We successfully signed on with the Apollonia Friday morning after two flights, a car ride, and a shuttle to the LNG terminal in Milford Haven, Wales. A massive blue object appeared in the distance as the van came around a bend in the road. As we approached, it finally set in that this was the real thing and we will be calling this ship home for the next two months!
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| The LNG/C Maran Gas Apollonia |
Our early departure midway through
finals week meant that we had to take two exams the day of our flight. This did
not allow time to relax before starting our adventure, but there was much to
explore now that we were on board. Yesterday we learned that we are heading to
Trinidad, where we will load our next cargo.
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One of the infamous Webb stinkbugs hitched a ride in our baggage…
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The majority of Wales' electrical power comes from renewable energy and power plants burning natural gas. The country is an importer of the gas, and a growing portion of this fuel comes from ships like ours that carry it in liquid form.
In the photo below, the vertical appendages are the arms that connect to the ship’s manifolds to exchange the cargo. They must each move freely to match the motions of the ship while loading over 1300 liters of LNG per second at -160 C.
In the photo below, the vertical appendages are the arms that connect to the ship’s manifolds to exchange the cargo. They must each move freely to match the motions of the ship while loading over 1300 liters of LNG per second at -160 C.
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| The terminal's arms lined up with the ships manifolds |
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| The rocky Welsh coastline. We experienced some stereotypical UK weather… |
After the unloading was finished Saturday morning, we took
on provisions from a barge alongside the ship. Palette after palette was lifted to the deck with the crane, giving us three months’ worth of supplies,
equipment, and food. Stowing the goods in different places allowed us to learn
the layout of the accommodation block fairly quickly.
That afternoon, the pilots and tugs arrived to guide us out
of the channel. Observing the action on the bridge was very neat and it was
interesting to see how the bridge officers were able to communicate with the
deck crew, tugs, and pilots to maneuver the vessel. The ship had to back out of its berth, rotate 180 degrees in the middle of the channel, and then navigate out to the open water.
And so begins a 10 day trip to Trinidad!
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| Heading southwest across the Atlantic |
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