After 2 decades the Greenpeace ship ESPERANZA has arrived at the port of Gijon, in Spain on Saturday 12th February, 2002 for recycling procedures by DDR Vessels XXI, one of the 2 companies specialised in ship recycling authorised by the EU.
She was built in Poland by Stocznia Polnocna at Gdansk as yard number B98/04 for the Soviet Government – Ministry for Gas Industry named as VIKHR-4, the 14th vessel in her class – Ice Class (14).
In 1998 she was sold to Echo Shipping where she was renamed to ECHO FIGHTER until May 1998 and ECO FIGHTER until August 2000 where she used to enter Marsamxett Harbour for mobilising at the Medserv Base, at Manoel Island.
ECO FIGHTER leaving Marsamxett Harbour, Malta back to 16th January, 1999.
During July 2000 she was acquired by Greenpeace as a replacement for the 1960 built vessel GREENPEACE (of which she still exist as the preserved tug ELBE) and was renamed ESPERANZA via a webvote meaning Hope. In 2001 she started her conversion from a fire fighting vessel into a Special Purpose Ship of which a new helicopter deck to accommodate 1 x MBB Bo-105 helicopter and later Eurocopter EC 135 and new boat cranes were installed sporting Blue Livery.
Greenpeace added live webcams to the ESPERANZA in 2006. The webcams were positioned on the bow of the ship, the mast and the bridge, they send a new image every minute to their Defending Our Oceans website and provide an archive of action. In April 2006, she was equipped with state-of-the-art underwater monitoring equipment, including a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) which can shoot video down to a depth of 300 metres (980 ft), and a drop camera capable of reaching depths of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft)
During December 2014 she called at Palumbo Malta Superyachts for repairs which she left a month later during January, 2015 sporting her green hull like other Greenpeace Vessels.
She was broken up on Monday 21st February, 2022.
Watermarked Photos are by Capt. Lawrence Dalli otherwise stated. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Wednesday 23rd February, 2022
