Today we’ll talk about a ship in the Astoria Anchorage that’s garnered some attention lately because of her name: the bulk carrier Kobayashi Maru is out there waiting to go upriver and pick up her cargo.

That’s prompted shipwatchers locally to wonder whether she was named by a zealous Star Trek fan, or whether her name is simply a charming term of endearment in Japanese.

The whole thing offers a great excuse to talk about ship names, so that’s what we’ll do today.