16 Apr 2009
Now in service with the Brazilian Navy as a polar research vessel after a second major conversion is the American built former offshore supply ship Almirante Maximiano.
Within a 45 year career the now 93.4m long, 13.3m wide ship, built by Todd in 1974, first saw service as the offshore supply vessel and was converted in 1988 at Norway’s Aukra Shipyard into the trawler Naeraberg.
While undergoing scrapping in Genoa in 2007 it was bought by Norwegian interests and sent to Germany’s BREDO Shipyard in Bremerhaven for conversion into Ocean Empress, an ROV and offshore pipeline positioning vessel for a planned Baltic pipeline. It underwent extensive steel works and was fitted with an Aquamaster US 630 stern thruster plant and repainted under NT Offshore site supervision.
Prior to renaming and handover, repairs and additional works were carried out on Almirante Maximiano. These included construction of an air conditioned ROV hangar on deck with a helicopter hangar aft of that, and five laboratories for oceanographic data collation. The old factory deck became the upper engine room and the aft part of the old factory deck was rebuilt to provide large store rooms and workshops. The ship was also painted red and accommodation expanded for 106 people, a third of them scientists.
Displacing 5,900 tons, the ship now has a cruising speed of 11 knots and an independent operating cycle of around 60 days. Classified Ice Class-C for ice up to 0.4m thick, it is driven by two Caterpillar main engines of 2,942 kW each.
source: www.maritimejournal.com
