Jacklyn (ship) explained

Jacklyn, formerly known as LPV, Stena Freighter, Stena Seafreighter, RFA Sea Chieftain, and originally Stena Hispanica, was a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship which was purchased by Blue Origin in 2018 for use as a landing platform ship. Ultimately, Blue Origin abandoned their plans to use the ship as a landing platform, and in August 2022, the ship was towed to the Port of Brownsville for scrapping.

History

Stena Freighter was built by Società Esercizio Cantieri of Viareggio, Italy, and completed in 2004 by Elektromehanika d.o.o. at Kraljevica Shipyard, Croatia, for Swedish operator Stena Line.[1] [2]

The ship was initially laid down in February 1997 as Stena Hispanica for Stena Line, but on 5 May 1998 was renamed after the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracted with Stena for a long-term charter of the vessel for freight-carrying capacity to support the Joint Rapid Reaction Force. The ship was launched just four days later on 9 May 1998.

Società Esercizio Cantieri had fallen into financial difficulties, and the contract for the ship was cancelled in 1998 due to delays in construction. At the time, work on the hull was complete and the ship 50% finished. The shipyard went bankrupt in 1999, and all work on the ship ceased.[1]

In 2002, "the incomplete vessel was purchased from a bankruptcy estate at auction by Stena Line" and renamed Stena Seafreighter. After months of additional financial and performance difficulties by several shipyards in Slovenia and Croatia in 2003, she was towed to Arsenale Shipyard in Venice, and then steamed under her own power to Kraljevica in Croatia for final completion. As a result of the delays, the ship never sailed as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary for the British Ministry of Defence.[1] The ship was renamed Stena Freighter and delivered to Stena Line in March 2004.[1]

Stena Freighter operated on a number of ferry routes including Gothenburg–Travemünde, Gothenburg–Kiel, and the Harwich–Rotterdam (Europoort) service.[1]

Stena confirmed the sale of the vessel on 30 August 2018,[3] and in October 2018, Blue Origin, a U.S. launch service provider and space technology company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,[4] confirmed it was the purchaser.[3] [5] [6] The vessel sailed to Florida and arrived at Pensacola in October 2018 to commence a refit.[7] [8] In March 2017, Blue Origin had unveiled the concept of landing a rocket on a hydrodynamically-stabilized ship that was underway,[9] but did not reveal which marine vessel would be used as the landing platform until October 2018.[10]

Blue Origin called the ship LPV, short for Landing Platform Vessel.[11] [12] In December 2020, it was renamed Jacklyn, after Jeff Bezos' mother Jacklyn Bezos.[13]

In April 2022, news surfaced that Blue Origin was no longer certain of plans to use Jacklyn for landing the first stage boosters of New Glenn.[14] Later, Blue Origin abandoned the project to build a landing platform vessel. Jacklyn arrived in tow at Brownsville, Texas, on 19 August 2022 to be scrapped.[15] [16]

Landing platform plans

If the ship had been used for rocket landings,[14] [17] the rocket boosters were planned to be recovered downrange of the Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) in the Atlantic Ocean while the hydrodynamically-stabilized ship was underway. The ship stabilization technology was intended to increase the likelihood of successful rocket recovery in rough seas, as well as helping to carry out launches on schedule.[18] [9]

The first stage boosters of New Glenn are intended to be reusable, and Jacklyn was to recover the boosters downrange in the Atlantic Ocean east of the launch site. The ship would not have been crewed at the time the New Glenn booster was going to be landing; but rather would be autonomously or telerobotically controlled.[19]

In October 2018, Blue Origin said that their plans were to make the first orbital launch of New Glenn in 2021,[17] but in February 2021, stated that the maiden flight was now targeted for late 2022, but the ship would no longer be used after Blue Origin abandoned the project to refit it as a landing platform ship.[15]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historical RFA: RFA Sea Chieftain. HistoricalRFA.org. Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society. 25 November 2018. 25 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181125115640/http://www.historicalrfa.org/rfa-sea-chieftain-ships-details. live.
  2. Web site: Stena Freighter (IMO 9138795) - Ro-Ro Cargo Ship. Vessel Tracking. 24 November 2018. 25 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181125074035/http://www.vesseltracking.net/ship/stena-freighter-9138795. live.
  3. News: Stena confirm the sale of Stena Carrier and Stena Freighter by Stena RoRo to unknown buyers. NI Ferry Site. 30 August 2018. 17 December 2018. 18 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181218193328/https://www.niferry.co.uk/stena-confirm-the-sale-of-stena-carrier-and-stena-freighter-to-unknown-buyers/. live.
  4. Web site: Top Executive Profiles – Jeffrey P. Bezos. Portfolio.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20090204204126/http://www.portfolio.com/resources/executive-profiles/Jeffrey-P-Bezos-1984. 4 February 2009.
  5. News: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Has Bought Landing Ship For New Glenn Rocket. International Business Times. Himanshu. Goenka. 26 May 2018. 25 November 2018. 25 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181125030837/https://www.ibtimes.com/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-has-bought-landing-ship-new-glenn-rocket-2684724. live.
  6. News: Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years. GeekWire. Alan. Boyle. 8 March 2016. 11 March 2016. 10 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160310101109/http://www.geekwire.com/2016/jeff-bezos-lifts-curtain-blue-origin-rocket-factory-vision-space/. live.
  7. News: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin ship to be used for rocket landings docked at Port of Pensacola. Pensacola News Journal. Jim. Little. 24 October 2018 . 25 November 2018. 9 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190509072301/https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2018/10/24/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-rocket-landing-ship-docked-pensacola-port/1739488002/. live.
  8. News: Cargo ship for Blue Origin's New Glenn launches arrives to Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Richard. Tribou. 24 October 2018. 25 November 2018. 24 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181024204211/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/space/go-for-launch/os-ae-blue-origin-new-glenn-cargo-ship-20181024-story.html. live.
  9. News: Blue Origin reveals the "New Glenn" takeoff and landing sequence in new video . TechCrunch. Matt. Burns. 7 March 2017. 26 November 2018. 25 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181125073932/https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/07/blue-origin-reveals-the-new-glenn-takeoff-and-landing-sequence-in-new-video/. live.
  10. Web site: Used Ro/Ro Will Become Blue Origin's Rocket Landing Pad. The Maritime Executive. October 23, 2018. 7 July 2019. 7 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190707044928/https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/used-ro-ro-will-become-blue-origin-s-rocket-landing-pad. live.
  11. Web site: May 13, 2019 . Port of Pensacola Charts Course for the Future . 2023-01-26 . Florida Ports Council.
  12. Web site: Vessel LPV (RoRo ship) IMO 9138795, MMSI 538008209 . 2023-01-26 . vesseltracker.com.
  13. News: Ahoy, Jacklyn! Jeff Bezos names Blue Origin's rocket recovery ship after his mom. GeekWire. 29 December 2020. 30 December 2020. 15 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220815180600/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ahoy-jacklyn-jeff-bezos-names-blue-origin-s-rocket-recovery-ship-after-his-mom/ar-BB1ckSeI. live.
  14. News: Blue Origin re-evaluating if Pensacola ship Jacklyn will be used for rocket landings . Pensacola News Journal . Little . Jim . 20 April 2022 . 22 April 2022 . 21 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220421212617/https://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/pensacola/2022/04/20/jeff-bezos-rocket-company-blue-origin-reevaluating-pensacola-ship/7365852001/ . live .
  15. News: Foust . Jeff . Blue Origin scraps original recovery ship for New Glenn boosters . 8 January 2024 . Space News . 16 August 2022 . Denver, Colorado . live . https://archive.today/20240108171816/https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-scraps-original-recovery-ship-for-new-glenn-boosters/ . 8 January 2024.
  16. Web site: Vessel Arrival Chart . Port of Brownsville, Texas . 8 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240108171032/https://www.portofbrownsville.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Vessel-Arrival-Chart-08-19-2022.pdf . 8 January 2024 . 19 August 2022 . live.
  17. News: Blue Origin resets schedule: First crew to space in 2019, first orbital launch in 2021. GeekWire. Alan. Boyle. 10 October 2018. 25 November 2018. 22 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181022035100/https://www.geekwire.com/2018/blue-origin-resets-schedule-first-crew-space-2019-first-orbital-launch-2021/. live.
  18. News: Building on New Shepard, Blue Origin to pump a billion dollars into New Glenn readiness. NASASpaceFlight.com. Burghardt. Thomas. 20 September 2018. 24 November 2018. 31 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190331110939/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/09/new-shepard-blue-origin-billion-new-glenn/. live.
  19. Spring Meetings 2017 - GNF "A step by step approach to low-cost access to space". Mowry. Clayton. International Astronautical Federation. YouTube. 42:45. 17 September 2018. 18 September 2018. 24 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210124053003/https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2561&v=t1pU9hFieGE. live.

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