Tenerife welcomed a guest of the British Royal Navy yesterday (Monday), as the ocean survey vessel HMS Scott docked in the port of Santa Cruz. HMS Scott is the third Royal Navy ship to carry the name, and is the only vessel of her class with the ability to remain at sea for up to 300 days a year, thanks to her novel crew rotation system.
HMS Scott carries out hydrographic work and is very useful for mapping the seabed. It will remain in the south dock of the port of Santa Cruz until July 16th, after last docking in New York in May.
The Councillor for Tourism of the Tenerife Cabildo, Lope Afonso, received the ship’s Captain, TA Harrison, alongside naval commander and Defence Attaché of the British Embassy in Spain, Captain Stephen McGlory, and the British consul for the Canary Islands, Bernadette Gallagher.
HMS Scott is a unique ship in its category with a displacement of 14,900 tons and a hull of 131.10 metres in length, 21.50 metres in width, and 8.30 metres in draft.
It is powered by two Krupp Mak 9M32 engines coupled to a reduction gear, which drive a Lips system propeller and allow it to maintain a speed of 18 knots. It incorporates electronic equipment specific to its mission and has accommodation for 78 crew members.
On June 20th, 1997, HMS Scott was enlisted in the Royal Navy's auxiliary fleet, and since then, it has been a high-performance ship, with just over 300 sailing days per year in different scenarios of interest.
Modernized between August 2008 and June 2009, and between 2013 and 2014 in Portsmouth, its presence in the Antarctic has been a constant, and although it was expected to be retired in 2022, its operational life has been extended until the end of this year, therefore that this is likely to be its last call in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
