Jacklyn (ship)

Jacklyn, formerly known as LPV, Stena Freighter, Stena Seafreighter, RFA Sea Chieftain, and Stena Hispanica, was a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship which was purchased by Blue Origin in 2018 for use as a landing platform ship. Ultimately, Blue Origin abandoned their plans to use the ship as a landing platform, and in August 2022, the ship was towed to the Port of Brownsville for scrapping.[7][8]

"landing platform vessel" redirects here. For the general rocket topic, see floating launch vehicle operations platform. For the general aviation topic, see aircraft cruiser and aircraft carrier.

Ship outline when in service for Stena Line, 2004–2018
History
Name
  • Jacklyn 2020–present
  • LPV 2018–2020
  • Stena Freighter 2004–2018
  • Stena Seafreighter 2002–2004
  • RFA Sea Chieftain 1998–1999
  • Stena Hispanica 1997–1998
Owner
Port of registryMajuro, Marshall Islands 2018–2022[1]
Builder
Yard number1547 [3]
Laid down19 February 1997 [2]
Launched9 May 1998 [2]
Completed12 March 2004[2]
Maiden voyage2004
Out of serviceOctober 2018
Refit2018–2021
Identification
FateScrapped in 2022
General characteristics
Type
Tonnage
Length182.8 m (600 ft)[3]
Beam25.5 m (84 ft)[3]
Draft7.4 m (24 ft)
Depth8.4 m (28 ft)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph)[6]

History
Stena Freighter, 2006
Jacklyn, 2021

Stena Freighter was built by Società Esercizio Cantieri of Viareggio, Italy, and completed in 2004 by Elektromehanika d.o.o. at Kraljevica Shipyard, Croatia, for Swedish operator Stena Line.[2][6]

The ship was initially laid down in February 1997 as Stena Hispanica for Stena Line, but on 5 May 1998 was renamed RFA Sea Chieftain (A97) after the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracted with Stena for a long-term charter of the vessel for freight-carrying capacity to support the Joint Rapid Reaction Force. The ship was launched just four days later on 9 May 1998.[2]

Società Esercizio Cantieri had fallen into financial difficulties, and the contract for the ship was cancelled in 1998 due to delays in construction. At the time, work on the hull was complete and the ship 50% finished. The shipyard went bankrupt in 1999, and all work on the ship ceased.[2]

In 2002, "the incomplete vessel was purchased from a bankruptcy estate at auction by Stena Line" and renamed Stena Seafreighter. After months of additional financial and performance difficulties by several shipyards in Slovenia and Croatia in 2003, she was towed to Arsenale Shipyard in Venice, and then steamed under her own power to Kraljevica in Croatia for final completion. As a result of the delays, the ship never sailed as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary for the British Ministry of Defence.[2] The ship was renamed Stena Freighter and delivered to Stena Line in March 2004.[2]

Stena Freighter operated on a number of ferry routes including Gothenburg–Travemünde, Gothenburg–Kiel, and the Harwich–Rotterdam (Europoort) service.[2]

Stena confirmed the sale of the vessel on 30 August 2018,[9] and in October 2018, Blue Origin, a U.S. launch service provider and space technology company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,[10] confirmed it was the purchaser.[9][11][12] The vessel sailed to Florida and arrived at Pensacola in October 2018 to commence a refit.[13][14] In March 2017, Blue Origin had unveiled the concept of landing a rocket on a hydrodynamically-stabilized ship that was underway,[15] but did not reveal which marine vessel would be used as the landing platform until October 2018.[16]

Blue Origin called the ship LPV, short for Landing Platform Vessel.[17][18] In December 2020, it was renamed Jacklyn, after Jeff Bezos' mother Jacklyn Bezos.[19]

In April 2022, news surfaced that Blue Origin is no longer certain of plans to use Jacklyn for landing the first stage boosters of New Glenn.[20]

In August 2022, Blue Origin abandoned the project to build a landing platform ship. Jacklyn was towed out of the Port of Pennsacola on 15 August to transit to the Port of Brownsville, Texas, where the ship was scrapped.[7]

Landing platform plans

If the ship had been used for rocket landings,[20][21] the rocket boosters were planned to be recovered downrange of the Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) in the Atlantic Ocean while the hydrodynamically-stabilized ship was underway. The ship stabilization technology was intended to increase the likelihood of successful rocket recovery in rough seas, as well as helping to carry out launches on schedule.[22][15]

The first stage boosters of New Glenn are intended to be reusable, and Jacklyn was to recover the boosters downrange in the Atlantic Ocean east of the launch site. The ship would not have been crewed at the time the New Glenn booster was going to be landing; but rather would be autonomously or telerobotically controlled.[23]

In October 2018, Blue Origin said that their plans were to make the first orbital launch of New Glenn in 2021,[21] but in February 2021, stated that the maiden flight was now targeted for late 2022, but the ship is no longer planned to be used after Blue Origin abandoned the project to refit it as a landing platform ship.[7]

See also

References
  1. "9138795". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  2. "Historical RFA: RFA Sea Chieftain". Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society. HistoricalRFA.org. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  3. "9138795". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  4. "Maritime Directory Stena Freighter". Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  5. "LPV (19270)". DNV Vessel Register. DNV. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  6. "Stena Freighter (IMO 9138795) - Ro-Ro Cargo Ship". Vessel Tracking. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  7. Ralph, Eric (16 August 2022). "Blue Origin scraps New Glenn recovery ship, finishes first 'test tank'". Teslarati. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022. Blue Origin has fully abandoned a transport ship it once intended to convert into a landing platform for its orbital-class New Glenn rocket
  8. "Blue Origin recovery ship Jacklyn is being towed to the Port of Brownsville to be scrapped, per port manifest". Archived from the original on 15 August 2022.
  9. "Stena confirm the sale of Stena Carrier and Stena Freighter by Stena RoRo to unknown buyers". NI Ferry Site. 30 August 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  10. "Top Executive Profiles – Jeffrey P. Bezos". Portfolio.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009.
  11. Goenka, Himanshu (26 May 2018). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Has Bought Landing Ship For New Glenn Rocket". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  12. Boyle, Alan (8 March 2016). "Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  13. Little, Jim (24 October 2018). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin ship to be used for rocket landings docked at Port of Pensacola". Pensacola News Journal. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  14. Tribou, Richard (24 October 2018). "Cargo ship for Blue Origin's New Glenn launches arrives to Florida". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  15. Burns, Matt (7 March 2017). "Blue Origin reveals the "New Glenn" takeoff and landing sequence in new video". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  16. "Used Ro/Ro Will Become Blue Origin's Rocket Landing Pad". The Maritime Executive. 23 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  17. "Port of Pensacola Charts Course for the Future". Florida Ports Council. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  18. "Vessel LPV (RoRo ship) IMO 9138795, MMSI 538008209". vesseltracker.com. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  19. "Ahoy, Jacklyn! Jeff Bezos names Blue Origin's rocket recovery ship after his mom". GeekWire. 29 December 2020. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  20. Little, Jim (20 April 2022). "Blue Origin re-evaluating if Pensacola ship Jacklyn will be used for rocket landings". Pensacola News Journal. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  21. Boyle, Alan (10 October 2018). "Blue Origin resets schedule: First crew to space in 2019, first orbital launch in 2021". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  22. Burghardt, Thomas (20 September 2018). "Building on New Shepard, Blue Origin to pump a billion dollars into New Glenn readiness". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  23. Mowry, Clayton (17 September 2018). Spring Meetings 2017 - GNF "A step by step approach to low-cost access to space". International Astronautical Federation. Event occurs at 42:45. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2018 – via YouTube.
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