(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 18 August 1990, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) was enacted into law in the USA. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez spilled over 11 million gallons of Alaskan crude into the water of Prince William Sound. There were many lessons learned the aftermath of the Valdez oil spill. Two of the most obvious…
(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The Panama Canal opened to traffic on 15 August 1914 with passage of the SS Ancon. First conceived in the 1600s, actual construction work was first begun by a French company in 1880. That attempt was defeated primarily by malaria and yellow fever. Work began on the present-day Panama Canal in 1904, success due in large…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 11 August 2001, the motor vessel Windoc and the Allanburg Bridge suffered an allision. Ship-bridge allisions are quite rare. The Allanburg Bridge (also referred to as Bridge 11) is a lift bridge over the Welland Canal at Allanburg, Ontario. The Windoc was downbound and passing under the lift span when the span unexpectedly lowered. The vessel’s wheelhouse…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On August 3, 1958, the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplishes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world’s first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 31 July 1715 a hurricane strikes the east coast of Florida, sinking 10 Spanish treasure ships and killing nearly 1,000 people. All of the gold and silver onboard at the time would not be recovered until 250 years later. With end of the War of Spanish Succession in 1714, the Spanish Crown was…
The “Black Tom Island” incident occurred on Sunday, 30 July 1916. German saboteurs ignited a fire at the munitions-loading facility in Jersey City, across from Manhattan. The ensuing explosions destroyed the waterfront facility and largely obliterated the island, killing four persons and causing over $40 million in property damage. It was the first state-sponsored terrorist attack in…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The La Bourgogne was built in 1885 at the Société Nouvelles de Forges et Chantiers de Médditerranée in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France for the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique better known as the French Line. She was a sleek looking ocean liner with four auxiliary sail rigged masts and twin funnels. La Bourgogne like many other passenger ships of the era, was…
