The naming ceremony was held in Keppel Tuas shipyard on July 18, 2011. Brian, Alyssa and Kai came along to see.
Next, the ship left Tuas on the 30th of September with little fanfare as it was also Hari Raya.
After the ship left Tuas, Greg had to endure a 15 minute ride from Tuas to the ship every day. Here is the route from Tuas to Aseng.
That was until that fateful day (September 8th) when Greg journeyed out to the ship...
Journey to Aseng morning of September 8th
....only to return home, pack a back pack, several cans of tuna, chocolate covered almonds and gum (where did he get the gum?). Then returned to the trip to be within sight of Singapore and parties from the 8th till the 12th.
September 8th, getting ready to go
On the 9th, the ship was slated to depart for "sea trials." Sea Trials are normally confined to sitting at anchorage until the captain and crew decide that going to Africa is better than sitting at anchorage. In this case, SBM wanted to shake out the main engine after two + years of hibernation. During the 9th, there was fairly good drama with police water craft arriving after it was determined that there was a tax deadbeat on the ship. This was finally sorted and the Aseng motored out into one of the busiest sea lanes at night. Up toward Malaysia and finally back down to Raffles Lighthouse. Here is the route for the sea trials.
Sea Trials Photos from September 9th
On the 10th and the 11th, Aseng sat off Raffles Lighthouse at Anchor while two small tankers came and loaded thousands of tons of Intermediate Fuel Oil (IFO) and Marine Gas Oil (MGO) into Aseng for her approximate 34 day voyage.
And on the 12th, the Aseng moved from Singapore to Batam, Indonesia to bunker methanol. Here is the route to Batam, Indonesia. The bunkering took essentially all night.
Photos Raffles Lighthouse to Batam, Indonesia September 12th
The morning of the 13th of September, the Aseng finally departed from Batam for Equatorial Guinea. We steamed past Singapore and although it was hazy, several good photos could be had. Here is the course for the 13th. The far NW End was our location on the morning of the 14th. Greens are starts and reds stops. The missing chunks are where the batteries on the GPS recharge.
Photos of Singapore and the Narrow part of the Melacca Straits on the 13th.
A helicopter came and took photos of the ship on the late afternoon of the 13th.
The morning of the 14th included the final narrow part of the Straits. It rained a bit but progress is good.
During the morning of the 15th, there was a small problem with a fuel valve for the main engine and we stopped for an hour but that was quickly fixed. On the night of the 15th, the Aseng is approaching Sabang at the tip of Sumatra. Once we clear the end we'll turn to the SW for our run down to Cape Town. Here is the position on the evening of the 15th.
Getting out of the Malacca Straits was fairly uneventful. Here is the route from the 16th.
Here is the progress on the evening of the 17th.
This is the progress through the early morning of the 19th.
And this the progress through the late evening of the 19th.
Here's the position at the end of the 20th.
The ship was fairly close to Diego Garcia and Greg took some photos. The emergency Fire Water pump was started during the day and in the first photo you can see the black smoke from the starting of the diesel engine.
And the position at the end of the 21st.
The 21st included some weather. In the last 3 pictures you'll see the Captain and part of the sailing crew.
Position at the end of the 22nd. In the middle of the Indian Ocean.
On the 23rd. We are back to sunny days and we are several days East of Mauritius. So Greg took out his camera and took photos of the blue Indian Ocean water.
Here is the position in the morning of the 24th.
The 24th was another beautiful day. Greg took a few photos on the bridge wing and got the 2nd Mate to help.
And the position in the early early morning of the 25th.
The 25th was another beautiful day at sea. Ramlan helped take photos this day.
Position at the end of the 26th.
On the 27th. One of the giant Maersk cargo ships the Emden passed and then the ship sailed through a double rainbow. Greg just caught the tail end of the rainbow. The Aseng was close to Mauritius and Reunion today but too far to see either island.
And here is the current position in the early morning hours of the 28th.
Brent flew on to the Aseng on the first helicopter with the other dignitaries. Here are some of his photos:
Greg's Photos of the First Helicopter 20111016
Hooray, IT's OVER!