Free Republic

Rescue workers in Baltimore are working furiously in an attempt to save the lives of dozens of people who were plunged into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit by a container ship. Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time. The workers were pouring concrete on to the bridge at the time of crash. At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Baltimore Fire Chief...

ADEN, Yemen, March 2 (Reuters) - The Rubymar cargo ship, attacked last month, has sunk in the southern Red Sea, Yemen's internationally recognised government said in a statement on Saturday. If verified, it would be the first vessel lost since Houthi militants began targeting commercial shipping in November. [ed., Sinking has since been verified by multiple outlets including UK maritime shipping office.] The government statement said the ship sunk on Friday night and warned of an "environmental catastrophe". The ship was carrying more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it came under attack, the U.S. military's Central Command previously said.

The crew of a Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo vessel have abandoned ship off Yemen after it was hit by missiles fired by the Houthi movement.

An “unknown” outbreak aboard a cruise ship is spreading, and now 154 people are sickened, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an update this week. So far, 25 crew members and 129 passengers on the Carnival-owned Cunard Cruise Line’s Queen Victoria have become ill during the trip, which is up by about 15 cases from when the illnesses were reported earlier in February, according to the CDC. The Queen Victoria cruise has 1,824 passengers and 967 crew members on board, according to the agency. It’s still not clear what’s causing the outbreak on the cruise...

Emergency workers in Trinidad and Tobago are racing to clean up a massive oil spill after a mystery vessel ran aground near the Caribbean island, casting a pall over Carnival tourism. The spill was "not under control" as of Sunday, said Prime Minister Keith Rowley, who added that the country is grappling with a national emergency. The mystery vessel capsized Wednesday in waters off the Caribbean island, having made no emergency calls, with no sign of crew, and no clear sign of ownership.

The 365m-long (1,197 ft) Icon of the Seas has 20 decks, and can house a maximum of 7,600 passengers on board. It is owned by Royal Caribbean Group. The vessel is going on a seven-day island-hopping voyage in the tropics. But environmentalists warn that the liquefied natural gas-powered ship will leak harmful methane into the air.

Two US-flagged container ships under the protection of the US Navy were forced to retreat from a passage of the Red Sea after coming under fire from Houthi terrorists on Wednesday. The US-flagged container ships Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake were supposed to enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and transit the Red Sea under the protection of the US Navy. The US Navy has done this once before. On January 10, a convoy of four US-flagged ships carrying military cargo passed through the Red Sea. It came under a complex attack of 18 suicide drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and...

Two Royal navy warships have suffered damage after colliding with each other in Bahrain. Footage of the incident, which happened in Bahrain Harbour on Thursday, shows the HMS Chiddingfold smashing into HMS Bangor, in what appeared to be a bungled attempt to reverse alongside it. The collision is being investigated by British naval authorities (Video at the link)

[Video] Schab has returned for the 82nd commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Pearl Harbor survivor “Ike” Schab is back in Honolulu. The 103-year-old was greeted with applause Sunday as he got off his flight from Portland. Schab has returned for the 82nd commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack. It’s a trip that almost didn’t happen because of an illness, but Schab was determined to make it to this year’s ceremony. While it’s been more than eight decades since the Pearl Harbor attack, Dec. 7 still brings back his memories of being there. ”And they’re not necessarily...

Catastrophe is imminent for civilians trapped in Gaza. States cannot provide the medical care needed without significant risk. The UN must step up and coordinate efforts, regardless of public rows with Israel.

We've seen a lot of anti-Israel protesters. We saw some who stormed a New York City store because it had flyers of the kidnapped Israelis out front, and police had to protect the building and the people. But the folks who stormed into the Port of Oakland managed to do something that everyone should find more than a little troubling. Somehow they were able to get through a fence and onto the grounds of the port area. At least three of them got onto the ladder for the U.S. Ready Reserve Force roll-on/roll-off vessel MV Cape Orlando, thinking it was...

EEMSHAVEN, Netherlands — Tugboats towed a freight ship that burned for a week on the North Sea while carrying thousands of cars into a Dutch port on Thursday for salvaging, laying to rest fears that it could sink close to shipping lanes and a protected habitat for birds. The Fremantle Highway was taken to the northern port of Eemshaven, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management said. A boat that has special booms to clean up oil spills accompanied the nearly 200-meter-long (around 650-foot-long) vessel as a precaution. The ship with 3,784 new vehicles, including 498 electric ones, on...

The massive roll-on, roll-off ship ablaze off the Dutch coast is transporting 500 electric vehicles. The ship's total cargo is around 3,800 vehicles, some of which are BMWs and Mercedes. Shipping blog TradeWinds reported Japan's K Line is the operator of "Fremantle Highway." According to K Line's figures, there are 3,783 vehicles, of which 489 are EVs. Earlier estimates had the number of EVs at 25. "The figure is far higher than first estimated and appears to raise the likelihood that a lithium-ion battery in an EV either caused the blaze in the 6,210-ceu Fremantle Highway (built 2013) or added...

Seventeen miles offshore from an island belonging to the Netherlands, a nearly 20,000-ton vessel loaded with vehicles is burning “out of control,” and officials are in a race against time; Lea Versteeg, spokesperson for the Dutch coast guard, reportedly said, “we’re currently working out to see how we can make sure that...the least bad situation is going to happen.”A Daily Mail article out yesterday reported that at least one crew member had died while “many” others were injured, while another outlet identified the site of the chaos as a priceless environmental gem. From ABC News:Its location is close to a...

The race is on to prevent the sinking of a cargo ship off the Dutch coast which is carrying almost 3,000 vehicles, including 350 Mercedes-Benz, as it burns out of control with an electric car believed to be behind the deadly fire. At least one crew member died and others were injured after fire ripped through the Fremantle Highway, a 18,500-ton car-carrying vessel. Rescue helicopters and boats evacuated 23 crew members from the Panamanian-registered ship. Officials have said there are 'many' wounded. Some suffered broken bones, burns and breathing problems and were taken to hospitals in the northern Netherlands, emergency...

A Carnival Cruise passenger is missing after he jumped off the ship heading towards Florida, authorities said. The 30-year-old missing man’s relatives told staffers that he had vanished Sunday, leading security personnel to check video cameras to track his movements. A clip showed the 30-year-old man jumping off the side of the boat about 95 miles off the coast of Melbourne. “The crew was notified by his traveling companion late (Sunday) afternoon about his missing status after he had not been seen all day,” the cruise line said. “Sadly, after an exhaustive on-board search and a review of security camera...

The Ruby Princess cruise ship won't depart San Francisco until Sunday after being damaged while docking at Pier 27, the cruise line confirmed to ABC7 News Friday afternoon. Ruby Princess says repairs are currently underway and the new estimated departure time from San Francisco is 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 9. As a result, the itinerary has been revised and the ship will now sail a seven-day Pacific Northwest/Alaska voyage, visiting Ketchikan on July 12 and Prince Rupert on July 13, returning to San Francisco on July 16 for disembarkation as originally scheduled. The cruise line says guests will be...

On Wednesday [May 31, 2023], Russia's defense ministry said it had "destroyed" the Ukrainian ship Yuri Olefirenko in a "high-precision strike." The vessel was taken out on May 29 in the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa, Russia said in an operational update.

The Grand Princess was on a 15-day trip and was scheduled to return Saturday. But the trip was cut short after news broke Wednesday of the California man’s death.

Last week, the US sought from North Korea the return of the navy ship USS Pueblo which they seized on January 23, 1968. The House passed a resolution to get the vessel back after 55 years. The US has maintained its position in the matter, terming the decision to seize the ship and its crew illegal as per international law, highlighting the vessel is the property of the US, and they want it to be returned. Meanwhile, in a report published by Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official newspaper, the country has vowed to wipe out the US land, not just...