Outlaw Ocean — An Excellent New Series in the NY Times

Posted on by July 21, 2015

stowawayThe New York Times is featuring a new four part series, Outlaw Ocean, by Ian Urbina, which presents a vivid and disturbing look at crime at sea.  Definitely worth reading.

The first installment, Stowaways and Crimes Aboard Aboard a Scofflaw Ship, looks at the case of two desperate men from South Africa who have the bad luck to stowaway aboard the Dona Liberta, Greek refrigerated ship, notorious for not paying its crew, cheating creditors and fouling the oceans. Only one of the twos stowaways survived.

The second installment, Murder At Sea: Captured on Video, But Killers Go Free, begins with a highly disturbing video of men floating in the wreckage of some sort of boat, being shot by unseen gunmen on boats circling around them. The article looks at the impunity in which murders are committed on the high seas by pirates, smugglers and even rival fishing boats.

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What’s in a Name? Google Drops Chinese Name for Scarborough Shoal

Posted on by July 19, 2015

scarbshoalWhat’s in a name? Google has renamed a shoal located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon island in the South China Sea on their maps as Scarborough Shoal.  They had previously identified the hazard to navigation by its Chinese name, Huangyan Island.  Why does this matter to anyone?

The shoals, consisting of an atoll and a series of rocks and shallows, covering 58 square miles of the South China Sea, is claimed by China, Taiwan and the Philippines. In recent years, the South China Sea has become an area of conflict between China and its neighbors over conflicting claims over rights to fishing and oil reserves. The Philippines had complained to Google that the use of the Chinese name could suggest Chinese sovereignty, which the Philippines and Taiwan deny.  Of the at least seven names used to identify the shoals, Scarborough is the most diplomatically neutral. Indeed, it is the one name not used by any of the three nations which claim sovereignty over the rocks and islands that make up the shoal. The name is one of the more recent given to the shoals, named after the East India Co. tea-clipper which was wrecked there in September 12, 1784.

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Key & Peele’s Feminist Pirate Song (Just Barely NSFW)

Posted on by July 14, 2015

The sketch comedy team of Key and Peele have come up with what may be the very first feminist pirate song, examining issues of respect, equality and consent, as sung by a bunch of scurvy sea dogs. (It is just barely Not-Safe-For-Work. If you listen very carefully to the lyrics, there is one clinical reference to oral sex.) The chorus goes: “We’d say ‘yo ho!’ / But we don’t say ‘ho’ / ‘Cause ‘ho’ is disrespectful, yo!” Thanks to Irwin Bryan for pointing out the sketch.

Bitten by Blackfish, SeaWorld Responds with Falsehoods

Posted on by July 17, 2015

Seaworld continues to be bitten by the “Blackfish effect.”  In October of 2013, CNN aired “Blackfish,” a scathing documentary which looked at the almost 40 year history of orcas in captivity, leading up to the killing of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010 by the 12,000-pound orca, Tilikum, a whale previously associated with the death of two other people.  Since then, SeaWorld has been coping with the backlash from the documentary. The company has faced boycotts, lawsuits, falling tickets sales and an avalanche of bad press. Seaworld’s stock has fallen by more than half and, in terms of market capitalization, the company has lost roughly 1.7 billion dollars in value.

Recently, SeaWorld has launched a new campaign on television to rebut the claims that they abuse orcas. Unfortunately, the commercial is far less than accurate. Here is the commercial, as critiqued by Slate, providing counterpoint to the claims made by SeaWorld and its staff.

Annie C. Maguire and the Wreck at Portland Head Light

Posted on by July 14, 2015

anniecmaguire1Was the wreck of three-masted bark, Annie C. Maguire, which very conveniently wrecked at Portland Head Light on Christmas Eve 1886, simply an insurance scam? It is said that the ship wrecked so close to the light that the lighthouse keeper Joshua Strout, his son, wife, and volunteers were able to rig an ordinary ladder as a gangplank between the shore and the ledge the ship was heeled against. Captain O’Neil, the ship’s master, his wife, two mates and the nine-man crew crossed the ladder to safety. Thanks to Harry Milkman for passing the story along.

The tale of the shipwreck at Portland Head Light

Shell’s Arctic Troubles Continues — Icebreaker Fennica Sent South for Repairs

Posted on by July 15, 2015

fennikaIn 2012, Shell’s attempt to drill in the Chukchi Sea in the Alaska’s Arctic proved to be an expensive and dangerous farce, featuring groundings, equipment failures, explosions and citations for safety violations. Returning two years later with an flotilla of 29 ships, Shell’s fortunes have not improved. Rather than discovering oil, the 380-foot icebreaker and supply vessel Fennica discovered an unmarked shoal soon after leaving Dutch Harbor ripping a 39″ gash in her side. The icebreaker, one of two in the flotilla, is being sent to Portland for repairs.

The problem for Shell is that the Finnish-owned Fennica is carrying a capping stack, a vital piece of spill-prevention equipment designed to fit over a damaged well and prevent a blowout. Without the capping stack onsite, Shell may not be allowed to do any deep drilling.  As reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

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Captain Kate McCue — First American Woman to Command a Large Cruise Ship

Posted on by July 14, 2015

kayemccueCongratulations to Captain Kate McCue. This August, she will take command of the Celebrity Summit, sailing from Bermuda from the East Coast.  She will be the first American woman to command a large cruise ship.  The Celebrity Summit is a 91,000-ton ship which can carry 2,158 passengers and 952 crew. Captain McCue, 37, previously sailed for Royal Caribbean Lines, Celebrity Cruises parent company. She is a graduate of California Maritime Academy.  Thanks to Mai Armstrong on the Working Harbor Committee blog for passing along the news.

In 2010, we posted about Inger Klein Olsen, the first female Cunard captain on the Queen Victoria.

Continuing Discomfort on Navy Hospital Ship USNS Comfort

Posted on by July 13, 2015


USNS COMFORT

We posted last April that the hospital ship USNS Comfort has deployed on Continuing Promise 2015, a five month mission to eleven nations in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Not all has gone well. On July 9, as reported by the Navy Times, the command senior chief of the medical facility on the hospital ship was fired after allegedly getting drunk and acting up at a reception for the president of Panama, according to a source familiar with the incident. Command Senior Chief Aurelio Ayala was reassigned to Military Sealift Command in Norfolk, Virginia, pending the outcome of the investigation.

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Belfast Tall Ship’s Festival

Posted on by July 12, 2015

Belfast hosted the Tall Ships Belfast 2015 from July 2-5. It sounds like a great success. As reported by the Belfast Telegraph: The fleet of 46 sailing vessels drew record crowds to Belfast, making it one of the biggest events to be staged in the province. During four fabulous days docked in Belfast one ship recorded its highest ever number of visitors. Brazilian vessel, Cisne Branco, had 32,000 visitors on board during its stay in Belfast, the highest number it has recorded anywhere in the world. Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing along the news.

Captain John Newton & Amazing Grace — The Story Behind the Myth

Posted on by July 11, 2015

agmusicalA new musical is coming to Broadway this summer, which features a ship’s captain and stage sets with lots of ship’s rigging. It is based on the story of Captain John Newton and the song Amazing Grace.  The musical is described: AMAZING GRACE is a new original musical based on the awe-inspiring true story behind the world’s most beloved song. A captivating tale of romance, rebellion and redemption, this radiant production follows one man whose incredible journey ignited a historic wave of change.

The story of Captain Newton and the song Amazing Grace is quite remarkable. The problem is separating the myth from what actually happened.

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The Shantyman, A Kirkus Indie Book of the Month for August

Posted on by July 11, 2015

I am very pleased to learn that my latest novel, The Shantyman, is being featured as one of Kirkus’ Indie Books of the Month for August.

The Kirkus starred review from last June, called The Shantyman …a fabulously gripping sailor’s yarn.   The review also says:  With eloquent accuracy, Spilman’s novel captures the life of a 19th-century sailor…. A profound understanding of nautical terminology and procedure is also evident, yet the author is careful not to confuse readers who don’t know a “crojack” from a “spanker.” … Spilman’s colorful, well-researched novel will enthrall both sailing enthusiasts and landlubbers.

To read the whole review click here.

Gentleman’s Wager

Posted on by July 8, 2015

This is only marginally nautical, although it does begin and end on a beautiful sailboat. Mostly is it merely silly and yet it is kind of fun. A bit of over-the-top marketing for Johnny Walker Blue, it is a short film starring actors Jude Law and Giancarlo Giannini. And did I mention the beautiful sailboat?

‘The Gentleman’s Wager’

El Galeon Andalusia — Fascinating if Occasionally Anachronistic

Posted on by July 7, 2015

galeon1Today I went aboard El Galeon Andalusia, at South Street Seaport. The ship is billed as “a 170 foot, 495 ton, authentic wooden replica of a galleon that was part of Spain’s West Indies fleet.” It is a intriguing ship that has successfully sailed thousands of miles, including crossing the Atlantic. The original galleons, and the carracks that preceded them, were the ships that first girded the globe in 16th and 17th centuries. They changed the vast oceans from barriers to highways. For good and/or ill, these ships literally changed the course of the world’s civilizations.

The only problem with Galeon Andalusia is that the description “authentic wooden replica” promises a bit too much. The hull is primarily fiberglass, sheathed in wood above the waterline. There is nothing actually wrong with this. Fiberglass is far easier to maintain than a wooden hull. If the description merely becomes “authentic replica” things might be OK.

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Of Shark Attacks and Twitter Feeds

Posted on by July 6, 2015
Katharine The Shark

Katharine The Shark

Recently, sharks and the internet have begun to interact. On the Atlantic coast, shark researchers have been tagging great white sharks, allowing thousands of internet fans to watch their travels across the world’s oceans on the web.  On the other side of the globe, the Australian government has given over 300 sharks swimming off Western Australia their own Twitter feeds, in order to help limit fatal shark attacks.

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Four Hundred Years of Sailing Ships at the South Street Seaport

Posted on by July 5, 2015
Hermione wide

From left to right — masts of the Peking, l’Hermione and the masts of El Galeon

Last week provided a rare opportunity to glimpse over 400 years of sailing ship history in three ships, tied up almost side by side, at New York’s South Street Seaport. Berthed on the south side of Pier 15, El Galeon Andalucia is a replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon. On the north side of the pier was l’Hermione, a replica of an 18th century French Concorde class frigate. On Pier 17, the four-masted barque Peking, built in 1911, represents the culmination of sailing technology, before the world’s commercial sailing fleet was finally pushed aside by steam and motor ships.

What I find fascinating about the three ships is that while their designs are separated by centuries, the DNA of each is easily identifiable in the others.  In some respects, the three ships bracket the great European Age of Sail.

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Hermione — Lafayette Parade of Ships, New York Harbor July 4, 2105

Posted on by July 4, 2015

On a nearly windless, overcast and rainy morning, the French replica frigate l’Hermione led an impressive flotilla of every sort of craft from very large yachts to jet skis, from below the Verazzano Narrow’s Bridge through the inner harbor and up the North River. Here is a video I shot and edited of the parade.  I was a passenger on the lovely schooner Shearwater.

Hermione –Lafayette Parade of Ships , July 4th 2015

Cousteau’s Calypso — Abandoned and Rotting

Posted on by July 3, 2015
calypsoshed

Photo: Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

Last March we posted “Will Prince Albert of Monaco Save Cousteau’s Calypso?”  sadly, the answer to the question appears to be, “no.”  Earlier in March, following  a long legal battle, a French court ruled, that Francine Cousteau, the second wife of the late Jacques Cousteau, owed €273,000 in shipyard bills and was required to remove the RV Calypso from a Brittany shipyard.  If she failed to do so the shipyard would be allowed to sell the 43 meter wooden research vessel. Shortly thereafter, rumors began to spread that Prince Albert II of Monaco might rescue the ship and bring it to the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco where Jacques Cousteau served as director for more than three decades, from 1957 to 1988.  These rumors appear to have been unfounded. The Calypso has not moved and appears to be in the first stages of being broken up. As reported by the New York Times:

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Gallery — l’Hermione at South Street Seaport

Posted on by July 2, 2015

On a hot and hazy afternoon, I stopped by l’Hermione, the replica French frigate docked at Pier 15 at South Street Seaport. A few photographs.

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