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.
What happens when you give Top Gear’s former superstar pyromaniacal host Richard Hammond the latest cryogenic tools, a ridiculous
HSC Manannan is a 96-metre wave-piercing high-speed catamaran car ferry built in Tasmania in 1998. She served in Australia and New Zealand for five years and
Two Canadian women are accused of helping smuggle $30 million in cocaine aboard a Princess cruise ship while documenting the luxury globe-trotting
Even well trained professionals make big, simple, stupid mistakes. The dolphin coast of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa is an area with near perfect weather,
Today’s Ship Photo Of The Day (SPOTD) is the Russian nuclear Battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy. Technically the Russian Navy designation is Kirov class
Eleven kayakers including a child were rescued and at least five were injured after a collision with a NY Waterway ferry at Pier 79
Yesterday Australian Border Force (ABF) officers seized 95 kilograms (210 lb) of cocaine from three Canadian cruise ship passengers. On Sunday 28 August, ABF
As the cruise ship Crystal Serenity and her 1,700 passengers and crew began her maiden northerly voyage from Alaska to New York this past week, Coast
We are not sure what the Transocean Conqueror plans on conquering besides a ‘worst ship name ever’ competition but the latest drillship of the
Today’eo Ship Photo Of The Day (SPOTD) features the BlueTEC Texel tidal energy platform. Taking just six months from the drawing board to realisation,
gCaptain Note: On Tuesday gCaptain published an article titled “Sea Shepherd Claims It Will Stay Away From Japan Whaling Ships“… the original
Today’s Ship Photo Of The Day (SPOTD) is the Chinese Navy spy ship Yuanwang-5. The Yuanwang (which means “Long View” in Mandarin) class of
Two things most mariners have in common; they think of their pups as fellow mariners but consider seagulls to be little more than rats with wings. That may be
On November 6th, 1803 the merchant sloop Washington was sailing Lake Ontario enroute from Kingston to Niagara, Canada with a full cargo when it foundered
Four Iranian boats “harassed” a US Navy warship near the Persian Gulf, ignoring orders to back off, gCaptain reported yesterday. A defense official said
Today’s Ship Photograph Of The Day (SPOTD) is of the M/V Araniu 5 which, like the infamous Mullet hairstyle, is all business in front and party in the
Today’s Ship Photo Of The Day (SPOTD) features Nakilat SvitzerWijsmuller’s ASD 3212 Mooring Tugboat. The Damen ASD Tug 2810 is proven in the
A luxury cruise ship chartered to house asylum seekers has been put up for sale by its owner due to problems with regulators and the reduction of the refugee
The Bayonne Bridge is the fifth-longest steel arch bridge in the world, and was the longest in the world at the time of its completion. The
Everyone knows the U.S. Navy has a killer marching band but did you know they also have a vocal ensemble nicknamed the Navy Sideboys?
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