Free Republic

The royal warship Vasa is seen at the Vasamuseet museum in Stockholm on April 24, 2011. (Scanpix Sweden, Anders Wiklund/AP Photo) ================================================================= COPENHAGEN, Denmark—A U.S. military laboratory has helped Swedes confirm what was suspected for years: A woman was among those who died on a 17th-century warship that sank on its maiden voyage, the museum that displays the ship said Tuesday. The wreck of the royal warship Vasa was raised in 1961, and was remarkably well-preserved after more than 300 years underwater in the Stockholm harbor. It has since been place at the Vasa Museum, one of Stockholm’s top tourist...

Support S. 2766/H.R. 5949, the Clean Boating Act of 2008 Did you know that a recent court ruling about pollution being dumped from commercial ship ballast water will also require all recreational boats to get permits by September, 2008—despite the fact that 99% of recreational boats do not have ballast tanks? Boats and ships are different, and shouldn’t be treated the same. These costly permits—intended for commercial ships and supertankers that have brought harmful invasive water species into U.S. waters—are being developed right now to tax your boat’s engine cooling water, bilge water, and even deck runoff. This will seriously...

The Cougar Ace was thrown sideways when the massive ship's ballast tank was adjusted in the open seas of the North Pacific, a representative of the vessel owner said Wednesday. "There clearly was imbalance in the intake of ballast water. The company investigation ultimately will tell us what caused that imbalance," said Greg Beuerman, a spokesman for Tokyo-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, which owns the 654-foot car carrier. Two days after the bruised and battered crew was hoisted to safety, the disabled ship remained floating on its side 230 miles south of Adak Island in Alaska's Aleutian chain. ..... ....... Crowley...

If John Kerry loses the election, and quite possibly even if he wins, the main thing people will remember about his campaign is how utterly bizarre it was that a major party nomination could have been captured by a man so staggeringly devoid of political talent. The first job of a candidate is to win the election, a task to which Kerry seems spectacularly ill suited. This is not to say he won't beat President Bush, only that Kerry's contribution to a potential Kerry victory would be similar to the anchor's contribution to an America's Cup championship. Lest you think...

Ballast Water Violators Face Hefty Fines WASHINGTON, DC, January 9, 2003 (ENS) - The U.S. Coast Guard has proposed imposing fines of up to $25,000 a day on vessels that fail to exchange their ballast water at sea before entering a U.S. port, or to submit reports documenting the exchange. The agency has also proposed widening the application of reporting and recordkeeping requirements regarding ballast water, to apply to all vessels bound for ports or places within the United States, with minor exceptions. CAPTION A ship discharges ballast water at sea, one of the best ways to prevent the...