S A AGULHAS

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aukepalmhof
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S A AGULHAS

Post by aukepalmhof » Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:48 pm

Built as an ice-breaker research vessel under yard No789 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Shimonoseki, Japan for the Department of Transport of the Rep. of South Africa.
1977 Keel laid down.
Launched as S.A. AGULHAS.
Tonnage 5.353 grt, 2.588 net, 3.246 dwt., dim. 109.45 x 18.04 x 6.06m., length bpp. 100.72m.
Powered by two 6-cyl. Mirrlees-Blackstone diesel engines, 6.000 hp. geared to a single controllable pitch propeller, speed 14 knots. One bow thruster of 750hp. and a stern thruster of 500hp.
Bunker capacity 1.099 tons.
Range 15.000 mile.
Accommodation for 98 passengers and 40 crew.
Three cargo hatches with a total bale capacity of 3.687 m³, reefer capacity 111 m³, and cargo oil supply 491 m³.
One 5ton travelling crane and one 25 ton heavy lift crane.
Lately she used 2 Atlas Oryx helicopters.
1978 Completed.

She is a polar research and supply vessel and she supplied the three SANAP research bases in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.
1991 Just before Christmas she got rudder damage near the Antarctic base SANAE, with the assistance of the German POLARSTERN she got free of the pack-ice in February 1992, where after she was towed by the SAS DRAKENSBERG to Cape Town for repair.

Mostly every September she provides a cargo and passenger service to Tristan da Cunha, as lease arrangement of Gough Island to the South African Government where they maintain a Meteorological Station.
The S.A. AGULHAS sails first to Tristan da Cunha then on the Gough Island for the exchange of personnel and delivery of stores, equipment etc.
The voyage gives passengers an opportunity to have a stay of three weeks on Tristan, making it a very popular and busy trip for visitors. When the sea conditions are poor, passengers are transferred to and from the ship by helicopter.

28 June 2002 she entered the ice so far that her helicopters could reach the trapped German polar vessel MAGDALENA OLDENDORFF in the Antarctic ice. Her helicopters took 21 Russian scientists from the trapped vessel and transferred them to the S.A. AGULHAS.

September 2007 two crew members were accused of murdering another crew member after a late night drinking bout. The environmental protection vessel SARAH BAARTMAN took custody of the two men and the deceased’s body.

2009 Still in service, but there are plans to replace her by a newer vessel.

Her tonnage is now given as 6.122.96 grt, 7.107 net, length 111.95 meter.

The SA AGULHAS returned to Cape Town on March 3 2012 after its final polar voyage. The members of the SANAE over-wintering team were present as the ship arrived back at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, after having departed for Antarctica on December 8 last year.

"The AGULHAS had a good stretch; it is 32 years old," said environmental affairs spokesman Zolile Nqayi. The ship made a total of 39 trips to Antarctica since 1978.

The SA AGULHAS is due to be retired this month and later sold.

In July 2012 the S. A. AGULHAS was recommissioned as a training ship operated by the South African Maritime Safety Authority, the ship will continue to provide facilities for scientific research while training up to seventy merchant marine cadets.
Having undertaken a brief "shakedown" cruise from 4 July 2012, the ship left Cape Town on 2 November 2012 on the first full cruise as a training vessel. Included in the itinerary were visits to Tema and Abidjan to take on additional cadets from Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, while en route to London, UK. After return to Cape Town, the ship will then visit Antarctica. During the cruise various scientific experiments and observations will be done for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Departments of Science and Technology and Environmental Affairs. In addition the vessel will deliver the Antarctica winter crossing expedition led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes in support of the charity "Seeing is Believing”
2013 Owned by South African Maritime Safety, Pretoria and managed by Smit Amandla Marine Pty. Ltd., Cape Town. IMO No 7628136
South Africa 1991 27c sg 740, scott814.
Tristan da Cunha 2001 10p sg?, scott?, 2012 35 and 70p sg?, scott?



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SA_Agulhas and various other web-sites.
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