MV_Sharpie
The MV Sharpie is a vessel owned and operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society since December 2017. She is being used in their direct action campaigns against illegal fisheries activities.[4][5]
MV Sharpie | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Owner | United States Coast Guard |
| Builder | Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana |
| Launched | 1991 [1] |
| Out of service | 17 March 2014 [1] |
| Homeport | Bayonne, N.J. |
| Name | Since December 2017: MV Sharpie |
| Owner | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society |
| Operator | since 2017: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society |
| Identification | MMSI number: 325925000[2] |
| Fate | Scrapped in Mexico |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Island-class patrol boat |
| Type | cutter |
| Tonnage | 168 GT |
| Length | 34 m (112 ft) |
| Beam | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
| Height | 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Draught | 7.0 m (23.0 ft) |
| Propulsion | Two V-16 Caterpillar diesels[3] |
| Speed | 29.5 knots |
| Range | 3,300 miles |
| Endurance | 5 days |
The ship is an Island-class patrol boat built by Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana and first launched in 1991 as the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bainbridge Island. The vessel is identical to her sister ships MY Farley Mowat and MV John Paul DeJoria. After 22 years of service, it was retired in a ceremony in New Jersey on 17 March 2014.[1]
The vessel was purchased and was donated to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society by medtech entrepreneur Chris Sharp, and it was presented at a press conference on 11 December 2017 in Miami, Florida. The vessel was renamed MV Sharpie, named after its donor. She is 34-metre (112 ft) long, powered by two Caterpillar diesel engines, and can travel at a maximum speed of 29.5 knots (54.6 km/h; 33.9 mph) with a range of 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km; 3,800 mi).[6]
In January 2019, a "mob of over 50 skiffs" threw Molotov cocktails and rocks burning the MV Sharpie's hull and breaking windows.[7]
In February 2020, the MV Sharpie was fired upon while on "routine" patrol of the Vaquita Refuge in the Gulf of California.[7]
- Neptune's Navy, Sea Shepherd vessels
- Sea Shepherd Conservation Society operations
- Coast Guard Bids Farewell to Historic Cutter. Gail Dale, Military.com. 17 March 2014.
- Sharpie - Pleasure Craft. Marine Traffic. 2017.
- U.S.C.G.C. BAINBRIDGE ISLAND (WPB-1343) (PDF). Intrepid Museum.
- Sea Shepherd Launches New Anti-poaching Vessel M/V Sharpie Archived 2017-12-08 at the Wayback Machine. Sea Shepherd. 7 December 2017.
- Sea Shepherd Launches New Anti-Poaching Vessel M/V Sharpie. Ocean News & Technology.8 December 2017.
- "Sea Shepherd Unveils New Vessel". The Maritime Executive. December 11, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- Hessedal, Kelly (February 9, 2020). "Shots fired at conservation group's ship in the Upper Gulf of California". KFMB-TV. Retrieved October 21, 2020.