.jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | GSF Explorer |
| Owner | Global Marine Development |
| Operator | Central Intelligence Agency |
| Port of registry | Port Vila, Vanuatu |
| Builder | |
| Cost | >$350 million (1974)(>$1.73 billion in 2024 dollars.[1]) |
| Laid down | 1971 |
| Launched | 4 November 1972 |
| Completed | 1974 |
| Acquired | 2010 |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| Notes | [2] |
 United States | |
| Name | Hughes Glomar Explorer |
| Namesake | Howard Hughes |
| Builder | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company |
| Launched | 4 November 1972 |
| In service | 1 July 1973 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 2015 |
| Notes | [2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Drillship |
| Displacement | 50,500 long tons (51,310 t) light |
| Length | 619 ft (189 m) |
| Beam | 116 ft (35 m) |
| Draft | 38 ft (12 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 10knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 160 |
| Notes | [2] |
GSF Explorer, formerlyUSNSHughes Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193), was a deep-seadrillship platform built forProject Azorian, the secret 1974 effort by theCentral Intelligence Agency'sSpecial Activities Division to recover the Soviet submarine K-129.[3][4]
The ship was built asHughes Glomar Explorer in 1971 and 1972 bySun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company for more thanUS$350 million (about $1.7 billion in 2024) at the direction ofHoward Hughes for use by his company, Global Marine Development Inc.[5] It began operation on 20 June 1974.
The ship's construction required a purpose-builtcrane ship,Sun 800, to lift its 630-tongimbal into place.[6]
Hughes told the media that the ship's purpose was to extractmanganese nodules from theocean floor. Thismarine geology cover story became surprisingly influential, causing many others to examine the idea.[citation needed]
The Soviet diesel-electric submarineK-129 sank in the Pacific Ocean 1,560 miles (2,510 km) NW of Hawaii,[7] on 8 March 1968. TheUSSHalibut identified the wreck site and theCIA crafted an elaborate and highly secret plan to recover the submarine for intelligence purposes. AsK-129 had sunk in very deep water, at a depth of 16,500 feet (3 miles or 5 kilometres), a large ship was required for the recovery operation. Such a vessel would be detected easily by Soviet vessels, which might then interfere with the operation, so an elaborate cover story was developed. TheCIA contacted Hughes, who agreed to help.[8]
In 1974, the ship recovered a portion ofK-129, but as the section was being lifted to the surface, a mechanical failure in the grapple caused two-thirds of the recovered section to break off.[9] This lost section is said to have held many of the most-sought items, including thecodebook andnuclear missiles. The recovered section held two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and some cryptographic machines, along with the bodies of six Soviet submariners, who were given a formal, filmedburial at sea.[10]
The operation became public in February 1975 when theLos Angeles Times published a story about "Project Jennifer". Other news organizations, including theNew York Times, added details. The CIA declined to either confirm or deny the reports, a tactic that became known as theGlomar response and subsequently used to confront all manner of journalistic and public inquiry, includingFreedom of Information Act requests.[11] The actual name, Project Azorian, became public only in 2010.
InRed Star Rogue (2005), Kenneth Sewell claims "Project Jennifer" recovered virtually all ofK-129 from the ocean floor.[12][13] Sewell states, "[D]espite an elaborate cover-up and the eventual claim that Project Jennifer had been a failure, most ofK-129 and the remains of the crew were, in fact, raised from the bottom of the Pacific and brought into theGlomar Explorer".[N 1]
A 2010 book by Michael White and Norman Polmar (Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129) revealed testimony from on-site crewmen and black-and-white video of the actual recovery operation. These sources indicate that only the forward 38 ft (12 m) of the submarine were recovered.[citation needed]
While the ship had an enormous lifting capacity, there was little interest in operating the vessel because of her great cost. From March to June 1976, theGeneral Services Administration (GSA) published advertisements inviting businesses to submit proposals for leasing the ship.[15] After four months, GSA had received a total of seven bids, including a US$2 offer submitted by Braden Ryan, aLincoln, Nebraska, college student,[16] and a US$1.98 million offer ($8.47 million in 2024) from a man who said he planned to seek a government contract to salvage the nuclear reactors of two United States submarines. TheLockheed Missiles and Space Company submitted a proposal to lease the ship for two years for US$3 million ($12.83 million in 2024) if the company could find financing. GSA had already extended the bid deadline twice to allow Lockheed to find financial backers for its project without success and the agency concluded there was no reason to believe this would change during the near future.
The scientific community rallied to the defense ofHughes Glomar Explorer, urging the president to maintain the ship as a national asset. But no agency or department of the government wanted to assume the maintenance and operating cost.[17] Subsequently, during September 1976, the GSA transferredHughes Glomar Explorer to the Navy forstorage, and during January 1977, after it was prepared for dry docking at a cost of more than $2 million, the ship became part of the Navy'sSuisun Bay Reserve Fleet.[18]
In September 1978, Ocean Minerals Company consortium ofMountain View, California, announced it had leasedHughes Glomar Explorer and that in November would begin testing a prototypedeep-sea mining system in thePacific Ocean. The consortium included subsidiaries of theStandard Oil Company of Indiana,Shell andRoyal Boskalis of the Netherlands. The consortium's prime contractor was theLockheed Missiles and Space Company.
In late 1996, the ship was towed from the mothball fleet inSuisun Bay toSan Francisco Bay, where much of the existing rig structure around themoon pool, including the massive gimbal was removed.[19] Following this, she was towed north toPortland, Oregon, for drydocking, closing up much of the submarine-sized moon pool, and engine repairs, among other things.
In June 1997, the ship departed Portland under its own power and sailed around South America and up to Atlantic Marine's shipyard inMobile, Alabama, for conversion to adynamically positioned deep sea drilling ship, capable of drilling in waters of 7,500 feet (2,300 m) and, with some modification, up to 11,500 feet (3,500 m), which was 2,000 feet (610 m) deeper than any other existing rig at the time. The conversion cost more than $180 million ($322 million in 2024) and was completed during the first quarter of 1998.[citation needed]
The conversion of the vessel from 1996 to 1998 was the start of a 30-year lease from the United States Navy to Global Marine Drilling at a cost of US$1 million per year ($1.8 million per year in 2024). Global Marine merged with Santa Fe International Corporation during 2001 to becomeGlobalSantaFe Corporation, which merged withTransocean in November 2007 and operated the vessel asGSF Explorer.[citation needed]
In 2010, Transocean bought the vessel for aUS$15 million ($21 million in 2024) in cash.[20]
The vessel was reflagged fromHouston toPort Vila, Vanuatu, in the third quarter of 2013.[21]
During her 18-year drilling career, she worked in theGulf Of Mexico, Nigeria, theBlack Sea, Angola, Indonesia and India, with various shipyards and port visits along the way, with numerous oil company clients. Crew members fondly referred to her as "The Mothership".
Transocean announced in April 2015 that the ship would be scrapped.[22] The ship arrived at theship breakers atZhoushan, China, on 5 June 2015.[23][24]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
