THE MOTHER SHIP

Rick heading back to Batavia - image by Jason Childs - copyright

Mother Ship - The Search for a Replacement

For the first 4 months of our relief efforts we have used the 800 ton ex ferry MV BATAVIA on a daily charter basis. Her running costs exceeded $3,000 per day and while that is in line with other ships in the area, we could not justify using her long term. (for a Batavia tour click here)

While she was an ideal platform in many ways, her huge engines and poor mechanical condition resulted in big fuel bills and lost days in port repairing machinery.

The ELM ship research team has been pursuing the purchase and or donation of a replacement mother ship for the past 4 weeks and negotiations are under way with the owners of several vessels. This is a complex task but we know what we want and we have identified several ships that are close to ideal for our puproses.

Generally our requirements are:

• Fuel efficiency (1.5 - 3.0 tons per day) our plans call for regular trips from Banda Aceh to Padang and Batavia consumed over 9 tons per day when steaming.
• Range - 2,500 nm (Batavia had only a 1,000nm range)
• Speed - 10knots minimum 12knots sprint
• Draft - 3.5m maximum (Batavia was 3.5 but her props were not protected so we always anchored in 8m or more)
• Cargo - 100 tons or more below decks or in containers on deck (Batavia could carry 120tons if tanks were full)
• Accommodation - 30 plus crew with air conditioning (Batavia could sleep 40+ on the open plan 3rd deck but there was no privacy at all)
• Ease & flexability of loading - we need to load our skiffs in rough conditions. Some ships are suited to this and others are very difficult
• Stability - A stable ship is essential. (Batavia rolled more than we liked making loading at her side doors dangerous in bad weather)
• Price - US$750,000 if ready to work (Batavia's asking price was around this)

Please let us know if there is a ship you know of that might suit our mission. We are prepared to look at ships in any location.

ISLANDAID sustainable support to isolated communities
operated by The Electric Lamb Mission