Updates from the Shipster

Hi Everyone! I've got a couple of fun events coming up in the near future! If you're in the St. John's/Mount Pearl area this month, feel free to come by and check them out!

In The Harbour: Polar Prince/Canada C3

The Canada C3 is currently finishing up its tour of the Atlantic coast and heading to the Arctic Ocean. She stopped off here from July 10th-11th, and I was lucky enough to squeeze a tour of the vessel in before heading to work. So let's talk about the history of the Polar Prince, and look at her current role as the literal flagship for Canada 150.

In The Harbour: M/V Arctic Sunrise

Just over a week ago, a new ship came sailing through the Narrows. The M/V Arctic Sunrise, operated by Greenpeace, arrived in St. John’s on August 3rd and yours truly, curious to learn what brought her here, popped down and was able to chat with some members of her crew.

In The HarbourOriginalShipsterAugust 15, 2016Arctic Sunrise, Baffin Island, Greenpeace, Icebreaker, newfoundland, ship, shipping, solar power, st- john'sComment

Over the Waves: SS Anglo Saxon

Hi Everyone! I know it's been awhile so let's just jump right in, shall we? As I've discussed before, and many of you will know, ships were once the only way for people to travel from Europe to North America. In the early years of these routes, ships would be filled as much as they could with passengers, cargo, and crew. Most of the time, these ships would make fairly uneventful crossings. However, when things went wrong, they went very, very wrong. One of these, while en route to Quebec, Canada, ran aground off the coast of Newfoundland with a loss of more than half her passengers and crew. This week, we're looking at the wreck of the SS Anglo Saxon.

In The Harbour: Beverly M I

Last week, I received a message from Martin LeDuc, Chief Engineer on the McKeil Marine owned tug Beverly M I. The Beverly was in St. John's for some maintenance and was moored at NewDock - Martin wanted to know if I was interested in a tour of the tug. I jumped at the opportunity, so Saturday afternoon, myself and Scott Humber of Scott Humber Photography headed down to the dock and met up with Martin for a tour of the ship.

Over the Waves: SS Clyde

Happy (?) Monday, everyone! When I started this blog, I initially kicked around the idea of each week of "Over the Waves" corresponding with the date that the ship sank/went out of service. Turns out, this is a lot more difficult than it sounds, so I went a different route. However, this week, I have managed to pull it off, and it was too good an opportunity to pass up, so here we go!

I've covered some of the Alphabet Fleet before. Ships such as the SS Kyle and SS Ethie that were members of the Reid Newfoundland Company's fleet of coastal steamships at the turn of the century. This week I'm covering another one, which while not as well known as say, the Kyle, or even the Ethie, this ship was considered crucial to the ports she visited along Notre Dame Bay. Called the "harbinger of spring", her visits to small coastal ports would be met with crowds of locals down at the wharf. This week, we're looking at the career of the SS Clyde.

Over the Waves: Nisbet Grammer

As some of you may have heard, September was a very busy month for shipwrecks. The Canadian Government, working with Parks Canada and different agencies, finally located the HMS Erebus from the fabled Franklin expedition. Shortly after, a four-man team located the wreck of the Nisbet Grammer, a steel cargo ship that collided with another ship and sank to the bottom of Lake Ontario almost 90 years ago.

In the Harbour: August 8th-14th

We are finally getting into cruise ship season! That time of year when downtown is filled with tourists from all over the world, and ships tower over the city's skyline. This week saw a couple of these vessels arrive in our harbour, starting with...

Over the Waves: HMCS West York

Happy Tuesday everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting. I was in Montreal this past weekend and upon returning to my hotel last night the best you folks would have gotten was "hfsuifgdskbfsdj zzzzzzzzz". And so, I opted to postpone my Monday entry so I was in a better headspace to tell you all about the HMCS West York.

Over the Waves: SS Charcot

The SS Charcot was a whaling vessel owned by the Hawke Whaling Co. She and her four sister ships, the SS Southern Foam, the SS Sposa, the SS Stoika, and the SS Sukha, sank in this area in the 1960s. The Southern Foam and Sukha were deliberately scuttled by their owner. The Charcot was destined for the same fate, but bad weather pulled her from her moorings and drove her onto the shore. For years some locals discussed pulling her out and sinking her entirely, but for now she and her sister ships are being marketed as underwater tourism attractions.