Icebreaker Makes Unplanned Open-Water Arctic Detour

Posted on by August 22, 2020

Photo: Janek Uin

The Associated Press is reporting that the  RV Polarstern, a German icebreaker carrying scientists on a year-long international expedition in the high Arctic, has reached the North Pole after making an unplanned detour there due to lighter-than-usual sea ice conditions.

Expedition leader Markus Rex said Wednesday the icebreaker was able to reach the geographic North Pole because of large openings in sea ice above Greenland, where shipping would normally be too difficult.

“We made fast progress in a few days,” Rex told The Associated Press. “It’s breathtaking — at times we had open water as far as the eye could see.”

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Steve Bannon Arrested on Chinese Billionaire’s Yacht, Lady May

Posted on by August 21, 2020

Steve Bannon, ex-Trump adviser and campaign chief executive, was arrested on Wednesday, aboard the Lady May, a 152′ aluminum luxury yacht, owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui. The yacht was cruising in Long Island Sound near Westport, CT, when it was boarded by federal postal inspectors and special agents from the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan.  Bannon told others he had been cruising aboard the yacht for months.

Bannon has been charged with defrauding donors to a private fund-raising effort called We Build the Wall, which was intended to bolster one of the president’s signature initiatives: erecting a barrier on the Mexican border. Bannon is accused of stealing more than $1 million from donors.

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Sedov Sets Off On Trans-Arctic Voyage

Posted on by August 20, 2020

The 99-year-old four-masted steel bark Sedov is sailing home by an unusual route. She is sailing North from Vladivostok  and transiting the Arctic by the Northern Sea Route to reach her home port of Kaliningrad. Crossing the Arctic will be the culmination of a grand voyage of more than 25,000 nautical miles sailed by the Sedov since November 1, 2019. 

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Update: MV Wakashio — Ship Breaks Up, Cleanup Continues, Bow Under Tow, & Captain Arrested

Posted on by August 19, 2020

The Capesize bulk carrier Wakashio, which ran hard aground on a reef in Mauritius on July 25, broke in two this Sunday. The bow of the ship has been taken under tow and moved away from the reef. Reports are that the bow section will be sunk in deep water although there are varying accounts as to where. Some accounts suggest the bow will be taken to India to be scrapped.

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Marvin Creamer, Dies at 104, Circumnavigated Without Navigational Instruments

Posted on by August 18, 2020

Martin Creamer, who died recently at the age of 104, was a retired professor of geography at Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, in Glassboro, N.J. He is best remembered, however, for sailing around the world on a 36-foot sailboat without the use of navigational instruments. That is without the use of a watch, a radio, a compass, a sextant, or GPS. He is believed to be the only person ever to do so.

At 66, Creamer set off on December 21, 1982, aboard his steel-hulled boat — the 36-foot Globe Star.”  His 513-day journey would entail nearly a year at sea, plus time in ports for repairs and reprovisioning.

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Update: Historic Tanker Mary A. Whalen’s New/Old Engine Arrives in Brooklyn

Posted on by August 17, 2020

In May of this year, we posted Scrambling to Save an Engine for the Historic Tanker Mary A. Whalen. The post described how the historic tanker Mary A. Whalen was in dire need of parts to restore its diesel engine. A powerplant in Missouri had a compatible diesel. All that was necessary was to raise the money to move the engine cross-country before the power plant needed to dispose of the engine.

Thanks to the support of generous donors and despite the deadly pandemic, enough was raised to rescue the engine and truck it to Brooklyn. The new/old engine will be key to restoring the Mary A. Whalen‘s Fairbanks Morse 37E12, six-cylinder, direct reversing engine. Congratulations to Portside New York and thanks to all those who helped make it happen.

Belugas Little White and Little Grey Closer to Release Into Open Water Sanctuary

Posted on by August 16, 2020

Earlier this year, we posted  “The Incredible Journey of Belugas Little White and Little Grey,”  about the 6,000-mile transport in June 2019 of the two whales by air, land, and sea from an aquarium in Shanghai to a new home in Iceland in the world’s first beluga whale sanctuary.

After just over a year in Iceland, the two belugas have now moved closer to the open water sanctuary. From the sanctuary press release:

The SEA LIFE Trust is delighted to confirm that two beluga whales, Little Grey and Little White, are now safely in their new sea sanctuary care area at Klettsvik Bay in Iceland. The moving of the whales into the world’s first open water sanctuary for belugas was completed on Friday 8th August 2020 at 12.30 local time. Continue reading →

Flattop with a Deckload of History Arrives at Pearl Harbor

Posted on by August 15, 2020

USS Essex, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, recently arrived in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor. Rather than carrying just helicopters, MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, or even F-35B Lightning II fighter jets, the ship had a deck load of historic World War II warplanes. The planes are set to take part in a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII from August 29 to September 2.

The Essex carried a B-25 bomber, two PBY Catalina flying boats, an SNJ/AT-6 Texan, four AT-6 Texans, an FM2 Wildcat, F8F Bearcat, Stearman biplane, TBM Avenger, P-51 Mustang and a T-28 Trojan. 

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Wakashio Grounding — the Birthday Party & the Search for Wi-Fi

Posted on by August 21, 2020

How does a modern ship with radar and GPS manage to run hard aground on a well-marked reef?  In the case of the Capesize bulker Wakashio that ran aground on the reef at Pointe-d’Esny off Mauritius on the evening of July 25, the answer appears to be a birthday party and an attempt to pick up a wifi signal. 

L’Express.mu reports that investigators from Mauritius have learned from interviews with the ship’s crew that just before the grounding there was a birthday party for one of the ship’s crew. Also, the ship’s course was changed to bring it closer to the island in an attempt to pick up a wifi signal. 

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Sailing Cargo Ship Kwai Hauls a Record 170 Tons of Plastic & Ghost Nets From Pacific

Posted on by August 13, 2020

In June of last year, we posted about the sailing cargo ship Kwai that had collected more than 40 tons of plastic waste and “ghost nets” from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Ghost nets are abandoned fishing gear that continues to drift, catching and killing thousands of marine animals. 

The Kwai, backed by the non-profit Ocean Voyages Institute, is setting new records for ocean cleanup. During a voyage in June, the ship retrieved 103 tons of plastic waste. Most recently, in a voyage ending in early August, the Kwai added 67 tons, for a total of 170 tons of plastic waste and nets removed from the Pacific. The haul quadruples the group’s previous year’s record. The Kwai’s endeavors are believed to represent the largest open ocean clean-up in history. Overall, the Ocean Voyages Institute is committed to removing 1 million pounds of plastic from the ocean.

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Capesize Bulker MV Wakashio Aground on Mauritius Reef, May Break Up

Posted on by August 13, 2020


On July 25, the MV Wakashio ran hard aground on a coral reef in Mauritius. The large capesize bulker was bound From China to Brazil to load cargo and was empty, operating in ballast when it struck the reef. On August 6, after 13 days aground, the ship began to leak fuel oil. Over 1,000 tonnes of 4,000 tonnes aboard leaked into the pristine waters. The grounding took place off of Pointe d’Esny, near the marine park of Blue Bay. Mauritius is home to world-renowned coral reefs, and tourism is a crucial part of its economy.

Mitsui OSK, the ship operator, supported by a French pollution-control team and the Mauritius Coast Guard, has been working to pump out the remaining fuel oil before the ship breaks up. Today, the Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced that almost all the fuel oil remaining aboard the ship has been pumped out.

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HMS Victory Figuratively Afloat in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Posted on by August 13, 2020

View from Astern, June 2020

When HMS Victory went into drydock in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in 1922, she was supported by 22 steel cradles. In the almost 100 years that she has remained on the dock, the historic ship’s 3,500-tonne hull had been to slowly collapse in on itself. To save the ship, the cradles have been replaced by an innovative system of 134 “props” that replicate the loads HMS Victory would have encountered while afloat. The ship will now be, at least figurately, floating in the drydock.

The new props, a collaboration between the National Museum of the Royal Navy and BAE Systems, are more than a series of struts to support the hull. Each prop contains sensors and hydraulics to monitor the load on the ship’s hull and adjust the weight being carried by each strut to most effectively support the 255-year-old wooden structure.

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A Furious Sky, the Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes — A Review

Posted on by August 11, 2020

Having grown up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, I can say without hesitation that a hurricane is the most magnificent and absolutely the most terrifying of all events in nature. Recently NOAA announced that their Atlantic forecast is for an “extremely active” 2020 hurricane season, with 19-25 named storms and 3-6 major hurricanes. So, Eric Jay Dolin’s new book, A Furious Sky, the Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes is indeed most timely.

Dolin’s history of American hurricanes begins with Columbus’ fourth and last voyage to the Americas. Like other Europeans, Columbus arrived in the “New World” without even knowing the word hurricane.

On his previous voyages, Columbus had encountered severe storms and had heard of far worse meteorological monsters from the indigenous Taino natives. They called the giant storms juracan. The Taino also taught Columbus how to read the signs of an impending juracan.

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Beach SOS Results in Rescue on Tiny Micronesian island

Posted on by August 10, 2020

A recent news item brought to Gilligan’s Island, a situation comedy broadcast on US television for three seasons in the 1960s. The premise of the program was that a small tourist boat on a “three-hour tour” was swept away in a storm to an “uncharted desert isle.” Fortunately for all concerned, the sailors involved were stranded on an uninhabited island for only three days because they marked the beach with a large “SOS” to assist rescuers. 

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USS Ling Abandoned, Flooded, Stuck in the Mud

Posted on by August 8, 2020

USS Ling is a US Navy Balao-class submarine. The sub is currently sitting in the mud in the Hackensack River at the former location of the defunct New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, New Jersey. The Ling has no access from shore, has been flooded, and vandalized. Marine enthusiasts are interested in restoring the ship but have not found answers to the logistical challenges of moving the submarine out of a silted up river and past four bridges across the Hackensack River, south of the Ling, that do not open or move.

Here is a video tour of the submarine posted last week.

USS Ling [Abandoned, Flooded, now getting Restored]

NY Ship Pilot Dies, Second Fatal Fall From Boarding Ladder in Less than a Year

Posted on by August 7, 2020

Sandy Hook Pilot Captain Timothy M. Murray

Sandy Hook ship pilot, Captain Timothy M. Murray died following a fall while boarding a tanker arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday. His death is the second pilot fatality in less than a year. Both incidents took place while boarding. In December 2019, Captain Dennis Sherwood was killed in a fall while boarding an inbound containership arriving in the harbor. 

Captain Murray’s recent death has renewed the focus on the arrangement of the boarding ladders and platforms on many merchant ships, specifically the “trapdoor” pilot ladder arrangement. While common, the trapdoor arrangement does not meet IMO standards. The pilot ladder arrangement requires the pilot to pull themselves up while also twisting to ensure proper footing on the platform.

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From 2014: MV Rhosus – Crew Held Hostage on Floating Bomb

Posted on by August 6, 2020

The events leading up to the catastrophic explosion in Beirut, Lebanon that killed more than 135 and injured 5,000, began in November 2013, when the cargo ship MV Rhosus, loaded with 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, made an unplanned stop in Beirut. 

The ship, built in 1986, flying the flag of Moldova, was carrying the cargo to an explosives manufacturing firm in Mozambique. Reportedly, the ship’s owner, a Russian living in Cyprus, lacked the funds to pay the Suez Canal fees, so the ship was diverted to Beirut to pick up a cargo of heavy machinery to earn the additional cash needed to complete the journey. Once in Beirut, the machinery couldn’t be loaded and local authorities cited the ship as unseaworthy. The ship would not be allowed to leave the port until repairs were made.

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Massive Explosion in the Port of Beirut, Echoes of Texas City

Posted on by August 5, 2020

Port of Beirut Explosion Aftermath

Yesterday, a massive explosion in the port of Beirut, Lebanon killed at least 100 people and injured thousands. The blast destroyed buildings in the port district while the shockwave shattered windows and overturned vehicles across the city. An estimated 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes. With an untold number of people still missing, officials expect that the death toll will rise. 

The force of the explosion was the equivalent to a magnitude 3.5 earthquake and could be heard and felt as far away as Cyprus, about 200 kilometers across the Mediterranean.

While the cause of the explosion is still being investigated, it is believed to have been caused by the ignition of about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a warehouse at the port since it was confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014. The chemical is used for fertilizer and as an explosive. 

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Happy 230th Birthday US Coast Guard!

Posted on by August 4, 2020

Alexander Hamilton suggested in The Federalist Papers that “a few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws.”

When Hamilton became the first Treasury Secretary of the newly formed United States, he lobbied for the acquisition of 10 revenue cutters to assist in the collection of duties and to catch smugglers. On August 4, 1790, 230 years ago today, President Washington signed a bill establishing the Revenue Cutter Service, the precursor to today’s United States Coast Guard. Alexander Hamilton is considered by many to be the father of the US Coast Guard.

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