In this video, BAE Systems Ship Repair located Norfolk, Virginia performs the first ever tandem drydocking of two U.S. Navy Aegis Guided Missile Destroyers.

BAE Sysytems said it took 160 employees nearly 19 hours to guide the two U.S. destroyers, the USS Mason and the USS Bulkeley, onto the Titan drydock. At 950 feet long by 160 feet wide and with a lift capacity of approximately 52,000 tons, the Titan drydock is the largest floating drydock on the U.S. East Coast.

The two destroyers, now sitting end to end, are scheduled to stay on the drydock until the end of April, where they will undergo a series of routine repairs and modifications for the U.S. Navy.

This image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NAS's Terra spacecraft was acquired Nov. 13, 2011, and covers an area of 27 by 32 miles (44 by 52 kilometers), and is located near 74.9 degrees south latitude, 101.1 degrees west longitude. Photo: NASA

In recognition of the start of the 2012 Ice Season, which typically runs from February through July, we bring you this photo showing a massive crack across the Pine Island Glacier, a major ice stream that drains the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The crack was first discovered in mid-October when NASA scientists working studying the Pine Island Glacier saw a major rift in the ice during a an exploratory flyover.

Scientists say that the crack, which extends for 19 miles and is 260 feet wide by 195 feet deep, will eventually extend all the way across the glacier and calve a giant iceberg measuring some 350 square miles.

VIDEO: NASA scientist discover the crack in the Pine Island Glacier

Close up of the crack in the Pine Island Glacier. Photo: NASA

The M/V Delta Mariner, on a good day, being loaded with a rocket booster. Photo: Boeing

A bridge in western Kentucky has partially collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship Thursday night.  According to officials, two spans of the U.S. 68/KY 80 bridge over Kentucky Lake collapsed across the bow of the M/V Delta Mariner after the vessel struck the bridge at approximately 8:10pm Thursday.  Authorities have said that there have been no reported injuries and they do not believe any vehicles fell from the bridge.  U.S. Coast Guard added that the M/V Delta Mariner was not carrying any hazardous cargo.

The 312-foot long and 8,000 horsepower M/V Delta Mariner, owned and operated by Foss Maritime, is used to carry Boeing rocket components, including rocket booster cores, for the Boeing Delta IV rocket program.  The versatile vessel is designed to navigate shallow inland waterways as well as the open ocean, and generally hauls rocket components approximately 550 miles from the Boeing factory in Decatur, Alabama down the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway to the Gulf of Mexico, according to Foss’ website.

State officials say that the bridge, formally the Eggner’s Ferry Bridge, was designed so that if it were struck that only portions of the structure would fail.  Inspectors estimate the gap in the bridge to be approximately 300 feet wide.

“We are grateful that this wreck caused no injuries or loss of life. Since that bridge carries 2,800 cars every day, we were very fortunate that no one was on the span at that time,” said Gov. Beshear.

The two-lane bridge is located at the western entrance to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area and has been open to traffic since 1932. In 1943 the elevation of the bridge was raised when the Tennessee River was impounded to create Kentucky Lake.

A Transportation Cabinet spokesman told the Associated Press he believes most of the navigational lights were functioning on the bridge at the time of the impact.  Other reports have stated that high water may have played a role in the crash as the ship has passed under the bridge many times without a problem.

On average, the bridge carries approximately 2,800 vehicles across the lake per day. Perhaps ironically, the bridge, along with the nearby bridge over Lake Barkle, is currently in the process of being replaced. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says that preconstruction work, including geotechnical drilling, began months ago.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Transocean's Discoverer Clear Leader drillship

Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor, has announced yet another senior-level executive has resigned.  Transocean made the announcement yesterday that its Vice President, Controller and Principle Accounting Officer, Robert Shaw, has resigned effective immediately.  Shaw’s resignation quickly follows on the heals of Transocean’s former CFO, Ricardo Rosa, who stepped down from the role on January 9th.

Transocean said in a press statement that Shaw will remain with the company for a “period of time sufficient to ensure a smooth transition” and added that his departure is “not related to any disagreements with the Company’s accounting, financial reporting or internal control over financial reporting.”  Shaw, 48, joined Transocean in July 2010 as Vice President and Treasurer and had served as Vice President, Controller and Principle Accounting Officer since December 1, 2011.

Shaw will be replaced by Gregory Cauthen, the same man that took over as Interim CFO following Rosa’s resignation, while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

In addition to his role as Interim CFO, Cauthen served most recently as a consultant to Transocean from September 2009 through August 2010 and was CFO of the company from December 2001 to August 2009. He was also Treasurer of the Transocean from March 2001 until July 2003 and served as Vice President of Finance from March 2001 to December 2001.

Ice forms in the Straits of Mackinac, underneath the Mackinac Bridge, Jan. 24, 2011. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class George Degener

This weeks ship photos are from a joint exercise currently being conducted by the USCG and other environmental response agencies that is aimed at testing new techniques for recovering spilled oil and other hazardous materials from icy waters.  While the USCG frequently trains for oil spill recovery, this will be the first time the service has conducted such an exercise in icy waters.

The exercise is being conducted by the USCG in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, oil spill response organizations and Enbridge Energy Partners, among several others, and is being held out of St. Ignace, Michigan, from Monday through Wednesday.

In total, four vessels will be involved in the project. The Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock, a buoy tender with ice-breaking capabilities, will deploy and evaluate a new Coast Guard cold-weather skimming system while an additional three commercial tugboats will deploy commercial responders and equipment.

Rather than oil, the project will use small amounts of environmentally-friendly oil surrogates, peat moss and oranges.

The exercise hopes to evaluate the effectiveness of multiple oil recovery options for use in the unique conditions prevalent during Great Lakes winters as well as future responses in the Arctic.

The Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock, homeported in Port Huron, Mich., and the commercial tugboats Reliance, Nickelena and Erika Kobasic, sit moored at Coast Guard Station St. Ignace, Mich., Jan. 24, 2011. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class George Degener

Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock transits through ice near Mackinac Island, Jan. 24, 2012. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Schofield

Crewmembers aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock use an oil-skimming device to recover peat moss, acting as a substitute for spilled oil, near Mackinac Island, Jan. 24, 2012. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Schofield

The world's first commercial-scale and grid-connected tidal stream generator located in Northern Ireland. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today issued the United State’s first-ever pilot project license for a renewable tidal energy project to be located in New York City’s East River.

The project, called the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project or RITE project for short, will generate up to 1,050-kilowatts of electricity via NYC’s East River currents through turbine generators mounted on the riverbed.

“Issuing a pilot license for an innovative technology is a major step in the effort to help our country meet our renewable energy goals,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said. “FERC’s pilot process is doing what it should: allow for exploration of new renewable technologies while protecting the environment.”

Despite a number of entities bidding for the license issue, NYC’s East River apparently fit the bill. In order to be eligible FERC says the project needs to be small, short-term and located in an environmentally non-sensitive area, among other things.

FERC first developed the pilot license process in 2008 in order to allow developers to test new hydrokinetic technologies (tidal, wave and inland) in order to determine appropriate sites for the technology and confirm its environmental effects. FERC says they have seen a growing interest in such projects since its inception, with a total of 3 entities with applications already submitted and another 9 in pre-stages of the application process.

FERC adds that it has issued an additional 100 preliminary permits to study the feasibility of developing a specific project.

The RITE project is owned by Verdant Power and will be operated for 10 years.

The Costa Concordia. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

President of RINA, the Italian classification society that certified the Costa Concordia for seaworthiness and safety, Gianni Scerni resigned Tuesday amid controversy over comments he allegedly made to the Italian media.  Mr. Scerni disputes the accuracy of the comments but he has decided to resign in order to distance RINA from any association with the alleged remarks.

The comments in question were made in an article posted to Il Secolo XIX, an Italian paper, titled “Scerni: Ma l’armatore non poteva non sapere”, or “But the owner could not know”, translated.

In the article Scerni attacks the owners of the Costa Concordia, who have publicly placed blame solely on Captain Francesco Schettino, for failing to know about the practice of “bow’ing”, or “showboating”, that we have seen in video and AIS plotting from previous voyages of the cruise ship.

Scerni tells the paper (translated from Italian to English):  “It is madness such a thing could happen with calm seas and the starry skies. Going so close to the coast is a sailor bravado, but it can not be done by those who lead a ship of that size.”

Scerni is then quoted as saying that the “prank” by Capt. Schettino was an error “that I could do myself sailing a boat.”

Again, Scerni disputes the accuracy of the comments and RINA has publicly stated that it “acknowledges the important contribution which Mr Scerni has made to the company during the past ten years.”  Regardless, his resignation is likely to be the first of many from high-level people connected to the incident.

This dramatic video shows UK forces stopping a group of Somali pirates that were trolling for ships in the Indian Ocean on January 13.  A total of thirteen Somali pirates were arrested by a boarding team of Royal Marines commandos following a concerted effort by RFA Fort Victoria and the U.S. destroyer USS Carney to stop the dhow.  Despite repeated warning shots, the pirates continued on but eventually forced to give in.

Note to pirates: If the Royal Navy asks you to stop, you do it.

A full account of the operation can be found HERE.

Click for high-res. Infographic: Lloyd's List

We’ve already seen video of the Costa Concordia showing off near Giglio, now Lloyd’s List has put together this infographic showing a similar–and possibly approved– course the Costa Concordia took during a voyage on August 14.  This time, the cruise ship passed to within 230m from the shores of Giglio.

Not only is this info painting a grim picture for the captain and officers of the Costa Concordia, but for Costa Cruises and its parent company, Carnival.

“The previously approved route took the vessel far closer to shore than the 500 metres claimed by Costa,” explains Richard Meade, Editor of Lloyd’s List in a press statement.  “This is not a black and white case. Our data suggests that both routes took the vessel within 200 metres of the impact point and that the authorised route was actually closer to shore.”

Could this “showboating” have been common practice for the Costa Concordia?  I guess we’ll have to wait to see what unfolds in the investigation.

A shocking audio recording has emerged today of a conversation between Costa Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, and a Coast Guard official, Commander Gregorio Maria De Falco, painting a grim picture for the captain and possibly other officers.  The audio was first made available on the website corriere.it and has been confirmed as authentic by the Italian coast guard to the Associated Press.

Schettino appeared before a judge on Tuesday and has been placed under house arrest.  The captain could be facing charges of manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship.  Schettino’s lawyer however insists that the captains actions of maneuvering the vessel closer to shore after initially slamming into the reef “saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.”  The captain could be facing up to 12 years in prison just on the abandoning ship charge alone.

Meanwhile, five more bodies were recovered in the stern of the ship earlier today, bringing the number confirmed fatalities to 11.  The five victims found today are all said to have been passengers with lifejackets on.  24 remain missing.

Join the discussion about this incident in the gCaptain forum HERE.