Zenitha

Although she was mainly used as a cargo ship, she also made detours to the waters north of Iceland for driftnet fishing. Her last year as a freighter was in 1965, when she was put up for sale.

In 1966, she was bought by the American nuclear scientist Alexander Szerlip, who was living in San Diego south of Los Angeles. Together with his wife and their two children, he arrived in Hälleviksstrand in late summer. He intended to sail Zenitha back to California himself.

In mid-August, the family left the safety of land to begin the long journey across the Atlantic. However, the family never got the chance to test the waters with an Atlantic voyage. On 15 August, Zenitha ran into serious engine problems at Stutarna just north of Falkenberg. When the engine died, Zenitha drifted into shallow waters where she got stuck. All on board were rescued, but the ship was destroyed in a storm shortly after the accident. The Szerlip family had to return to California without their ship.

A document about the ship’s sinking contains a comment written by someone involved in the wreck investigation. The comment reads: “The science professor knew everything about atoms but nothing about how they should be put together in a ship on the sea”.

Of course, we can wonder how the ship could end up all the way down at Falkenberg after departing from Hälleviksstrand on Orust. But the family's intention was probably to pass through the Kiel Canal.