First loading for Fairstar’s Fjord

The former icebreaker Ice Maiden was successfully loaded onto Fairstar Heavy Transport’s semi-submersible vessel Fjord in May at Pascagoula, Mississippi.

After picking up a number of steel accommodation blocks for the ship in Mobile, Alabama, Fjord was due to depart for Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, but the client, C& M Group Ltd, decided at the beginning of June to divert the vessel temporarily to Rotterdam, in order to avoid unfavourable weather and adverse swell that could have hampered operations in Newcastle.

Ice Maiden was floated onto the semi- submersible at Pascagoula in a carefully managed operation supervised by Fairstar’s operations manager, Dave Hangoor, who reported, “We are delighted with the handling of Fjord throughout the loading operation and the de-ballasting and re-ballasting was exceptionally smooth and stable.” Of the shift to Rotterdam, he explained, “Rotterdam is our home port. All of the necessary support services were arranged within a day.”

The former icebreaker has now been delivered to its final destination in the UK and is due to be converted into a DP3 flotel as part of a multi-million contract placed with A&P Tyne. Philip Adkins, Fairstar’s chief executive officer, said, “It was a challenging cargo due to its length but it was
delivered successfully.”

Once completed, Ice Maiden will be the only ice-classed monohull vessel of its type and capability that accommodates almost 400 people, capable of operating in temperatures down to -40°C (OSJ, March/April 2007).

The project will require 1,400 tonnes of new accommodation block steelwork, and a further 1,900 tonnes of steelwork will be fabricated and fitted to form new decks and machinery spaces. Eight new generating sets will be fitted to power eight new thrusters to give the vessel its DP3 capability.OSJ