Swedish Icebreaker Oden

Friday  2002-07-26

Oden is currently going south again from Las Palmas with a speed of
roughly 14 knots. The reason for this is the severe ice conditions
in the area where "Magdalena Oldendorff" and "Irizar" currently is
sitting. Therefore the homeward journey of Oden was halted and it
refilled fuel and food stocks in Las Palmas, where also part of the
crew was changed. The captain is now Mr Anders Wikstrom.

The days ahead will tell if Oden will continue down to the Antarctic
theatre. Hope is now that the tide will improve the ice situation
down there. If Oden gets the order to head for Antarctica the esti-
mated transit time is ~19 days to the ice edge.
While awaiting further orders - Oden heads south...

Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden

Wednesday 2002-07-24 kl 09.00
 Pos: N 27°08´ W 15°40´
 Overcast with a gusty NE 18 m/s,
 air temp 20°C,
 water temp 21°C,
 barometric 1018 mbar

today I found a new posting from the Oden captain in which he states
that they are now ordered by Oldendorff to sail as quickly as possible
into Las Palmas for replenishing fuel and food stores, do the planned
crew exchange and then as soon as possible be back on the ocean again.

Possible destinations seems to be EITHER back south to assist Irizar
and Magdalena OR continue homeward/north... They do not know themselves
at the time of writing...
They, and I for that matter, are quite curious as to what the future
will be. For the sake of the people in Antarctica I hope the order will
be to continue back to Sweden because the ships are moving again
- and for the crew on the Oden I hope they get a go-ahead to venture
south because the ships are still stuck...

Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden

 Monday 2002-07-22 at 09.00
Pos: N 17°50´ W 17°37´ (190 NM N of Dakar in Senegal)
N 6 m/s,
slightly hazy,
air temp 25,5°C
water temp 27,5°C

"Good morning!

We're now en route towards Sweden after having concluded our part of the rescue operation in Antarctica. Our contribution was limited to being a backup for our Argentinean colleague, the "Almirante Irizar" who now have succeeded in moving northwards, with the "Magdalena
Oldendorff" close behind.

The importance of our role as backup was pointed out in the conversation I had with Oldendorff during the Saturday, when our mission was ended. Without the IB Oden in a position waiting close by, at the equator, they had not dared the extraction/relief venture as it was now executed. The fact we did not get a chance to show our capacity and capabilities down in Antarctica might seem a bit sad, but the all important thing was the successful ending of the operation to extract the "Magdalena Oldendorff" from the grip of the ice. What we can swagger about for the future is the definitive resource IB Oden is in
situations like this one.
We expect to be home in our own waters in early August after shifting out parts of the crew when we pass closely by Las Palmas. Under normal speed ahead, in order not to loose time in transit... It's going to late spring spent up in the frozen Arctic Basin and then a July in the steaming tropics, close to the Equator...

In general IB Oden has turned out to adapt well to both the tropics and the high seas, even though this is not a ship built for the hot latitudes. A complete air conditioning system would probably be our next wish for improvements...

It's been a jolly team aboard the ship with spirits always high, despite the uncertainties about what's going to happen while just drifting around in the ocean swell.

Best regards
Tomas Arnell
Captain

Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden

Saturday 2002-07-20

According to various Swedish media [there's still nothing on the SMA site]: IB Oden started up her main engines at 13.00 on Saturday 2002-07-20 and began her return voyage from West Africa to Sweden. According to the press it is now judged by the experts concerned that the Almirante Irizar will be capable of getting the Magdalena Oldendorff out of the
ice unaided. Let's hope they are right...
Oden will call at LasPalmas on the Canary Islands to do the switch of crew earlier scheduled for Cape Town. Probably on Wednesday in the coming week. ETA for Gothenburg Sweden is August 4th and from there it's on to Lulea in the northern part of the Baltic to wait for
winter...

Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden

Friday 2002-07-19 at 14.00
Pos: N 09°47´ W 16°00  (73 NM / 135 km off of the Guinea coast line)
Thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall,
S 7 m/s,
air temp: 24°C,
water temp: 28,5°C,
barometric: 1015 mbar,
varying swell

Still waiting outside Guinea. Shortly after lunch they fired up one main engine and are slowly heading West - away from the coastline. They were drifting closer and closer to the shore and for security reasons, and the swell patterns, they're now moving off to the west.The thunderstorms with heavy rain has been a good change in the weather since it washes away all the accumulated salt from the ship.Today they are celebrating the birthday of the 2nd engineer who's turning 26 today. Cake is anticipated at the afternoon coffee brake...

Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden

Thursday 2002-07-18 at 12.00 Pos: N 09°30´ W 016°24´ SW 3 m/s, scattered clouds, air temp. 27,5°, water temp. 28,5°, barometric: 1015 mbar

The Crew

Still drifting off Guinea. The news from Irizar about reaching the Magdalena was also relayed to Oden. Now should come further news within the next few days whether Irizar is capable of assisting her out of the ice field. A mighty task in the current ice conditions. The Oden crew is most probably seeing the end of their stay in the area - and only time will tell if it's going to be southwards or northwards they leave the area...The days are spent keeping the ship in top shape and also further adapting it to Antarctic duties. A pressing task in the temperatures they have currently - but they seem to enjoy it. And the excellent food provided by their chef makes everyone happy. Todays lunch was a very traditional and typical Swedish summer dish; Fried herring with an onion sauce and boiled potatoes.

Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden

On 20020708 at 18.30 Oldendorff ordered halted engines in anticipation of news regarding the ability of Irizar to break it's path through to Magdalena. And around there the Oden is still today...
Position Monday 2002-07-15 at 10.45 was:
Pos: N 09°16´5 W 016°12´,5
or roughly 115 NM (213 km) south west of Guinea
Southerly wind 5 m/s,
intensive rain with bad viz.
air temp: 24° C,
water temp: 28° C,
barometric pressure: 1014 mbar,
high humidity
Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden

Tuesday 2002-07-09 at 13.00
Pos: N 08°43´ W 016°02´
Heading: 143° SOG: 11 knots
Wind 3 m/s, Viz. good, air temp. 28,5°, water temp. 28,3°, bar: 1015

Monday 2002-07-08 at 10.00
 Pos: N 09°31´ W 017°07´
 Heading: 143° SOG: 11 knots
Wind ~4 m/s, slight scattered clouds, very good visibility,
air temp. 27,5°, water temp. 28,5°

Heading is now set directly towards Cape Town and currently due west
of the Guinea/Sierra Leone border.
They expect to cross the equator during Thursday morning

You can find the daily, or second to daily, updates regarding the Oden progress

at the SMA official site:


http://www.sjofartsverket.se/tabla-a/htm/a14/a141/a1411/OdensRaddningsuppdragIAntarktis.htm

Acknowledgment to: Mr. Odd Hedberg -  Triumph Club of Sweden :   http://www.triumphclub.se