Those rules, which forbade the inclusion of wood and other extremely combustible products in the construction of new ships, also including older ships, requiring that they undergo renovations to become compatible with the new SOLAS rules.
Bahama Star in her
Glory Days
As the years wore on toward the end of the 60's, the Bahama Star also became the victim of the growing airline trade. No longer financially viable and considered too costly to bring up the standards of the new rules, she was brought over to the West Coast, at Port Hueneme, California, near Ventura to await an unknown future, as WR. Lovett was unwilling to invest in the upgrades.
Just off the Channel Islands, known for its sudden and spontaneous weather changes, a storm came in during the spring of 1970. Sitting at anchor waiting to be sold, severe wave-forces and strong winds were battering the ship from her Port side. As the winds and waves grew in force, she was battered enough to drag her anchor as she was pushed in-land towards the beach with two watchmen crew aboard. After being pounded into the natural sandbars, when the tides rolled out, she rolled over to her port side. Although the tide was out, the waves and wind were no less relentless in pounding the poor ship.
She rolled over enough in the winds and waves, to allow water to run into her ventilators and flood her lower decks. After taking on so much water and digging into the soft sand with the added tonnage the water gave her, she was considered a loss and not worth re-floating
It was decided that the Bahama Star would be scrapped on-site. Unfortunately, her scrapping was not carried-out with great efficiency. Near some rocks, a makeshift bridge was built to her stern so that workman could walk between the shore and ship.
Everything above water, along the diagonal of the ship, was removed. A full third of the ship remained behind, under the water. Over the years, her remaining hull was taken over by coral and beach. Blending in with the rocks, she became an artificial exposed reef. It's still used today.
If one would venture onto the "reef', you could see some of the details that show that the reef is actually the remains of the bowels of a ship. Should you ever find yourself in the area and walking across this reef, remember that this is the hull of a ship that saved 285 people from a horrific, fiery death.