OSLO, March 2 (Reuters) - Thick sea ice has forced a scientific research ship to abandon a trip to an Antarctic ice shelf from which a massive iceberg snapped off last year, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said on Friday. Sea ice up to 5 meters (16 ft) thick blocked the RRS James Clark Ross vessel from reaching the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic peninsula, near South … [Read more...]
Philippines President Duterte Bans Foreign Research Ships
By Manuel Mogato MANILA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has banned all foreign scientific research off the country's Pacific coast and told the navy to chase away unauthorized vessels, despite earlier allowing Chinese oceanographers to operate there. There was no clear explanation for the about-face by the mercurial Duterte, who has cultivated … [Read more...]
Expedition Locates Wreckage of the USS Ward, the Destroyer that Fired the First American Shots of World War II
The expedition team aboard Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen's research vessel RV Petrel have located and now documented the deepwater wreckage of the USS Ward, which is credited with firing the first American shot of World War II during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The expedition team released detailed video and images of the historic wreckage this week in the lead up to … [Read more...]
Norwegian Billionaire, Pledging to Give Away Fortune, Orders Advanced Research Vessel
Norwegian shipping and offshore magnate Kjell Inge Roekke plans give away the 'lion's share' of his estimated $2 billion fortune beginning with the construction of a large research and expedition ship to study ocean sustainability. The vessel, which will operate in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature's Norwegian unit, will have a crew of 30 and will offer … [Read more...]
Modern Cartographers Breaking Arctic Ice
by Lauren Steenson (USCG) Modern day explorers from Arctic nations are setting their sights north to map the seabed and establish sovereign rights to resources in an icy area that just over a decade ago was virtually inaccessible. Coastal nations have sovereign rights to ocean resources that extend 300 miles past the country’s coastline. Under … [Read more...]