Bourbon-Topaz

The Maritime Authority of Suriname has issued the following Notice to Mariners: "The drillship Maersk Developer will conduct exploration drilling of the Coast of Suriname from September 19th till December 3rd, 2020 at the drilling location 07° 21’.270 N – 055° 33’.247 W (WGS 84). For safety reasons vessels should keep a safe distance of 1000 (one thousand) meters from the drillship. The Offshore Support Vessels (OSV) that will assist during the operations are MV Bourbon Topaz, MV Gerard Tide, MV Felton Tide and MV National Energy Explorer. Please note: • Communication is through the VHF channels 16 and 77. • There is a SAFETY ZONE of 1000 (one thousand) meters from the drilling site. • Maersk Developer is not maneuverable and will display the relevant characters. All ships should take notice of the above mentioned."

The Blue Water Shipping agency received the "Bourbon Topaz" at northern pier of the fifth basin in Brest on March 1 at 8.50 p.m. The supply ship had arrived from Holyhead, after a problem on his autopilot system forced the ship to divert to Brest fpr reüaors. Spare parts needed for this purpose were expected in the course of March 2 from Norway. The ship left the port of Brest on March 5 at noon after the repairs to its electronics could be carried out with the needed spare parts. It resumed its voyage from Peterhead to Varna, ETA March 16, 9 p.m. French report with photo: https://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/brest/port-de-commerce/bourbon-topaz-pilote-automatique-defaillant-03-03-2019-12221308.php

The "Bourbon Topaz" suffered a thruster fault enroute from Peterhead to Vaina with a crew of 12 on board in position 52 24 31 N, 001 47 30 E, on Feb 26, 2019, at 5.10 p.m. The vessel dropped anchor off Lowestoft. After the damage was temporarily fixed, the vessel proceeded to Brest to acquire the part to complete the repairs, ETA March 1, 3 p.m.