Discover stories behind the latest exhibitions, fascinating explorations into maritime science and archaeology, and the surprising details of what happens inside (and outside) a modern working museum.
24 Feb 2016
The answer to the question ‘what is a classic boat?’ will be on display over the weekend on 15th to 17th April at the Australian National Maritime Museum, where The Classic and Wooden Boat Festival will have over 100 craft that show the diversity that fits this title.
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03 Feb 2016
Powerful little boats with big hearts and heaps of attitude. Explore striking photographs of tug boats hard at work when Sydney Harbour was primarily a place of industry.
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27 Jan 2016
In December 2015 I joined a mixed group of American, European, Australian and New Zealand guests on this handsome motor-sailer, during a 12-day voyage through some of the most historic – and most remote – islands of our vast, archipelagic neighbour, the Republic of Indonesia.
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15 Jan 2016
Robert Ian ‘Bob’ Oatley AO BEM was a well-known and respected businessman, winemaker, yachtsman and philanthropist. To the Australian public he was best known for his first winemaking company, Rosemount, and his last yacht, the eight-time Sydney to Hobart winning super maxi Wild Oats XI.
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08 Jan 2016
The Ecuadorian navy training tall ship Guayas arrived at the Australian National Maritime Museum this morning to an enthusiastic welcome from members of the Ecuadorian community and museum visitors and staff.
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07 Oct 2015
In August 2015 the Australian National Maritime Museum collaborated with the Museum Benteng Vredeburg in Yogyakarta Indonesia in creating Black Armada — an exhibition about Australian support for Indonesian independence from Dutch colonial rule between 1945 and 1949.
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28 Sep 2015
In 1987 the Australian National Maritime Museum purchased a set of original shipyard plans produced by the Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding company Gourlay Brothers & Co. in Dundee.
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09 Sep 2015
Find out about Percy Hockings’ rare collection of watercolours documenting the people, plants and pearling luggers of Thursday Island.
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07 Aug 2015
A generation of a family known for their classic wooden boat building in Australia has now come to an end with the passing of Magnus Halvorsen late in July, a month short of his 97th birthday. He was born in Norway, but migrated to Australia (via South Africa) as a child in 1925 with his mother, four brothers and two sisters.
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04 Aug 2015
Last week I started exploring the fascinating intersection between needlework, craft and maritime history in the museum’s collection, examining an embroidered sampler made by young British migrant Julia Donovan in 1879. Today I will be looking at the sampler’s first cousin – the sailor’s woolwork picture or embroidered ship portrait, affectionately known as a ‘woolie’.
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