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National Geographic also brings us this week’s Interesting Ship of The Week.  They tell us:

>> NAME: The Palmer is named for a U.S. seal hunter who sailed along the west coast of Antarctica in 1820 looking for seal rookeries. Many believe he was the first to discover the continent.

>> SIZE: Built in 1992, the Palmer is a 7,600-ton icebreaker capable of breaking 3 feet (1 meter) of ice at 3 knots. It is 308 feet (94 meters) long and has 12,720 horsepower.

>> CREW: The Palmer works year-round in the Antarctic. It has 22 crew members.

>> CABINS: Each cabin is outfitted with two bunks, a head (bathroom), a TV and VCR, a telephone, and a LAN jack for computers.

>> AMENITIES: A 24-hour mess hall provides meals to the around-the-clock researchers and crew. Several lounges have TVs, movies, and books, and there is a workout room.

>> COMMUNICATION: The scientists on board can send or receive e-mail twice a day. There are also telephones onboard the ship.

Image source: davidcmartin.com

We have seen a host of Maritime reality shows come on air in the past year. Some, like Deadliest Catch, have done really well while others, America’s Port, have less certain fates. While we have enjoyed them all, it’s the shows that put mariners up against tough challenges which catch the excitement of broader audiences. NatGeo’s new show will do just that. It’s called “World’s Toughest Fixes” and like some of the other Engineering shows (Engineering Connections, Man Made,  Mega Ships, Ultimate Oil Rigs, Disasters At Sea…) they produce, we are sure the maritime content will be amazing.

Here’s a brief overview of the show concept:

World’s Toughest Fixes takes you inside some of the most daunting repair jobs imaginable. Each one-hour episode follows Sean Riley as he pushes himself to the limit while working with some of the world’s top mechanics, showing viewers how these challenging fixes are tackled.

A professional rigger with a passion for adventure, Riley isn’t afraid to strap on a hazmat suit or attach himself to a live high-voltage power line to get the job done. He’s seen more than his fair share of perilous situations, but on each job he has to show the crew he knows his stuff. Read More…

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For the first maritime themed episode Sean dives under the storied vessel DCV Balder (her first job was constructing the Piper Alpha) to replace a busted 38-ton thruster with a broken engine. Here is the video:
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Watch the full resolution video HERE.

Also stay tuned for the ManMade episode Deep Sea Drillers. gCaptain has loyal readers on most of the vessels it will featur.

Artwork by Matt Rota

Our maritime podcasting partner, Peter Mello of Sea-Fever.org points us to this must read article in the NYTimes. He writes:

John S. Burnett, author of Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas wrote an interesting Op Ed essay for today’s - April 20, 2008 - Sunday NY Times entitled Captain Kidd, Human-Rights Victim. Please read it. Burnett compares France’s recent show of force in successfully handling the hijackingof the French luxury cruise ship La Ponant off the coast of Somalia to the British Foreign Office’s directorate to the Royal Navy not to detain any pirate because doing so would violate human rights. Pirates can claim UK asylum - The Sunday Times (UK) April 13, 2008. High seas piracy remains a big problem for mariners around the world. Here’s a link to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s Weekly Piracy Report which demonstrates the frequency, seriousness and breadth of this issue. Below you will find their 2008 High Risk Areas. (Click here for direct access to map.)

Of Note:

• Read Sea-Fever’s full post HERE
• After clicking through the above links be sure to check out the must read National Geographic article on piracy titled The Straight of Malacca - A Dark Passage.
• Note: To view our past post on the topic of pirates of the high seas click on our tag Piracy or ISPS
• In the news: Pirates attack Japanese tanker, Spanish boat in Gulf of Aden

Our friends at Sea-Fever had an excellent post yesterday regarding the above video. They tell us;

No higher than Verazanno Narrows Bridge in New York, no longer than the turning area in South Hampton, England and no wider than the Panama Canal. Those are the three key dimensions for any luxury cruise ship planning to circumnavigate the globe.

However, according to this National Geographic clip with Micky Arison, Chairman of Carnival Cruise Lines, they decided to break one of the rules to provide the luxury that passengers today expect. Watch to find out which rule and why!

What a ship designed for your personnel use? Perfect for landlubbers is Lake Erie’s Ship Residence: LINK

“For centuries, this sliver of ocean has captivated seamen, offering the most direct route between India and China, along with a bounty of resources, including spices, rubber, mahogany, and tin. But it is a watery kingdom unto itself, harboring hundreds of rivers that feed into the channel, miles of swampy shoreline, and a vast constellation of tiny islands, reefs, and shoals. Some inhabitants made their living as pirates, preying on foreign vessels that dared to ply their waters. Armadas of these skilled sea raiders in light, maneuverable craft regularly plundered passing ships and retreated upriver to fortified villages. Their raids yielded troves of gold, gems, gunpowder, opium, and slaves, which they used to build powerful sultanates that dominated much of the Sumatran and Malaysian coastlines. “

An extract from this month’s excellent National Geographic cover story “The Straight of Malacca - Dark Passage“