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L'Astrolabe - IMO 8418198
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details
Description:
At Hobart, Tasmania (Dec 2005)
Ship Name: L'ASTROLABE
Ship Ex-name : FORT RESOLUTION/AUSTRAL FISH
Ship Type: Offshore Tug / Supply Ship
Flag: French Antarctic Territory
Port of Registry: Port-aux-Francais
IMO No. : 8418198
Built : 1986
Class : Bureau Veritas
DWT : 949
Gross Tonnage : 1371
Length (OA) : 65.36
Beam maximum : 13.06
Draft : 4.78
MAIN ENGINE:
Type : Oil Engine
Builder : Mirrlees Blackstone (Stockport)Ltd
Design : Mirrlees
Model : 8MB275
Stroke Type : 4 - Single-acting
Stroke / Bore : 305 / 275
Number : 2
Total Power KW : 4600
Total Power HP : 6256
Vessel
particulars
Former name(s):
- Fort Resolution (Until 1988)
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Categories
This ship exists in the following categories:
Supply Ships/Tug Supplies/AHTS - 63 photos
Special Purpose Vessels - 1 photos
Ships under Repair or Conversion - 4 photos
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COMMENT THIS PHOTO(3)
Thank you for posting this pics of this very rare French supply - I've made a visit onboard at Hobart in 1992 but I've never seen her in France.
From where you found this data ?
L'Astrolabe was built in 1986 by Ferguson at Port Glasgow (UK) as Fort Resolution for Townsend Marine (Canada). Renammed Austral Fish by Feronia International Shipping in 1987 and L'Astrolabe in 1989 (for chartered reason). At the end of FISH she was acquired by SURF (Marseille) AS she was always chartered by the French admistration of southern and antartic territories (TAAF : Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises)she was homeported at Port aux Français (Kerguelen island - French island in Indian ocean)
She's not a training ship but a supply ship to antarctic bases and she was never owned by Polynesian government
Best regards
Xtian
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I have it all wrong. Thanks for the correction. The photo was taken last December in Hobart while holidaying. So you will be glad to know that she has been keeping the same base since you last boarded the ship. But I'm rather confused as to which company is managing her now. The World Shipping Register shows that Les Abeilles International (subsidiary of Groupe Bourbon) is the manager. Is this correct?
Rgds
SK
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I understand that the situation is confuse
FISH was the owner and the crew manager of off-shore supplies - crew boats and AHTS mostly in Africa.
In the other hand FISH have contract with french administrations like the Emergency Towing Vessels at Toulon (Mérou ex King-Fish - Carangue ex-Pilot Fish) contract with the TAAF as suplier with L'Astrolabe (ex-Austral Fish) and some other with the DGA (armement industry).
The Abeilles have also same kind of contracts with ETV and DGA (Abeille Flandre - Abeille Languedoc - Abeille Supporter)
SURF also an off-shore compagny with supplies-crew boats and AHTS have also same type contracts (Ailette - Alcyon with the French navy)
When FISH has been bought to the the american SEACOR - SEACOR kept the offshore contracts but not the french government ones. For the ETV the Carangue was bought by the Abeilles and crewed by the Abeilles International but the Mérou was only chartered from her new owner (SEACOR) and crewed by the Abeilles International (with ex-FISHmen).
In 1996 the Abeilles has been bought by Bourbon (the owner of SURF) and since then there is in fact only one group with many compagnies like the Abeilles, Abeilles International and Surf. So it's sometime hard to know who's the owner, who's the crew manager ...
It seems that L'Astrolabe is SURF owned as the it's indicated on her superstructures and as green colour replace the original Fish blue. For the management some of the crews are from the Abeilles International (ex-FISHmen) and from Surf.
About the Abeilles International (ETV and salvage) this compagny was registred for a time in the French polynesian island of Tahiti (for money reasons) but is back to Le Havre since longtime
The Abeilles (mostly harbour tug managment) and SURF (off-shore) are registred at Marseille
Bourbon the owner of the whole group is registred at La Réunion - French island in Indian Ocean - as this group was originaly from sugar industry in this island.
At last for confusing : the french authorities have made the Kerguelen flag with Port aux Français as homeport - There is no port at Port au Français : this is just a meteorogical and scientific base on the desolated islands of Kerguelen - very south of Indian Ocean. This flag is an answer for Liberia, Panama etc... flags.
So L'Astrolabe is homeported at Port aux Français and she's one of the only ships with this homeport who made a port call here - There is also the Marion Dufresne (the supplier of thoses islands) and some fishing vessels.
Sorry if it's hard to understand, sometime I'm lost to !
Thank you again for this pictures as I have her only red and blue with FISH name on the hull.
Best regards, Xtian
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