Photo By Grady Fontana | 160508-N-IX266-011 USNS JOHN ERICSSON, At Sea—Fleet replenishment oiler USNS John...... read more read more
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USNS JOHN ERICSSON, At Sea—Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Ericsson (T-AO 194) delivered fuel and cargo to a second MSC ship, fast combat ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7), during a replenishment at sea (RAS) operation, May 8.
The two ships steered side-by-side while the Ericsson transferred 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel and about 900,000 gallons of jet fuel, and cargo.
During a RAS, the delivery ship, in this case the Ericsson, takes tactical control of the receiving ship. The receiving ship pulls up from behind of the delivery ship and positions herself abreast and about 200 feet away from the delivery ship.
When the ships are side-by-side, one of the ships will shoot a shot line to the other in order to send a messenger and span wire across to the other vessel. Once the span wire is connected, the process of deploying the fuel hoses are set in motion.
MSC conducts hundreds of RASs’ a year supporting the U.S. Navy and partner nations. Despite vast experience in RAS operations, the procedure is inherently dangerous.
“It gets very tricky when you start putting two large ships of 200, 250, 300 plus meters alongside each other about 50 meters apart,” said civilian mariner Capt. Anthony Boudouin, master of USNS John Ericsson. “There’s an enormous amount of dynamics in play.”
Catastrophes can happen at a blink of an eye if the ships aren’t synchronized. “If you don’t get control of it right away, you will lose it,” said Boudouin.
During these types of emergencies, MSC has evasive measures in place. Any indication of failure, the ships are taught to conduct immediate action and the able ship would veer out of the formation.
“The biggest concern is if one of the ships loses steering,” said civilian mariner Eric J. Bardot, chief cargo mate of USNS John Ericsson. “What you want to avoid is having the ships collide.”
In the event one ship loses steering, the other vessel conducts an emergency breakaway and all the hoses and lines go with whichever ship peels away, according to Bardot.
During the four-hour RAS, the procedure was conducted by the Ericsson crew with precision and the USNS Rainier departed with fuel and cargo as scheduled.
MSC operates approximately 115 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.09.2016 07:40 |
| Story ID: | 197647 |
| Location: | USNS JOHN ERICSSON, AT SEA |
| Web Views: | 314 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, MSC Ships Replenish at Sea, by Grady Fontana, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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