Dredge vessel Queen of the Netherlands arrives

The Queen of the Netherlands, one of the world’s most technologically advanced dredging vessels, arrives in Melbourne.

The Queen of the Netherlands will be the main vessel to undertake dredging as part of the Channel. The vessel will be highly visible as she transits Port Phillip Heads. Mr. Stephen Bradford, CEO of the Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) said: ‘The ‘Queen of the Netherlands’ is state of the art dredging technology and is recognized as an environmentally responsible and sustainable method of dredging in the bay. The vessel has had to comply with extensive environmental, social and economic criteria and has been assessed in line with world’s best practice. ‘The vessel will operate under what are quite possibly the strictest environmental controls ever seen for a dredging project anywhere in the world, and its technologically advanced features will minimize disruption to the bay to as low as practicably possible.’ The Queen of the Netherlands is a self–propelled, highly manoeuvrable vessel known as a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge. The advantage of this vessel is its ability to load its own hold or ‘hopper’ while moving or ‘trailing’ slowly along a pre–set course. The vessel removes material from the seabed via suction pipes that lead from its side. The material is then stored on the vessel and deposited at a designated location in the bay.

Read More

Sunken cruise ship located

The Royal Navy Ice patrol ship ‘HMS Endurance’, which amongst other tasks is carrying survey work in the Antarctic, has located the wreck of a cruise liner, which sank last year.

The work was carried out on behalf of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office to improve Safety of Life at Sea products and services. Merchant Vessel ‘Explorer’ hit ice and sank just south of the South Shetland Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula in November with all 86 passengers and 66 crew safely rescued. Whilst conducting hydrographic survey work of the area ‘Endurance’ pinpointed the position of the wreck. The wreck’s position is at the north-west end of the Bransfield Strait, and was located at a depth of approximately 1130 metres. The actual location is at 620 24.2929′ south 570 11.7748′ west. It is judged that the depth of the wreck showed that it presented no hazard to shipping. At the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ‘HMS Endurance’ undertook a search for the wreck of ‘Explorer’ to ascertain its position, assess the likely condition of the vessel on the seabed and observe any ongoing fuel seepage or other evidence of pollution. The survey work contributes markedly to the Safety of Life At Sea in the Antarctic region, which is taking on more significance with the annually increasing number of passengers in cruise liners visiting this breathtaking wilderness.

Read More

Historic ships handed £31m boost

Two of the UK’s most famous historic ships are to be given a £31m boost out of lottery funds.

Some £21m has been awarded to the world’s oldest surviving warship, the 16th Century Mary Rose, to build a museum around her in Portsmouth. Another £10m will go to help restore the Victorian tea clipper the Cutty Sark at Greenwich in southeast London. The ship was badly damaged by fire in dry dock part way through a £25m conservation project in May last year. The Mary Rose was Henry VIII’s flagship and spent centuries at the bottom of the Solent after sinking in 1545. It was raised to the surface in 1982 after being rediscovered, and is now one of Portsmouth’s major tourist attractions. The Cutty Sark was due to reopen to the public in November 2009 but work will take another year to complete following the fire. Scott & Linton in Dumbarton to transport tea from China built the 900-tonne ship in 1869.

Read More