The story so far: ships occasionally lose containers at sea – there are explanations although we could make comparisons to a ‘runaway train’ situation, ie., it’s out of control and it happens very quickly. In 2020 the Japanese-flagged ONE Apus lost approximately 1,816 containers in heavy seas north-west of Hawaii. Theories over the loss range from a rogue wave snapping the securing pins to the fact that…
Those of us in Liverpool who subscribe to the National Geographic (global readership estimates: 9.5 mn), may have read the November 2021 edition: How centuries of immigration has changed culture and communities of Liverpool. It sounds like a dissertation title for a humanities degree, but the magazine’s write-up of Liverpool’s claim to be a world city – a city in which culture and communities have influenced hospitality accords well with…
Wise words, but actually joining a ship these days isn’t smooth seas and takes skill just to get through the paperwork. The 1970’s were different: you’d casually sling your bag in the cabin, walk to the bridge and sign on followed by a visit to the crew bar to meet shipmates – no strangers, just friends you’ve never met. Or if there wasn’t a crew bar, instead you’d go to…
Ripping apart a neighbourhood just to build yet another neighbourhood, isn’t always a good idea.Plenty of ‘new town’ residents can attest; the idea is basically sound insofar as people graduate into better quality housing, although sad to say, not necessarily better communities.Nonetheless, Belfast in the late sixties was dealt the wrecking ball in an area called ‘Sailortown.’ Just as the name suggests, it was…
Captain Grace was kind enough to show use around the Blue Clipper when she paid a visit to Liverpool last month as part of the River Festival. Fine out more at http://www.maybe-sailing.com
Today saw the dedication of memorial garden and sculpture at St Nick’s church. Launched in 1975, on 9 September 1980, Derbyshire was overwhelmed by a tropical storm killing all aboard. Derbyshire never issued a Mayday distress message. The wreck of the Derbyshire was discovered in 1994. Find out more from here. You can see the full unveiling ceremony filmed by…
Robert was kind enough to share some of his memories including his ambition of a young age to go to sea, joining his first ship in Liverpool in 1965.
Around the time when the United Kingdom had almost full-employment and a social contract to govern prices and wage restraint, we also had a thriving Merchant Navy. For this was in 1974 when not only were there over 1600 red-ensigned vessels compared to less than 300 today. That notwithstanding, the slump in vessels was already declining in that year owing to the oil-price…
We were lucky enough to be able to do a short interview with Capatin Roy Kerr who was in Liverpool as part of the Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta over the weekend. Roy is certainly living the dream as Captain of La Malouine and particularly enjoys working with the different crew that join him along the way. La Malouine was…
The past weekend has seen the return of the tall ships to Liverpool and, as was the case 10 years ago, these unique vessels have attracted thousands of visitors and made for a really unique bank holiday weekend. It was a real carnival atmosphere down at the docks and it was a great testament to the strong maritime culture of…
The first time I saw the circling speedboats from a distance of three nautical miles, I realised a ship was under attack. For this was the Gulf ‘tanker war’, part of a lesser- known conflict precedingthe 1990 Gulf War. At this time the Iraq-Iran conflict had been raging since 1980, it’s territorial losses and gains changed monthly. This stalemate prompted attacks on ships by both belligerents,…
A great turn out part from the council allowing a fairground to be constructed 3 metres away from the Merchant Navy Memorial.