When you are offshore and looking at empty water stretching all around, the odds of running into something barely visible seem very slim. Yet the hazard is common enough to warrant its own yachting acronym in France. There they are called UFOs: unidentified floating objects, and chief among them these days are shipping containers lost at sea.
Sometimes these UFOs are marine creatures, basking sharks or whales mostly, identified perhaps by blood in the water from the injured animals. It’s sad and gruesome, dangerous on both sides and very difficult to prevent. (Read more about the risks of collisions with whales.) Read More
