R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outside Delaware Bay
 

Roger, I sure hope this isn't one of yours.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6136917
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6137209

Steve

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outsideDelaware Bay
 

Roger Long wrote:
"Steve" wrote
Roger, I sure hope this isn't one of yours.


No, it isn't one of mine. It's a private research vessel that I've never
heard of so it could be anything, even a Searay or something like that being
used to watch birds. A new boat breaking up is odd. It will be interesting
when some pictures or details emerge.

My boats are pretty rugged because they have to be to take the pounding at
20 plus knots. That means lots of reserve strength when you slow them down.
Lots of things can happen at sea but, as the song says, "Breaking up is hard
to do."

--
Roger Long




Hum, found this post:

Sounds like a queer duck of a boat - 70-foot legs and all. I wonder
what the hell it was doing off shore?


Counting birds before a wind farm hatches
By Henry J. Evans Jr.
Cape Gazette staff

A specialized vessel supporting a research team that is counting
migratory birds for Bluewater Wind is in Lewes preparing for the mission.

Bluewater, an offshore wind energy developer, is conducting the avian
study over a two-to three-month period. Every week or so the ship’s crew
and avian researchers will go ashore, rotating duty with another team.

The R/V Russell W. Peterson, equipped with three 70-foot legs used to
lift it above water, arrived at Lewes’ City Dock on Monday, March 31.

“You won’t see many boats like it in this area, but they’re common
around Louisiana and Texas,” said Capt. Collin Clement, skipper.

Aqua Survey Inc., based in Flemington, N.J., owns the vessel.

The boat was christened after former Delaware Gov. Russell W. Peterson
in Wilmington on March 29.

Peterson served as governor from 1969 to 1973, and is a proponent of
Bluewater’s plans to build a 150-turbine wind farm 12 to 14 miles off
Rehoboth Beach.

Peterson, 91, has a history of environmental stewardship, and is near
legendary for his role in the passage of 1971’s Coastal Zone Act, which
made much of the state’s coastline off-limits to heavy industry and
development.

The R/V Peterson is serving as a base for Geo-Marine Inc.’s Mobile Avian
Radar System – MARS. The Plano, Texas-based company’s proprietary system
makes it possible for scientists to count migratory birds flying through
airspace they might some day share with wind turbine blades.

The radar system is capable of providing scientists with information to
determine bird species without actually seeing the animals.

Geo-Marine is a pioneering company in real-time bird migration survey
monitoring. The company also develops bird-aircraft strike hazard and
bird-related risk-management data.

Migratory bird information is just one item requiring study to determine
the offshore wind farm’s potential environmental impact.

A hydraulic system extends the Peterson’s legs to the bay floor.
Rack-and-pinion gearing on each leg lifts the boat above water making it
a platform unaffected by wave action.

“We disconnect the vessel from the sea and stabilize it at a fixed level
and position,” said Dave Morgan, Aqua Survey’s director of engineering
and one of the Peterson’s crewmembers.

Morgan, a marine engineer, said test borings done earlier at the
bird-survey site provided an opportunity to check out the bay floor in
advance.

“The bottom there is very sandy. We’re confident it’s stable,” he said.
Morgan said oil companies use vessels like the Peterson, commonly called
lift boats, to conduct offshore seismologic studies.

He said separating the vessel from water-generated motion is essential
when conducting research requiring a stable base.

“When the boat is lifted we create an air gap beneath plus a little
margin,” Morgan said.

Before it became the Peterson the boat worked off the coasts of
Louisiana and Texas.

Clement said the vessel has been modified – its legs have been cut from
their original 105-foot length – to make it more suitable for the
current job.

He said shortening the legs was also necessary to make the trip to
Delaware possible.

“We used the Intracoastal Waterway, which has a minimum bridge height of
65 feet. We would lower the legs to go under the bridges,” Clement said.

He said the Peterson’s legs were lowered into the Delaware Bay for an
overnight stay before coming to the city dock.

Clement said at the overnight location the boat’s legs pushed deep into
the bay’s muddy floor. He said it sometimes takes several hours to lift
legs mired in mud.

He said the Peterson is equipped with a tilt alarm that warns the crew
when the legs are down and the boat begins to list excessively.

“Stability is not absolute. Sometimes you have to get up in the middle
of the night and level it,” Clement said.


And this
http://www.wgmd.com/blog/2008/05/12/...-runs-aground/

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outside Delaware Bay
 

"Roger Long" wrote in news:4828d2c6$0$12944
:

even a Searay

Will a Searay last 6 weeks? Isn't that just a fancy Bayliner?...(c;

Mine was.....

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outside Delaware Bay
 

On Tue, 13 May 2008 06:50:38 +0000, Larry wrote:

"Roger Long" wrote in news:4828d2c6$0$12944
:

even a Searay

Will a Searay last 6 weeks?

jacked up on three 70-foot legs legs?

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outside Delaware Bay
 

On Tue, 13 May 2008 05:49:40 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

wrote

Here is the owner's website. Very interesting vessel.

http://www.aquasurvey.com/


It's not a new vessel at the OP indicated. The hull is basically a steel

Oops, the article said it was christened 6 weeks ago so I assumed it
was new, not renamed. My bad. Maybe they shouldn't have renamed it.
Bad Luck.

barge so there's no way it broke up due to wave action. I think the key in
the post above it that it sometimes took them several hours to pull the legs
out of the mud. If one or more were stuck and the hull was in the water,
the great leverage could have broken the hull due to lots of previous
stressing and corrosion due to age.

You would be in a tough spot with a boat like that with shortened legs if
the waves got bigger than forecast and started hitting the hull. Can't go
up because the legs are too short, can't go down because the waves will
start throwing the hull around with legs stuck in mud.

Too bad. It was a good research program. If only they had put the full
length legs on deck for the delivery north.

Or they could have listened to the weather forcast and got that
sitting duck out of there. They had plenty of warning this storm was
coming. It's the same storm that caused all those tornados in the
midwest. Winds along the Jersey shore were gusting to hurricane
force. There's no justifiable reason for it to be out there. You're
not going to be counting birds in a storm like that.

Steve

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outsideDelaware Bay
 

Roger Long wrote:
wrote
Here is the owner's website. Very interesting vessel.

http://www.aquasurvey.com/


It's not a new vessel at the OP indicated. The hull is basically a steel
barge so there's no way it broke up due to wave action. I think the key in
the post above it that it sometimes took them several hours to pull the legs
out of the mud. If one or more were stuck and the hull was in the water,
the great leverage could have broken the hull due to lots of previous
stressing and corrosion due to age.

You would be in a tough spot with a boat like that with shortened legs if
the waves got bigger than forecast and started hitting the hull. Can't go
up because the legs are too short, can't go down because the waves will
start throwing the hull around with legs stuck in mud.

Too bad. It was a good research program. If only they had put the full
length legs on deck for the delivery north.

--
Roger Long




Yes, it is a pity. They will probably just go ahead with the project
without the study. They would have probably built it anyway.

BTW I just read an article about a couple of off shore wind turbine
projects in Britain. It seems the rising cost of material is
outstripping the ability to raise funds to build them. At least on of
the major partners abandoned the project to invest in a land based wind
farm in the US.

I also heard that some of those farms are having a real high rate of
failure, I think the turbines were crapping out. 50% failure rate in 18
months or there abouts. Given my memory almost anything is possible.

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outside Delaware Bay
 

"Steve" wrote in message
...

Roger, I sure hope this isn't one of yours.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6136917
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6137209

Steve

When it comes to designing boats I don't think Roger skimps and takes
shortcuts. I also don't think Roger is a self promoter. Roger listens to
others idea intently, is open to criticism and is comfortable discussing his
work. His love of his work and decades of experience speak strongly to the
quality of his work. To even think that he designed a vessel that would
break up after six weeks is an insult. Shame on you!

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outside Delaware Bay
 

On Tue, 13 May 2008 07:40:54 -0400, hpeer wrote:

At least on of
the major partners abandoned the project to invest in a land based wind
farm in the US.

I also heard that some of those farms are having a real high rate of
failure, I think the turbines were crapping out. 50% failure rate in 18
months or there abouts. Given my memory almost anything is possible.

I live in Iowa where 5% of the juice comes from wind. Hadn't heard of
any problems. Those things are not the aircraft propellors they
resemble. There is no reason they have to be particularly light,
especially at the expense of reliability. You see quite a few
semi-trailers with three blades. Fifty footers that go on a two
hundred foot tower. They make them here in Iowa. The Brits should tqke
advantage of the distressed dollar and buy some here. I think one of
the big reasons for the fact that they are found in groups, and not
one here and one there, is the logistics of the big crane they need to
erect them. They split the big ones non boom portion lengthwise for
road travel. Big tapered pins hold them together. If you have to do
all that, you want to get more than one of them erected before you
pack up the crane.

Casady

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outside Delaware Bay
 

On Tue, 13 May 2008 07:02:12 -0700, "Brigham Olde"
wrote:


"Steve" wrote in message
.. .

Roger, I sure hope this isn't one of yours.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6136917
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6137209

Steve

When it comes to designing boats I don't think Roger skimps and takes
shortcuts. I also don't think Roger is a self promoter. Roger listens to
others idea intently, is open to criticism and is comfortable discussing his
work. His love of his work and decades of experience speak strongly to the
quality of his work. To even think that he designed a vessel that would
break up after six weeks is an insult. Shame on you!

Ah, what a hilarious dose of self-rightous indignation. Well, I hope
Roger took it in the spirit it was intended. I knew it wasn't one of
his boats.

It is an interesting one nonetheless. And I still think they should
have pulled up stakes and came into shelter for that storm. They were
only 14 miles out and had days of warning.

Steve

R/V Launched just 6 weeks ago is breaking up and sinking outsideDelaware Bay
 

Steve wrote:
Roger, I sure hope this isn't one of yours.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6136917
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=6137209

Steve

Two crewmen, one lost. Below is a link and a story, seems there is some
fuzzy logic going on in the reporting.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/16258173/detail.html

and

Coast Guard investigating fatal vessel incident

RANDALL CHASE

The Associated Press

DOVER, Del. - A liftboat that foundered off the Delaware coast in heavy
seas, leaving one of two crewmen dead, was exempt from regulations for
that type of vessel because it was being used for research purposes,
Coast Guard officials said Tuesday as they began an investigation.

Bluewater Wind LLC, which is trying to win state approval to build an
offshore wind farm that would supply electricity to Delmarva Power, was
using the Russell W. Peterson to study migratory bird routes in the
Atlantic Ocean off Rehoboth Beach.

Had the research vessel been subject to same requirements governing
other liftboats, it likely would have had at least three crew members
aboard, instead of only two, when it was crippled by high winds and
heavy seas early Monday, 14 miles off Rehoboth Beach.

The names of the dead man and the surviving crew member were still being
withheld Tuesday.

Petty Officer Christopher McLaughlin, a spokesman for the Coast Guard in
Atlantic City, N.J., said that when the captain of the vessel radioed
for help, he reported that he couldn't leave the helm to check on the
other crewman.

"He couldn't leave the helm because he was still trying to steer it,"
McLaughlin said.

Coast Guard regulations require liftboats of the Peterson's size
operating in open waters to have at least three crew members. But in
being put to use as a research vessel earlier this year, the Russell W.
Peterson was no longer subject to liftboat regulations.

"They were properly manned," said Coast Guard investigator Michael
Kaszuba. "If it was considered a liftboat ... it definitely needs a
master and two deckhands."

Liftboats are self-propelled vessels with open decks and barge-shaped
hulls that are equipped with metal legs that can be lowered to the
seabed, raising the hull above the water to serve as stable work
platform. They often are used to perform maintenance on oil and gas well
rigs.

Before being acquired by Aqua Survey of Flemington, N.J., which brought
the vessel to Delaware and rechristened it in March, the Russell
Peterson was used as a liftboat servicing oil platforms in the Gulf of
Mexico.

In addition to manpower requirements, liftboats are subject to certain
maintenance regulations, including inspection of their legs at
designated intervals. Details on any such inspections of the Russell W.
Peterson were not immediately available.

"We're all just trying to deal with the loss of a colleague right now,"
said Aqua Survey president Ken Hayes, who refused to answer questions
about the vessel's history or operations.

Kaszuba said he had not had a chance to interview the surviving crewman,
but that investigators believe the vessel was elevated above the water
when one its three legs, or spuds, buckled.

"We believe that the vessel was on its spuds, and that it experienced
some severe weather and one of the spuds may have given way," he said,
noting that the starboard leg may have buckled.

Conditions at the time included seas of 8 to 10 feet, with occasional
swells of 12 to 14 feet, and winds between 30 and 40 knots.

Coast Guard officials said any weather-related restrictions on
operations would be up to a vessel's owner.

According to a 2003 Coast Guard subcommittee report on liftboat
operations, casualties involving elevated liftboats often are associated
with "punch-through," when a single leg suddenly penetrates into the
seabed faster than the crew can compensate by jacking the legs up or
down, thus putting stress on the vessel structure.

Kaszuba could not immediately confirm that the legs of the Russell W.
Peterson, which was built in Louisiana in 1980, had been shortened from
105 feet to 70 feet before it was brought up from the Gulf of Mexico.

"If there were any modifications, we're getting all the records that the
owners have," he said.

According to Coast Guard records, the vessel was subject to two
enforcement warnings in July 2007 after a non-casualty investigation in
Morgan City, La. Kaszuba declined to disclose details of the warnings
without a Freedom of Information Act request.

While the Peterson was no longer considered a liftboat or offshore
supply vessel, officials noted that Aqua Survey also did not request
that it be designated a research vessel, a category that carries its own
regulatory requirements.

"The regulatory regime is a little more relaxed," explained Coast Guard
Commander Kyle McAvoy.

The result was that the Peterson was declared an uninspected commercial
vessel, subject to even less stringent regulations.

Aqua Survey is working with state and local agencies to salvage the
vessel, which ran aground near Bethany Beach.