Mafuta (ship)

Last updated

DeBeers ship Peace in Africa Dec 2006.jpg
Peace in Africa during the 2006 refitting on the Tyne.
History
Name
  • Dock Express 20 (1983–2006)
  • Peace in Africa (2006–2013)
  • Mafuta (2013-) [1]
Owner
Port of registry
Builder Verolme Shipyard Heusden, Netherlands [3]
Yard number994 [3]
Laid down1982 [4]
Launched12 November 1982 [4]
CompletedMay 1983 [4]
Identification
StatusIn service [5]
General characteristics (as built) [3]
Type: Heavy lift ship
Tonnage
Length
  • LOA 169.52 m (556.2 ft)
  • LPP 126.50 m (415.0 ft)
Beam24.20 m (79.4 ft)
Draught8.9 m (29.2 ft)
Depth15 m (49.2 ft)
Main engines:2 ×  Stork-Werkspoor 6TM410 [4] (2 × 3,128 kW [7] )
Auxiliary engines:2 × 600 kW
Propulsion
Speed16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Capacity2,576 m2 (27,730 sq ft) cargo deck
Crew24
General characteristics (1993) [8]
Type: Cable ship
Displacement21,731 tons
Draught8.79 m (28.8 ft)
Propulsion Azimuth thrusters (3 × 1,325 kW) [7]
Speed12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Range20,500 nautical miles (38,000 km; 23,600 mi)
Capacity10,000 tons of cable, 100 repeaters
Crew85 [9]
General characteristics (2007) [5]
Type: Dredger
Tonnage
Crew68 [10]

The Mafuta is a diamond-mining ship owned and operated by De Beers in the western coast of South Africa. [11] Built in 1983 as Dock Express 20 for Dock Express Shipping (later Dockwise), the semisubmersible, multirole, heavy-lift vessel was converted to the world's largest cable layer in 1993. [9] In 2005, she was purchased by De Beers, and converted to a subsea diamond-mining ship by A&P Tyne over the course of 11 months. The ship's new name, Peace in Africa, may have implied that it was providing an alternative to blood diamonds. [6] [12] In 2013, still under ownership of De Beers Marine Namibia, the vessel was renamed to MV Mafuta.

Contents

Construction

Then named Dock Express 20, the ship's keel was laid in 1982 in the Netherlands at Verolme Shipyard Heusden, and it was launched the following year. Originally a heavy-lift ship, it has an overall length of 169.52 m (556.2 ft). The ship has a beam (width) of 24.20 m (79.4 ft). Her height from the top of the keel to the main deck, called the moulded depth, is 15 m (49 ft). [13]

The ship's gross tonnage, a measure of the volume of all its enclosed spaces, is 14,793 m3. Its net tonnage, which measures the volume of the cargo spaces, is 4,437 m3. Its total carrying capacity in terms of weight, is 14,617 long tons deadweight (DWT), the equivalent of roughly 300 adult male sperm whales. [14]

Dock Express 20 was powered by two Stork-Werkspoor 6TM410 four-stroke, medium-speed, marine diesel engines of 3,128 kW (4,195 hp) apiece. Each engine powered an independent controllable-pitch propeller. This main propulsion system was able to move the ship at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). For harbour maneuvering, the vessel was also fitted with a 625 kW bow thruster. In addition, the ship has two 600-kilowatt (800 hp) auxiliary generators to provide shipboard electrical power. When the Dock Express 20 was converted to a dynamically positioned cable ship, she was refitted with three 1,325 kilowatts (1,777 hp) azimuth thrusters to serve as its main propulsion.[ citation needed ]

Dock Express 20 was originally built to house 24 crewmembers, but that number was more than tripled in the 1993 conversion. In 2007, the ship was converted again to work as a dredger, increasing the gross tonnage to 15,854, and the deadweight tonnage to 7,935 long tons.[ citation needed ]

Career

Early career

Dock Express 20 was built for use in the offshore oil industry. [15]

The Dock Express 20 was involved in the sinking of the tugboat Terminator some 20 mi (32 km) off the coast of California on 27 January 1992. Following an engine failure, the heavy seas pushed the tugboat against one of the protruding stern sponsons of the heavy-lift vessel, causing enough damage to sink the vessel in 25 minutes. The crew evacuated to a life raft and was picked up by another ship. [16]

Cable layer

The ship was converted to a cable layer by Tyco Submarine Systems, and worked under charter to this company. [15]

Dock Express 20 is pictured on the Russian postcard commemorating a submarine cable between Denmark and Russia. The ship laid a 1,200 km (750 mi) cable from Copenhagen to Kingiseppe, which connects via microwave to Moscow and St. Petersburg. [17]

Dock Express 20 was one of three ships that worked on the northern section of the Pacific Crossing-1 (PC-1) system cable, linking the United States and Japan. [18] It also laid telecommunications cable between San Francisco and Guam. [19]

Diamond mining

Departing for sea trials near the end of the 2006 refit DeBeers ship Peace in Africa heading out on sea trials.jpg
Departing for sea trials near the end of the 2006 refit

As of 2011, Peace in Africa was operating off the coast of Namaqualand in underwater diamond mining. [20] Its ML3 mining license, according to a 2007 report, began about 5 km offshore of Kleinzee, running north to Alexander Bay, Northern Cape, and extended seaward for 17–32 km. Prior to 2007, the ship had operated in the neighboring Atlantic 1 licence area in Namibia, which contained higher-quality diamonds. [21]

The dredging equipment aboard Peace in Africa includes a 240-ton crawler, described as "a large undersea tracked mining tool" connected to the ship by a 655-mm internal diameter rubber hose, and a "diamond recovery treatment plant" built by Bateman Engineering. [20] [22] The dredge has a suction capacity of about 10,000 m3 of water and gravel per hour, resulting in about 250 tons of material to be processed for diamonds. [21] The anticipated yield is around 60 diamonds per hour, or roughly 240,000 carats annually. [22]

Peace in Africa was the second-largest ship registered in South Africa, and worked on a continuous, round-the-clock basis, as of 2007. Its mining operation was projected to have a lifespan of 19 years. [21]

As of 2006, De Beers Marine Namibia was operating five mining vessels, including Peace in Africa. [11]

Peace in Africa appeared in a 2009 episode of the Discovery Channel's documentary series Mighty Ships . [23] [24]

In 2013, still under ownership of De Beers Marine Namibia, the vessel was renamed to MV Mafuta. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Submarine communications cable</span> Transoceanic communication line placed on the seabed

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and carried telegraphy traffic, establishing the first instant telecommunications links between continents, such as the first transatlantic telegraph cable which became operational on 16 August 1858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Beers</span> International corporation specialising in diamonds

The De Beers Group is a South African-British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial and coastal mining. It operates in 35 countries with mining taking place in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Canada. It also has an artisanal mining business, Gemfair, which operates in Sierra Leone.

HMS <i>Challenger</i> (K07) Royal Navy saturation diving support vessel

HMS Challenger was a Royal Navy diving support vessel, operational from 1984 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Svalbard Undersea Cable System</span> Submarine communications cable

The Svalbard Undersea Cable System is a twin submarine communications cable which connects Svalbard to the mainland of Norway. The two optical fiber cable consist of two segments, from Harstad to Breivika in Andøy, and from Breivika to Hotellneset near Longyearbyen in Svalbard. The segments from Harstad to Breivika are 74 and 61 kilometers long, respectively, and the segments from Breivika to Hotellneset 1,375 and 1,339 kilometers. Each consists of eight fiber pairs and there are twenty optical communications repeaters on each segment. Each segment has a speed of 10 gigabits per second (Gb/s), with a future potential capacity of 2,500 Gbit/s. The system is now the sole telecommunications link to the archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SAT-3/WASC</span>

SAT-3/WASC or South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable is a submarine communications cable linking Portugal and Spain to South Africa, with connections to several West African countries along the route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namaqualand</span> Arid region of Namibia and South Africa

Namaqualand is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 km (600 mi) and covering a total area of 440,000 km2 (170,000 sq mi). It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cable layer</span> Ship type

A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, for electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding cable over bow or stern or both. Bow sheaves, some very large, were characteristic of all cable ships in the past, but newer ships are tending toward having stern sheaves only, as seen in the photo of CS Cable Innovator at the Port of Astoria on this page. The names of cable ships are often preceded by "C.S." as in CS Long Lines.

<i>Mighty Servant 2</i> Semisubmersible heavy-lift ship (1983–1999)

Mighty Servant 2 was a 29,000-ton semi-submersible, heavy-lift ship operated by Dockwise. The ship drew worldwide attention in 1988 for transporting the mine-damaged USS Samuel B. Roberts from Dubai to Newport, Rhode Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcatel-Lucent</span> French global telecommunications equipment company

Alcatel–Lucent S.A. was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel SA and U.S.-based Lucent Technologies, the latter being a successor of AT&T's Western Electric and a holding company of Bell Labs.

Mighty Servant 3 Semisubmersible heavy-lift ship

Mighty Servant 3 is a 27,000-ton semi-submersible heavy lift ship. Its deck is 40 by 140 m. The vessel was built in 1984 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Ōshima, Japan, for Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport, which merged in 1993 with Dock Express Shipping to become Breda-based offshore heavy lifting group Dockwise Shipping B.V.

TEAMS is an initiative spearheaded by the government of Kenya to link the country to the rest of the world through a submarine fibre optic cable. It was first proposed as an alternative to EASSy, the East African Submarine Cable System. The Kenyan government had grown frustrated with the ownership model favoured by South Africa, the time it was taking and what it perceived as an attempt by South Africa to control the cable. As a result, in November 2006, the Kenyan government decided to partner with the Emirates Telecommunication Establishment (Etisalat) to build its own fibre optic cable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heavy-lift ship</span> Vessel designed to move very large loads

A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships. They are of two types:

<i>Mighty Servant 1</i> Semisubmersible heavy-lift ship

Mighty Servant 1 is a 29,000-ton heavy-lift ship capable of carrying very large vessels and offshore platforms. Built for Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport, which merged in 1993 with Dock Express Shipping to become Breda-based offshore heavy lifting group, Dockwise Shipping B.V. Mighty Servant 1 carried structures such as oil rigs and floating drydocks. Originally 40 m (130 ft) wide, she was increased to 50 m (160 ft) in 1999 to lift the production rig Petrobras 36 or P36.

USS Nashawena (AG-142/YAG-35) was a U.S. Navy cable layer constructed during World War II for the Army as the wooden-hulled self-propelled barge BSP 2008. The barge was completed converted to cable work for U.S. Army Signal Corps as the cable ship Col. William. A. Glassford supporting the Alaska Communications System in the shallow island waters of Alaska. She was transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1947 as a miscellaneous auxiliary and assigned to cable-laying duties for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The Main One Cable is a submarine communications cable stretching from Portugal to South Africa with landings along the route in various west African countries. On April 28, 2008, it was announced that Main Street Technologies has awarded a turnkey supply contract for the Main One Cable System to Tyco Telecommunications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Africa Cable System</span> Submarine communications cable linking Africa with the United Kingdom

The West Africa Cable System (WACS) is a submarine communications cable linking South Africa with the United Kingdom along the west coast of Africa that was constructed by Alcatel-Lucent. The cable consists of four fibre pairs and is 14,530 km in length, linking from Yzerfontein in the Western Cape of South Africa to London in the United Kingdom. It has 14 landing points, 12 along the western coast of Africa and 2 in Europe completed on land by a cable termination station in London. The total cost for the cable system is $650 million. WACS was originally known as the Africa West Coast Cable (AWCC) and was planned to branch to South America but this was dropped and the system eventually became the West African Cable System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AT&T Corporation</span> American telecommunications company (1885–2005)

AT&T Corporation, commonly referred to as AT&T, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies.

Dockwise was a Netherlands-based holding company in the marine transport industry. It was acquired by Boskalis in 2013 and was merged into the Boskalis brand name in 2018.

The CS Chamarel, originally CS Vercors was a cable layer owned by France Telecom Marine, laying submarine communications cables around the world. It was built in 1974 and destroyed by a fire in August 2012. As the Vercors, the ship laid cables on and between all continents except Antarctica, including numerous trans-Atlantic cables and the first ever Israeli-made cable, and set the record for the deepest submarine buried cable lay in 2000. The ship was badly damaged by a fire and driven aground on 8 August 2012.

BOKA Vanguard Semisubmersible heavy-lift ship

BOKA Vanguard is a semisubmersible heavy-lift ship owned and operated by Dockwise B.V. Dockwise Vanguard is the largest vessel of her type ever built, and is able to carry cargoes up to 110,000 tonnes. Dockwise Vanguard was designed to move offshore oil and gas facilities, but can also carry other ships and act as an offshore dry-dock facility.

References

  1. 1 2 Dockwise. Tussen Hoek en Stad. Retrieved 2011-08-30
  2. 1 2 "Dock Express 20 (270429)". Port State Information Exchange. United States Coast Guard . Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 NB994 Dock Express 20 Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine . Shipyard De Hoop. Retrieved 2011-08-30
  4. 1 2 3 4 DOCK EXPRESS 20 (Google Cache). 10 June 2005.
  5. 1 2 3 "Peace in Africa (8125064)" . Equasis. Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy . Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  6. 1 2 Sea State Alarm trial on cable ship Dock Express 20. Breeman Engineering and Services bv. Retrieved 2011-08-30
  7. ↑ General features of optical fibre submarine cable systems Archived 7 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine . ITU-T Recommendation G.971, 04/2000. Retrieved 2011-08-30
  8. 1 2 Brown, Nicholas. Dutch ships lay Tyco cable. Seacoastonline.com, 21 June 2002. Retrieved 2011-08-30
  9. ↑ Sharda (4 August 2011). "Mining Ship MV Peace in Africa : The Diamond Hunter". Marine Insight. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  10. 1 2 Creamer Media Reporter (4 May 2007). "New mining vessel boasts latest technology". Creamer Media's Mining Weekly.com. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  11. ↑ Choo, Yoo Sang; Edelson, David N. (2008). Marine Operations Specialty Symposium. Research Publishing Services.
  12. ↑ "International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969". International Conventions. Admiralty and Maritime Law Guide. 23 June 1969. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  13. ↑ Shirihai, H. & Jarrett, B. (2006). Whales Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals of the World. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. pp. 21–24. ISBN   978-0-691-12757-6.
  14. 1 2 "Dock Express 20 – IMO 8125064". Shipspotting.com. 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  15. ↑ US Coast Guard Marine Casualty investigation MC93011836 and Marine Violation investigation MV92003258.
  16. ↑ Glover, Bill (2005). "History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fibre optic network Cable Stamps – ANZCAN, SCOTICECAN, Bermuda-Tortola, Denmark-Russia, Isle of Man-UK". History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fibre optic network. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  17. ↑ "Tyco Submarine Systems Provides the World's Most Advanced Transoceanic Network 3-Months Ahead of Contract Schedule – Company Business and Marketing". 3 January 2000. Retrieved 30 August 2011– via Find Articles / Technology / Cambridge Telcom Report.
  18. ↑ Brugghe, Patrick (2000). "A metocean case study, How satellite measurements of wave heights can improve the decision-making process on board a ship carrying out a mission sensitive to sea conditions" . Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  19. 1 2 Van de Velde, Marc. "Marine diamond mining vessel "Peace in Africa"". The Art of Dredging. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  20. 1 2 3 "Debmarines sea diamonds success". Cape Business News. August 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  21. 1 2 Kruger, Tessa (21 April 2007). "De Beers launches its first South African marine diamond mining vessel". Mineweb.com. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  22. ↑ "Peace in Africa - Mighty Ships (Season 2, Episode 2) - Apple TV". Apple TV. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  23. ↑ "Mighty Ships: Peace in Africa". Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  24. ↑ Blauer, Ettagale. "Rapaport Magazine - Diamonds in the Ocean". Rapaport Magazine. Rapaport. Retrieved 25 June 2024.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.