World’s Largest Civilian Hospital Ship Passes Sea Trials
Mercy Ships announced this week that the world’s largest civilian hospital ship Global Mercy has now completed deep water sea trials, one of the final
Captain John Konrad is the founder and CEO of gCaptain, one of the world’s most-read maritime news websites, and a member of the Pentagon Press Corps. He holds a USCG Master Unlimited license. John studied naval architecture at the U.S. Naval Academy before graduating from SUNY Maritime College with a degree in Marine Transportation. He is also a Y Combinator Startup School alumnus. His decade at sea included service aboard Military Sealift Command-operated ships, crude-oil supertankers running to Valdez, and dynamically positioned drillships supporting deepwater projects. In industry leadership roles, he participated in major offshore exploration and drilling campaigns, including the KG-D6 discovery with Reliance Industries and world record-setting deepwater work with Chevron. On April 20, 2010, John had finished overseeing the $750 million Deep Ocean Ascension newbuild project for BP when the Deepwater Horizon exploded. His seven years at Transocean and personal ties to members of the Horizon crew drove him to investigate the disaster, resulting in Fire on the Horizon (HarperCollins, 2011). In 2025, he co-authored Returning from Ebb Tide: Renewing the United States Commercial Maritime Enterprise for Marine Corps University Press. John has contributed to publications including Forbes, CIMSEC, Lloyd’s List, and the U.S. Coast Guard Compass, and has appeared on outlets including NPR and the BBC. He has also consulted for major newsrooms and public institutions on maritime reporting and offshore industry topics. His reporting draws on primary documents, official maritime records, and on-the-record sources cultivated over two decades in the industry. He is an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute and a member of the Council of American Master Mariners and the Navy League of the United States. His work has been recognized with the U.S. Navy Combined Maritime Forces Naval Support Award and SUNY Maritime’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award.
Mercy Ships announced this week that the world’s largest civilian hospital ship Global Mercy has now completed deep water sea trials, one of the final
Seafarers have been the invisible victims of COVID-19. Thanks to local restrictions and logistical challenges, hundreds of thousands have been stranded at sea
The technical manager of the containership Ever Given that became stuck in the Suez Canal last month said on Wednesday that the vessel was fit for onward
Cruise Line stocks are under pressure today after the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control announced they will stop using the
Last summer, in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the US during his arrest by police and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Buki
In the United States, we have a problem that’s so BIG and obvious that even Elon Musk can’t see it. Our highways are broken, our streets are
By Brendan Murray (Bloomberg) – Ship congestion outside the biggest U.S. gateway for Asian imports remained elevated with the wait to offload containers
by John Konrad (gCaptain) Who is responsible for the Ever Given Grounding? And who will pay for the damages? This is a complicated topic considering the
by John Konrad (gCaptain) Most news organizations have a serious view of events when a major incident in one of the world’s most critical which costs
by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) Yesterday morning an ultra-large containership ran aground and blocking ship traffic in the Suez Canal. AIS data shows the MV
Shares of Sino-Global Shipping America (NASDAQ:SINO) soared over 30% in NASDAQ premarket trading today after the company announced it will launch a new
by John Konrad (gCaptain) Yesterday Commandant Karl Schultz, in the annual State of the Coast Guard Address, outlined the US Coast Guard’s perseverance
When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, it faced a shortage of merchant mariners. With supplies in desperate needs overseas a massive
by John Konrad (gCaptain) The U.S. rang in the new year with an unusually mild January 2021 that tied with 1923 for the ninth-warmest January on record. The
UPDATE: Shares in Sino-Global are trading over 50% higher today on the announcement that Elon Musk has directed tesla to put $15B worth of Bitcoin on the
by John Konrad (gCaptain) Ameresco ($AMRC), today announced a $173 million clean energy upgrade contract with the U.S. Navy to construct a new 19-megawatt (MW)
by John Konrad (gCaptain) Yesterday we wrote that shares of the offshore drillship company Transocean ($RIG) were surging on retail investor interest in highly
by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) In May 2020 I wrote an article sharing the fact that Transocean ($RIG) was the biggest loser stock of the last decade. At the
In his new book "Leadership Is Language, The Hidden Power of What You Say and What You Don't", former submarine commander Captain L David Marquet (USN Ret)
MILAN, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri’s planned acquisition of state-controlled French rival Chantiers de
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