CCGS Amundsen is a Pierre Radisson -class icebreaker and Arctic research vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard . The vessel entered service in 1979 as Franklin and was renamed Sir John Franklin in 1980 and served as such until 1996. Declared surplus, the vessel was used as an accommodation ship in Labrador in 1996 and placed in reserve in 2000. In 2003, the ship was reactivated and underwent conversion to an Arctic research vessel. The ship recommissioned as Amundsen .
35-458: The Pierre Radisson class were designed for Coast Guard operations in the Arctic Ocean. Amundsen has a standard displacement of 6,400 long tons (6,500 t) and is 8,180 long tons (8,310 t) fully loaded. The vessel has a gross tonnage of 5,911 and a net tonnage of 1,678. The ship is 98.3 metres (322 ft 6 in) long overall with a beam of 19.5 metres (64 ft 0 in) and
70-443: A draught of 7.2 metres (23 ft 7 in). The vessel is propelled by two fixed-pitch propellers and one bow thruster powered by a diesel-electric system comprising six Alco M251F diesel engines that when driving the shafts create 13,200 kilowatts (17,700 hp) and six GEC generators creating 11.1 megawatts sustained powering two motors that when driving the shafts create 13,600 hp (10,100 kW). Amundsen
105-650: A 15-month expedition to the Canadian Arctic to work on several projects. In 2009, the ship was sent to collect new environmental data in the Beaufort Sea in co-operation with the oil exploitation sector. In August 2010, Amundsen responded to 27 August grounding of the cruise liner Clipper Adventurer in the Coronation Gulf . Arriving on 29 August, the icebreaker took off the 120 passengers and crew and brought them to Kugluktuk , arriving on 30 August. In 2011, it
140-514: A group of underwater plateaus south-east of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf . These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from 15 to 91 metres (50 to 300 ft) in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here, often causing extreme foggy conditions . The mixing of these waters and the shape of the ocean bottom lifts nutrients to
175-491: A pin-shaped section at the west edge of the Grand Banks, with the 22 kilometres (12 nmi; 14 mi) radius head of the pin surrounding the islands and the needle heading south for 348 km (188 nmi; 216 mi). Canada is performing the hydrographic and geological surveys necessary for claiming the entire continental shelf off eastern Canada, as allowed by the terms of the latest United Nations Convention on
210-499: A rare Atlantic tsunami that struck the south coast of Newfoundland , claiming 29 lives on the Burin Peninsula . Technological advances in fishing (such as using large factory-ships and sonar ), as well as geopolitical disputes over territorial sea and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundaries, led to overfishing and a serious decline in the fish stocks of the Grand Banks from around 1990. The Canadian Grand Banks fishery
245-427: A vessel's displacement begins with measuring its draft . This is accomplished by means of its "draft marks". A merchant vessel has three matching sets: one mark each on the port and starboard sides forward, midships, and astern. These marks allow a ship's displacement to be determined to an accuracy of 0.5%. The draft observed at each set of marks is averaged to find a mean draft. The ship's hydrostatic tables show
280-409: Is also equipped with one Caterpillar 398 emergency generator. This gives the vessel a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h). The vessel can carry 2,471 m (544,000 imp gal) of diesel fuel and has a range of 35,000 nautical miles (65,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) and can stay at sea for up to 100 days. Amundsen is equipped with a Sperry navigational radar operating on
315-524: Is believed that rising sea levels submerged these around 8,000 years ago. While no archaeological evidence for a European presence near the Grand Banks survives from the period between the short-lived Greenland Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in 1000 CE and John Cabot 's transatlantic crossing in 1497, some evidence suggests that voyagers from the Basque Region and England (specifically from Bristol ) and others preceded Cabot. In
350-570: Is done with computers. Displacement is usually measured in units of tonnes or long tons . There are terms for the displacement of a vessel under specified conditions: Grand Banks The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod , swordfish , haddock and capelin , as well as shellfish, seabirds and sea mammals. The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are
385-561: The 15th century some texts refer to a land called Bacalao , the land of the codfish, which is possibly Newfoundland. Within a few years of Cabot's voyage the existence of fishing grounds on the Grand Banks became generally known in Europe. Ships from France and Portugal pioneered fishing there, followed by vessels from Spain , while ships from England were scarce in the early years. This soon changed, especially after Bernard Drake 's Newfoundland Expedition in 1585 , which virtually wiped out
SECTION 10
#1732852635749420-541: The 1980s and 1990s, being tasked to winter icebreaking operations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River and off Newfoundland . During the summer season, Sir John Franklin was often tasked to support the annual Arctic Summer Sealift operation for escorting cargo ships to remote port communities in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In 1981, Sir John Franklin was used to test Coast Guard procedures in
455-636: The 1990 film The Hunt for Red October . Herman Melville described passing through the Banks as a young sailor on his first voyage in his autobiographical novel Redburn: His First Voyage (1849), where he saw whales and a haunting shipwreck with weeks-dead sailors still on board. It is also featured in The Grey Seas Under , a non-fiction book by Canadian author Farley Mowat about the ocean-going maritime salvage tug Foundation Franklin . The Canadian patriotic song " Something to Sing About " opens with
490-735: The Arctic for 398 days, split over two missions, an expedition to the Beaufort Sea and the other in support of Inuit communities in Nunavik . In 2004, Amundsen became the first Canadian vessel to offer hospital services to the Aboriginal peoples living in remote locations in Canada's north since the controversial CCGS C.D. Howe was taken out of service in 1970. The ship supports ArcticNet 's marine-based research program. In July 2007, Amundsen departed for
525-463: The Arctic that year. This led to several scientific groups looking for a possible replacement. In 2002, a consortium of Canadian universities and federal departments submitted a proposal to convert Sir John Franklin into an Arctic Ocean research vessel . The proposal was accepted and the ship given new life in August 2003 after funding was received for the new dedicated research vessel. The total cost for
560-591: The Arctic. The helicopter attached to Amundsen crashed in the Arctic on 9 September 2013, with a loss of three lives, including the commander, the helicopter pilot and an academic from the University of Manitoba . In July 2015, Amundsen was redirected from a 115-day science cruise to northern Baffin Bay to aid resupply ships for northern communities which were navigating heavy ice in Hudson Bay . On 24 August 2018, Amundsen
595-745: The Coast Guard vessels sent to monitor the European fishing fleets on the Grand Banks . The ship was kept just out of sight but within radar range of foreign fishing trawlers. These actions led to the detainment and seizure of the Spanish fishing trawler Estai . Following the 1995 transfer of the Canadian Coast Guard from the Department of Transport to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans , Sir John Franklin
630-562: The E/F and I bands. The icebreaker has a flight deck and hangar which originally accommodated a MBB Bo 105 or Bell 206L light helicopter, but currently supports the Bell 429 GlobalRanger and Bell 412EPI which were acquired by the Canadian Coast Guard in the 2010s to replace the older helicopters. The vessel is certified as Arctic Class 3 and has a complement of 31 with 11 officers and 20 crew. Amundsen has an additional 51 berths. The ship's keel
665-638: The Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Petroleum reserves have also been discovered and a number of oil fields are under development in this region, most notably the Hibernia , Terra Nova , and White Rose projects. However, the harsh environment on the Grand Banks also led to the Ocean Ranger disaster. The Northwest Atlantic Ocean is undergoing long-term warming from anthropogenic climate change . The surface water temperatures of
700-614: The Newfoundland Shelf have increased by 0.13 °C per decade from 1950 to 2016. Depth-averaged ocean temperatures (0–175 m) have not shown a warming trend during that same period. Semi-fictional depictions of fishermen working on the Grand Banks can be found in Rudyard Kipling 's novel Captains Courageous (1897) and in Sebastian Junger's non-fiction book The Perfect Storm (1997). The Grand Banks are also portrayed in
735-755: The Northwest Passage, heading to the icebreaker's assigned base in Newfoundland , Franklin lost a propeller in Viscount Melville Sound and was rescued by CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent and returned to the west coast. The two ships then transited to the East Coast of Canada via the Panama Canal . In 1980, the vessel was renamed to Sir John Franklin at the request of the crew. The ship worked out of CCG Base Dartmouth and CCG Base Quebec City for most of
SECTION 20
#1732852635749770-482: The Spanish and Portuguese fishing-industries in this area. The fish stocks became important for the early European-settler economies of eastern Canada and New England . On 18 November 1929, the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake struck the southwestern part of the Grand Banks bordering the Laurentian Channel , causing an underwater landslide which resulted in extensive damage to transatlantic cables and generated
805-447: The addition of a moon pool , which enables scientists to lower scientific instruments from inside the hull without cutting a hole in the ice, multi-beam sonar , the replacement of heating and electrical systems, and installation of state-of-the-art scientific equipment. The vessel was recommissioned into the Canadian Coast Guard as Amundsen , named in honour of Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen , on 26 August 2003. Amundsen ' s sponsor
840-420: The corresponding volume displaced. To calculate the weight of the displaced water, it is necessary to know its density. Seawater (1,025 kg/m ) is more dense than fresh water (1,000 kg/m ); so a ship will ride higher in salt water than in fresh. The density of water also varies with temperature. Devices akin to slide rules have been available since the 1950s to aid in these calculations. Presently, it
875-475: The late 20th century caused the collapse of several species, particularly cod, leading to the closure of the Canadian Grand Banks fishery in 1992. Extensive glaciation took place in the area of the Grand Banks during the last glacial maximum . By approximately 13,000 years ago the majority of the ice had melted, leaving the Grand Banks exposed as several islands extending for hundreds of kilometres. It
910-512: The oil spill exercise called "Baffin Island Oil Spill". In 1987, the ship escorted the Arctic cargo ship/ oil tanker MV Arctic to Nanisivik . In July 1989, the icebreaker again attempted to transit the Northwest Passage but was forced to break off the attempt after ice conditions were found to be too severe. In June 1994, at the height of the Turbot War , Sir John Franklin was among
945-602: The refit was CAN$ 30.7 million with $ 27.7 million provided by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and $ 3 million provided by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The ship was towed from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and underwent the 10-month conversion of Sir John Franklin at a shipyard in Les Mechins, Quebec . There, part of the vessel's storage holds were transformed into laboratory space. The refit included
980-415: The surface. These conditions helped to create one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. Fish species include Atlantic cod , swordfish , haddock and capelin ; shellfish include scallop and lobster . The area also supports large colonies of seabirds such as northern gannets , shearwaters and sea ducks and various sea mammals such as seals , dolphins and whales . Overfishing in
1015-779: The term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle , by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weight. Traditionally, various measurement rules have been in use, giving various measures in long tons . Today, tonnes are more commonly used. Ship displacement varies by a vessel's degree of load, from its empty weight as designed (known as "lightweight tonnage" ) to its maximum load. Numerous specific terms are used to describe varying levels of load and trim, detailed below. Ship displacement should not be confused with measurements of volume or capacity typically used for commercial vessels and measured by tonnage : net tonnage and gross tonnage . The process of determining
1050-403: Was Lily Schreyer , the sponsor of Franklin when the vessel first entered service. The ship remained the property of the Canadian Coast Guard and continues to support Coast Guard functions but is the dedicated science platform for scientists in the Arctic. Shortly after re-entering service, Amundsen began its career as a research vessel, departing for King William Sound . The ship remained in
1085-444: Was announced that an image of the vessel would be placed on the backside of the new Canadian 50 Dollar polymer banknote . This was intended to mark Canada's northern frontier and arctic research. In December 2011 a routine maintenance inspection discovered dangerous cracking in four of her six engines. The engines required immediate replacement, and she was unavailable throughout 2012. Amundsen departed on 26 July 2013 for deployment in
CCGS Amundsen - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-657: Was closed in 1993. Canada 's EEZ currently covers the majority of the Grand Banks except for the lucrative "nose" (eastern extremity, near the Flemish Cap ) and "tail" (southern extremity) of the fishing bank . The 1783 Treaty of Paris gave the United States shared rights to fish in these waters, but that section of the Treaty is no longer in force. The exclusive economic zone of the French territory Saint Pierre and Miquelon occupies
1155-480: Was deemed surplus to the fleet in 1996. That summer, she was contracted to Newfoundland-based shipping company Canship for use as an accommodations vessel during exploration work at a coastal nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay in northern Labrador . She was subsequently decommissioned from the Canadian Coast Guard in 2000 and placed in non-operational reserve. In 2001, the Canadian Coast Guard announced that it could not provide an icebreaker for research purposes in
1190-402: Was directed to assist Akademik Ioffe , a research vessel that had run aground in the western Gulf of Boothia . Once on the scene, Amundsen and her helicopter were used to transfer passengers from the research vessel to Akademik Ioffe ' s sister ship Akademik Sergey Vavilov . Displacement (ship) The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight . As
1225-522: Was laid down 4 January 1977 by Burrard Dry Dock at their yard in North Vancouver , British Columbia with the yard number 222. The ship was launched on 10 March 1978 and entered in Coast Guard service in March 1979. The ship was named Franklin in honour of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin . After completing the vessel performed sea trials in the western Arctic and Northwest Passage . While transiting
#748251