Buoy 44066/TT4 Drift Tracked and Observed by BCL

Feb

2

44066/Texas Tower Drift Observed by BCL

44066 Tracking Update:

Since the 44066/TT4 buoy broke loose a month ago, it has been on an ESE drift. Normally,in order to determine the next order of action NDBC seeks observing from ships of opportunity whenever possible to document the condition of loose buoys. In this case Bermuda Cargo Lines was contacted for their assistance. BCL was past involved in the Oleander Project a few years ago in research with University of Rhode Island, NMFS and ONR. So an email was sent requesting an observation if practical. Well, being involved with marine research, BCL came through with flying colors. They have a weekly round-trip cargo run from Port Newark to Hamilton, Bermuda. The VP of Vessel Operations was quick to volunteer the Oleander in the seek and observe mission during their current run. Supplying them with hourly coordinates of the drifting buoy the Oleander was able to find it last night ( Feb 1) and report the physical condition of the buoy. Here is their report:

Good Morning Jeff:

Despite the bad weather in the area last night (the vessel was struggling to make 5 knots headway at times in high seas) the Oleander was able to locate your buoy around 0520 UTC this morning. They made a visual on the light and radar contact with the buoy from about 5 miles out.  Master reports that “there appears to be no visual damage. Solar panels okay. Anemometers turning. Buoy is in stable condition” Unfortunately he says the photos they took are not great quality due to the limited lighting provided by the vessel’s search light. The Master will send me the photos later today once they are in port but his comments above are probably more significant.Attached are my own plots of the buoy over the past few days and the route (blue line) the Oleander has been following north since departing Bermuda on Tuesday.   Fortunately they only had to steam an extra 6 miles from their usual track (red line) to meet up with it so the additional fuel consumption is in the realm of $200.  As mentioned before the buoy seems to be entering the North Wall of the Gulf Stream with an increasing rate of drift to the East unless the winds should dictate otherwise.Good luck in recovering the buoy if that is feasible and please don’t hesitate to contact me in the future if there is anything Bermuda Container Line may be able to assist with.

Best regards 

Blair Simmons  |  VP - Vessel Operations, Container Ship Management Ltd.

I had asked the BCL rep if he thought the buoy was situated in a bad area due to traffic. His response was it thought it was fine. It is a clearly marked buoy, has a working light and it able to be detected by radar at a minimum of 5 miles by commercial ships. That was good to hear.

This buoy is now working its way pretty much Easterly along the 38^th latitude towards Europe. Having spoken to NDBC it is not determined yet as to what will be done; an attempted retrieval or new buoy. We will have to wait and see. Dollars determine the choice.

In the earlier post it was thought that perhaps sabotage was involved in this or other buoys loosing their footing. The NDBC spokesperson told me that a buoy up off Alaska was cut by a crabber because his lines had gotten snagged. NDBC has the authority to legally pursue this action under vandalism but they realize that things happen out there and they take a case by case approach to enforcement. In the case of the 44066 it would be good for whoever may have had knowledge of this incident, if actually so, and report to NDBC. It is always god to know why buoys loose their moorings.

So, the upshot is that once again there has been a spirit of cooperation among mariners and companies. It is strange that although there has been excellent inter-agency and extra commercial cooperation internationally, this buoy’s luck has not been great. Let’s hope that

the 3^rd deployment will be the charm and this buoy will continue to provide important ocean conditions to all recreational and commercial vessels transiting the NY Bight.

Thanks to BCl and its dedication to cooperation to marine research and safety. Thanks to NDBC for their ongoing attention to our needs. Thanks to Maracoos for their support  for ocean observing.

Please go to Facebook and “Like” my comment. BCL deserves credit for their time and effort in helping, us, the recreational angler, and all mariners,  in making our offshore trips safer.