Paddling Across America By Canoe Over 22 Months, 22 States, & On 22 Rivers

Posted on by December 20, 2021

Last Tuesday, Neal Moore, 50, paddled his 16-foot red Old Town Penobscot canoe into New York harbor completing an epic 7,500-mile journey across America in over 22 months, traveling through 22 states, while paddling on 22 rivers. 

For 675 days, from February 9, 2020 until December 14, 2021, Neal Moore went the distance in an expedition inspired by the travelogues of Mark Twain, from Astoria, Oregon on the Pacific Coast to the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. He set out to roam “community to community” and write about the people he met.

“I wanted to see the country up close and personal at this interesting time, with the pandemic and all the political strife, to find out what it actually means to be American today,” he said, as quoted by the New York Times.

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Navy Tests High Energy Laser on USS Portland in Gulf of Aden

Posted on by December 19, 2021

In 2014, we posted about the deployment of a prototype 30-kilowatt-class Laser Weapon System (LAWS) on the USS Ponce, an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, for field testing in the Persian Gulf.

Last week, the Navy announced that the amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) conducted a high-energy laser weapon system demonstration, Dec. 14, while sailing in the Gulf of Aden. 

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Tragic Launching of HMS Albion, 1898, Caught on Film

Posted on by December 18, 2021

On June 21, 1898, HMS Albion sat on the launching ways at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall. The launching that would soon end in tragedy was also one of the first disasters to be captured on film.

The Albion was the largest warship ever launched on the Thames and the first battleship built for the Royal Navy in the shipyard in more than a decade. An estimated 30,000 people packed into the yard ­to see the Duchess of York launch the Royal Navy’s latest ship-of-the-line. Local schoolchildren were given the day off to attend the launch. In the crowd were two crews operating motion picture cameras ready to film the launching.

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Update: Dept. of Transportation Issues Rules to Protect Cadets from Sexual Assaults at Sea

Posted on by December 17, 2021

In early November, we posted that the United States Maritime Academy at King’s Point had paused Sea Year, a program that sent cadets to sea aboard commercial ships, after a female midshipman at the school shared an account in September of being raped by a crew member while serving at sea. This was the second suspension of the program in the last six years over allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

Last Wednesday, the Transportation Department announced an overhaul of policies designed to prevent U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadets from suffering sexual abuse while at sea and plans to resume training on commercial vessels next week.

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16th Century Books with Rare Map of the World Sells at Auction for £365,000

Posted on by December 17, 2021

Image: BEARNES, HAMPTON AND LITTLEWOOD

The three-volume The Principall Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English Nation, written by Richard Hakluyt in 1599, and published bound as two books, were only expected to sell for between £3,000 and £5,000. Instead, they sold at an auction for £365,000.

What made the books so valuable was a rare folding 16″ by 18″ (40cms by 45cms) map of the world from 1599-1600 included with the books. Normally when copies are sold, the map is missing.

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Boaty McBoatface to Dive Under Thwaites Ice Shelf

Posted on by December 17, 2021

Yesterday, we posted a grim post The Threat from Thwaites, Antarctica’s Riskiest Glacier about the potential collapse of the glacier’s ice shelf within a few years resulting in a rise in global sea levels by several feet.

While researching the post, I came across an old friend who will be playing a significant role in studying the ice shelf. I am referring to the yellow autonomous submarine named Boaty McBoatface.

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The Threat from Thwaites, Antarctica’s Riskiest Glacier

Posted on by December 14, 2021

At a meeting of the American Geophysical Union yesterday, scientists from The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) discussed the rapid retreat of Thwaites glacier and the implications that will have on our planet in the coming years. Thwaites, often referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, is massive, the size of Florida or Britain, and currently contributes four percent of annual global sea-level rise. 

Thwaites glacier is retreating rapidly as a warming ocean slowly erases its ice from below, leading to faster flow, more fracturing, and a threat of collapse, according to an international team of scientists. If it does collapse, global sea levels could rise by several feet—putting millions of people living in coastal cities in danger zones for extreme flooding. The ice shelf, currently helping to restrain the glacier, could collapse within the next five to 10 years. 

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Norwegian Tall Ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl Visiting New York Next Week on One Ocean Circumnavigation

Posted on by December 14, 2021

The Norwegian sail training ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl will be visiting New York harbor next week. The three-masted barque, built in 1914, will be docking at Brooklyn Bridge Park and will be available for tours from December 19 to 27, from 11:30am to 4:45pm. 

Update: Since our original post, the tours are now fully booked.

The event will be hosted by the Institute of Marine Research, Statsraad Lehmkuhl, and Team Norway. During the tour you may meet some of the scientists and researchers that are doing research on board, Norwegian companies showcasing their ocean technologies and local partners. You will also experience the exhibition on board – on deck – as you are served hot Norwegian fish soup and warm beverages.

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11 Million New Oysters in New York Harbor & the Sewage Bomb

Posted on by December 12, 2021

The good news, as reported by the New York Times, is that 11.2 million juvenile oysters have been added in the past six months to a section of the Hudson River off the coast of Lower Manhattan, where they are helping to filter the water and creating habitats for other marine life.

Oysters are natural filter feeders. They feed by pumping water through their gills, trapping particles of food as well as nutrients, suspended sediments and other contaminants. In doing so, oysters help keep the water clean and clear for underwater grasses and other aquatic life.

If they grow big enough, the oyster reefs can even play a role in dissipating wave energy, helping to protect the city’s shorelines from storm surges and flooding in extreme weather.

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Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors, Progress Toward Limiting Climate Change

Posted on by December 11, 2021

While many were disappointed by the lack of major breakthroughs at COP26, the recent U.N. climate talks, significant progress was made in beginning to clean up shipping emissions on global trade routes.

As reported by the Washington Post, the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, and others — 22 countries in all — signed the Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors, a new framework for reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from shipping. The signatories commit to establishing “zero-emission maritime routes” for ships using clean marine fuels such as methanol or ammonia.

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Maersk Unveils Design of Carbon Neutral Methanol Container Ships

Posted on by December 10, 2021

Earlier this year we posted Maersk Bets on Methanol — Orders One Feeder and Eight Large Dual Fuel Containerships. The feeder vessel is expected to be delivered in 2023, with the first of the eight 16,000 TEU ships, built by Hyundai, rolling out starting in 2024. This week Maersk revealed the new carbon-neutral large ship design.

In designing the large 16,000 TEU ships, Maersk started with a clean slate. In addition to engineering the dual-fuel engines capable of safely burning green methanol, they developed a forward accommodation design, with the stack all the way aft, which Maersk claims will increase energy efficiency by 20% per container compared to industry average. The eight ship series will cost $1.4 billion and will replace older vessels, generating annual CO2 emissions savings of around 1 million tonnes.

Maersk – Next Generation of Maersk Container Vessels Designed for Green Methanol

Florida’s Manatees Are Starving, Wildlife Officials to Begin Feeding Program

Posted on by December 9, 2021

This year has been a catastrophe for Florida manatees. More than 1,000 manatees, about 15 percent of the state’s total population, have died, primarily of starvation, this year.  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.

Now, for the first time, state and federal wildlife officials have decided to feed some of the wild marine mammals to help them survive the winter. The plan approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service would allow limited feeding in the Indian River Lagoon, using the same “leafy greens” — like romaine lettuce — that experts feed to manatees in captivity and at rehabilitation centers. 

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Contaminated Water at Pearl Harbor Forces Over 1,000 Military Families from Their Homes

Posted on by December 8, 2021

Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility

On the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, over 1,000 military families have been forced from their homes and suffered illness by drinking water apparently contaminated by petroleum from a leaking, World War II era, underground fuel storage facility on the base in Oahu, Hawaii.

The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility is located 100 feet above the Red Hill aquifer — which supplies drinking water to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and other areas of Hawaii.

Testing has revealed petroleum hydrocarbons and vapors in the water, the Navy said. US Pacific Fleet Deputy Commander Rear Adm. Blake Converse confirmed a petroleum leak was the cause.

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One Year After Pearl Harbor — Launching of the Battleship USS New Jersey, December 7, 1942

Posted on by December 7, 2021

On this, the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, I thought that it might be interesting to look one year forward to gauge how the US responded to the attack. On December 7, 1942, American shipyards launched 25 ships, 15 for the US Navy, including the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill and the 45,000-ton battleship USS New Jersey. The British Movietone newsreel below described the launchings on Pearl Harbor Day in 1942 as “only a fraction of Roosevelt’s mathematical certainty of the fate in store for Japan.”

Launching Of Aircraft Carrier Bunker Hill and Battleship New Jersey

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Scientists Find Vast Habitat in Pacific Garbage Patch

Posted on by December 6, 2021

Photo: Ocean Voyages Institute

The BBC is reporting that scientists have discovered marine animals living on plastic debris in an area of the open ocean dubbed “the Great Pacific Garbage Patch”.

Many of the creatures are coastal species, living miles from their usual habitats, on a patch halfway between the coast of California and Hawaii.

Plants and animals, including anemones, tiny marine bugs, mollusks, and crabs, were found on 90% of the debris. Scientists are concerned that plastic may help transport invasive species.

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Captain of MV Vantage Wave Died at Sea. Six Months Later, His Body Was Still in the Freezer

Posted on by December 5, 2021

On April 19, 2021, Captain Dan Sandu, 68, from Romania, master of the general cargo ship MV Vantage Wave, died at sea, apparently from cardiac arrest. The ship was on route from Paradip India to Guangzhou, China, with cargo of aluminum ingots. Captain Sandu’s body was stored in the ship’s freezer until it could be repatriated.

Six months later, the captain’s body was still in the freezer after ports in 13 countries had refused to allow the body to be removed from the ship.

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Suiso Frontier, World’s First Liquefied Hydrogen Carrier Readies to Sail From Japanese Shipyard

Posted on by December 4, 2021

Reuters is reporting that Suiso Frontier, the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier could leave Japan for Australia to pick up its first cargo of hydrogen late this month. The ship will carry 1,250 m3 of liquefied hydrogen cooled to –253°C, at 1/800 of its original gas volume from Australia to Japan. 

The A$500 million ($353 million) pilot project, led by Kawasaki and backed by the Japanese and Australian governments, was originally scheduled to ship its first cargo of hydrogen extracted from brown coal in Australia in spring. It was delayed to the second half of Kawasaki’s financial year in October to March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Freight Expectations — 60 Minutes Looks at America’s Supply Chain Crunch

Posted on by December 3, 2021

When things are going well, the international shipping supply chain is largely invisible and can be taken for granted by most of us.  These days things are not going well. The pandemic has triggered massive trade imbalances. Critical links in the supply chain are broken, creating massive backlogs and bottlenecks in container shipping. Recently, the news program 60 Minutes featured a look at the outdated infrastructure causing America’s supply chain crunch.

What’s caused America’s supply chain crunch?

MBARI Finds Mammoth Tusk on a Pacific Seamount

Posted on by December 2, 2021

Interesting news from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

While exploring a seamount by ROV from aboard the R/V Western Flyer in 2019 the MBARI team spotted what looked like an elephant’s tusk. The seamount is located 300 kilometers (185 miles) offshore of California and is 3,070 meters (10,000 feet) deep.

Only able to collect a small piece at the time, MBARI returned in July 2021 to retrieve the complete specimen. Now researchers are examining the tusk and have confirmed that the tusk—about one meter (just over three feet) in length—is from a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi). The cold, high-pressure environment of the deep sea uniquely preserved the tusk, giving researchers the opportunity to study it in greater detail. Computed tomography (CT) scans will reveal the full three-dimensional internal structure of the tusk and more information about the animal’s history, such as its age. 

“This specimen’s deep-sea preservational environment is different from almost anything we have seen elsewhere,” said University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher, one of the researchers studying the tusk, who specializes in the study of mammoths and mastodons. “Other mammoths have been retrieved from the ocean, but generally not from depths of more than a few tens of meters.”

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Coral Spawning on the Great Barrier Reef & Hope of Recovery From Climate Change

Posted on by December 1, 2021

Divers and scientists recorded the massive spawning of coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef last week in a yearly show of life that signals hope that the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem can recover from climate change.

“It’s a sign of hope that it’s doing well, and we need to keep protecting it,” said marine biologist Gareth Phillips, who monitored the coral spawning event, which is when the corals breed over two to three days by casting sperm and eggs into the water once every year in the Pacific Ocean.

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