Eye on the Navy: Navy extends Life for Research Ships, but Says Farewell to FLIP
The U.S. Navy’s three Global class oceanographic research ships (AGORs) have received a new lease on life. The ships-- R/V Thomas G. Thompson (AGOR 23), R/V Roger Revelle (AGOR 24) and R/V Atlantis (AGOR 25)-- which entered service between 1991 and 1998--were built with 30-year expected service lives. Thanks to extensive overhauls on all three they have been returned to service with another 15 years of useful service.AGOR 23 is operated by the University of Washington; AGOR 24 is operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography…
Fugitive Treasure Hunter Arrested in Florida
An Ohio man who recovered as much as $400 million in gold from a shipwreck has been arrested in Florida after two years on the run and was scheduled to appear in federal court on Wednesday. Tommy Thompson was detained on Tuesday night at a Hilton hotel in west Boca Raton, Florida, said Barry Golden, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in the Southern District of Florida. He was due to appear in federal court in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, Golden said. He is wanted for failing to appear in a federal court in Ohio in 2012. Thompson was arrested with a woman, Alison Antekeier, who also has an outstanding arrest warrant in Ohio, according to Golden. They appeared to have been living in the hotel for about two years, he said.
$1.3m in Gold Recovered from 1857 Shipwreck
A deep-ocean exploration company in Florida says it has recovered nearly 1,000 ounces of gold, worth $1.3 million at current gold prices, on a reconnaissance dive to an historic Atlantic Ocean shipwreck. The dive confirmed that the ship had not been disturbed since 1991 when another company stopped recovery work, Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, announced on Monday. The ship's sinking in 1857 with 21 tons of gold aboard in a hurricane off the coast of South Carolina sparked a U.S. banking panic. Recovered gold included five gold ingots and two $20 Double Eagle coins, an 1857 coin minted in San Francisco and an 1850 coin minted in Philadelphia. The gold ingots were stamped with the manufacturer's "assay-mark" and weigh from 96.5 to 313.5 troy ounces. U.S.
Treasure Hunters Return to "Ship of Gold"
A deep-ocean exploration company is seeking to recover a lucrative haul of gold aboard the shipwreck of the SS Central America, nearly 160 years after it sank off the coast of South Carolina in a 1857 hurricane. The 280-foot (85 meters) sidewheel steamship carried as much as 21 tons of gold ingots, freshly minted gold coins and raw gold from the California mines, as well as the personal wealth and belongings of its 477 passengers, most of whom were lost when the ship sank in September 1857.
Thompson Joins Crowley
Crowley Maritime Corporation said that Tommy Thompson has joined the company's liner service group as director of maintenance and repair (M&R). Thompson is domiciled in Jacksonville and reports to Rob Grune, senior vice president and general manager, Puerto Rico and Caribbean and John Hourihan, senior vice president and general manager, Latin America. In this position, Thompson is responsible for overseeing domestic M&R. He is charged with introducing best practices and new technologies along with process review and change intended to further improve current operations and garner greater efficiencies. He will also support the company's new build program…
