When one thinks of a NASA ship, it’s generally not the seagoing type that pops into ones head.  However, NASA does in fact have two vessels made for the high seas – MV Liberty Star and the MV Freedom Star – that assist with a shuttle launch.  Both vessels are tasked as recovery ships for retrieving spent Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) that are used to power the shuttle’s ascent into space.  After two minutes of flight, the boosters separate from the orbiter and external tank at an altitude of approximately 24 miles, descend under parachutes and land in the Atlantic Ocean where the MV Liberty Star and the MV Freedom Star are waiting to retrieve the reusable SRB’s.

It all begins about 24 hours before a shuttle launch, when the two ships set out to sea, manned by highly trained crews of professional merchant mariners and divers. During the operation, each ship retrieves one booster. Each ship has a permanently assigned crew of 10: a captain, two mates, four seamen, two marine engineers and a cook. In addition, eight divers accompany each crew to perform the delicate retrieval operation.

It just so happens that Marshall Space Flight Center has recently posted some of the best images ever captured of an SRBs decent into the ocean.  [Continue Reading →]

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This weeks interesting ship is the ULSTEIN A122 AHTS vessel, Olympic Hera, which was just recently delivered to Olympic Shipping by Ulstein Group.  Olympic Hera is the sister vessel of the Olympic Zeus, which has been highly attractive in the market since her delivery six months ago.

Ordered in December 2006, the Olympic Hera and Olympic Zeus are state-of-the-art AHTS/OCV designed for towing, anchor-handling, survey, crane, and ROV operations as well as general offshore construction work.  Along with their deep water capabilities, both vessels have excellent sea-keeping and performance characteristics ensuring good fuel economy and low emissions.

“From our experiences with Olympic Zeus in the North Sea we see that the vessel runs diesel-electric 80% of the time. Figures show that fuel consumption in these modes is about 50% lower than for most competing vessels due to the hybrid solution onboard,” says Olympic Shipping senior vice president Runar Stave. [Continue Reading →]

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This weeks Interesting Ship is Dolphin Marine international Dolphin III Towing and Anchor Handling Tug.

The Dolphin III has been in service since 2001 and is based out of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. This SOLAS classed vessel is currently the most powerful offshore tugboat operating in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s powered by (2) EMD-20-710G7B Turbos which gives the tug a Bollard Pull of approximately 150 Tons. The Dolphin III has recently returned to service after it entered dry dock for a revamp and upgrades.

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• Interesting Ship of The Week – Nasa Recovery Ships
• ATB is Largest Ever to Transit Alaskan Waters
• Interesting Ship of The Week – Olympic Hera and Olympic Zeus
• Fugro Survey Launches New M/V Fugro Gemini
• M/V Seabed Worker – Interesting Ship of The Week

Fugro Survey has launched its multirole survey vessel, MV Fugro Gemini for a wide range of surveys like shallow and deepwater geophysical analogue and multi-channel seismic site survey, pipeline and cable route survey, swathe bathymetry survey and AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) survey, serving the oil and gas industry, the cable sector and government agency clients in South East Asia.

The MV Fugro Gemini, measuring 49.3m length overall and 18.2m width, has been fitted with state-of-the-art Fugro Starfix navigation and positioning equipment, and high frequency digital seismic acquisition and processing equipment. Furthermore it contains sub-bottom profilers, an EM300 multi beam and single beam echo sounders, side-scan sonars, HiPAP500, magnetometer, vibro and gravity coring systems and off-line processing stations, enabling the integration of all survey activities from data collection to final onboard reporting.

The MV Fugro Gemini has also been fitted with a Hugin 1000 AUV rated to 3000m operating depth. The launch and recovery container is permanently mobilised on the vessel.

With deployment of the all-round MV Fugro Gemini better operational efficiency can be realised.

More information can be found at www.Fugro.com

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This weeks interesting ship is the M/V Seabed Worker, an 88 meter Multi Purpose Support Vessel that is very well equipped for Subsea operations. The M/V Seabed Worker was recently delivered in March 2009 by the Norwegian yard Fjellstrand AS to Seabed AS of Begen Norway.

The DP2 classed vessel has two 2500 kW stern-mounted Voith propulsion units, a Rolls Royce 1000-kW tunnel bow thruster and a Rolls Royce 1000-kW retractable azimuthing bow thruster. Power for these electrically driven propulsion motors is provided by four Cummins QSK60 DMI-driven 1800 kW generator sets. The 88.8 by 16-meter vessel is packed with sophisticated equipment including two hydro-acoustic positioning reference systems and very broad suits of navigation and communications systems.   [Continue Reading →]

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The Trans Sea Lifter, or TSL, is a uniquely innovative barge carrying system for short sea shipping that, according to their website, can execute 5 to 7 times the number of round trip voyages per year than a conventional feeder vessel of similar slot capacity.

The vessel is a SWATH type, or Small-Waterplane-Area Twin-Hull, catamaran.  The hulls are very slender at the water surface, thus offering a steady ride through waves and allowing the TSL to sustain its speed through rough head seas.  The TSL uses a patented ballast-system that enables a quick change in draft to provide the TSL with fully autonomous offshore cargo handing capabilities.  Drafts range from:

• Voyage Draft – 12 m
• Loading Draft – 20 m
• Traversing Draft – 7.5 m

The system components are: [Continue Reading →]

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SS Chesapeake (AOT-5084) tilts 13 degrees to port to release the single anchored leg moor (SALM) into the ocean. The SALM is used to keep the ship at anchor during replenishment of fuel and supplies to shore activities. [Continue Reading →]

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MV Doulos

The MV Doulos is the world’s oldest active ocean going passenger ship. The 94 year old ship has gone by many names over the years such as the SS Medina and SS Roma. During World War II she saw action in the Battle of the Atlantic as a freighter. Today she is used as the world’s largest floating bookshop bringing books to port cities around the world. The ship has a official website which tells us, “Volunteers from over 40 countries serve on board Doulos. They are mostly young people who have chosen to dedicate two years of their lives to be on board, learning to live and work together, and serving the communities in the ports visited. Additionally, the ship has a full complement of qualified crew, as required by international maritime regulations.” The website goes on to say that “over 20 million visitors have been welcomed on board for tours, programs and visits to the floating book fair. With stops in over 500 ports of call, this unique ship has visited more than 100 countries including Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and many island nations.” [Continue Reading →]

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Austal, the worlds largest builder of fast ferries and makers of the revolutionary trimaran Benchijiqua Express that inspired the design for the USS Independence (LCS 2), brings us the Auto Express 102 High-Speed Trimaran.  The new 102 meter trimaran is an evolution in and of itself delivering a truly next-generation transportation solution aimed at optimizing performance, seakeeping, fuel efficiency, passenger comfort and payload. [Continue Reading →]

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This weeks Interesting Ship is brought to us by Damen Shipyards with their Fast Crew Supplier 5009.  The idea in the design of the Fast Crew Supplier 5009 series was to provide transport of a big load at high speeds and over long distances while still providing comfort for its passengers.  With a capacity for 250 ton load and 80 passengers at a speed of 25 knots, this vessel does just that.  It’s Sea Axe bow design provides a deep forefront so it can keep up high speeds in rough seas with minimal slamming and greatly reduces vertical accelerations furthing the comfort of the ride.  It’s steel hull provides for lower costs and lighter weight over it’s aluminum counterpart, while at the same time reducing fuel costs and lower vibration in the wheelhouse.  Additionally the steel hull makes repairs easier if needed.   [Continue Reading →]

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