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PICTURE OF THE DAY
PIC OF THE DAY ARCHIVES
2007 - 77
Photographs
2008 - 101
Photographs
2009 - 124
Photographs
2010 - 118
Photographs
2011 - 100
Photographs
2012
- 97 Photographs
SHIP INFORMATION
FLEET LISTS
EUROPE PAGE 1
Acergy, Active, Acomarit,
Aries Offshore, Arctia, Arktik-
more, Bibby, Boa, Branding,
BUE, Boston Putford, Bourbon Offshore, Deep Sea Supply, DOF, Eide, Eidsurf,
Eidesvik, ER Schiffart
EUROPE PAGE 2
Esvagt, Fairmount, Fairplay, Farstad,
Femco, Fletcher Shipping, Fratelli d'Amato, Geoconsult, Gulf Offshore,
Harmsbergung, Harrisons, Hartmann, Havila
EUROPE PAGE 3
Heerema, Island Offshore, JP Knight, K
Line, Lauritzen Offshore, Maersk Supply, Marine Subsea, ITC, Noorhoek, Nordane,
Mokster/Eidesvik, Myklebusthaug, North Star, Nomis, O.H.Meling, Olympic
Shipping, OOC Offshore, Ostensjo Rederi, Petrobaltic, REM Offshore, Sartor
Shipping
EUROPE PAGE 4
Sea Mar Shipping, Sealion, Siem Offshore,
Simon Mokster, SMS, Solstad Offshore, TFDS, Telco, Trico, Varada, Viking Supply
Ships, Vroon
S. ATLANTIC
& CARRIBEAN
Astro Maritima, Bourbon Maritima, CBO,
Delba Maritima, Finarge Brasil, Gulf Brasil, GulfMark Trinidad, Norskan,
Saveiros Camuyrano, Sea Trucks Group
INDIA
Garware, Greatship India, Great Offshore,
Procyon Offshore, Varun Shipping
NORTH AMERICA
PAGE 1
Abdon Callais, Atlantic Towing,
Boluda, C&G Boats, Deepocean, Edison Chouest, Harvey Gulf Marine, Hornbeck, L&M
Botruc, Naviera B Tamaulipas, Oddyssea, OIL, Otto Candies, Rowan, Seacor, Sea
Nar Inc, Secunda, Tidewater.
NORTH AMERICA PAGE 2
Trico Marine
FAR EAST & AUSTRALIA
Alam Maritim, Allied Marine,
Britoil, CH Offshore, Go Offshore, Hallin, Huawei Offshore, IOS, Jaya Holdings,
Mermaid Marine, NOR Offshore, Petra Perdana, Swire Pacific,
MED & MIDDLE EAST
Adams, Augusta, Augustea, Brodospas, EDT
Offshore, Finarge Genova, Five Oceans Salvage, Mar Sol, MCT, Med Offshore, NJSC
Chornomornaftogaz, Portosalvo, Remolques Maritimos, Seaways International,
FEATURES
DEEPWATER HORIZON
ACCIDENTS
OPERATIONS
SAFETY
TECHNICAL
CREATIVE WRITING
GENERAL INTEREST
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
NEWS AND VIEWS
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
PUBLICATIONS
THE HISTORY OF THE
SUPPLY SHIP
SUPPLY SHIP OPERATIONS
THE ABERDEEN
WEBCAM
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FEATURES
DEEPWATER
HORIZON
Deepwater Horizon -
What Have we Done to Deserve This
Deepwater Horizon -
After the BP Report
Deepwater Horizon -
The Investigation
The Deepwater Horizon
and the Late MMS.
The Deepwater Horizon
- PR and Politics
The Deepwater Horizon
- Forces at Work
The Deepwater Horizon
- Where Are We Now?
ROVs, Risers and
Mud
The Deepwater Horizon
- Later
Something about the
Deepwater Horizon Accident
Channelling
the Oil Leak
Preventing Fires and Explosions on Offshore
Installations
OTHER ACCIDENTS
The Costa Concordia
Grounding
The Loss of the Normand
Rough
The
Bourbon Dolphin Accident
The Loss of the Stevns
Power
Another Marine Disaster
Something About the P36
The Cormorant Alpha Accident
The Loss of the Ocean
Express
OPERATIONS
The Life of the Oil Mariner
Offshore Technology and the
Kursk
The Sovereign Explorer and the
Black Marlin
SAFETY
The ALARP
Demonstration
PFEER, DCR and Verification
PFEER and the Dacon Scoop
Human Error and Heavy
Weather Damage
Lifeboats & Offshore
Installations
More about PFEER
The Offshore Safety Regime - Fit
for the Next Decade
The Safety Case and its
Future
Jigsaw
Collision Risk Management
Shuttle Tanker Collisions
A Good Prospect of Recovery
TECHNICAL
The History of the UT 704
The Peterhead Connection
Goodbye Kiss
Uses for New Ships
Supporting Deepwater Drilling
Jack-up Moving - An Overview
Seismic Surveying
Breaking the Ice
Tank Cleaning and the Environment
More about Mud Tank Cleaning
Datatrac
Tank Cleaning in 2004
Glossary of Terms
CREATIVE
WRITING
An Unusual Investigation
Gaia and Oil Pollution
The True
Price of Oil
Icebergs and
Anchor-Handlers
Atlantic SOS
The Greatest Influence
How It Used to Be
Homemade Pizza
Goodbye Far Turbot
The Ship Manager
Running Aground
A Cook's Tale
Navigating the Channel
The Captain's
Letter
GENERAL
INTEREST
The Sealaunch Project
Ghost Ships of Hartlepool
Beam Him Up Scotty
Q790
The Bilbao OSV Conference
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OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY AND THE KURSK
Not for the first time has the versatility and
technological capability of the offshore support fleet astounded the military - although
in this case the military were the Russian Navy and their own much more limited capability
was exposed to the world.
It only comes as a surprise to those not
familiar with the offshore oil industry and the demands it places on ships and those
crewing them, that the Navies of the world do not have the same level of technology
available and their personnel often lack the same levels of skill and experience.
Back in the 1970s when the industry in the North
Sea was in its infancy those interested in the level of support which might be provided by
the British merchant service to the Navy were extremely surprised by the
capabilities of the
supply vessel fleet. Even then the average anchor handler had about 7000 bhp available
which was the same power as that provided for a medium sized merchant ship. They could
hover on the spot for moderate periods of time and move in any direction at will, and they
had a range which would allow them to steam to the other side of the world without
refuelling.
In 1982 a number of support vessels went to the
Falklands either with the Navy or immediately after the war. Most noteworthy was the Stena
Seaspread, a diving and maintenance vessel which was taken to the Falklands to act as a
floating workshop for the warships. Its manoeuvrability was such that it is rumoured that
the warships stayed still and then the Stena Seaspread would move alongside and its
workshops and cranage were a revelation to the military. Admiralty pattern moorings were
also required for the fleet in Stanley Harbour a task which took an admiralty mooring
vessel several weeks to complete back home. The Wimpey Seahorse an 8000 horsepower
anchor-handler laid moorings in hours instead of days, amazing everybody. The admiralty
bought a few old Seaforth ships for training purposes and commissioned their own diving
ship, but it seems that neither of these projects was successful, which some attribute to
communication difficulties between the officers and the crew.
The Seaway Eagle, which we believe was
originally a cable ship, has even greater capabilities than the Stena Seaspread, and
modern positioning systems allow these craft to use GPS and place themselves within a few
meters of any position on the earth's surface.
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The Seaway Eagle was, we believe, origin-
ally built as a cable laying vessel which accounts for the strange bow shape. In this
picture the large construction crane can be seen. The moonpool from which the diving bell
is deployed is in the centre of the ship. This minimises the effects of the sea and swell.
The helideck is in front of the bridge on top of the accommodation.
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Since the working limit for air divers is about
100 ft, almost all diving ships are provided with a hyper-baric habitat in which up to 12
divers can live under pressure for a considerable time. This allows on-shift divers to
work on the seabed and those off shift to rest without the problems associated with
decompression. For the Seaway Eagle placing three divers on the seabed in a precise
location and putting them to work was easy.
A more modern addition to the armoury of
offshore subsea equipment is the ROV - remotely operated vehicle - which is a small
submarine provided with thrusters and with a camera and in many cases manipulators, to
allow it to do work. ROVs are operated from the mother ships by pilots The Seaway
Eagle
has at least one of these, and it is thanks to the ROV hovering close to the divers that
the pictures of them at work on the escape hatch were available. It also looked as if the
ROV was used to release the hatch and it is most probable that once the special tool was
made for the hatch valve, it was the ROV which transported it from the surface to the
divers waiting below.
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This diagram hopefully shows the
relationship between the ship and the divers and the ROV. The diving bell hangs directly
beneath the mother vessel. It has an internal hatch which ensures that the pressure is
stable regardless of depth.
One diver
remains inside the bell and looks after the umbilicals to the others. These contain
breathing gas, communications and suit heating. Two divers are at work. They stay down for
several hours at a time.
The ROV is also connected to an umbilical directly back
to the mother ship. This is not a unique capability. There are possibly dozens of ships
capable of providing this precise service.
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It seems from the reports in the press that no
matter when the Seaway Eagle had arrived after the first couple of days there would have
been nothing she and her divers could have done, and one assumes that even if they had
been successful in fixing the hatch, the submarine being carried on the Normand
Pioneer
would still have been required. One must hope that if there is ever a next time, the
Russians will be more concerned for the saving of lives than the saving of face.
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