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The
History: The "WAKER" began her career in 1977 as the "SMIT HOUSTON". She was built at Verolme Scheepswerf Heusden, as yard number 935. Together with the "SMIT NEW YORK" she belongs to the 16.000 hp class of SMIT and the design was strongly based on the previously built 22.000 hp class "SMIT ROTTERDAM" and "SMIT LONDON" and the later built "SMIT SINGAPORE". They are now all working in the Svitzer Ocean Towage company, with the exception of the "SMIT NEW YORK".
In
1990 the end came for the "SMIT HOUSTON". Due to a shrinking of the oil
market there was no further work for the "SMIT HOUSTON" and alternative
work had to be sought. The end of the 80’s, Greenpeace was looking
for another ship for their fleet, preferably with some salvage- and
towage capabilities.The desire of Greenpeace to acquire
the "SMIT HOUSTON" from Smit was mainly based on their wish to
have an adequate salvage tug in the North Sea, to deal with any
emergencies that may possibly arise in that area. The deal in which "SMIT HOUSTON"
was acquired by
Greenpeace for a symbolic price, was also beneficial to Smit in the way
that the would enjoy the first right of any emergency
operations "SOLO" would be involved in. As a consequence the salvage &
towage
equipment could not be removed by Greenpeace. When "SMIT HOUSTON" was transferred to Greenpeace she was renamed "SOLO" and converted. The Nylon-winch behind the accommodation was replaced by an animal hospital, the accommodation on the forecastle deck was extended to the front and the crane was removed. The newly arranged accommodation became an Exhibition and film room. On top adjustments were made to put a helipad in place. This helicopter deck was capable of carrying helicopters with a total weight of 4 tons and a total lenght of 13,30 meter including the rotor, which could accommodate helicopter type: Eurocopter AS 365 N Dauphin. The foremast can be lowered to create a free deck space. In the engine room the possibility of using heavy fuel oil was removed and from that moment on she could only operate on gasoil.
Up
to the present:
After
the disaster with the tanker "BREAR" in 1993 on the Shetland islands, with
an oil spill of 85.000 m3 of crude oil, the discussion started again
about the permanent stationing of a salvage tug near the Dutch coast. In
May 1994 following the report 'Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas' which included
recommendations about stationing salvage vessels on strategic positions,
a year later, in 1995 the Dutch Ministry of Transport decided to put a
salvage tug, also called an Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV)on a permanent
salvage station along the Dutch coast. The (main) purpose for deploying
an ETV is to protect the marine environment, which included the
vulnerable Wadden area. This is reached by a quick and adequate
response to (threatening) emergencies like e.g. a collision between a
drifting vessel and an oil rig. The Ministry of Transport invited the three big Dutch salvage company’s to investigate the possibilities An essential requirement of the Dutch ministry of Transport was that any tug concerned must have the capability of controlling a V.L.C.C. during a severe storm. In addition any company that is offering a tug must have a Salvage infrastructure available. The three Salvage companies SMIT, Wijsmuller and ITC set up a joint venture called SWI and reached a agreement with the government. They chartered the "SOLO" from Greenpeace and renamed her the “WAKER”. On the 12th of July 1995 both parties signed an agreement and on 15th of July 1995 the "WAKER" was on operation.
After
inspection and repairs in dry-dock and the replacing of the Nylon-winch
behind the accommodation, "WAKER" was ready for her new
task. In her new Coastguard colors she was stationed in Den Helder for a
period of 2˝ years. Den Helder was chosen because of the missing tug
availability in the Northern part of the Netherlands Coast. Also in this
part of the North Sea the Traffic Separation Schemes and Oil- and Gas
platforms are close to each other.
At the end of 1997, after the "WAKER" had
proven herself, the contract was renewed for a period of 5 years. ITC
stepped out of the joint venture and SMIT and Wijsmuller formed SmitWijs
Waker B.V. SMIT takes care of the operational management and Wijsmuller
(later changed into SvitzerWijmuller) is taking care of the crew. On Monday evening September 7th, 2009, around 18:05hr the WAKER encountered an engine room fire while at anchor 5 kilometer North-West of Vlieland. For precautions the quests and a part of the crew was taken of the vessel while a small crew was left behind. Together with units from the Coast Guard, Navy, salvage companies and the Dutch lifeboat organisation the fire was suppressed. In the early morning of September 8th, the fire was extinguished and the vessel was towed to Den Helder. The investigation to find the cause and the effects has been finished. A broken fuel line has been appointed as being te originator of the fire, also it became clear that outside the engine room the fire made a lot of damage which resulted in a "Total loss" of the vessel. On Octobre 30th, the WAKER left Den Helder to be recycled at 's-Gravendeel.
Click on one of the flags to see a couple of photo's of the last week of
the
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