ARA ''Canal Beagle'' (B-3) is a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

in service with the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

since 1978, capable of transporting

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...

, live cattle, and containers. She is the second ship in the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

in the south of

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

Design

''Canal Beagle'' (B-3) is one of three The other ships in the class are the ARA ''Bahia San Blas'' and ARA ''Cabo de Hornos''. cargo ships ordered by the

in 1975, designed and built by the Argentine Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The design is optimised for Patagonic coastal service. ''Canal Beagle'' has a steel

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

and the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

at the stern, with a single mast and a single funnel atop, behind the bridge; the cargo area is located in the middle of the ship and three “

Liebherr Liebherr () is a German-Swiss multinational corporation, multinational equipment manufacturer based in Bulle, Switzerland, with its main production facilities and origins in Germany. Liebherr consists of over 130 companies organized into 11 divi ...

” cranes serve the three holds, one each.One 5 ton crane serves hold 1, and two 20 ton cranes serve holds 2 and 3; these can be used simultaneously to provide a 40 ton lifting capacity into either hold 2 or 3. She has a bulk cargo capacity of or 6,800 tons (e.g.: coal, cereals, live cattle), a refrigerated cargo capacity of , and can carry up to 140

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

. ''Canal Beagle'' is powered by two 6-cylinder Sulzer 6 ZL 40/48

marine diesel Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Mar ...

engines of each, driving two variable-pitch propellers; with a maximum speed of .

History

With the ships then operating with “Naval Transport Service” ( ''Servicio de Transportes Navales'') approaching obsolescence, the

was authorized (via decree 3/10/1975) to order the local construction of three cargo ships for the southern coastal service. The ships, with hull optimised for Patagonic coastal service, were designed and built by the Argentine Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, at Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the late 1970s and are denominated the ''Costa Sur''-class. ''Canal Beagle'', the first ship in her class, was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 10 January 1977 and launched on 19 October 1977. She was commissioned on 29 April 1978 and assigned to the Argentine Navy's Naval Transport Service with pennant number B-3. In addition to coastal and riverine activities in Argentina, ''Canal Beagle'' also operated overseas. In 1989, ''Canal Beagle'' helped remove oil from the shipwreck of the polar transport , in an effort to reduce pollution in the Antarctic waters. In 1992 she transported to the

Gulf of Fonseca The Gulf of Fonseca (; ), a part of the Pacific Ocean, is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The waters of the gulf are shared among all three countries. History Fonseca Bay was discovered by European ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, the four ''Baradero''-class patrol boats used under

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

mandate

ONUCA ONUCA was a United Nations peacekeeping mission deployed in Central America in 1990 and 1991. ONUCA The United Nations Security Council formally created ONUCA ("United Nations Observer Group in Central America") when it approved Resolution 6 ...

. In 2005, ''Canal Beagle'' was part of the naval deployment contributing to the security of the 4th Summit of the Americas ( ''IV Cumbre de las Américas'') hold in the Argentine city of

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

. Starting in late 2007, she took part in the

Argentine Antarctic Program Argentina was one of the twelve original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty which was signed on December 1, 1959, and came in force on 21 June 1961. Argentina's scientific activities started at the beginning of the twentieth century when an Argent ...

replacing the

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

in the resupply of the Argentine bases in

Argentine Antarctica Argentine Antarctica ( or ) is an area on Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25th meridian west, 25 ...

. The ship remains active, participating in an exercise off the coast of Mar del Plata with other Argentine naval units in 2022 and in a 2025 exercise with the

Argentine Marines The Naval Infantry Command (), also known as the Naval Infantry of the Navy of the Argentine Republic () and generally referred to in English as the Argentine marines, are the amphibious warfare branch of the Argentine Navy and one of its four ...

Footnotes

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Argentine Navy official site – Transportes Clase “COSTA SUR”
(accessed 2017-01-18)

(accessed 2017-01-18) * ttp://www.histarmar.com.ar/Armada%20Argentina/FlotadeMar.htm Histarmar website – FLOTA DE MAR 2015(accessed 2017-01-18) {{DEFAULTSORT:Canal Beagle Costa Sur class cargo ships Transports of the Argentine Navy Ships built in Argentina 1977 ships