Starting in August 2023, all new purchases or
commissions of ship models that are to be used for
public viewing, teaching, tradeshow, or company's display are
subject to 50% increase in
price. This increase is relative to the list price
of a similar model. For example, a model priced
$4,000 on our web site would be $6,000. We are sorry the
accumulated inflation in the past few years has
forced us to take this action.
We
accept Paypal. Let us know of your email address and
we'll send you a Paypal bill.
NEW PAYMENT
SCHEDULE (for all commissions starting
February 2024)
1/ If the
model is under $3,000, we require a
commitment deposit of only $500 to start The
remaining is due when the model is
completed.
2/ If the
model is $3,000-$5,000, we require a
commitment deposit of only $900 to start The
remaining is due when the model is
completed.
3/ If the
model is over $5,000: 25% of the amount to
start, 25% after the hull and the
superstructure are done.
The remaining 50% is due when the model is
completed.
There
are many great benefits of being the first,
including financial rewards when it's time for you
to auction off your "first ever produced" artwork.
If you tend to be the first on the coolest and
greatest things, ModelShipMaster can help a bit. We
are the only scale model company in the world
that pioneers models of newest ships that have cutting edge designs.
Each first model will have a metal plaque indicating
it is the world's first and our company's name on
it. We can be reached at
Services@ModelShipMaster.com.
March, 2024: For the
first time ever, the US Navy has a carrier-based
aircraft that does not require a pilot--the
MQ-25 Stingray autonomous refueller.
March, 2024: Austal
launches first Saildrone vessel built for U.S. Navy
Feb. 2024:
Sunreef Yachts turns to natural fiber for
boatbuilding.
The U.S. Navy’s newest Overlord Unmanned Surface
Vessel Vanguard was recently launched from Austal
USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. Vanguard is the
first USV for the Navy purpose-built for autonomous
operations from the keel-up.
Dec. 2023: Visit
Coast
Guard Museum NorthWest in Seattle WA to view our
work on display.
"I just got back
from viewing it at the museum in Seattle.
Captain Davis is more than pleased. I have
to say I was more than a little impressed,
myself... Anyway, the Captain was so pleased, he
has authorized the next commission, and I am
offering it to you first. It is a 36" Hamiltion
class cutter, USCGC Munro WHEC-724.
Like the Active,
The Museum is looking for an enclosure, as well
as a stand.
Much Appreciation, Charles B."
Dec. 2023: we will be
closed from 12/24 to 12/28.
Warm wishes to you this holiday
season.
Dec. 2023: "Good
morning, My name is Hxxxx Sxxxx and am currently
coordinating a project between NAVCENT [U.S.
Naval Forces Central Command]
and CENTCOM [United
States Central Command].
We just have a quick question about your product
listing for the USS Arleigh Burke. Do you have
versions of these photos that are not
watermarked that we could use in a public
affairs article or announcement? Pictures of the
actual ship do not work for what we have in mind
and the model on your site
is a very high fidelity reproduction. Any
help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in
advance for your time. V/r, Hxxxx Sxxxx, Effects
Coordinator. CENTCOM CCJ39"
Maersk to Deploy
First Large Methanol-Fueled Containership
The vessel is currently under construction at
Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. She has
a capacity of 16,000 containers and is equipped
with a dual-fuel engine capable of running on
methanol, biodiesel, and conventional bunker
fuel. Since 2021, Maersk has exclusively ordered
new vessels capable of operating green fuels.
Upon deployment, the vessel will be only the
second containership globally capable of sailing
on green methanol, following the feeder vessel Laura
Maersk,
which entered service in September 2023.
Maersk’s orderbook comprises a total of 24
vessels, including 12 with a capacity of 16,000
TEU, 6 with a capacity of 17,000 TEU, and 6 with
a capacity of 9,000 TEU. All of the vessels will
be equipped with dual-fuel engines and will be
able to operate on green methanol. Scheduled for
launch on February 9, 2024
Nov.
2023: A new Virginia-class submarine is named
Arizona. The state's namesake is
the first USS Arizona since the day before the Pearl
Harbor attack in 1941.
No ship in the U.S. Navy has carried the name
"Arizona" since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941. The Navy continued to carry the
ship on its rolls, not naming any other ship after
it as a tribute to the 1,777 sailors who were killed
when the battleship during the attack.
Oct.
2023: Panama Canal reduced the number of ships that
can transit through the strategic waterway, which
has been hit by an intense drought. Only 31
ships will be allowed through the canal per day from
November 1, down from circa 36 to 38 daily ship
crossings during normal operations. The announcement
was a further cut from the earlier figure of 32,
imposed in August. That restriction caused
a backlog of hundreds of vessels waiting to cross
the canal. Ships that usually crossed the canal in
two-and-a-half days had to wait more than nine to
make the journey. The situation has become so dire
that some shipping firms have paid millions of
dollars to buy an earlier place in line. Unlike the
Suez Canal, which relies on seawater, the Panama
Canal uses freshwater from an artificial lake to
supply its waterway. But after an unusually dry
year, the watershed of rivers and brooks that
usually feed into the lake has been particularly
meager, leaving Lake Gatun with about 80 feet of
water. It would usually have about 87.
Sept.
2023:
The Navy's first Flight III DDG 51 Destroyer, the
USS Jack Lucas (DDG 125), has hit the ocean on its
way from Mississippi to Tampa, Florida for
Commissioning. Long in development, the new ship is
the first in a class of cutting edge new destroyers
armed with laser weapons, paradigm-changing,
long-range high-fidelity sensors and radar,
over-the-horizon ship-fired weapons and
new-generations of on-board electricity, cooling and
power storage. Incinerating enemy drones and fighter
jets with laser weapons, tracking and destroying
incoming anti-ship and ballistic missiles with
ship-launched interceptors, jamming enemy radar,
targeting and communications with next-generation EW
and launching paradigm-changing long-range,
over-the-horizon precision weapons ... are just a
few of the missions intended for the now arriving US
Navy Arleigh Burke-class DDG 51 Flight III
Destroyers.
Taiwan launched first submarine:
Seven countries provided technology
to help Taiwan build its submarine fleet. The first
sub is equipped with a Lockheed Martin Corp combat
system and US-made MK-48 heavyweight torpedoes.
It
might add US anti-ship missiles
Harpoon. Taiwan already fields the Harpoon, and the
US Navy awarded a $1.17 billion contract for Harpoon
Block 2 missiles in April. The Block 2 can be
deployed from air, sea and land platforms.
The
first submarine came with a hefty price tag of
$1.54bn. The 6 new submarines could keep China’s
navy from encircling Taiwan and cutting the island
off from outside resources. The submarines could
keep China from bypassing the First Island Chain, an
imaginary line of defense connecting Taiwan, Japan,
the Philippines and Indonesia.
August:
The cruiser USS Mobile Bay, which launched 22
Tomahawk cruise missiles during Operation Desert
Storm and helped carry people to safety when Mt.
Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines, will be
decommissioned in San Diego on Aug. 10.
The cruisers were designed for a 35-year service
life. Mobile Bay was commissioned 36 years ago.
July:
Porsche is introducing a $655,000 limited-edition
electric speedboat.
Called the Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air, the
zero-emission watercraft will share powertrain
technology with the upcoming Macan EV. The 8.7-meter
day cruiser’s prolusion unit will utilize
technologies developed for Volkswagen Group’s
Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform, which will
underpin Porsche and Audi EVs like the Macan EV and
the Audi A6 e-tron.
Live onboard for 3 years for $38,000
per year.
Life at Sea cruises, which announced plans for a
three-year world cruise that will cover over 130,000
miles and hit all seven continents and 135 countries
has acquired a newer, larger vessel to accommodate
up to 1,250 passengers. MV Lara will depart from
Istanbul on Nov. 1. An outside cabin is $65,052. And
a balcony cabin will run $98,226 per year.
June:
The House Appropriations Committee approved an
increase to the Coast Guard's fiscal 2024 budget,
forwarding a bill to the full chamber that funds a
5.2% pay raise for members, a commercial icebreaker,
four additional fast response cutters which are
meant to boost the Coast Guard's operations in the
Indo-Pacific region, and an extra HC-130J Super
Hercules aircraft.
Have a
beautiful room and need something spectacular to
enhance it? May we suggest the model below?
May: Coast Guard Museum of CG Base Seattle WA
commissioned ModelShipMaster to build an encased
model of the Active WMEC 618.
The first full-size 3D scan of the Titanic shows the
shipwreck in new light.
Two remote controlled submersibles have completed
the first full-size digital scan of the
Titanic, showing the entire wreck in
unprecedented detail and clarity. They mapped the
whole shipwreck and the surrounding 3-mile debris
field, where personal belongings of the ocean
liner’s passengers such as shoes and watches were
scattered. The resulting data — including 715,000
images — is 10 times larger than any underwater 3D
model ever attempted before.
Previous images of the Titanic
were often limited by low light levels, and only
allowed viewers to see one area of the wreck at a
time. The new 3D model captures both the bow and
stern section, which had separated upon sinking, in
clear detail — including the serial number on the
propeller. Anthony Geffen, head of documentary maker
Atlantic Productions says: “All our assumptions
about how it sank, and a lot of the details of the
Titanic comes from speculation, because there is no
model that you can reconstruct, or work exact
distances, I’m excited because this quality of the
scan will allow people in the future to walk through
the Titanic themselves ...”
Cunard’s New Queen
Anne Floats Out https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/05/cunard-new-queen-anne-floats-out/
April: The largest sailing yacht in
the world has been completed. At 417 feet long, the
megayacht called
Koru costs $500 million. Built by the Dutch
shipmaker Oceanco, she made her maiden voyage on
April 6.
USS Nimitz CVN-68
decommissioned in 2006 and USS
Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in 2007.
Commissioned in 1975, Nimitz was
built for a 50-year service.
Feb: CMA CGM
installs ‘Windshield’ on one of its ship.
The windshield
is to improve aerodynamics and reduce fuel
consumption. Use of “windshields”
was pioneered by Japanese shipping line
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines in 2015. The company
later confirmed a 2% average CO2 emissions
reduction. Delivered in 2012, CMA CGM Marco
Polo earned the title of world’s largest
containership, taking the titled from Emma
Maersk, and kicking off the “megaship arms
race” that continues to this day.
- The First
California River Cruise in Decades Are Ready to Sets
Sail. American Cruise Lines's American Jazz which
was inaugurated in 2021 can accommodate 99
passengers in all-balcony accommodations. The first
California sailing will depart on Feb. 24. After a
brief summer break, the sailings will resume in the
fall. Rates for an eight-day San Francisco Bay and
California river cruise start at $5,990 per person.
December:
- The historic
Queen Mary reopens
on Thursday, December 15th
(after nearly 3 long years.) Visit her to see that
we are the only one on earth who can build authentic
Queen Mary model.
- Travel to
Antarctica is booming, with 100,000 people expected
to travel to the continent this season. The
200-person
Ocean Endeavor expedition ship, where rooms cost
a passenger only $10,000 or so, is incredible. MSM
team is building a similar ship for an office in
Beverly Hills here:
Le Commandant Charcot.
-The
three-masted tall ship Earl of Pembroke, which
starred in
Treasure Island,
Alice in Wonderland,
Cloud Atlas,
Longitude,
Count of Monte Cristo, and
Brotherhood of the Wolf has been towed off for
demolition. The vessel was built in Sweden in 1945
as the Orion. Her new name, the Earl of Pembroke,
was the original name of Captain James Cook's famous
barque Endeavor. We have very good info about this
ship and would love to build a model for you.
- Paul Allen’s famous superyacht Tatoosh finally
sold. We now accept
commissions to build models of the Tatoosh.
Click
here fore more info.
-
After 144 days in construction dock, MSC Irina and MSC
Loreto are now floated. They are the largest
deadweight and largest container capacity vessels in
the world. The deadweight tonnage is over 240,000
dwt, rated capacity 24,346 TEU. The highest
container stack on the new ships is 25 layers.
Overall length is 1,312 feet.
The ships have a new type of “invisible” bulbous
bow, large-diameter propellers, and wind resistance
exterior design. In addition, they have air
lubrication along the hull. Since surpassing Maersk
at the beginning of 2022, MSC has added nearly 10
percent in capacity, surpassing 4.5 million TEU with
708 vessels.
ModelShipMaster accepts commissions to build models
of the ships at 45" long (1/350 scale), 31.5"
(1/500 scale) and 22.5" (1/700 scale). Send
us an email for more info:
Services@ModelShipMaster.com
October: Happy
birthday, Old Ironsides:
USS Constitution turned 225 on 10/21.
Ritz-Carlton's
highly-anticipated superyacht cruise finally made
its debut in October 2022.
Evrima began a seven-night cruise from
Barcelona, Spain to Nice, France on October 15.
September: Our
Titanic model has brought joy to members of the
prestigious Union Club of New York.
"I
wanted to thank Frank for the greatest,
extraordinary model. It came today beautifully
packed. Everything was in flawless condition. I will
send you a photograph of it for you I'm sure you
seen a thousand photographs of these models but
we're really excited it was a wonderful day for us.
It's on one of the big tables in the main room in
the library right now and I don't quite know how to
express my admiration and thanks for that model It's
quite remarkable. It has a great deal to do with our
club because five of our members perished on the
Titanic and we're going to have a special dinner on
April 13 where the model will be brought into the
big room in the main room for dinner black tie..."
August: If you are
in the vicinity of Great Lakes, IL, visit the
National Museum of the American Sailor
to view a sample of our models'
accuracy. The museum is located near Naval Station
Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois. It honors
the American Sailor’s unwavering and patriotic
allegiance to the three bedrock principles which
have guided United States’s sailors since the
earliest days of the naval service: Honor, Courage,
Commitment.
July: U.S. Navy
Declares Initial Operating Capability (IOC) For
Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS). UISS
provides acoustic and magnetic minesweeping coupled
with the semi-autonomous, diesel-powered,
aluminum-hulled Mine Countermeasures Unmanned
Surface Vehicle (MCM USV). Notably, this is also the
first IOC of an unmanned surface platform by the
U.S. Navy, marking an important milestone in the
evolution toward a hybrid fleet of manned and
unmanned systems. If you
love to be the first in many things, we can help you
achieve that. ModelShipMaster.com is the only scale
model company that pioneers and spearheads cutting
edge designs. Let us build this MCM USV for you.
Services@ModelShipMaster.com
June: The
deepest shipwreck ever identified. The USS
Samuel B Roberts went down during the Battle Off
Samar in the Philippine Sea in October 1944. It lies
in 22,621ft (6,895m) of water. Texan financier
and adventurer Victor Vescovo, who owns a
deep-diving submersible, discovered the "Sammy B"
battered but largely intact. The vessel is famed for
a heroic final stand against the Japanese.
Outnumbered and outgunned, it managed to contain and
frustrate several enemy ships before eventually
going down. Of the Samuel B Roberts' 224-man crew,
89 were killed. The 120 survivors clung to life
rafts for 50 hours awaiting rescue. More about the
ship can be learned from this spectacular model
here:
USS Samuel B Roberts model.
Hong Kong's
iconic Jumbo Restaurant sunk. A pioneer of
nautical models, we will start the construction of
this boat model soon. Click here for further info:
Jumbo restaurant model.
Nuclear Ballistic
Missile Submarine District of Columbia
Construction of the first in a new class of
ballistic missile submarine that’s expected to
commission in 2027 has been started.
At a length of 560 feet and
displacing 20,810 tons, the District of Columbia
will be the largest submarine ever built by the U.S.
Its reactor will not require refueling during the
lifetime of planned service. In addition to its
complement of 16 missiles, the submarine will be
armed with Mk 48 torpedoes and will feature superior
acoustic performance and state-of-the-art sensors to
make it the most capable and quiet submarine ever
built.
The class will replace the
14 Ohio-class submarines due to begin
to retire from service in 2027.
The Columba-class will carry “70
percent of America’s deployed nuclear arsenal,” Navy
Secretary Carlos Del Toro said at the ceremony at
Electric Boat’s Quonset Point facility in Rhode
Island.
Submarines are the stealthiest and
most survivable of the nation’s nuclear triad of
land, air and sea-based nuclear weapons.
April: Coast Guard
breaks ground on Boston base upgrade.
The project is slated to be completed
this summer. The project includes the demolition and
construction of a new central pier, new floating
docks and an expansion of the engineering services
available to support the fleet of six new cutters
coming to Boston. Each ship is 154 feet long and can
host a crew of 24 Coast Guard members. The entire
fleet of cutters costs $380 million.
Feb: Northrup
Grumman is pushing ahead with plans to develop a
more 'lightweight' version of the AN/SLQ-32(V)7
Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block
III, or SEWIP Block III, that it is developing for
the U.S. Navy. This shrunken-down version of the
system could give smaller vessels a cutting-edge
suite of electronic warfare (EW) capabilities — one
that not only can provide advanced passive detection
of radiofrequency threats but also make precise and
potent electronic attacks on multiple targets
simultaneously.
Jan: After
being docked in Lake Charles for more than a decade,
the USS Orleck Naval Museum is set to be moved this
morning, making its way to Florida’s Jacksonville
Naval Museum. The ship was called the “Top Gun” of
Vietnam, fired 11,000+ rounds earning the nickname
“Grey Ghost of the Vietnam Coast” and netting an
astonishing 14 battle stars throughout the war. It
received dozens of awards for military service. We
have very good information about the Orleck and
would love to build a model for you. Any sizes.
Dec:
EU willing to
co-fund lifting of sunken nuclear subs from Arctic
seabed. The sunken Russian submarines K-27 and
K-159 will leak in 20-30 years. The November-class
K-159 submarine sank in late August 2003 while being
towed in bad weather. The K-27 was dumped in the
Kara Sea in 1982, at a depth of 33 meters.
Yara debuts world's first autonomous
electric container ship.
The Yara Birkeland, an 80-metre-long (87 yards)
so-called feeder will load and offload its cargo,
recharge its batteries and also navigate without
human involvement. Sensors will be able to quickly
detect and understand objects in the water. The
ship, which will do two journeys per week to start
with, has capacity to ship 120 20-foot containers of
fertiliser at a time. It will cut 1,000 tones of
carbon emissions per year, equivalent to 40,000
diesel-powered journeys by road.
Nov:
The warship that fired
first shots of World War One has been restored. The
Austro-Hungarian heavy gunboat
SMS Bodrog (also known as monitor
Sava)
hurled shells at Serbian positions in Belgrade on
July 28, 1914, marking the start of the four-year
war. Click here for more info about a model of the
monitor:
https://www.modelshipmaster.com/products/modern_navy/SMS-Bodrog.htm
Sept:
The world's largest container ship Ever Ace that is
1,312 ft (400 meters) in length, and with a capacity
of 23,992 TEU made waves and turned heads when it
transited the
Suez Canal on August 28.Because of its
large size, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) followed
its protocols and offered navigation support during
the transit, ensuring a safe passage of the ship.
August:
The iconic superyacht Octopus has
been sold. The superyacht Octopus features exterior
design by Espen Øino and made waves in the industry
when she was launched, often pinned as the first
superyacht of her canon, a true ocean explorer with
a 12,500 nautical miles range. She is, to this day,
considered the world’s largest explorer superyacht.
Octopus carries second-to-none equipment onboard,
including two helicopters, stored in their own
dedicated hangar on deck, as well as a gigantic
float-in tender bag at her stern, which accommodates
an ROV with a 1.9 mile range and a 13-metre Hinckley
tender called Man of War II. She also carries a
Pagoo submarine for as many as eight guests and two
crew, able to drive for up to eight
hours. Octopus also features a dive centre with a
hyperbaric chamber for scuba diving enthusiasts.
There are thirteen guest staterooms in total,
alongside 30 crew cabins to accommodate her 63 crew
members. Visit this page to view our beautiful
model:
Octopus.
USS
Carl Vinson strike group is the first to deploy with
F-35C stealth fighters.
The carrier completed a
17-month upgrade late last summer so it could
support F-35s, the newest generation of fighter jet,
as well as Ospreys, the tiltrotor aircraft that can
land vertically like a helicopter and fly like a
fixed-wing plane. The fifth-generation F-35C is the
carrier version of the stealth fighter that costs
$94.4 million each, according to the Navy. Air
superiority is its role. The CMV-22B Osprey is the
replacement for the fixed wing C-2A Greyhound, a
logistics workhouse that delivers people, mail and
cargo from shore to ship.
July: Norwegian Yacht Company
Launches First Residential Super Yacht. The 728-foot
vessel (world's largest) will offer 39 luxury
residences and “seven-star” service. The yacht's
name is Somnio, meaning ‘to dream’ in Latin.
June 2021:
May 2021: The Queen Mary is in dire
need for repair. Very few repairs have been made to
the historical vessel over the past five years,
leaving her vulnerable to flooding or capsizing. In
addition, Long Beach would need $20 million for
urgent safety repairs to keep the ship viable. The
$20 million is on top of another $20 million Long
Beach has already spent on her. ModelShipMaster
wants to help. For every purchase of the
QM model, we'll donate $200 to the Queen
Mary.
April 2021: We regret
to announce that, starting April 3rd, due to the
overwhelming orders from the cruise ship industry,
we have to cease receiving commissions to build
cruise ships and ocean liners. For more information,
click here: lead time.
March 2021: the
container ship queue to get into Long Beach port
gets longer and passed the Huntington Beach pier. We
never seen this incredible sight since the start of
our business over 20 years ago. Maybe it's never
been like for the entire history of port of Long
Beach. The current wait time is a full week which is
not good at all for ship crews' well-being.
Feb. 2021:
a San Diego-based Marine F/A-18C
squadron flew off the aircraft carrier Nimitz and
back to family at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar,
after a 9-month deployment. The homecoming marks the
end of an era for Marine aviation as the F/A-18C
Hornets are the last of their type to deploy on an
aircraft carrier. Navy pilots flying a newer jet,
the so-called Super Hornet, still make up the
carriers’ primary air wings. The squadron will
continue flying the Hornets out of Miramar station
for the immediate future. By 2028, the squadron will
be updated to F-35B.
January 2021: If you
plan to have a custom model for a Farther's Day,
please contact us by the end of February. Due
to a recent surge of orders and also the pandemic,
we probably can't accept a rush job anymore until
further notice.
December:
Bipartisan legislation authorizing six polar
icebreakers passed both houses of Congress.
Authorization of the new Polar Class icebreakers
this year will put America in a much better position
to operate in the region and protect our national
security and economic interests. The U.S. has two
polar icebreakers. Russia has 53 icebreakers Canada
has seven, Finland has 10, Sweden has seven and
Denmark has four. ModelShipMaster.com builds the
most accurate icebreaker models in the world. Our
models do not have gross errors like the others'.
Click here for more info:
Coast Guard models.
November: The Coast
Guard icebreaker Healy caught fire in August 2020
and one of her motors was damaged. Fortunately, a
spare motor had been created 23 years ago when the
ship was built. After 23 years in storage,
it
is now on the ship. The motor was so large that the
only way to remove the damaged motor was to cut the
hull of the ship. The ship was actually built around
the motor. Click here for more about the Healy:
Icebreaker Healy.
A German warship sunk by a
torpedo during World War II has been found
on the seabed off Norway. The vessel, which
measures 571 feet long and still bears the
Nazi swastika, led an assault on the
southern Norwegian city of Kristiansand in
the April 1940 invasion of the country.
During the operation it came under fire from
Norwegian artillery, was torpedoed by a
British submarine and was finally scuttled
by the Germans themselves. With the main
battery of nine cannons in three triple
turrets, it was the largest and most
fearsome ship in the attack group against
Kristiansand.
Statnett,
the Norwegian state-owned power grid
operator, made the astounding discovery of
the lost Karlsruhe cruiser around 1,600 feet
below sea level.
August, 2020:
July, 2020:
One more important project delivered successfully.
When it comes to high end and accurate tall ship
models, we are the natural choice, yet our price
rarely exceeds $5,000! Click
here to learn more.
June, 2020: picture
of the month:
SSBN USS Maryland
Conducts Full At-Sea Crew Exchange
May 12: Norwegian
archaeologists are set to carry out a full
excavation of a buried Viking ship for the first
time in more than 100 years.
According to Forbes,
the Gjellestad ship spent more than 1,000 years
hidden underground.
The ship burial does not exist in isolation, but
forms part of a cemetery which is clearly designed
to display power and influence.Three
well-preserved Viking ships previously discovered in
Norway
were excavated in 1868, 1880, and 1904,
respectively. Unlike those times, today's modern
excavation technology
will give a tremendous opportunity to understand why
these ship burials took place.
May 1 (in case you missed it):
A new star has been
born. The 99.95 meter Feadship's Moonrise has begun
sea trials after hitting the water for the first
time in March. Unveiled at the Makkum yard on
February 7, Moonrise sports exterior design penned
by Studio De Voogt. Moonrise is the largest
superyacht by waterline length built in the
Netherlands to date. She successfully marries sleek
sensual lines with a modern masculine profile. A
wide range of elegant details, long hull windows, a
and striking vertical bow add to the elegance of the
design by Studio De Voogt.
April 27:
The largest container vessel on earth with a TEU
capacity of 24,000 started its maiden voyage on
Sunday. The HMM Algeciras measures 1,310' long and
200' wide Her deck area is about the size of three
and a half soccer fields. The HMM Algeciras can
carry 24,000 containers--some 200 more containers
than the previous largest container ship--the MSC
Gülsün. The containers, if connected end to end,
will reach a total length of 100 miles.
The ship was officially named during
a private ceremony at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and
Engineering shipyard in South Korea.
April
2020:
For
all valued customers who have done business with us in
2019 and 2020, please contact us for a pair of N95/N100
respirator if you haven't had them. We use NIOSH-approved,
USA-made N95 and N100 for our work and we want to
share them with you to weather this crisis.
April
2020:
The current
crisis is not affecting our business much. In early April,
the Abraham Lincoln Library and
Museum signed a contract with us for three famous
civil war ships. March set a record for our modern
warships, with four models sold and two on back
order. Our customer base tends to be more strategic
and confident. Thank you! It's
been a great pleasure to serve you all.
March
2020:
Due to the lockdown in California
in March, ModelShipMaster will operate at 3/4 capacity. Only
several craftsmen who work at our shops will be affected, as
they have to work in their garages now. We
continue hiring globally so if you think you belong
to the top 3%
or can produce the same models
featured on our Web site, please do not hesitate to
contact us.
February 2020: Four
hundred years after the Mayflower crossed the
Atlantic from Britain to the United States, a group
of engineers plan to have a crewless-ship also named
the Mayflower, navigate itself along the same route.
The voyage is due to begin in September and the new
Mayflower could become the first full-sized, fully
autonomous vessel to cross the Atlantic. The
original Mayflower ship transported 102 British
settlers from England to America. They would become
the first pilgrims to land there. “One common thing
on both projects was really a sense of adventure.
The original Mayflower had people believing in a
special future and putting their lives at risk,”
said Goetz Linzenmeier, chairman and founder of
Aluship, which built the hull.
Jan, 2020: The
Japanese military is considering developing a
hypersonic anti-ship missile with a special warhead
for penetrating the decks of Chinese aircraft
carriers. The 2026 model is for “targeting a
potential enemy invading Japan's remote islands,”
The Mainichi newspaper reported. “In the second
stage, an upgraded type will be developed for
possible installation in fiscal 2028 or later,
featuring claw-shaped payloads, enhanced speeds and
firing ranges and more complex trajectories.”
Nov. 2019: The hybrid
cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen, with
450 passengers aboard,
is making her maiden
voyage to Antarctica where she will be christened with a
chunk of ice instead of the traditional bottle of
champagne in the fall of 2019. She will be the
first ever ship to be christened in the southern
continent. Click to learn more about this amazing ship:
MS Roald Amundsen
Sept 2019: One of the
most moving moments we have experienced happened
this month. We picked up (in a senior center in San
Diego), repaired, and delivered a fine model build
by a brother (now deceased) and passed it down to
his sister who's now bed ridden. We have
revived loving memories with numerous repairs and
this was perhaps the first time we deeply felt the
full meaning of our job. "Awesome!! Thank you!
You can't know how much joy this will bring her."
Texted her niece.
August 2019: Two of
our models were placed on a newly-built superyacht by
the prestigious
design studio
Reymond Langton Design. We were happy
that our hard work and unmatched skills were paid
off when more and more of our models became part of
multimillion-dollar establishments on which hundreds
of successful people would enjoy, love, and learn
some more maritime history.
May 2019: On May 19,
guided-missile destroyer USS Preble sailed within 12
nautical miles of the disputed Scarborough Shoal
which is a territory claimed by China, as an attempt
to challenge Beijing’s excessive maritime claims in
the South China Sea.
May 2019: All three
high-tech Zumwalt destroyers are now in the water.
The first-in-class USS Zumwalt is preparing weapons
on its way to final delivery later this year. The
Zumwalt is now test-firing its weapons systems,
completing an operational scenario transit through
Alaska and Hawaii and advancing tactical training
for the crew, as it prepares for its maiden
deployment. The activation, which involves refining
weapons, sensors and networks, is a vital step
towards launching the destroyer for war. The second,
PCU Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001, has begun combat
availability and number three -- PCU Lyndon B.
Johnson (DDG 1002) -- was christened in April of
this year, on its way to a planned Hull, Mechanical
and Electrical delivery next year. The Johnson is
now 85 percent built and achieved “float-off” in
December of last year.
Feb. 2019:
Singapore's
acquisition of four new Type 218SG submarines, which
offer more firepower and combat options, is a timely
move as maritime security challenges evolve and
countries beef up their submarine fleets. In
Asia, defense spending has increased significantly,
reaching US$447 billion in 2017, an increase of
about 61 per cent from 2008, with many countries
modernizing their armed forces. The new Type
218SG submarine - custom-made to Singapore's needs -
will have 50 per cent longer endurance, more
firepower, more capable sensors and advanced
automation than the current fleet of submarines in
the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN). The RSN,
the Defence Science and Technology Agency, German
defense contractor thyssenkrupp Marine Systems
worked together on the design and building of the
submarine.
Dec. 2018:
Japan has unveiled plans to develop the country's
first aircraft carrier in over seven decades.
China's navy has formidable air defenses and could
likely destroy Japanese helicopters and F-15s in
battle. But the stealth F-35Bs give the
carriers a fifth-generation fighter, the likes of
which China has never before seen. The F-22,
the US' first fifth-generation fighter, came across
as an ideal solution for Japan's defense needs, but
the US refused to sell, saying the cutting-edge
technology was too critical to share. Japan
has a total of four helicopter destroyers, among
which are two Izumo-class destroyers that could be
quickly converted to serve as aircraft carriers.
October, 2018: A super sport
boat, Princess' R35
Hydrofoils have long been used on marine craft, such
as ferries, to raise the bow so that the boat
"flies" of the water. Those crafts' foils are fixed.
But now PRINCESS, a yacht construction firm based in
the UK, revolutionizes the concept. Their new
boat--name R35-- has hydrofoils that are constantly
adjusted. They remain retracted at slow speed. Out
on the ocean, the foils deploy as speed increases.
Sensors detect the position of the boat in the
water, and a computer calculates the ideal angle at
which the foils should be set to lift the bow and
reduce drag. The foils also ensure that the stern
remains in the optimum position in the water to
improve thrust and handling. And, as both the port
and the starboard foils can be adjusted
independently of each other, the R35 can make very
fast turns. All this makes the R35 a bit of a
supercar among boats. The boat can reach 50 knots
(92.6kph)! Kiran Haslam, Princess’s marketing
director, says the active foils could be scaled up
for use on larger marine craft.
July, 2018: Another very successful
contract with the US federal government.
"MSM Team
We thought you would enjoy seeing a picture of how
your model looks on display! We’ve very pleased and
hope you will be as well.
Let us know if you are ever in Washington and are
able to come take a look in person.
Thank you again for working with us.
David K. Allison, Project Director
Tanya Garner, Project Manager"
June, 2018: Our most extensive
restoration on a model ship was much appreciated
Jan. 2018: According to the
Economist-a magazine, a powerful search ship has
been deployed to search for MH370-the missing
airliner that left Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014
with 239 on board and vanished over the Indian
Ocean. The ship's name is Seabed
Constructor. She is a Norwegian research
vessel, built in 2014 and currently leased by Ocean
Infinity in Houston Texas. Seabed
Constructor carries eight autonomous submarines
called HUGINS, each six meters long. With
these eight subs, the ship can manage 1,200 square
kilometers a day--enough to have covered the
original search area in just 100 days. The
HUGINS can go as deep as 6,000 meters, reaching most
of the sea floor comfortably. They will be
launched by the stinger, which extends out over the
ship's stern. Each HUGIN has a 300 kg battery
pack, good for 60 hrs. Most of the searching
will be done by sonars scanning the bed on either
side of the craft. HUGINS's search pattern are
set by people, but they will navigate with little
reference to their mother ship. They are
capable of picking their way without assistance over
sheer underwater cliffs and mountains.
Seabed Constructor is the most advanced civilian
survey vessel on the planet. If it cannot find
MH370, then it is likely that nothing will, and that
the mystery of MH370 will remain unsolved.
Dec. 2017:
According to
the Washing Post, Russian
submarines have
dramatically stepped up activity around undersea
data cables in the North Atlantic.
Britain’s top military commander warned that Russia
could imperil the cables that form the backbone of
the modern global economy. The privately owned
lines, laid along the some of the same corridors as
the first transatlantic telegraph wire in 1858,
carry nearly all of the communications on the
Internet, facilitating trillions of dollars of daily
trade. If severed, they could snarl the Web.
If the cables were destroyed,
ModelShipMaster's
production would be cut dramatically and and we'd be
forced to turn away/postpone many orders.
Oct. 2017: A letter like this helps relieve
our hardship. Many of us spend 10 hrs/day with
dust, paint, glue, sharp tools and sometimes we
really feel broken.
"Sorry
for the tardiness in letting you know she has
arrived and is beyond
gorgeous! My son’s face was priceless and he
actually thought I had somehow found another ship as
he remembered how tragically damaged she was!
He’s happy that a case is being made since right
away my granddaughter (9) wanted to touch it.
He was telling his family stories of how he ran
around on her as a kid and all the fantastic treats
he used to get in the galley etc."
August, 2017: A Viking Wonder
Woman. A new DNA test of a warrior buried
in Sweden more than 1,000 years ago provide the
first genetic evidence that some women held powerful
positions in Viking culture. The 10th century
grave site, which was uncovered in the 1880s,
contained a sword, arrows, a battle knife, a spear,
shields, and 2 horses. The 5'6'' Viking
was also buried with a set of game pieces--an
indication of the deceased's expertise in battle
tactics. Previously archaeologists made the
assumption that it was a male warrior.
However, the new DNA test revealed that the Viking
leader lacked a Y chromosome--confirming that "he"
was actually a "she.
July, 2017: The first hydrogen
ship around the world.
A 100-foot-long catamaran that powers itself without
any fuel has set off to begin a 6-year trip around
the world. The vessel primarily utilizes sun or wind
energy during the day. At night, it harnesses a
reservoir of hydrogen that the boat itself produces
through electrolysis of the salt water. The voyage
will span 50 countries and 101 stopovers. Originally
designed in 1983, the boat enjoyed a successful
career in open-sea sailing races before skippers
Frederic Dahirel and Victorien Erussard and a French
research institute converted it into the Energy
Observer project. We have good information
about this catamaran to build a model for you.
Please click on this link to commission it:
Self-propelled catamaran model
June, 2017: Naval
submarines surface
safely and quickly through ice. They continue
to rise until the ice cracks. That, though, is
slow and can damage the boat. According to the
Economist--a magazine, Russia has launched Arktika,
the first of the three giant, new nuclear-powered
icebreakers intended to help open Arctic shipping
lanes. Russian scientists have found
that bow wave from a submarine travelling close to
the surface pushes the ice sheet upwards, making
flexural gravity waves in it, which cause it to
break up. They have proved that a
submarine traveling 30 yards below the ice can break
sheet nine feet thick. At 20 yards it could
break ice six feet thick. And it can do it
quickly, about 10 times faster than the America's
Polar Star icebreaker! Building submarines to
act as icebreakers would be a huge investment but
Russia doesn't have a problem. It retire
nuclear submarines much faster than America does.
May, 2017: According to Time
magazine,
pirate
ship attacks in the waters off Somalia
in April and May increased 60% over the period last
year.
April 2017: Norway plans to
beginning building the world's first ship tunnel in
2019 to help vessels avoid the stormy Stadhavet sea
. The passage will be 1.65 mile long, 162'
tall, and 118' wide.
Feb, 2017:
No where else you can
find dedicated American craftsmen like at
Model Ship
Master. If you are watching Elementary Season 5, pay
attention to a beautiful unfinished model tall ship.
In Feb. 2017, CBS contacted Model Ship Master for an
unusual request: to supply CBS a
tall ship that
looked half completed, within 5 days. Acknowledging
this prop was an important element in the movie set,
our artisans worked hard and delivered the model in
time, with the help of an overnight delivery
service. You can count on Model Ship Master,
any time, any where!
Feb, 2017: DEADLY TORPEDO DESIGN:
When introduced 40 years ago, the Soviet Shkval
torpedo was hailed as an aircraft-carrier killer
because of its speed of more than 370kph was four
times that of American. The principle
that gave the speed is called Supercavitation.
Bubbles of vapor form
in water wherever there is low pressure, such as on
the trailing edges of propeller blades.
Shkval’s designers amplified the phenomenon to make
use of it. They gave their weapon a blunt nose
fitted with a flat disc that creates a circular
trailing edge as the torpedo moves forward.
They also gave it a rocket motor to accelerate it to
a speed fast enough for that edge to create a cavity
consisting of a single, giant bubble which envelopes
the entire torpedo except for the steering fins.
The result is that most of the torpedo experiences
no hydrodynamic drag. To take advantage of
this it is propelled by a hydrojet—a motor fuelled
by a magnesium that will burn in water.
However, problems with its design
meant Shkval turned out to be less threatening.
Shkval’s problems are
threefold. First, it has a short range—around 15km
compared with around 50km for America’s.
Second, the hydrojet is noisy, so opponents can hear
the weapon coming. Third, it cannot track its
target. Most torpedoes use sonar to home in on the
ship they are intended to sink. Because Shkval
travels inside a bubble, any sonar needs to be
mounted on the cavitation disc, which is too small
for the purpose. In addition, returning sonar pings
would be drowned out by the hydrojet’s noise. As a
consequence, Shkval’s only guidance is an autopilot
which steers it towards the place where its target
was located at the moment of launch, in the hope
that the target has not moved.
These deficiencies
have not stopped Western countries trying to build
supercavitating torpedoes of their own.
German's Diehl announced a program for such a
weapon, Barracuda, in 2004. In 2006 General
Dynamics started to look into the matter and
eventually solved the sonar
problem by mounting it on the torpedo’s steering
fins. In the end, however, these efforts
ceased without clear reasons.
From Russia, in October 2016, plans
emerged for a new supercavitating torpedo,
Khishchnik (“Predator”). Few details have been
released. Combining a General Dynamics-style
sonar with a better motor could, however, result in
a formidable weapon. With the right fuel
(perhaps lithium, which packs more energy per
kilogram than magnesium) a new torpedo could have
ten times the range of Shkval. It would still
be noisy, but, added to its speed, such a
combination of range and tracking ability would make
it hard to evade.
Jan, 2017: Japan's new
destroyer is
named Izumo (December 10). The original Izumo
was an armored cruiser that served the Japanese
navy's flagship in China in the 1930s and 1940s.
She saw battle in both the 1932 and 1937
Sino-Japanese wars, shelling Chinese positions from
the middle of the Huangpu river in Shanghai.
She also sank the last British gunboat and captured
the last
American gunboat in Shanghai in 1941.
By giving the name, and naming the entire class of
ships the Izumo class, Japan is sending a clear
message to China.
December, 2016: The traditional way
of hunting
submarine is with sonar. However, modern
submarines are very quiet. Thanks to the Debye
effect, it might be possible to hunt modern
submarines now. Here's how it works: seawater is
full of ions of sodium and chlorine which have
different masses. Any nudge—such as a passing
submarine—moves some ions farther than others. And
these movement produces a magnetic field. A good
Debye detector might be able to pick up a trail from
several nautical miles and follow it to find the
submarine.
November, 2016: We are in the golden age formega yacht
This month, Lurssen launched 3 mega yachts:
the 123-meter Project Jupiter, the 111-meter
Project TIS and an unknown 130m+ superyacht.
Lurssen also has the 75-meter Thor, 85-meter Sasha,
112-meter Palo Alto and 139-meter Redwood under
construction. Dutch-based Oceanco have
recently launched a new 88.5-meter superyacht and
have completed a 106-meter sailing yacht which are
now moored together at their Alblasserdam facility.
The shipyard is also working on the 110-meter
Project Jubilee, which is scheduled to become the
largest yacht built in the Netherlands.
Turquoise Yachts is also working on a megayacht of
its own with a 77-meter as well as a 66-meter
already in construction. Bilgin has just
announced it had sold a second 80-meter superyacht
to a repeat client, having had already sold their
first 80-meter hull to a repeat client back in 2015.
Turkey-based, Dunya Yachts are also building 100m
Project Blade for the owner of Axioma.
Feadship, has recently delivered Steve Wynn's
92-meter Aquarius, a year after delivering 101-meter
Symphony to LVMH CEO, Bernard Arnault. Italy-based
Benetti is also working on a new flagship with a
107-meter
mega yacht currently under construction and
scheduled for delivery in 2019.
October, 2016: Stand 10' above the
water, the Glider Yachts SS18, which stands for
Super Sport 18, is the ultimate in high speed,
futuristic design and pure luxury. A
proprietary Stability Control System tunes the yacht
to the sea conditions, allowing it to “glide” over
the waves at speeds of up to 56 knots (65 mph).
The $1.3 million SS18 is made from lightweight
aluminum and can accommodate up to eight passengers.
Eight years were spent on the design and development
on this 26 foot long yacht which is built by Burgess
Marine.
August, 2016:
A 159-meter
superyacht Fulk
Al Salamah was delivered to the Omani Royal Family
this month from Mariotti shipyard in Italy.
The Fulk Al Salamah was built
as a replacement for the 136-meter Al Salamah which
had been put up for sale in 2012. She joined
the 155-meter Al Said as part of the Omani fleet.
We'd love to build a
model of this beautiful yacht and looking forward to
it. Please contact us at services@modelshipmaster.com
June, 2016: This summer, Boeing will sea test the
ECHO VOYAGER
submarine which is a monstrous 50-ton craft that
can stay at sea for six months at at time without
the need of refueling. The previous model--the
ECHO RANGER--could do that for only three days.
The ECHO VOYAGER can carry 20 tons of equipments and
dive to 11,000 feet. While on the
surface, it downloads route instruction from humans
via satellite. It runs on batteries
which are recharged by diesel engines every three
days during a four to eight day resurfacing.
The 1,000 gallon tank allows the robot to travel a
total of 6,500 nautical miles, enough to circle
Australia. A typical drone craft can only do
200 miles! The innovator is Lance Towers (age
52) who has 150 people working on the project since
2012.
June, 2016:
We are sorry for the prolonged low stock on
ocean liner models and
cruise ship models due to
continued high demand
in our quality since 2014. Because of
the current high number of custom-made models, once
a model is sold out, it won't be back any time soon.
May: A Polish grandfather left New York on May 29 th
on his third solo trans-Atlantic crossing in a
kayak, aiming to arrive in Portugal in time to
celebrate his 70th birthday in Portugal's capital in
September 9th. The 3,700-mile
(6,000-kilometer) journey will cross through
storm zones in the frigid waters of the North
Atlantic. He will be paddling the kayak "Olo"
(designed partly by him and made by Arminski's
shipyard)
between eight and 12 hours each day!
May: The Energy Technologies Institute, British
public-private partnership that promotes low-carbon
uses is gathering operating data on whether rotor
sails are a worthwhile investment. Rotor sail
is the Flettner rotor which when placed on a ship
the giant rotating cylinders extract energy from the
wind by the Magnus effect--a force that deflects the
wind to one side, using the resulting forces to
propel the ship forward in a similar way to a sail.
But unlike conventional sails, the rotors can be
operated by one person on their own. This technology
is most suitable for ships that sail on trade routes
where wind blows sideways across the vessel. Fletter
rotor was invented by a German
mathematics teacher and self-taught engineer
in 1924 but proved to be rather a novel.
However, with the arrival of lightweight composite
materials that enable the rotors to spin at high
speeds, together with advanced computer control,
promises of a great return to sail. An average
of 10% fuel saving might be achieved.
March:
U.S. river tour companies are
expanding. American Cruise Lines reduced
prices on some of its Pacific Northwest itineraries
to $1,975 per person for an eight-day sailing trip.
This is a great deal compared to the average of
$3,400. River cruising in the U.S. is
significantly pricier than the average weeklong
ocean cruise on the Royal Caribbean or the Carnival
and more expensive than river cruises in Europe
because of the Jones Act of 1920 which requires
travel between U.S. ports to be conducted on
U.S.-built ships owned by Americans, with American
crews.
Feb, 2016:
The Asia Vision tanker made history when it left
Sabine Pass in Texas loaded with U.S.-produced LNG.
The historic sailing represents the first cargo of
liquefied U.S. shale gas, and the first
U.S.-produced non-Alaskan
LNG cargo to be sold for
export since 1957. This vessel is beautiful
and we've decided to add it to our construction
record.
Feb, 2016: According to the Reuters, the Pentagon's
next five-year budget proposal seeks over
$13 billion for a new submarine class. The
Navy's proposed fiscal 2017 budget will fund
procurement of materials for the new submarines that
take a long time to acquire, with funding for
construction of the first full new submarine to
follow in fiscal 2021. Over the next five
years, the Navy would spend over $4 billion on
research and development of the new submarines,
plus over $9 billion in procurement funding.
Dec. 2015: Our craftsmen celebrated the season with
great joy. All of a dozen custom-made models
(many were
model yachts) were delivered well on time
for the holiday gift purposes.
Nov. 27: A very special galleon was found
only 16 miles off Cartagena coast in Columbia.
The three-decked ship's cargo is estimated at more
than $10 billion--one of the largest amounts of
valuables ever to have been lost at sea.
The ship name was San
José. She was 150 feet
long and armed with 64 guns. In 1708,
while transporting gold, silver, gems collected in
the South American colonies (much of the bullion
came from mines in what is now Peru), she and the
other treasure ships fought with a British squadron.
The British
Expeditionattacked
theSan
Joséat
around 7 p.m.. After an hour and a half of
fierce fighting and with only 60 meters between the
two ships, theSan
Josésuddenly blew
up. There were only 11 survivors out of the
600 crew and passengers on board.
The wreck under 1,000ft of water falls
within the UN's definition of an underwater cultural
heritage site.
Nov.
2015: We have just received a contract to
supply several models for
NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE
and won't be able to start new cruise ships and
ocean liners until April 2016. But don't wait until then to let us know of your
interest, as new orders might keep coming. We only accept
your commitment deposit
when we are sure that your ship can be completed
within 3 months or earlier. As usual, 99% of
out-of-stock ship models are not built again until
all commissioned model ships are completed.
Since ordering an out-of-stock model will incur a
10% extra charge, get your ship now when it's still
available.
We
also have a heavy backlog in tall ship construction,
with a dozen units for the
Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago and Tall
Ship Singapore. At this time we can't take any
more tall ship commission orders until May, 2016.
This month we also inked a contract with the
Italian
yacht Benetti to build two models of their most
prestigious yacht. Big thanks to our
patrons for the recommendations.
Good news: One of our three shipping partners offers
a pleasantly surprised discount from October until
December 2nd, 2015 and we want to pass this saving
to you. If you are in Belgium, France,
Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United
Kingdom, the shipping cost is 30% off. For
simplification, just go ahead pay the full shipping
cost when ordering and we'll refund you the 30%
discount within 24 hrs.
October 2015: China issued in May a military
white paper that formalized the addition of what it
called "open-seas protection." A strategy that
put local seas control first, ending the primacy
China gave to its land forces. Here's an
excerpt: "The traditional mentality that land
outweighs the sea must be abandoned, and great
importance has to be attached to managing the seas
and oceans and protecting maritime rights and
interests. It is necessary for China to
develop a modern maritime force structure
commensurate with its national security."
In response, some American strategists have called
for an increase of the US fleet from 273 to 350
ships. The next decade will see a naval
showdown between the US and China in the Pacific.
All three most advanced US destroyers (Zumwalt
class) have already stationed there.
DID
YOU KNOW? After the decommission of the USS
Simpson, the
USS Constitution remains the only
commissioned US Navy ship that sunk an enemy vessel.
Sept. 27:
USS Simpson ended her service after
30 years, well beyond its designed military use of
20 to 25 years.
In 1988, after a missed missile shot
from the Iranian gunboat Joshan, the Simpson
destroyed the Joshan with 4 missiles.
It was the only ship-versus-ship
missile duel in U.S. Navy history.
"If
you don't stop, I'm going to sink you," and the
Iranian ship fired a Harpoon--
a deadly U.S.-made Harpoon missile
which
could travel at 600-plus mph with a 500-pound
warhead and sink the Simpson easily...
Sept, 14: The Navy agreed to
limits its use of sonar and other training that
inadvertently harms whales, dolphins, and other
mammals off Hawaii and California. The
agreement includes limits or bans on explosives and
mid-frequency sonar (which can disrupt feeding and
communication of mammals, and can cause deafness) in
some areas. An estimate of over 150
whales, dolphins, and mammals in these restricted
areas have been killed in the past five years, and
2,000 in total. The total casualty estimate
for the East Coast is 11,000. According
to Matt Knight, a US Pacific Fleet spokesman, the
Navy now "face the real possibility that the court
could stop critically important training and
testing."
July: Divers discovered the
wreck of a
Russian submarine that sank during WWI
off the coast of Sweden. The sub collided with
a Swedish ship in 1916 and sank with all 18 crew
members.
June, 2015: Uber has launched
a permanent version of its UberBoat service in
Istanbul that shuttles you between Asia and Europe
in a speed boat. Each craft also carries up to
8 people. UberBOAT service has also been
available in cities including, Boston, San Francisco
and Sydney, Australia.
June, 2015: A new era of
commercial shipping? From The Wall Street
Journal:
"General Electric Co. on Tuesday outlined its plans
for the ship-finance business, diversifying its $48
billion aircraft leasing unit to support sales to
the oil and gas sector.
GE launched a marine business in January, bundling
its engines and services for the offshore energy
industry, and plans to use its GE Capital Aviation
Services, or Gecas, aircraft unit to finance vessels
that have a high level of GE components..."
Did
you know that the US Navy has developed a 5-foot,
100 lbs, robotic spy fish that looks and swims like
a bluefin tuna? Researchers specifically chose the
tuna fish for the project because the fish is one of
the few aquatic animals that uses just half its body
to propel itself forward. The drone could be
fully operational as early as 2015.
Apr. 2015:
A
replica of the warship that carried Marquis de
Lafayette to help American colonists in their war of
independence set sail for the United States on
Saturday April 18th. It headed for Yorktown,
Virginia, where Lafayette and his forces played a
critical part in a decisive battle against the
British. The frigate is due to arrive in Yorktown on
June 5 for a two-month tour of key locations in the
American Revolution. The construction of the
new Hermione was started in 1997 and incurred a cost
of $27m.
Two weeks after the
trucker's strike was over (April 27-March 12),
ships still were in a long queue waiting to enter
the Los Angels port. Photo taken from
Huntington Beach by ModelShipMaster.
March
2015: The US Navy and Congress are poised to ramp up
ship construction activity for at least several
years. The defense budget for 2016 will
include nearly $18 billion for a variety of new
ships plus Marine helicopters. That is nearly
$2 billion more of the current fiscal year.
Starting this month, divers have been working to
bring up the 10-gun ironclad CSS Georgia from nearly 40 feet down
in the Savannah River in Georgia. The job is
expected completed in Oct. 2015 and cost about $15
million. Conservation of artifacts and parts
of the CSS Georgia will span two years at Texas A&M
University.
Dec. 2014: Great news for both consumers and
businesses:
Paypal will extend the claim window
from 45 days to 180 days starting in January, 2015.
Also: "PayPal
Seller protection is available for eligible payments
from buyers in any country..."
November 2014: Due to a surge in custom orders in
the past several months, we temporarily cease to
receive custom ship model orders, both RC and
static, starting Dec 1st, 2014. Once current
projects are about to clear, perhaps in March, 2014,
our operation will be open to take custom orders
again. This does not apply to commercial ship
builders, ship designers, and the navy who have
trade shows or ceremonies coming up, as we can work
overtime for those important time-sensitive
projects.
All in-stock models once sold out won't be built
again until the majority of custom orders are
cleared.
October
2014:
Foundation Louis Vuitton
opened on
October 27, 2014.
The
building was one of the
greatest technological challenges of the 21stcentury.
With twelve
twisting glass sail-like panels stand up to high wind,
the Foundation demonstrates esthetic audacity like that
of a real sailing ship.