Today in Maritime History: Grounding of the Supertanker Torrey Canyon
On the world stage, the grounding of the supertanker TORREY CANYON on Pollard’s Rock in the Seven Stones reef between Cornwall and the Scilly Isles is more significant than the 1989 EXXON VALDEZ oil spill. The TORREY CANYON was one of the first tankers large enough (120,000 tons capacity) to be designated a supertanker. It was also the first loaded supertanker to spill its entire cargo. After salvage efforts failed and the oil flow increased, the British Government decided to bomb the ship in an attempt to burn the oil. This was a radical decision because the wreck was outside the three-mile territorial sea limit prevalent at that time. The Royal Air Force had difficulty hitting the ship, so the Royal Navy sent its planes in.
Illegal Salvors Fined for Plunder of WW1 Shipwreck
Thieves have been fined nearly £250,000 after being caught by the Royal Navy plundering a World War I shipwreck.The crew of HMS Severn in 2016 found the Dutch-registered salvage ship Friendship lifting £90,000 of steel and copper stripped from the wreck of the SS Harrovian, 80 miles southwest of the Scilly Isles.The British steamer was heading from New York to Le Havre in France carrying various metals for the Allied war – including more than 1,000 tons of copper bars, worth around…
Cincinnati Teacher Completes Record trans-Atlantic Row
Cincinnati schoolteacher Bryce Carlson set a record for the fastest solo unsupported west-east row across the North Atlantic ocean on Saturday and also became the first U.S. citizen to complete the feat.The 37-year-old landed at the port of St Mary's in the Scilly Isles, off the coast of south-west England, some 38 days six hours and 49 minutes after he set off from St John's in Newfoundland.The previous record for the solo west-east crossing was 53 days eight hours and 26 minutes set by Canadian Laval St.
25th Anniversary of the Destriero’s Record Atlantic Crossing
On August 9, 1992 – 25 years ago today – the motor yacht Destriero set the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing, a record that remains unbeaten to this day. The monohull, built in 1991 in less than one year in the Fincantieri shipyard of Muggiano and Riva Trigoso, sailed 3,106 nautical miles without refueling, from Ambrose Light, N.Y. to Bishop Rock lightship on the Scilly Isles, England, in 58 hours at an average speed of 53 knots (reaching a maximum speed of 66 knots), claiming once more the Blue Riband, awarded in 1933 to the legendary transatlantic liner Rex. The yacht also set a record on its return journey, awarded the Virgin Atlantic Trophy by the English business magnate Richard Branson on September 5, 1992, as well as the New York Yacht Club Columbus Atlantic Trophy.
French Cruise Company PONANT Signs GAC UK
PONANT Yacht Cruises & Expeditions has appointed GAC UK as its agent for all United Kingdom and Ireland port calls in 2016. PONANT’s 142m and 132 cabin megayachts Le Boréal and L’Austral will cruise around the British Isles and Ireland, including the Scilly Isles, Shetlands, Dublin, Liverpool and Scottish Highlands in May and June next year. Fergus Poole, GAC UK’s newly appointed Cruise Manager, said the high prestige business is a boost to GAC’s growing cruise operations in and around the UK and Ireland.
SW England Gets £10-M Port Transport Boost
UK's Department of Transport informs that Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced a £10 million package to improve sea links between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, upgrade roads on the island and carry out ports repairs. The new funding includes £7.3 million towards a £12.8 million scheme to improve harbour infrastructure at both St Mary’s and Penzance and £1.8 million to repair and resurface public roads on the island. "This funding will make a huge difference to the people of Scilly and also to visitors to the island, so vital to the local economy. Good transport links and high quality infrastructure are key for the island.
Satellite Monitoring Captures Tanker Pollution
At a hearing today at Truro Magistrates Court, the owner of a tanker paid a total of £22,500 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to a breach of U.K. maritime pollution legislation. On February 25, 2012 a satellite operated by European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) detected a ship trailing a slick in the waters between Lands End and the Scilly Isles. A report was made to the MCA. The alert level was given as RED, i.e. high confidence. The ship was identified as the Singapore registered tanker Maersk Kiera. The slick itself was within 12 miles of land.
Fincantieri Celebrate Anniversary Building of World's Fastest Motor Yacht
The monohull, built in 1991 in less than a year by Fincantieri, sailed 3,106 nautical miles without refueling, from Ambrose Light, New York to Bishop Rock lightship on the Scilly Isles, England, in 58 hours at an average speed of 53 knots (reaching peaks of 70), and won once more the Blue Riband which in 1933 had been awarded to the legendary transatlantic liner, the Rex. Built at the shipyards of Muggiano and Riva Trigoso, the Destriero was the largest ship in light alloy ever to be constructed and one of the vessels with the highest concentration of efficiency…
WQIS Marks 30th Anniversary
The U.S. has the most stringent, comprehensive marine pollution laws of any country on the planet. The last 30 years have marked an evolution from little legal enforcement to strict liability for marine pollution. One company, WQIS, a provider of marine pollution liability insurance in the U.S., celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Two events proved pivotal in developing the United States' liability enforcement of marine pollution laws. In 1967, the Torrey Canyon spill off the Scilly Isles in England provided some of the most shocking images ever seen in marine pollution cleanup. Faced with an overwhelming spill and the inability to contain it, Royal Air Force fighter planes dropped napalm bombs in an effort to burn off the oil and sink the ship.
Seafarers In Trouble Owe Debt Of Gratitude To Tiny Plastic Boats
When the cold September sea reached out her icy fingers to claim fisherman John Roberts, a plastic boat in a cozy British pub came to his rescue. Just as Roberts began to think he would succumb to the Atlantic's numbing clutches, his spirits were buoyed by the sound of flares going off above the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station in his home port of Sennen Cove. "When I heard those two bangs and knew what they were, then I knew somebody was coming for me," said the 53-year-old veteran of England's treacherous southwestern coastal waters. Roberts insists he owes a debt of gratitude to the RNLI and the Royal Navy helicopter that plucked him from the sea.
