New York’s South Street Seaport Museum – the Good and Really, Really Bad News

Posted on by November 2, 2012

The area around the South Street Seaport on the East River in lower Manhattan was particularly hard hit by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy.  The rising water reached the first floor eaves, devastating homes and businesses.

The only good news was that the seven historic vessels at the South Street Seaport Museum rode out the storm without damage.  “All vessels rode out the hurricane Sandy and the surge with very little difficulty,  thanks to days of preparation and a right on-the-money calculation about the amount of slack needed for the lines securing the Peking, the Wavertree, and the Ambrose to Pier 15 and Pier 16,” said Susan Henshaw Jones, Ronay Menschel Director of the Museum of the City of New York and President of the South Street Seaport Museum. (Thanks to Jeff Simmons for the heads-up.)

Continue reading →

Search for Captain Robin Walbridge, Washed off the Sinking HMS Bounty, Ends – Investigation into Sinking Begins

Posted on by November 2, 2012

Photo:Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski /U.S. Coast Guard

Sadly, the US Coast Guard has suspended the search for Captain Robin Walbridge, who was washed off the HMS Bounty as she sank in high seas on Monday off the coast of North Carolina.   Claudene Christian, 42, was also lost overboard. She was later found by the Coast Guard unconscious, but subsequently died.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Walbridge and Christian families,” said Capt. Doug Cameron, the chief of incident response for the Coast Guard 5th District. ”Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decisions we have to make.”

Coast Guard crews searched more than 90 hours, covering approximately 12,000 overlapping square nautical miles in the Atlantic Ocean since the Bounty’s crew abandoned ship Monday morning.

The Coast Guard began their investigation Thursday to determine the cause of the sinking of the Bounty.   Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to the post. 

Returning After Sandy – Destruction, Sadness and Recovery

Posted on by November 2, 2012

168-foot water tanker, the John B. Caddell, sits on the shore, Oct. 30, 2012, where it ran aground on Front Street in the Stapleton neighborhood of New York’s Staten Island as a result of superstorm Sandy. Photo: Sean Sweeney/AP Photo

Last Monday night, the lights went out for over 8 million people in the Northeast and Central United States as Superstorm Sandy sent high winds and a record storm surge ashore. It was the worst storm to hit New York harbor since the city was founded in 1624.  The more than 9 foot surge on top of a high tide on a full moon resulted in water level’s at New York’s Battery approaching 14 feet, far surpassing the record of 11.2′ water level recorded during the great hurricane of 1821.

Continue reading →

The World’s Only Nuclear Powered Container/LASH Vessel, Sevmorput, to be Scrapped

Posted on by October 29, 2012

Nuclear powered ships were the future that never quite arrived.  The Russian container ship/LASH carrier Sevmorput is the only remaining nuclear powered merchant ship and it is slated to be scrapped.

No future for nuclear-powered container ship

Continue reading →

A Year After His Death, Steve Job’s Yacht, Venus, Delivered

Posted on by October 29, 2012

More than six years ago, Steve Jobs commissioned a custom yacht from the Dutch shipbuilder Feadship.  Designed by French designer Philippe Starck, the 250-foot yacht, Venus, has been delivered, a year after Job’s death.  Jobs told biographer Walter Issacson, “I know that it’s possible that I will die and leave [wife] Laurene with a half-built boat. But I have to keep going on it. If I don’t it’s an admission that I’m about to die.”

Steve Jobs’ yacht Venus unveiled in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands

So Long Until the Lights Come Back On

Posted on by October 30, 2012

Here on the west bank of the Hudson, we were in the path of Hurricane Sandy’s storm surge and winds. Though we came very close to flooding we didn’t quite go under. (We were very lucky.) We are have food, water and shelter. All we lack is phone, electricity and internet. So untill the lights go on, I will be difficult to contact. I have posts cued up for the next few days and wish everyone a good week.

Freighter Amurskaya Carrying Gold Ore Missing in the Sea of Okhotsk

Posted on by October 29, 2012

Photo: Igor Savitskiy on Shipspotting

The freighter Amurskaya, with a crew of of between 8 and 11, and carrying 700 tons of gold ore has been reported missing in stormy seas near the Shantar Islands, in the Sea of Okhotsk, on Russia’s Pacific Coast.   The gold ore is estimated to be worth roughly $800,000.   The general cargo vessel Amurskaya IMO 7313614, was built in 1973.  Thanks to Phil Leon of contributing to the post.

Update: Missing Bounty Crew – Claudene Christian Dead & Captain Walbridge Still Missing

Posted on by October 29, 2012

UPDATE: Missing crew member, Claudene Christian, 42, was pulled from the water unconscious and later confirmed dead by the Coast Guard.  Captain Robin Walbridge is still missing.

CBC News is reporting: Claudia McCann, whose husband Robin Walbridge is the captain of the Bounty, told CBC News her husband is one of the two missing crew members. CBC News has learned the other missing crew member is Claudene Christian.

Claudene Christian is reported to be a distant relative of Fletcher Christian, the original Master’s Mate who seized command of the ship during the mutiny.

CNN: Three Crew Swept Overboard from Sinking Bounty, Only One Made it to the Liferaft, Search Continues for the Missing

Posted on by October 29, 2012

I just heard an interview on CNN with a US Coast Guard Vice Admiral (I believe it was Vice Adm. Robert Parker, but I didn’t quite catch the name.)   He said that three crew members were swept off the deck of HMS Bounty as she sank. All three crew were wearing survival suits. One of the three made it to the life raft.  The other two did not.   The Coast Guard continues searching. Nevertheless, the Vice Admiral noted how difficult it is to locate a person in the high winds and seas in the area where the ship sank.

Update: HMS Bounty Sinks, 14 Crew Rescued, 2 Unaccounted For

Posted on by October 29, 2012

The 180′ tall ship HMS Bounty has sunk off the North Carolina coast.  At least 14 of the crew have been rescued.   There is considerable confusion about the remaining 2-3 crew members. The Bounty organization reported that 17 crew, wearing survival suits and life jackets, had been accounted for in two lifeboats.  The US Coast Guard now says that there 16 rather than 17 aboard the ship and that two are unaccounted for.  The most recent message on the Bounty Facebook page reads: Please bear with us…There are so many conflicting stories going on now. We are waiting for some confirmation.

UPDATE: Coast Guard rescues 14, continues searching for 2 from HMS Bounty

HMS Bounty Foundering off North Carolina, 17 Member Crew Abandoning Ship

Posted on by October 29, 2012

Update: from the Bounty Facebook page 7:10 AM –  At 0430 today the Captain ordered all hands to abandon ship. There are 17 Crew on board and at this moment all crew are accounted for and are in Life rafts.   The first USCG helicopter has reached the ship and is in the process of rescuing them. Bounty is currently still floating upright and intact.

Terrible news. The 180-foot, three mast tall ship, HMS Bounty is reported to be in distress and the crew of 17 is reported to have abandoned ship, approximately 160 miles west of the eye of Hurricane Sandy in 35 knot winds and 18 foot seas.

After apparently successfully crossing the path of Hurricane Sandy yesterday, there were reports yesterday afternoon that a generator aboard ship had failed.  The Bounty‘s Facebook page said that the ship was “taking on more water than they would like.”  Late Sunday, the ship’s owners lost contact with the ship and notified the Coast Guard.  Subsequently, the Coast Guard picked up an EPIRB distress signal from the ship.  An air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City launched aboard an HC-130 Hercules aircraft, which later arrived on scene and reestablished communications with the Bounty’s crew.

Hurricane Sandy forces HMS Bounty evacuation

Continue reading →

HMS Bounty, Then and Now — Remembrance at the Scene of the Mutiny and Dodging a Hurricane

Posted on by October 28, 2012

Faulkner wrote, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.”   I was reminded of this when I read a wonderful post on Joan Druett’s blog this morning, The Mutiny on the Bounty.   She vividly recreates the scene of the mutiny from the deck of the P&O cruise ship Pacific Jewel, which at that moment was lying in the exact spot on the Pacific where the famous mutiny on HMS Bounty took place in 1789. She describes to the nearly nearly 2000 passengers attending, how Captain Bligh and eighteen loyal crew are cast off in an overloaded launch.   The cruise ship then sailed on the island of Tofua, where Bligh’s launch made landfall, only to attacked by natives.  Bligh and his crew make a momentous decision. As Druett writes: They will stop at no more islands. Instead, they will make the 3,618-mile voyage to Timor, in the East Indies, skirting Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Great Barrier Reef, and then negotiating the scarcely charted Torres Strait. Living on one ounce of bread and a quarter pint of water each day, somehow they will do it — and without the loss of even one more man.  It is the start of the most remarkable small boat voyage in history.  Read the rest on Joan Druett’s World of the Written Word.

Continue reading →

Hawaiian Tsunami Warning Lifted after 100,000 Evacuated to Higher Ground

Posted on by October 28, 2012

While those of us on the East Coast of the United States have been watching the approach of the “superstorm” Hurricane Sandy, residents of the Hawaiian islands were under a tsunami warning following a a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Canada’s Pacific coastal province of British Columbia late on Saturday.  At least 100,000 people were advised to evacuated to higher ground on the warning.  The warning was downgraded to an advisory – a lower-level alert – shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday.

Hawaii tsunami warning lifted after 100,000 flee to higher ground

A tsunami warning prompted by a powerful earthquake off the Canadian coast sent at least 100,000 people fleeing from shore to higher ground in Hawaii late on Saturday, but an evacuation order was canceled after a series of weaker-than-expected waves rolled through the islands.

“Superstorm” Sandy Sending Ships out to Sea and to Harbors of Refuge

Posted on by October 27, 2012

Position of HMS Bounty

Tropical Storm Sandy returned to hurricane strength on Saturday morning as it heads toward the U.S. northeast coast.   The US Navy as ordered 24 of the larger ships in southeastern Virginia bases, including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, out to sea to avoid the storm. Those ships which cannot leave are taking extra precautions stay secure a their docks. Military installations along the Eastern Seaboard, including Andrews Air Force Base and Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and Naval Submarine Base New London in Connecticut were also prepared to move ships and aircraft if needed.

Continue reading →

Update: Owners of Container Ship MV Rena Plead Guilty, Pay NZ$300K Fine

Posted on by October 27, 2012

Daina Shipping, owner of the container ship MV Rena, has been fined NZ $300,000 (US $246,000) for discharging harmful substances after the Liberian flagged ship, ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand in early October of last year. The ship subsequently broke up on the reef, resulting in the most serious maritime environmental disaster in New Zealand’s history.

The ship’s captain and chief engineer were found guilty of a total of eleven charges related to poor seamanship and attempting to cover up their actions by altering the ship’s GPS log, its passage plan and its computer records. Each was sentenced to seven months in jail.

The $300,000 fine is largely symbolic.  After insurance, the cleanup from the Rena grounding cost New Zealand taxpayers an estimated $50 million.

Hurricane Sandy – the Perfect Frankenstorm Heading for US Northeast

Posted on by October 26, 2012

As Hurricane Sandy works its way north, it is possible that it will join with a nor’easter to form what meteorologists are referring to as a “Frankenstorm,” a superstorm that could slam into the US Northeast causing damage projected to be larger than that of last year’s Hurricane Irene, which totaled in the billions of dollars.  “We’re not trying to hype it,” National Weather Service meterologist Paul Kocin tells Bloomberg News. “What we’re seeing in some of our models is a storm at an intensity that we have not seen in this part of the country in the past century.” Hurricane Sandy has already killed 41 people as it passed across the Caribbean. Hurricane Sandy is expected to come ashore in the Northeast on Monday or Tuesday.

Continue reading →

Schooner Lynx, “America’s Privateer” in New York’s North Cove

Posted on by October 25, 2012

On an overcast Thursday morning, the 122-foot top-sail schooner Lynx arrived at North Cove in lower Manhattan on the Hudson River. See our recent post. She will be open to the public for dockside tours and sails on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting.  Public sails scheduled for Monday are looking less likely with the approach of Hurricane Sandy.   For schedules and tickets click here.  A few photos, click on the thumbnails for larger images:

Tug Benjamin Bailey Rolls on Piscataqua River, Two Escape

Posted on by October 25, 2012

On Wednesday afternoon, the tug Benjamin Bailey rolled and suddenly capsized in the currents of the Piscataqua River. Fortunately the two crew men aboard managed to escape from the sudden capsize. The tug is owned by Ken Anderson of Riverside & Pickering Marine Contractors, based in Eliot, Maine and was working on the construction of the new Memorial Bridge connecting Portsmouth, N.H., to Kittery, Maine. There will be an attempt to raise the tug from the river on Friday. This is the second tugboat to sink this year in this section of the river. Both boats were working on the Memorial Bridge project.

Schooner Sultana – Downrigging Weekend before the Storm

Posted on by October 24, 2012

The annual Sultana Projects Downrigging Weekend, now in its twelfth year, is one of the largest annual tall ship and wooden boat festivals on the East Coast.  The Downrigging Weekend is described as “a celebration of maritime culture, wooden boats, and everything else that makes the Chesapeake Bay great.”  A fleet of tall ships is  participating in addition to the schooner Sultana including the schooner Pride of Baltimore, the historical replica Kalmar Nyckel, the schooner Lady Maryland, the skipjack Elsworth, the schooner A.J. Meerwald and the skipjack Sigsbee.

Adding a bit of spice to the weekend is Tropical Storm Sandy which is making its way north.  So far the forecasts suggest that the Downrigging Weekend will be fine, though no doubt everyone will be keeping an eye out to weather.