Mad Mariner - News Stories

Warship Uses Trade Center Steel

Associated Press — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

NEW YORK — The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.

The USS New York is to be placed in active military service during a ceremony on a Manhattan pier Saturday morning. Naval officials say the steel from the trade center attacked on 9/11 symbolizes that the United States will always persevere.

The $1 billion warship was built near New Orleans by workers who themselves survived Hurricane Katrina.

Kin Tells of Brief Call From Doomed Scallop Boat

Wayne Parry — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

CAPE MAY, N.J. (AP) — Shortly before 5 a.m. on March 24, Janet Greene's phone rang in her North Carolina home. A light sleeper, she grabbed it on the first ring, knowing it was likely to be from Royal Smith Jr., a commercial fisherman who had two sons with her daughter, Stacy.

"I said, 'Hello, hello?'" she said. "A muffled voice sounded exactly like his. It sounded like he said, 'Hey,' and it just went off into static."

America's Cup Dismasting

Bernie Wilson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The 200-foot mast on the monster trimaran that will represent the United States in the America's Cup came crashing down during a sail on the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, snapping in two as it hit the rear beam.

None of the crew were injured in the mishap, which happened some 20 to 30 miles off Point Loma, BMW Oracle Racing helmsman Jimmy Spithill said after the 90-by-90-foot boat was towed back to its downtown berth at dusk.

Doomed NJ Boat Was a Hit-and-Run Case

Wayne Parry — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

CAPE MAY, N.J. (AP) — A scallop boat that sank off the New Jersey coast in March, killing six of the seven crew members aboard, may have been doomed by a fatal hit-and-run crash on the high seas, the lawyer for its owner said Monday.

Stevenson Weeks, the lawyer for Lady Mary owner Royal Smith Sr., said extensive damage to the boat's rudder, propeller and other equipment indicates that some other vessel crashed into it and kept going.

Weeks said he based his suspicion on "the nature of the damage and the physics involved."

Boat Sinks Off Australia

The Associated Press — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

SYDNEY (AP) — An official says 25 people are missing and 15 have been rescued after a boat sank in remote waters far off the Australian coast.

Rhianne Robson of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said Monday that a merchant ship reached the site near the Cocos Islands some 1,600 miles northwest of Australia and was plucking people from the water.

Robson told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the authority received distress signals on Sunday from a boat believed to be carrying about 40 people in the remote area, and the nearest ships were asked to respond.

Officials Cleaning SF Bay Oil Spill

Associated Press — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500

SAN FRANCISCO — Crews worked Saturday to clean up fuel leaked into San Francisco Bay and care for a dozen birds one day after an oil tanker spilled hundreds of gallons into the water.

The Coast Guard dispatched 10 boats to scoop up shipping fuel about 2.5 miles southeast of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. A helicopter surveyed for environmental damage while wildlife crews searched the ground for affected wildlife.

Pirates Hold British Couple on Cargo Ship

The Associated Press — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Paul and Rachel Chandler, a retired British couple who sailed to exotic locales aboard their 38-foot yacht, said in one of their last cheery messages they would likely be "out of touch for some time."

After disappearing for a week, a somber Paul Chandler is back in contact, saying by telephone Thursday that he and his wife are being held captive by gun-toting pirates who stripped their vessel of everything of value.

Two Missing Fishermen Rescued Off Cape Cod

The Associated Press — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

BOTSON (AP) — Two fishermen who went missing when their boat sank off the coast of Cape Cod have been rescued after about five hours in the water.

The Coast Guard says 39-year-old vessel Capt. Christopher Merl and 18-year-old crew member Matthew Gregory were pulled from the waters of Cape Cod Bay off the coast of Sandwich at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Coast Guard says the men survived in the 52 degree water because they were wearing survival suits. They declined medical attention.

Another Titanic Expedition Possible in 2010

Steve Szotak — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The company that has exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic wants to make another expedition to the world's most famous shipwreck in 2010.

RMS Titanic Inc.'s expedition would be the first by the salvor since 2004, though two other expeditions have been to the site since then, including one by "Titanic" director James Cameron. The company went before a judge on Monday to seek a salvage award for its past expeditions, and to inform the court of its plans.

British Couple Missing Off Coast of Somalia

The Associated Press — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Foreign Office says searches are under way for a British couple missing after their yacht activated a distress beacon off Somalia.

The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency says Paul and Rachel Chandler were heading from the Seychelles to Tanzania in their yacht, the Lynn Rival, when the distress signal was sent early Friday.

They have not been heard from since, and searches by coast guards based in the Seychelles have failed to spot the boat.