Island Crown Takes a Share in Planned Titanic Expedition
Friday 28 April 2017
Island Offshore has entered into an agreement with OceanGate Expeditions for the use of Island Crown as a surface support vessel during a planned deep water expedition next year- the first manned submersible survey of the wreck of the RMS Titanic since 2005.
The assignment will have a duration of ten weeks for the Island Crown from the end of May 2018, when the vessel will depart from St. John’s, Newfoundland, with the primary operations crew on board. Each of the mission specialists will join the expedition by air for a designated 8 day mission. The ship has accommodations for up to 30 operations crew, mission specialists and content experts which will enjoy private living quarters on board.
“We could not turn down this rare opportunity; to be part of such an extraordinary and interesting project! At the same time, the Island Crown’s role in it doesn’t differ that much from the vessel’s regular work in the offshore industry: She will do what she does best; carry people and equipment, and taking care of the clients on board. We are very pleased to have secured work for the summer months next year,” says Managing Director of Island Offshore Management AS, Håvard Ulstein.
At 3.800 meters depth
Since her sinking 105 years ago, fewer than 200 people have ever visited the RMS Titanic. Now, OceanGate is constructing a carbon fibre and titanium submersible which will carry five crew members at a time to the Titanic at 3.800 meters depth.
The whole site is a memorial, hence the mission will be undertaken with great respect for those who lost their lives in the sinking. No artefacts will be collected during the expedition, all in accordance with UNESCO guidelines for the preservation of underwater world heritage sites.
Experts from the Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory (AIVL) at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will collaborate on the expedition, and will lead the efforts to capture the images of the wreck from the submersible and then assemble these overlapping images into a 3D photographic model of the wreck after returning to the surface. This will document the gaps in the current knowledge of the wreck and increase the understanding of what is needed to preserve and protect this world heritage site.
Summer season 2017
The Island Crown has also secured work for the summer season this year, with walk-to-work assignments until the end of September. The vessel just completed a month-long job for Bluestream at Nordsee One Windpark, and moved uninterrupted on to the next job for Van Oord at the same wind farm.