Days 136-155

Thursday 29^th. Over the last couple of weeks we have been dodging bad weather, in and out of Stanley a couple of times and getting the work done.

I have been learning how to use the DP system on board. It uses reference systems e.g. GPS, beacons on the seafloor, etc to maintain the ships position within a couple of meters in most weather conditions. As well as the references the ‘desk’ receives input from wind sensors, heave, pitch, roll sensors and gyro compasses. It is amazing what the system can do, once it has built up a model of the situation it can calculate which heading will require the least amount of engine power to maintain. The part I found strange is you don’t have to be pointing in the direction you want to go, the ship can point and move in any direction, it will even spin on the spot whilst moving.  You can also take the controls in manual DP, the ship is then controlled via the joystick.

The ship sails this evening for Rothera to deliver the last of their cargo before winter and to collect approximately 20 FIDs.

The forecast for Drake’s Passage doesn’t look great.

Days 130-135

We set sail on Tuesday morning to head to the survey area. The weather has been mostly in our favor with only a few stoppages in the work.

The work is fairly repetitive but it is a great opportunity to see another side of the industry.

Another advantage is the entire ship is on 24 hour operation, including the galley. This means when I finish watch at midnight I can have another full dinner before going to sleep.

The amount of time we are on this job is unknown as it is very weather dependent.

Day 124-129

We have been alongside in Stanley for a week, discharging the cargo from Halley and mobilising for the charter.

All the FIDs have gone back to the UK, along with one of the engineering cadets and we have gained 7 persons from a mixture of companies to do this job.

I’ve been busy working on deck, greasing hinges, cleaning scuppers (drains from deck to over the side), being bowman in the FRC and doing fire watches.

A fire watch is required whenever we are cutting or welding on deck, it involves one person on deck with a fire extinguisher and one person directly under the deck where the work is taking place, making sure no fires are started by sparks or the residual heat from the work doesn’t melt something below decks, causing a small fire.

Today we’ve been out testing all the equipment in preparation for sailing on Monday evening.

The weather has been changeable, from glorious sunshine to heavy rain with F7 winds.

days 121-123

We didn’t manage to get into Signy before nightfall due to the slow navigation through the ice. We went straight to the site of the scientific glider and spent the day doing some expanding box plots on DP, that was unsuccessful. The other BAS ship, JCR will pick up the glider during the week. 

The trip from the Southern Orkneys to the Faulklands has been fairly uneventful, although the ship has been in thick fog for the entire time, sea state has been slight /moderate.

We will be alongside in Stanley for 6 days, taking on bunkers (fuel), discharging the waste from Halley and mobilising for the charter.

The ship will be on charter for approximately 3 weeks, in a location North of the Faulklands, taking seabed samples.

It will be a glimpse into the work that this ship undertakes in the North sea in the summer, something cadets don’t normally get to experience and I’ll be able to start logging time on the DP desk.