The large semi-submersible heavy lift vessel Black Marlin (58,000 tons) is expected in Falmouth Bay on Saturday morning for bunkers after a two month long voyage from Shanghai via the Cape of Good Hope.

The Black Marlin is carrying a brand new state-of-the art jack up rig called Prospector 5, which she will float off in Cromarty for Prospector Offshore. Drilling.

Readers may recall when the Black Marlin arrived here from West Africa in 2001 carrying the oil rig Sovereign Explorer. The plan was to float off the rig in Carrick Roads but bad weather meant the ship had to be taken out of the harbour into the bay at the last minute for the float off.

The legs on the Prospector 5 rig will tower 550 feet above the deck of Black Marlin.

The rig is capable of operating in nominal water depths of up to 400 feet and is equipped to drill wells to a depth of 35,000 feet in high pressure and high temperature environments.

Dockwise a Dutch company operating the Black Marlin is acknowledged as a leading specialist in heavy transport shipping owning 21 semi-submersible heavy transport vessels.

These vessels arrive on location take on water ballast and sink down to their operating draught. Then the cargo is either floated off or floated on leaving the vessel to de-ballast (discharge water ballast).