I could not help but notice this recent presolicitation from the DoD
OFFSHORE SUPPORT VESSEL (OSV) LONG-TERM SBX RESUPPLY
based on what I read here looks like they plan to move the white elephant back to the Aleutians but this time at least ECO would not have the contract for the resupply vessel. Nice that it is a small business set aside so some local companies will be able to get this one if it comes to pass
They have a short memory. Their first time in the Aleutians was unpleasant. We spent 3 days with them near Adak.ill post a picture this weekend.
would love to see it…
anyway, if this is serious, then I hope the DoD has come up with a better plan on how to operate the pig during the Aleutian winter when supporting it is damned near impossible even if anchored in a bay let alone out in the open ocean! From the very git go, this has been one of the biggest and most costly blunders ever for the DoD.
Ha
What makes it harder to support than any other floating facility in a harsh climate? Happening everyday all over the world.
There is nothing in Adak except an airport. 70 people live there flights twice a week.thats a start it isn’t the North sea that’s just down the road from Oslo. Adak is almost 500 miles from Dutch harbor which is about 500 miles from Anchorage. To support something out there you would need everything with you. Imagine waiting 3 or 4 days for a part to be flown on and it’s the wrong one. Now you have to wait 3 or 4 more days. Then you need people with experience in those waters on your support vessel. Spend 3 days in 100 mile an hour winds trying to keep yourself lashed to the dock and you’ll know what I mean.
Started supporting her on a DP 2 Class 240 footer ou of Pearl Harbor and Dutch Harbor starting early last year. Late last year, we swapped the boats out for a DP 2 300 footer - much better ride than the 240 in Pacific Ocean. The bigger boat has more fuel capacity and carry more passengers for their crew change. A mud boat and the North Pacific Ocean sure isn’t a good combination.
Any number of good second hand PSVs built for that kind of weather is available in the market.
One of these would do the job with ease:
http://www.geoff.no/default.aspx?menu=201&id=147
Betcha that PSV doesn’t have bilge keels. It would be ruffer than 27 cinder blocks operating in the North Pacific Ocean on that boat.
Bilge keels, anti-roll tanks and specially designed for crew comfort in rough seas:
She’s riding the waves nicely:
That isn’t a mud boat?
No it is NOT!! This one is built to handle ANYTHING. Nothing like the mud boats from GoM.
What’s up there right now? I noticed HOS has one of their 300s listed as 0 mud capacity and extra fuel, and location in Alaska. Seems like a perfectly serviceable vessel, though the bow and stern always struck me as a bit rudimentary. Not exactly a 1970s-esque GoM mud boat.
Does it have mud tanks?
It doesn’t look like an AHTS and it isn’t a construction vessel…
HOS Red Dawn. L/M tanks converted to fuel tanks. Can carry 36 passengers for the SBX screw change.
These vessels have multi-purpose tanks for bulk, both dry and liquid.
If you are talking about the Blue King she is a PSV of Ulstein PX121 design. (Specs are attached in post # 8)
The Bourbon Orca is an AHTS:
www.bourbon-offshore.no
This was the first vessel with the Ulstein X-Bow. (There are now over 100 and more under construction, so you may as well get used to it)
Ok, then it isn’t a mud boat, it’s an anchor handler.
