Uncategorised
Here is the new Maersk Master, known by Maersk for some reason as the first of the "Starfish" class and by the designers as the SALT 200. There are a further five of the class due later this year. The ships are 95 metres long and have five engines delivering 23,000 bhp giving them a bollard pull of 230 tonnes. One assumes that the extremely large accommodation block contains the ROV hanger, and very much in the Maersk style the anchor-handling and towing winches are fully enclosed at the forward end of the working deck.
This photo has lain in my in tray for years because it is actually the Mac Tide "something", and it is just possible to see that there are a couple of numbers after the name, but it should be seen because the atmosphere of the GOM offshore environment has been captured so well. Possible numbers could be 48, 61 or 62, but whichever one it is it has either two of three propellers and is powered by about 7000 bhp of EMDs (probably).
On 6th March 1987 the ro-ro ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized just outside the port of Zeebrugge. 150 passengers and 38 crew members lost their lives. The accident was investigated by the Department of Transport under the auspices of the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act.
(The illustration originally in "The Motor Ship" is included in the official report on the investigation)
The Ship.
The Herald was a triple screw vessel, each propeller being served by an engine developing 9000 bhp, giving it rapid acceleration and a service speed of 22 knots. Above the double bottoms there were eight decks the lowest being H Deck. The main vehicle deck was G Deck which was accessed by a single weathertight door at the stern and double “clamshell” weathertight doors at the bow.