The ship graveyard salvage yard —

"This is the biggest ship graveyard in the world - where huge tankers and cruise liners are scrapped on the shorefront by teams of labourers using little more than hand tools. The job is considered one of the most dangerous in the world with workers earning a pittance of just £2.25 a day. But amazingly there is no shortage of willing recruits." [Daniel Miller / Daily Mail] — Rob •

Video about man who makes ships in bottles

David Pescovitz at 1:29 pm • •

Ray Gascoigne is a former shipwright. Well, he's still a shipwright but now the ships he builds fit inside bottles.

Abandoned Russian cruise ship drifts toward Europe —

Dina Spector reports on the Lyubivy Orlova, a Russian cruise ship adrift in the North Atlantic. It snapped free of towing cables while en-route from Canada to new owners in the Caribbean, and for various reasons no-one is taking responsibility. It, and its suspected payload of rats, is now just 1300 miles off the Irish coast. [BI] — Rob •

Rescue video: Sandy sinks tall ship HMS Bounty replica off NC; 14 saved, 2 missing (updated)

Xeni Jardin at 4:39 pm • •

3:30pm ET: A 180-foot, 3-mast replica of the 18th century tall ship HMS Bounty sank on Monday, Oct. 29 during the epic surf and winds from Hurricane Sandy, 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina. Sixteen people were aboard when the ship went down midway through its journey from Connecticut to Florida.

Fourteen people on the ship made it to life rafts and on to safety, thanks to a dramatic rescue by the US Coast Guard documented in the video above. "On scene weather was reported to be 40 mph winds and 18-foot seas," according to the USCG statement. "The vessel is reportedly sunk, but the mast is still visible."

Two crew members remain missing: Captain Robin Walbridge, and Claudene Christian (Twitter, web). According to various reports, Christian is a distant relative of original HMS Bounty crew member Fletcher Christian, the original Master’s Mate who seized command of the ship during the historic mutiny.

Update, 715pm ET: Christian is now confirmed dead. Her body has been recovered. The Coast Guard has an ongoing aerial search under way for the two missing crew members.

This was the same HMS Bounty replica that was featured in the 1962 Marlon Brando film Mutiny on the Bounty, as well as various Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

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