We’re still drilling at Landsort and are now working on hole E, which is the fifth and last hole at this location. The coring is going well and there are lots of samples to deal with. To our surprise, we’ve been having some unexpected onlookers during our work: first a number of small birds emerged…
…and more recently a beautiful owl….
The nightshift team that I’m part of had the chance to visit the engine room and other facilities below the working deck that provide us with power, water and thrust. It was like entering another world – room after room of shiny, bright colored and grey machinery, all in perfect condition. Incredibly impressive!
The ship generates it’s own electricity with separate systems for the starboard and portside of the ship. If you look carefully, you can see that we are wearing earplugs because of the noise.
From below the deck, you can also see the sides of the so-called “moonpool”. That is the big square hole in the middle of the ship where seawater sloshes around and that allows equipment and the drill pipe to be lowered down to the seafloor.
This is what the moonpool looks like from above when the “template” (the big frame that sits on the seabed during drilling) is brought up from the seafloor. A hole in the deck is one of the wonders of a drillship!