James Cameron’s Vertical Torpedo to Dive to the Challenger Deep

Posted on by March 19, 2012

Photo: Mark Thiessen/National Geographic

James Cameron wants to dive to deepest part of the ocean – the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, 35,800 feet (5.8 nautical miles) below the surface.  To do so, he plans on using a single person submersible designed to dive straight down, described as a vertical torpedo.  The experimental craft, built in secrecy in Australia over eight years, also rotates on a vertical axis like a bullet fired from a rifle (although much more slowly) as it dives. The intent is to minimize the dive time so as to maximize the time on the bottom.  It sounds like a great idea, provided Cameron can bring the sub to a stop at the appropriate moment.

Rocket Plunge to Deep End of the Planet
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Captain Alan Villiers’ Photographs of the Last of the Tall Ships

Posted on by March 19, 2012

Alan Villiers was the great chronicler of the last days of sail. In 1918, at the age of 15, he left home in Melborne, Australia to go to sea. His first love would always be the full rigged sailing ships that he had watched a boy sailing in and out of Melbourne. Over the next sixty years, until his death in 1982, he would sail the world’s oceans in square-rigged ships and write twenty five books and numerous articles, most about the last days of the great windjammers.

Villiers also took many remarkable photographs. Thanks to Captain Richard Bailey for pointing out this Collection of Photographs by Alan Villiers, which features hand-colored photographs from ships Villiers sailed, as a well as a succinct biography of Villers’ remarkable career. Britain’s National Maritime Museum has posted additional photos: The Last of the Tall Ships: Photographs by Alan Villiers.

More photos after the jump.

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The Mystery of the Osberg Viking Ship – Seaworthy or Only Decorative ?

Posted on by March 19, 2012

In 1904 and 1905, archaeologists Haakon Shetelig and Gabriel Gustafson excavated a burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, Norway that contained a well-preserved Viking ship.   The Osberg ship was reconstructed and has became Norway’s largest tourist attraction.

The New Oseberg Ship Foundation is now building a replica of the 9th century ship, which it hopes to launch this summer.  One critical question remained, however, before  construction could begin.  Was the almost 22 meter ship actually a seaworthy design or merely a funerary decoration?  A previous copy, built twenty years ago, capsized and sank almost immediately.  Recent analysis suggests that the rebuilding of the original ship may have introduced errors which impacted the seaworthiness of the subsequent replica. The video, below, looks at the history of the Osberg ship and the engineering and model testing of the design of the new replica, now under construction.

Stiftelsen Nytt OsebergSkip

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Se also Building the Viking Longboat Dragon Harald Fairhair

Coelacanth Sunday – Long Lived, More Living than Fossil

Posted on by March 18, 2012

Coelacanths apparently evolved in their current form around 400 million years ago. They were thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago, during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction – that is, until 1938 when a fisherman in South Africa pulled one up in his nets.  Not surprisingly, they are often referred to as “living fossils.”  Since their discovery off South Africa, they have also been found in the waters off the Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar. In 1999, coelacanths were also found in the waters of Indonesia off Sulawesi.

Now German scientists have found something else quite remarkable about these rare fish. After a twenty year study they have determined that coelacanths can live up to a hundred years and possibly even longer.  This would make the coelacanth not only one of the world’s oldest fish species, but possibly also the longest-lived.  Thanks to coelacanth savant and prodigious polymath, Allan Janus for pointing out the article.

Coelacanths Can Live Past 100, Don’t Show Age?

MSC Fabiola, Largest Containership Ever in a US Port, Calls at Long Beach

Posted on by March 18, 2012

Photo: Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times

Way back in 1984, I worked for Malcom McLean’s United States Lines, when the 4,400 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) containership, the American New York, was delivered. She was this first of McLean’s fleet of “Jumbo Econships.”   In those days, he was criticized for building ships that were too big for most ports to handle.  I am reminded of this by the arrival of the 12,565 TEU containership, MSC Fabiola, in the Port of Long Beach last Friday.  She is the largest container ship ever to call on a US port.

Mammoth cargo ship arrives at Port of Long Beach
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Evacuation Near Port of Marseille to Remove 1-ton World War II German Bomb

Posted on by March 18, 2012

In November, we posted about how a drought on the Rhine River was exposing unexploded World War II munitions, and then in December about the evacuation of half of the German city of Koblenz, when several large bombs were found buried in the riverbank.

This morning, we understand that officials are evacuating 1,000 residents in an area near the French Mediterranean port of Marseille in order to remove a one ton German bomb dating from WWII which was uncovered last week by construction workers.

This is only the most recent unexploded WWII bomb discovered in Marseille. In December, a 250  kilogram American bomb, apparently dropped on the occupying Germans, was also discovered and defused near the old port.

Marseille clears port to remove 1-ton World War II-era bomb left by Germans
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Damn the Right Whales, Full Speed Ahead? Judge Hears Case on Navy & Right Whales

Posted on by March 17, 2012

The US Navy wants to install a $100 million offshore training range, which would include an undersea array of cables and sensors for training warships, submarines and aircraft about 50 miles off the Atlantic coast of southern Georgia and northern Florida.  Environmentalists are seeking to block the project, saying it’s too close to waters where North Atlantic right whales migrate near shore each winter to birth their calves.  Right whales are highly endangered. Only about 400 North Atlantic right whales remain.  A Federal judge is being asked to rule on the lawsuit filed against the Navy by a dozen conservation groups.

Judge Hears Case Involving Navy, Rare Right Whales 
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Remembering the SV Concordia

Posted on by February 17, 2023

Two years and one month ago today, the SV Concordia, a school ship operated by West Island College International, was knocked down and sank off the coast of Brazil.  Fortunately, all 64 passengers and crew aboard were rescued.  The final report of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, issued in October of last year, concluded that poor training and operator error contributed to the sinking. Thanks to Wojtek ‘Voytec’ Wacowski, on Facebook, for pointing out the anniversary.

Abandon Ship – The Sinking of the SV Concordia 

Berserker Jarle Andhøy in Trouble Again

Posted on by March 16, 2012

Jarle Andhøy

Norwegian Jarle Andhøy, 34, who calls himself a “Wild Viking,” is in trouble again. Andhøy and two others are sailing the 54-foot yacht, Nilaya, off Antarctica. They have reported that the yacht has a broken boom and that they are heading for an unspecified  Argentine Antarctic base to carry out emergency repairs and to refuel.  Andhøy sailed to Antarctica without permits and is currently wanted by New Zealand authorities.  Andhøy is also reported to be sailing without an EPRIB.
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“Pirates Like To Tweet” – Tracking Somali Pirates on Social Media

Posted on by March 16, 2012

Tracking Pirate Tweets

At first this sounded like a joke. Pirates like to tweet, have blogs and are on Facebook.  Really?

According to security expert, Jessica Lincoln, director of intelligence at Rubicon Resolution, “Somalia is a very sophisticated economy, it has one of the best mobile phone communication systems in the world.”   By tracking tweets, Facebook entries and other social media, security experts working for shipping companies can piece together news and relationships in the pirate community and in organizations like al-Qaeda’s Somali affiliate Al-Shabaab.  Not surprisingly for the Internet, some care is required, however.  “Actually getting verified information from within Somalia is very difficult, because anybody can tweet, anybody can post anything,” Lincoln said.

#Pirate? Tracking modern buccaneers through Twitter
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Not Just Kiribati – Rising Sea Levels a Threat to Coastal U.S.

Posted on by March 17, 2012

This week we posted that the Pacific nation of Kiribati is considering purchasing land on Fiji as a possible site to relocate as rising waters threaten to submerge their home islands.  As distant and exotic as  Kiribati’s problem may sound an article in the New York Times brings it all a bit closer to home.  Whereas roughly 100,000 residents of Kiribati are threatened by rising water, “about 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades because of the sea level rise caused by global warming, according to new research.”  One scientist referred to it as an “invisible tsunami.”

Rising Sea Levels Seen as Threat to Coastal U.S.
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Costa Concordia Updates – Ship’s Bell Missing, Salvage Estimate More than 100 Million Euros

Posted on by March 15, 2012

The ship’s bell on the Costa Concordia has gone missing.  According to Reuters, “underwater thieves have evaded an array of laser systems that measure millimetric shifts in the Costa Concordia shipwreck and 24-hour surveillance by the Italian coast guard and police to haul off a symbolic booty – the ship’s bell…. Judicial sources said on Thursday thieves nabbed the ship’s bell more than two weeks ago from one of the decks of the Costa Concordia, which is submerged in 8 metres (26 feet) of water.”

Reuters also reports that Peter Berdowski, CEO of the Dutch dredging and maritime services company, Boskalis, says that the cost of refloating the Costa Concordia intact from the ledge where the ship is now perched off the island of Giglio, will cost “far beyond 100 million” Euros.  The ship was delivered in 2006 at a cost of €450 million.  Boskalis is one of six companies bidding on the salvage of the sunken cruise ship.  Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.

New Battle for the Battleship New Jersey

Posted on by March 15, 2012

Retirement has not been easy for the Battleship New Jersey. After serving with distinction for 45 years in World War II, the Korean Conflict and the War in Vietnam, the highly decorated battleship became a museum ship in Camden, New Jersey in October 2000.  It has been plagued by chronic financial problems, and was almost forced to close in the summer of 2010.  Last year, the State of New Jersey cut its operating subsidy from $1.7 million to only $32,000.  The ship’s operator, the Home Port Alliance, is now struggling to repay $900,000 remaining on a $1 million bank loan from 2003, while state officials are reviewing its finances.

A rival group, the USS New Jersey Battleship Foundation, is now lobbying to bring the battleship to New York Harbor.  The nonprofit is working to raise $15 million from donors to dredge a site at Liberty State Park, between Jersey City and Bayonne, and to move the ship there.  Their plan is, however, opposed by the grassroots organization, Friends of Liberty State Park, which argues that the park lacks the infrastructure and access to support the volume of tourists likely to be attracted by the battleship.

A new battle for the USS New Jersey

Barque Picton Castle Goes Into Drydock

Posted on by March 14, 2012

In preparation for a busy summer of sailing and an upcoming Atlantic voyage, the barque Picton Castle was hauled up on the marine railway at Lunenburg Foundry today.

PICTON CASTLE Going Into Drydock March 14, 2012

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Happy Pi Day and Mercator at 500

Posted on by March 14, 2012

Rumold Mercator's double-hemisphere world map, ca. 1637. NYPL, Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division.

Today 3/14 is Pi day, a celebration of the irrational number that defines circles and spheres. Why celebrate Pi? Why not.  Circles and spheres have their own magic, from soap bubbles to the globe, as does Pi, a number that never ends and never repeats.

Generally related to spheres, or at least the projection of a sphere onto a chart, the New York Public Library is marking the 500th anniversary the birth of Gerard Mercator (1512-1594), the Flemish geographer, engraver, and maker of scientific instruments, maps, and globes, with Mercator at 500, “an exhibition of extraordinary cartographic works — some of which have not been displayed in decades — that not only illuminate the brilliant mind and skillful hand of the cartographer himself, but also highlight his esteemed position and enduring legacy within the long arc of the history of cartography and geography.”
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At Least 114 Dead After Ferry MV-Shariatpur-1 Capsizes in Bangladesh

Posted on by March 14, 2012

Rescuers carried bodies to shore after the MV-Shariatpur-1 sank on Tuesday. Photo: Abir Abdullah/European Pressphoto Agency

Yesterday, the MV-Shariatpur-1, a ferry crossing the the Meghna River, just south of the capital, Dhaka, in Bangladesh, collided with a cargo vessel in early morning darkness. The ferry capsized and sank, killing at least 114 of the more than 200 passengers believed to be aboard.  Around 35 passengers have been reported to have been rescued.

The story has a sad sameness.  As reported by CNN: Ferry accidents are common on Bangladesh’s vast river network. Hundreds of people die in such accidents every year as the operators often ignore rules. Nearly 4,000 people are estimated to have lost their lives in ferry accidents since 1977.

Death toll reaches 114 in Bangladesh ferry sinking

Voices of the Sea: The Poetry and Song of Maine’s Fishermen and Those Who Work on the Water

Posted on by March 13, 2012

Not long ago, we posted about the Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria, Oregon.  There are indeed fisherman poets on all coasts and this Thursday, March 15th, the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine is hosting “Voices of the Sea: The Poetry and Song of Maine’s Fishermen and Those Who Work on the Water,” from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

The event will feature “working fishermen and those who work on the sea reading their own original work, poems and songs that examine their water-borne careers through verse.
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A Rebuilt Hōkūle‘a for the Next Generation of Pacific Voyagers

Posted on by March 13, 2012

After 18 months in dry dock and 15,500 volunteer hours of labor, a wholly rebuilt Hōkūle‘a, a Hawaiian voyaging canoe, was launched last week at Sand Island, Oahu, 37 years to the day after she was first launched.  Following sea trials and outfitting, she will be ready to carry the next generation of voyagers across the Pacific.

Hokule’a Sets Sail Once More
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Pacific Nation of Kiribati Considers Relocating to Fiji to Avoid Rising Ocean

Posted on by March 12, 2012

The Pacific nation of Kiribati is sinking. Or, more accurately, the ocean is rising, which from a practical perspective amounts to the same thing. The nation of 33 tiny atolls and coral islands, scattered across an area of the Pacific Ocean more than twice the size of Alaska, is only, on average, 6.5 feet above sea level.  Scientists have estimated the current level of sea rise in the Pacific at about 2 millimeters (0.1 inches) per year. Many scientists expect that rate to accelerate due to climate change. Kiribati is already experiencing shortages of fresh water tied to rising sea levels and climate change.  The government of Kiribati is considering a plan to buy nearly 6,000 acres on Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu, as a potential refuge for the people of the island republic.
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USS Enterprise, the Largest, the Oldest and the First Nuclear Carrier Begins Last Mission

Posted on by March 12, 2012

The USS Enterprise has set sail on her final mission. The fifty year old carrier is heading to the Middle East on a seven-month deployment.  The “Big E,” as she is called, was the first nuclear powered air craft carrier in the world. She is also the longest US aircraft carrier as well as the oldest, commissioned in 1961.  Where all other US nuclear carriers have two nuclear reactors, the Enterprise has eight. She also has four rudders, where most carriers have two.

She has been deployed to conflicts around the world including Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Persian Gulf. The Enterprise was one of the first ships to respond after the Sept. 11 attacks.  She was a spotter ship for John Glenn’s historic orbit around the earth and played a starring role in Tom Cruise’s hit movie, “Top Gun.”
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