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darkemeraldsThe Arethusa, a bulk carrier of Panamanian registry, was taking grain this morning next to the Steel Bridge.
I thought seafaring folk were supposed to be superstitious. Well, they weren't superstitious enough in naming this ship.
Arethusa is the name of a nymph in Greek mythology, a pal of Artemis and a determined maiden. Uninterested in the advances of some lusty river god, she ran off. He chased her across the sea (thus, I'm thinking, the foolish popularity of this name for ships), and in an odd bit of half-luck, Arethusa was saved when Artemis turned her into a fountain. Artemis does not, you note, do anything to the river god.
*sigh*
When you're named Arethusa, I guess you take what you can get, and consider yourself lucky. Or half-lucky.
Back in 1811 or so, during the Napoleonic wars, the 38-gun frigate Arethusa was taken in a gale off the Biscay coast. History doesn't record what happened to her. Her companion ship was reported to have sunk with all hands, but the Arethusa might have managed to get to port.
Another Arethusa, a supply ship, was torpedoed and bombed from the air off Malta in 1942. Through the gallantry of her crew she limped into Alexandria--towed stern-first the last 150 miles, part of it through a minefield--without sinking.
Still another Arethusa, a bulk carrier built in 1973, turns up in a list of the International Maritime Organization entitled Very serious and serious casualties for the year 2001--not a document you want your ship appearing in. Of this Arethusa, the document says, "October 1, 2001, Serious Casualty, Constructive Total Loss. Fire."
(I note that actual loss of life results in the "Very Serious Casualty" designation, so I presume nobody died in Arethusa's fire.)
And this brings us to the Arethusa at anchor today in Stumptown. The document it turns up in is
LIST OF ACTS OF PIRACY AND ARMED ROBBERY AGAINST SHIPS AND ATTEMPTED ATTACKS WHICH OCCURRED IN 2004
The word here, I think, is "Sheesh."
"Five robbers armed with knives, daggers and crowbars boarded the ship via hawse pipe while at anchor. They tied up the duty A/B and escaped with their loot" which consisted of the ship's stores.
What's sobering is that the Arethusa occupies only one line of an appendix eleven pages long listing acts of piracy--in 2004 alone. And these aren't fun, Captain Jack Sparrowish events, I'm pretty sure.
So here's hoping that this Arethusa finds the other half of her luck, and leads an uneventful and pirate-free life all the rest of her days.
I thought seafaring folk were supposed to be superstitious. Well, they weren't superstitious enough in naming this ship.
Arethusa is the name of a nymph in Greek mythology, a pal of Artemis and a determined maiden. Uninterested in the advances of some lusty river god, she ran off. He chased her across the sea (thus, I'm thinking, the foolish popularity of this name for ships), and in an odd bit of half-luck, Arethusa was saved when Artemis turned her into a fountain. Artemis does not, you note, do anything to the river god.
*sigh*
When you're named Arethusa, I guess you take what you can get, and consider yourself lucky. Or half-lucky.
Back in 1811 or so, during the Napoleonic wars, the 38-gun frigate Arethusa was taken in a gale off the Biscay coast. History doesn't record what happened to her. Her companion ship was reported to have sunk with all hands, but the Arethusa might have managed to get to port.
Another Arethusa, a supply ship, was torpedoed and bombed from the air off Malta in 1942. Through the gallantry of her crew she limped into Alexandria--towed stern-first the last 150 miles, part of it through a minefield--without sinking.
Still another Arethusa, a bulk carrier built in 1973, turns up in a list of the International Maritime Organization entitled Very serious and serious casualties for the year 2001--not a document you want your ship appearing in. Of this Arethusa, the document says, "October 1, 2001, Serious Casualty, Constructive Total Loss. Fire."
(I note that actual loss of life results in the "Very Serious Casualty" designation, so I presume nobody died in Arethusa's fire.)
And this brings us to the Arethusa at anchor today in Stumptown. The document it turns up in is
The word here, I think, is "Sheesh."
"Five robbers armed with knives, daggers and crowbars boarded the ship via hawse pipe while at anchor. They tied up the duty A/B and escaped with their loot" which consisted of the ship's stores.
What's sobering is that the Arethusa occupies only one line of an appendix eleven pages long listing acts of piracy--in 2004 alone. And these aren't fun, Captain Jack Sparrowish events, I'm pretty sure.
So here's hoping that this Arethusa finds the other half of her luck, and leads an uneventful and pirate-free life all the rest of her days.
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