Posted on November 20, 2018
A ship broker has confirmed that his company is listing the decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bramble for sale.
“It’s listed with my office in Fort Lauderdale,” said Randy Kluge with the International Yacht Corporation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The decommissioned Coast Guard ship, which is owned by Bob and Sara Klingler of Marine City, has an asking price of $1.65 million.
Klinger said he would have no comment.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate at this time,” he said.
The Bramble was featured in the movie “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” It cruised north on the St. Clair River for sea trials in 2015, the first time it had moved under its own power since it was decommissioned in 2003.
The Klinglers bought the Bramble in 2013 from the Port Huron Museum, which received the ship from the Coast Guard. They have been operating it as a museum ship docked at the Bean Dock in Port Huron.
The museum had the Bramble on the market for about four years. The original asking price was $300,000, which was reduced to $200,000.
Museum officials did not reveal the price the Klinglers paid but said it was close to the $200,000 price tag.
The ship was commissioned on April 22, 1944. It reported to Port Huron in 1975 where its duties included being responsible for buoys in eastern Lake Erie, southern Lake Huron Saginaw Bay.
The Bramble and two other Coast Guard ships, the Spar and the Storis, comprised a 1957 Coast Guard expedition through the fabled Northwest Passage at the top of North America.
Klingler annually has a Memorial Day ceremony aboard the Bramble for fallen members of the armed forces.
Kluge said brokering a former military vessel is not usual for his company.
“We do it from time to time,” he said. “It’s not our forte.”
Source: Times Herald
