Blue Marlin is a semi-submersible heavy lift ship from Dockwise Shipping of the Netherlands.
Designed to transport very large semi-submersible drilling rigs above the transport ship's deck,
it is equipped with 38 cabins to accommodate 60 people, a workout room, sauna and swimming
facilities. Blue Marlin and her sister ship MV Black Marlin comprise the Marlin class
of heavy lift ship.
History Blue Marlin and her sister ship were owned
by Offshore Heavy Transport of Oslo, Norway, from their construction, in April 2000 and
November 1999 respectively, until 6 July 2001, when they were purchased by Dockwise. The
U.S. Navy hired Blue Marlin from Offshore Heavy Transport to move the destroyer USS Cole
back to the United States after the warship was damaged by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers while
anchored in the port of Aden, Yemen. During the latter part of 2003, work done on Blue
Marlin boosted its capacity and added two retractable propulsors to improve maneuverability.
The ship re-entered service in January 2004. Following these improvements, Blue Marlin
delivered the oil platform Thunder Horse PDQ, weighing 60,000 tons, to Corpus Christi, Texas,
for completion. In July 2005 Blue Marlin moved the gas refinery
Snøhvit from its construction site in Cádiz to Hammerfest, an 11 day trip. This transport
was filmed for the TV show Extreme Engineering on the Discovery Channel, and also the TV
show Mega Movers on the History Channel. In November 2005, Blue Marlin left Corpus
Christi, Texas, to move the massive Sea-based X-band Radar to Adak, Alaska, via the southern
tip of South America and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It arrived at Pearl Harbor on 9 January 2006,
having travelled 15,000 miles. In January 2007, the Blue Marlin was employed to move
two jack-up rigs, the Rowan Gorilla VI and the GlobalSantaFe Galaxy II, from Halifax
Harbour to the North Sea. On 16 June 2012, the ship arrived in Ferrol
Harbour in preparation for transporting the amphibious warship HMAS Canberra to Melbourne,
Australia. The incomplete Australian ship was lifted onto Blue Marlin on 4 August 2012
and was scheduled to sail on 12 August, bound for Australia BAE Systems shipyard in Williamstown.
The ship passed the Port Phillip Heads marking its arrival in Melbourne on 17 October 2012.
Specifications Initial
Length overall: 217 m Length PP: 206.5 m
Breadth moulded: 42 m Depth moulded: 13.3 m
Summer draft: 10 m Deadweight: 56,000 metric tons
Submerged depth above deck: 10 m Free deck length: 178.2 or 157.2 m
Free deck area: More than 7,215 m2 Main engine output: 12,640 kW
Bow thruster: 2,000 kW Cruise speed: 14.5 knots
Cruise range: 25,000 nautical miles Accommodation: 55 people
Building yard: CSBC, Kaohsiung Post-2004
Depth: 13.3 m Max sailing draft: 10 m
Max draft submerged: 29.3 m Water above deck submerged
aft 16 m forward 12 m
Deck space: 63 m × 178.2 m Deck area: 11,227 m2
Propulsor output: 4,500 kW each Conversion yard: Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, Ulsan,
South Korea See also
Dockwise Vanguard Mighty Servant 1
Mighty Servant 2 Mighty Servant 3
Semi-submersible References
^ a b "Vessel Info: Blue Marlin". DNV Exchange. Det Norske Veritas. 2011. Retrieved 4 March
2011. ^ Brian Whitaker. "Attack on the USS Cole:
The Bin Laden connection'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^ Nina Berglund. "'Snow White' gets her heart". Aftenposten. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
^ "El "Blue Marlin" permanece desde ayer atracado en Navantia Fene". diario de Ferrol. 17 June
2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012. ^ "Navantia efectúa con éxito el ´encaje´
del ´Canberra´". Laopinióncoruña. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
^ "El "Blue Marlin" zarpará en 7 días hacia Australia". La voz de Galicia. 6 August 2012.
Retrieved 6 August 2012. ^ "Orange giant Blue Marlin floats into Port
Phillip Bay". 17 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
External links Professional photographs from shipspotting.com
RIGZONE article about towing the Thunder Horse PDQ oil platform