ARA Canal Beagle

Canal Beagle docked in Buenos Aires, 2010
History
Argentina
Name	Canal Beagle
Namesake	Beagle Channel
Ordered	1975
Builder	Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, Argentina
Yard number	108
Laid down	1977
Launched	1977
Commissioned	1978
Identification	Call sign: LOCB IMO number: 7529017 MMSI number: 701802000
Status	In service
General characteristics
Class and type	Costa Sur-class cargo ship
Displacement	10,894 tons full load
Length	119.9 m (393 ft 4 in)
Beam	17.5 m (57 ft 5 in)
Draught	7.49 m (24 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	2 Sulzer 6 ZL 40/48 diesel engines, 6,400 hp (4,800 kW), 2 shaft
Speed	16.3 knots (30.2 km/h) max; 12 knots (22 km/h) cruise
Capacity	bulk cargo: 9,700 m^3 (340,000 cu ft) or 6,800 tons refrigerated cargo: 210 m^3 (7,400 cu ft)
Complement	40
Notes	characteristics from Argentine Navy official website.[1]

ARA Canal Beagle (B-3) is a cargo ship in service with the Argentine Navy since 1978, capable of transporting bulk cargo, live cattle, and containers. She is the second ship in the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the Beagle Channel in the south of Tierra del Fuego.

Design

Canal Beagle (B-3) is one of three Costa Sur-class^{[n 1]} cargo ships ordered by the Argentine Navy in 1975, designed and built by the Argentine Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The design is optimised for Patagonic coastal service.^[2]

Canal Beagle has a steel hull and the superstructure at the stern, with a single mast and a single funnel atop, behind the bridge; the cargo area is located in the middle of the ship and three “Liebherr” cranes serve the three holds, one each.^{[n 2]} She has a bulk cargo capacity of 9,700 m³ (340,000 cu ft) or 6,800 tons (e.g.: coal, cereals, live cattle), a refrigerated cargo capacity of 210 m³ (7,400 cu ft), and can carry up to 140 containers.^[1][2]

Canal Beagle is powered by two 6-cylinder Sulzer 6 ZL 40/48 marine diesel engines of 3,200 hp (2,400 kW) each, driving two variable-pitch propellers; with a maximum speed of 16.3 knots (30.2 km/h).^[1][2]

History

With the ships then operating with “Naval Transport Service” ((in Spanish) Servicio de Transportes Navales) approaching obsolescence, the Argentine Navy was authorized (via decree 3/10/1975) to order the local construction of three cargo ships for the southern coastal service. The ships, with hull optimised for Patagonic coastal service, were designed and built by the Argentine Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, at Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the late 1970s and are denominated the Costa Sur-class.^[1][2]

Canal Beagle, the first ship in her class, was laid down on 10 January 1977 and launched on 19 October 1977. She was commissioned on 29 April 1978 and assigned to the Argentine Navy's Naval Transport Service with pennant number B-3.^[2]

In addition to coastal and riverine activities in Argentina, Canal Beagle also operated overseas. In 1989, Canal Beagle helped remove oil from the shipwreck of the polar transport ARA Bahía Paraíso, in an effort to reduce pollution in the Antarctic waters.^[1][3] In 1992 she transported to the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras, the four Baradero-class patrol boats used under United Nations mandate ONUCA.^[4]

In 2005, Canal Beagle was part of the naval deployment contributing to the security of the 4th Summit of the Americas ((in Spanish) IV Cumbre de las Américas) hold in the Argentine city of Mar del Plata.^[5]

Starting in late 2007, she took part in the Argentine Antarctic Program replacing the icebreaker in the resupply of the Argentine bases in Argentine Antarctica.^[6]

The ship remained active as of 2022, participating in an exercise off the coast of Mar del Plata with other Argentine naval units.^[7]

Footnotes

1. The other ships in the class are the ARA Bahia San Blas and ARA Cabo de Hornos.
2. One 5 ton crane serves hold 1, and two 20 ton cranes serve holds 2 and 3; these can be used simultaneously to provide a 40 ton lifting capacity into either hold 2 or 3.

References

Notes

1. "Transportes Clase "COSTA SUR"". Armada Argentina – Poder Naval – Flota de Mar -Unidades (in Spanish). Argentina: Argentine Navy. Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
2. "CANAL BEAGLE". Histarmar – Historia y Arqueología Marítima (in Spanish). Argentina: Fundación Histarmar. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
3. "Buque Polar A.R.A. "Bahía Paraíso"". Histarmar – Historia y Arqueología Marítima (in Spanish). Argentina: Fundación Histarmar. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
4. "COMANDO DE TRANSPORTES NAVALES – Operaciones de paz con la ONU". Histarmar – Historia y Arqueología Marítima (in Spanish). Argentina: Fundación Histarmar. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
5. "Confianza en el operativo de seguridad". La Nación – Política (in Spanish). Argentina: SA La Nación. 4 November 2005. Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
6. "Gaceta Marinera Digital © | ARMADA ARGENTINA ::". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
7. "Taiana supervisó un ejercicio de la flota de mar frente a la costa" [Taiana oversaw a sea fleet exercise off the coast]. Télam (in Spanish). 15 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.

Bibliography

• Amendolara Bourdette, Ignacio (2005). Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005–2006 (in Spanish and English). Buenos Aires, Argentina. ISBN 987-43-9400-5. Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2014-09-13.

Further reading

• Rodríguez, Horacio; Arguindeguy, Pablo. Buques de la Armada Argentina: Sus comandos y operaciones. Vol. III (in Spanish). Presidencia de la Nación, Secretaría de Cultura.

External links

• Argentine Navy official site – Transportes Clase “COSTA SUR” (accessed 2017-01-18)
• Histarmar website – COMANDO DE TRANSPORTES NAVALES – Transportes Navales desde 1970 hasta ahora (accessed 2017-01-18)
• Histarmar website – FLOTA DE MAR 2015 (accessed 2017-01-18)