MV Blue Marlin
Encyclopedia
Semi-submersible
A semi-submersible is a specialised marine vessel with good stability and seakeeping characteristics. The semi-submersible vessel design is commonly used in a number of specific offshore roles such as for offshore drilling rigs, safety vessels, oil production platforms and heavy lift cranes.The...
heavy lift ship
Heavy lift ship
A heavy lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normally equipped ships. They are of two types: semi-submerging capable of lifting another ship out of the water and transporting it; and vessels that augment unloading facilities at inadequately equipped...
designed to transport very large semi-submersible drilling rigs above the transport ship's deck. It is equipped with 38 cabins to accommodate 60 people, a workout room, sauna, and swimming facilities.
Blue Marlin and her sister ship comprise the Marlin class of heavy lift ship. They were owned by Offshore Heavy Transport of Oslo, Norway from their construction, in April 2000 and November 1999 respectively, until 6 July 2001, when they were purchased by Dockwise Shipping
Dockwise
-History:Dockwise was formed in September 1993 by the merger of two complementary companies, Wijsmuller Transport and Dock Express Shipping , becoming the world's largest seagoing heavy transport shipping company. The combined company operated from a new headquarters in Meer , Belgium...
of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
History
The U.S. NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
hired the Blue Marlin from Offshore Heavy Transport to move the destroyer back to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after the warship was damaged by an Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
suicide bomber attack while anchored in the port of Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. During the latter part of 2003, work done on the Blue Marlin boosted its capacity and added two retractable propulsor
Propulsor
A propulsor is a mechanical device that gives propulsion. The word is commonly used in the marine vernacular, and implies a mechanical assembly that is more complicated than a propeller. The Kort nozzle and Pump-jet are examples....
s to improve maneuverability. The ship re-entered service in January 2004. Following these improvements, the Blue Marlin delivered the oil platform Thunder Horse PDQ
Thunder Horse PDQ
Thunder Horse PDQ is a BP plc and ExxonMobil joint venture semi-submersible oil platform on location over the Mississippi Canyon Thunder Horse oil field , in deepwater Gulf of Mexico, southeast of New Orleans, moored in waters of...
, weighing 60,000 tons, to Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
for completion.
In July 2005 Blue Marlin moved the gas refinery Snøhvit
Snøhvit
Snøhvit is the name of a natural gas field in the Norwegian Sea, situated northwest of Hammerfest, Norway. The northern part of the Norwegian Sea is often described as the Barents Sea by offshore petroleum companies...
from its construction site in Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
to Hammerfest
Hammerfest
is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
, an 11 day trip. This transport was filmed for the TV show Extreme Engineering
Extreme Engineering
Extreme Engineering is a documentary television series that airs on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. The program features futuristic and ongoing engineering projects. As of April 2011, the show is airing its ninth season. Danny Forster first hosted the series in season 4 and has been...
on the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, and also the TV show Mega Movers on the History Channel. In November 2005, Blue Marlin left Corpus Christi, Texas, to move the massive Sea-based X-band Radar
Sea-based X-band Radar
Sea-Based X-Band Radar is a floating, self-propelled, mobile radar station designed to operate in high winds and heavy seas. It is part of the U.S. Defense Department Ballistic Missile Defense System....
to Adak
Adak Island
Adak Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaska's southernmost town, Adak, is located on the island...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, via the southern tip of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. It arrived at Pearl Harbor on 9 January 2006, having travelled 15,000 miles. In January 2007, the Blue Marlin was employed to move two jack-up rigs, the Rowan Gorilla VI and the GlobalSantaFe Galaxy II, from Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.-Harbour description:The harbour is called Jipugtug by the Mi'kmaq first nation, anglisized as Chebucto...
to the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
.
Initial
- Length Overall: 217 m (711.9 ft)
- Length PP: 206.5 m (677.5 ft)
- Breadth Moulded: 42 m (137.8 ft)
- Depth Moulded: 13.3 m (43.6 ft)
- Summer Draft: 10 m (32.8 ft)
- Deadweight: 56,000 metric tons
- Submerged Depth above Deck: 10 m (33 ft)
- Free Deck Length: 178.2 or
- Free Deck Area: More than 7215 m² (8,629.1 sq yd)
- Main Engine Output: 12,640 kW (17,160 BHP)
- Bow Thruster: 2,000 kW (2,712 BHP)
- Cruise Speed: 14.5 knots
- Cruise Range: 25,000 nm
- Accommodation: 55 people
- Building Yard: CSBC, KaohsiungKaohsiungKaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
Post-2004
- Depth: (44 ft)13.3 m (43.6 ft)
- Max sailing draft: (33 ft)10 m (32.8 ft)
- Max draft submerged: 29.3 m (96.1 ft)
- Water above deck submerged
- aft 16 m (52.5 ft)
- forward 12 m (39.4 ft)
- Deck space: 63 metre
- Deck area: 11227 m² (13,427.4 sq yd)
- Propulsor output: 4500 kW (6,035 hp) each
- Conversion yard: Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, UlsanUlsanUlsan , officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh largest metropolis with a population of over 1.1 million. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring Busan to the south and facing Gyeongju to the north and the Sea of Japan to the east.Ulsan is the...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...