The car/passenger ferry Francisco, built in 2013 by Tasmanian shipyard Incat, is billed as the fastest ship in the world. The 99 meter ferry has clocked speeds of 58 knots (67 mph; 107 km/h). Operated by Buquebus, an Argentine-Uruguayan ferry company, Francisco is capable of accommodating … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) recently released a report on a collision between the 50 ft wooden WWII-era training boat Peggotty and the 32,000 GT cargo ferry Petunia Seaways on the UK’s Humber estuary. The report concluded that … Continue reading
William “Bud” Liebenow recently died at the age of 97. He served on patrol torpedo boats, PT boats, in both the Pacific and the Atlantic during World War II. He was best known as the commander of PT-157, which rescued Jack … Continue reading
I do not not immediately associate a replica of a 17th century Dutch pinnace with LEGOs, which may only reflect the limits of my imagination. The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation is hosting their Second Annual LEGO Shipbuilding Contest. It sounds like a lot … Continue reading
A relaxing video for a Saturday afternoon. I’ve long been a fan of Fred LeBlanc’s photography, particularly his photos of schooners. Here is a video of LeBlanc’s photos of scenes from Maine Windjammers fleet. LeBlanc hosts photo sailing adventure aboard … Continue reading
In 2011, a drought lowered the levels of the Rhine River, revealing unexploded munitions from World War II partially buried in the river banks exposed by the falling waters. Now, in Portsmouth harbor in the UK, World War II bombs are also being uncovered, not due … Continue reading
Between 1893 and 1896, the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen allowed his ship Fram to freeze into the Arctic icepack and attempted to drift with the ice across the North Pole. He came close but ultimately failed in the attempt. Recently, … Continue reading
On a recent visit to the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic CT, I came across the Viking longship, Draken Harald Hårfagre, tied up alongside a wharf, wrapped in glistening white plastic shrink-wrap, its single mast piercing what looked almost like … Continue reading
Sailing Yacht A, one of the largest, most technologically advanced and, to my eyes at least, the ugliest, sailing yacht in the world, arrived in Gibraltar recently to be turned over to its owner, Andrey Melnichenko, following extensive sea trials. … Continue reading
A Russian spy ship lingering off the US coast has been in the news recently. Within the last day or so, the spy ship Viktor Leonov was hanging out off the US Navy submarine base at New London. (The ship … Continue reading
There appears to be no limit to the man-made pollution of the oceans. Toxic chemicals have now been found in the deepest portions of the ocean, at the bottom of the Marianas and Kermadec trenches. Each trench is over 10 kilometers deep … Continue reading
Azipods strike again. The Norwegian Star, operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines, was towed into Melbourne, Australia over the weekend after losing propulsion when the ship’s azipods failed, leaving the ship adrift last Friday. In the latest round of failures, the … Continue reading
Yale University has announced that it is renaming Calhoun College the Grace Hopper College in honor of Grace Murray Hopper. The University decided to change the name of the residential college which had been named after John C. Calhoun, who attended Yale in 1804 … Continue reading
On Friday, the British tabloid The Sun reported that the Royal Navy’s entire fleet of seven attack submarines was out of service. They wrote: “Repairs and maintenance to all seven have left none to defend our waters — or monitor … Continue reading
Over 400 pilot whales became stranded after they swam into the shallow waters of Golden Bay, near Farewell Spit, at the northernmost tip of the South Island of New Zealand. An estimated 300 of the whales have died, as a small … Continue reading
Last November, we posted about the wrecks of three Dutch World War IIship wrecks in the Java Sea that have apparently vanished. The three ships; the HNLMS De Ruyter, HNLMS Java and HNLMS Kortenaer; had been in waters 70 meters … Continue reading
Two fine schooners are looking for crew. The A.J. Meerwald is looking for various crew and staff positions. A.J. Meerwald was built in 1928 as a Delaware Bay oyster schooner and is New Jersey’s official Tall Ship. A.J. Meerwald is operated by the … Continue reading
Is the classic 1927-built stern-wheel steamboat Delta Queen a national treasure or a not safe enough to operate? The ship does not meet current safety standards as established by the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations. A series of rolling two … Continue reading
A 3,600 sq mile (9,300 sq km) coral reef has been discovered off the mouth of the Amazon River. Stretching for over 600 miles, from French Guiana to Brazil’s Maranhão state, the reef is in water from 160 to over 320 … Continue reading
Recently, a 63 year old British tourist died suddenly while snorkelling on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. He is the fifth tourist to die in the last three months. In November, a 60-year-old British man and two French tourists, aged 74 and … Continue reading