Tattoos have been part of sailing lore since James Cook rounded Cape Horn, crossed the Pacific, and arrived in Tahiti in 1769. The most symbolic sailor tattoo is the nautical star. The star of the nautical star tattoo refers to the North Star that shines in the Northern hemisphere and is located in the celestial sphere above the North Pole. When this tattoo originated the stars served as the only form of navigation to sailors in the dead of night. Sailors relied on these stars to guide them home safely. In this way a nautical star tattoo is seen to provide protection, guidance and a safe return home.

Here are some more interesting facts on nautical tattoos from WikiAnswers.com;
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Eide Marine Tech brings us a new Freefall lifeboat design. In a press release they write: [Continue Reading →]

When tornado’s strike over sea they are known as Waterspouts. The Florida Keys see the largest number of waterspouts per year with as many as 400 to 500 in a given season. In this video, captured last May, a rather large waterspout collides with a number of ships off the cost of Singapore.
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This weeks Interesting Ship is Dolphin Marine international Dolphin III Towing and Anchor Handling Tug.

The Dolphin III has been in service since 2001 and is based out of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. This SOLAS classed vessel is currently the most powerful offshore tugboat operating in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s powered by (2) EMD-20-710G7B Turbos which gives the tug a Bollard Pull of approximately 150 Tons. The Dolphin III has recently returned to service after it entered dry dock for a revamp and upgrades.

The first RADIO DISTRESS SIGNAL was transmitted from the East Goodwin Lightship on 17 March 1899 when the merchant vessel Elbe ran aground on the Goodwin Sands. The message was received by the radio operator on duty at the South Foreland Lighthouse, who was able to summon the aid of the Ramsgate lifeboat.The Goodwin Sands again featured in another ‘first’ when on 30 April 1899, the East Goodwin Sands Lightship sent a distress message on her own account when she was rammed by the SS R. F. Matthews.

This was prior to the introduction of the ‘SOS’ and the recognized call sign for ships in distress then was ‘CQD’. This signal had been devised by the Marconi Company, it was intended to mean ‘All Stations – Urgent’, but was popularly misinterpreted as ‘Come Quick – Danger’ or ‘Come Quickly Down’. [Continue Reading →]

Freedom Ship is a concept for a floating city proposed by Norman Nixon of Freedom Ship International.

Current naval engineering techniques are inadequate for the construction of such a large vessel. At present supertankers cannot be made larger because of the enormous stresses imposed on hulls by hogging and sagging in heavy seas, leading to catastrophic failures. Freedom Ship International has said on the Discovery Channel’s Engineering the Impossible that they plan to use a barge building technique, which would reduce the stress of the enormous weight. Also, this would reduce the cost of custom made parts for the ship, which would allow living costs to be more reasonable. The program has also said that the propellers would be a series of 400 fully-rotational azipods; despite the high number of screws, the ship would still be the slowest in the world.

Net price estimates for the ship have risen from 6 billion US$ in 1999 to 11 billion US$ in 2002.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freedomship.com

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MV Doulos

The MV Doulos is the world’s oldest active ocean going passenger ship. The 94 year old ship has gone by many names over the years such as the SS Medina and SS Roma. During World War II she saw action in the Battle of the Atlantic as a freighter. Today she is used as the world’s largest floating bookshop bringing books to port cities around the world. The ship has a official website which tells us, “Volunteers from over 40 countries serve on board Doulos. They are mostly young people who have chosen to dedicate two years of their lives to be on board, learning to live and work together, and serving the communities in the ports visited. Additionally, the ship has a full complement of qualified crew, as required by international maritime regulations.” The website goes on to say that “over 20 million visitors have been welcomed on board for tours, programs and visits to the floating book fair. With stops in over 500 ports of call, this unique ship has visited more than 100 countries including Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and many island nations.” [Continue Reading →]

In an effort to bring our readers more “green” stories, we take a look at the worlds first wave farm off the coast of Portugal. dvice.com brings us more on this new technology that is powering over 1,500 homes.

There’s power in them thar waves! That’s why Portugal built Agucadoura, the world’s first wave farm off its coast, consisting of three Wave Energy Converters [also known as Pelamis P-750 machines] generating a total of 2.25MW.

The elongated metal contraptions bob up and down with the waves, while internal pistons, attached to the sea floor, remain stationary and pump hydraulic fluid. This drives electric generators, whose power is brought ashore by underwater electrical cables. The wave farm is now tapping into enough constant, renewable energy to power 1500 homes.

Who knew there was so much power in the ocean waves? If we laid these 459-foot orange caterpillars all over the world’s oceans, we could tap 2 terawatts of power, twice the consumption of the entire world. That’s not exactly practical, but a smaller-scale rollout of such generators might be a clean power alternative, ready to be snapped up by an energy-starved planet. More info and photos HERE

The farm officially opened in September of 2008 using three Pelamis P-750 machines capable of generating a total of 2.25 MW, with capacity set to increase to 21MW after a second phase is introduced.

More Links, Photos and Video’s…..

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Earlier today the Greek-owned cargo ship MV Saldanha was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The BBC brings us more on this story.

The BBC’s Jonah Fisher, on board a UK warship 100km (60 miles) away, said the captain of the MV Saldanha radioed that pirates had boarded his ship.

The Saldanha is now heading to Somalia under pirate command after the UK navy’s HMS Northumberland judged it was beyond its remit to pursue the ship.

The warship is part of an EU task force patrolling the waters off the unstable Horn of Africa to deter pirate attacks.

But when the captain of the Saldanha made contact with HMS Northumberland, he told the ship that pirates had warned the British warship to stay away.

Trying to retake captured ships is not what the EU’s anti-piracy task force does, our correspondent reports from on board the UK vessel. BBC.co.uk

To celebrate US Presidents Day we would like to bring you 5 of our favorite Presidential quotes on the Merchant Marines.

1. President John Adams, Memoirs
No group of individuals did more for establishing our country than the American Merchant Seamen and Privateers. Their record speaks eloquently of their devotion and sacrifices.
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