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The Mercury News, March 17 2008--  The pilot of the Cosco Busan cargo ship that sideswiped the Bay Bridge and spilled more than 50,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay was hit today with rare federal criminal charges for violating environmental laws.

In court documents filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, prosecutors charged John Joseph Cota with misdemeanor violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, alleging that his negligence caused the Nov. 7, 2007 collision and oil spill. The government alleges Cota triggered the mishap by failing to steer a "collision free course," as well as failed to use the ship's radar and adequately consult with the captain and crew.  Read More

The Guardian, March 19 2008-- A British captain who was held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia for 46 days was released yesterday, along with his Irish chief engineer and four Russian crew members.  The captain of the Danish-owned Svitzer Korsakov, who has yet to be named, and his crew were said to be "safe and healthy". After being released yesterday he was back in charge of his vessel, steering to a port in the Gulf under escort from coalition naval forces - a journey which is estimated to take three days. From there the hostages will be flown home to be reunited with their families.  Somali officials claimed a $700,000 (£346,000) ransom was paid for the release of the hostages by the ship's owner, Svitzer, but a company spokesman said yesterday he would not comment on the negotiations. Read More

TheLog.com--Dozens of cruising yachts trying to transit the Panama Canal are being delayed at least four weeks. And because of a backlog of at least 100 ships, the scheduling delays are only expected to get worse. "It's never been backlogged this bad in 20 years," said Pete Stevens of Delfino Maritime, a ship's agency in Panama that arranges the transit of yachts between the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. "They've got so many ships and yachts backed up and waiting to transit that I don't know when they'll get this sorted out," Stevens said. Another agent, Tina McBride, said that if a yacht were ready for transit, had already been admeasured and all the fees had been paid in advance, the first date available at press time would be April 8, a wait of about four weeks. Yacht owners previously would have expected a one- or two-week wait to transit. Normally, at the height of cruising season about 40 to 60 yachts per week would be transiting, but the new schedule allows for only about 18 yachts per week. McBride said all the marinas and yacht clubs on both ends of the Panama Canal are packed with boats waiting to transit.  Read More

YachtingMonthly.com-- westernaustralia2011.com,
one of the ten internationally-backed yachts competing in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race, is heading back to Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean due to gearbox failure on Tuesday. The team representing Western Australia reported to the Race Office that at approximately 2300 GMT on Tuesday the gearbox on the 68-foot yacht had sheared after one of their lines became caught around the propeller.  The team are now heading back to the remote Pacific island of Midway where they spent 30 hours last weekend stocking up on fuel and fresh food following their dismasting on Wednesday 5 March during the leg from Qingdao in China to Hawaii.  The crew of twelve, including professional skipper Martin Silk, constructed a jury rig after losing half of their 81-foot mast.   Read more

None of the Sydney's 645 crew survived the attack - making it the country's worst-ever naval disaster. The discovery follows only a day after the wreck of the Kormoran itself was found by the team hunting the Sydney. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declared the zone around the Sydney a protected site to honour the dead.