JonDLundyn 16 #3
April 15th 2007 07:54
Four of the divers were under the hull cutting. The whole of the dive team were under the flare of the hull so unless the crew had reflecting mirrors they could not see them. The fly boys were keeping the crew busy looking at the sky while the holes in the hull were being prepared. Two of the divers were in the tunnel of the huge bow thruster. From here they were opening into the between hull spaces. At the stern of the boat another two men were cutting in either side of the bottom, just forward of the four huge drives. These were mounted on swivels and could rotate through three hundred and sixty degrees. There was no prop shaft and propellers on this ship. This new technology meant that each pod could operate independently and in any direction chosen by the skipper. Just forward of this the bottom of the hull curved out and down to the actual bottom of the ship. It was this section that the two divers were cutting in to.
The whole ship was built double hulled, a demand by the International maritime Organisation to avoid accidental breaching of the hull allowing the oil to disperse. Once inside this section of the hull the men again had to cut into the bottom of the second skin to make an opening into the huge ballast tanks that ran down each side of the ship. These tanks were full of sea water and it was in these tanks that the explosives would be. Each ballast tank as well as the double hull was braced with metal sheets running transverse to the hull. Each sheet had Lightening holes cut through them to lighten the sheet and being round or elliptical also added to the strength of each piece. Each hole was two metres round so it was an easy thing to swim through. The men’s tanks were covered in rubber, as was most of their kit to avoid noise of metal striking on metal and making noise which would be easily heard through the medium of salt water.
As each ballast tank was breached a diver would swim in, leaving a spare air tank to allow longer work under water. It took almost thirty minutes to breach the hull and the first of the ballast tanks. After this the work went faster and faster and the divers quickly disappeared into the dark tanks to look for the explosives. It turned out that each ballast tank, and there were twelve down each side of the ship, held four explosive charges. Two were up against the outer hull and two up against the inner hull. The idea being to simultaneously open the four holes to allow the oil to escape. Each explosive was hung against the side on stranded rigging wire with fuses running down each wire to the explosives. It was a simple matter to demobilise each bomb but it had to be done so that the timer or timer setting devise on the deck would not register that anything was wrong with the charge. The charges were not held against the hull with anything more than gravity as it would have meant the terrorists actually diving into the hull to do work similar to that of the clearance divers. It was not an option for them.
At this stage the divers inside of the hull had no idea if the charges were live or going to be set at any minute. The danger was certainly there with the RAAF setting about the sky like angry hornets but it was hoped that the terrorists would keep their heads and look at using their missiles to scare off the planes. So far it was working. The navy divers had allowed up to four hours to do the full clearance. Well within that time they had all but the four very front ballast tanks de-armed. There was also a worry that the collision bulkhead, the strongest part of the ship could also be armed. This would take longer and would mean that cutting equipment would be required. In fact two of the cutters were already preparing to breach this bulkhead with forty five minutes of the four hours to go.
The whole ship was built double hulled, a demand by the International maritime Organisation to avoid accidental breaching of the hull allowing the oil to disperse. Once inside this section of the hull the men again had to cut into the bottom of the second skin to make an opening into the huge ballast tanks that ran down each side of the ship. These tanks were full of sea water and it was in these tanks that the explosives would be. Each ballast tank as well as the double hull was braced with metal sheets running transverse to the hull. Each sheet had Lightening holes cut through them to lighten the sheet and being round or elliptical also added to the strength of each piece. Each hole was two metres round so it was an easy thing to swim through. The men’s tanks were covered in rubber, as was most of their kit to avoid noise of metal striking on metal and making noise which would be easily heard through the medium of salt water.
As each ballast tank was breached a diver would swim in, leaving a spare air tank to allow longer work under water. It took almost thirty minutes to breach the hull and the first of the ballast tanks. After this the work went faster and faster and the divers quickly disappeared into the dark tanks to look for the explosives. It turned out that each ballast tank, and there were twelve down each side of the ship, held four explosive charges. Two were up against the outer hull and two up against the inner hull. The idea being to simultaneously open the four holes to allow the oil to escape. Each explosive was hung against the side on stranded rigging wire with fuses running down each wire to the explosives. It was a simple matter to demobilise each bomb but it had to be done so that the timer or timer setting devise on the deck would not register that anything was wrong with the charge. The charges were not held against the hull with anything more than gravity as it would have meant the terrorists actually diving into the hull to do work similar to that of the clearance divers. It was not an option for them.
At this stage the divers inside of the hull had no idea if the charges were live or going to be set at any minute. The danger was certainly there with the RAAF setting about the sky like angry hornets but it was hoped that the terrorists would keep their heads and look at using their missiles to scare off the planes. So far it was working. The navy divers had allowed up to four hours to do the full clearance. Well within that time they had all but the four very front ballast tanks de-armed. There was also a worry that the collision bulkhead, the strongest part of the ship could also be armed. This would take longer and would mean that cutting equipment would be required. In fact two of the cutters were already preparing to breach this bulkhead with forty five minutes of the four hours to go.
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