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darkemeraldsTied up at the grain elevator by the Steel Bridge this week, a bulk carrier blandly named the Steven C.
I get nowhere with the Steven C. It is so bland that it is agented in Gibraltar by the Bland Company. No, really.
It has no history--one pass through Gibraltar, one stop in Australia, and that's it. I can't even find out who owns the thing.
Then I take a look at its IMO number, 8912314. And ah-ha! In 1999, that same IMO number was attached to the Lucky Fortune, a Japanese freighter registered in Liberia. Hmm...a case of false identity.
After much sleuthing, I find a record proving that the Steven C. and the Lucky Fortune are one and the same ship. It is owned by the Apex Marine Corporation, and registered to a firm that appears not to exist at all, the Steven Navigation Company. Hence, presumably, the bland ship name. Honestly, that's like having a vanity license plate that reiterates the model number of your car.
December, 1999: It was, apparently, a dark and stormy night on the Wattenmeer when the Lucky Fortune belied its name. It broke down in high seas and went out of control in a gale off the resort island of Sylt, Germany, threatening local wildlife and tourism with its large supply of fuel oil. The freighter crew tried to drop anchor, but couldn't manage the 150-meter chain. Only the swift, efficient action of the tugboat Oceanic prevented disaster.
And you should see Sylt. That's no place for a bulk freighter to be banging into things.
Interesting side note: In 1990, the Apex Marine Corporation was sued for wrongful death. On board one of their other ships, the Archon, one crewman stabbed another one to death. The jury found for the claimant, and the case appears to be some kind of milestone in maritime civil law.
The murder happened while the Archon was anchored right across the river in Vancouver, Washington. I hope Apex Marine now hires more even-tempered mariners.
I get nowhere with the Steven C. It is so bland that it is agented in Gibraltar by the Bland Company. No, really.
It has no history--one pass through Gibraltar, one stop in Australia, and that's it. I can't even find out who owns the thing.
Then I take a look at its IMO number, 8912314. And ah-ha! In 1999, that same IMO number was attached to the Lucky Fortune, a Japanese freighter registered in Liberia. Hmm...a case of false identity.
After much sleuthing, I find a record proving that the Steven C. and the Lucky Fortune are one and the same ship. It is owned by the Apex Marine Corporation, and registered to a firm that appears not to exist at all, the Steven Navigation Company. Hence, presumably, the bland ship name. Honestly, that's like having a vanity license plate that reiterates the model number of your car.
December, 1999: It was, apparently, a dark and stormy night on the Wattenmeer when the Lucky Fortune belied its name. It broke down in high seas and went out of control in a gale off the resort island of Sylt, Germany, threatening local wildlife and tourism with its large supply of fuel oil. The freighter crew tried to drop anchor, but couldn't manage the 150-meter chain. Only the swift, efficient action of the tugboat Oceanic prevented disaster.
And you should see Sylt. That's no place for a bulk freighter to be banging into things.
Interesting side note: In 1990, the Apex Marine Corporation was sued for wrongful death. On board one of their other ships, the Archon, one crewman stabbed another one to death. The jury found for the claimant, and the case appears to be some kind of milestone in maritime civil law.
The murder happened while the Archon was anchored right across the river in Vancouver, Washington. I hope Apex Marine now hires more even-tempered mariners.
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