Corinne Zilnicki

Marine Electric: The Wreck that Changed the Coast Guard Forever

By Corinne Zilnicki 2019-02-11 18:38:31

At midnight on February 12, 1983, the 605-foot cargo ship Marine Electric was sailing northward 30 miles off Virginia's eastern shore, plowing slowly through the gale-force winds and waves stirred up by a winter storm. An able-bodied seaman relieved the watch and peered forward, noticing for the first time that the ship's bow seemed to be riding unusually low in the water. Dense curls of green ocean rushed over the bow, some of them arching 10 feet over the deck...