Fatuk
- Type:
- artificial reef, freighter
- Built:
- 1963, Japan
- Specs:
- ( 160 x 25 ft )
- Sponsor:
- US Customs Service, Fish America, Sportfish Fund
- Sunk:
- Thursday October 27, 1988 - Garden State North Artificial Reef
- GPS:
- 39°37.609' -74°01.037'
- Depth:
- 80 ft
The Fatuk was a Japanese long-line fishing ship, converted from a refrigerated freighter. It was confiscated by the U.S. Customs Service for attempting to smuggle 2000 pounds of marijuana into the country in a freezer.
Sinking of the Fatuk
This video is of the sinking of a Japanese fishing boat registered out of Panama called the Fatuk. The ship was seized by US Customs for trying to smuggle marijuana into Rhode Island, was stored and maintained while it went through the legal process, and was forfeited. It then went up for auction 3 times. The first time no one bid on it. The second time someone bid $1.00 but the bid was way below the starting bid amount so was refused. The third time the same person bid $1.00 and it was refused again. Meanwhile thousands of dollars in storage and maintenance fees continued to accumulate.
The ship was in very poor condition so the decision was made to destroy it. The most cost-effective way to do this was to sink it and make it part of a man-made reef off of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The Fatuk was towed from a storage facility near Boston to Sandy Hook, and then prepared for sinking by removing all "floatables" and fuel, and steam cleaning out all oil. The Fatuk was sunk by opening a valve in the engine room, using a cutting torch to make two holes in the bow right at the water line, and by pumping water in. The Fatuk currently rest upside-down at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at these GPS coordinates - 39°37.609 -74°01.037
George Anderson
Looks to me like the cleaning is being done in Belford / Port Monmouth. That area has changed a lot since then. ( Condos, of course. ) In 1988 the Fatuk was 25 years old. This video is an amazing time capsule.
As is evident in the photo above, the Fatuk went over on her port side. There is no longer any sign of the superstructure, and the vessel has turned over about 135 degrees in total - almost upside-down.
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