I’m not exactly sure what HOS Browning does each time she goes to sea,

but she has a lot of deck space, and a derrick to work with.   It turns out I’ve seen ship before down in Port Fourchon eight years ago, when she went by the name Betty Pfankuch.

Specs on this Mexico-flagged vessel can be downloaded and read here. Of interest are the facts that HOS Browning was built in the same shipyard as the new ferries and that the owner and manager is the same company that owns/operates the liftboat Ram VII recently featured here. Also, why is a US-built, Mexican-flagged vessel being used?

This general arrangement  diagram shows the location of a “future hydro-acoustic thru-hull” midships.   I suppose that means that now that 34″ thru-hull has now been opened up.  On that same diagram, would the mud tanks still be in place?  

Given the yellow “cage” near the stern, I’m surprised there’s no A-frame for deploying it, unless it’s been stowed/dismantled while in port.

All photos, any errors, lots of questions, WVD.