Vercors (cable ship)

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john sefton
Posts: 1816
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Vercors (cable ship)

Post by john sefton » Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:25 pm

On the occasion of putting the SEA-ME-WE cable into use various countries issued stamps on 8th September 1986. Only 2 countries showed something of the ship, which laid 5 of the 7 parts of this telephone cable between Singapore and South France. The name of this cable is an abbreviation of South East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe.
The ship, which laid 16,588 nautical miles of this cable, was the French VERCORS. She laid Singapore -Indonesia in 1984, the parts Sri Lanka - Djibouti and Saudi Arabia - Egypt in 1985 and the pieces Egypt - Italy and Italy - South France in 1986.
She is to be seen at the vignette of the FDC issued by Djibouti and at the stamps and 1st Day cancellation of
Singapore. Though I had my doubts about the representation on those stamps and cancellation, Mr. Fouchard of Societe France Cable & Radio in Paris convinced me that that picture does represent the VERCORS. He told me these details and also pointed out the characteristic crane at the foredeck and the two masts to me, but he admitted that it was an "artist's impression".
The VERCORS was built by Soc. Nouvelle des At. & Ch. du Havre at Le Havre in 1973 and commissioned by Societe France Cable & Radio at Paris in 1974.
Brest became her home port.
Her dimensions are: 133.03m x 18.37m x 7.30m (dr) x 14.00m (d).
Her tonnage is 5886 gt, 1674 net and 11,212 dwt.
Her speed is 16.5 knots and she has a crew of 92 plus 22 cable technicians.
She was yard number 216.
The VERCORS has a diesel electric propulsion: 4 diesels of which 2 are of 5400 hp and 2 of 4000 hp with 4 generators of 1300 kw each connected to 2 electro motors and 2 screws. She also has 1 thw. thrust propeller fwd and 1 aft each with an engine of 750 hp.
She has been provided with 3 cable tanks: I: 13.90m x 4.50m (= 635 cubic m) and II and III: 15.30m x 5.20m (= 895 cubic m).
Piet Snijers Log Book July 1987.
Singapore SG535/38.
Attachments
SG535,38.
SG535,38.
vercours.jpg
Vercors-01.jpg

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: Vercors (cable ship)

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Dec 20, 2010 9:24 am

The Eastern Mediterranean Optical System (EMOS-1) is a fiber optic cable linking Palermo, Italy with Lechaina, Greece; Marmaris, Turkey and Tel Aviv, Israel, which was created in Turkey in 1991. Consisting of three pairs which are split en route through branching units. The ship CS VERCORS laid the cable. Each pair of fibres are capable of transmitting 1920 telephone calls in each direction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_M ... l_System_1



2002 Sold to Chamarel Marine Services, Marseille, renamed CHAMAREL.
Under Mauritius flag and registry.

2010 IMO No 7347718, same owner and managed by France Telecom.

Turkey 1991 500L sg 3116, scott 2505
Attachments
1991 vercors cable ship.jpg
Last edited by aukepalmhof on Tue Mar 17, 2020 12:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

john sefton
Posts: 1816
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Re: Vercors (cable ship)

Post by john sefton » Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:56 am

Built 1975, Societe Nouvelle des Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre.


Length 433.0 ft Breadth 59.4 ft Depth 24.0 ft Gross tonnage 5886


Owned by the French PTT as their main cable laying ship based at La Seyne sur Mer.

CABLE WORK


1975 St Raphael - La Foux
 ANNIBAL France - Tunisia

1976 UK - France Two separate cables laid on this route
 TAT 6 French & American shore ends
 MARPAL France Italy

1977 AMITIE France Tetuan
 ANTINEA Morocco - Senegal - Ivory Coast
 Corsiica - Marseilles

1978 England - France
 Morocco - France

1980 Greece - Syria

1981 ARTEMIS France - Greece No 2
 ATLANTIS Portugal - Senegal 

1982 TAT 7 USA - UK
 Portugal - Morocco

1983 Denmark - Holland
 MERIDIEN Belgium - Spain
 DIDON France - Tunisia

1984 Surveyed route for SEA ME WE, Suez - Colombo
 MESING Indonesia - Singapore
 France - Morocco
 SEA ME WE

1986 France - Corsica No 3
1988 TAT 8 USA - UK - France

1989 HAW 4 Hawaii - USA
 PENCAN 4 Spain - Canary Islands
 Italy coastal cables
1990 Spain - Mellila

1991 EMOS 1 Italy - Turkey - Israel
 Italy - Spain

1992 TASMAN 2 Australia - New Zealand
 TAT 9 USA - Canada - UK - France - Spain
 EURAFRICA France - Portugal - Morocco - Madeira

1993 PACRIMEAST Hawaii - New Zealand

1994 SEA ME WE 2
 COLUMBUS 2 Italy - Madeira - Canary Islands - USA - Mexico

1994 Spain - Morocco

1995 TAT 12 USA - UK
 TAT 13 USA - UK - France
 SEA ME WE 3
 ARIANE 2 France - Greece
 ITUR Italy - Turkey - Ukraine

1996 KAFOS Turkey - Bulgaria
"Bill Glover/Atlantic-Cable.com Website"
http://atlantic-cable.com/stamps/index.htm


Ascension 1993 SG601/603 (wrongly described as Sir Eric Sharp by Gibbons) 
Singapore 1986 10-75c


Attachments
SG601
SG601
SG601.jpg (7.81 KiB) Viewed 2758 times
SG603
SG603
SG603.jpg (7.36 KiB) Viewed 2758 times

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: Vercors (cable ship)

Post by aukepalmhof » Tue Oct 02, 2012 2:22 am

08 August 2012 fire broke out on board the CHAMAREL in the accommodation when in the Atlantic Ocean about 18 miles NW of Henties Bay, Namibia in position 22 00S 14 00E. The crew of 58 were rescued by local fishing vessels and taken to Walvis Bay.
The fire spread throughout the vessel which subsequently stranded of the Skeleton Coast in position 22 55S 14 05E.
She is declared a total loss, and most probably she will stay on the beach.

Marine New 2012/624.. Internet

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