ULA have ASDSes? I missed a memo, I think. But yeah, has this gotten so routine that we forget to even say "JRTI left port" ??
So I'm sitting at fishlips, waiting for the orbitalATK Minotaur launch with my four year old. On the way in, what do I notice but the Go sisters, Searcher and Quest, and a tug whose name I can't read but I'll wager is our friend EIII. Is this their usual tie up, by fishlips behind the casino ship "victory ii"?It's dark and I can't see OCISLY, though that's what I'm hoping to spot. It should be across the way, but before the container cranes right? Any reason it wouldn't be in port?
I think I did finally locate her (picture attached). Just real hard to see her without lights on the asds and lights blaring next door on a gravel (?) barge they were actively filling.
Elsbeth III has moved from the berth west of the Fishlips restaurant and now *appears* to be berthed in front of OCISLY. <Wild speculation> IF there is a crew aboard/nearby and IF there is a significant storm surge.. and presumably as Irma heads north, the wind direction will move to push OCISLY towards the dock wall, so it may prove useful to have a tug on hand to move it (her?) if necessary and potentially avoid the worst-case situation where OCISLY ends up on the dock (although I'd have expected the ASDS to have been ballasted before the storm arrived). </Wild speculation>
<Wild speculation> IF there is a crew aboard/nearby and IF there is a significant storm surge.. and presumably as Irma heads north, the wind direction will move to push OCISLY towards the dock wall, so it may prove useful to have a tug on hand to move it (her?) if necessary and potentially avoid the worst-case situation where OCISLY ends up on the dock (although I'd have expected the ASDS to have been ballasted before the storm arrived). </Wild speculation>
I expect that if there's a serious storm surge, one tug won't stop ASDS motion, and may well be imperiled itself.
I suspect Elsbeth III is docked in front of OCISLY because that area is a safe-ish spot. According to AIS and a certain webcam, Victory I is docked behind OCISLY.