Semi-Abandoned Ship in Seattle? Santos, maybe?

November 17, 2008 9:30 AM

Can anyone tell me anything about this abandoned looking ship named the "Santos" by the foundry and concrete plant in south Seattle?

So I was at a little park on the end of Diagonal in Seattle this weekend and saw this boat moored near the concrete plant and foundry that's visible looking south from the West Seattle bridge. I think the name on the stern was "Santos" but I could be wrong about that. The ship is big, not cruise ship big, but a couple hundred feet long and the stern has a classic appearance that made me wonder if it was an old wooden ship with the masts and rigging removed. At any rate, it's an awesome old boat and looks to be just sitting.

So I'm curious, does anyone know about this ship? Any hints on where I should look for information. I'd love to know the history of the ship, how she ended up moored where she is, what she was built to do, and what she's being used for.

posted by stet to society & culture (6 comments total)

If it says 'Santos' across the stern, that may well be its home port, rather than the ship's name, as Santos is a Brazillian port near Sao Paolo. Having the home port/port of registration written acoss the stern is pretty common.
posted by Chairboy at 10:14 AM on November 17, 2008

IS it possible the ship is being used as a dockside cement silo for loading cement onto ships for export in the same way as the Golden Arrow I in the Port of Stockton?
posted by buggzzee23 at 10:17 AM on November 17, 2008

Another picture, particularly a side view, would help.
posted by Miko at 10:27 AM on November 17, 2008

that doesn't look like a sailing ship to me. Too oval. Usually a sailing vessel is small in the bow, wide in the middle and medium at the end.
posted by sully75 at 10:28 AM on November 17, 2008

It seems to be lacking superstructure which makes this a hulk and it is definitely not a sailing rig. I tend to agree with buggzzee23 that it is being used as a barge for temporary storage. Not an uncommon use for hulks. Here are some sailing ships at Lake Union Wooden Boat Center
posted by ptm at 11:09 AM on November 17, 2008

It's visible here and here in Live Maps Bird's Eye mode. (If you rotate the view, though, it wasn't present for the other vertices.) It has a tug attached in this image, so is probably not self-powered. In the south view, it's riding low in the water astern.

Looks like a pretty standard 20th-century steel ship to me, possibly once passenger-rated, but probably long ago stripped down for cargo or container carrying.

Becoming a barge is a respectable and useful old life for a good ship. Eventually they all get cut up.
posted by dhartung at 2:33 PM on November 17, 2008