This blog is basically me pretending to be a photographer.
Over here I pretend to be a writer/photographer.
I have issues.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

State of the Art

One of our company multi purpose vessels gave us a hand today as we were loading equipment onto our barge for the oil spill response project in the Gulf.



The helipad on the front of the wheel house is very unusual.




That big oval shape thingy is a satellite system of some sort.There is one on each side of the wheel house.

The purpose is to provide "dynamic positioning" to the boat, meaning, once they come along side a barge or an oil rig, a computer takes over the handling of the ship . They were right along side us about 5 feet away and the computer system kept them in that exact spot as they used their crane to do a "heavy lift" onto our barge.
It is an impressive vessel.

1 comment:

dcpeg said...

It may not seem that way to you, Mark, but you lead a fascinating life! I know it's not all glitz and glamour, but the ocean is so variable and routine doesn't always hold-up in that situation. I'm thinking boredom rarely happens on a tug, especially when it's hauling one of those huge barges!

I'm enjoying your reports from the Gulf battle ground. Hope you all are starting to see that you're making a difference. Also, it seems that the latest "topper" is working -- HURRAY!!!