After I declared myself the "Flotsam Queen," named for my newfound hobby of collecting interesting flotsam from my paddles, Dave Fouts (see previous Purple Martin posts) said that he had something he wanted to give me, and one day he brought it over.
It's a life preserver that he found on the Columbia River side of the island in the early 1980s and has kept at his house since then. Ever since I'd seen a life preserver hanging up on my neighbor's houseboat I was thinking it would be a good idea to have one on hand, and now I do. It needs a little repair work and Dave thought I could get the "tape" to patch the covering at West Marine.
Fascinated, I googled the Hoegh Marlin from Oslo to see what I could find out. On a "shipspotting" website, I found this photo from 2011, so this ship may still be cruising the Columbia River. It says this vessel was built in 1966 in Osaka, Japan.
HOEGH MARLIN - IMO 6616540
Another web site gives additional information:
| Hoegh Marlin (bulk Carrier) |
| The Sudbury II played a major role in another salvage operation about three months later, when the 22,000-ton Norwegian bulk carrier Hoegh Marlin stranded in Active Pass. Hoegh Marlin, partially laden with woodpulp bales, fell victim to the powerful tide races of Active Pass in the early morning hours of May 4 and ran hard aground on a reef off Collinson Point, suffering considerable hull damage. The resources of Island Tug were summoned and Sudbury II, (3,800-horsepower), Island Monarch (1,800 horsepower) and Island Warrior (1,600 horsepower) were dispatched to the scene. An effort was made to refloat the 586-foot motor vessel on the next high tide, but it was several feet lower than the previous high and the effort was unavailing. The 2,400-horsepower Island Sovereign was summoned, augmenting the aggregate horsepower of the tugs to 10,000, and the Hoegh Marlin was successfully refloated on the following tide. After undergoing hull repairs she loaded the remainder of her pulp cargo and proceeded to Oslo. Citation: Tacoma Public Library |
It's quite exciting to have a piece of history. It's certainly the biggest flotsam in my growing collection and I doubt that I'll ever find anything from a larger source.
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