Sailing & Maritime Thread

According to one news report, the Truman was preparing to transit through the Suez Canal.


...huh? Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot, over!

A carrier would be a SITTING DUCK in the canal. Explosives at both ends could make the canal impassible and then it would just take a Toyota truck-load of Allah Snackbars with pew-pews, to disable aircraft not deep in the hangar bay.

And in the unlikely event that they had most of their air wing off - requiring Egyptian permission in their air space - another surface-boat drone with some large IEDs could put a nice hole in the hull.

A carrier is not a battleship. It's not intended to go up against enemy fire. It's supposed to be the central part of a Carrier GROUP - with various support craft traveling in a flotilla.

That can't be done in a canal transit.

This appears indescribably poor strategy and high risk on a valuable military asset.

Just imagine...if that carrier had been quietly chartered by hostile actors, and loaded with explosive - perhaps even nuclear explosives.

Allowing a commercial vessel not involved in any way with operations, that close, is more than reckless. It's appallingly stupid; it's the action of amateurs who have forgotten that a carrier is a MILITARY craft, and not all outsiders love it or want to allow it passage.

USS Harry S Truman Hull Pierced | Heading to Port for Damage Assessment | What May Have Happened?​

24

Life on a Cargo Ship | Engine Room Workshop Tour​

Feb 15, 2025

Hello everyone, welcome back to the next episode in this one I will just be showing you a tour of the Machine Shop in the Engine Room because many of you have asked to see it so here it is. Enjoy!️

7:31

Snowing on the Ship (It's so Cold!)​

Feb 19, 2025

So I went to work a little after dinner and it had just started snowing and it was so so cold. After work we came up and it was still snowing and the deck was covered so I just had to hare some of the view with you all. Hope you enjoy it.

4:55

Update On the Final Voyage of SS United States | Tow by Vinik 6 | Off the East Coast of Florida​

Feb 25, 2025 #SSUnitedStates #tow #cruiseliner
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — provides an update on the tow of SS United States from Philadelphia to Mobile.

20:22

SS United States met with rough seas, high winds as it voyages to its new home https://6abc.com/post/ss-united-state...
Vinik Marine http://vinikmarine.com/
MARS Mobile https://www.modernamericanrecyclingse...

I tried reaching Faroe Islands before the Storm - Chapter 9​

A new adventure has started as I cast off from Iceland, to reach the beautiful Faroe Islands. A big storm was about to arrive around the islands, and I had to keep my pace up to reach port before the storm! Lets go!

25:33

searcher said:

Update On the Final Voyage of SS United States | Tow by Vinik 6 | Off the East Coast of Florida​

Feb 25, 2025 #SSUnitedStates #tow #cruiseliner
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — provides an update on the tow of SS United States from Philadelphia to Mobile.

20:22

SS United States met with rough seas, high winds as it voyages to its new home https://6abc.com/post/ss-united-state...
Vinik Marine http://vinikmarine.com/
MARS Mobile https://www.modernamericanrecyclingse...

Click to expand...

I saw that, yesterday.

The plan/hope apparently is to have the ship settle on its keel. I have NO idea how they could arrange that - as the hull fills with water, it will become unstable, with a center of gravity...undetermined. MOST ships going down, deliberate or the result of an incident, roll over, and/or head down with one end leading the way. Which stands to reason - that's the path of least drag.

The only way I can imagine this happening, is to install flotation material to the top area of the freeboard - sponsons or huge air bags, or bags filled with oil - and that would take years to plan and be cost prohibitive. I expect this thing will end up on its side, maybe with the bow stuck in the mud.

Yeah, modern purpose-built cruise ships are just hideous.

They make me think of Rio de Janerio high-rise slums - just built up higher and higher, until a law of physics is breached. This, done on a RORO car-carrier hull. UGGHHH-lee.

The United States was a beautiful ship - designer Gibbs had an eye; he was the right man, at what turned out to be the wrong time to be the ideal ship designer. The US had beautiful lines...and was only in service for 16 years; its last 30 years were in the Delaware River. Fresh water. Not nearly as hard on the hull.

I don't know why it couldn't have been rebuilt as a smaller cruise liner; but probably the reports are correct. Often times it's the same reason why an historic building cannot be rebuilt after a seemingly minor structural failure or a fire...the cost of mitigating all the damage, and then complying with new laws or standards or expectations, is greater than demolishing it. Or just selling the hulk in question for scrap, in this case.

I'd seen this in another waterfront example, much-smaller scale. An area I lived in for years, a tourist area dominated by an inland lake...around the turn of the century (1900) there was a fleet of (relatively) small lake steamers. Not exactly romantic, they were propeller-driven, low-freeboard...utilitarian. They connected the major city at one end of the lake (20k population) with the county seat at the other end; and operated profitably until 1927. Then, unprofitably, as the brothers who owned the line ran them with a sense of civic duty.

And then with the brothers dead, the last surviving boat was run through WWII owned by the city - because gasoline rationing. The steamer in question, ran on coal.

It was run up until 1950, where the city announced plans to stop it. The boat was sold to its last pilot, who also owned a junkyard - for $100. Seriously. It was seen as worth that little.

He ran it a couple years until a navigation incident, on a charter trip after sunset, had the boat sink in shallow water. Pumping it out was no problem, but there was a lawsuit, and that was that. No insurance, no operation.

The boat was preserved in a private industrial slip until 1973...steamboat enthusiasts bought it from the estate of the scrap-man. But in ripping the superstructure off, with intent to rebuild, they found that it was just cheaper to build a replica steamboat with oil firing and steel superstructure...so that's what they did, and the old hull sank at the pier, abandoned.

Long story to make a point. Probably the United States just couldn't be made compliant and livable in a way that made economic sense.

Goldhedge said:

I used to think a life on the sea as a merchant marine would be a good career... not so much.

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Certainly not for everyone but good for others. Interesting reading for anyone interested. YMMV.


Mariner Pay 2025: Limited License Companies

Merchant Mariner Pay 2024 NEW

Advice for someone new to merchant marine

Shipping out The story of merchant mariners, and their families, who carry on at home

WIPERS (current and past) where did you get your first gig?

Maritime career and family life/relationships?

Please Help -new career working on ships

Channels:

Winter Fleet 2024 - 2025 Layup Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin​

Jan 28, 2025 FINCANTIERI BAY SHIPBUILDING (FBS)

This is a video showcasing the Winter Fleet 2024-2025 at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin! As the winter season unfolds, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding becomes a bustling hub for the Great Lakes' majestic freighters. This year's winter fleet includes impressive vessels such as the Paul R. Tregurtha, Mesabi Miner, Stewart J. Cort, Wilfred Sykes, Joseph L. Block, Burns Harbor, James R. Barker, Frontenac, Tug Albert, and Barge Margaret.
Tune in to see these iconic ships up close as they undergo their winter layup, ensuring they’re ready for the upcoming season on the Great Lakes!

9:05

^^^^^^

Something I didn't know.

The Lake Freighter custom was to put the bridge as far forward as possible - unlike with an ocean cargo ship, the lake boats are ALWAYS in close quarters. Even off the shore (a great distance out, maybe a mile, ) the channel can be narrow. And chart mistakes have happened - and, I'm no geologist, but I'm sure there's shifting on the bottom.

A chart mistake was, IMHO, what took out the Mighty Fitz - it was later found that the charts used, had the 6-Fathom Shoal marked incorrectly. A storm, a rough ride, radar broken, and they almost-certainly hit bottom, out in the middle of Superior.

Anyway. For visibility the bridge and other functional cabins were placed on the extreme bow (with a stubby forecastle). The new freighters, the ones as boxy as barges, have all the crew cabins including the bridge, on the absolute stern - doing away with anything resembling a flowing fantail.

I guess in a few more generations, the ore boats will just be barges with diesel engines jury-rigged onto them...

Lake Erie Winter Layup 2025: 25+ Boats Frozen in the Water​

Feb 28, 2025

This video showcases the ships in winter layup in the Ohio ports on Lake Erie.
We start in Toledo, then head to Cleveland, and then Ashtabula before finishing up in Conneaut.
It also includes part of an interview I did with famed boat photographer and publisher of Know Your Ships, Roger LeLievre on the fascination surrounding the boats of the Great Lakes.

20:02

Click here to see the companion video that has 1.5 hours of footage of the boats with no narration, only the sound of water and birds: • Lake Erie Winter Layup 2025 (No Narra...
Click here to watch my video from 2024.
It features an interview with Erik Peace of the Lake Carriers' Association.
He talks about the critical role shipping on the Great Lakes plays for the United States: • Winter Layup on the Great Lakes (25+ ...

Click here to learn more about Know Your Ships: https://www.knowyourships.com/

Port Huron Live Cam showing shipping traffic on the St. Clair River from BoatNerd.Com​

The camera will operate on a Tour of Presets until a ship passes. At that time if an operator is available they will pan and zoom the camera.


Popular Links: Real time traffic map: http://ais.boatnerd.com
Ship Passage Schedule: http://ais.boatnerd.com/passage/port/...
Live Scanner : https://www.broadcastify.com/webPlaye...
Our main site: http://www.BoatNerd.Com

More Live cams Boatwatching from your Desk Top: https://boatnerd.com/webcams/
Detroit River: https://detroithistorical.org/dossin-...
Lake Superior: http://www.duluthharborcam.com/

Sailing Between Our 3 European Ports (Container Ship Vlog)​

Mar 2, 2025

This episode is just a video from the ship as we sailed to the 3 European ports. Join me on the day to day vlog and please subscribe if you haven't as it greatly helps the channel.

12:04

The Weekend Sailor | An Unbelievable Sailing Underdog Story​

Feb 11, 2025 #Sailing #Documentary #Adventure

The Weekend Sailor is an inspiring documentary about the astonishing victory of the Mexican yacht Sayula II in the first-ever Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1974. Against all odds, 50-year-old Ramon Carlín, a self-made businessman and casual sailor, led a crew of family and friends to defeat seasoned professionals in what was considered the most grueling sailing competition in history.

With just two years of sailing experience, Carlín turned a family adventure into one of the greatest underdog stories in sports—proving that resilience, determination, and the courage to dream big can defy all expectations.

Narrated by Simon Le Bon, The Weekend Sailor has won multiple international awards, including Best Film at FICPV 2018 and the Audience Award at the International Ocean Film Tour 2017.

1:13:50

Sailing along the incredible coast of Faroe Islands! - Chapter 10​

Mar 7, 2025
Tag along for this sail through the insanely beautiful part of Faroe Islands! We pass the 313-meter tall Trøllkonufingur, Koltur and Hestur beaming off some spectacular scenery. And then we round it off with the famous and nasty currents of the Faroese sounds!

17:46

Ships on Fire off Humber River | Containership Solong Struck US Flagged Tanker Stena Immaculate​

Mar 10, 2025 #solong #stenaimmaculate #collision

In this episode, Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — discusses the collision between containership Solong and US flag tanker Stena Immaculate off the Humber River on March 10, 2025

10:54

'It will run into billions, we have a lot of infrastructure that rely on shipping', says skipper​

Mar 10, 2025 #shipping #skynews #grimsby

One person is in hospital and 36 other crew are safe and accounted for after a tanker and a cargo ship collided in the North Sea off the East Yorkshire coast.
Sky News spoke to Craig a local skipper in the area who explained it could cost billions as industries rely heavily on shipping.
Read more https://news.sky.com/story/north-sea-...

6:26