[Waighty]

Follow this link to 1m 10s and look for SD SEAL. I didn't know Serco were operating in Rotterdam!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxk8DecnAAI

[Slowone]

Nice one Mike, think Rotterdam would be closed for business fast if SD were operating there!!!

[roofaerosyth]

wouldnt be surprised if they were though.have you ever googled the name serco ? is there anything that company are NOT involved in ?and yet , no-one seems to have a good word to say about them fae what ive heard.lol.

[Waighty]

Hi Mark & Roo - I got sent the link by an old friend of mine (ex merch seaman) who was just commenting on the life of a place like Rotterdam today compared to the one back in the 60s and 70s. Bit of a fluke spotting the SD Seal. If it was Serco then they cover everything from prison vans to traffic lights to tugs (civil and MoD)!

Happy New Year to you both.

[roddy]

Originally Posted by Waighty

Hi Mark & Roo - I got sent the link by an old friend of mine (ex merch seaman) who was just commenting on the life of a place like Rotterdam today compared to the one back in the 60s and 70s. Bit of a fluke spotting the SD Seal. If it was Serco then they cover everything from prison vans to traffic lights to tugs (civil and MoD)!

Happy New Year to you both.

No not Serco, but given half a chance. A little bit of googling throws up some very interesting detail on what they do and even more interesting where they do it.
By the way noticed they have very recently acquired a fairly new and upmarket DP ROV/Supply Vessel, but are not making much if any noise about it's intended destination. Any clues?

[roofaerosyth]

if ye have a name for her il try to find out roddy.

[WillieG]

Would that be the NORTHERN RIVER? - reportedly to be used as a replacement for the TRVs......

[roddy]

Correct, and given the current age profile of the fleet it would be logical to presume it is a all singing and dancing replacement for the TRV,s

However with these vessels being mainly stationed on the west coast, it would also have made sense for the MOD to build an Emergency Towage capability into the statement of Requirements, that Serco operate within, suitable vessels are around. Joined up thinking, and sharing of requirements, is conspicuous by its absence in these circles.

[mil511mariner]

UT745L ‘Northern River’ has been successfully delivered to her new owners Serco Ltd on 20th December

Built as a platform supply vessel she has no towing capacity.

Used by deep ocean group for sub sea construction work / cable work

For use at BUTEC ? Unless SERCO have other plans for her - great boat

[Bob S]

KOTUG use prefix's depending on type of propulsion, SD stands for Stern Drive.

http://www.kotug.nl/en-gb/fleetlist/

Regards

Bob

[roofaerosyth]

would this be the ex trico shipping(norway) vessel we are talking about? IMO no 9179323 built in 1998.LOA 93m.beam 19 m.draught 4.3m.GRT 3.605 tons.call sign LNPI. ? if it is then i cant find any info on her.lol. shes a braw looking thing though.

[mil511mariner]

Yes thats the one.
Deep Ocean Group operated her.
TRICO went **** up and their operation was split up about 2 years ago. My ship Northern Chaser was sold to China.

[Slowone]

I believe the new ship is to replace the TRV's, SAL's and NEWTON plus anything else they think they can get away with. She sounds a bit big to replace the Kyle fleet!
Looking at the damage done to the Salmaid, would it be right to think of using this new ship as one of the emergency towing vessels, maybe just as well it has no towing gear

[roofaerosyth]

id say your right mark.having seen a picture of her. she is big beastie and a tad on the large side for BUTEC work.she would make a good mooring boat but from wot ive heard the mooring will now be done by someone else.so that would seem to rule out her doing moorings.and i believe that the victoria has or will take newtons place.which just leaves the trvs.(if any o this is wrong or out o date , feel free to correct me).i do not know which role the trvs were involved with recently but whatever it was i assume that the northern river is the replacement.

[mil511mariner]

Mark the Northern River has mostly been used for cable work by CTC and she is equiped with full work class ROV spread and moon pool and is DP2 - my thought was that you would use a vessel like this for all range maint and cable work at BUTEC - as well as putting her onto the offshore spot market where she could earn around £45K per day at the moment - more in the summer.

[Slowone]

This is a link to the Northern River details
http://www.deepoceangroup.com/uploads/pdfs/109.pdf
Looks a lot more useful than SD Victoria

[mil511mariner]

I agree

I havent been on the Victoria but have heard that she is "uncomfortable" in weather, the UT 745 are great sea boats as well as being very reliable and adaptable platforms if you want to enhance your vessels work scope.

Interesting times at Serco Marine -

[Waighty]

Originally Posted by Bob S

KOTUG use prefix's depending on type of propulsion, SD stands for Stern Drive.

http://www.kotug.nl/en-gb/fleetlist/

Regards

Bob

Thanks for this Bob. I didn't really believe that Serco operated in Rotterdam, hence the !!! in my original thread starter. But dimwit that I am I didn't connect it with Stern Drive; that could be because I've always termed it ASD.

[Waighty]

Originally Posted by mil511mariner

UT745L ‘Northern River’ has been successfully delivered to her new owners Serco Ltd on 20th December

Built as a platform supply vessel she has no towing capacity.

Used by deep ocean group for sub sea construction work / cable work

For use at BUTEC ? Unless SERCO have other plans for her - great boat

Hi Roger,

Looking at this PSV vessel, with a bit of modification she was the type that would have been perfect for moorings and towing and as a flat-top for trial work. Or maybe go straight for a modified AHTS.

Having partially watched a Maersk AHTS lift and lay an MOD First Class Mooring, admittedly one with chain cable instead of square link, as a trial run, in less than three days (working 24 hours of course) - that type of vessel would have been very useful. At that time the SALMOs were looking to secure funding for their little empire by speeding up the mooring process, not that it came to anything.

[joe732]

Makes me wonder why Serco ordered 29 new builds from Damen, when there seems to have been fit for purpose vessels elsewhere, already on the shelf, so to speak.
Suppose it doesn't really matter, as ultimately, the UK taxpayer will be footing the bill.
Oh, and not forgetting Serco shareholders making a profit.

[roofaerosyth]

it was often said that the mod could have saved a shed load of money back in the 80s by buying a few o these offshore vessels instead of paying over the odds to build 3 new mooring boats at however many millions it cost at the time.(cant remember the exact figure but it wasnt cheap).they could have purchased a few o these at a fraction o the price.second hand of course.makes me wonder how much northern river was and how that compares to what the mod spent in the 80s?

[mil511mariner]

The MoD bought 3 ex Seaforth anchor handlers 82 / 83 ripped the tow winches out and sent them to the Falklands as patrol boats. Early 90's the Sentinel came to Plymouth and was refitted with towing winch. I remember with horror watching as she shifted berth one day and the prop pitch failed. Luckily the long line of moored yachts at Torpoint stopped her from going aground. Probably used this incident to justify MoD procurement policy.

[mil511mariner]

Originally Posted by Waighty

Hi Roger,

Looking at this PSV vessel, with a bit of modification she was the type that would have been perfect for moorings and towing and as a flat-top for trial work. Or maybe go straight for a modified AHTS.

Having partially watched a Maersk AHTS lift and lay an MOD First Class Mooring, admittedly one with chain cable instead of square link, as a trial run, in less than three days (working 24 hours of course) - that type of vessel would have been very useful. At that time the SALMOs were looking to secure funding for their little empire by speeding up the mooring process, not that it came to anything.

Mike, was it not the requirement for tidal lifts that kept the Sal's equiped with Horns ?

The Wimpey Seahorse came to Kyle around 83 to support Seaforth Clansman with the SAT divers, between the 2 of them they made a hell of a mess of the southern end of the range running anchors. The O/T relaying cable paid for a new car - All justification with the powers that we had it right with the mooring boats I suppose.

Tried square link at Akrotiri with the Kingdom of Fife in 2008 and it was a bit of a mess. Mind you I wasnt too impressed with the KoF either always sothething breaking ( Damen Galati) OK for nav buoys rubbish at moorings ( with square link) .

[RetiredPMSO]

I was in on the early design meeting for what became the SAL's David Keogh had been sent out to look at the market and clearly told the meeting that industry was working over the stern. He was over-ruled by the then CSALMO on the basis "we have always done it over the bow".

RetiredPMSO

[roofaerosyth]

ah! that old chestnut.that excuse popped up a lot in the mod that i remember.lol.can anyone remember how much the sal class cost when built?