MV ''Esperanza'' was a ship operated by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

. Previous to being a Greenpeace ship it was a fire-fighting vessel owned by the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

, built in 1984. It was recommissioned in 2000 and relaunched in 2002 after being named ''Esperanza'' ('hope' in Spanish) by visitors to the Greenpeace website. It had undergone a major refit by Greenpeace to make it more environmentally friendly. A new

helicopter deck A helicopter deck (or helo deck) is a helicopter pad on the deck of a ship, usually located on the stern and always clear of obstacles that would prove hazardous to a helicopter landing. In the United States Navy, it is commonly and properly refe ...

and boat cranes were also added. The ship was powered by two Sulzer V12

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. The ship had a heavy

ice class Ice class refers to a notation assigned by a classification society or a national authority to denote the additional level of strengthening as well as other arrangements that enable a ship to navigate through sea ice. Some ice classes also have ...

, giving it the ability to work in

polar region The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitu ...

s. It had a top speed of and an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of . This made it the fastest and largest of the Greenpeace fleet. Original painted in blue

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

, during December 2014 it called at Palumbo Malta Superyachts for repairs and a new livery, acquiring a green hull like other Greenpeace vessels. ''Esperanza'' has been involved in many world wide campaigns, protecting environment and wildlife. She was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 2022.

Video equipment aboard

Greenpeace added live webcams to the ''Esperanza'' in 2006. The webcams are positioned on the

bow BOW as an acronym may refer to: * Bag of waters, amniotic sac * Bartow Municipal Airport (IATA:BOW), a public use airport near Bartow, Florida, United States * Basic operating weight of an aircraft * BOW counties, made of Brown, Outagamie, and Winn ...

of the ship, the

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

and the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

, they send a new image every minute to their Defending Our Oceans website and provide an archive of action. In April 2006, the ''Esperanza'' was equipped with state-of-the-art underwater monitoring equipment, including a

remotely operated vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is a free-swimming submersible craft used to perform underwater observation, inspection and physical tasks such as valve operations, hydraulic functions and other g ...

(ROV) which can shoot video down to a depth of , and a drop camera capable of reaching depths of .

Operational career

The ''Esperanza'' participated in fishery patrols with

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

and the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

in 2006. In January 2017, the ship launched an ROV off the Atlantic Coast of Brazil to help document the largely unknown

Amazon Reef The Amazon Reef, or Amazonian Reef, is an extensive coral reef, coral and sponge reef system, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of French Guiana and northern Brazil. It is one of the largest known reef systems in the world, with sci ...

in advance of planned developments by oil companies. In 2020 the ''Esperanza'' sailed the ''Protect the Oceans'' campaign, a voyage from the Arctic to the Antarctic. This almost year-long voyage was one of Greenpeace’s biggest ever expeditions and highlighted the many threats the oceans are facing. With Greenpeace’s vision for a zero-carbon future, it was decided to retire the ''Esperanza''. Early 2022 she was decommissioned and sold for scrap to Spain. Her last voyage she sailed 7 February 2022 from her homeport Amsterdam to Bilbao. Then from Bilbao to Gijón where she arrived 12 February 2022, to be dismantled and recycled.

Gallery

File:Esperanza and MSC Algeciras.jpg,

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, 2016 File:Esperanza (IMO 8404599).jpg,

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, August 2017 File:Le MV Esperanza (1).JPG,

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, February 2018 File:Le MV Esperanza (22).JPG, Stern view File:Greenpeace Ushuaia Argentina Coral Prines.jpg, Antarctic expedition, 2019

References

External

Greenpeace's ''Esperanza'' page

live webcam aboard Greenpeace's boats, including the ''Esperanza''

Esperanza on YouTube
1984 ships Ships built in Gdańsk Ships of Greenpeace Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy anza being broken down shown towards the end of this video 2.16 {{DEFAULTSORT:Esperanza

Video equipment aboard

Operational career

See also

Gallery

References

External