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Here we have the UT 730 Far Santana out in Brazilian waters with a deck full of ROV equipment. Is this the fate of 18 year old anchor-handlers with 200 tons bollard pull? After an earlier life deploying torpedo anchors which are just launched off the stern and plunge downwards (there is a video) it is now hovering over its ROV which can apparently dive to 3000 metres. Well at least it is still out there doing useful work while similarly aged vessels are on their way to the breakers.
Now and again I delve into the files to find something iconic from the past, so here is the Grampian Chieftain one of the early North Star standby boats on its way outward bound from Aberdeen into the North Sea. It is a former fishing vessel, hence well used to being out there in weather conditions which would be daunting for much larger ships. North Star was one of the earliest companies offering standby boats. It was owned by the Craig Group which initially used its fishing fleet, made more or less redundant by the Icelandic cod wars. Today its ownership has changed and there are no fishing vessels left in the fleet, and they are called ERRVs. Sounds important doesn't it.
A couple of weeks ago it was open house at many buildings in Aberdeen, and one of them was the Visitor's Centre, overlooking the Aberdeen South Harbour which is under construction. You can see a number of small dredgers at work as well as cranes on the developing breakwater, and on the shore there are acres of specially formed concrete structures, which when put in position will form further breakwaters. A Spanish company is doing the work, and complex it must be, and could be surprise for those who thought that the British offshore oil industry was finished, and that the Granite City was not a viable tourist destination.
Photo taken on 8th September and posted here on 20th September 2018.