Hydrographic Society Benelux01/06/2007 |
| Hydrographic Societies |
| Survey Vessels On Friday 20th April 2007 at approximately 10.00 a.m. the former hunter tugboat Holland sailed from the harbour of Harlingen with some eighty members onboard, for a Workshop at Sea. The 1951-built Holland (1), a piece of Dutch maritime his–tory and former survey vessel for the RWS Directorate Noordzee, was the ideal platform for a special workshop on the theme of ‘Survey Vessels’. The Holland, as a charitable foundation with volunteers, has been and still is busy beautifully restoring the vessel. The ship made out into the Wadden Sea at 15 knots, heading for the Nautical College Willem Barentz on the island of Terschelling. The theme for the workshop had been chosen because a majority of hydrographic survey business work is still performed from dedicated survey vessels. Since the glory days of the Holland up until 2007 much technical knowledge has been gained and implemented in building and operating survey vessels, whether for gains in efficiency of handling or to contribute to the quality of data, for instance, through the form of the ship’s hull. Three presentations were given in the lounge of the Holland. First, Rick Verbruggen of ACTA Marine Van Stee introduced us to the variety of sixty vessels in its fleet, and specifically the survey vessels owned by this internationally operating shipping company. The demand nowadays, explained Mr Verbruggen, is more for multipurpose vessels able to act both as a crew tender and survey vessel. A specially designed catamaran with asymmetrical hull is the latest development, combining high speed for the tender function and smooth, hydrodynamic behaviour in between the hulls, for acoustic transducers. Mr Verbruggen also gave more in-depth information on the deepening of existing cables and pipes. Piet van Rooy of Damen Shipyard offshore and transport department introduced us to the quick-witted history of Damen, nowadays a global working shipyard. Besides its well-known line in ready-made ship types, such as the multicats, (survey)ship engineering knowledge had increased over the decades through building survey vessels for the Directorate Noordzee of RWS. The company’s in-house knowledge, combined with knowledge of TNO, made it successful in delivering scientific research vessels to Ireland, a tender won with the highest acoustic (silent) specification for the ship’s hull. After lunch onboard the Holland, we arrived on the island of Terschelling where, after a short walk, Rob van Ree, teacher on the BSc Hydrography course, introduced us to the Wilem Barentz Nautical College and the Vessel Simulation Centre. The very realistic simulator enables students to learn manoeuvring and watch-keeping. There is even a Dynamic Positioning simulator for offshore operations. After leaving Terschelling the captain made a small detour to the so-called ‘Richel’, where a population of about a hundred seals were lying lazily in - for April - astonishingly summery weather conditions. On the way we saluted with the ship’s horn the students on the survey training vessel Octans. On the inbound trip André Jansen of Rijkswaterstaat introduced us to the development and operations of the survey catamaran Scheurrak, a multipurpose vessel capable of both hydrographical and ecological survey tasks. Her faster speed makes her more efficient for job-hopping throughout the Netherlands. After the presentations, Aris Lubbes of Fugro N.V. thanked the speakers for their presentation with a gift. The captain of the ship received a plaque to commemorate this 2007 special Hydro workshop, after a toast with herring and Beerenburger (spicy liquor traditional in the north of the Netherlands) presented by the firm Nautikaris. The captain and his crew safely positioned the ship alongside the quay at Harlingen new fishery harbour. Everybody was saluted at the gangway for a safe journey home, replete with memories of a beautiful day on beautiful old survey vessel. Copies of all presentations may be found on the website ( 2). Mattijs de Lange, Noordhoek Survey |
| References |
| http://www.zeesleepbootholland.nl |
| http://www.hydrographicsociety.nl |
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| Archive |
| Archive > June 2007, Volume 11, number 6 > Hydrographic Society Benelux |
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