Trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for what happened on board the Sewol is a nearly impossible thing to do. At the risk of being too quick to judge, it seems abundantly clear the crew failed in their responsibility to safely evacuate the passengers on board, and frankly made decisions that has doomed many. The following video shows kids waiting for rescue … [Read more...]
Four Dead, Scores Rescued, Many More Still Missing From South Korean Ferry
UPDATE: Six have no been confirmed killed and between 277 and 290 are still missing. By Narae Kim JINDO, South Korea, April 16 (Reuters) - More than 280 people, many of them students from the same high school, were missing after a ferry capsized off South Korea on Wednesday, in what could be the country's biggest maritime disaster in over 20 years. The ferry was … [Read more...]
Passenger Ship Capsizes off South Korea
Update: Nearly 300 people are believed to be either missing or unaccounted for, according to media reports citing officials. Earlier: A 6825 gross ton RoRo ship carrying 471 passengers has capsized this morning off South Korea while sailing from Incheon to Jeju Island. The ship began taking on water about 20 miles offshore Jeolla Province. More than 190 have been rescued … [Read more...]
Storm Over Parenting – Do Infants Belong At Sea?
By Jennifer Medina, New York Times — As her family began what was supposed to be a monthslong journey in a 36-foot sailboat from Mexico to New Zealand, Charlotte Kaufman wrote openly of her misgivings about taking her two daughters — ages 1 and 3 — to sail the South Pacific, with her husband as captain and herself as the crew. “I think this may be the stupidest thing we have … [Read more...]
New Photos Show Sinking Log Ship Still Afloat Near Guam
The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday released some new photos along with an update on the 500-foot MV Rich Forest abandoned and taking on water in the Pacific Ocean near Guam. As gCaptain reported previously, the AMVER participating vessel C.S. Sunshine rescued all 24 crewmembers of the Rich Forest on Monday after they abandoned the ship in liferafts, one day after reporting an … [Read more...]
500-Foot Log Carrier Abandoned in the Pacific
The U.S. Coast Guard reports today that twenty-four sailors from the M/V Rich Forest are now safe after being rescued by the bulk carrier CS Sunshine, 440 nautical miles west of Guam. The sailors were enroute to China with a cargo of logs when the ship's engine room began to flood with 160 tons of water per hour. Power was lost on board the Rich Forest, and a distress call … [Read more...]
Trying Very Hard To Die: The Preventable Disease in Commercial Fishing
Yesterday, the New York Times published an outstanding piece of journalism - A Speck in the Sea by Paul Tough. In it, Tough tells the story of John Aldridge, a Montauk lobsterman who fell overboard off Long Island this past summer. Aldridge spent 12 hours in the Atlantic using his boots for flotation until a Coast Guard helicopter spotted him and returned him, alive, to shore. … [Read more...]