Professional Mariner

(coastguardnews) Coast Guard and Alaska Air National Guard helicopters crews found the Skagway hiker around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday after four unsuccessful attempts since Monday due to dense fog near Meade Glacier in the Tongass National Forest east of Haines.  READ MORE

(AP) An 800-foot tanker struggling with poor visibility and strong winds apparently failed to center itself in a narrow waterway off the Gulf of Mexico, possibly contributing to a collision with a tugboat that caused the largest oil spill in Texas in 15 years, according to testimony and evidence presented at a Coast Guard hearing on Tuesday.  READ MORE

(latimes) Reporting from Manama, Bahrain - Although pirates last year made many more attempts to board ships in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, the number of successful seizures was about the same as in 2008, according to the U.S.-organized multinational maritime force here.  READ MORE

(workboat) Coast Guard officials are asking for the public's help in determining whether a distress call that prompted a large search and rescue mission in Penobscot Bay on Saturday was a legitimate emergency or a costly hoax.  READ MORE

(usatoday) The SS United States, America's greatest ocean liner and the fastest ship of its kind ever to cross the Atlantic, is in "imminent danger" of being sold and ripped up for scrap, according to a preservation group.  READ MORE

(ap) A chemical tanker with 21 crew members has been hijacked by Somali pirates near Madagascar, the Norwegian owner said Saturday.  READ MORE

(CNN)  Pirates released a Thai-flagged fishing vessel Sunday after a ransom was paid, a European Union anti-piracy force said. It did not say how much money was handed over.  READ MORE

(USA Today) Sunday was a big day for Celebrity Cruises fans as the third vessel in the line's much-heralded Solstice Class series, the Celebrity Eclipse, emerged from the building at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany where it has been under construction for the past year. READ MORE

(brahmand) US Navy has awarded General Dynamics NASSCO, the wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics an $824.6 million contract. READ MORE

(Copenhagen Post) Danish forces boarded and sank a pirate control ship as part of Nato operations off the coast of Somalia. READMORE