MV Blue Marlin is one of the world's largest heavy lift ships
. She is used in the commercial sector to lift unwieldy cargo such as oil rigs. In July 2000, she performed her first service for the US Navy's Military Sealift Command -- transporting two Navy mine hunters from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Bahrinin the Persian Gulf. She was particularly attractive for the lift of USS Cole since Blue Marlin was already in the Middle East at the time of the attack