Monday, December 30, 2013

The moving workshop

I was asked for some pictures to back up my explanation of bad weather. So without further fuss, here they come.

The current wind speed is between 18-20 m/s which is equivalent of 40-45 mph

I guess the height of the waves to be about 3-4 metres, but I am not used to making qualified guesses on the wave height, so they could be bigger.

We are going pretty straight into the waves at this point, so there isn't much rolling/listing at the moment. If we had the waves coming from the side it would be a completely different story.

So actually in this weather with the present course woodworking is possible.

Taking pictures of waves isn't easy. You don't really get an idea of the size because there isn't anything that gives a comparable size. Our type of ship has got the accomodation forward, so that is why most of the pictures are facing aft or ove the side.

The ship I am on is a PSV = Platform Supply Vessel.
It is kind of short haul trucking at sea. We supply the platform with e.g. fuel, fresh water, food containers, spare parts and drill mud, drill equipment etc. We also move stuff from the platforms e.g. waste and equipment which is not needed anymore.

The overall length of the ship is 85 m (278') the breadth is 20 m (65'), so it isn't a very large ship. It is very maneuverable though. We have two froward tunnel thrusters and 1 retractable azimuth thruster fwd. At the aft we have two azimuth thrusters (the main propuslsion).

The ship can be seen here: Troms Artemis

Waves and some spray

Some of our deck cargo: Containers and pipes

More waves

View aft, the deck cargo is secured.

The workshop facing aft.

The workshop facing fwd.


8 comments:

  1. Fascinating! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I see that your ship is in Stavanger now, so hopefully the waves are less :) 2-3 m doesn't sound too bad!

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  3. Hi Gavin

    We are in port right now, so the ship is nice and still right now. But actually the last hour or so the weather had become a lot worse, so We had some rolling of about 20 degrees to each side from vertical. It isn't as bad as it sounds, but still bad enough to require an effort just to sit at a chair and avoid being carted around the floor.
    Brgds
    Jonas

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  4. I checked out your ship using the link and it is very cool. I notice, too, that it is nearly brand new. What is the life span of a supply vessel like this one?
    I have to give you credit, I don't think I would make much of a sailor. Firstly, I'm not a good swimmer :), and secondly, though I've never been seasick, I think I eventually would be. Funny thing is that I've had four uncles in the Navy and my Grandfather, so you would think it would be in my blood. Rather, I joined the Army. Go figure.
    Before I forget, Happy New Year to you and your family!
    Bill

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    1. Hi Bill.

      I am not quite sure of the life span, since I am rather new to this particular segment of the marine industry. My impression is though, that the usual life span in the Norwegian offshore fleet is around 10 years. After that they are often sold to other parts of the World.
      I can imagine there must have been some discussions at various family get together arrangements Navy vs Army. I always choose to look upon those discussions as a sign of that whatever people did, it made and impact on them and made them proud to be part of something.
      Thank you, and a safe and happy New Year to you and your family as well.
      Jonas

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  5. Thanks for posting this. I cannot imagine trying to do woodworking in an environment like this. Given the limited tools you have to work with and the material you scavenge, I am really impressed!!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Andy.

      We are now back to sea, which wasn't the dream scenario. There is a heavy wind blowing (50 mph), and the wave height is building up.
      Hopefully we will go back to port tonight, because the bad weather will just increase. At Thursday a genuine storm is expected with wind speeds of 80 mph and a predicted wave height of 13 m (42').

      Happy New Year
      Jonas

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