MV Tampa

MV Tampa was a roll-on/roll-off container ship completed in 1984 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in South Korea for the Norway-based firm, Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning.

History
Name:
  • Tampa
  • Barber Tampa
Owner: Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning
Port of registry:  Norway
Builder:
Yard number: 248
Launched: 10 October 1983
Completed: 1984
Identification:
Fate: Scrapped 2 August 2013
Notes: [1]
General characteristics
Type: Container ship
Tonnage:
Length: 262.3 m (860 ft 7 in)
Beam: 32.26 m (105 ft 10 in)
Draught: 9.78 m (32 ft 1 in)
Decks: 12
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Crew: 25
Notes: [2]

Service history

Tampa affair
Main article: Tampa affair

In August 2001, under Captain Arne Rinnan, a diplomatic dispute brewed between Australia, Norway, and Indonesia after Tampa rescued 438 Afghans from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters. The Afghans wanted passage to nearby Christmas Island. The Australian government sought to prevent this by refusing Tampa entry into Australian waters, insisting on their disembarkment elsewhere, and deploying the Special Air Service Regiment to board the ship. At the time of the incident, Tampa carried cargo worth A$20 million , and 27 crew.

The crew of Tampa received the Nansen Refugee Award for 2002 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for their efforts to follow international principles of saving people in distress at sea.

Cocaine smuggling bust

In October 2006, MV Tampa was one of two Wilhelmsen ships involved in a cocaine-smuggling operation intercepted by the New Zealand Customs Service and the Australian Federal Police. Twenty-seven kilograms (60 lb) of cocaine was allegedly attached to the side of the two cargo ships bound for Australia in purpose-built metal pods, although New Zealand authorities stated they did not believe the ship's crew or owners were involved.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Tampa (166504)". Shippingdatabase.com. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  2. "MV Tampa". Wilh. Wilhelmsen. 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  3. Crewdson, Patrick (27 October 2006). "Tampa one of two ships named in cocaine bust". The Age.

Bibliography
  • David Marr, Maria Wilkinson: Dark Victory - How a government lied its way to political triumph. Allen 6 Unwin 2004, ISBN 978-1-74114-447-5.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.