This is where my mate, Selveste Preben, works. An anchor handling vessel by the name of Njord Viking, which is owned by Viking Supply Ships. In this clip, you'll see different tasks that is common on this ship.
From a guy who retired from a life of flying aircraft (where everything is LIGHT as possible) it's with great admiration to witness and learn about others in another professional environment/endeavor with very HEAVY equipment....! Thanks, very much, for a GREAT film! Gordon in Maryland....
Wow! Big changes since l did this off Sable Island in the late 80's on Balder boats. The deck crane is a great addition. Gets rid of the tugger winches, which had to be constantly moved. And also the Pelican hook, which took time to work. Also the remote wash-down lines, l guess tapped off the fire line. Better than fire hoses. Great invention. Also no 'horse collar' on the anchor. Just trip it using the chain bridle, hoist it up, and break the chain on deck. Still trying to imagine how that works deploying the anchor from the rig. I'll get to it. Self-spooling gear on the main winch looks a lot more advanced. I think the Balder boats had 6 or 8,000 HP to work with. 19,000 hp is massive. I guess next move will be to replace the deck crew completely with robots. I remember we did a week of chain-changing in Chedabucto Bay off the 'Vinland' in a blizzard. Ran 4 miles of chain over the deck, 24 connect and disconnects of anchors. The replacement chains were laid on the seabed and marked by buoys. We couldn't find one chain. Buoy had broken away. Had to run up and down towing a 6 foot grapple dredging for it. Found it eventually. Picked up a bight of chain. The bight slid down the crash rail and jammed against the stops. Boat lay over about 15 degrees. Took us forever to sort it out. Good times.
is this the most advanced anchor handling vessel? that crane arms should be mandatory on every AHTS. that would be a relief. anchor handling is a bit easy but its really straining.
Bollard 235 mt????? 0_________________________0 Akhuyet'! I used to work as a mechanic at AHTS's. Interesting job. But left for working on an offshore platform (Berkut). Sometimes, I'm missing seagoing...
Ok I will ask. Is this kind of work required because a ship at anchor lost its anchor due to some accident or breakage, perhaps a ship owner just wanted a new "anchor and chain". Just what is going on here, yes I see it says "anchor handling" why is there all this anchor handling going on?
If it's near freezing and the deck covered in mud it is like a skid pan. Can be blown down the deck like a wind sailer. After falling a few times your legs ache. Also keeping the deck clear of mud makes the job quicker as you can move about more confidently and freely. During these operations we had one mate (myself) and two seamen on deck, 6 hours on/6 hours off, with the hi-speed windlasses rattling away and the bow thrusters whining while you try to sleep, and these terrible sea-ships leaping up and down. We had two skippers on board so that the operation could go 24/7 rather than the one skipper take a break for a nap. 8 anchors and chains on and off, changed out, still took 8 days in a full blizzard in a remote bay in Canada. By the end of it l was so fatigued l couldn't keep an idea in my head in the wind and blowing snow. The oil companies were clever. They would play one tug operator off against the other. If you couldn't work in the prevailing conditions they'd call in the rival's tug to have a go. If he could, and you couldn't, it was duly noted. The incentive to take risks was great. Rarely were you given more than one contact with the rig. The skipper was shipped out immediately if he touched the rig. This while maintaining a position 25 feet away from the legs or columns for hours on end in high seas and drifting snow. I once saw a skipper sit in that chair by the controls overlooking the after deck, for 44 hours straight, with only breaks for toilet and food, with endless cups of coffee. On another occasion l almost got killed when were were trying to work in thick fog. The skipper couldn't see the rig at all, 30 feet away. The crane driver couldn't see the deck. I was giving distances when the crane driver started hoisting with the tugger wire still connected. The snatch block blew open and the tugger wire came at me at hip height like a cheese-wire. I knew l was dead, but fortunately the crane's lifting raised the wire as it scythed across the deck, and it only hit me in the shoulder and knocked me into the scuppers. Then l got gallons of cold Atlantic seawater inside my Mustang suit. I went to the bridge, told him what happened and refused to do any more in those conditions.
Does that mean that the anchors are not returned to the rig by heaving them in, but rather taken out and lowered by the tug, then the end of the chain from the rig, which is buoyed off, is recovered and joined to the anchors chain by joining shackle. After lowering it to the bottom the rig still has to tension the chain by heaving on it. Is the orientation of the anchor when it's lowered important, or does the tensioning line it up as it is hove in.
Selveste Preben von Schlanbusch i was commenting on deck safety. The deck is yellow and they are wearing yellow so thry blend in. If they had orange vests they would contrast or stick out against the yellow of the ship. Wasnt talking about if they go overboard.
+Richard McIvor vessels like this are used to retrieve buoys, for whatever reason...maintenance, replacement, etc. The buoy is small, but the chain and anchor are massive, and dangerous to work with
