AH-WR-0797

Sha Sha Boekanier

Coastal Freighter · Honduras · Lost 2002 · Florida's Atlantic Coast

A German-built coaster with five name changes ended a career including a cocaine seizure as a Palm Beach reef wreck.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Launched in 1962 in Germany as the Richard Rahmann, this small coaster changed hands and names repeatedly across German and Panamanian owners before sailing under Honduran flag as Sha Sha Boekanier. In 2001, U.S. Customs agents found roughly 100 pounds of cocaine hidden in her engine room during a Miami River sweep, leading to her seizure. She was sunk in February 2002 as the first of four vessels placed at Palm Beach's Governor's Riverwalk Reef.

Vessel

Built: 1962
Registry: IMO 5294412
Builder: J.J. Sietas Schiffswerft
Yard: Neuenfelde, Germany
Material: Steel
Length: 185 ft
Beam: 31 ft
Tonnage: 678
Propulsion: Diesel, single screw
Owners: Cory Transport (Honduras), previously several German owners

Loss

Date: February 17, 2002
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Governor's Riverwalk Reef, off Palm Beach, Florida
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 0
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 40
Condition: Cargo hold flattened and bow separated from stern following the 2004–2005 hurricane seasons; stern rests adjacent to the bow of the St. Jacques.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established