Swarms of Basking Sharks Off Northeast Coast

Posted on by April 17, 2018

Aerial surveys attempting to identify endangered right whales have spotted swarms of basking sharks, in groups from 30 to up to 1,400, swimming in the waters from Long Island to Nova Scotia. Researchers who study the normally solitary sharks are not quite sure why. Nevertheless, reviews of the data suggest that such gathering are not that unusual. NOAA issued a press release on the sightings which said in part:

The reason why the animals congregate has not been clearly determined, although it is thought to be related to feeding, socializing, and/or courtship given behaviors in other shark species.

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Cruise Ferry Viking Grace Latest to Install Rotor Sail

Posted on by April 16, 2018

The Flettner fleet is growing slowly but steadily. The LNG powered cruise ferry Viking Grace has become the latest commercial ship and the first passenger vessel to install a modern Flettner rotor sail. The 80-foot-tall rotor is expected to save fuel and to reduce carbon emissions by around 900 tonnes annually on the ship which runs between Turku, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. The 57,565 GRT ferry, with a passenger capacity of 2,800, was also the first large passenger ferry to be powered by liquified natural gas (LNG) when it was delivered in 2013. The modern Flettner rotor designed, fabricated, and installed by Norsepower, is expected to save around 300 tonnes of LNG per year.  Viking Line is currently building a new ship which will feature two Flettner rotors. 

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Joseph Conrad on the Titanic – On Experts, Icebergs, Lifeboats and Biscuit Tins

Posted on by April 16, 2018

One hundred and six years ago today, the White Star liner Titanic  sank after striking an iceberg. Over 1,500 lives were lost. Here is a repost from 2012 of Joseph Conrad’s commentary on the sinking. 

In June of 1912, Joseph Conrad wrote “Some Reflections on the Loss of the Titanic” for the English Review.  While best known as a novelist, his comments reflect his years as a ship’s officer in both sail and steam.   He finds little to like in the events of that night in April, one hundred years ago today, or the events which followed. A few of Conrad’s thoughts on the media, icebergs, the design of unsinkable ships, biscuit tins and the romanticizing of needless death.

On the Media:
He was offended by what we would all the media circus following the sinking.  “It is with a certain bitterness that one must admit to oneself that the late _S.S. Titanic_ had a “good press.” ….. the white spaces and the big lettering of the headlines have an incongruously festive air to my eyes, a disagreeable effect of a feverish exploitation of a sensational God-send.”
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Seal Saturday — Seals in York and New York Harbor

Posted on by April 14, 2018

Two short accounts of seals showing up in somewhat unexpected places. 

Recently, a large seal was spotted in York, in the UK, basking in the sun on the Yorkshire Dales.  Apparently, the wayward seal swam 50 miles through Britain’s river network from the North Sea in pursuit of fish. Experts suggest that the seal become lost and disorientated after chasing a salmon or sea trout upstream. Or perhaps the seal just wanted to visit York.

On the other side of the pond, in New York harbor, a baby seal have been seen flopping about on the Jersey City side of the harbor recently. While seals were once common, they more or less disappeared from the harbor in the 20th century due to pollution and habitat destruction. They have been slowly returning in the current century, much to the delight and in some cases alarm of local residents. In the video below, from Wild Jersey City, the baby seal is hauling out on the old pier slipway next to Liberty State Park headquarters in Jersey City.  Several different seals have been seen enjoying this spot.

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Wreck of Rare Advanced German U-Boat Found Off Denmark.

Posted on by April 13, 2018

The Sea War Museum Jutland made an amazing discovery while scanning the sea floor off Denmark. They have identified the wreckage of one of the most technologically advanced German submarines of World War II, the U-3523.  The submarine was found with its bow buried in the mud and its stern rising from the seafloor in 123 meters of water, ten nautical miles north of Skagen.

The U-3523 was a Type XXI submarine and was the most advanced submarine of its time, capable of operating underwater almost indefinitely, relying on large battery banks which could be recharged by snorkel.  The hulls were streamlined and more hydrodynamically efficient than other submarines of the period. They could also use hydrogen peroxide as a fuel and were capable of operating at up to 17 knots submerged for short periods.

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Ferries, Forgotten Bicycles and Search and Rescue

Posted on by April 12, 2018

Talk about unintended consequences. The Washington State Ferry system and the US Coast Guard have a problem with forgotten bicycles.  Over the last 18 months, 12 bicycles have been left aboard ferries, including three bike-share bikes. This turns out to be a rather big deal. Because a forgotten or abandoned bicycle might suggest that the owner could have gone overboard, it can trigger a search and rescue operation by Coast Guard and ferry personnel until the bicyclist can be confirmed safe.

The Coast Guard issued a press release on Monday noting that a ride-share bike recently left aboard a vessel led to $17,000 in helicopter and crew costs searching for a missing person along the ferry route when, in fact, no one had fallen overboard.  

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Searching for Shackleton’s Ship Endurance While Studying the Larsen C Ice Shelf

Posted on by April 11, 2018

Next January and February, an expedition to Antarctica will search for Ernest Shackleton‘s doomed ship, Endurance, crushed by the ice in 1915. Finding the wreck of the ship is not the primary objective of the venture, however, which is to study the Larsen C ice shelf, where last summer one of the largest icebergs in recorded history calved from the ice shelf. The iceberg was almost the size of the state of Delaware and contained roughly a trillion tons of water.  

The Endurance is thought to have sunk in water 3,000 meters deep, beneath the Larsen C Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea, relatively close to the location where the ice shelf research is scheduled to take place. In addition to their other activities, the team hopes to succeed where three previous attempts to find the stricken Endurance have failed.

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Remembering the Wahine Tragedy in Wellington Harbor 50 Years Ago

Posted on by April 10, 2018

Photo: Tom Palaskas

Fifty years ago today, the interisland ferryWahine capsized and sank in shallow water after running aground near the mouth of Wellington harbor in New Zealand. The ship had been caught in a storm caused by Tropical Cyclone Giselle. Wahine was a twin-screw, turbo-electric, roll-on/roll-off passenger and vehicle ferry owned by the Union Steamship Company which ran between Wellington and Lyttelton. When the ferry sank, 53 of the 743 aboard died, most by drowning.

Recently, photos have emerged of the ship taken by a young art student, Tom Palaskas two days after the ship was wrecked.  Click here to see the photos.

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Monday Humor — Philomena Cunk on Life Aboard the Golden Hind

Posted on by April 9, 2018

Yesterday we posted about an out-of-control bulk carrier which, after losing its steering gear, destroyed a mansion on the banks of the Bosphorus. By my count, roughly half of the media reports described the ship as a tanker, because apparently, many in the non-maritime media think that all large merchant ships are tankers.  Anyone who has spent time in shipping sooner or later expects the media to get at least the terminology wrong. With that in mind, we offer the video below from BBC2, in which Philomena Cunk explains what life must have been like on Drake’s ship, the Golden Hind, when they first circumcised the world. 

Yes, this is satire. Philomena Cunk is a character developed by English actress, comedian, and writer, Diane Morgan. The clip, after the break, is from her BBC mockumentary series “Cunk on Britain.” 

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Bulk Carrier Destroys Mansion on the Banks of the Bosporus

Posted on by April 8, 2018

Saturday was a bad day on the Bosphorus. The Maltese-flagged 74,269 DWT bulk carrierVitaspirit suffered a steering gear failure while transiting Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. The ship was traveling south, approaching the Second Bosphorus Bridge, when it veered out of control. Fortunately, it missed the bridge, but the Hekimbasi Salih Efendi Mansion on the shore near the bridge was not as lucky. The 19th-century mansion was seriously damaged. The mansion’s roof and upper floors collapsed and videos showed the basement slumping into the water. The mansion was used to host weddings and concerts. No one was reported to be injured in the collision.

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Drones and the Volvo Ocean Race

Posted on by April 7, 2018

Yesterday, we posted about the upcoming Golden Globe 2018 Race in which traditional sailboats will race around the globe using only the technology available in the original race in 1968. The idea has a certain appeal but also definite limitations. There is something to be said for technology that lets arm-chair sailors catch a glimpse of the power and majesty of racing yachts screaming along in mid-ocean.

One of the most thrilling technologies, at least to my eyes, are the myriad of video feeds being recorded on the boats competing in the Velux and Volvo round the world races, among others. And of the range of cameras, some of the most exciting footage has come from drones launched and controlled from the decks of the racers. 

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Return of the Golden Globe Race — A Retro Race Around the World

Posted on by April 6, 2018

Fifty years ago this year, nine sailors set off in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Only one, Robin Knox-Johnston sailing his 32-foot Bermudan ketch Suhaili, finished the race, becoming the first person ever to sail single-handed non-stop around the globe. This June, the race is being recreated in the Golden Globe 2018. 

Unlike other single-handed round-the-world races, such as the Vendee Globe, which is sailed in modern Open 60 sailboats, including many featuring foiled hulls, the boats and the technologies used in the upcoming Golden Globe 2018 will harken back to 1968. From the GGR website: 

As a RETRO Race, for the Golden Globe, generally speaking only equipment that was available to Robin Knox Johnston on Suhaili in 1968 may be used. That means NO GPS, Chart plotters, electronic wind instruments, electric autopilots, electronic log, iPhone, satellite phones, digital cameras, computers, cd players, pocket calculators electronic clocks and watches, water makers, carbon fibre, Kevlar, spectra etc… so it is back to film cameras, cassette tapes, sextants, wind up clocks, trailing logs and Dacron sails, wind vanes and typewriters. 

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Finger-Pointing and the Oil Spill in Borneo’s Balikpapan Bay

Posted on by April 5, 2018

Photo: Pertamina

Six days ago, oil began spilling into Borneo’s Balikpapan Bay. The oil would spread to cover an area of nearly 13,000 hectares and pollute 60 km of coastal ecosystems, including mangrove wetlands and marine mammal habitats. At least one protected dugong was killed. The spill would also create an overpowering stench sweeping across Balikpapan, a city of 700,000 people. On March 31, the oil caught fire near the Panama-flagged bulk carrier, MV Ever Judger. At least four fisherman died and a fifth remains missing. One of the crew members on the bulker also suffered burns.

Where did the oil come from? For the first four or five days, there was only denial and finger-pointing. 

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Voices From the Deep — the Lost Mail from the SS Gairsoppa

Posted on by April 4, 2018

A new exhibit has recently opened at the Postal Museum in London — Voices from the Deep. The exhibit features undeliveredd letters retrieved from the wreck of the SS Gairsoppa, a British merchant ship which was sunk by a U-boat 300 miles southwest of Galway Bay in 1941. The SS Gairsoppa is best known for her cargo, which as well as pig iron and tea included 240 tonnes of silver.  Between 2012-2014, Odyssey Marine Exploration, under contract with the UK government, recovered close to 99% of the insured silver from the wreck which is almost three miles deep. 

Remarkably, something far more rare than silver was also recovered from the wreckage.  Twelve bundles of mail bundles of letters, over 700 letters and postcards, were miraculously preserved in an air pocket in the hold of the ship. 

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Tall Ships Challenge Gulf Coast 2018 Begins With Tall Ships Galveston April 5 – 8

Posted on by April 3, 2018

A fleet of tall ships is sailing to Galveston Island, Texas which will host Tall Ships Galveston from April 5 – 8th to kick off the Tall Ships Challenge Gulf Coast 2018 tall ship race. Included in the fleet will be:

  • Galveston’s Elissa, an 1877 square-rigged three-masted iron barque,
  • Oliver Hazard Perry, a three-masted steel ship, commissioned in 2015, the largest civilian Sailing School Vessel in the United States and the first ocean-going full-rigged ship to be built in the U.S. in over 100 years,
  • Oosterschelde, a three-masted topsail schooner built in 1918, from the Netherlands,
  • Picton Castle, three-masted steel barque, built in 1928, registered in the Cook Islands, on its way toward its seventh circumnavigation,
  • Lynx, replica Baltimore clipper privateer, delivered in 2001,
  • When and If, a classic Alden schooner built in 1939 for General George S. Patton.  

The Tall Ships Galveston festival will begin with a Parade of Sail down Seawall Boulevard on Thursday afternoon, April 5th. The festival is being produced by Galveston Historical Foundation, in partnership with Tall Ships America as a family-friendly event which will showcase Galveston’s rich maritime history through unique programming and the visiting tall ships. Tickets, ship information, and special event details are available here. 

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Is North Korea Adding a Nuclear-Armed Ballistic Sub to its Arsenal?

Posted on by April 2, 2018

As if things were not complicated enough, it appears that North Korea is building a second and more capable ballistic missile submarine. In addition to developing inter-continental range ballistic missiles launched from land, North Korea has for several years been working on the ability to launch missiles from submarines. The new ballistic submarine may be capable of launching long to intermediate range nuclear-armed missiles.

There have been reports that the North Koreans have been developing Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM) since at least 2014.  In 2016, the North Koreans launched what is believed to be a KN-11 intermediate range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan from a Sinpo B class submarine, also called Gorae (“whale”). 

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Footprints of Ancient Mariners Along the Kelp Highway

Posted on by April 1, 2018

Photo : Grant Callegari/Hakai Institute

The remarkable discovery of 29 ancient footprints just above what would have been the tide line on Calvert Island in British Columbia provides new evidence to support the idea that early humans first migrated to America by sea along what is termed the termed the “kelp highway.” The discovery also confirms the stories told by the Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv peoples of British Columbia of when their ancestors fished and foraged along a thin green strip of coastline between open ocean and impenetrable inland ice.

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Volvo Ocean Race: Vestas 11th Hour Dismasted, MAPFRE & Turn the Tide Damage Rigging

Posted on by March 31, 2018

The Southern Ocean has been battering the rigs of the boats sailing in the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) as the fleet rounds Cape Horn. On Friday, Vestas 11th Hour Racing was dismasted. The Vestas boat lost its mast in 25 to 30 knot northerly winds with 3-meter waves. No one was reported to be injured. The crew cut away the mast to avoid damaging the hull. The dismasting took place southwest of the Falklands Islands. Vestas 11th Hour is now motoring to the Falklands. 

This is the second major casualty for Vestas 11th Hour, a joint American-Danish team. Near the end of Leg 4 in late January, the boat collided with a fishing boat off Hong Kong, killing one fisherman, sinking the fishing boat and damaging the yacht. The Vestas 11th Hour Racing boat was shipped to New Zealand to repair a large hole in its port bow, forcing it to miss two legs.

The day before Vestas 11th Hour lost its rig, the MAPFRE team temporarily suspending racing for 13 hours to repair the mainsail track, which had separated from the mast, and to repair a ripped mainsail. MAPFRE, which had been the fleet leader, rejoined the race on Friday in sixth place.

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Ghost Nets and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Posted on by March 30, 2018

Ghost nets — Photo: The Ocean Cleanup

A new study published in Nature suggests that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing “exponentially” and now spans roughly 617,763 square miles (1.6 million square km), or about three times the size of France. The garbage patch is an accumulation of plastic and floating debris brought together by a gyre, a circular current, in the Pacific between California and Hawaii. It is thought to be the largest ocean garbage patch on earth. According to the new study, the trash is made up of 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing nearly 90,000 tons. This new estimate is between four and sixteen times greater than had previously been predicted.

One aspect of the study that appears to have drawn less attention than the size and the extent of the patch is what it is made of. The study determined that at least 46% of the floating debris are fishing nets and related cordage. These “ghost nets” are a major threat to fish populations around the world and pose an entirely different set of challenges in any potential cleanup.

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Loss of Volvo Ocean Sailor John Fisher — Timeline

Posted on by March 30, 2018

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag has put out a timeline of events in the recent loss of John Fisher overboard while sailing in high winds and seas in the Southern Ocean in the Volvo Ocean Race.

  • They were sailing in Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Auckland, New Zealand to Itajai, Brazil, approximately 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn. The wind was blowing 35-45 knots with 4 to 5 meter seas. Intermittent showers reduced visibility.
  • At 15 minutes before sunrise, Fisher unclipped his tether to go forward to “tidy up” a jib sheet. The Team statement says that untethering was “standard procedure when moving between positions.”
  • As Fisher moved forward SHK/Scallywag surfed down a large wave and accidentally crash gybed. Fisher was hit by the mainsheet tackle and was knocked overboard. The crew on board believe Fisher was unconscious from the blow before he hit the water. He was wearing a survival suit with a wetsuit hood and gloves and a lifejacket.
  • The JON buoy and the horseshoe buoy were thrown off the back of the boat to mark the position
  • It took approximately 40 minutes to get the boat under control and to motor sail back to the position where Fisher went overboard. They searched for several hours but found no sign of Fisher or either buoy. In deteriorating weather, they reluctantly abandoned the search. 

There seem to several takeaways from the tragedy.  Continue reading →