The research vessel 'White Holly' proves that if you buy a very strong and well maintained ex-US Coast Guard buoy tender built in 1944, it is not difficult to reconfigure it to successfully meet the highly technical job requirements of today's charters by the US Navy, US Fisheries and Wildlife Service, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the cable laying ship 'Global Sentinel'.
This is what ex-fisherman and San Francisco and Honolulu harbour pilot Vince Baken had in mind when he purchased the 40.5-metre-long 'White Holly' in 2001. In only a few months he turned her into one of the most versatile expedition and research vessels afloat today.
The 'White Holly', with a maximum draught of only 3.1 metres, is capable of operating from shallow tropical Pacific atolls to the ice-cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic because the ship was built as a small icebreaker and has a specially reinforced bow.
'White Holly' skipper/owner Vince Baken started out as a fisherman at age 14, including several years on his uncle's boat in the Bering Sea, later working as a seafarer on many ships until he qualified as a harbour pilot in San Francisco and Honolulu, Hawaii.
The 'White Holly's' latest charter during January – June 2010 saw her complete a six-month environmental investigation of the winter Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida using a sub-Atlantic remote operating vehicle (ROV). The study covered depths from 40 to 400 metres and produced bottom-profiling and gravity core measurements using a multi-beam sonar.
In November 2009, to undertake a charter with the US Navy off Jacksonville, Florida, the 'White Holly' went into a California shipyard to have an A-frame with a ten-tonne lift capability installed near the fantail and the stern deck extended 1.5 metres to give the ship an improved towing capability.
In May 2009 the 'White Holly' completed a complex deep-sea mapping job in Hawaiian waters for the US Navy using its new Reson SeaBat 8160 multi-beam echo sounder and an Odom Echotract MK-111 sounder. Using a portable, 12-metre (40 foot) container fitted out as a sonar shack and office on the spacious foredeck of the 'White Holly', Navy technicians were able to completely isolate the results of the mapping in their own computers and take the results ashore for other US Navy uses that remain classified.
In October 2008 she was the mothership for the two-man submarine 'Maltese Falcon' in waters off California and in 2006 the 'White Holly' was the mothership for another two-man submersible for SEAmagine Hydrospace Corporation, a subsea company operating in the Farallon Islands off California. In March 2007 she assisted the cable-layer 'Global Sentinel' in laying an ocean-observatory cable in Monterey Bay, California. In 2005 she completed a month-long comprehensive cruise for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and The Nature Conservancy to the Line Islands, a group of islands of the Republic of Kiribati stretching from Christmas Island at 1°58'N, 157°20'W to Washington Island at 4°41'N, 160°23'W and ending at the US possession Palmyra Island at 5°58'N, 162°30'W.
One year, she even laid hundreds of crab traps for skipper Baken's cousin Salvatore on the opening day of crab fishing in California.
Deck equipment: This includes a ten-tonne main boom, four-tonne whip, a port side davit to launch small boats and a new stern ten-tonne A-frame. The 'White Holly' carries 45,000 litres (10,000 gallons) of diesel fuel for its two Caterpillar 353 main engines and has a water maker that can produce 1,800 litres of fresh water per day.
Engine room machinery: This includes two Caterpillar 353 main engines, each 263kW*, driving twin, four-bladed propellers with a single rudder between them. Her electrical power is from two Detroit Diesel 4-71, 60kW generators and another Detroit Diesel 4-71 generator to handle hydraulics and other tasks. There are five ten-tonne chainfalls, a pressure washer, spare heads for the 4-71 generators, and a spare main engine turbocharger.
Auxiliary equipment: This includes two Quincy air compressors to start the main engines and charge the air tanks of scuba divers, a World System oil/water separator, an Evac sewage system, a grey water system, a Vickers hydraulic steerpin system, Dunham Bush air-conditioning and heating system and several sets of welding and cutting equipment. Safety equipment consists of two 25-person Elliot life rafts, 25 Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices (life jackets), ESL fire alarm control system and bilge alarm, four P-250 salvage pumps, two P-5 salvage pumps, and a PKP fire fighting system.
Electronics: Installed in early 2009, the newest piece of the 'White Holly's' electronic/sonar gear is the Reson Sea Bat 8160 multi-beam echosounder. It is capable of mapping the ocean floor to a depth of 5,000 metres while producing a swath width of 4,000 metres. An unexpected and welcomed side effect of the new echosounder is that its large external mounting has reduced the roll of the 'White Holly' as Coast Guard buoy tenders have rounded bottoms and tend to roll. Her wheelhouse has a complete suite of electronic navigational, tracking and communication equipment. These include a Nauticast Automatic Identification System, Raytheon R21 radar, ComNav autopilot, two Ross fathometers, a Dirigo 25cm magnetic compass, Sperry Gyro Compass MK-27 with repeaters, two VHF Raytheon Ray 33 radios, Alden Marine weather fax, Skipper Hydraulic Steering alarm and a Furuno single side band radio.
Accommodation and galley. They provide for 12 passengers and eight crew, including a Captain's quarters for two, a four-person stateroom, three two-person staterooms and a bunk area for seven. A fully equipped galley has a commercial grill, ice-maker, water filter, heating table, two reefers, three freezers and seating for 16.
The 'White Holly' has undertaken many different charter assignments, and for her length of only 40.5 metres, she is probably the most versatile research vessel in the world.
*In July 2009 I met the former Chief Engineer of the 'White Holly' in Honolulu and when I asked him what was the condition of the two ex-Coast Guard main engines, he said they were in "perfect condition".
– Bob Iversen
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'White Holly' specifications
Type of vessel: Multi purpose research vessel
Flag: USA
Home port: Sausalito, California, USA
Owner/operator: White Holly Expeditions, Sausalito, California, USA
Builder: For US Navy in 1944, California, USA
Construction material: Steel
Gross registered tonnage: 141GRT
Length overall: 40.5 metres
Beam: 9.1 metres
Draught: 3.1 metres
Main engines: 2 x Model 353 Caterpillar, each 263kW
Generators: 2 x Detroit Diesel 4-71
Propulsion: 2 x four-bladed propellers
Steering system: Vickers hydraulic, Sperry Gyro Compass MK-27 w/repeaters
Maximum speed: 13 knots
Cruising speed: 9 knots
Hydraulic equipment: Detroit Diesel 4-71 auxiliary for hydraulics
Engine spares: Detroit Diesel 4-71 heads, main engine turbocharger
Lifting gear: 10-tonne main boom, 4-tonne whip, port side davit for launching small boats, stern 10-tonne A-frame
Air compressors: 2 x Quincy
Radar: Raytheon R21
Depth sounders: 2 x Ross fathometers
Very deep sounder: 1 x Reson SeaBat 7125 dual beam w/Reson SVP 70 sound velocity sensor; dual beam frequencies 12kHz and 24kHz; depth range: 200 – 6,000 metres; Odom Echotrac MK-111 as part of sounding equipment
Radios: 2 x VHF Raytheon Ray 33; 1 x Furuno single side band; 2 x handheld standard VHF
Safety equipment: 2 x 25-person Elliot life rafts; 25 x USCG life jackets; 25 x survival suits, 3 x sets SCUBA, 4 x P-250 pumps, 2 x P5 pumps, PKP fire fighting system, 3 x damage control kits, hand held CO2 in all compartments, ESL fire alarm, several EPIRBs
Main deck area: 97.6m2, can facilitate 2 small survey vessels / 1 x 40ft container
Aft deck: 13.4m2
Fuel capacity: 38,000 litres
Freshwater maker: 1,800 litres/day
Bunking and galley: For 12 researchers and 8 crew
Accomodations: Captain's stateroom for 2, 1 four person stateroom, 3 two person staterooms, 1 x 7-person bunking area
Galley: Commercial grill, ice maker, water filter, heating table, 2 reefers, 5 freezers, fire suppression system, seating for 16
