Edda Fjord, what a workboat

... written for Panbo by Ben Ellison and posted on Mar 29, 2011
Edda_Fjord_in_Palma_cPanbo.jpg

When we weren't learning about Navico and NSS, Palma Harbor offered sights aplenty. Like the 133m (437') superyacht Al Mirqab, owned by an emir who purportedly rarely visits her. I'd love to hang around her bridge myself, but not nearly as much as that full-beam, glass-all-round beauty on the mighty Edda Fjord. I'd spotted her in Palma from my desk in Maine, thanks to Marine Traffic, and cajoled the Simrad demo boat to head over to the heavy duty end of the harbor for a look see. She's called a Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessel, or MPSV, and I have a strong affinity for the type because I got some of my first solid sea time on toddler-size supply boats (about 140-feet) in the early 70's, way off New Orleans. But whereas a lot of Edda's alluring details are available, you too might get intriqued...

It seems obvious from the montage below that Edda was built to high standards, which is why I wonder if all the materials available for download at her home page aren't as much about owner pride as lining up charters. You'll find deck plans, specifications, photos, videos, the works. Note that there are four complete helm stations up there on the plank-floored sky bridge, and they're controlling some 14,500 kW of diesel electric propulsion, much of it in thrusters. There's also a dynamic positioning system built by Simrad's former owner Kongsberg Maritime and oodles of radars and other gear from Furuno's IMO selection. Not to mention a remote system for monitoring Edda's many tanks and pumps, all sorts of cranes and winches, etc.
   Soon you'll realize how modular the vessel is, and how many tasks she can perform even beyond the complexities of offshore oil drilling. For instance, I have no idea what that white apparatus mounted in Palma does, though it does seem to involve the "moonpool".  Nor do I know why she's even laying in Palma, though someone suggested "waiting to repair oil loading facilities in Libya".  Strange days these are, but at least we know how to put together some remarkable vessels, for work or pleasure.

MPSV_Edda_Fjord_details.jpg

Posted by Ben E on March 29, 2011 3:03 PM

Comments

The "white apparatus" looks to me to be a crane assembly for launching ROV's and the like over the side of the vessel rather than through the moon pool.

Posted by: JeffC_150W at March 30, 2011 9:56 AM | Reply

Fun with AIS: Tied up next to Edda was the strange looking and wonderfully named GIULIO VERNE ( http://goo.gl/AQsuv ). If you check out her tracking history at Marine Traffic, it's evident that she went around the corner to Costa de la Calma and started laying cable toward Spain. Hard to tell the actual desination as they're misusing the System by listing it as "CABLE LAYING OPRTNS"!

PS I think you're right, Jeff, and that may even be the ROV on deck.

Posted by: Ben E at March 30, 2011 10:30 AM | Reply

Hi Ben, looks like I am going full circle here.
My job is as a software engineer with Kongsberg Maritime programming and commissioning the systems onboard these vessels.
In my spare time I commission my sailboat with a new nmea2000 system and read my favorite blog Panbo to keep updated with all the new stuff coming out.
Last job was a seven week sea trial with this one http://www.allseas.com/uk/58/equipment/lorelay.html
Every night after work I checked in with Panbo.
Maybe I should get a hobby further away from dayjob....

Posted by: Norseman at March 30, 2011 4:21 PM | Reply

Interesting: Edda is equipped with SEVSAT broadband satellite communications, a product of Ship Equip, which just got bought by Inmarsat today: http://goo.gl/R0lP6

Thanks for coming by, Norseman. I had a look the Lorelay, which is certainly an interesting craft, but Allseas' new build Pieter Schelte is phenomenal. A 117 meter beam and the ability to pick up things the size of Edda Fjord!

Posted by: Ben E at March 31, 2011 11:02 AM | Reply

Hi again Ben,
Yep the Pieter Schelte is an amazing build.
They had to build a special dock for it, no docks in the world was big enough.
There is some controversy regarding the name though, god ol Pieter, father of two brothers one head of Allseas the other Hereema, both comapnies having some of the worlds largest piplayer/heavy lift vessels, was on the loosing party of WWII support list
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-11-07-3812420165_x.htm
But now I am getting far away from leisure boat electronics....

Posted by: Norseman at March 31, 2011 3:38 PM | Reply

What an amazing piece of kit! Things really have moved on since my time! Think she may have to wait a while before going anywhere near Libya!

Posted by: Pat at March 31, 2011 5:21 PM | Reply

Hi Ben

Thanks for the nice words and the accurate description of the vessel.

We've been lying in Palma harbour for a while now waiting for the Giuilio Verne to lay one of the new power cables between Mallorca and Spanish mainland. Our job in this project is trenching the cable into the seabed with the yellow Capjet ROV(Nexans), which uses powerful waterpumps (1MW) to make a trench under the cable. You can see the Capjet just behind the superstructure. We left Palma the 30th and are now just outside Santa Ponza trenching our way towards mainland a couple of days behind Giuilio Verne.

brgds
Håvard Melvær
Master Edda Fjord.

Posted by: Håvard Melvær at April 1, 2011 5:19 AM | Reply

Thank you so much for writing, Håvard. I can see by AIS that Edda is making way toward Spain at a stately 0.1 knots. And whereas Giulio Verne seems to be headed straight for Valencia, I wonder if you'll eventually be trenching in over 4,000 meters of water. But maybe that's not necessary or possible?

This morning I tried to explain Edda Fjord to my wife and ended up saying something about brutish power with ballerina delicacy. She says Edda looks like a giant pickup truck ;-)


Posted by: Ben E in reply to Håvard Melvær at April 1, 2011 9:22 AM | Reply

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