Captain Richard Rodriguez is a USCG-licensed Master (100-ton) and approved maritime instructor based in the San Juan Islands, Washington. He is a Partner and Director of Operations at Zenith Maritime Academy, where he oversees 35 instructors at 25 locations across the United States teaching USCG-approved mariner licensing courses. Rodriguez has responded to more than 3,000 vessels in distress, operated 19 commercial assistance towing vessels, and personally trained more than 800 Coast Guard-licensed captains over his career. He is certified by the Washington State Bar Association to teach continuing legal education courses on maritime topics. His gCaptain writing and his blog The Bitter End cover vessel traffic services, AIS technology, rescue towing operations, and practical seamanship in the Pacific Northwest.
gCaptain and others have chronicled the ongoing Whaling – Conservation controversy between environmental groups and Japanese whalers. The Independent/UK
Activists from the Sea Shepherd group, Ralph Lowe (L) and former Dutch police officer Laurens de Groot, throw bottles at the Japanese whaling ship
US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said in a recent email: “USCG activities involving U.S. and foreign
The Whaling – Conservation controversy in the Southern Ocean has escalated to violence. Earlier today it appears that the Japanese Coast Guard fired on
Stealth ships: HMS Helsingborg and HMS Visby. Photo: Peter Nilsson/Kockums AB The folks at Giz Magazine are reporting scientists at Britannia Royal Navy
MS Wilhelm Gustloff, 9,000 lives lost in 1945 With a death toll six times greater than the Titanic, new light has been shed on MS Wilhelm Gustloff, as a
In the vein of Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s On First,” only related to ships. Thanks to BitterEnd reader Robert S, of Seattle and
Seven Seas Mariner in Skagway, Ak …not really, the cadence actually sounds more alluring than the job. I’d like to see the old Love Boat series
Editor’s Note: Looking for information on the Baltic Ace tragedy? Catch gCaptain’s full coverage HERE or read, Are RoRo’s Safe?, for more
It comes as no surprise that we in the United States are security aware. Possible threats create new legislation on a regular basis. Today, I enrolled for my
Working aboard boats in Puget Sound, I hear lots on the radio. This is but a short list of Nautical Misnomers that ticks me off: Slack Tide … there
Captain Paul Wright, a Cornishman, is a kind of latter day Henry VIII – a master and commander who moves from one queen to the next in quick succession.
The bow and stern parts of the Seitoku Maru fishing boat are lifted onto the deck of a salvage barge Wednesday off Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture. Two fishermen
A short follow up to yesterday’s post: 72 ColRegs and a Japanese Destroyer Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to dismiss Maritime
Last Tuesday, at about 04:00 Agato, a 170 meter, a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer and the fishing vessel Seitoku Maru collided about 28
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