What would On Watch do without the noble tradition of April Fool's Day?
Why scour the shipping world for daft stories when made-up stuff is staring you in the face?
Hats off to the British Ports Association (BPA) for its press release claiming that the possible discovery of the Lost City of Atlantis off the coast of Cornwall will lead to the construction of a revolutionary new floating port.
The £50m ($65m) facility will house about 200 specialist marine archaeologists and ships that are expected to head to the region in the coming months.
BPA boss Richard Ballantyne said: “This is potentially unbelievable news.” Indeed.
He added: “The results of the first underwater surveys show that the main port gateway of Atlantis probably handled more shipping containers than the Port of Rotterdam does today.
"If this were true it would be amazing and Atlantis would be considered one of the biggest ports in the world. Furthermore, as Atlantis is technically in British waters it is eligible for membership of the British Ports Association, so we hope they will join up.”
A Brexit boost if ever we saw one.
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Returning to Cornwall, there was news from website Cornwall Live that the arrested Murmansk Shipping 23,169-dwt bulker Kuzma Minin (built 1980) has been sold to a private consortium for conversion into student accommodation.
The article was illustrated with a picture of a "chill-out" zone and a Photoshopped block of flats on top of the hull.
A developer said: "The Kuzma Minin has some wonderful original features, such as the former Soviet hammer-and-sickle design on the funnel, which will be restored to add a proletariat flavour to the student experience."
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And finally, Norwegian cruise, ferry and cargo operator Hurtigruten signed a deal to power its ferries with dead fish. Oh, hang on, that is a true story.
