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 is your area of expertise? The five year old son of a mechanic aboard my ship is a true prodigy of the arts. The stick figures I have
This week’s interesting photo is of Stena’s latest drillship the Stena Forth. This photo shows her departure from Samsung Heavy Industries at their
This image comes via Information Dissemination and shows TAVTS in action. What is TAVTS? The US Navy’s Team Ships program tells us: The Test Article
While they can’t claim to follow the wakes of the world’s largest ships, our friends from the navy blogosphere still have a few interesting
From hurricanes to tsunami’s earthquakes, today’s levels of population growth coupled with global climate change is putting an increasing number of
On his new blog Clay Maitland, a long time supporter of seafarer training, brings up an excellent questions about global maritime training; In the run-up to
The Huffington Post sheds light on the details of this maritime
Sure, the gCaptain forum contains a few surly comments but, just as a comment seems out of line, we are reminded of the intellect and curiosity of our fellow
What happens when you press the secret button? When a ship is under pirate attack it can send an distress message using its secret button (officially called
Ship Simulator – It may not have the capabilities of a Transas Full Mission Simulator, the unique characteristics of a Tall Ship simulation or the pure
Photo by Pedronet Even experts can become casualties of hazards in confined spaces and you don’t have to be inside a confined space for the hazards to
Fresh out of shipyard in Surat, India the Rolldock Sun was launched this week by RollDock an new partner in heavy lift transport and shipping industry. What
The following diagram shows all known US and Canadian maritime assets currently deployed on earthquake support missions in Haiti. Click HERE to download the
Yesterday I sat down to watch Food, Inc, and excellent and eye widening movie that shines light on the problems engrained in the domestic production of food in
With just 267 days until she enters service Cunard Line’s latest ship, Queen Elizabeth, has been floated out from drydock for outfitting. The following
MARAD kindly sent these photos to gCaptain via our tip line ([email protected]) with the following
Another first for the Maritime Crew Travel firm Griffin, continuing its long history of innovation and breaking new ground during its 32 year history. Our
Too early to start thinking about the boating season? Well gCaptain does have loyal readers in Argentina, Australia and South Africa but, yes, it is entirely
. Nautical charts and pubs change nearly as fast as the tide sending each sailing second mate back to kintergarden’s cut & paste lessons each time a
gCaptain mariners have been critical of Captain Paul Watson and his crew of non-professional mariners, stars of the reality TV show Whale Wars. Most of the
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