1971 Scrap metal

Cargo ships are getting bigger and bigger. Engines are stronger, and new locks and bridges have greater capacity, so the human scale is no longer a factor. The former sailing ships are getting too small for cost effective freight transport, and most of them are scrapped.

Geert Otten buys a bigger ship too, and it looks like the Catrina is doomed for demolition. For years she lies in a channel, awaiting an uncertain future.