With it being a cargo vessel, it’s very capable in different areas. The main one, we’ve got the two main cargo
hatches at the forward end of the ship, hatch no 1, hatch no 2, so both of those
holds can hold up to 48 twenty-foot containers. The no 1 hold is basically for dangerous goods,
for jet fuel and those things.
Hold no 2 is separated over a couple of decks.
Sometimes it can be like a big game of Tetris shifting containers and other bits
of equipment around the place. There’s what’s called pontoon decks on two different levels.
When we open the hatches we need to remove those pontoons so we can reach down into
the decks below, lift gear out then put the pontoons back and move to the next section.
When it comes to moving cargo on a ship, every bit of space is crucial,
so it can appear that it’s pretty tight and it just takes a bit of time, a bit of guidance, a bit
of training and familiarisation. But the key thing is we need to fit as much cargo on as we can,
so we jam it in there so we can resupply the bases to their full potential.
The two forward cranes are both capable of lifting 55 tonnes of weight.
They’re knuckle-boom cranes so they’re quite manoeuvrable. With both those cranes we can reach all areas
of both those hatches, and on some occasions we’ll be able to use both at the same time.
We’ve got an alleyway on deck no.4 where we can forklift things
down to this aft science deck, we’ve got a side platform door we can lay down to 90
degrees and use our 15 tonne helideck crane to lift them on to the back of the
helideck because sometimes we’ll be doing sling loads with the helicopters ashore.
We’ve got the two barges on the foredeck, both of those are capable of carrying over 45 tonnes.
So if we've got both of those moving, there’s going to be a lot more equipment than we’ve ever been
able to move before in the past, so just looking forward to see how that unfolds.
We can actually refuel two stations, in the past it’s only been one at a time,
so it should be a much more efficient cargo transfer moving into the future.
Very exciting, so for a lot of people who've been waiting for this project for quite a number of years,
to actually be over here, one of the first Australian seamen to get on here and get
their hands on the gear, it’s been a great opportunity. And the skills
that we’re gaining now, just being able to go through our procedures, get used to the gear,
do all the training, and be ready for the Antarctic season is absolutely valuable.