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Category: Essays

Somalia 2012: Iceberg 1 Hijacking Trial

A court in Puntland sentenced three pirates to three to ten years in prison for holding the MV Iceberg 1, a Dubai-owned ship, hostage for three years. The pirates were arrested by Puntland government forces, marking the first successful Somali-led government operation to free a foreign-owned vessel in Somali waters. https://allafrica.com/stories/201212310466.html

Italy 2012: Montecristo Hijacking Trial

Nine Somali pirates were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of 16 and 19 years in a trial held in Rome. They were found guilty of kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms in relation to the hijacking of the MV Montecristo. UPDATE: Convictions in First Italy Piracy Trial

Belgium 2016: Pompeii Hijacking Trial

A Somali pirate leader, Mohamed Abdi Hassan, was sentenced to twenty years in prison for the hijacking of the Belgian-owned vessel, the Pompeii. The hijacking occurred in the Indian Ocean and resulted in a hostage situation for more than 70 days, as well as 2 million Euros in ransom paid. https://www.oceanuslive.org/main/viewnews.aspx?uid=00001112

USA 2011: Abduwali Abukhadir Muse Trial for the Maersk Alabama Hijacking

Abduwali Abukhadir Muse was captured by the U.S. Navy and brought to a federal court in New York, where he was sentenced to 33 years in prison. He was one of four pirates who participated in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia. The other three pirates were killed by sharpshooters […]

USA 2010: USS Nicholas Piracy Trial

In 2010, a jury in Norfolk, VA convicted five Somali pirates who attacked the USS Nicholas and sentenced them to life in prison. The charges included piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, act of violence against persons on a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon on federal officers and employees, […]

TEST: USA 2010: USS Nicholas Piracy Trial

In 2010, a jury in Norfolk, VA convicted five Somali pirates who attacked the USS Nicholas and sentenced them to life in prison. The charges included piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, act of violence against persons on a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon on federal officers and employees, conspiracy to […]

Xingu River Basin

The Xingu River, one of the primary tributaries of the Amazon, flows nearly 1,640 kilometers through central Brazil prior to joining the Amazon River. This river is extremely important because not only is it one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon Basin, but many native communities rely on its resources as well. Over […]

Oil Rigs in the North Sea

The North Sea, surrounded by the coasts of the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, has long been one of the most industrialized marine regions in the world. Since the discovery of oil in the late 1960s, this cold, stormy sea has become home to hundreds of offshore drilling platforms. These towering rigs represent […]

Counter-Mapping Shipping: Digital Joy and Digital Labor in Oceanic Social Media

 

The Oceans Lab, an interdisciplinary research and advocacy initiative, explores maritime issues across oceanic spaces. With a focus on themes of race, labor, inequality, climate change, migration, and geopolitics, the Lab seeks to unravel the complexities of our oceans, making them comprehensible through innovative approaches. One such approach is the creation of this map that aims to help bridge gaps between how scholars describe oceanic spaces and the voices of those that inhabit them.

Inspired by global maritime shipping maps like marinetraffic.com, the Oceans Lab’s map is not just about tracing the trajectories of cargo ships; it is about weaving together interdisciplinary oceanic scholarship with the voices of those who inhabit the seas. It seeks to represent the various voices and ideas that converge to define the concept(s) of the ocean(s) from what may initially appear to be blank cartographic space. In the spirit of counter-mapping, we invite creators, scholars, and seafarers to use our submit button in order to actively participate in redefining how we perceive and understand oceanic spaces.

Counter-mapping, at its core, seeks to provide alternative perspectives and representations that challenge dominant power structures and dominant narratives (Peluso 1995). This ever-evolving map thus recognizes that the ocean is not just a backdrop for the global commerce represented on standard shipping maps, but a vibrant and dynamic space shaped by human experiences.

In addition to showcasing the multifaceted nature of oceanic life, the map brings to the fore the concept of digital labor and attention economies. In the digital age, content creation and the curation of online personas have become forms of labor, often underestimated and overlooked. Those at sea who engage in social media share not only their experiences participating in the shipping economy, but also contribute to the attention economy. In addition to including these digital contributions in scholarly conversations, the map hopes to open up questions about this digital labor, underscoring the importance of recognizing it within the broader context of oceanic scholarship.




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Do you want to add something to our Oceans Map?

Send us your name, a short essay, a short story, a photo, a video, or a link to a social media post related to the sea or maritime issues (TikToks at sea are welcome, as are research essays!). We aim to fill our map with “stories from the sea” of all kinds.