Spanish yard starts sea trials of new large rescue vessel

Spain’s Zamakona Yards has begun conducting sea trials of a new large rescue ship ordered by Spanish maritime search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo.

The vessel has been named Heroinas de Salvora (“Heroines of Salvora”) in honour of Cipriana Oujo Maneiro, Josefa Parada, and María Fernández Oujo. The three women, then aged only 24, 16 and 14, respectively, sailed out on a small boat and succesfully rescued 58 of the 271 passengers and crew of the steamship Santa Isabel shortly after it sank just off Spain’s Salvora island on January 2, 1921.

Heroinas de Salvora has a length of 82.35 metres, a beam of 18 metres, and accommodations for 16 crewmembers and 24 additional personnel. Notable features include a DP2 system, firefighting gear, equipment for cleaning up oil spills, a large open aft deck, two knuckle jib boom cranes from Melcal, and flight deck and hangar facilities for use with unmanned aerial vehicles.

The propulsion system will deliver a bollard pull of approximately 200 tonnes, making the vessel suitable for deep-sea towing in addition to other emergency response roles.