John Konrad

Captain John Konrad is the founder and CEO of gCaptain and author of the book Fire On The Horizon. He is licensed to captain the world's largest ships and has sailed from ports around the world. John has built some of the world's most advanced ships and managed billion-dollar offshore construction projects in some of the world's harshest marine environments. John is a distinguished alumnus of New York Maritime College. @JohnKonrad


Monday, October 13, 2025
Coal Loading Cranes
Ports

Transport Costs Are Crushing Russia’s Coal Profits

In July 1989, coal miners in Russia’s Kuzbass Basin walked off the job in what would become one of the most significant labor strikes in Soviet history,

October 13, 2025
Total Views: 1314

Sunday, October 12, 2025
Greater Changhua 2 offshore wind project
Environment

Ørsted’s Cuts Jobs As Green Offshore Wind Profits Turn Red

Call it the quiet surrender. Ørsted, an oil giant that once had a market cap greater than BP, then pivoted from oil and gas into offshore wind with swagger,

October 12, 2025
Total Views: 1968

Monday, August 18, 2025
Coal Blast Rocks Bulk Carrier Off Baltimore
Incidents

Coal Blast Rocks Bulk Carrier Off Baltimore

A Liberian-flagged coal carrier erupted in an explosion on Monday while transiting the Patapsco River near the demolition site of Baltimore’s Francis Scott

August 18, 2025
Total Views: 11321

Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Trump Appoints Top Naval Strategist Brent Sadler To MARAD
Merchant Marine

Trump Appoints Top Naval Strategist Brent Sadler To MARAD

by John Konrad (gCaptain) In a significant and long-awaited move that could reshape the trajectory of American maritime policy, retired U.S. Navy Captain Brent

March 25, 2025
Total Views: 5301

Sunday, March 16, 2025
Maritime shipping and naval choke points map.
Navy

Chokepoints Are The Focus Of A New Cold War

How the Slow Strangulation of Global Trade Became the Defining Battle of a New Cold War By Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) In 1883, Alfred Thayer Mahan laid out

March 16, 2025
Total Views: 12101

Saturday, March 15, 2025
Donald-Trump-Aboard-Navy-Ship-USS Gerald Ford
Merchant Marine

Trump Vows to Crush the Houthi Threat and Protect American Ships

The Suez Canal is effectively closed. Not officially, of course, many Russian shadow fleet and Chinese crewed ships are sailing through. But if you’re a U.S.

March 15, 2025
Total Views: 2967

Monday, March 10, 2025
Photo from social media showing flames aboard the US flagged oil tanker Stena Immaculate
Incidents

US-Flagged Oil Tanker ‘Stena Immaculate’ In Flames Off UK After Collision

Off the East Yorkshire coast, a grave incident is unfolding where the U.S.-flagged oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate loaded with jet fuel, a ship

March 10, 2025
Total Views: 8079

Sunday, March 9, 2025
Military Sealift Command Merchant Mariners
Merchant Marine

Mariner Crisis Goes Unsolved In New Trump Executive Order

by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) This week President Trump signed a huge deal with French shipping giant CMA to build approximately 20 new U.S.-flagged ships

March 9, 2025
Total Views: 1583

Thursday, December 19, 2024
American Flag Ship
Merchant Marine

gCaptain Endorses the SHIPS for America Act

by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) Senator Mark Kelly, Congressman Trent Kelly, Senator Todd Young, and Congressman John Garamendi are set to introduce the

December 19, 2024
Total Views: 4111

Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Trump National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on stage smiling in from of lare American flag
Merchant Marine

Waltz And Rubio Signal Trump’s Bid to Reassert U.S. Maritime Power

by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) American shipyards, the Merchant Marine, ports, and waterways have undeniably suffered from decades of neglect. This context

November 12, 2024
Total Views: 4679

Monday, November 4, 2024
Army soldier Quandarius Davon Stanley
Defense

US Army Soldier Dies from Injuries in Biden-Harris Gaza Pier Debacle

Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, a 23-year-old U.S. soldier, has paid the ultimate price for a mission many experts warned was flawed from the start. This is the

November 4, 2024
Total Views: 12587

Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Shipping

MIT Diplomas, Gala Dinners And Executive Magazine Covers Won’t Save The U.S. Merchant Marine

Why aren’t labor leaders willing to fight for our survival in increasingly dangerous seas? by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain OpEd) Adam Vocak, president

October 29, 2024
Total Views: 2904

German navy ship at dock flying flags
Navy

Red Sea Is Now So Dangerous Even NATO Warships Are Avoiding It

by John Konrad (gCaptain) The Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest and most strategically vital waterways, has become so hazardous that even the German Navy

October 29, 2024
Total Views: 10778

Sunday, October 27, 2024
Navy

Could Trump Rebuild and Repair The US Navy?

Today, the focus of nearly every American is on the election. However, more important than the president himself is who the transition team selects for key

October 27, 2024
Total Views: 3274

USCG

America’s Coast Guard Faces Impossible Odds Without More Funding

by John Konrad (gCaptain) United States Coast Guard operations have never been more crucial. Ninety percent of global trade moves by sea, and more than twenty

October 27, 2024
Total Views: 3219

FLIP platform being towed to sea
Blog

This Flipping Ship Just Escaped the Wrecker’s Claws—And Her Story Is Mind-Blowing!

In a quiet corner of the Pacific last August, a vessel unlike any other was making what many thought was its final voyage. R/P FLIP (Floating Instrument

October 27, 2024
Total Views: 16525

Thursday, October 24, 2024
Youtube thumbnail about Inland Rivers
Video

The Forgotten Barge Superhighway: Why the Mississippi River Still Matters

by John Konrad (gCaptain) There is perhaps no single geographic feature that has done more for the American economy than the Mississippi River. Unlike any

October 24, 2024
Total Views: 1905

Sunday, October 20, 2024
Featured

US Navy Pays Nearly Double to Charter Oil Tankers

by John Konrad (gCaptain) The U.S. Navy has inked a deal to charter a U.S.-flagged tanker from US Marine Management at nearly double the average market rate,

October 20, 2024
Total Views: 9867

Shipping News

Maersk Defies Russian Port Attacks, Resumes Regular Service to Ukraine

In a bold move amidst Russia’s intensified rocket attacks on civilian ships and Ukrainian ports, Maersk has launched a new weekly container service into

October 20, 2024
Total Views: 2215

Silhouette of a navy sailor against a golden sky
Blog

Would You Sail Through a War Zone? These Yachts Did—Here’s How They Survived The Red Sea

Yachting World is reporting that while missiles rain down on oil tanekrs and major shipping companies divert billions in cargo away from the Bab-el-Mandeb

October 20, 2024
Total Views: 3001