What Happened on the Prinsendam

Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier

The Greatest High-Seas Rescue in Coast Guard History

Imagine alarm bells startling you from a peaceful sleep aboard a luxury cruise ship at 1:00 a.m. You didn’t take the “abandon ship” drill seriously on your first afternoon on the boat, and now, you struggle to remember what to do in an emergency. You find your life jacket and open the door to your cabin. The passageway smells smoky, and you hear an explosion in the bowels of the large ship. You realize the boat is not moving, and you can’t hear the rumble of the engines. Your concern morphs into panic as you race after the other passengers fleeing their cabins.

The above scenario played out for passengers on the cruise liner Prinsendam in the early morning hours of October 4, 1980.

Sources

Day, Boswell. “The long blue line: Prinsendam – Coast Guard’s ‘Miracle Rescue’ over 40 years ago!” November 24, 2022. Commandant’s Bulletin Magazine.

Hartmeyer, Phil. Seascape Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska remotely operated vehicle exploration and mapping: Search for Prinsendam.” September 5, 2023. NOAA Ocean Exploration.

McClear, Rich. “35^th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 1: The Rescue.” October 21, 2015. KTOO.

McClear, Rich. “35^th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 2: The Response.” October 21, 2015. KTOO.

McClear, Rich. “35^th Anniversary of the Prinsendam, Part 3: The Reporting.” October 23, 2015. KTOO.

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Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

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