RFA Sea Crusader was a fast sealift ship chartered to Britain's Royal Fleet Auxiliary between 1996 and 2003 and subsequently in commercial service with Cobelfret on North Sea routes as MV Celestine. She was described by the RFA as a "Strategic Lift Ro-Ro".
In the mid-1990s the British Ministry of Defence identified a need for sealift ships to support the new Joint Rapid Deployment Force (JRDF, subsequently the Joint Rapid Reaction Force). This requirement would ultimately be met by the construction of six Point-class sealift ships in 2002–3, but the charter of two commercial ships was approved as an interim measure.[1]
DescriptionEdit
Sea Crusader/Celestine is the lead ship of a class of six vehicle carriers of 23,986 GRT. She is 162.5 metres (533 ft) long and powered by two MAN B&W 7L40/54 diesels of 6,690 shp each. She can carry 654 cars and 157 trailers
HistoryEdit
Kawasaki Heavy Industries built MV Celestine at Sakaide shipyard, Japan in 1996. In October of that year the RFA took the newly built ship on a two-year charter from Oceanarrow (UK) Ltd as RFA Sea Crusader.[1] She would be joined by RFA Sea Centurion in October 1998.[1] The original intention was that Sea Crusader would be replaced by the charter of a new-build sister ship to Sea Centurion, but construction problems with the Sea Chieftain led to the charter of the Sea Crusader being extended[1] until 1 March 2003.[2]
As of 2014[update] she is serving the Purfleet and Immingham routes to Zeebrugge for Cobelfret Ferries under a Belgian flag, homeported in Antwerp.
^ abcd"Memorandum submitted by the Ministry of Defence on the Major Procurement Projects Survey - Sea Lift Assets: Roll-on Roll-off Ships". UK Parliament. 10 May 1999. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
^"Hansard - Written Answers". UK Parliament. 29 January 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
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crusader, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, crusader, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, october. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources RFA Sea Crusader A96 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message RFA Sea Crusader was a fast sealift ship chartered to Britain s Royal Fleet Auxiliary between 1996 and 2003 and subsequently in commercial service with Cobelfret on North Sea routes as MV Celestine She was described by the RFA as a Strategic Lift Ro Ro HistoryUnited KingdomNameRFA Sea CrusaderOrdered17 March 1995BuilderKawasaki Heavy Industries Sakaide JapanYard number1465Laid down18 March 1996Launched7 June 1996 as CelestineCommissioned10 October 1996 and renamed Sea CrusaderDecommissioned7 August 2003IdentificationIMO number 9125372 MMSI number 249444000 as Celestine Callsign 9HA4248 as Celestine FateReturned to owners in 2003 and name reverted to CelestineGeneral characteristicsTypeSealiftTonnage23 986 GTLength162 49 m 533 ft 1 in Beam25 2 m 82 ft 8 in Draught6 52 m 21 ft 5 in Propulsion2 7 cyl Kawasaki MAN B amp W 7L40 54 diesels of 6 690 shp eachSpeed18 knots 33 km h Complement17 Contents 1 Background 2 Description 3 History 4 See also 5 ReferencesBackground EditIn the mid 1990s the British Ministry of Defence identified a need for sealift ships to support the new Joint Rapid Deployment Force JRDF subsequently the Joint Rapid Reaction Force This requirement would ultimately be met by the construction of six Point class sealift ships in 2002 3 but the charter of two commercial ships was approved as an interim measure 1 Description EditSea Crusader Celestine is the lead ship of a class of six vehicle carriers of 23 986 GRT She is 162 5 metres 533 ft long and powered by two MAN B amp W 7L40 54 diesels of 6 690 shp each She can carry 654 cars and 157 trailersHistory EditKawasaki Heavy Industries built MV Celestine at Sakaide shipyard Japan in 1996 In October of that year the RFA took the newly built ship on a two year charter from Oceanarrow UK Ltd as RFA Sea Crusader 1 She would be joined by RFA Sea Centurion in October 1998 1 The original intention was that Sea Crusader would be replaced by the charter of a new build sister ship to Sea Centurion but construction problems with the Sea Chieftain led to the charter of the Sea Crusader being extended 1 until 1 March 2003 2 As of 2014 update she is serving the Purfleet and Immingham routes to Zeebrugge for Cobelfret Ferries under a Belgian flag homeported in Antwerp See also EditRFA Sea Centurion A98 Point class sealift shipReferences Edit a b c d Memorandum submitted by the Ministry of Defence on the Major Procurement Projects Survey Sea Lift Assets Roll on Roll off Ships UK Parliament 10 May 1999 Retrieved 12 August 2014 Hansard Written Answers UK Parliament 29 January 2001 Retrieved 12 August 2014 nbsp This article about a specific naval auxiliary ship or boat of the United Kingdom is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title RFA Sea Crusader A96 amp oldid 1071606718, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
