Danish warship HDMS Thetis arrives on the 11th along with USS Wichita.
HDMS Thetis has called in Halifax before, I noted here presence in 2009. the ship is the lead ship of the Thetis Class frigates and is based on Damens StanFlex 3000 design. Thetis entered service in 1991.
USS Wichita was last here in 2018 when the ship stopped in on its delivery trip. The ship was flagged for decommissioning in 2023, but the US Navy decided to replace its engine instead.
Also in port is the USS New Jersey, SSN796, a Virginia class attack submarine.The boat was commissioned in Sept 2024. The German Sail Training Ship Gorch Fock remains at the dockyard.
The Japanese navy has two ships in port today. Both at anchor in the harbour. JS Kashima and JS Yamagiri both move to the dockyard tomorrow morning.
JS Kashima (TV 3508), and JS Asagiri (TV 3516) are both Training Vessel of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence force, and are used to train sailors. Both ships have been to Halifax before, in August 2011.
So earlier on bluesky, I came across the post above. The poster subsequently indicated this incident occurred the night of the 3rd, and indicated the vessel in distress “was 2 women, a kid and a dog and basically they were going too far with too little gas; we gave them some and helped find an anchorage for the night”
Zuck’s yacht Launchpad (above) is a $300million, 390′ long vessel built by dutch builder Feedship, and delivered in 2024. it. reportedly has space for 26 guests alongside a crew of roughly 50. By comparison, The cruise ship Wilderness Legacy (below) was built in 1984 as a replica Chesapeake Bay coastal steamer. It is a 192′ long, and has space for 86 guests in 42 cabins. The ship operates with 28 crew.
So did it happen? The US Coast Guard Provided the following statement.
The Coast Guard can confirm that a 21-foot Hewescraft vessel hailed the Coast Guard for assistance on VHF-FM channel 16 at approximately 9:32 p.m. August 3rd in the vicinity of Point Highland, Alaska. At approximately 9:56 p.m., the Coast Guard determined they were not in distress and issued a marine assistance request broadcast on their behalf. The vessel Wilderness Legacy responded to the Coast Guard’s marine assistance request broadcast and arrived on scene with the 21-foot vessel at approximately 10:58 p.m. The Wilderness Legacy towed the vessel to Farragut Bay, and the 21-foot vessel was reported to be safety anchored in the bay at approximately 12:50 a.m. August 4th.
USCG Arctic District Public Affairs.
A 21-foot Hewescraft is a welded aluminum boat, and the style is pretty common on the pacific coast.
The AIS tracks of the two vessels seem to confirm what the original poster said. Launchpad was in front, but then slowed to a stop, and the Cruise Ship Wilderness Legacy sailed on by to the assistance of the vessel. once the vessel requiring assistance was safely at anchor, and the Wilderness Legacy had Departed, Launchpad continued on its way.
So far i have been unable to find any publicly available recordings of marine VHF ch16 for that area. The AIS seems to line up with what was reported the captain of the Wilderness Legacy said. Per the USCG, they determined that this was not a distress situation, so that may, under maritime law remove the requirement to render assistance. This might suggest that Launchpad may have hung back in case they were required, but decided not to be the first vessel to assist.
Either way, this is the sort of thing that gets noticed, and it certainly doesn’t make Launchpad or Zuckerberg look good.
UPDATE Aug 9/26: A spokes person for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative reached out and offered the following statement.
”Mark and his family were not on board at the time of the incident. As the Coast Guard noted, the boat was not in distress, and by the time the crew reviewed the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel from the one they were operating on, the assist was already underway. We’re grateful all parties are safe.”
There is lots of talk about installing LIght Rail Transit or LRT, but LRT is a poorly defined term, and can encompase a number of distinct platforms and technologies.
Trams
Trams are typically what people think of when they think of light rail. A low floor vehicle that often operates in streets or on their own right of way adjacent to streets. The Alstom Cidalis Spirit is a Tram-Train – its suposed to operate like a tram but also a train, except its a new design and has some issues with tight curves and high speeds.
A small comment on a reddit thread let me to generate some Stadler trains in GO Transit livery. GO operates heavy rail service around the GTA and Golden horseshoe using a Bombardier BI-Level Cars and a mix of diesel Locomotives. (Above) FLIRT is a single level car. this trainset is already in use in Ottawa. (Below)KISS, is a bi-level version.
These Images were generated by ChatGPT, and are pure fantasy.
