Hero 2016: Last looks...

For Sale, one Antarctic research vessel
29 January 2016...the above image says it all. What happened next?
Basically nothing. But...these photos are what is probably the last
good close look aboard and inside before the March 2017 sinking.
From the above mobile post:

a look toward the bow
Looking forward from the bridge.
the lab
First, a quick look into the lab. Looks like some live cultures.
engine room
Next, let's look around the engine room.

I used to remember the details about the engines, as described by former owner Bill Wechter in 2006. They were not the same models...and one of them was dead. Bill had a replacement that he never got around to installing...it went to Sunfeather along with the vessel.

gearbox and oil cooler


One of the gearboxes and its oil cooler...		 the oil/water separator


...along with its oil/water separator.
the switchgear and main power panel
The switchgear and main power panel.
motor generator set
Presumably a motor-generator set to produce clean power for the laboratory.
one of the winches
One of the winches.
 the forepeak






A peek into the forepeak.
docked for pay
Interestingly, this undated photo (seen in the upper corner of the app
screenshot at the top of this page) appears elsewhere on this website.
Its source is the Antarctic Journal, February 1998

Less than a week before the sudden Hero sale announcement (which never went anywhere, the offer is no longer online), this 21 January Coast Weekend article about Bay Center described and depicted the vessel.

Below, two 17 October 2016 photos from Jon Lingel.

Hero in October 2016


Hero in October 2016

What's next? Well, over the weekend of 4-5 March 2017...the Hero sank.