(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) This Canadian ocean liner sank in the Saint Lawrence River following a collision with a Norwegian collier in the early hours of May 29, 1914, due to heavy fog. It took just 14 minutes for the St. Lawrence River to swallow the Canadian Pacific’s RMS Empress of Ireland in the pre-dawn of May 29, 1914.…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which primarily ferried people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Great Britain, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk. The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans and hastened the United States’ entrance into World War I. The Lusitania sunk within 18 minutes. Though…
(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) In 1865, the United States experienced its most significant marine casualty in terms of lives lost. Sultana was a Mississippi River side-wheel steamboat that exploded on April 27, 1865 in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. An estimated 1,800 of her 2,427 passengers died when three of the boat’s four boilers exploded and she…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 16 April 1947, in the port of Texas City, Texas, the freighter GRANDCAMP, with a cargo of ammonium nitrate, small arms ammunition, machinery, and sisal twine, caught fire. The fire quickly spread to the nearby freighter HIGH FLYER, loaded with ammonium nitrate and sulphur. When the two ships exploded, it largely flattened…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) Over the years, hundreds of tankers were employed in the grain trades. The first oceangoing steamer designed and built to carry oil in bulk was the Belgian-flagged Vaderland, which was built in 1872. The intended service of this vessel was to carry immigrants to the U.S. and return to Europe carrying petroleum. Prior to the…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 20 April 2010, the MODU Deepwater Horizon, engaged in drilling for oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico, suffered a catastrophic explosion and fire. Eleven workers died. Due primarily to the heroic efforts of the crew of the OSV Damon B. Bankston, the other 115 persons on the MODU were evacuated safely. A…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) M/V Sewol was a ferry that was built by the Japanese company Hayashikane Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd in 1994. She could carry 921 passengers, or a total of 956 persons, including the crew. She had a legal capacity for 180 vehicles and 154 regular cargo containers. The maximum speed of the ship was 22…
