A ferry in Bangladesh

This is a video of the daily operations of a ferry boat in Bangladesh. It is newer than most ferries in the region, but it is still rather Spartan looking. The river traffic looks insane, 

 

Canoes

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Canoes are small open topped vessels propelled by oars that are used in narrow waters. Dugouts, kayaks and the Amerindian's birchbark canoe are all examples of canoes. They were used in transportation, trading and exploration. Much of the upper Midwest, with its plentiful rivers and large lakes, were explored via canoes. Today, they are widely used for recreational purposes.  

Food on a merchant ship

The video gives information on how food is prepared, stored and served on a U.S. flagged merchant cargo ship.

 

Fishing boats

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It is the summer, and a lot of people want to get out on a boat and get a hook wet. So here are some paintings of fishing boats, both personal and commercial, from hither and yon in both space and time.

Tramp steamers

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Tramp steamers are ships without a fixed schedule. Instead of pre-arranged routes, they trade on the spot market picking up new cargo upon the delivery of whatever they are hauling. Although they can be any type of ship: freighters, tankers, container ships, etc., in popular imagination they are smaller, older, rust buckets.

There is a sub-genre of movies and literature set on tramp streamers. They feature a cast of colorful passengers, most with dubious motives and questionable pasts, as well as crews full of sketchy characters that are likely up to no good. Of course, there will also be a hot dame or two mixed in to roil the pot. They're almost always entertaining in a cheesy sort of a way.  

I thought insurance issues would have prevented modern freighters from carrying passengers, but apparently you can still book passage on some tramp steamers. Sounds kind of dreadful to me, but who knows?

Smuggling oil

The video discusses and explosion aboard the tanker Pablo off the coast of Malaysia. It was empty at the time, although due to poor handling its tanks were full of explosive gases. It was likely involved in a ship-to-ship transfer of a cargo of oil. The ship was sailing out of China, and due to return to China with its new cargo.

The Pablo was part of the dark fleet. These are ships operating without the expected certifications and licensing. They compromise about 10% of the world's tanker fleet and are used to bypass sanctions on Venezuela, Iran and Russia. 

Good information in both videos. The videos are from the YouTube channel What is Going on With Shipping? which covers commercial shipping issues. It is a good resource. It has also been covering the back-and-forth tanker seizures by the U.S. and Iran over the last few weeks.

HMS Victory

This video is a tour of the HMS Victory using 3D modeling. It's nice in that it doesn't fixate on the rigging of the ship, rather it gives a tour of the decks. It gives a good idea of how complex yet still functional the design and layout of the ship was.

 

Catapult launch from an aircraft carrier

Above is a very close view of the catapult assisted launch of a C-2 Greyhound from the Harry S. Truman. Berlow is a cockpit view the same pilot's first carrier launch, this time in a T-45 Goshawk. You can hear his breathing and tell he is pumped as the launch approaches. Finally, we'll end with an approach and landing. 

Overnight Ferry to Miyazaki

The person who runs the Solo Travel Japan YouTube channel takes an older overnight ferry from Kobe to Miyazaki in Japan. The sea portion of the trip done, he eventually ends up in an airport restaurant to taste a chicken specialty of Miyazaki. 

What's odd is you see very few people in the video, which isn't exactly the image of crowded Japan that usually comes to mind. There were a lot of trucks aboard it, perhaps it doesn't get a lot of passenger use. 

Edit to add: gah... sorry about that, you need to click on YouTube before you can view it. I guess the author is worried about it getting properly monetized. YouTube is getting increasingly annoying to use. 

 

Rounding the Cape in 1928

This is a long video, but a very good one. It is film from a 4 masted barque the Peking rounding Cape Horn in 1928. It was filmed by Irving Johnson who was a novice sailor on the trip. He eventually owned and was Master on three his own ships. 

His narrated film shows storms as well as life aboard the Peking. The shots up in the rigging are amazing. Definitely no soy boys on that vessel.

  

Operating a lock on an English canal

In my post On a fuel boat in an English canal I was interested in the rather simple means used to operate the locks in the canals. The above video gives a clear explanation as to how those locks are operated by boaters on the canal. 

 

On a fuel boat in an English canal

I never knew about the narrowboats on the English channels. Interesting lifestyle. I also found the simplicity of the locks to be interesting -- some old technological solutions still being used. The video is narrated.

  

Life rafts

Although it would be better than swimming with the fishies, I would hate to be stuck on one of these for days on end. I am surprised that there are no straws available in case, if the situation gets dire enough and there are no sick cabin boys handy, lots need to be drawn to see who eats who.

Maritime paintings by Anton Otto Fischer

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Anton Otto Fischer (1882-1962) was a 20th century illustrator best known for his paintings of maritime subjects. He was born in Germany and orphaned at a young age. As a teen he worked his way to the U.S. as a deckhand aboard a merchant ship. 

He eventually went to Paris to study art, and by 1910 he was beginning to sell his work to magazines such as Harper's and the Saturday Evening Post. He also illustrated books. During WWII he was commissioned into the U.S. Coast Guard.

There are many more examples of his paintings at the above link.

Anton Otto Fischer

On the water in Burma

This video starts out in a small market. We then board a water taxi and travel down a river, through a small town where we refuel, and then eventually onto the open waters of a lake. It looks like it would be pleasant day trip. 

In my title I called the country Burma, the film-maker called it Myanmar. So which is correct? It is actually been known by both names. The British, during their colonial rule, settled on Burma as its official name. After independence the country's name was changed several times. It was a military junta that changed it to Myanmar, with the US, UK and a few other countries not recognizing the junta's mandate for such a name change and still calling it Burma. Read What’s in a Name: Burma or Myanmar? if you're interested in further details on the back and forth of the country's name changes.

 

On a cargo boat on the upper Amazon

Aboard a fishing junk out of Hong Kong in 1960

Storm in the Labrador Sea

The above video shows the Draken Harald Hårfagre, a replica Viking ship, amid icebergs and in rough weather as it transited the Atlantic. Doesn't look pleasant at all. As one of the crew members says near the end, "it's pretty amazing what size boats can actually handle seas like that, but if I were a Viking I would have turned right the f--- around and gone back in."