Horizon Arctic

Horizon Arctic is an anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) completed in 2016 by Vard Group at its Brattvåg shipyard as Bourbon Arctic for Bourbon Offshore Norway AS, part of the Marseille-based Bourbon group. As of 2023, it is operated by Horizon Maritime of Canada. Under Horizon, it served as the surface support vessel for the Titan submersible during its 2021 and 2022 survey expeditions to the wreck of the Titanic, conducted by OceanGate.

Horizon Arctic
The arctic tug Horizon Arctic is shown facing to the right in this photograph. It is a large ship with a massive bow and reinforced hull designed for light icebreaking duties, painted royal blue to match the Horizon Maritime colors; the starburst logo is painted just beneath its white-painted bridge in the forward section of the hull. The rear half of the vessel has a much lower freeboard to accommodate surface operations.
Horizon Arctic at Port aux Basques in August 2022
History
Norway
NameBourbon Arctic
OperatorBourbon Offshore Norway AS
Port of registry
Builder
  • Vard Tulcea SA (Tulcea, Romania) (hull)[2]
  • Vard Brattvaag (Brattvåg, Norway) (outfitting)[2]
CostUS$119 million[3]
Yard number802[4]
Laid down17 April 2014[2]
Launched28 January 2015[2]
Completed25 February 2016[2]
FateSold to Horizon Maritime in March 2019
Canada
NameHorizon Arctic
OwnerHorizon Maritime Offshore AS
OperatorHorizon Maritime Services
Port of registry
Acquired2019
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics [2][6]
Class and typeVard 2 12[4] anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS)
Tonnage
Length93.6 m (307 ft 1 in)[4]
Beam24 m (78 ft 9 in)
Draught7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Depth9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Ice class1B (hull strengthened to 1A)
Installed power
  • 2 × Bergen B32:40V12A (2 × 6,000 kW)
  • 3 × Bergen C25:33L8A (3 × 2,880 kW)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) (maximum)
  • 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) (service)[1]

Design

Horizon Arctic is designed for worldwide deep sea offshore operations such as anchor handing and towing services for oil rigs. In addition, the vessel is outfitted for rescue, fire-fighting, remotely operated vehicles (ROV), and oil spill response operations. For Arctic operations, it is winterized and built to Finnish-Swedish ice class 1B with hull additionally strengthened to higher ice class 1A. The 93.6 metres (307 ft 1 in) long and 24 metres (78 ft 9 in) wide vessel has accommodation for up to 60 persons in 24 single and 18 double cabins.[6]

Horizon Arctic's main power plant consists of two 12-cylinder Bergen B32:40V12A main engines rated at 6,000 kW (8,000 hp) each and three 8-cylinder Bergen C25:33L8A diesel generators producing 2,880 kW (3,860 hp) each.[6] The vessel's dual propulsion system can operate in both conventional and diesel-electric modes. The vessel's twin shaft lines with controllable pitch propellers can be driven with a maximum power of 18,800 kW (25,200 hp) and, when used in boost mode together with the 1,200 kW (1,600 hp) drop-down azimuthing bow thruster, generate a bollard pull of 307 tonnes (338 short tons).[7] In addition, Horizon Arctic has four 1,200 kW (1,600 hp) transverse thrusters, two in the bow and two in the stern, to enable dynamic positioning during offshore operations.[6]

History
Bourbon Arctic in Hammerfest (2017)

Bourbon Arctic was ordered in February 2014 for US$119 million[3] and was delivered to Bourbon Offshore in March 2016.[8] It was Bourbon's largest vessel.[9] An earlier ship built to the same design by Vard was delivered as Skandi Iceman for DOF ASA in 2013.[10]

Bourbon Offshore sold Bourbon Arctic to Horizon Maritime in 2019 for an estimated US$41.5 million.[8] Following the acquisition, the ship was repainted and renamed to Horizon Arctic, continuing to operate from Norway for Horizon Maritime's local branch.[11]

Horizon Arctic was chartered by OceanGate to serve as its surface support vessel for its RMS Titanic survey expeditions in 2021[12] and again in 2022.[13] For 2023, OceanGate switched to MV Polar Prince,[14] reportedly due to cost.[15] That February, Horizon Arctic had been attached to the Bourbon Horizon joint venture headquartered in St. John's, which would operate six platform supply vessels alongside the large AHTS to provide offshore services across the Atlantic Ocean; increased demand had created a competitive market for the services of Horizon Arctic.[16]

On June 22, 2023, a ROV from Horizon Arctic discovered a debris field approximately 490 m (1,600 ft) off the bow of the Titanic, which included the tail section of the submersible Titan.[17] The Odysseus 6K ROV was provided and operated by Pelagic Research Services.[18]

References
  1. "Horizon Arctic (9732838)". Sea-web. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  2. "Horizon Arctic (34143)". DNV Vessel Register. DNV. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  3. Day, Robert (August 9, 2019). "Canadian OSV Owners Making Well-timed Buys". Offshore Engineer. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  4. "Bourbon Arctic: Arctic Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel for Bourbon". Vard. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  5. "Horizon Arctic (9732838)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  6. "Bourbon Arctic brochure" (PDF). Bourbon Offshore. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  7. "Bourbon Arctic: first operation of brand new 300 t of bollard pull AHTS vessel" (Press release). Bourbon Offshore. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  8. "Bourbon sells anchor handler to Horizon Maritime". Offshore Energy Today. March 20, 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  9. Frank Reisersen, captain of AHTS Bourbon Arctic (September 4, 2018). "Bourbon Arctic: 'an exceptional vessel'" (Interview). Bourbon Offshore. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  10. "Vard 2 12 Full Size AHTS". Vard. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  11. "Canada's Horizon sets up Norwegian branch as ex-Bourbon vessel gets new paint job". Offshore Energy Today. May 15, 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  12. Boyle, Alan (March 31, 2021). "OceanGate selects its support ship for this summer's submersible trips to the Titanic". GeekWire. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  13. Boyle, Alan (June 6, 2022). "OceanGate ramps up the research for its second deep-sea expedition to the Titanic". GeekWire. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  14. Boyle, Alan (April 6, 2023). "Icebergs ahead? OceanGate plans to get an early start on this year's Titanic dives". GeekWire. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  15. Weissmann, Arnie (June 20, 2023). "Mission Titanic, Part 1: Preparing to dive". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  16. "Horizon Offshore Joins Bourbon in Harsh-Environment PSV Joint Venture". The Maritime Executive. February 16, 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  17. "Unified Command locates debris field near Titanic, continues ROV search efforts" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. June 22, 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  18. Tenser, Phil (June 22, 2023). "Cape Cod company's ROV discovered debris from sub lost on Titanic expedition". WCVB 5 ABC News Boston. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
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