AMERICAN TERN (cinderella stamp)

[aukepalmhof]

From the Cinderella files – In 2006 a set of four miniature sheets, each
containing 4 stamps, were issued to commemorate Kiwipex 2006. Of the 16 stamps 6
show ships. 2 show a bulk carrier (AMERICAN TERN), two a Russian research ship
(AKADEMIK SHOKALSKIY) and one each a US Coast Guard icebreaker (USCGC POLAR SEA)
and a US research ship (NATHANIEL B PALMER).


Name: MV AMERICAN TERN
Builder: VEB Schiffswerft Neptun, Rostock, Germany

Launched: 16 February 1990 as SERENITY for Serenity Shipping Corp., Liberia.
December 1990 completed.
1996 Sold to Cerise Shipping S.A., Liberia, renamed KARIBIA.
1997 Renamed by owners in TORM AFRICA.
1999 Renamed by owners in KARIBIA.
2000 Renamed by owners in LYKES FLYER then KARIBIA then KOTA AGUNG.
2002 Renamed by owners in KARIBA.
2002 Sold to Tern Shipholding USA, renamed in AMERICAN TERN.

Identification: IMO number: 8908088
Status: in active service, as of 2010

Type: Container ship
Displacement: 8,650 long tons (8,789 t)
Length: 521 ft (159 m)
Beam: 76 ft (23 m)
Draft: 33 ft (10 m)
Speed: 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement: 21 contract mariners

M/V AMERICAN TERN (T-AK-4729) is a container ship managed by APL Maritime, Ltd.
Formerly the Liberian-flagged M/V Kariba, the vessel was renamed AMERICAN TERN
under the United States flag in 2002. Since then, the AMERICAN TERN has been
chartered by the United States Navy Military Sealift Command. She is contracted
until 2010 to make resupply voyages to McMurdo Station in Antarctica (Operation
Deep Freeze) and Thule Air Base in Greenland (Operation Pacer Goose). The vessel
is named after the Tern, a species of bird that makes annual migrations from the
Arctic to the Antarctic.

The AMERICAN TERN is now sailing with a black hull and the APL Maritime Ltd
funnel colours.

As the MV Kariba, she was involved in the collision that sank the car carrier MV
TRICOLOR on 14 December 2002.

MV Kariba was a 1982-built Bahamian flagged 20,829 gt container ship. Three
vessels, the M/V Kariba, the M/V TRICOLOR and the M/V Clary, sailed through
dense fog in the English Channel in the French Exclusive Economic Zone, some 20
miles north of the French coast in the early hours of 14 December 2002. The M/V
Kariba and the M/V TRICOLOR collided, resulting in significant damage to the M/V
Kariba and the total loss of the M/V TRICOLOR. Kariba, was seriously damaged but
made its own way to the Belgian port of Antwerp. MV TRICOLOR was a 1987-built
Norwegian flagged 55,000-ton vehicle carrier. MV TRICOLOR, carrying 2,862
expensive automobiles, sank as a result of the impact of the striking and was
eventually declared a total loss. In December 2002, the French authorities
ordered the MV TRICOLOR to be removed, as it was perceived to represent a danger
to shipping and the environment.

Following the sinking and due to the location in a busy point of a shipping lane
(the location was on the edge of a turning-point within the Traffic Separation
Scheme or TSS of the English Channel) the wreck was initially guarded by the
French police vessel Glaive and HMS Anglesey in addition to two salvage vessels
and three wreck buoys.

The Channel is one of the busiest seaways in the world and, despite standard
radio warnings, three guard ships, and a lighted buoy, the German vessel Nicola
struck the wreck the next night, and had to be towed free. After this, two
additional patrol ships and six more buoys were installed, including one with a
Racon warning transponder. However, on 1 January 2003, the loaded
Turkish-registered fuel carrier Vicky struck the same wreck; she was later freed
by the rising tide.

The salvage operation of the TRICOLOR was led by the Dutch company Smit
International, and took well over a year. Starting in July 2003, the operation
was declared complete on October 27, 2004. The salvage method included a
carbide-encrusted cutting wire used to slice the wreck into nine sections of
3000-tonnes each. This technique was similar to one Smit had used in salvaging
the Russian submarine, K-141 Kursk.

C.T. Systems, together with Thales Navigation, handled the navigational aspects
of the operation. The positioning equipment provided the required locational
accuracy and after using a side scan sonar, the debris had been located and all
the relevant positional information converted to a chart, enabling a systematic
search and recovery of the remaining debris.

The cargo of 2,871 new cars – mostly from premium German and Swedish
manufacturers including BMW, Volvo and SAAB – were removed from the wreck and
destroyed, approximately £30m (representing a retail value of £60m) worth. Most
oil was removed from the ship's tanks soon after it sank, but during the salvage
there was a small 540-tonne oil spill, sparking concern.

The barge GIANT 4 ( KENYA SG 252 & 254 SCOTT 238 &240) was used to transport
sections of the TRICOLOR for scrapping in Zeebrugge, Belgium.

New Zealand 2006.

Sources and links. Wikipedia. Marine News.
http://www.newzeal.com/theme/Ships/US/americantern.htm.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... k-4729.htm.
http://www.TRICOLORsalvage.com/pages/home.asp.




Peter Crichton.