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.
In an official statement the Paris MOU writes: At its 42nd meeting last month, the Paris MoU Committee approved the 2008 inspection results and adopted new
Navagear points us to “Rite in the Rain”: The folks from “Rite in the Rain” were at the Pacific Marine Expo, and I picked up a
Brazilian Air Force and Navy assets are currently being deployed to the crash zone of Air France Flight 447 . The BBC tells
Bearings, “A Geographer’s Blog” from Berkley, has a new series on Radio’s Rise During World War I. The series includes the history of
More time lapse photography for your weekend enjoyment. This video is from gCaptain’s own series of shipyard photos from South Korea. Visit
Another amazing Time Lapse video from our friend Lou Vest of the Houston Pilots. You can find more of Lou’s amazing photos on Flickr
It’s the classic scenario from the Academy… You are the stand on vessel with no room to maneuver and a zero CPA contact is bearing down on you. You
Photo by orcaz The BBC brings us the latest update on Japan’s might drillship the M/V Chikyu. They tell us: For a while during its design, Asahiko Taira
Passion focused on a singular goal is often the driver of new ideas and technology. Today the focus for many is on saving our planet from the effects
Today is National Maritime Day here in the states, an observance that “Honors the contributions of the American merchant marine, civilians who have
Unofficial Networks, the parent company of gCaptain, runs all of its email servers with commercial version of google’s popular email client gMail. There
In the wake of “500 Knot Transit“, Houston Pilot Lou Vest‘s time lapse photography of a recent tranist comes this photography of . Lou
Scientists at the Universit´e de Lyon have found new answers to a phenomenon called “Dead Water”. No this not refer to the newly released WWII
One of the first questions I routinely get asked when people find out I work aboard ship is “Do You Get Seasick”. I find this question rather
Have an Iridium, VHF or SSB handheld radio aboard? What about a portable GPS? Create an Abandon Ship Ditch Bag that is waterproof, floats and will survive a
The US Coast Guard brings us their 10 most popular pages. 1. Merchant Mariner Documentation (MMD) / Standards for Training Certification & Watchkeeping
Maersk Holyhead and Pequot November 2005 – Two vessels are intending to pass one another during daylight hours, in the calm waters of Lake Maracaibo.
Since World War II air dominance has played a critical role in successful military operations, are anti-piracy ops any
Noresafe Lifeboats aboard AWILCO GM4000 series offshore oil
Over the past two days gCaptain has fielded questions from the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Good Morning America and a number of other well known
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