Glomar Explorer
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | GSF Explorer |
| Owner: | Transocean |
| Operator: | Transocean |
| Port of registry: | Vanuatu, Port Vila |
| Builder: | |
| Cost: | $350 million + |
| Laid down: | 1971 |
| Launched: | 4 November 1972 |
| Completed: | 31 July 1998 |
| Acquired: | 2010 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | Scrapped |
| Notes: | . |
 United States
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| Name: | Hughes Glomar Explorer |
| Namesake: | Howard Hughes |
| Builder: | Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. |
| Launched: | 4 November 1972 |
| In service: | 1 July 1973 |
| Fate: | Leased (not SAP) |
| Notes: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Drillship |
| Displacement: | 50,500 long tons (51,310 t) light |
| Length: | 619 ft (189 m) |
| Beam: | 116 ft (35 m) |
| Draft: | 38 ft (12 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 160 |
| Notes: | |
GSF Explorer, formerly USNS Hughes Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193), was a deep-sea drillship platform initially built for the United States Central Intelligence Agency Special Activities Division secret operation Project Azorian to recover the sunken Soviet submarine K-129, lost during April 1968.
The cultural effect of Glomar Explorer is indicated by its reference in a number of books: The Ghost from the Grand Banks, a 1990 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke; Shock Wave by Clive Cussler; Charles Stross's novel, The Jennifer Morgue; and The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.
Hughes Glomar Explorer (HGE), as the ship was named at the time, was built between 1973 and 1974, by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for more than US$350 million at the direction of Howard Hughes for use by his company, Global Marine Development Inc. This is equivalent to $1.7 billion in present-day terms. It first began operation on 20 June 1974. Hughes told the media that the ship's purpose was to extract manganese nodules from the ocean floor. This marine geology cover story became surprisingly influential, causing many others to examine the idea. But in sworn testimony in United States district court proceedings and in appearances before government agencies, Global Marine executives and others associated with Hughes Glomar Explorer project maintained unanimously that the ship could not be used for any economically viable ocean mineral operation.
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