Delivery service for the remote island of St Helena The tiny British colony of St Helena in the South Atlantic – the world’s most remote inhabited island – is being hit by Whitehall’s spending cuts. An airport considered by many … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
A great story from the Yachtpals blog. Organized by the non-profit group Oceans Watch, a flotilla of at least a dozen yachts loaded with aid for Haiti, led by the 74 foot schooner Wolf, will set sail from Key West on February … Continue reading
Last week we posted about the International Chamber of Shipping’s concern that governments are not doing enough to combat piracy. Now the British government, after long opposing the payment of ransoms to free hijacked ships is also trying to discourage the … Continue reading
Last week a navy commander and two fellow officers pleaded guilty to crashing the HMS Superb, a British nuclear submarine, in 2008, into a massive stone pinnacle under the Red Sea which was marked on maritime charts. Navy commander crashed … Continue reading
An Aframax tanker, the Eagle Otome, collided with an oil barge in the Sabine Neches Waterway at Port Arthur, Texas on Saturday. Initial reports suggested 12, 000 barrels of crude oil were unaccounted for, though local officials are now estimating that approximately 1,000 barrels … Continue reading
An intriguing article from the Sunday Times: Hunt is on for SS Gairsoppa’s £70m silver hoard AN official attempt to find a ship containing £70m worth of silver, which was sunk during the second world war, is to be announced by … Continue reading
Sam Willis has written what appears to be a fascinating book – Fighting Temeraire. J.M.W. Turner’s painting, The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken Up, hangs in the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and was recently … Continue reading
Oceanbridge Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta turns 170, Feb 1, 2010 On Monday, 1 February 2010, New Zealand’s oldest sporting event, the Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta will celebrate its 170th anniversary with a celebration of our maritime history and heritage on … Continue reading
Crowley Establishing Flow of Relief Cargo Into Haiti Crowley Maritime Corporation, working under contract with the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), is unloading Haiti relief cargo in Rio Haina, Dominican Republic, today. Fifty six of the 68 20-foot containers of water … Continue reading
In November we posted about the USS New York’s commissioning in its namesake city. The new amphibious transport dock ship, the fifth of the San Antonio-class, was built with seven and a half tons of steel from the rubble of the … Continue reading
While the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan arrived in Haiti yesterday and the hospital ship USNS Comfort arrived the day before, naval ships are not the only vessels sailing to aid the earthquake victims. The schooner Amistad is on her way bearing both supplies and a … Continue reading
More talks to save the fine old ship from being broken up. Only time will tell whether anyone will come up with the funds to rescue her. Fresh bid to salvage historic Scots ship … Continue reading
Two only slightly related items : “An orca baby boom” in Washington State following a year that saw a decline in the number of orcas in the southern resident pods, and a very funny, if highly offensive, episode of South … Continue reading
Tom Russell is hosting the Tall Ship & Traditional Sail Professionals Group on LinkedIn. It is a very interesting group. He writes: If you’ve worked on a tall ship, for its supporting organization or in other traditional sail, feel free … Continue reading
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) issued a statement which we think is right on target. The current policy of disrupting but not consistently apprehending pirates has been a failure. The unacceptable situation prevailing now, with seafarers lives being threatened … Continue reading
What appears to be the carcass of a Bryde’s whale has washed ashore in Case Inlet in Puget Sound in Washington State. If it is a Bryde’s whale, it is a mystery what a whale that favors tropical waters was doing … Continue reading
The US military hopes to have the port of Port-au-Prince open for shipments of emergency relief supplies in two or three days. Damaged Haiti port to open in 2-3 days: U.S. commander In related news, the Maritime Administration has ordered … Continue reading
UPDATE: Maran Tankers Management Inc. said the crew – 9 Greeks, 16 Filipinos, 2 Ukrainians, and a Romanian – was safe and well. In strange turn, pirates send out an SOS Unconfirmed reports suggest that infighting between rival pirate gangs … Continue reading
Owners of a Greek-flagged oil tanker dropped a record ransom payment of $5.5 million to $7 million on the deck of the ship today, prompting Somali pirates to release the Maran Centaurus. Ransoms to Somali pirates have reached a historic … Continue reading
Endeavour Voyage 2010 The Australian National Maritime Museum has an exciting season of sailing coming up on the replica of the HMB Endeavour. This April, they are offering day sails in Sydney Harbor, to introduce visitors to 18th century sailing; overnight sails where … Continue reading