When I saw some "in depth" coverage of this, I had to shake my head. Not at the event or at the maritime shipping expert being interviewed, but at the news anchor doing the interview. Right at the beginning of the interview, the expert put things into a nice perspective by saying that this ship was moderately small, probably with a capacity of about 5500 containers. He also pointed out that containers falling off ships is something that happens from time to time. That there's typically about 1300 containers a year that fall overboard, but that that needs to be considered in the context that about 2 million containers a month flowing through the ports of the United States.

I did some checking -- the guy's numbers hold up pretty well. The two-million number, though, is closer to the number of containers exported from the U.S. monthly. The total traffic appears to be in the five to six million range. While the annual global dropped container number over the last fifteen years averages in the 1600 range, that number has been coming down significantly. In 2023 there were just 221 containers lost at sea out of over 250 million shipped. However, "lost-at-sea" does not include containers that fall off during cargo handling operations at a port, which are considered dock-side incidents. I couldn't track down numbers for that, since they aren't centrally tracked, but a couple sources indicated that port-side incidents are far less common than losses at sea.

So, why was I shaking my head?

A couple minutes into this interview, the anchor waxed about how this was clearly one of the largest container ships and asked how many containers it could hold. The expert repeated the information he had just given him. Then the anchor asked how many containers are lost overboard each year. And the expert repeated the information he had just given him. It was evident that this expert was used to dealing with interviewers that can't be bothered with actually listening to the people they are interviewing, as he gave no indication of frustration and answered the questions as if they were inciteful probing questions getting at the heart of the matter. For a while, I got into watching testimony before congress on CSPAN (back in its early days) and noticed the same thing repeated over and over. Somehow, I don't think I would do very well in those situations.

EDIT: Fixed several typos.

 

 

https://thenightly.com.au/world/ame...f-spacex-branded-cocaine-in-brazil-c-20026266
Aussie pilot found dead after plane ditches carrying 200kg of SpaceX-branded cocaine in Brazil

 

Either Brazil has giant grass or the wrecked plane is a model . If the latter, then a 200kg load would undoubtedly cause a crash.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5qk4de997o
Flying cars crash into each other at Chinese air show

A perfect showcase of the flying car concept.

 

https://thenightly.com.au/world/ame...f-spacex-branded-cocaine-in-brazil-c-20026266
Aussie pilot found dead after plane ditches carrying 200kg of SpaceX-branded cocaine in Brazil

View attachment 355960

Looks like plane registration starts with "ZO", which is an UK allocation. What is it doing in Brazil??

 

Looks like plane registration starts with "ZO", which is an UK allocation. What is it doing in Brazil??

Running dope I would thing or it landed on the "Lost" island.

 

Looks like plane registration starts with "ZO", which is an UK allocation. What is it doing in Brazil??

I didn't see a "ZO" (or a "Z0") prefix in the ICAO list I was looking at. UK allocations, AFAIK, are all G-(4 lettters), except for G-(number)-(number) for test and delivery.

I think the prefix on that tail is "ZU", which would be South Africa. The article claims it is registered in Zambia, but the prefix for that country is "9J". The article also says that it is believed that it's been hangared in Brazil for the past two years.

 

 

The train always wins.

 

The train always wins.

It's as if the two emergency vehicles (ambulances, or Fire Dept ?) were already there just waiting for that to happen ...

 

It's as if the two emergency vehicles (ambulances, or Fire Dept ?) were already there just waiting for that to happen ...

It's as if the two emergency vehicles (ambulances, or Fire Dept ?) were already there just waiting for that to happen ...

Sad but the Brightline passenger train always wins.
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/...h-in-brevard-was-rockledge-woman/86203822007/

None of the passengers on the train were injured. The death was the fifth in Brevard County to be attributed to an oncoming train this year. Four of the five deadly 2025 crashes in Brevard involved Brightline.

 

Sad but the Brightline passenger train always wins.
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/...h-in-brevard-was-rockledge-woman/86203822007/

None of the passengers on the train were injured. The death was the fifth in Brevard County to be attributed to an oncoming train this year. Four of the five deadly 2025 crashes in Brevard involved Brightline.

Yeah ... the driver had it coming alright ... I wonder if he (or she) was on drugs or running from (or towards) something ...

 

Photos: Sea Lion Prototype blends rotary power and jet thrust in rare amphibious car

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Instead of using separate engines for land and water, the Sea Lion routes its rotary power to both systems. On the road, it functions as a two-seat sports car, with the engine driving the rear wheels. In the water, the same engine feeds a jet pump mounted in the hull, proving that a single driveline could serve both environments without compromise, a rare achievement in amphibious engineering.

 

Crews remove plane that crashed into corner of home in western Ky

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Graves County Sheriff John Hayden said the preliminary reports indicated the pilot was unable to stop the aircraft on the runway. The plane then continued through a fence and into the home.

Investigators report that one woman was home when the plane hit the structure, but thankfully, she was not hurt.

 

Crews remove plane that crashed into corner of home in western Ky
View attachment 356229​

If I were the homeowner, I'd be asking them to just leave it. Hell of a lawn ornament and conversation starter!

 

If I were the homeowner, I'd be asking them to just leave it. Hell of a lawn ornament and conversation starter!

Maybe the wife would say "Hell no! ... you're not turning that thing into your man cave!" ...

 

Maybe the wife would say "Hell no! ... you're not turning that thing into your man cave!" ...

But, honey, sweetheart, dear... damn, what a man cave!!

Please.....!!!

 

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