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Museum skulduggery
Friday 22 January 2010
RED faces in Hamburg after thieves stole a skull believed to be that of legendary 14th century pirate Klaus Stoertebeker.
“We have opened a larceny probe,” a spokesman for the Hamburg police told news agency AFP after the theft from Hamburg History Museum.
The nail-pierced skull was discovered in 1878 in an area where pirates had been decapitated and their heads put on spikes as a grisly warning. The museum had long displayed the venerable cranium as belonging to Stoertebeker, believed to have been executed in 1401 outside the walls of the Hanseatic League city.
Forensic analysis established that the skull was of the appropriate age, although there was no evidence that it was actually the last remains of a pirate whose reign of terror on the North Seas earned him the executioner’s axe.
Stoertebeker, old German for “tip up the mug”, was famed for his drinking prowess and is said to have been able to guzzle a four-litre mug of beer in one go. He is seen by some Germans as an offshore Robin Hood.
So far, police have no lead on the culprit; however, they would not rule out that someone did it “just for fun”. The museum, which managed to keep the theft a secret for some days, is now asking the public to help find the missing skull.
Hawaii five hope
AUSTAL’s ill-fated association with bankrupt Hawaii Superferry, which has cost the Australian shipbuilder millions of dollars, has finally found a fulfilling culmination.
A ship originally ordered by Hawaii Superferry, the 113 m Huakai , has become one of five vessels deputed by the US Maritime Administration for relief work in Haiti. Huakai is a new ship which became MarAd’s property almost immediately after it was constructed, joining sister Alakai , which was delivered in 2007 and plied routes for Hawaii Superferry’s operation at least for a while before being repossessed.
Huakai , along with four other MarAd ships Gopher State , Petersburg , Cornhusker State and Cape May , are now en-route to Haiti, with crewing provided by Hornblower Marine services.
Austal said Huakai is ideally suited for the harrowing rescue task that lies ahead, because of its shallow draught and large loading ramp. The 20 m stern quarter bi-fold ramp allows the ship to be loaded and unloaded without relying on shoreside facilities such as port cranes, which were destroyed by the earthquake.
Huakai ’s speed of 40 knots is also expected to enable swift transfer of rescue personnel and material to and from Haiti.
Helping hand
SOME 600 cadets of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy have come out with flying colours — in good intentions.
These students, who had eagerly prepared for the whole year for their ‘Sea Term’ on board the academy’s training ship Kennedy, got a message last week their term was being aborted as the ship sailed towards Curaçao, and the ship was being pressed into the Haiti relief effort.
Federal officials wanted to position the 1967-built, 14,897 dwt ship as a floating motel off Haiti for relief workers. The MMA undergraduates were told they would be flown back to Massachusetts, while seniors would remain on board in the interest of garnering the sea hours required for graduation. Rear Admiral Richard Gurnon, president of the academy, told the Boston Globe: “I am proud of [the cadets]. They immediately said ‘yes, sir’ and turned the ship around.”
However, seven hours later, word reached the students that the ship was not being requisitioned after all. Adm Gurnon said: “The cadets are disappointed they will be unable to provide help, but they will get to resume their planned Sea Term.”
