History
United States
NameAmy Chouest
OwnerEdison Chouest Offshore
Buildernot known
Completed1993
IdentificationIMO number: 7805239
FateScrapped in 2016[1]
General characteristics
TypeOffshore support vessel
Length265 feet (81 m)
Complement16 crew, 33 researchers
Crew16
Armamentnone

The Amy Chouest was an offshore supply vessel. She was chartered, for a time, by the United States Government, which used her as a research vessel.[2][3] She was struck by an explosion, in 1992, that killed two researchers.[4][5][6]

The Amy Chouest was chartered to supplement the Cory Chouest, a similar vessel on a long-term charter to conduct research that used very loud underwater noises.[7][8][2][9] Sounds in the range 10,000,000 joules were used. The Amy Chouest was chartered to research the impact of the massive noise on marine life.

The two deaths occurred on March 11, 1992.[4][5][6] The two men, Mike Sinclair, and Lee Roy Burks, worked for Marine Specialty, a firm hired to carry out some of the research. A depth charge accidentally exploded on deck, killing the men, but without causing significant damage to the ship.

Ian Anderson, writing in New Scientist, reported that environmental activists were concerned the loud noises would deafen marine animals.[8]

United Press International speculated that the deaths occurred during an experiment that included the covert involvement of Trident submarines, based on initial Navy reports that said that submarines hadn't surfaced, or fired any weapons, at the time of the explosion.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Ocean Explorer". ShipSpotting. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 "The Heard Island Feasibility Test". University of Washington. 2007.
  3. ↑ Mark J. Vaccaro (1992-11-04). "Low Frequency Volume Scatter and Accompanying Bioacoustic Measurements in the Gulf of Alaska" (PDF). 124th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  4. 1 2 Dee Norton, Vanessa Ho (1992-03-11). "2 Killed In Explosion On Ship -- Blast Off Grays Harbor". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2018-02-09. The 265-foot research vessel Amy Chouest was conducting seismic studies, which involve the use of submerged explosives, when the explosion occurred on deck at about 10:15 a.m., said Coast Guard Chief Cliff Kaldor.
  5. 1 2 "PORT TOWNSEND Ship docked while fatal blast probed". Kitsap Sun. Port Townsend. 1992-03-13. Retrieved 2018-02-09. The 265-foot-long Amy Chouest, which arrived Thursday at the Indian Island Naval Weapons Station near here, will remain until the investigation is complete, said Cmdr. Jim Britt of Sand Point Naval Station in Seattle.
  6. 1 2 "Blast kills 2 Ocean researchers". Deseret News. 1992-03-12. Retrieved 2018-02-09. The blast occurred 20 miles west of the mouth of Grays Harbor aboard the Amy Chouest, on a 250-foot research ship operated by the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., said Lt. Cmdr. Scott Wilson of the Trident submarine base at Bangor, Wash.Wilson said the ship was not seriously damaged and was in no danger of sinking following the 10 a.m. explosion.
  7. ↑ Markus Jochum, Raghu Murtugudde (2006). "Physical Oceanography: Developments Since 1950". Springer Science & Business Media. p. 130. ISBN 9780387331522. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  8. 1 2 Ian Anderson (1991-01-19). "Global hum threatens to 'deafen' whales". New Scientist. Melbourne. Retrieved 2018-02-09. Oceanographers from Australia and the US have clashed with environmental groups over plans to generate a loud hum in the southern Indian Ocean starting next Saturday. Environmentalists say that the sound – the start of an elaborate experiment to measure global warming – will endanger whales and other marine mammals in the southern waters.
  9. ↑ Denis Makarov (2010). Ray and Wave Chaos in Ocean Acoustics: Chaos in Waveguides. World Scientific. p. 48. ISBN 9789814273183. Retrieved 2018-02-09. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ "Depth charge kills two aboard research ship". United Press International. Hoquiam, Washington. 1992-03-11. Retrieved 2018-02-09. Wilson said the explosives were Mark 61 depth charges, each packing 1.8 pounds of TNT. He said the charges are exploded under water at various depths and are detected with acoustic sound reading devices. He would not further specify the purpose of the mission.
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