Top 20 Most Viewed Maritime Stories of 2013 [LIST]

The capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia lies on its side next to Giglio Island, September 16, 2013, just as the parbuckling operation gets underway. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

2013 was a wild year, with a lot of anticipated highs and some unexpected lows in the maritime world. Here at gCaptain we once again saw our biggest year ever, logging over 9.8 million visits and 25 million pageviews as of December 17. So now as the year comes to a close, here is a look back at the top 20 maritime stories that got you clicking.

Top 20 Most Viewed Stories of 2013:

20. New Video Surfaces of Miraculous Jascon 4 Rescue (37,604 views): On May 26, 2013, the Jascon 4 tugboat sank in 30 meters of water after capsizing off the coast of Nigeria, taking all 12 of its crew with it. Miraculously, more than two days after its sinking, a dive team searching for bodies of the missing came across a lone survivor, the ship’s cook, who was trapped inside a tiny air bubble and survived by drinking Coca-Cola’s. The video was not exactly supposed to be released.

19. Guy Gets Hilariously Rude Awakening in Norway (38,891 views): This video proves that messing with your buddy who is passed out after a night of drinking is ALWAYS funny.

18. USS Porter Collides With Supertanker – Audio Recording (39,655 views): On August 12, 2012, the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter collided with a Mitsui OSK Lines’ supertanker, M/T Otowasan, near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, causing extensive damage to the navy ship. In May 2013, a bridge audio recording was released on Youtube of the conversation between the Porter’s Commander and the OOD leading up to and during the collision. It really is the most intense bridge conversation ever…

17. Bulk Carrier Runs Over Cargo Ship in Singapore Straits [VIDEO] (39,808 views): This is what happens when you get so close that you run out of steering options. Crunch!

16. Costa Concordia Wreck Site Like You’ve Never Seen Before (40,676 views): One word… drones.

15. Ship Photos of The Day – First Zumwalt Class Stealth Destroyer Launched in Maine (40,846 views): In October, the U.S. Navy’s newest class of stealth destroyer was floated out of drydock in Bath, Maine. It’s pretty badass.

14. The World’s Most Ridiculous Ship Is Up For Sale (41,214 views): If the MV Susitna is NOT the world’s most ridiculous ship, it’s pretty darn close…

13. Mærsk McKinney-Møller – Meet The World’s Largest Ship! (41,214 views): The first of Maersk Line’s Triple-E class of 18,000 TEU containerships was delivered from DSME this summer and, in May, gCaptain’s own John Konrad was in South Korea for a tour. This is his report.

12. Containership’s Structure Flexing in Heavy Seas (42,519 views): It was shocking to see the 2008-built MOL Comfort, loaded with over 7,000 containers, literally break in half in the Indian Ocean and eventually sink weeks later. The video in this post is a prime example of the stresses that these massive containerships are subject to in heavy seas.

11. Maersk Triple-E – A Detailed Look At The World’s Biggest Ship (42,648 views): At 400 meters long and with a capacity to carry a whopping 18,000 TEUs, Maersk Line’s Triple-E’s took center stage in 2013 when it comes to massive ships and economies of scale.

10. WATCH: High Risk Ferry Docking in Greece (46,515 views): Just another day in the Greek islands apparently.

9. Americans Kidnapped from Supply Boat Offshore Nigeria (49,940 views): Not the first incident of its kind by any means, but the October kidnapping of the American Captain and Chief Engineer of a Edison Chouest Offshore platform supply vessel off the coast of Nigeria drew national attention. It also happened to coincide with the release of the Captain Phillip’s movie.

8. DDG 1000 Pics: Billy Badass Has Arrived (51,849 views): There is no denying that the DDG 1000, the first-in-class of the U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt-class stealth destroyer mentioned above, really is badass.

7. Costa Concordia Salvage Update: Crews Install Largest of Five Subsea Support Platforms (56,499 views): The Costa Concordia salvage, officially the largest and most complex maritime salvage in history, took center stage in 2013. This is just the first on our list.

6. Dead Sperm Whale Explodes [GRAPHIC] (81,358 views): This video is oddly fascinating, but watch at your own risk.

5. Costa Concordia Parbuckling – Live Updates and How to WATCH (90,417 views): The 19-hour parbuckling (or uprighting) of the Costa Concordia shipwreck in Isola del Giglio was streamed live by nearly every major media outlet. I was just one of the millions of people that were glued to their computers that day.

4. MOL Comfort’s Stern Section Sinks [PHOTOS] (211,266 views): On June 17, 2013, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ 2008-built MOL Comfort began suffering from severe hogging and broke in two while underway from Singapore to Jeddah in the Indian Ocean. The crew escaped in life rafts and were picked up by another merchant vessel. The stern section went adrift before sinking 10 days later. The bow section was towed most of the way towards the Arabian Gulf, but eventually burst into flames and sank 23 days later on July 10.

3. A Look Back: MOL Comfort Incident Photos (227,779 views): Mark my words, the images from the prolonged MOL Comfort event in the Indian Ocean will go down as some of the most fascinating photos in maritime history. It should also be mentioned that when both sections of the vessel sank, the photos provide the best evidence to investigators trying to determine just what went wrong. A final report into the incident by classification society ClassNK is yet to be released.

2. MOL Comfort Breaks In Two Off Yemen (440,413 views): Initial reports on June 17 said that the MOL Comfort broke in half and sank in the Indian Ocean. It wasn’t until we saw photos of both fore and aft sections floating separately that we understood the scale of the disaster. We basically live blogged the entire 3 week ordeal.

1. The Costa Concordia Parbuckling in Pictures (821,887 views): Hands down, the successful parbuckling of the Costa Concordia provided the biggest story of 2013, and arguably not just in the maritime world. A day after the ship was uprighted by a salvage team from Florida-based Titan Salvage, we published this series of spectacular photographs chronicling the events from that day.