Hawaiian Patriot

[ombugge]

It is almost 46 years ago to the day since the US owned tanker Hawaiian Patriot sprung a leak, caught fire and sunk in the Pacific:

HAWAIIAN PATRIOT, off Hawaii, 1977

Today some photos taken by Kjell Vidar Fredriksen appeared on a Norwegian FB forum: Norwegian ships 1850-2023
The pictures were taken from the Norwegian combined Car/Bulk Carrier Milena:
https://skipshistorie.net/Tonsberg/TBG102YngvarHvistendahl/Tekster/TBG10219700100000%20MILENA.htm
The 2 first picture was taken at a distance of 11 n.miles:

The last 3 picture are when it is sinking:

PS> The Hawaiian Patriot was originally built in 1965 as the M/T Borgila for Fred Olsen:

https://www.sjohistorie.no/no/skip/4231/?fbclid=IwAR2vq3lu7gG3-pTvDVrd_xKuf9mruY776i_7UjlN4C_ZVTn1A3bP_Q-8AzE

[BeerCaptain]

Why didn’t you mention her flag?

[PaddyWest2012]

What’s with the weird house?

[New3M]

Which was…?

[BeerCaptain]

Liberia at the time of her sinking

[New3M]

Does that matter for some reason? I guess I’m not following.

[BeerCaptain]

Did it matter she was US owned?

Bug made a point to mention she was American owned, didn’t mention she was Liberian flagged. Just wondered why he mentioned one but not the other?

[ombugge]

In the original FB post she was just called “an American Ship”.
Since >90% of US owned ships in international trade are NOT flying US flags I didn’t think it necessary to specify flag.

Would the flag make any difference to the fact that she got into rough weather, developed cracks in the hull, caught fire and sunk?

Since this became an issue I checked at different sources and yes, she was owned by a company in NY, registered in Monrovia, Liberia, as mentioned in the attached sjohistorie.no:

History:
11/1965 - Delivered to A/S Ganger Rolf et al. v/Fred. Olsen & Co., Oslo - BORGILA
1967 - Remeasured: 51,576 gt, 33,836 nrt, 99,443 t.dw.
1/1973 - Sold to Oswego Shipping Corp. v/Marine Transport Lines Inc., New York, Monrovia, Libeia - renamed - OSWEGO PATRIOT
1975 - Sold to Indo Pacific Carriers Inc. v/EO Panagopoulos, New York, Monrovia, Liberia - renamed - HAWAIIAN PATRIOT
2/23/1977 - Had a crack in the hull in a severe storm 300 miles W of Hawaii traveling Seria - Barbers Point v/Honolulu HI with crude oil.
24.3.1977 - Exploded and sank in pos. 22.01 N, 165.29 W. 1 man killed.
Machinery
Diesel engine 2 stroke single acting - 10 cylinders diam.840x1800mm. The B&W Licensing building at Mitsui Zosen, Tamano

She was chartered by a company in Stamford CT and was on her way from Seria, Brunei to Hawaii with a cargo of light crude oil. (wrongly reported to be from Indonesia - HI)

PS> I noticed that; “The US Coast Guard said the hole in the vessel may have been caused by the loss of an entire hull plate.”:

Tanker Explodes In 50‐Mile Slick West of Honolulu (Published 1977)

Hardly likely that could happen to any full welded ship built in Japan in 1965. (12 years old at time of sinking). A riveted ship MAYBE.

@PaddyWest2012

What’s with the weird house?

Looks much like an ATB on steroids, doesn’t it??

The idea was to reduce windage and at the same time meet the requirement for view ahead from the bridge.

Fred Olsen Jr. was a man of daring, vision and ideas. Some of his ideas revolutionized shipping and the offshore oil industry:

The crazy, true-life adventures of Norway's most radical billionaire

Olsen views himself primarily as a designer and inventor whose background in the energy business enables him to be ambitious. “My lack of a formal education is a terrific advantage,” he says in his lightly accented English. “I’m not held back by academic constraints. I think more broadly, and worry about the engineering details later.”

Some of his ideas may have been a wrong track, or ahead of it’s time. This was one of them:

Or was it? Today the ideas are relevant, both to reduce fuel consumption and maximize container load on deck.