Tyco Resolute at Rainier, Oregon, in Summer 2002

Photo by Cliff West

The Tyco Resolute is a cable laying ship that was built by Keppel Hitachi Zosen in Singapore in 2002 for Tyco Telecommunications as the third of six ships in the Reliance class. It was preceded by the Tyco Reliance and Tyco Responder in 2001 and followed by the Tyco Dependable later in 2002 and the Tyco Decisive and Tyco Durable in 2003. It is 139.1 meters long and 21 meters wide with a draft of 7.8 meters. It has a gross tonnage of 12,184 metric tons and dead weight tonnage of 9,200 metric tons. Powered by five main diesel engines, it features 360-degree maneuverability and a total of 9,800 kilowatts of thruster power from 2 fixed bow thrusters, 1 drop-down bow thruster, and two azimuthing stern thrusters. It can lay and repair underwater cable to a depth of three meters beneath the ocean floor and has a cable laying capacity of around 5,465.5 metric tons. It can cover a distance of over 25,000 nautical miles in 60 days of active operation. Along with the plows that allow the ship to carry out its cable laying operations, it also features a state-of-the-art duplex dynamic positioning system, a very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) for marine wideband communication satellites, and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to aid in accurate cable laying operations. It is shown here on the Columbia River at Rainier, Oregon in the summer of 2002.