By George Livingstone - There are a myriad of topics discussed in gCaptain, accidents being a natural area of focus with attention on a host of issues like training, equipment, etc. There is a subject, however, we don’t talk much about, not in gCaptain and not amongst professional mariners, panic. I certainly don’t recall any courses at the academy on the subject, nor do I … [Read more...]
Concerned Sailors Warn of Unlit Drydock Sections Floating Around Bermuda
A group of Bermuda government officials and concerned yachting professionals are warning about recent sightings of at least two large sections of an unlit dry dock reportedly floating off Bermuda. The sections are believed to belong to a drydock formerly belonging to the former Avondale Shipyard. The drydock left the Mississippi River yard in September under tow to the … [Read more...]
Notice to Mariners: Changes to NOAA Marine Products Could Make Heavy Weather Avoidance More Difficult
Lee Chesneau is a senior marine meteorologist, lecturer, & a graduate from the University of Wisconsin (Madison). Lee has had a distinguished career with NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), NOAA Satellite Service (NESDIS), U.S. Navy Ship Routing Officer (SRO) and a Route Analyst for Ocean Routes, Inc. This article originally appeared on the Ocean Weather … [Read more...]
How this Navigation Light Uses the Moiré Effect to Guide Ships Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d99_h30swtM The little-known moiré effect is the basis of this marker that helps mariners navigate hazards in port or close to shore. In this video, the host explains this effect and poses the question: why, in the case of Southampton, is a moiré effect beacon, aka an inogon leading mark, used to mark an undersea cable to be avoided instead of … [Read more...]
500-Year-Old Astrolabe May be ‘Earliest Marine Navigation Tool’ Ever Discovered
Researchers at the University of Warwick have identified what is believed to be the earliest known marine navigation tool ever discovered. The artifact, now determined to be an astrolabe, was excavated in 2014 from the wreck of a Portuguese explorer ship which sank during a storm in the Indian Ocean in 1503. The ship was called the Esmeralda, part of a fleet led by … [Read more...]