The U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance has published its 2023 Flag State Control Domestic Annual Report. This report highlights U.S. domestic fleet inspection, deficiency, and marine casualty statistics and serves as a powerful tool that highlights trends, identifies key performance indicators, and draws attention to findings over the past calendar year.
The report presents information reflecting the U.S. Flag fleet including barges, cargo vessels, passenger vessels, vessels operating on the Outer Continental Shelf, research and school ships, fishing vessels, and towing vessels. Continue reading “U.S. Coast Guard 2023 Flag State Control Domestic Report”
The three Palmerston forts in The Solent off the UK’s south coast are iconic structures known to many, dating back to 1859 when they were built to counter the threat of invasion by the French. For me they are a familiar sight, but I have never had the opportunity to land on these extraordinary structures – only admire them from afar with extreme curiosity.
If you follow my scribblings on a semi regular basis, you will know that the subject of lithium battery fires is one that concerns me greatly and is a topic I have written a great deal about. A recent performance test conducted by Yachting Pages on some of the leading safety cases revealed some startling and concerning findings.
In the first week of June, attendees from around the world gathered for this year’s IIMS AGM, Conference and Dinner.
This is a remarkable story, one of my favourites for ages, which fortunately had a happy ending. What caught my eye specifically were the details of the good Samaritan vessel – a floating sauna – which came to the aid of a sinking Tesla. I must have led a sheltered life as I was completely unaware that such craft existed and that they are indeed popular in Norway and can be hired by the hour! And being a skipper of a floating sauna sounds like a very cool job – never getting cold on the job either! 
If you thought taking selfies was without risk, this bizarre story proves otherwise. Have you ever wondered about the dangers of taking a selfie on an unstable vessel for example? Well, here is one such incident. Fortunately, on this occasion, nobody was seriously injured, but it could have been far worse.