TOS DELIVERS SURVEY VESSEL FROM SPAIN TO KUWAIT
‘It’s a journey of 6,000 miles. A nice trip from Vigo in Spain to Shuwaikh in Kuwait. This time, the vessel is particularly special. Usually, I deliver a tug to a new owner, somewhere in the world. The MV Sabah is a true state-of-the-art survey vessel. Modern and fast, but with a relatively small 25 m3 bunker tank for a long delivery trip like this one. Here lies our challenge!’ tells Captain Piet Smit, Ship Delivery captain at TOS. TOS delivers Survey Vessel
MEETING OF TOS CAPTAINS
After a thorough preparation by the TOS delivery team, we depart on 20 October from Schiphol to Vigo. The next day, I explore the vessel together with Thies Kegge, Superintendent at TOS. We also stock up on supplies. The crew is busy carrying out the necessary safety drills and taking inventory of the equipment. It will still be a few days before we leave. The Sabah has been reflagged for delivery, but the new certificates are not yet ready. Fortunately, there is always a silver lining. During the wait, TOS delivery captain Tjalling appears in the Vigo port. What are the odds of running into a colleague! Tjalling is on a Damen delivery from Vietnam to Gorinchem, the Netherlands. He has had especially bad weather for weeks. After a good night’s sleep, we meet the next day on the Sabah for coffee. It was nice to catch up!
FROM BUNKER STOP TO BUNKER STOP
All preparations are completed in early November. We leave at 12:00 LT for Algeciras, Southern Spain. Since bad weather is setting in, we increase our speed to 16 knots and are fortunately able to stay just ahead of the storm. After a brief bunker stop in Algeciras, we set sail for Palma de Mallorca for a small service. From here, we travel quickly via Valletta (capital of Malta) to Port Said (Egypt). We arrive right on time. After the usual inspection, we sail straight on to the Great Bitter Lake. This lake is a saltwater lake in Egypt, connected to the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. After a short stop, we continue on to Suez where we bunker. We pass through the Suez Canal and, after consultation with TOS, we sail to the roadstead of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) for the next bunker stop.
After Jeddah, we set sail towards Salalah (Oman). Unfortunately, the weather was working against us to cross the Red Sea. The Sabah proves to be a brave little vessel! The bunker stop in Salalah goes smoothly. Once we’ve departed, I communicate our ETA for the final port of delivery, Shuwaikh (Kuwait). And we finally have nice weather for this last part of the journey. We prepare the vessel for arrival.
TRAINING OF THE NEW CREW
The enthusiastic new crew members and owner greet us upon arrival with a warm welcome! We take the new owner for a test drive. Fortunately, he is very satisfied with the vessel. The familiarisation instruction for the new crew will take place a few days later. In the meantime, we continue to scrub down the vessel. There is a lot of soot build-up as a result of the flaring. We clean the vessel every other day. After ten days of waiting, the time has finally come to instruct the new crew. During the trial run, the Sabah easily meets all of the requirements.
The instruction for the new crew is quite tough. They are accustomed to working with older instruments. All of the new equipment on this state-of-the-art survey vessel is very different. Finally, we bring the Sabah to the shipyard. There is a christening ceremony taking place for an SPM: Single Point Mooring buoy. The Almostakshif, a vessel also delivered by TOS in Kuwait, is also moored at the shipyard. Together with the Sabah, both vessels stand proudly on this festive day. After the ceremony, we leave the vessel and travel home, just in time for Christmas.
Piet Smit
YOUR DESTINATION IS OUR CHALLENGE
We are experienced in the relocation of all types of vessels. For an all-in price and with clear terms and conditions, we can take care of flag state registration, certification, ISM and instruction of the new crew in preparation of handing over the vessel.
Call now +31 10 436 62 93
Mail now Rolf Kievits, Sales Manager Ship Delivery
Read about our Ship Delivery Service
