MV ''Avatar'' is a general

cargo vessel 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 seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

currently in service with the

Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the naval service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any sea-borne threats, and the protection of its sea lines of communications, that would com ...

as a training vessel. She is owned by Valour Offshore Marine Services and leased to the

Defence Science and Technology Agency Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Singapore. DSTA is responsible for performing acquisitions management, systems management, systems developme ...

, a statutory board under the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. ''Avatar'' is not a commissioned navy warship and flies the state marine ensign instead of the naval ensign.

Merchant career

The ship 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 4 May 1983, launched on 23 August as ''Astrakhan'' and delivered the same year on 30 December by the Warnowwerft shipyard in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

, East Germany. She was the first of Warnowwerft's Type 18 series of lift-on-lift-off/roll-on-roll-off (LORO) vessels. The development of the class was intended to allow a wider range of cargo to be carried that a conventional

RORO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ship would not accommodate, in addition to supporting military supply operations. ''Astrakhan'' was operated by the Soviet, then Russian,

Baltic Shipping Company The Baltic Sea Shipping Company or B.S.S.C (russian: ОАО Балтийское морское пароходство, БМП) is a Russian sea transport engaged in the business of oil products storage via rail wagons within Russian link-able term ...

until 1995 when she was sold to the Cyprus-based Astrapride Shipping Company Ltd., re-registered under the Cyprus flag, and renamed ''Admetos''. In 1997, she was again sold to Willows Maritime Ltd., re-registered in Malta, and firstly renamed ''Quetzal'' and then ''Norbulk Ramin''. Valour Offshore Marine Services Pte. Ltd. of Singapore subsequently acquired ''Norbulk Ramin'' in September 2000 and renamed her ''Avatar'', registering her in Singapore. She has been leased to the

(RSN) as a training platform since 2001.

Navy service

Boarding operations

The RSN presently uses ''Avatar'' as a training platform to simulate vessel hijackings and boarding operations, also known as

visit, board, search, and seizure Visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) is the term used by United States military and law enforcement agencies for maritime boarding actions and tactics. VBSS teams are designed to capture enemy vessels, combat terrorism, piracy, and smuggli ...

(VBSS). In August 2005, ''Avatar'' was part of the multilateral ''Exercise Deep Sabre'' as a hijacked vessel, being boarded by Naval Diving Unit commandos. The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive (CBRE) Defence Group,

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

and

Australian Customs Service The Australian Customs Service was an Australian Government agency responsible for Australian border protection, duties and taxes between 1985 and 2009. The Service was first under the portfolio of the Department of Industry, Technology and Comme ...

were also involved in the operation. In May 2016, ''Avatar'' was involved in the inaugural multinational Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus Maritime Security and Counter-Terrorism exercise (ADMM-Plus). During the 11-day ADMM-Plus exercise, she again served as a hijacked vessel, with a

SAF SAF, S.A.F or saf might refer to: Companies * SAF Tehnika, a producer of digital microwave data transmission equipment * Strip Art Features, a comic book publishing house * Svenska Automobilfabriken, a Swedish auto manufacturer Computing * Ser ...

Special Forces team rappelling onto her deck from a helicopter, while other nations' special forces teams boarded her via her shipside with

rigid inflatable boats A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull (ship), hull bottom joined to side-forming air tub ...

. In July 2021, ''Avatar'' participated in ''Exercise Pacific Griffin'' with the United States Navy near the US territory of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

, as part of a counter-terrorism exercise.

Helicopter operations

''Avatar'' has also been refitted to support two helicopter landing decks rated for the RSAF

Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactur ...

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

helicopters. The refit program expanded her flight deck and removed her cranes to enhance helicopter operations.

Typhoon Nepartak

In July 2016, ''Avatar'' was berthed in the

Port of Kaohsiung The Port of Kaohsiung (POK; ) is the largest harbor in Taiwan, handling approximately 10.26 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) worth of cargo in 2015. The port is located in southern Taiwan, adjacent to Kaohsiung City, and surrounded by ...

when

Typhoon Nepartak Typhoon Nepartak, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Butchoy, was the third most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2016. Nepartak severely impacted Taiwan and East China, with 86 confirmed fatalities. It caused 3 deaths and NT$678 m ...

impacted Taiwan with wind speeds reaching as high as . Six of seven mooring lines snapped, resulting in the ship drifting but still tied to the pier

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive ...

by a single rope. ''Avatar'' narrowly missed colliding with a Republic of China Navy ''Cheng Kung''-class frigate before being pushed back alongside, with the assistance of two tugboats.

References

External links

Republic of Singapore Navy website on MV ''Avatar''

Specifications of MV ''Avatar'' published by Valour Offshore Marine Services Pte Ltd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avatar Ships of the Republic of Singapore Navy 1983 ships