youtube

MV Doulos: The World’s Oldest Passenger Ship

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 →]

Tags: · Historic Ship, interesting_ship, ocean liner, youtube

The Dangers of CO2 use in Firefighting – Videos

Prior to using a fixed fire system, especially CO2, always have a full muster! Why? This Navy video shows the inside view of what happens when this deadly gas is released.

How about when a 75lbs bottle explodes:

Why not to use CO2 on a Class D fire:

Some facts from the EPA: [Continue Reading →]

Tags: · carbon_dioxide, co2_extinguishers, electrical_cabinet, Firefighting, fire_extinguishing, fire_suppressant, fire_system, health_effects, inhalation, MSC, oxygen_level, routine_inspection, small_spaces, unconsciousness, Video, youtube

Building An Earthquake Resistant Bridge – Video

.
Frequently passing under bridges for a living and over them in the family sedan we, like most mariners, have a fascination with bridge design and basically all things we can drive our ships over, under or through. Here’s a video on building the World’s Largest Suspension Bridge…. in an earthquake zone.

Tags: · Bridges, earthquake, youtube

Sea Storm Playlist: Videos of Ships in Rough Seas

A friend of gCaptain was recently tasked with finding videos of ships in foul weather. Here’s a sneak peak at a few of the many videos he found. You can find the complete list HERE.

[Continue Reading →]

Tags: · extreme weather, Video, youtube

ships in heavy weather – at sea photo slideshow

We found this interesting YouTube video of ships battling heavy seas and rogue waves. These photos have been provided by SplashVision.com. Here at gCaptain.com we would love to see your interesting photos of ships struggling in heavy seas and/or rogue waves. To submit you photos drop us an email at Tips@gCaptain.com. Thanks..

If you like this post you might also like to take a look at some of these other posts.

Deadliest Catch – Monster Waves

Piloting Heavy Seas

Rescue On The High Seas- USCG Helicopter Crew Interviewe

Ship Battling Arctic Ice – Photos

Tags: · boats, heavy-weather, hurricane, Photo, photos, rogue-waves, Ships, slideshow, storms, Video, waves, Weather, youtube

Piloting Heavy Seas

.
As a young cadet excited about an approaching storm the C/M told me something I find myself repeating; “You can tell the green hands from the old salts by their reaction to an approaching storm. The newbie will say ‘This is going to be fun’ while the old salt is thinking ‘Shit, not another’.

Tags: · heavy-weather, storms, Video, youtube

Worlds Toughest Fixes – National Geographic Series Premier

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…

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:
.

.
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.

Tags: · natgeo, national_geographic, television, youtube

Windoc Incident – Story Behind YouTube’s Most Chilling Video

The Windoc blocks the canal. Alex Howard

In August 2001 the Bulk Carrier Windoc was lined up on the Welland Canal’s Bridge 11 in Ontario Canada. After recieving the flashing amber approach light indicating that the bridge operator was aware of the vessel the captain lined up on the centerline and maintained a speed of 5 knots. Minutes later while the vessel was half way through the bridge started descending.

The Bridge Team’s Story

When the vessel was approximately halfway under the bridge, the third officer observed that the bridge signal lights were solid red and the lift span was descending. At 2053, the master sounded a few blasts on the ship’s whistle. The master, without identifying himself or the bridge in question, called the TCC on VHF channel 14 about the lowering of the bridge. The master quickly stopped the engines and ordered an evacuation of the wheelhouse.The master and third officer left the wheelhouse by the starboard navigation bridge wing. As they proceeded down the external bridge access ladder, the span of the bridge struck the vessel in way of the wheelhouse front windows, subsequently destroying the vessel’s wheelhouse and funnel. The wheelsman remained at his station in the wheelhouse and lay down on the deck as the bridge span passed overhead. He freed himself from the debris and descended by the deckhouse stairwell alive.

Miraculously no one was killed in the event. [Continue Reading →]

Tags: · Bridges, canada, cargo ship, collision, damage photo, death, fire, Firefighting, ntsb, ship, ship photo, ship photographs, survival, windoc, youtube

The Repo Man of Ships

(Note: This article was originally published in Dec 2007)

We have taken a look at piracy in the Strait of Malacca and showed you how criminal organizations scrub a stolen ship’s documents now we turn our attention on finding and repossessing these vessels.

The primary company in recovering hulls in North America is New Orleans based VessEx. Here is a clip about VessEx from

Only a few repo men possess the guile and resourcefulness for such a job. One of them is F. Max Hardberger, of Lacombe, La. Since 1991, the 58-year-old attorney and ship captain has surreptitiously sailed away about a dozen freighters from ports around the world.

“I’m sure there are those who would like to add me to a list of modern pirates of the Caribbean, but I do whatever I can to protect the legal rights of my clients,” said Hardberger, whose company, Vessel Extractions in New Orleans, has negotiated the releases of another dozen cargo ships and prevented the seizures of many others.

His line of work regularly takes him to a corner of the maritime industry still plagued by pirates, underhanded business practices and corrupt government officials, waters the Aztec Express sailed right into.