MV Esperanza
Esperanza on the River Thames off Gravesend, England, August 2010. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Soviet Union | |
| Name | Vikhr-4 |
| Operator | Northern Fleet |
| Builder | Stocznia Północna, Gdansk, Poland |
| Yard number | B98/04 |
| Launched | 1984 |
| Renamed | 1998 |
| Fate | Sold to Greenpeace |
| Netherlands | |
| Name | Esperanza |
| Owner | Stichting Phoenix Maastricht |
| Operator | Greenpeace |
| Port of registry | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Acquired | 2000 |
| Recommissioned | 2002 |
| Out of service | 2022 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped in Gijón, Spain, 2022 |
| Notes | Former names: Vikhr-4, Echo Fighter, Eco Fighter |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Built as Type B98 expedition/research ship |
| Tonnage | 2,076 GT |
| Length | 72.3 m (237 ft 2 in) o/a |
| Beam | 14.3 m (46 ft 11 in) |
| Draft | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Ice class | 1A |
| Propulsion | 2 × 2,938 bhp (2,191 kW) Sulzer V12 engines |
| Speed | 18.8 knots (34.8 km/h; 21.6 mph) |
| Range | 19,000 nmi (35,000 km; 22,000 mi) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 2 large and 3 small rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB) |
| Crew | 33 |
| Aviation facilities | Helipad |
![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greenpeace_ship_"Esperanza"_off_Gravesend.jpg){kind=link}
MV Esperanza was a ship operated by Greenpeace. Previous to being a Greenpeace ship it was a fire-fighting vessel owned by the Soviet Navy, built in 1984. It was recommissioned in 2000 and relaunched in 2002 after being named Esperanza ('hope' in Spanish) by visitors to the Greenpeace website. It had undergone a major refit by Greenpeace to make it more environmentally friendly. A new helicopter deck and boat cranes were also added. The ship was powered by two Sulzer V12 marine diesel engines.
The ship had a heavy ice class, giving it the ability to work in polar regions. It had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) and an overall length of 72.3 metres (237 ft 2 in). This made it the fastest and largest of the Greenpeace fleet.
Original painted in blue livery, during December 2014 it called at Palumbo Malta Superyachts for repairs and a new livery, acquiring a green hull like other Greenpeace vessels.
Esperanza has been involved in many world wide campaigns, protecting environment and wildlife. She was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 2022.