Bookshelf – Professional Mariner

The towing industry’s transition to synthetic rope

The U.S. towing industry has seen some major technology transitions throughout its history, such as the move from coal-fired steam to diesel propulsion, the change from whistle signals to radio communications and the advent of azipods and cycloidal drives for increased maneuverability. Another of these transitions was the change from natural fiber rope to synthetic lines made of nylon and…

The global container shipping era got its start at Port of Newark

The development of containerization was a major change in transportation technology — an innovative idea with profound consequences for world trade. It all got started at Port Newark on April 26, 1956. It was a chilly day, with a high temperature of 48 degrees, with intermittent showers. On a dock outside shed 154, some fifty-eight 33-foot-long containers were swung…

Perilous travels through icy waters

Editor’s Note: Wind Fire & Ice was published by Lyons Press on Oct. 1, 2021. The following is an excerpt published with approval from the author and publisher. Shackleton’s expedition was privately funded, its goal, to be the first to traverse the Antarctic continent. Although called the “Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition,” neither the British government nor the Crown officially supported it.…