the constantly rolling ship and was soon traversing the stairwells and gangways from the bridge down to the engine room. She learned where to hide below deck when the swells churned, and when the weather was calm she went above deck to chase seagulls and take afternoon naps. It seemed that things couldn’t have gotten any better aboard the Insiko .
Then, as the ship crossed the South Pacific, a fire swept through the Insiko , killing one crewman, injuring another and gutting the entire engine room. All power and communications were lost. The ship was at the mercy of the currents. For twenty-one days, Chin-Po and his crew huddled on the deck searching for passing vessels, until a passing cruise ship, the Norwegian Star, spotted them and transferred the starving crew to safety.
But the rescue ship had overlooked one member of Insiko during the confusion of the rough-seas transfer— the little dog, Hok-Get. By the time Captain Chi-Po and the others realized the mistake, it was too late to turn back. Hok-Get had been abandoned to the fate of the sea. Her prospects for survival were grim and might have been even worse had it not been for a tourist aboard the Norwegian Star who later reported the faint barking of a dog as the ship pulled away from the crippled Insiko.
The next day, when the Norwegian Star stopped in Lahaina, Maui, the story of the little dog left behind found its way into the media spotlight. Flooded by donations from the public, the Hawaiian Humane Society launched a $50,000 effort to rescue Hok-Get. The air-and-sea search spanned three days and covered 14,800 square miles, but with no sign of the vessel, the Insiko was presumed sunk, and the rescue effort was called off. The Humane Society declared Hok-Get lost at sea.
A week later, the fishing vessel Victoria City made radar contact with an unidentified ship about 400 nautical miles south of the island of Kauai. The description to the Coast Guard of “a darkened ship with no lights that appeared to be adrift” matched that of Insiko . Once again the Humane Society was bombarded by requests and donations from animal lovers from the United States, South Africa, Great Britain, Canada and Brazil. The search to find the Insiko and Hok-Get was resumed. Once again the rescue teams were unable to relocate the drifting vessel.
Then, by chance, a Coast Guard search-and-rescue plane spotted a ship drifting 260 miles east of Johnston Island atoll. As the plane moved closer, the pilot spotted a little white dog running frantically back and forth across the deck of the bridge wing. The crew collected pizza and granola bars from their box lunches, placed them in an empty sonar buoy and, with some careful maneuvering, managed to drop the food onto the deck.
Aerial images of the excited little dog running across the deck of the burned-out tanker were broadcast worldwide. A week later, a tugboat called American Quest reached the Insiko . The tugboat had been called on to keep the Insiko from drifting onto a nearby ecological preserve, where it threatened to run aground and spill more than 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel. The rescue crew found Hok-Get, starved and frightened from her twenty-five-day odyssey at sea, hiding under a pile of tires near the bow of the ship. The lonely and fearful chapter of her life aboard the Insiko had finally come to an end.
When the American Quest, with Insiko in tow, finally docked at Pier 24 of Honolulu Harbor, Hok-Get emerged in the arms of a rescuer to a red-carpet welcome of supporters and media from around the world. Her tail wagging and a bright red flower lei around her neck, Hok-Get was the picture of happiness, blessings and good fortune that captain Chin-Po had foretold. The little dog had brought out the generosity and compassion of the world with her resilience and spirit, proving that every life, no matter how small, deserves to be cherished.
Jon L. Rishi
What Do You See?
Gary loved his job at the Aquarium of the Pacific in
Then, as the ship crossed the South Pacific, a fire swept through the Insiko , killing one crewman, injuring another and gutting the entire engine room. All power and communications were lost. The ship was at the mercy of the currents. For twenty-one days, Chin-Po and his crew huddled on the deck searching for passing vessels, until a passing cruise ship, the Norwegian Star, spotted them and transferred the starving crew to safety.
But the rescue ship had overlooked one member of Insiko during the confusion of the rough-seas transfer— the little dog, Hok-Get. By the time Captain Chi-Po and the others realized the mistake, it was too late to turn back. Hok-Get had been abandoned to the fate of the sea. Her prospects for survival were grim and might have been even worse had it not been for a tourist aboard the Norwegian Star who later reported the faint barking of a dog as the ship pulled away from the crippled Insiko.
The next day, when the Norwegian Star stopped in Lahaina, Maui, the story of the little dog left behind found its way into the media spotlight. Flooded by donations from the public, the Hawaiian Humane Society launched a $50,000 effort to rescue Hok-Get. The air-and-sea search spanned three days and covered 14,800 square miles, but with no sign of the vessel, the Insiko was presumed sunk, and the rescue effort was called off. The Humane Society declared Hok-Get lost at sea.
A week later, the fishing vessel Victoria City made radar contact with an unidentified ship about 400 nautical miles south of the island of Kauai. The description to the Coast Guard of “a darkened ship with no lights that appeared to be adrift” matched that of Insiko . Once again the Humane Society was bombarded by requests and donations from animal lovers from the United States, South Africa, Great Britain, Canada and Brazil. The search to find the Insiko and Hok-Get was resumed. Once again the rescue teams were unable to relocate the drifting vessel.
Then, by chance, a Coast Guard search-and-rescue plane spotted a ship drifting 260 miles east of Johnston Island atoll. As the plane moved closer, the pilot spotted a little white dog running frantically back and forth across the deck of the bridge wing. The crew collected pizza and granola bars from their box lunches, placed them in an empty sonar buoy and, with some careful maneuvering, managed to drop the food onto the deck.
Aerial images of the excited little dog running across the deck of the burned-out tanker were broadcast worldwide. A week later, a tugboat called American Quest reached the Insiko . The tugboat had been called on to keep the Insiko from drifting onto a nearby ecological preserve, where it threatened to run aground and spill more than 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel. The rescue crew found Hok-Get, starved and frightened from her twenty-five-day odyssey at sea, hiding under a pile of tires near the bow of the ship. The lonely and fearful chapter of her life aboard the Insiko had finally come to an end.
When the American Quest, with Insiko in tow, finally docked at Pier 24 of Honolulu Harbor, Hok-Get emerged in the arms of a rescuer to a red-carpet welcome of supporters and media from around the world. Her tail wagging and a bright red flower lei around her neck, Hok-Get was the picture of happiness, blessings and good fortune that captain Chin-Po had foretold. The little dog had brought out the generosity and compassion of the world with her resilience and spirit, proving that every life, no matter how small, deserves to be cherished.
Jon L. Rishi
What Do You See?
Gary loved his job at the Aquarium of the Pacific in
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