Maritime Museum News

To celebrate World Ocean Day 2026, the National Maritime Museum is publishing a new illustrated book, The Ocean Map, and hosting a free festival inviting families to explore the wonders of the ocean.Written by Aimee Mook, ocean expert and Museum curator, the book will be published on June 4, 2026 and presents the ocean as a single, connected system using the Spilhaus projection. It guides readers through deep ocean trenches, glaciers, coral reefs, wind farms, shipping canals and other natural and human‑made features.

The World Submarine Organization (WSO) and Submersible Operators Group (SOG), in partnership with the MTS Submarine Committee and Det Norske Veritas (DNV), have announced the 23rd International Submarine Symposium, scheduled for September 15–18, 2026 at the International Maritime Museum and DNV Headquarters in Hamburg, Germany.This four-day symposium will bring together industry leaders, submarine operators, researchers, regulators, and innovators from around the world to explore advancements in submarine technology, operational best practices, and safety standards.

Ineffective coordination and monitoring by the crew and harbour pilots on board the container ship Maersk Shekou contributed to its collision with the tall ship Leeuwin II in the Port of Fremantle, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has found.The 333-metre, Singapore-flagged Maersk Shekou was being navigated into Fremantle under the direction of two harbour pilots in heavy squall conditions before dawn on August 30, 2024, when the incident occurred.Audio from the ship’s bridge…

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation interim report outlines the sequence of events leading up to the collision of a container ship with the berthed tall ship STS Leeuwin II in Fremantle last August.The 333m, Singapore-flagged container ship Maersk Shekou was being piloted towards its assigned berth in Fremantle’s inner harbor when it collided with and substantially damaged STS Leeuwin II alongside Victoria Quay on the morning of August 30, 2024.The container ship had arrived off Fremantle eight days prior to the accident.The vessel and its crew waited a week offshore…

The Fascinated by Shipwrecks Podcast, hosted by Kathy A. Smith,  is dedicated to the People & the Science of Maritime Archaeology.The Adriatic Affair: Finding the 1856 Le Lyonnais Wreck“Of the people on the ship, 114 died and only 18 survived. Those that did lived through extraordinary conditions in the North Atlantic. Storms. Dehydration. Starvation. Bitter, freezing temperatures until they were eventually rescued by a passing ship.” - Jennifer SellittiOn November 2, 1856, the French passenger steamship…

An exhibition of ship models depicting vessels built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company (Troon and Ayr) in the 19th and 20th centuries opens at the Scottish Maritime Museum on Irvine Harborside today (Friday, February 21).The collection of six detailed ‘builder’s models’, which are on long-term loan from South Ayrshire Council, were crafted by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company’s model-making department between 1909 and 1975.The vessels depicted include a 10-gun brig built to seize illegal slaver ships in the 19th century…

In March 2025 the major exhibition Pirates will open at the National Maritime Museum (NMM), tracing the changing depictions of pirates throughout the ages and revealing the brutal history often obscured by fiction. While sometimes portrayed as tricksters or scoundrels, pirates are primarily swashbuckling adventurers associated with lush islands, flamboyant dress and buried treasure. Pirates will deconstruct these myths and illuminate the realities of pirate life, including those of the pirates Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach…

“Our connections to the maritime world are far more profound and diverse than I think most of us realize.” James P. DelgadoJim talks about his long, storied career, starting with his budding interest in archaeology and history at age 10, and how his career path changed when he was exposed to the buried San Francisco Gold Rush ship Niantic while working for the National Park Service.He also gives moving accounts of famous shipwrecks that have had a profound emotional impact on him. These include Clotilda, the last known U.S.

We talk with renowned maritime archaeologist James Delgado about the recently found US Navy destroyer USS Stewart. Stewart was a century-old US Navy destroyer that earned the unenviable distinction of serving under both American and Japanese flags during World War II. This groundbreaking discovery was made off the coast of northern California on a collaborative expedition between Ocean Infinity, the Air/Sea Heritage Foun-dation, SEARCH, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries…

“The biggest museum we have sits at the bottom of the sea.” James P. DelgadoShipwreck discoveries often hit the news and can be captivating tales of exploration, trade, and war in times gone by.Behind these discoveries are the stories of the ships, their crews, and what life was like for them. But we may forget there are also intriguing tales of those who devote their lives to the work of finding, documenting, and preserving these precious relics of our seafaring past.In today’s fast-paced…

A Singapore-registered containership allided with an iconic training tall ship at berth in Australia's Port of Fremantle on Friday, causing damage to both vessels.The 332-meter box ship Maersk Shekou was proceeding into the harbor under pilotage, assisted by four tugs when it struck the STS Leeuwin II, which was at berth.Two night watch crew members on board the 55-meter tall ship were taken to a nearby hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, while the 26 crew members on board…

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has helped confirm the resting place of motor vessel (MV) Noongah, a 71-metre coastal freighter lost at sea in 1969 in one of the nation’s worst post-war maritime disasters.MV Noongah was travelling between Newcastle and Townsville carrying steel when it encountered a storm and sank in heavy seas on 25 August 1969.The loss of MV Noongah led to one of the largest searches for survivors in Australian maritime history, involving navy and merchant vessels…

Big data, advanced computers and AI are allowing vessel designers to prepare models that leave essentially nothing to chance.“Lastly, it may be of considerable importance to form from the draught a block model of the vessel from which a still more accurate judgment may be formed of the fitness and beauty of the body. And should any defect be discovered, farther alterations must still be made, till the draught and the model are perfectly approved of. These different alterations and repeated calculations may appear very tedious…

Climate change advocates and seafarers recently gathered for a small conference at the Hudson Valley Maritime Museum in Kingston, N.Y., to discuss the shipping industry’s struggle to achieve sustainability and environmental compliance.The setting, the hamlet of Rondout, N.Y. (within Kingston), holds significance as it was, ironically, a Hudson River port once considered the largest coal port in the world (yes, the world). In 1828, the opening of the Delaware and Hudson Canal enabled coal to be delivered from Pennsylvania to New York City.

For many, the ocean is life. It provides transportation, work, commerce, food, recreation—tales as old as time and shared by people across the globe. These stories are lived day to day, passed down between generations, and shared with the public through various media. Maritime museums assume responsibility to share these histories while honoring the communities shaped ocean exploration and commerce. In a decade where ocean health and climatic events have become a primary focus…

Of all the rivers in the world, the St. Lawrence River is undeniably one of the most challenging for mariners.This water highway is at some spots as narrow as a large river and, at others, as wide as a small sea. It has played a vital role over the last three centuries as an important artery for trade, communication, transportation and settlement. And since 1959, the year the St. Lawrence Seaway was inaugurated, it has been a gateway to the heart of the continent.The first European explorers who sailed the St. Lawrence discovered it was not easy to master: it was long, but never calm.

After a program of vital welding work, the Scottish Maritime Museum is on track to complete essential repairs to what is believed to be the oldest floating Clyde-built ship in time for the vessel’s 150th anniversary this Summer.The Scottish Maritime Museum raised £40,000 for much-needed repairs to the 1872 MV Kyles, one of Britain’s most important historic vessels and a rare and nationally important survivor from a key period in Glasgow shipbuilding, through a Keep the Kyles Afloat Crowdfunder campaign last year.The Museum’s technical team…

Maritime trade group the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) announced plans to host a high-level summit to address the challenge of decarbonization.Responding to a challenge thrown down by industry leaders in Glasgow, during COP26, ICS will work with partners to convene shipowners, ministers, maritime, energy and infrastructure leaders with the challenge of bringing forward a tangible path to decarbonize the sector. The closed-door meeting will be held in London the day after a dinner on June 20…

The Australian National Maritime Museum has announced a shipwreck found in Newport Harbor, off Rhode Island in the United States, has been confirmed as Captain Cook’s ship, HMB Endeavour.There have been very similar announcements made over the years but have they finally made a definitive case?By making its announcement, the Australian National Maritime Museum seems to have decided so, and there does seem to have been significant recent progress, centered on one shipwreck that matches the known details of the Endeavour closely.However…

A new exhibition area on the subject of "Reefer Shipping - Transport of Perishable Goods" is attracting visitors to the International Maritime Museum Hamburg (IMMH). Starting October 19, 2021, this new part of the exhibition on deck 6 will present everything on the subject of reefer shipping, using the Hamburg Süd as an example. From the beginning of reefer shipping in 1877 to the present day, the entire spectrum of development is presented to visitors to the IMMH using ships…

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…

“I hold no branch in higher esteem, than the Merchant Marine…”That is a quote from General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific in WWII. That one sentence sums up National Maritime Day. Inasmuch if it were not for our glorious Merchant Marine and maritime industry, we may not even have been a nation at all.National Maritime Day is the day we honor our American Merchant Mariners for protecting our freedom and for their dedication to promoting American commerce together with the accomplishments of the U.S. maritime industry.

Canadian headquartered naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd. announced that its Executive Chairman, Robert G. "Rob" Allan, has been made an Honorary Member by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), making him one of only 50 living individuals to enjoy this privilege. This membership is awarded to a person as result of their dedicated service to the maritime industry and the Society and is a symbol of recognition offered as a token of the high esteem in which their colleagues hold them.SNAME has previously honored Rob Allan with many accolades.