Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 09:22
Forums
Oden Antarctic Expedition 08

I write a journal in school, Are you writing a diary or journal.  Can you give us a break down of what your average schedule looks like by times.  For example, work hours get up, blogging, naps, eating, etc.  We watched your video-how cold is the water? How big is the Drake Strait?  As you get closer to the south are you seeing less wildlife/birds?  If the ship broke down while breaking ice, how would it be rescued? Would they send another ice breaker?  We have been doing some research on ice breakers? Did you know that the Russians have Nuclear ice breakers?  Can you interview the Captian and second in command and tell us how they got to those jobs? What was their path?  What other types of ships have they been on?  Who owns the Oden, is it the goverment of Sweden?  Did you bring any candy?  Will you do any ice fishing?

 

LBE Tyler 

Tue, 12/09/2008 - 09:49

Jeff Peneston

Tyler, you ask the best questions! It has taken me a day to track down the answers so here goes. I will describe my daily schedule in today’s journal. Depending where you measure, the Drake Passage is a few to several hundred miles wide. At an average speed of about 12 mph we took 2 days to cross as far as the tip of the Palmer Peninsula and we will take over 4 days to go down the peninsula and reach the sea ice of the Belingshausen Sea. The surface water temp and the air temp are both between 2°C and -1°C. As we go south we see different sea birds and this morning the 2nd Officer saw a pair of Minke whales. I also just saw my first small icebergs! If the Oden broke down, the engineers on board would almost always be able to repair the problem. They have a full machine shop and a huge supply of replacement parts for almost every system. If they could not fix the problem, the nearest port would be research stations on the Palmer Peninsula and it would take at least a few days to reach them. The nearest other icebreaker that could help us is at least a week away. Once we enter the sea ice of the Amundsen Sea there are few boats that could even get in to help us. Yes, the Russians have a nuclear icebreaker that is a monster compared to the Oden, however the Antarctic Treaty does not allow nuclear powered vehicles below 60°S. I was able to interview the 1st Engineer and one of the 2nd Officers and each of them told me the life path that lead them to their current positions. The Officer started out with a year of Seaman’s School when he was 17. When he graduated as a certified Able Seaman he worked on a variety of cargo vessels and ferries in Sweden and around the world for 9 years. He then went back to Officer’s School and earned a Bachelor’s Degree and became a ship’s officer working on ocean survey ships. With 6 years experience including being a ship’s master he was offered the chance to work for the Swedish Maritime Administration, which is part of the Swedish government. He took the job of working as a 2nd Officer aboard the Oden. He likes it and has been at sea for over 20 years. The 1st Engineer came from a family of fishermen and he grew up on boats and liked to work on engines. He started off with 2 years of Engineering School and then 3 years experience working on various commercial ships. He then went back to school for 4 more years to become qualified as a 1st Engineer. If he continues to gain experience in the open ocean he can qualify to become a Master Engineer. The Oden has 2 crewmembers for every role on the ship. Whenever one is at sea, the other is at home. Part of the advantage of these jobs is that you spend half of your year at home on paid vacation and the other half of the year at sea. Yes, I did bring some favorite dark chocolate and no, I will not be doing any ice fishing. However, the core holes we will cut in the sea ice look just like ice fishing holes. So, how did I do with my answers? Jeff

Mon, 12/15/2008 - 18:06

Guest

Mr. Peneston.thanks you for all your answers! You did a great job. You are really going out of your way to get me great detailed answers! I was so curious about the crew on the Oden and I am glad you are in good hands.
Thanks-I will be sending more questions soon!