SHIPPING

And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

—Rev. 8:9

5657 Merchant Ships

The world has a total of around 65,000 merchant vessels by the end of 1975. This number does not include vessels less than one hundred tons and military ships of all kinds.

The largest merchant fleet on earth belongs under the flag of Liberia, with nearly 3,000 ships. The biggest shipping owner is the Royal Dutch/Shell Group which owned and managed over 300 big ships.

5658 Tribulation Scenario

According to prophecy, one-third of all ships will be destroyed at the Tribulation. Therefore, 65,000 merchant ships and about 5,000 navy ships around the world, give us nearly 70,000 total sailing vessels. A third will be destroyed together with their passengers.

The largest ship on record ever wrecked is the tanker Bravery, which had a deadweight tonnage of 275,000 d. w. t. It was grounded off northwest France in 1976. Insurance payments ran up to $50 million for that ship alone—the largest marine insurance loss ever.

5659 Even Noah’s Ark Recorded

The company library of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co., in New York City has one of the most complete sets of records of marine disasters outside of England. The completeness is so legendary that someone once asked Atlantic if it had a record of Noah’s Ark. In due time the inquirer received this information:

“Built 2448 B.C. Gopher wood, pitched within and without. Length, 300 cubits; width, 50 cubits; height, 30 cubits. Three decks. Cattle carrier. Owner: Noah and Sons. Last reported stranded on Mount Ararat.”

—New York Herald Tribune

5660 The Lutine Bell

On January 20 the Lutine bell was rung at Lloyd’s of London. The Lutine bell, salvaged from a French ship in 1793, is sounded whenever news arrives of an overdue ship. This time the single note sounded a death knell for the 223,963-ton Norwegian tanker, Berge Istra, which vanished in the Pacific on December 29. The ship was insured at Lloyds for $13 million.

5661 The Uncharted Reef

On January 8, 1971, the French cruise ship, Antilles, ran aground on an uncharted submerged reef near the Caribbean island of Mustique. After striking the reef, the 19,828-ton vessel burst into flames. Although 635 people on board were rescued, the luxury liner, valued at $14.4 million, is considered to be a total loss.

5662 Graveyard Of Atlantic

Cape Hatteras is known as “The Graveyard of the Atlantic.” There, the bottom of the sea is covered with the skeletons of ships which went to pieces on the shoals. On calm days, when the water is clear and unruffled, some of the old wrecks can be clearly seen from the surface. The famous armored ship Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras.

In his book, The Hatterasman, Ben Dixon MacNeill wrote, “This is the graveyard. It covers about thirty square miles of shoal. In the narrow area, through four centuries, 382 ships have sunk and were drawn into the grave. No man has seen them or touched them to this day.”

David Stick in his book, The Outer Banks of North Carolina, wrote, “More federal warships were sunk by the weather off Cape Hatteras during the Civil War than by all the cannons of the Confederacy.”

—Walter B. Knight

5663 The “Titanic”

An insurance company pictured the Titanic sailing straight for the iceberg which sank that great ship. The advertisement:

“They called her the “Millionaire’s Special.” Four city blocks long. Eleven stories high. Powered by triple screw. Protected by the latest, most ingenious safety devices. Luxurious and beautiful beyond words, she caught the fancy of the world.

“Her name was Titanic.

“On April 10, 1912, she slipped out of Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. Less than five days later she went down in 12,000 feet of icy water, 3,000 feet of her hull ripped open by a massive iceberg.”

5664 The Only Fire …

Probably the only ship that was on fire every hour of its active life was the Titanic, the British liner that struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage to New York in 1912. The fire broke out in a bunker as the Titanic was leaving its Southampton dock at noon on April 10. And it was still burning, four days and 14 hours later, when the huge 46,000-ton vessel went down at 2:20 A.M. on April 15.

5665 Pingo Peril

Pingo—is that a new word to you? Pingoes are submerged cones of ice coated with frozen mulch. They are about 1,000 feet wide at the base, 100 to 200 feet high, and are formed by frost heaves and geological pressures on the sea floor. Canadian hydrographers have found 45 pingoes in the Beaufort Sea, most of them in a 2,500-square-mile area north of Richards Island and Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, beginning about 25 miles from the shore. It is feared that one of these submarine Arctic pingoes might slice open an unsuspecting ship passing overhead. If the ship was a loaded oil tanker, results would be disastrous.

5666 “Lily-Bound”

A traveler who sailed along the coast of South America tells an interesting story. While his ship lay at anchor near the coast, it became “lily-bound.” In that climate the growth of vegetation is very rapid. In a few days the vessel became the center of a great floating island of beautiful lilies! They grew so fast that the chains became entangled. Soon the flowery mass caused the vessel to drag her anchor and drift in the wrong direction. Then the crew had a long, hard task. With cutlasses and hatchets, they released their ship from the lilies.

—Mrs. Clarence Jones

5667 Barnacles

Barnacles are the strange crustacea that attach themselves to boat bottoms. In their early stages when they are known as nauplii, they have six appendages with which they can swim the seas, resembling somewhat tiny lobster. But in a short time they surrender their freedom and settle down to a stationary life.

They begin to secrete lime, which is formed into a cup-shaped shell and which is fitted with little valves or “shutters.” By their opening and closing, microscopic plankton on which the barnacle feeds are waved into its mouth.

At first it may seem that the barnacle has forfeited something by giving up its liberty to go where it pleases. Actually it benefits by the change. Now it is transported without effort on its part, to distant areas where it could never go in its own strength.

—Selected

5668 The Plimsoll Mark

It was due to the efforts of Samuel Plimsoll (1824–98), British reformer, that the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876 was passed, requiring all ships to bear a mark known as the Plimsoll mark, indicating the maximum load line. By this act the Board of Trade of England was empowered to detain any vessel deemed unsafe, and the amount of cargo was restricted, thus making the long and perilous ocean voyage of those days much safer. Because of his work, Plimsoll became known as the sailor’s friend. The Plimsoll mark, with its gradations and figures, may be seen on the bow of ships near the water line as they lie at anchor in a harbor.

5669 Crane Operator’s Heroism

In Canada we stopped to see the burned-out shell of the excursion steamer Harmonic. This vessel was tied up to a dock to take on supplies when a gasoline explosion on shore set the steamer afire. In few minutes the decks were a mass of flame. The crew worked quickly to control the fire and save the 250 passengers aboard, some of whom were still in their cabins.

But one man on shore showed the greatest presence of mind. He was the operator of a huge crane used to load coal. This operator inched his crane as close as possible to the burning ship, then ran his scoop up and over the bow of the ship, and down on the deck. When the scoop was filled with passengers, he lowered them slowly to the ground. In this unusual elevator about a hundred people were saved. Those who were saved could never forget their strange manner of deliverance.

—C. F. Hamilton

5670 Dimensions Of Noah’s Ark

It was not until about the time of the first English settlement in Jamestown that anyone was able to see the reason for the ark’s dimensions. A pious shipbuilder in Holland by the name of Peter Jansen reasoned that if God had designed the ark, it should be the ideal plan. So he built a ship on the plan of Noah’s ark, not as large but of the same proportions, six times as long and as wide, and the height one-tenth of the length.

Though it was ridiculed while it was under construction, it was found after launching that it would carry one-third more freight, would sail faster, and was much safer than the old type. And today with but little variation modern ships are built on the general plan of Noah’s ark.

5671 Lifeboat Which Rights Itself

A British company had designed and launched a 371-foot lifeboat which has the ability to right itself after capsizing. The craft’s self-righting capacity is derived, not from the transference of water ballast, but from the hull design. Now in times of storm, rescuers of doomed mariners can set out confident that their own ship will not be submerged by wind and wave.

5672 Secret Name Of A Ship

As far as the people of Britain were concerned it was the best-kept secret of 1967. Up until the time of launching, the great Clyde-built Cunarder was known simply as Q4. Needless to say there was a great amount of speculation as to what name would be conferred by her Majesty the Queen upon the new ocean liner at the launching ceremony.

At last the day dawned—September 20. Thirty thousand people gathered at John Brown’s shipyard to watch the launching ceremonies of the new ship. Finally came the moment when the Queen spoke those magic words, disclosing the new name: Queen Elizabeth II.

The secret was out! The “new name,” guarded so closely until the time of launching, was now known by all the assembled multitudes. Henceforth the new ship would bear a regal name, a name that linked it directly to the reigning queen.

—Prairie Overcomer

See also: Seas and Oceans ; Rev. 18:17, 19.