In astonishingly good news for ship preservationists today, the S.S. United States Conservancy, a group dedicated to saving the laid up liner SS UNITED STATES from scrap, have managed to get a deal in place to buy the historic liner from the NCL Group for US$3 million. July 1st, is a big day in the [...]

A Stunningly Brief History of Matson Line: Captain William Matson began a shipping service between California and Hawaii in 1882 with the schooner EMMA CLAUDINA. Matson Navigation Company was incorporated in 1901 and its first passenger ship sailing was made by the steamer LURLINE in 1908. Larger passenger and freight vessels were built for the [...]

New Jersey based divers, Ernest Rookey and Carl Bayer, have retrieved the bridge bell from the wreck of the ANDREA DORIA, 240 feet below the Atlantic surface, 55 miles off Nantucket.  This is the second of two bells recovered from the wreck, following the discovery of the stern bell in 1985 by renowned DORIA diver [...]

The SS UNITED STATES Conservancy will be presenting a special event on July 1, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA to help raise national awareness about the ongoing plight of the 1952-built SS UNITED STATES: “Please join us on Thursday, July 1 in Philadelphia for a grand celebration in honor of the 58th anniversary of the record-breaking [...]

MaritimeMatters is pleased to present Shawn Dake’s exclusive article, “The DELTA KING, California’s Monarch.” “The historic steamboat DELTA KING has survived for over eight decades and today welcomes visitors to come aboard for a drink, dinner or an overnight stay while floating on the river for which she was built.” The maiden voyage of the still [...]

During the Gold Rush thousands came to seek their fortune along the rivers of California. Today, treasure can still be found resting just below the east bank of the Sacramento River. The historic steamboat, DELTA KING has survived for over eight decades and today welcomes visitors to come aboard for a drink, a wonderful dinner [...]

So far, so good on the Atlantic on board NCL’s EPIC. No signs of any delay from the propeller shaft bearing issue that hampered the 150,000 gt ship’s crossing from Rotterdam to Southampton last week. At this rate, the EPIC, which altered course slightly to avert a storm, is due in New York at approximately [...]

During my most recent visit to the Bay Area to document the departure of the last P2s, I stopped at Mare Island (home of a former naval base) to photograph the ARTSHIP. Recent years have been very unkind to the last of the handsome C3 combiliners. Built in 1940 as Delta Lines’ DELORLEANS, she was [...]

Members of the “TheQE2Story” discussion forum for the QE2 will come together on the 1947 Clyde-built Paddle Steamer WAVERLEY and also gather at the Clyde-based Titan Crane on June 27.  Rob Lightbody (who runs TheQE2Story.com) states, “The original purpose of the discussion forum was to keep the QE2’s legendary story alive after she retired and [...]

June 23: NORWEGIAN EPIC departed Rotterdam on June 21, escorted by the tug RT MAGIC, arriving in yesterday at 2:30 PM, three hours earlier than expected. The arrival time was altered by 7.5 hours to 5:30 PM after it was revealed that a problem with the ship’s propeller shaft would cause the newbuild to proceed [...]