Aquaria - 2. Aqu Chapter 2

At the end of the day, once all the crew were back on board, the Captain announced that we would be setting sail in a south westerly direction, for a 4200 km journey to Heard Island & MacDonald Island (HIMI).

The Lloyd International Corporation has received special permission from the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of Environment, to set up a mobile research station, which the “Aquaria” is perfect for, to do some medium-term research on the Island and the surrounding oceans.

With the temperatures being around 2 to 5 degrees Celsius in the summer and -4 to 3 degrees Celsius in the winter, this was going to be an interesting challenge for the crew.

The Aquaria and its crew would be the first private, long term research project to be held on the HIMI’s and the Lloyd International Corporation was planning to give the Federal Government a very detailed report of all its findings over the first 4-month trial period of their stay there.

With the islands being so far away from the nearest mainland, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, not only are the weather conditions tough, but also the ocean conditions for the journey, which will take just over a week to complete.

Everyone was well settled in by the time the “Aquaria” was ready to set sail, with all departments making a double check before departure. The vessel has a colour code system, which is used to determine where crew and visitors are permitted to be on the ship.

Red is access to the Bridge deck level and all other decks, which is Senior Officers only. Brown is for access to Deck 2, the Airlocks on Decks 3 & 9, and the Security & Detention centre on Deck 9, for all Officers only.

Green is the Engineering Department, which is restricted to all Engineering crew and Officers. Yellow is for access to all Science, medical crew and officers, for all research areas and the medical centre, on Decks 4 & 5.

Orange is for access to all general crew areas and guest areas, with not access to restricted zones, while blue is for guests, who have access to public areas on the Bow sections of Decks 3 & 5, plus the forward half of Decks 4 & 6.

The whole 8 day trip would be done mostly below sea level, to remain below the tossing waves and strong ocean winds, and they would only surface to take above surface weather readings, top up the oxygen supply tanks and release any toxic carbon dioxide and other fumes that may endanger the crew.

Although this doesn’t not need to be done as often, the Captain wanted the first long distance cruise to go smoothly, and without any incidents.

During this journey, the science team were kept busy, analysing all the data that they had collected while they were at Rottnest Island, when the vessel surfaced, the seas were reasonably smooth, and the crew were able to spend some time on the top decks getting some fresh sea air, although it was only for an hour long, before they submerged again and continued on with their journey to the remote islands in the far south of the Indian Ocean.

When they finally arrived at Heard Island and the vessel was settled in Atlas Bay, for the vessels first night at the Sub-Antarctic Island, and the Captain had announced soon after arriving that in the morning there would be a crew meeting in the great hall.

When everyone was gathered in the great hall the following day, the Captain announced to all gathered that the Aquaria would be based at Heard Island for a period of 4 months, as a trial to be able to perform and complete a number of scientific research projects, with a lot less environmental impact, than a team that is living and working at a base camp on the island.

Since it is now early November and the start of the Antarctic Summer, the Captain had set out a timetable of duties and recreation time, which included time on the island for all the crew, in the areas that are not restricted for access, as per the Department of Environment’s management plan of the islands.

With it being so far south, the lengths of daylight are so much different from what most of the crew are usedto, daylight begins at around 4am and ends at about 9pm now, by the end of February it will be 5 am and 8 pm, and by early June it will be 9am and 3pm.

With the Aquaria surfaced in a shallow area of Atlas Bay, its top 3 decks are clearly above the water, which allows for easier access to the outside when there is the need to get scientific teams out, by using the airlocks on deck 3, instead of using the science pool on deck 4 or the mini subs from the hangers on deck 9.

Although this made the vessel prone to the harsh outside weather, with the ice-cold rain, regular gale force winds, and extreme cold temperatures, it was not enough to cause permanent damage from the elements.

For the first few days the scientific teams only spent two hours on the island each time, as it was going to take a while to acclimatise to the extreme weather. Meanwhile, the remainder of the crew only spent a maximum of an hour on the island, also due to the extreme weather.

After the first week had passed and everyone on board had settled into a routine, they were all enjoying their challenging work conditions, and being in a location on Earth, that is limited to only a small group of people.

With no guests or cadets on board, there are just the 170 crew on the vessel, so it is not over crowded with an extra 82 guests and cadets, with everyone feeling right at home in their new submersible home.

It didn’t feel claustrophobic at all, especially with all the cabins being around the standard size of a bedroom at home on land, also there is plenty of recreation and lounge space for everyone, with many small lounge areas that are cosy and comfortable.

For Trenton, he was kept very busy 6 days a week, coordinating the research teams that were going onto the island and in the water around the island, plus coordination the collection and analysing of all the data collected from all the teams that have been outside.

Trenton took two half days off work a week, usually a Saturday and Monday afternoon, and he was often found in the crew library or hidden away in the small lounge room located next to his office on Deck 4, which the Captain, was happy for Trenton to have as his own private lounge, especially since he is the senior since officer.

During his times off, Trenton would be on his computer writing his own blog which he kept of his daily adventures, but he made certain that he didn’t mention who he worked for or where exactly where he was located, just giving a rough indication like – “working on a research ship on an island in the Indian Ocean”.

Often Trenton would describe the work that he and his science crew were working on, but not too much detail to give away where they were working. It was this regular blog that had caught the attention of Dr James Brighton, the head of the science department at a private boy’s school in Perth Western Australia.

After several emails between the teacher and Trenton, and with permission from the captain and the Lloyd International Corp managing chairman – Hamysh Lloyd, Trenton was now producing a regular science teaching programme for the school, that was adjusted to suit the different age levels of students, from 12 to 17 years at the school.

Trenton was also keeping the Managing Director of LIC - Lloyd International Corp, up to date with this project, which is a huge success for the Submersible Research Station Aquaria.

The Grammar school in Perth was the only people outside of the Corporation, who knew the exact location of the Aquaria, to provide a more exact class plan for the teachers and students at the school. The Federal Department of Environment was very happy with how things were going with the Aquaria and its crew at Heard Island.

The Captain sending weekly reports to them with a briefing of what they are doing, plus the Antarctic Research Division Science team, that was temporarily stationed on the island is also sending weekly reports, stating that the science teams of the Aquaria were being generous with their time and support with their own experiments.

When the three-month term of their visit was ending, the captain received a message from the Corporations head office, requesting that they continue in a west north-west direction to Marion Island, which is part of the Prince Edward Islands, that is managed by the SANAP - South African National Antarctic Programme, and is located 2000 km’s south East of Cape Town.

The Aquaria was asked to spend one month at Marion Island to assist with finalising some research currently in progress but is being hampered by some bad weather.

Once this is completed, SANAP was requesting that the Aquaria visit another site on Gough Island, which is 2700km’s west of Cape Town, and 3200 km’s east of the closest point of South America.

The four-day journey to Marion Island was uneventful. Like Heard Island, Marion Island was full of wildlife and spectacular scenery, and once the vessel was secured into position, Trenton had the Science teams get straight to work, once a briefing with the SANAP science team had been completed.

The visit at Marion Island ended up being for six weeks, and during his time off, Trenton continued to provide the information to the Grammar school in Perth, plus keep his blog up to date.

When they had finally completed the work on Marion Island, the Captain ordered that they set sail for Cape Town for a resupply visit, and to give the crew some time off onshore.

When the Aquaria was just a day out from arriving at Cape Town, Trenton received an email from Dr Brighton, with an attachment of an article in a science magazine from South Africa.

“Large mysterious Science Research submarine visits Marion Island in the Southern Indian Ocean” was the heading of the article, and after a quick read of it, Trenton printed a hard copy, and went looking for the Captain to show him.

Along with the article was a series of photographs of the Aquaria from different angles, and with two photos showing the top four decks fully visible, clearly showing the size of the vessel, especially with a small number of crew on the top deck, checking that everything was secured before they submerged.

The Captain was not happy, when he read the article and asked Trenton to follow him to the conference room on the Bridge deck, so they can make a video conference call to the Lloyd International Corporation to discuss the issue.

When the call was connected, the Managing Director said straight away that if the purpose of the call is about an article in a South African Science magazine, he was already aware of it.

For the next twenty minutes they had a detailed discussion about the issue, and Hamysh Lloyd often asked for Trenton’s point of view. When the matter had been fully discussed, Hamysh asked to speak to Trenton on his own, and once the Captain had returned to the bridge, Trenton didn’t know what to expect.

“Sir, I was wondering, why have been picked and given special treatment, to get to the position I am in right now, is there something that I am not being told?” Trenton asked nervously, “Yes Trenton, I have been watching you very closely ever since you were a young boy.

If I am right, you have a necklace around your neck, with half of two dolphins” the Director said and he saw Trenton place his hand on his upper chest, where the necklace rested, and he smiled as the Director took out the other half of the same necklace.

He watched as Trenton’s face changed from confusion, to shock, and back to confusion again. Hamysh laughed lightly before continuing.

“I loved your mother very much, she was always a very independent woman, and I supported her views and agreed to abide by her wishes to raise our son on her own”.

Trenton thought about what he had just been told, and he suddenly realised that his father was seated in front of a video screen in front of him, and that his father was the Managing Director of Lloyd International Corporation and his boss.

He didn’t know what to do or say, and there was a long spell of silence, before Hamysh finally spoke up. “Trenton, you are my son, and I am very proud of what you have achieved on your own in school, and in the navy, and now here onboard the Aquaria.

The Captain is the only person onboard who knows that you and I are father and son, and it will remain like that unless you want it to be known to all the crew” Hamysh said.

Once again there was some silence, as Trenton tried to process all the information, and in the end, he just stood up and left the room, and he returned to his own private lounge behind his office to think about everything that he had just been told.

About half an hour later there was a knock on the door, and Trenton was still not sure that he wanted to talk to anyone, but the door opened, and before he could complain about the intrusion, he saw that it was the Captain entering and he remained silent.