Horizon Spirit

HorizonSpirit
The C-9 class ship Horizon Spirit is a 268 m (880') steam powered container ship that makes the Los Angeles to Hawaii run as part of the Horizon fleet. It is an American made older ship, built in the late 1980's.
HorizonSpirit_Bow1
This image of the Spirit intrigued me because of the spacious seeming areas on the superstructure which was well located on the bow.
a_modern_ship
Newer container ships, called "steamships" for historical reasons, locate the superstructure well aft and use every available square meter with cargo.

forward_superstructure
Spirit is distinguished by the ample superstructure on the bow. The mast is ample for exposed sensors.
forward_superstructure2
A blowup of the superstructure. The life rails around the bridge deck are very sturdy.
midships_option
Twenty foot container spaces are few. In fact the only space on a pedestal is mid ships right behind the stacks. Not a very good location.

midships_option2
The midship location is not good for other reasons. Any container would be buried behind a wall of forty footers stacked five or six high.
spirit_stern_plan
The captain, Walt Rankin, was a real pleasure. He took me on a tour from the stern to the bow. In the stern area there are excellent places to launch balloons. In fact, Scripps has a CTD launching setup and they often send a technician on legs to operate the CTD equipment. There is room for collaboration there. Also there are pedestals for forty foot containers.
stern_option_blueprint
A blueprint of the stern area from 1978 blueprints from the captains files. Scale is 1/4" = 1'. CTD and potential balloon launch area is on the upper left.

stern_pedestals
Stern area with pedestals. There are pedestals on the port and starboard sides. There is always the potential that containers will be stacked here which could occlude anything on the pedestals. This area is reserved for hazardous materials so is often sparsely occupied.
stern_pedestals2
A forty foot "flatrack" could be used on the pedestals to support twenty foot vans. It is doubtful if two of the AMF seatainers could be located on one flatrack. For ballooning there are many places for gas bottles and an inflation structure.
forward_option
Forward pedestals, port and starboard, could be used if needed. Again, flatracks would be needed for the AMF setainers.

forward_option2
These forward pedestals are adjacent to the huge hatch covers. Any hatch removal would endanger our seatainers on the pedestals. Also, our equipment would usually be occluded by the adjacent container stack.
HorizonSpirit_Bow2
The superstructure areas are absolutely ideal. The bridge deck can easily support three twenty foot seatainers. For the photos to come I have identified three van areas. The bridge roof deck can support the AMF modules with no problems.
bridgedeck_blueprint
A photo of the blueprint. Scale is 1/4"=1'. The captain has never seen a digital plan to this detail.

van_area
Port side van area. Area 1 is in the foreground and area 2 is in the background.
van_area_port
The captain is standing in the area 1. We have about 22' x 10' here. Room needs to be given to the access to the life boats. The little 'toadstool' by the ladder can be removed for more space.
van2_area
Van 2 area would easily support a seatainer. I guess this would be the radar van.

van1_area2
Area 1, view forward. The bridge is on the right side in this photo.
van2_area1
Van area 2 (radar van) area from the bridge roof. The van will sit athwart ships. The toadstool on the right with yellow lid can be removed.
van2_area
Van area 2.

van_area_stbd
The starboard side, area 3, is not as open but there is an area that would support one seatainer.
bridge_deck_extraspace
Other areas for AMF modules. There is ample area for modules. A crew stateroom is just under area 1 and cable ways down to that room area easily accomodated.
bridge_from_the_bow
A view of the superstructure from the bow.

mast
The mast. From the bottom up the mast platforms hold the fog horn (massive), the main radar, and the secondary radar. There is a small platform on the secondary radar level and there is room at the top of the mast for meteorological sensors and radiometers.
mast_top
The mast top. Note there is an R.M. young wind monitor.
mast_platform
The platform at the secondary radar level. The railings are all quite strong.

bridge_roof_starboard
The bridge roof has considerable space and generally good exposure.
bridge_roof_port
The bridge roof, port side, showing ample railing and stanchions for securing equipment.
bridge_roof_stanchions
The bridge roof stanchions are quite strong and could hold the AMF modules.

stateroom
Scientist stateroom. This is the room used by the Scripps/NOAA CTD technician. The ship has space for 44 persons and the standing crew is 24. There are times when a few guests technicians or other workers might use some, or all, of the rooms.
stateroom2
Bathrooms are provided with each stateroom.
stateroom3
Each working stateroom has ample desk and working space as well as storage.

available_passthru
Cable ways are available. The CTD setup has cables running from the stern launch station to this room.
loading
A sequence of photos showing the container handling operation. The speed is impressive. The spreader bar is an impressive piece of gear.
loading2
I was warned about the "bump" as the crane operator handles the equipment. The bump is especially severe as the container is slammed into place.

loading3
The container is whisked away. So much so the cables are angled at several degrees and the load swings overhead.
loading4
Then plunk onto the waiting truck. Of course loading is the same in reverse.

HorizonSpirit The C-9 class ship Horizon Spirit is a 268 m (880') steam powered container ship that makes the Los Angeles to Hawaii run as part of the Horizon fleet. It is an American made older ship, built in the late 1980's.	HorizonSpirit_Bow1 This image of the Spirit intrigued me because of the spacious seeming areas on the superstructure which was well located on the bow.	a_modern_ship Newer container ships, called "steamships" for historical reasons, locate the superstructure well aft and use every available square meter with cargo.
forward_superstructure Spirit is distinguished by the ample superstructure on the bow. The mast is ample for exposed sensors.	forward_superstructure2 A blowup of the superstructure. The life rails around the bridge deck are very sturdy.	midships_option Twenty foot container spaces are few. In fact the only space on a pedestal is mid ships right behind the stacks. Not a very good location.
midships_option2 The midship location is not good for other reasons. Any container would be buried behind a wall of forty footers stacked five or six high.	spirit_stern_plan The captain, Walt Rankin, was a real pleasure. He took me on a tour from the stern to the bow. In the stern area there are excellent places to launch balloons. In fact, Scripps has a CTD launching setup and they often send a technician on legs to operate the CTD equipment. There is room for collaboration there. Also there are pedestals for forty foot containers.	stern_option_blueprint A blueprint of the stern area from 1978 blueprints from the captains files. Scale is 1/4" = 1'. CTD and potential balloon launch area is on the upper left.
stern_pedestals Stern area with pedestals. There are pedestals on the port and starboard sides. There is always the potential that containers will be stacked here which could occlude anything on the pedestals. This area is reserved for hazardous materials so is often sparsely occupied.	stern_pedestals2 A forty foot "flatrack" could be used on the pedestals to support twenty foot vans. It is doubtful if two of the AMF seatainers could be located on one flatrack. For ballooning there are many places for gas bottles and an inflation structure.	forward_option Forward pedestals, port and starboard, could be used if needed. Again, flatracks would be needed for the AMF setainers.
forward_option2 These forward pedestals are adjacent to the huge hatch covers. Any hatch removal would endanger our seatainers on the pedestals. Also, our equipment would usually be occluded by the adjacent container stack.	HorizonSpirit_Bow2 The superstructure areas are absolutely ideal. The bridge deck can easily support three twenty foot seatainers. For the photos to come I have identified three van areas. The bridge roof deck can support the AMF modules with no problems.	bridgedeck_blueprint A photo of the blueprint. Scale is 1/4"=1'. The captain has never seen a digital plan to this detail.
van_area Port side van area. Area 1 is in the foreground and area 2 is in the background.	van_area_port The captain is standing in the area 1. We have about 22' x 10' here. Room needs to be given to the access to the life boats. The little 'toadstool' by the ladder can be removed for more space.	van2_area Van 2 area would easily support a seatainer. I guess this would be the radar van.
van1_area2 Area 1, view forward. The bridge is on the right side in this photo.	van2_area1 Van area 2 (radar van) area from the bridge roof. The van will sit athwart ships. The toadstool on the right with yellow lid can be removed.	van2_area Van area 2.
van_area_stbd The starboard side, area 3, is not as open but there is an area that would support one seatainer.	bridge_deck_extraspace Other areas for AMF modules. There is ample area for modules. A crew stateroom is just under area 1 and cable ways down to that room area easily accomodated.	bridge_from_the_bow A view of the superstructure from the bow.
mast The mast. From the bottom up the mast platforms hold the fog horn (massive), the main radar, and the secondary radar. There is a small platform on the secondary radar level and there is room at the top of the mast for meteorological sensors and radiometers.	mast_top The mast top. Note there is an R.M. young wind monitor.	mast_platform The platform at the secondary radar level. The railings are all quite strong.
bridge_roof_starboard The bridge roof has considerable space and generally good exposure.	bridge_roof_port The bridge roof, port side, showing ample railing and stanchions for securing equipment.	bridge_roof_stanchions The bridge roof stanchions are quite strong and could hold the AMF modules.
stateroom Scientist stateroom. This is the room used by the Scripps/NOAA CTD technician. The ship has space for 44 persons and the standing crew is 24. There are times when a few guests technicians or other workers might use some, or all, of the rooms.	stateroom2 Bathrooms are provided with each stateroom.	stateroom3 Each working stateroom has ample desk and working space as well as storage.
available_passthru Cable ways are available. The CTD setup has cables running from the stern launch station to this room.	loading A sequence of photos showing the container handling operation. The speed is impressive. The spreader bar is an impressive piece of gear.	loading2 I was warned about the "bump" as the crane operator handles the equipment. The bump is especially severe as the container is slammed into place.
loading3 The container is whisked away. So much so the cables are angled at several degrees and the load swings overhead.	loading4 Then plunk onto the waiting truck. Of course loading is the same in reverse.