Why did the Carnival Splendor go dark?

How could an  fire in one of two engine rooms do sufficient damage to the electrical distribution system on the Carnival Splendor to completely disable the ship?   The answer isn’t obvious. The Carnival Splendor is diesel electric powered, which is to say, instead of … Continue reading

Search Continues for Missing Crew from Bulk Carrier Nasco Diamond

On Thursday morning, Nasco Diamond loaded with 55,000 tonnes of nickel ore from Indonesia to China was reported missing and believed to have sunk off the southern coast of Japan.  Five of the twenty five crew have been accounted for, with at least … Continue reading

Carnival Splendor Update – Tugs, Flush Toilets and Spam

Perhaps the best news for the stranded passengers on the disabled cruise ship, Carnival Splendor, is that the flush toilets aboard are back in service and that the ship is proceeding slowly under tow to the mainland.   Still lacking refrigeration on … Continue reading

Edmund Fitzgerald – 35 Years Later, the Mystery, the Song and the Survivors

Thirty five years ago today the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, loaded with more 26,000 tons of taconite pellets, sank in a November gale in Lake Superior. All 29 of her officers and crew were lost. The sinking was the greatest … Continue reading

3D Imagery of the A.J. Goddard in Lake Laberge

Klondike shipwreck brought to life with 3D scans A Gold Rush-era shipwreck at the bottom of a Yukon lake is coming to life with the help of cutting-edge digital 3D scan images. The images were produced in June by researchers … Continue reading

Concordia: Tall Ship Down on CBC’s Land & Sea

The CBC’s program “Land and Sea” broadcast their documentary “Concordia: Tall Ship Down” today, focusing on the knockdown and sinking of the SV Concordia.   It can be watched on-line at the link below.  The documentary doesn’t answer the outstanding questions about … Continue reading

Record Ransoms paid to Somali Pirates for MV Samho Dream & MV Golden Blessing

The MV Samho Dream, a Korean VLCC,  and  its crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos, was ransomed for $9.5 million dollars.  It had by hijacked by Somali pirates last April.    The MV Golden Blessing, a Singaporean chemical tanker, … Continue reading

Noorderlicht – Summer Nordic Cruiser & Winter Ice Hotel

The 36 meter steel schooner Noorderlicht celebrates her one hundredth birthday this year.  With ten double cabins for passengers, she cruises along the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the summer and coastal Norway in the Autumn. Her winter employment is what … Continue reading

New York’s Graveyard of Ships on TV and Radio

The Witte boneyard, often referred to as New York’s graveyard of ships, usually sits unnoticed on the shore of Staten Island on the Arthur Kill in a far corner of New York harbor.   In the last week, however, it has … Continue reading

The Famous Sailing Barge Cambria Reborn

The Thames sailing barge Cambria was built in Greenhithe, Kent in 1906.  Remarkably, she kept sailing  and carrying commercial cargo under sail alone until 1970.  She is now undergoing a complete restoration by the Cambria Trust with major funding from the Heritage Lottery … Continue reading

Teenage Trainees from brig Fryderyk Chopin Safely Ashore

The British Maritime And Coastguard Agency has reported that the sail-training vessel, Fryderyk Chopin, has been secured to a buoy in Falmouth harbour, Cornwall, and the crew of 47, including 36 cadets, aged between 14 and 16, has been taken … Continue reading

Tall Ships 2011 Calendar by Thad Koza

The calendar has been out since July, but I only got around to ordering mine yesterday. Thad Koza’s Tall Ships 2011 calendar features  SAGRESs II, JOLIE BRISE, PICTON CASTLE, WESTWARD, BOUNTY, EUROPA, the schooner THOMAS E LANNON, and five other tall ships. … Continue reading

Bulgarian Women Now Allowed on Bulgarian Submarines, if They Had Any in Service

Last Thursday, Bulgaria’s defence ministry lifted the ban on women serving aboard Bulgarian submarines. Also on Thursday, the Bulgarian parliament voted to moth-ball the only Bulgarian submarine. Bulgaria lifts women in submarines ban — but too late … Continue reading

Vote for the Falls of Clyde !!!

The Falls of Clyde, built in 1878, is the only surviving iron-hulled four-masted full rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world.  After years of neglect by the Bishop Museum, the ship has been taken over … Continue reading

Military ammunition discovered under Seattle cruise ship terminal

The new cruise ship terminal at Pier 91 in the Port of Seattle appears to have been built over an old munitions terminal. Live high explosive ammunition dating back to World War II, and possibly earlier, has been found beneath the … Continue reading