With last week’s big donation from the Nordea Denmark Foundation, we could make an agreement with Gert Normann Andersen, Managing Director of JD-Contractors, for the hire of Cable One – the best possible solution for the Sea Stallion and its crew as far as safety and communication are concerned.
"With Cable One, both ship and crew are Danish, which obviously has a lot of advantages in the communication between the Sea Stallion and Cable One", explains Carsten Hvid, who got to know the ship on the stage from Roskilde to the Orkneys during the summer’s voyage to Dublin. "The crew of Cable One are extremely well-qualified for the job. They know what they are doing and that gives us all a great feeling of confidence when things get going."
The support vessel will have three main jobs during next year’s voyage:
- Rescue and standby ship in the event of accident, man overboard or shipwreck
- Project and communication platform in relation to the press and the outside world
- Transport of equipment, including a mobile exhibition about the Sea Stallion.
Safety is the top priority
"The most important thing is obviously safety. The ship will be sailing in some of the most challenging waters in Europe and we are taking no chances. So the crew have all had safety training so that everyone can use their personal life support equipment. And the Sea Stallion is also equipped with modern safety and communication equipment of very high quality. But if the worst imaginable situation should happen, a support vessel can be decisive," explains Morten Nielsen, the Viking Ship Museum’s Technical Manager. He goes on: "Cable One would be able to take injured on board for further treatment and they have equipment for rescuing people in the open sea. And in the final analysis, the ship would be able to head any rescue operation. A ship close to events when they happen is of vital significance for the subsequent rescue of people."
Communication with the whole world
The summer sail to Dublin was an enormous challenge for the Viking Ship Museum. Media from all over the world had to be serviced with pictures and interviews, and two film crews, from the BBC and Danmarks Radio, were sending film back to their editors every day. This requires technical equipment of very high quality. Much of this communication was carried out on board the Sea Stallion, and that was a special challenge when the ship was at sea in pouring rain for days on end.
So a proper press secretariat is going to be set up on board Cable One, which will also be fitted out with satellite equipment that will make it possible for the project to meet the great demand for stories and pictures – even out in the middle of the Irish Sea.