Uncategorised
Here is the Olympic Princess, in the news this week because the owners have sold it. Well, every ship has its day and this vessel made considerable impact when it first arrived in Aberdeen in 1999. It is an MT6000 built in Braatvaag. I have chosen a close up of the bow for the main photo. There is a guy leaning over looking down as the ship is approaching the quay. What's he doing? The space in Torry Dock was so tight that the ships edged alongside with inches to spare. he is telling the captain the distance to the end of the dock.
Back in 2016 the Transocean Winner, a semi-submersible drilling rig owned by Transocean, had broken free of its towing vessel and grounded on the Island of Lewis. It was unmanned, so there were no casualties but the event certainly made the papers. The towing vessels had been the Alp Forward. I have decided to summarise the MAIB report of this event for the benefit of any of my readers who have an interest in this sort of thing, and so here as a taster, is a photo of the tug, then known as the Ursus, owned by Harms Bergung at anchor off Singapore. You can see that wild building in the background, now starring in "Crazy Rich Asians" I think.
Here is the ST-216 Standard Princess lying alongside Pocra Quay in Aberdeen. It used to be the Volstad Princess, but the company failed to pay its lenders back in 2016, and now seems to have reverted to operating a couple of fishing vessels. This large and powerful PSV is one of three sister ships now owned by by Standard Drilling and operate by Fletcher Shipping, another company which has risen phoenix-like from the ashes of the offshore slump. Standard Drilling has accumulated interest in other offshore vessels over 2017.