailing out of Galveston, Texas. She recently successfully completed drydocking and inspection. A small piece of … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
A boat overloaded with migrants sailing from Libya capsized south south of the island of Lampedusa , off Sicily, early today. Fifteen are confirmed dead and between 130 and 250 are believed to be missing. Migrant boat sinks off Italy, up to 250 … Continue reading
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
HMS Bounty is making ready to sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico tomorrow to begin this season’s European voyage. She will be calling at ports in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Germany and Russia, before returning to the US around October. For her … Continue reading
Recent articles on the power of the tsunami that recently struck Japan say a lot about both the power of the tsunami waves and the challenges of trying to cope with a constant threat from the ocean. Japan’s first line … Continue reading
After over two years and three failed searches, an international team, including specialists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in partnership with French authorities, have located the primary wreckage of Air France Flight 447 which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on May … Continue reading
Laura Dekker, the 15 year old Dutch sailor who is sailing rather leisurely alone around the world on her yacht Guppy, has been by all appearances handling the sailing part of her journey without too much difficulty. If she completes here multi-stop circumnavigation prior … Continue reading
“Sailors and Society in Georgian England : The Home of Lord Nelson, Jane Austen & Jack Aubrey” – It sounds a bit like someone’s history thesis but in fact is a ten day luxury tour organized and escorted by British maritime scholar and author of more than thirty books, … Continue reading
The fascinating story of the last running World War II motor torpedo boat, the PT 658, an historic relic rescued, rebuilt and restored by a group of gray-haired ex-PT boaters. Save the PT Boat PT Boat 658 [iframe: title=”YouTube video player” width=”425″ height=”349″ … Continue reading
Fewer than 300 people live on the Tristan da Cuhna island chain, the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, 2,816 kilometres from the nearest land. An estimated 200,000 penguins, however, including roughly half of the world’s endangered Northern Rockhopper penguin, call the … Continue reading
The Ark Royal is for sale, presumably to a scrap yard but “alternatively the vessel may be purchased for re-use/refurbishment for non-warlike purposes.” The main engine, most machinery and all weapons will be removed. She will be available for inspection in early May and all bids … Continue reading
We recently posted about “Women At Sea: Screening, Conversation, Reception,” which was held last Wednesday in Manhattan. The program included a fascinating documentary Shipping Out, the Story of America’s Seafaring Women and a panel discussion with a number of women … Continue reading
Times have been tough for Horizon Lines, the US Jones Act container shipping company that was spun off from Sealand in 2003. In addition to suffering decreased revenues in the general economic downturn, in late February Horizon agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge … Continue reading
Does the wind seem to blowing harder and the waves growing ever higher? Perhaps they are after all. A new study finds that wind speeds and wave heights have been rising significantly over the last two decades. Study finds oceanic … Continue reading
Last summer we posted about a breaching Southern Right whale that landed on a sailboat off South Africa. This week, boaters off the Florida Keys and in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas got surprise visitors. Off the Florida Keys a 200 … Continue reading
Recently we posted about joint-operations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard which since last Novemeber have succeeded in capturing 120 pirates in the Indian Ocean as well as taking several pirate “mother ships” and freeing the hostage held aboard. On reader commented: Good on … Continue reading
Last week, while searching near the the wreck of Nuestra Senora de Atocha, Bill Burt, a diver for Mel Fisher’s Treasures, found a 17th century gold chain worth $250,000. Deep sea treasure: 17th century gold chain worth $250,000 plucked from … Continue reading
On Sunday the MV Maersk Kensington reported an attempted boarding by pirates while underway off the southern coast of India. The Indian navy ship Suvarna and Coast Guard ship Sangram responded, intercepting the Iranian fishing trawler Morteza which had been hijacked and was … Continue reading
Mystic Seaport is featuring a traveling exhibit from Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum – Skin & Bones, Tattoos in the Life of an American Sailor. The exhibition runs through September 5, 2011. Skin and Bones – Tattoos in the Life of the American … Continue reading
New facial reconstruction technology applied to the skull of one of the members of the ill-fated Franklin expedition may rewrite accepted history. The skeleton long believed to be that of Henry Le Vesconte, a lieutenant aboard HMS Erebus, is now believed to be that of Harry … Continue reading