EARLIER LAST WEEK, Happy Star anchored midharbor.
She is a 511-foot heavy-lift ship that came to Port Angeles after having delivered a grain silo in Vancouver, B.C.
The vessel came to Port Angeles to hoist the MV Susitna aboard a Harley Marine Services barge that will be towed to the Philippines by the tug Millennium Falcon.
The tug and barge arrived in Port Angeles and moored to the Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 3 Thursday night.
The MV Susitna was towed to Port Angeles from Seattle by the tug Ernest Campbell and arrived Saturday morning.
MV Susitna was constructed as a U.S. Navy prototype for an icebreaking landing craft in 2010 pursuant to a Lockheed Martin design by Alaska Ship and Drydock in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Once built, the vessel was scheduled to be put into service as a car and passenger ferry providing service between Anchorage and Port Mackenzie while being assessed by the Office of Naval Research.
The vessel was never put into service and was ultimately sold to the Philippine Red Cross, who will use the vessel as a mobile clinic/hospital ship for the residents on the more than 7,000 islands in the Philippine archipelago.
Yacht yield
For the past few weeks, the Port Angeles Boat Haven had been looking like a parking area for Westport yachts of all sizes and descriptions.
Last week, many of them departed. I understand that quite a few of the departed vessels went to Nanaimo, B.C., where they were put aboard Ocean Glory for transport to Florida’s Gold Coast.
Platypus haulout
Platypus Marine, the full-service shipyard, yacht repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles, hauled out Qualay Squallum, a 58-foot Jensen commercial fishing vessel. She will be out of the water just long enough to have her bottom painted.
Platypus also hauled out Assurance, a 60-foot commercial fishing vessel that hails from Westport. Personnel are painting the bottom and the owner is painting the topside spaces.
Platypus is also working with the owners of Mandalay, a 51-foot Allures. The aluminum sailing boat lost its centerboard about 10 days out of Hawaii and hobbled into Port Angeles for repairs.
Harbor happenings
Last Sunday, Tesoro Petroleum provided bunkers to a 623-foot Panamanian-flagged bulk cargo ship that is also named Ocean Glory.
On Thursday, Tesoro bunkered Vail Spirit, a 922-foot crude oil tanker that is underway to Salina Cruz, Mexico.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the area’s waterfronts and boat yards.
Items and questions involving boating, marina and industrial activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. News announcements about boating groups, including yacht clubs and squadrons, are welcome as well.
Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.