Was The World’s ‘Northern-Most Island’ Erased From Charts?
by Kevin Hamilton (University of Hawaii) In 2021, an expedition off the icy northern Greenland coast spotted what appeared to be a previously uncharted island. It was small and gravelly,...
© Stéphane Saissi
Cable laying vessel “Ile De Sein” selected to recover Air France flight 447 data recorder
This weeks interesting ship is the Ile De Sein. Built in 2001, the vessel is owned by the telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent and has been used for such jobs as part of a project to lay 9,000 kilometres of submarine cable between Sydney and Hawaii.
Today, however, the vessel was contracted by the the French aviation accident investigation bureau to recover the wreckage of the Air France passenger jet that crashed in the mid-Atlantic in 2009 on a trip from Rio de Janeiro and Paris. The wreckage had been found at a depth of 3,900 meters earlier this week.
The goal of the operation is to recover the flight recorders and other clues from the wreckage to determine the cause of the accident. To compelete its mission, the vessel will be assisted by an ROV provided by Phoenix International Inc, a U.S. company.
Here are the vessel Specifics provided by the History of the Atlantic Cable and Undersea Communications website:
Built: 2001.
Operated by: Alcatel – Lucent.
Length: 140.36 m,
Breadth: 23.39 m,
Depth: 12 m.
Gross tonnage: 13,978.
Two main cable tanks provide storage for a total of 5,000 tonnes of cable.
CABLE WORK
2003 APOLLO: Bude, England – Long Island, USA: Lannion, France – Manasquan, USA
2003 Azores – Madeira
2003 Madeira – Porto Santo
2007 NEPTUNE: a scientific project which will be the world’s largest cable-linked seafloor observatory.
© Stéphane Saissi
© Stéphane Saissi
Photos via Shipspotting
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 104,526 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
Sign UpMaritime and offshore news trusted by our 104,526 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up