In The Harbour: July 18th-24th
For those of you who follow my Twitter, you'll know that this has been a pretty interesting week, harbour wise. We've had some heavy duty ships in this week. Here's the scoop...
Leonardo da Vinci
Nationality: Mauritius
Length: 121.5 metres
Beam: 22.4 metres
Weight: 1490 tonnes
Speed: 8.4 knots
Year: 1985
This one arrived Thursday, much to my surprise, so I hustled down at lunch to check it out. She's a cutter suction dredger, and doesn't look like your standard ship at all.
A cutter suction dredger is used when surface materials are harder, like rock, gravel, etc. The suction tube is lowered into the water to the bottom to suck up and move the material. In this style of dredger, there is a cutting mechanism at the mouth of the tube to help break up the material on the bottom, making it easier to clear the area.
I'm not sure what she's doing here, but I do know she looks really cool!
Skandi Inspector
Nationality: Bahamas
Length: 81.1 metres
Beam: 18 metres
Weight: 2413 tonnes
Speed: 9.6 knots
Year: 1979
The Skandi Inspector is a diving support vessel, and has towered alongside the end of the jetty for most of this week. She has her own helipad, and a heavy duty performance crane to help load and unload their onboard ROV. She's here to assist with some deep water surveying on the White Rose oil fields off the coast of Newfoundland.
Atlantic Explorer
Nationality: Bahamas
Length: 91.3 metres
Beam: 17.4 metres
Weight: 4639 tonnes
Speed: 9.7 knots
Year: 1987
Sailing here from Askoy, Norway, the Atlantic Explorer arrived just ahead of the Skandi Inspector. She is a research/survey vessel that specializes in seismic research, and was one of the first vessels to tow a 3D GeoStreamer and report all the data. I know it goes without saying, but she is also heading for the White Rose oil fields to work in tandem with the Skandi Inspector and our last vessel of this week...
Boa Galatea
Nationality: Cayman Islands
Length: 80.3 metres
Beam: 19.2 metres
Weight: 5061 tonnes
Speed: 14.8 knots
Year: 2009
As I am typing this, the Boa Galatea is actually on her way out of St. John's harbour. Another research/survey vessel, this one owned by the Boa Group, the Boa Galatea rounded out the three epic looking boats that were down along the jetty this week. She specializes in electromagnetic seabed logging. This means that she emits an electromagnetic pulse which bounces off the seabed and back to the ship, allowing the crew to see a detailed graphic of what the area looks like below the vessel. The Boa Galatea is unique in that her systems are specifically used to locate hydrocarbons existing below the surface. She has accommodations for 57 people, and like the Inspector, is equipped with her own helipad.
That's it for this week everyone. I hope you all have a relaxing weekend, and if you're in St. John's like I am, get out and enjoy the sun while it lasts!!
Images used this week were my own.
I also use the Twitter-machine! If you want to check out random history blurbs, bits of harbour information, and the occasional picture of my dog, feel free to follow me! @OriginalShipstr