Borys Aleksandrov (research vessel)

Last updated
RV Belgica.jpg
Belgica, September 2003
Naval Ensign of Belgium.svgBelgium
NameBelgica
Builder Boelwerf, Temse, Belgium
Launched6 January 1984
Commissioned5 July 1984
Out of serviceOctober 2021
Homeport Zeebrugge
Identification
FateTransferred to Ukraine
Flag of Ukraine.svgUkraine
NameBorys Aleksandrov
NamesakeBorys Aleksandrov, head of the Institute of Marine Biology
Owner Ukrainian Research Center for Marine Ecology
OperatorUkrainian Research Center for Marine Ecology
Acquired2021
In serviceOctober 2021
Homeport Odesa, Ukraine
Identification IMO number:  8222563
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and type Oceanographic research ship
Tonnage
Displacement1,200 tons
Length51.12 m (167 ft 9 in)
Beam10.00 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draught4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)
Depth5.70 m (18 ft 8 in)
PropulsionDiesel engine
Speed13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) maximum
Range20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement30

RV Borys Aleksandrov is a Ukrainian research vessel which was built in 1984. She was previously manned by the Belgian Naval Component as RV Belgica and is in active service.

Contents

Description

Borys Aleksandrov is 51.12 metres (167 ft 9 in) long, with a beam of 10.00 metres (32 ft 10 in) and a draught of 4.60 metres (15 ft 1 in). [1] Assessed at 765  GT, 232  NT, [2] she has a displacement of 1,200 tons. [1] The ship is propelled by a 1,570 horsepower (1,170 kW) ABC 6M DZC1000-150 diesel engine, driving a kort nozzle ducted propeller. [3] She has a 150 kilowatts (200 hp) bow and stern thruster and a 82 kilowatts (110 hp) electric motor. [1]

Borys Aleksandrov has a range of 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km; 23,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Her maximum speed is 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph). [2] She is fitted with a Kongsberg EM 1002 and EM 3002 sonar and an acoustic doppler current profiler. There are five laboratories on board. Power is provided by two diesel powered generators of 275 kilowatts (369 hp) each. [1]

History

Belgica was built by Boelwerf, Temse. She was launched on 6 January 1984 and commissioned on 5 July 1984. [3] Her homeport was Zeebrugge. She was allocated the IMO Number 8222563, MMSI Number 205218000 and pennant number A962. Belgica used the callsign ORGQ. [4] She was named after the RV Belgica, a ship used by Adrien de Gerlache in the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897–99).

Belgica was operated by the Management Unit of North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM) and crewed by the Belgian Naval Component. [5]

In 2013 mechanical problems caused the aging vessel to be taken out of service for four weeks, which prompted the Belgian government to plan her replacement by 2017. [6] This was later postponed to 2020. [7]

In 2021, Belgium gifted the vessel to Ukraine. [8] She was renamed from Belgica to Borys Aleksandrov.

Related Research Articles

<i>Floréal</i>-class frigate 1990s type of French warships

The Floréal class is a type of light "surveillance frigates" designed for the needs of the French Navy in low-threat environments ordered in 1989. The ships are named after months of the Republican Calendar. They use construction standards of commercial ships. The frigates were built between 1990 and 1993 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire, France. The six French ships of the class, Floréal, Prairial, Nivôse, Ventôse, Vendémiaire and Germinal, remain in active service.

Tripartite-class minehunter Ship class of minehunters

The Tripartite class is a class of minehunters developed from an agreement between the navies of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. A total of 35 ships were constructed for the three navies. The class was constructed in the 1980s–1990s in all three countries, using a mix of minehunting, electrical and propulsion systems from the three member nations. In France, where they are known as the Éridan class they are primarily used as minehunters, but have been used for minesweeping and ammunition transport in Belgium and the Netherlands, where the Tripartites are known as the Alkmaar class.

<i>Holland</i>-class offshore patrol vessel Four ocean-going patrol vessels constructed for the Royal Netherlands Navy

The Holland-class ocean-going patrol vessels are a class of four ocean-going patrol vessels constructed for the Royal Netherlands Navy. They are designed to fulfill patrol and intervention tasks against lightly armed opponents, such as pirates and smugglers, but have much higher level electronic and radar surveillance capabilities which are used for military stabilization and security roles, short of outright war. Without sonar or long range weapons, they utilize the surveillance capabilities of the Thales integrated mast, which integrates communication systems and two four-faced phased arrays for air and surface search.

Bornholm Express

The Bornholm Express is a fast passenger ferry which was built in 2006 by Damen, Gorinchem, Netherlands. It is currently in active service.

Lodbrog is a 10,243 GT cable-laying ship that was built as a freight ferry. She was built in 1983 as Siegelberg and completed in 1985 for Romanian owners as Tuzla. In 1996 she was renamed Bolero. The ship was renamed Lodbrog after conversion to a cable layer in 2001.

TIV MPI Resolution

TIVMPI Resolution is a wind turbine installation vessel deployed to install turbines at offshore wind farms. It was the first self-elevating Turbine Installation Vessel in the world. She can raise herself on her six legs between 3 metres (10 ft) and 46 metres (151 ft) above the sea.

Angeln was a container ship which was built at Zhoushan Shipyard in 2004. She capsized and sank off Saint Lucia in February 2010.

YM Uranus is a tanker registered under the Maltese flag. It was involved in a collision on 8 October 2010 off the coast of Brittany, France.

FV <i>Athena</i>

Athena was a 7,805 GT factory ship which was built in 1992. In October 2010, she caught fire off the Isles of Scilly. In May 2011 she caught fire while lying at the harbour of Runavík in Skálafjørður, Faroe Islands. It happened at night, and people who lived on the other side of the fjord, where the smoke was headed, were evacuated. Some months later the ship was sold to Smedegaarden in Esbjerg, which took her apart.

HNLMS <i>Tydeman</i> (A906)

MV Plancius, formerly HNLMS Tydeman (A906), is a renovated oceanographic research vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy now employed as a polar expedition cruise vessel by owner and operator Oceanwide Expeditions. She was commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy on 10 November 1976, and served until 2004, before being renovated for commercial use. The vessel was used for both military and civilian research and had a fracture zone named after it.

Arcticaborg (Арктикаборг) is an icebreaking platform supply vessel. She was previously operated by Wagenborg Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea but was transferred to Canada in 2017 and acquired by Fathom Offshore in 2018. In 2019, she was contract to Russia for two years.

Georgiy Sedov is an icebreaking platform supply vessel operated by Rosmorport in the Sea of Azov. She was built by Kværner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland, in 1998 as Antarcticaborg for Wagenborg Kazakhstan to be used in the Caspian Sea.

Bulgarian frigate <i>Drazki</i>

Drazki is a Wielingen-class frigate of the Bulgarian Navy. Originally constructed for and operated by the Belgian Naval Component as Wandelaar, the frigate was designed as a platform capable of multiple uses as an escort during the Cold War in the North Sea and English Channel. The vessel uses weapons and sensor technology from NATO counterparts, which was one of the reasons the ship was acquired by the Bulgarian Navy in 2004. The frigate is currently in active service.

<i>Moskva</i> (2007 icebreaker) Russian icebreaker

Moskva is a Russian Project 21900 diesel-electric icebreaker. Built at Baltic Shipyard in 2008, she was the first non-nuclear-powered icebreaker built in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

<i>Murmansk</i> (2015 icebreaker) Russian icebreaker

Murmansk is a Russian Project 21900M diesel-electric icebreaker. While her construction was contracted to Vyborg Shipyard in Russia, she was built at Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in Finland and delivered to Rosmorport in 2016.

<i>Novorossiysk</i> (icebreaker) Russian icebreaker

Novorossiysk is a Russian Project 21900M diesel-electric icebreaker. She was built by Vyborg Shipyard in Russia and delivered to Rosmorport in 2016.

MS <i>A Wind</i> 1971 ferry

MS A Wind is a Ro-Ro and passenger ship, which operated on the Vuosaari–Muuga route. The ship was built in 1972 Helsingørs Skipsværft dock in Helsingør. The vessel is registered under the Cameroon flag.

Miscaroo was an icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel built by Vancouver Shipyards for BeauDril, the drilling subsidiary of Gulf Canada Resources, in 1983. She was part of a fleet of Canadian icebreakers used to support offshore oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea. In the 1990s, the vessel was acquired by Canadian Marine Drilling (Canmar) and renamed Canmar Miscaroo. In 1998, she was purchased by Smit International and served in the Sakhalin oil fields as Smit Sakhalin until 2017 when the 34-year-old icebreaker was sold for scrapping in China.

<i>Vladivostok</i> (2014 icebreaker) Russian icebreaker

Vladivostok is a Russian diesel-electric icebreaker and the lead ship of Project 21900M icebreakers. She was built by Vyborg Shipyard in Russia and delivered to Rosmorport in 2015.

Idun is a future Swedish icebreaker. The ship was built in 2006 as Polar Pevek and stationed at the De-Kastri terminal in the Russian Far East. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the vessel's Norwegian owner withdrew from Russia and renamed it Polar Circle. In 2024, the Swedish Maritime Administration decided to acquire the ship.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "A962 Belgica - Oceanografisch Onderzoekingsschip" (in Dutch). Belgian Military. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Welcome on board". Management Unit of North Sea Mathematical Models. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Belgium". World Warships. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  4. "BNS BELGICA". Marine Traffic. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  5. "An oceanographic research ship and service provider". Management Unit of North Sea Mathematical Models. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  6. jvt (27 October 2013). "Onderzoeksschip Belgica wordt binnen vier jaar vervangen". De Standaard (in Dutch). Belga. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  7. Joppe Matyn (6 November 2018). "Onderzoeksschip Belgica krijgt opvolger, krijgen we eigen Boaty McBoatface?". VRT NWS (in Dutch). Belga. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  8. "Marine research vessel Belgica, transferred from Belgium to Ukraine, arrives in Odesa". UNDP. 21 October 2021.