 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Odyssey |
| Owner | S7 Group |
| Operator | Sea Launch |
| Port of registry | Monrovia, Liberia |
| Builder | Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Oppama Shipyard,Yokosuka,Kanagawa,Japan |
| Completed | March 1983[1] |
| Identification |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Semi-submersible mobilespacecraft launch platform |
| Tonnage | 36,436 GT |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 132.9 m (436 ft) |
| Beam | 67 m (220 ft) |
| Draught | 34.5 m (113 ft) |
| Installed power | 8 × Bergen KVG/B-12 engines (~1,550 hp or 1,160 kW each) |
| Crew | 68 crew and launch system personnel |
LPOdyssey is a self-propelledsemi-submersible mobilespacecraft launch platform converted from a mobiledrilling rig in 1997.
The vessel was used bySea Launch for equatorialPacific Ocean launches. She works in concert with the assembly and control shipSea Launch Commander. Her home port was at thePort of Long Beach in the United States.
In her current form,Odyssey is 436 feet (133 m) long and about 220 feet (67 m) wide, with an empty draft displacement of 30,000 tonnes (29,500 long tons), and a submerged draft displacement of 50,600 tonnes (49,800 long tons).[2] The vessel has accommodations for 68 crew and launch system personnel, including living, dining, medical and recreation facilities. A large environmentally-controlled hangar stores the rocket during transit, from which the rocket is rolled out and erected prior to fueling and launch.
In September 2016 the platform along with other Sea Launch assets was sold toS7 Group, the parent company ofS7 Airlines.[3][needs update] Since then she has been moved to a port on the east coast of Russia, along with the other ship.
The platform was completed in 1983 forOcean Drilling & Exploration Company (ODECO) bySumitomo Heavy Industries.[1] It drilled its first exploratory hole about 40 miles (64 km) south ofYakutat forARCO Alaska, Inc. The rig cost aboutUS$110 million to build during the early eighties oil "boom".
During construction the vessel was calledOcean Ranger II, and was renamedOcean Odyssey afterOcean Ranger capsized with all hands lost during a storm offNewfoundland on 15 February 1982.
When built,Ocean Odyssey was classed +A1 +AMS by theAmerican Bureau of Shipping for unrestricted worldwide ocean service. She was a 390-foot (120 m) long, 226-foot (69 m) wide, twin-hull design with a 12,450 hp (9,280 kW) propulsion system. The rig's structure was designed to simultaneously withstand 100-knot (190 km/h) winds, 110-foot (34 m) waves, and a 3-knot (5.6 km/h) current. The derrick was fully enclosed with a heated drill floor permitting operations down to −35 °C (−31 °F).
The rig had other advanced extreme-condition features as well. For example, the rig's columns were strengthened to withstand some ice impact and the marine riser had a feature similar to acow-catcher to keep floating ice off the marine riser that connected the rig to the well on the ocean bottom.
On 22 September 1988,Ocean Odyssey suffered a blowout while operated by ODECO (nowDiamond Offshore Drilling) on hire toARCO (now a subsidiary of BP), drilling the 22/30b-3 well on a prospect in theNorth Sea.[1] The ultimate direct cause of the incident was a failure of the subsea wellhead equipment after a prolonged period of well control.[4] During the resulting fire the radio operator, Timothy Williams, was killed. He had been ordered from the lifeboats and back to the radio room by the rig's manager, who failed to countermand the order when the rig was evacuated.[1]
Survivors were picked up by the rig's emergency standby vesselNotts Forest (38 rescued) and the nearby anchor handling tugBritish Fulmar (28 rescued).[5] FourSea King helicopters fromHMS Illustrious and a Sea King fromRAF Boulmer assisted rescue operations and transferred survivors fromNotts Forest andBritish Fulmar to the drilling rigSedneth 701.[6][7][8] ARoyal Air ForceHawker Siddeley Nimrod provided coordination on scene.[8][9]
The incident was featured in the 1990STV television seriesRescue episode "Missing".[8]
Ocean Odyssey spent the next several years as a rusting hulk in the docks ofDundee, Scotland. Her availability promptedBoeing to establish theSea Launch consortium, for which she was bought in 1993 byKværner Rosenberg ofStavanger,Norway, and renamed LPOdyssey.
From late 1995 to May 1997, Kværner extended the length of the platform and added a pair of support columns and additional propulsion systems. The upper deck — the location of the former drill floor — was rebuilt to accommodate the launch pad and launch vehicle service hangar. In May 1997,Ocean Odyssey arrived at KværnerVyborg Shipyard for the installation of the launch vehicle equipment itself.[citation needed]
By 1999, the vessel was ready for service, and on 27 March 1999, aZenit-3SL rocket successfully launched ademonstration satellite to ageostationary transfer orbit.[10] The first commercial launch occurred on 9 October 1999, with the orbiting of theDirecTV1-R satellite.[11][non-primary source needed]
On 30 January 2007, a Zenit-3SL carrying theNSS-8 satellite exploded aboardOdyssey at liftoff due to a turbopump malfunction. There were no injuries, as the ship had been evacuated for launch operations. Damage to the launch platform was mostly superficial, though a 600,000 lb (270,000 kg) flame deflector was knocked loose from underneath the platform and lost, along with damage to the hangar doors and antennae. The vessel was repaired at a shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia.[12][13]
Odyssey returned to service on 15 January 2008, with the successful launch of theThuraya 3 satellite.[14]
On 1 February 2013, the Zenit-3SL rocket carryingIntelsat 27 suffered a failure after its launch fromOdyssey, crashing a short distance from the launch platform. Its first stage engine appeared to shut down around 25 seconds after launch and telemetry from the rocket was lost about 15 seconds later.[15] Telemetry indicated that excessive roll was detected 11 seconds after launch. The guidance system was programmed to shut down the engine, but only after the rocket was safely away from the launch platform. It is believed that a failure in a hydraulic pump that provides power for gimbaling the RD-171 engine was ultimately the cause. The launch platform suffered no damage.[16]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1988 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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