The ''Hilma Hooker'' is a shipwreck in Bonaire in the

Caribbean Netherlands ) , image_map = BES islands location map.svg , map_caption = Location of the Caribbean Netherlands (green and circled). From left to right: Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius , elevation_max_m = 887 , elevation_max_footnotes = , demographic ...

. It is a popular

wreck diving Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificia ...

site.

Ship history

The vessel was built at the ''

Van der Giessen de Noord Van der Giessen de Noord () was a shipyard, shipbuilding company that mainly built ferry, ferries, located in Krimpen aan den IJssel, a town in the western Netherlands. The yard was especially suited to the construction of large Ship, vessels ...

'' shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, Netherlands, for the shipping company ''Scheepvaart En Steenkolen Mij. N. V''. She was launched on 21 May 1951 and named ''Midsland''. In 1964 the ship was sold to Caribbean Association Traders of Panama, and renamed ''Mistral''. She was sold again in 1967 to the Bahamas Line and renamed ''William Express''. On 18 July 1975 the ship sank off Samaná, Dominican Republic. She was refloated and sold to Benjamin Catrone of Panama and renamed ''Anna C''. The ship was soon sold again being bought in 1976 by the Seacoast Shipping Corp. of Panama and renamed ''Doric Express''. Finally, in 1979 she was sold to the San Andrés Shipping Line of San Andrés, Colombia, and renamed ''Hilma Hooker''.

Sinking

In the summer of 1984, the ''Hilma Hooker'' had engine problems at sea and was towed to the port of

Kralendijk Kralendijk () is the capital city and main port of the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands. The language spoken in the town is Papiamentu, but Dutch and English are widely used. , the town had a population of 10,620. In Papiamentu, ...

, Bonaire. It was already under surveillance by drug enforcement agencies. Docked at the Town Pier, local authorities boarded the ship for an inspection when her captain was unable to produce any of the requisite registration papers. A false bulkhead was discovered, and held within was of marijuana. The ''Hilma Hooker'' and her crew were subsequently detained while the local authorities on Bonaire searched for the vessel's owners, who were never found. The ship languished under detention as evidence for many months and through general neglect of her hull she began to take on considerable amounts of water. It was feared that she would sink at the main dock on the island and disrupt maritime traffic. After many months of being tied to the pier and pumped of water, on September 7, 1984 the ''Hooker'' was towed to an anchorage. As the days passed, a slight list became noticeable. The list was even more obvious one morning. The owner was still not coming forward to claim the ship and maintain it so the many leaks added up until on the morning of September 12, 1984 the ''Hilma Hooker'' began taking in water through her lower portholes. At 9:08 am she rolled over on her starboard side and, in the next two minutes, disappeared.

Dive site

The ''Hilma Hooker'' came to rest on a sand flat between two

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

systems in an area known to divers as Angel City. The wreck has subsequently become a prime attraction for

scuba divers This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where t ...

. It lies in approximately of water and at in length provides ample scope for exploration. However, relatively little of the wreck involves

penetration diving Underwater diving, as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment. It is also often referred to as diving, an ambiguous term with several possible meanings, depending on contex ...

. The ''Hilma Hooker'' is regarded as one of the leading wreck diving sites in the Caribbean, according to ''Scuba Diving Travel Magazine''.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilma Hooker 1951 ships Wreck diving sites Tourist attractions in Bonaire Underwater diving sites in the Caribbean Shipwrecks of the Netherlands Antilles Maritime incidents in 1984 Ships of the Netherlands Ships of Panama Ships of Colombia Ships built in the Netherlands