Icon of the Seas, World’s Largest Cruise Ship Sets Sail, Raising Concerns Over Methane Emissions

Posted on by January 28, 2024

On Saturday, the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, set sail from Miami on its maiden voyage. The nearly 1,200-foot-long and 250,800 gross-ton behemoth can accommodate close to 8,000 passengers across 20 decks.

The ship is the first Royal Caribbean vessel to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the company claims sets a new standard for sustainability with the use of energy-efficient technology designed to minimize the ship’s carbon footprint and move closer to the company’s goal of introducing a net-zero ship by 2035.

That being said, environmental groups say methane leakage from the ship’s engines is an unacceptable risk to the climate because of its short-term harmful effects. (Natural gas is predominantly made up of methane.) 

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On Holocaust Remembrance Day — MS St. Louis and the “Voyage of the Damned”

Posted on by January 27, 2024

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, an updated repost, remembering the tragic voyage of the German passenger liner St. Louis in 1939. The ship carried 908 Jewish refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany.

The ship and its passengers departed from Hamburg but were denied entry to Cuba, the United States, and Canada. Finally, the ship turned around and returned to Europe. Despite the US government’s refusal to accept the refugees, private Jewish aid groups in the United States did manage to place most of the refugees in Belgium, France, and Holland, to avoid returning them to Nazi Germany. Tragically, many were later captured when the Nazis invaded. Two-hundred-and-fifty-four of the refugees are believed to have died in the German death camps.

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Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Director Peter Christopher Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia

Posted on by January 26, 2024

Congratulations to Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Director Peter Christopher, on being awarded the  Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to Maritime History.

Peter Christopher convened the first meeting of Adelaide volunteers to save the City of Adelaide in July 2000 and worked tirelessly since in the preservation and restoration of this important piece of maritime history.  His vision and dedication continue to be a driving force in the planned Seaport Village project at Dock 2, Port Adelaide.

Peter Christopher is also the author of 7 books on shipwrecks and riverboats, and co-author of another 2. Continue reading →

Iran Close to Commissioning Converted Container Ship As Drone Carrier

Posted on by January 25, 2024

Reports suggest that Iran is close to commissioning a drone carrier Shahid Bagheri, based on a converted container ship, previously named Sarvin. The converted ship features a 170 m runway, capable of accommodating the take-off and landing of a large fleet of fixed-wing long-range drones. The ship is also reported to be able to carry 30 Ashura-class fast patrol boats.

The Shahid Bagheri /ex-Sarvin was delivered from Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2000 as a 3,280 TEU container ship. It was converted to a drone carrier at the ISOICO shipyard west of Bandar Abbas and is now controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN.)

The Iranians claim that the converted ship is intended for defense.  The semi-official Fars news agency described the vessel as a “mobile naval city” capable of “ensuring the security of Iran’s trade lines, as well as the rights of Iranian sailors and fishermen in the high seas.” 

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Extreme Waves Slam US Army Base in Marshall Islands

Posted on by January 24, 2024

Last Saturday, January 20, a series of massive storm-driven waves struck the island of Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands causing considerable flooding and damage to the US Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll (USAG–KA).  

A video circulating on social media showed water smashing into a dining facility at USAG–KA as a series of unexpected waves surged across the low-lying island.

The island of Roi-Namur is the second-largest island of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The US Army facility supports the US Space and Missile Defense Command’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS). RTS serves as a space and missile defense test range for the Department of Defense.

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Record Number of Manatees Counted At Florida’s Blue Spring State Park

Posted on by January 23, 2024

Encouraging news! Following a devastating record year of manatee deaths in 2021, a​ record number of manatees was counted at Central Florida’s Blue Spring State Park on Sunday. Staff there counted 932 on Sunday, which is nearly 200 more than their previous record of 736 that was counted on New Year’s Day this year. 

In 2021, 1,101 manatee deaths were recorded in Florida, far higher than any other year on record. The deaths represented almost 15 percent of the state’s total manatee population. The manatees died primarily of starvation. For nourishment, manatees rely mainly on sea grass, beds of which have been smothered by pollutants along with outbreaks of toxic algae blooms intensified by climate change.

In 2022 and 2023, Florida saw a resurgence of the growth of sea grass, supported by an emergency manatee feeding program by Florida wildlife officials.

Manatee deaths dropped to 800 in 2022 and 555 in 2023. Continue reading →

World’s Largest Iceberg, A23a, Eroding & Melting Rapidly as it Drifts into Warmer Water

Posted on by January 22, 2024

In 1986, a massive iceberg, more than three times larger than New York City, calved off West Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf and immediately grounded on the floor of the Weddell Sea, where it remained stuck for almost four decades.

In November, the iceberg, designated A23a, broke free from the sea bottom and began drifting on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current into “iceberg alley”. Satellite images showed the berg, weighing nearly a trillion metric tonnes, drifting quickly past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, aided by strong winds and currents.

The iceberg, which some scientists are referring to as a “megaberg,” is currently the world’s largest and among the world’s oldest icebergs. As it drifts, it is being eroded by waves and is melting in the relatively warmer waters of the Southern Ocean. The impact of the waves has carved huge arches and caves in the 400-meter-high walls of the iceberg.

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British Minehunters Collide — HMS Chiddingfold Backs Into HMS Bangor

Posted on by January 21, 2024

UK Royal Navy minehunter HMS Chiddingfold collided with HMS Bangor while maneuvering in Bahrain harbor on January 18th. No one was reported to be injured but Bangor was seriously damaged, with a large hole ripped in its fiberglass hull.

Both ships are specialist minesweeper vessels, part of the UK’s long-standing presence in the Gulf.

“We are aware of an incident concerning two minehunters alongside in Bahrain. There are no casualties as a result of this incident and it would be inappropriate to comment further whilst investigations are ongoing,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence told the BBC.

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Herlaugshagen, Scandinavia’s Oldest Ship Burial Mound and the Missing Ship

Posted on by January 18, 2024

A new analysis has concluded that a large, grassy hill in Norway known as the Herlaugshagen burial mound was likely the site of a pre-Viking ship burial. What is fascinating is that the site was excavated three times during the late 18th century and no one found the ship within the mound. 

The Herlaug mound, on the island of Leka in Central Norway, has a diameter of over 60 meters and is one of the largest burial mounds in the country. In the prior excavations, artifacts were discovered including a kind of wall, iron nails, a bronze cauldron, animal bones, and a seated skeleton with a sword. 

The skeleton, notionally identified as King Herlaug, was put on display for a time at Trondheim Katedralskole. Unfortunately, the skeleton and artifacts related to the Herlaugshagen mound disappeared sometime during the 1920s. 

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Commander of Submarine USS Georgia Relieved of Duty Due to ‘Loss of Confidence’

Posted on by January 17, 2024

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia returns to its homeport at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, after a 790-day forward-deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Ashley Berumen)

The US Navy announced in a statement that on January 12, 2024, Commander, Submarine Group Ten, Rear Adm. Thomas “T.R.” Buchanan, relieved Capt. Geoffry Patterson as commanding officer of USS Georgia (SSGN 729) Blue Crew due to loss of confidence in his ability to command.

The USS Georgia is homeported at King’s Bay, Georgia. According to data from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, where King’s Bay is located, Patterson was arrested in the early hours of Jan. 9 on charges including driving under the influence and improper lane change, reports Military.com.  According to the sheriff’s website, Patterson was released on bond after a payment of more than $1,800.

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Houthi Missiles Hit Bulk Carriers Off Yemen; US Retaliatory Air Strikes Continue

Posted on by January 16, 2024

Houthi anti-ship missiles struck two more commercial ships in the Red Sea off Yemen in the last two days. There were no reports of injuries on either ship.

On Tuesday, the Greek-owned 57,000 DWT bulk carrier MT Zografia with 24 crew was sailing in ballast from Vietnam to Israel when it was struck by a missile. It is said to have suffered only minor damage.

The day before, US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement: On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship. The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey.

(Despite the CENTCOM characterization of the ship as a container ship, the M/V Gibraltar Eagle is a 64,000 DWT bulk carrier.)

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Fifteen Years Ago Today: Flight 1549, NY Harbor Ferries, & the Two “Miracles on the Hudson”

Posted on by January 15, 2024

An updated repost — a look back at the twin miracles on the Hudson from fifteen years ago today. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 lost all engine power after striking a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport and was forced to make an emergency water landing in the Hudson River. If the plane’s pilots, Captain Chesley “Sulley” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles had not glided the plane in at exactly the right angle and airspeed, it is likely that the plane would have broken apart and that all the 155 passengers and crew aboard could have died.

The landing is often called the “Miracle on the Hudson.” There was, however, a second miracle on the Hudson that day. Remarkably, New York harbor commuter ferries began arriving at the flooding plane less than four minutes after the crash.  Had it not been for the ferries’ rapid rescue of the passengers from the icy waters, the “miracle” might have ended as a tragedy.

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Navy Searches For 2 SEALS Missing Off the Coast of Somalia

Posted on by January 14, 2024

Service members from the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill board a stateless dhow off the coast of Somalia on Feb. 12, 2021. (Louis Thompson Staats IV/U.S. Navy)

Stars and Stripes reports that the US Navy is still searching for two SEALs missing in the Gulf of Aden more than two days after conducting nighttime operations off the coast of Somalia.

The incident happened Thursday as the SEALs were attempting to board a suspicious vessel in rough seas, The Associated Press reported Saturday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

One SEAL was attempting to board the vessel when they were knocked off by high waves, AP reported. The other SEAL jumped into the sea to rescue their team member, according to the AP report.

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Maersk to Partially Bypass Panama Canal Backlog by Shifting to Panama Railway

Posted on by January 13, 2024

Photo: Nils Öberg

Maersk Lines has announced that it will be routing containers on its Oceania-to-the Americas “OC1” service around the backlogged, drought-stricken Panama Canal. The line will be transporting cargo via the “land bridge” across the isthmus by the Panama Canal Railway instead.

The Denmark-based shipping and logistics giant said in a customer advisory that the decision was made to ensure cargo “continues to move with as few delays as possible.” The company has not indicated whether it will extend the land bridge concept to other service lines.

Sourcing Journal notes that the modified route creates two separate “loops” on each side of the canal—one in the Atlantic Ocean and another in the Pacific Ocean.

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“New Nessie” on New Brighton Beach — Basking Shark or Plesiosaur?

Posted on by January 12, 2024

Photo: Stephan Davies

On January 5th, Stephen Davies was out on his daily run at New Brighton Beach near Liverpool, UK when he came across what appeared to be the carcass of a sea monster that had washed ashore.  

He said: “I was running on the beach and thought ‘What’s that?’ because it looked quite big.

“I was talking to a fisherman who said it was a basking shark, which I don’t think are fairly common around here, but it could have been washed in by the tide.”

Others were not convinced that the carcass was from a shark, calling the remains the “New Brighton’s Nessie”.  It has often been suggested that the Loch Ness monster may be a wayward plesiosaur.  

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Iranian Navy Seizes Suezmax Tanker in Gulf Of Oman

Posted on by January 11, 2024

The New York Times reports that Iran’s Navy confirmed it had seized St. Nikolas, a Suezmax tanker loaded with crude oil, off the coast of Oman on Thursday, apparently in retaliation for the United States confiscating oil from the same ship last year.

The U.S. government diverted the same ship last April and confiscated its cargo, Iranian oil that was being transported in violation of American sanctions linked to Tehran’s nuclear program. The ship, then called the Suez Rajan, was later renamed the St. Nikolas.

“After the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, St Nikolas tanker was seized by Iran’s Navy this morning with a judicial order … it is en route to Iranian ports,” the semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing a statement by the Navy.

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US & UK Navies Shoot Down Largest Barrage of Houthi Drones & Missiles To Date

Posted on by January 10, 2024

Reuters reports that US and British naval forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday towards the southern Red Sea, with Britain hinting at further measures to protect international shipping lanes.

Eighteen drones, two cruise missiles and one ballistic missile were shot down by F/A-18 warplanes from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower, which is deployed in the Red Sea, and by four destroyers, the USS Gravely, USS Laboon, USS Mason and HMS Diamond. HMS Diamond shot down seven of the Houthi drones using its guns and Sea Viper missiles.

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Update: Navy Says Oahu Water Safe To Drink After Red Hill Fuel Cleanup; EPA and Residents Disagree

Posted on by January 9, 2024

Toward the end of December, the US Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was drained of fuel, after chronic fuel oil leaks into Oahu’s sole drinking-water aquifer from the World War II era underground tanks. Now that the final tanker has sailed, loaded with the last jet fuel from the vast underground tank farm, the Navy says that Oahu’s water supply is again safe to drink. Local residents, backed by a recent report of an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), disagree.

The EPA findings have sparked inquiries into the Navy’s water distribution center and plumbing in Pearl Harbor Homes. While the Navy examines residents’ plumbing, a citizens group is urging the Navy to take further safety measures.

According to its investigation, the water in three of four homes detected petroleum hydrocarbons as diesel, ranging from 56 to 71.2 parts per billion. The EPA noted that all petroleum hydrocarbon results were below the Hawaii Department of Health’s screening level of 266 parts per billion for total petroleum hydrocarbons.
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Indian Navy Commandoes Retake Bulk Carrier Lila Norfolk From Armed Hijackers in the Arabian Sea

Posted on by January 8, 2024

INS Chennai

USNI News reports that Indian Navy commandos secured the hijacked Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MV Lila Norfolk last week after a 24-hour confrontation off the Somali Coast in the Arabian Sea. 

Five to six armed hijackers boarded Lila Norfolk on Thursday, which was sailing 450 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. The crew of the Lila Norfolk, composed of 15 Indian and six Philippine nationals, sheltered from the hijackers in the bulk carrier’s citadel and were unharmed during the entire ordeal. Indian naval forces deployed the destroyer INS Chennai (D65) as well as several helicopters and aircraft, including an American-built P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and a MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone, in response.
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US & UK Navies Suffer Sailor Shortage, Cutting Crews on Carriers & Laying Up Frigates

Posted on by January 7, 2024

This year, the US and Royal navies have fallen short of meeting their recruiting goals, leaving both navies with more ships’ billets than they have personnel to fill them.

In 2023, the US Navy missed its goal of recruiting 37,700 active-duty enlisted sailors by over 7,000, almost 20% short of its target. It also recruited 2,080 officers, almost 18% short of its 2,532 officer goal. It also missed its reserve goals by a wide margin, hitting 3,000 enlisted reservists, or almost 45% short of the 5,390 it wanted. Reserve officers also fell short by 40% hitting 1,167 of the 1,940 goal.

The impact of the recruiting shortfall has been immediate. Forbes reports that in the face of a massive shortage of Navy sailors, America’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), has downsized, cutting the crew aboard by hundreds of sailors. Continue reading →