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Mar 7: Engine room tour, and we can see South America now!

By March 7, 2022March 15th, 2022Antarctica

Li Ling – Mar 7:

This morning when I got up, we have principally left the Drake Passage! The crossing went so quick! It took less than two days! And the weather has been absolutely gorgeous the entire cruise! Southern Ocean, being the ocean-area with the strongest average winds on Earth, has not quite delivered its “promises” of storm for us during the cruise. But, what is there to complain about 😛

Today is a day of sunshine, peaceful sea, view of South America and visits from many Black-Browed Albatrosses!

Black-browed Albatross!

After lunch, the engineers Trevor and Jason gave us a tour around the engine room! After two months at sea onboard NBP, we finally got to see where all the magic happens!

The engine room takes up more than one entire floor and is hidden behind doors with restricted access…

Entering the restricted realm was really exciting! Jason showed us the four generators that move the ship forward and the four engines that power everything onboard NBP. He also showed us the sewage systems, the water systems, the machine workshop etc. With no background in mechanical engineering, everything down there looked like magic to me 😛 The one thing I do know, however, is that without the engineers and oilers that constantly maintain and fix all the giant machines in the engine room, trips like this one would not have been possible!

A glimpse of the engine room. The huge yellow machine is one of the generators