Some pictures from the world's largest ship graveyard at Nouadhibou in Mauritania (click 'here', then 'nouadhibou' in the Jan Smith link), or investigate it in
Google Maps. Geographical Magazine has
an explanation of how the graveyard came about.
posted by Dim Siawns
on Nov 16, 2010 -
22 comments
Roman ingots to shield particle detector. "Around four tonnes of ancient Roman lead was yesterday transferred from a museum on the Italian island of Sardinia to the country's national particle physics
laboratory at Gran Sasso on the mainland. Once destined to become water pipes, coins or ammunition for Roman soldiers' slingshots, the metal will instead form part of a cutting-edge experiment to nail down the mass of neutrinos."
[Via]
posted by homunculus
on Apr 16, 2010 -
22 comments
World's Mightiest Ship Was Lost Without a Trace in 1744 "In July 1744, she set sail to rescue a Mediterranean convoy blockaded by the French Brest fleet in the River Tagus at Lisbon. After victoriously chasing the French fleet away, she escorted the convoy into the Mediterranean Sea as far as Gibraltar, then set sail to return to her home port in England. During the course of the voyage, her fleet captured a number of valuable prizes, and she was also reported to have taken on board a consignment of 400,000 pounds sterling for Dutch merchants. On her return trip to England, HMS Victory was lost with all hands in a violent storm on October 5, 1744."
[pdf] [more inside]
posted by tellurian
on Feb 11, 2009 -
11 comments
Photos and more
photos from the Nautile’s firsts dives to the
Prestige wreck, a single-hulled tanker that broke in two while it was towed to open sea after the discovery of a breach in its hull.
It has been an ecologic and economic disaster for Galicia, Spanish’ northwest coastal region famous for its seafood. But it also has been a political scandal for the PP (Partido Popular), in the government both in Galicia’s autonomic parliament and in the central government, because of its late response and efforts to hide the catastrophe manipulating the public broadcast system (and the friendly private networks). Too little, too late,
Jose Maria Aznar.
While politicians throw shit to each other, a quarter of the 20.5 million gallons of fuel oil already spilled are now spreading through the coastline covering everything with what locals call “chapapote”, a sticky mix of sea water, fuel oil and sand. The Prestige sits now at 3.500 meters of depth, slowly leaking fuel oil to the surface. The Nautile, one of the few mini submarine that has been used to record and take pictures from the
Titanic wreck, it’s being hired by the Spanish government to
asses the situation (Spanish language link) and try to stop the leakage.
Popular action in the form of a white tide of volunteers has been phenomenal, forcing the government to act and assume responsibilities. But the issue at hand is much larger:
will the European Union effectively ban single-hulled tankers? Why the rules that govern the seas permit flag of convenience ships that can elude so easily its responsibility?See more
images (slideshow).
posted by samelborp
on Dec 19, 2002 -
12 comments
2,000 year old Roman "Titanic" found in the sands 10 yards from the Sicilian shore. The vessel - up to 150ft long and equipped with ancient luxuries including candelabras, a hot tub and religious shrine - is thought to have ferried the Roman super-rich along the Mediterranean coast to various ports en route.
posted by lagado
on Dec 4, 2000 -
1 comment
