If ships on here were to be classified according to their role at the time the photo was taken, what would happen if the role was not obvious from the photo or other sources of information? That would seem to lead to quite a bit of confusion and potentially inaccurate information provided on Shipspotting. It would also make it harder to compare information here with that provided by other sources using standard vessel type classifications (e.g., Equasis). Perhaps none of that matters, but an inconsistent database is often worse than no database!

Great photo João.

Krispen, I can only agree with you, but suppose a picture comes on the site which shows the ship in action during her secondary role..is it still a dredger or an oil spill recovery vessel? It may all sound slightly academic, but the curent categories on shipspotting were defined once, and, perhaps unfortunately, we have to deal with them.

I would argue that should still be shown as a tanker - the modular capture facility is her secondary role.

For instance, these vessels are seen fully fitted for their secondary tasks:
Balluta Bay in Malta, a bunker tanker http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1968883
Interballast III, a dredger http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2235181

In both pictures the oil spill recovery systems can be clearly seen, however they are not trading as such, as when they do it will be for a very short period, and the classification society will not treat the vessel any differently.

Krispen

Krispen, you have me convinced....(but if somebody post a picture of the fully equipped sistership, where should it go?)

Pieter - Because she is one of two vessels, which have been fitted for use in the Gulf of Mexico - if her operation area is the Gulf of Mexico, why is she allowed out of that area (in this picture)? She is one of two vessels fitted to undertake this emergency work, my understanding is that these two vessels are tied to charters which see them continuously operating in the Gulf of Mexico (from what I can determine, from offshore fields to Corpus Christi), therefore at least one is within a set time criteria to respond to an incident.

I suggest you look at this: http://www.aet-tankers.com/sites/default/files/factsheets/MCV.pdf It shows one of these vessels in full "capture mode" - with a flare tower, and various other units on deck - these are not present in the picture - or am I missing something? This suggests this equipment is stored somewhere in the region, so that they can be quickly added to the vessel so that it can react.

Tanker is the more accurate representation of this vessel - but if you wish to keep it an FPSO, a vessel which by definition processes and stores on station (doesn't move), and with other vessels loading from them, then keep it in that category!

Krispen

Krispen, what would be use of an emergency vessel like this to not carry everything that is needed in case of an emergency? If you have to wait to cap an oilwell before all equipment is fitted it may result in something of which BP was not very happy about recently..

If it were acting as an FPSO, it would bu locked in one location, clearly from AIS data, she is shuttling crude around, and is currently operating as a crude oil tanker

Allan

Pieter:
I agree with Krispen. This is a crude tanker adapted to carry out other, special duties as well as transport crude oil)
Bob

Pieter, fair comment.

However the module capture facility has been retrofitted as a secondary role, whilst the ship still carries out it's primary function as a tanker. From the picture, I would question whether all the module capture gear is onboard - which suggests this is put on at short notice, should the ship need to operate as such.

It's a similar situation to the EMSA Oil Spill Response Vessel scheme, where 17 dredgers, tankers and bunker tankers operating around the European coast have been retrofitted with skimmers and sweeping arms, so that they can preform oil spill recovery as a secondary function, should this ever be required at short notice. These are not treated as oil spill recovery, rather as their primary, everyday role.

Krispen

Krispen, I think a category allocation takes place on the basis of what the ship IS and not how it is being traded. A bulkcarrier may carry ore all of its life, but she should not enter the ore carrier category (on this site)

I'm not sure FPSO is the right category for these, they trade as Aframax tankers. Note AET's website;
http://www.aet-tankers.com/our-business/modular-capture-vessels

"On station in the US Gulf, our two specialist vessels trade as standard Aframax tankers until mobilised for carbon capture duties should the need arise."

Krispen

Nice one, Joao! She's an interesting vessel!
Best regards
SBR

Alexds, you are absolutely correct, the only small problem is that we do not have such a category on Shipspotting, and she has to go somewhere...

Proper type: Modular Capture Vessel

For the source of the above:
http://gcaptain.com/eagle-louisiana-modular-capture-vessel-delivered-aet/

This is a converted Aframax crude carrier, that has been adapated to deal with subsea oilwell problems, in the sense that she can hook up to a subsea capping stack and in case of an emergency, and store the oil on board. Her sister Eagle Texas has been converted in a similar way. Ship was built in 2011, conversion took place in 2013. I have amended the category to fpso, as being the closest to her current function.