“Fat Leonard” Glen Francis
It all sounds like a bad novel. Bribes, prostitutes, and Lady Gaga tickets were allegedly handed out to US Navy officers by a Malaysian businessman known as “Fat Leonard” in exchange for classified information and directing business toward the Singapore-based contractor, Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA.) GMDA is accused of overcharging the Navy millions of dollars for port services.
On Thursday, Federal prosecutors arrested a third senior Navy officer, Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez, in the widening bribery scandal. In September, the Department of Justice arrested Navy Commander and Captain-Select Michael Misiewicz and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau II on bribery charges. GDMA CEO Leonard Glenn Francis was also arrested. In October, Capt. Daniel Dusek was relieved of his command of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. Captain Dusek has not been charged with a crime, but is under investigation by the Justice Department in the bribery scandal.
Robots are being increasingly being used to gather data at sea. Here is a fascinating undersea glider design in use by the 
On Friday morning, local time, Super Typhoon Haiyan came shore in the central Philippines. With an estimated maximum sustained winds of 195 mph and gusts to 235 mph, 
On November 14th, 1863, on the Isle of Man in Great Britain, the shipyard of Gibson, McDonald & Arnold, Ramsey launched the 1,200 tonne full rigged iron ship, 
The U.S. Navy’s new supercarrier, 
In August we posted about 
My younger son, a senior in high school, mentioned to me a few mornings ago that the newest version of the historical action-adventure video game, 
In our 
Award-winning architect Dame Zaha Hadid has designed a family of super-yachts with a skeletal superstructure for the German shipbuilders Blohm+Voss. These are the first super-yachts designed by Hadid who is known for a wide range of project including the Roca London Gallery, the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, Germany, MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome and thethe Aquatics Centre built in London for last summer’s Olympics.
Google has been causing quite a stir on the waterfront. Two mysterious barges have appeared, one on the Pacific in 
Today is the first anniversary of 
Last week, two rare oarfish washed up (or in the case of the first was dragged up) on the shores of Southern California. Yesterday, Japan was stuck by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. A coincidence? It seems that there is Japanese folklore that says that sighting of oarfish portends a coming earthquake. Oarfish are the longest bony fish in the ocean and can grow up to around 17 meters or 56 feet long. The two that washed up in California were only 18′ and 14′ long, which is still very impressive. Oarfish, which tend to stay in deep water, are rarely seen on the surface. When they do make an appearance they are understandably often referred to as “sea serpents,” given their long snake-like bodies. It is easy to understand how they might be useful in folklore as a predictor of ill-tidings. If sea serpents start appearing, something bad must be coming. In Japan, the oarfish is traditionally known as the “Messenger from the Sea God’s Palace.” (If the Sea God is sending you a message, it is better sent by a sea serpent rather than a sea bass.)