The Conception started her life in 1952 as the coastal freighter Marie Christine. The Dutch coaster was 164 feet in length, 26feet in breadth, and displaced 390 tons gross. The petite vessel changed names numerous times: in1966 she was renamed Coria; in 1976 she was sold to a Panamanian company and renamed Paulrich Trader; she was briefly renamed Coria again in 1982; in 1983 her name was changed to M‐Notte; after being sold to a Honduran owner in 1987, she was known as Lady Barbara; and finally, she was renamed Conception or La Concepcion in 1989.For over two months in early 1991, the Honduran freighter Conception w a s a fixture on trendy South Beach. The vessel, stacked high with trucks, bicycles, rice, beans, and other cargo, was enroute to Haiti when it experienced engine problems, forcing it to drop anchor off Miami. The crew had been working to repair the freighter for almost t w o weeks when strong winds and high seas battered the crippled ship on February 3. The anchor of the Conception eventually gave way, and the freighter was thrown up on the beach.