Sea Witch (container ship)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Sea Witch |
| Owner: | American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines |
| Port of registry: |  |
| Builder: | Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME |
| Yard number: | BIW 354 |
| Launched: | 1968 |
| Completed: | September 4, 1968 |
| In service: | September 4, 1968 |
| Out of service: | May 30th, 1973 |
| Identification: | IMO 6806444 |
| Fate: | Damaged by collision and fire, removed from service. |
| Status: | Salvaged, with engineering spaces re-used in the construction of M/V Chemical Pioneer |
| Name: | Chemical Pioneer |
| Owner: | USCS Chemical Pioneer LLC |
| Operator: | USS Vessel Management LLC |
| Port of registry: | |
| In service: | 1985 |
| Identification: | Callsign: KAFO |
| Status: | Active |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sea Witch Class C5-S-73B container ship |
| Tonnage: | 17,900t |
| Length: | 610 ft. |
| Beam: | 76ft |
| Draft: | 35ft |
| Installed power: | 17,500shp |
| Propulsion: | Two General Electric geared turbines, two boilers |
| Speed: | 20 knots |
| Capacity: | 928 TEUs |
| Crew: | 40 |
Sea Witch was a MARAD Type C5-S-73b container ship built at the Bath Iron Works shipyard for American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines which operated in the Atlantic trades for five years. So engaged on the evening of May 30, 1973, the vessel was involved in a serious collision with the oil tanker Esso Brussels in lower New York Harbor and was damaged so badly that she was removed from active service.
Just before midnight on May 30, 1973, Sea Witch completed her port call at the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island and departed for sea carrying a load of 445 containers below deck and 285 containers above deck. Under the command of Sandy Hook Pilot John T. (Jack) Cahill and her captain, John Paterson, the ship proceeded through the Kill van Kull towards lower New York Harbor and the Narrows, passing the Staten Island Ferry Terminal at 0029 hours on May 31. Directing the helmsman to bring the ship to a heading of 167 degrees in order to begin transiting the Narrows, Cahill also ordered the ship's speed increased to 13.4 knots, just shy of the maximum permitted harbor speed of 14 knots. With the ship now moving closer to 15 knots due to the effects of a strong 2-3 knot ebb tide as she passed by the general anchorage off Stapleton, Staten Island, Cahill ordered a course correction at 0036 hours to port to bring the ship's heading to 156 degrees to bring her in line with the center of the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge.
...
Wikipedia