Picasso, a dive support vessel (DSV) used in the recovery of a US Navy aircraft in 2022, has completed its first subsea saturation dive operations for a wellhead decommissioning project in the Gulf of Thailand
“From the time we took over the vessel’s management, our teams on board and ashore have worked round the clock to have achieved this milestone” said vessel manager Viridian Maritime. “We successfully also completed its class annual marine and sat dive system surveys and the IMCA D024 audits”, wrote the Singapore-based company in a social media post.
Built in 2018 by China Merchants Heavy Industry (Shenzhen) to DNV class, the Bahamas-flagged Picasso has an overall length of 120 m, beam of 25 m, depth of 10 m and draught of around 8 m.
It has a twin bell, 18-person saturation system, twin 18-person self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboats and a 140-tonne active heave compensation crane.
Aircraft recovery
A highly capable vessel, Picasso was notably involved in the recovery of a carrier-based US Navy aircraft last year. Picasso was used to recover a US Navy F-35-C Lightning II that had crashed into the South China Sea on 24 January 2022. Based on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the fighter had crashed into the sea while conducting routine flight operations.
The wreckage was recovered 37 days after the crash from a depth of about 3,800 m by a team from CTF 75 and the NAVSEA’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving embarked on Picasso.
The US Navy reported the aircraft was recovered using a CURV-21, a remotely operated vehicle, which attached specialised rigging and lift lines to the aircraft. The ship’s crane lifting hook was lowered to the seafloor and connected to the rigging, lifted the aircraft to the surface and hoisted it on board Picasso.
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