Name 'Tampa
Barber Tampa Yard number 248 Length 262 m Builder Hyundai Heavy Industries | Port of registry Norway Completed 1984 Draft 9.78 m | |
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Owner Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning Identification Call sign LMWO3
IMO number 8204951
MMSI no. 257497000 | ||
MV Tampa is a roll-on/roll-off container ship completed in 1984 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in South Korea for the Norway-based firm, Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning.
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Tampa affair
In August 2001, under Captain Arne Rinnan, a diplomatic dispute brewed between Australia, Norway, and Indonesia after Tampa rescued 438 Afghans from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters. The Afghans wanted passage to nearby Christmas Island. The Australian government sought to prevent this by refusing Tampa entry into Australian waters, insisting on their disembarkment elsewhere, and deploying the Special Air Service Regiment to board the ship. At the time of the incident, Tampa carried cargo worth A$20 million, and 27 crew.
The crew of Tampa received the Nansen Refugee Award for 2002 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for their efforts to follow international principles of saving people in distress at sea.
Cocaine smuggling bust
In October 2006, MV Tampa was one of two Wilhelmsen ships involved in a cocaine-smuggling operation intercepted by the New Zealand Customs Service and the Australian Federal Police. Twenty-seven kilograms of cocaine was allegedly attached to the side of the two cargo ships bound for Australia in purpose-built metal pods, although New Zealand authorities stated they did not believe the ship's crew or owners were involved.
MythBusters test model
In the 2006 episode "Whirlpool/Snowplow" of the TV show MythBusters, a 1:550 scale model of MV Tampa was assembled, weighted with lead shot to simulate a full load of cargo, and used as a scale scientific test bed vehicle for determining whether ocean whirlpools are capable of sinking a large container ship.