Page 91: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 1997)

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Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 90, Feb 1997

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 91, Feb 1997

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 92, Feb 1997

MacGregor's RoRo Conversion Team from

Gothenburg, Sweden, had discussions with the owner and visited the vessel several times, together with designers and colleagues from the

Mare Balticum's new bow doors were built piece by piece on the ^sinal shell plating. The new aperture was cut after complete weloiqe of the structures and installation of hinges and operat- ing cylinders.

Turku SeiN^e Division.

The ownerN^ schedule was extremely tight, and in order to n^nimize revenue loss, the plan was to take the ves^l out of service for just four weeks. Time availablCTSor design work and sub- sequent approval was al^short, and to com- pound the problem, much oNtiie activity coin- cided with European summer Oration periods.

Given all of these factors, thougnStfnly seven weeks elapsed between order placement and vessel drydocking. Current rules specified by the classification society and Nordic Maritime

Authorities had to be applied, and speciaP arrangements were made to obtain s\^f approval of drawings from Bureau Verita^r

More than 90 tons of steel were neede^ror the conversion, and about 20 tons of exianng struc- tures were removed from^^ne vessel.

Preparations for the bulk of thiework were car- ried out over a two-week npnod while the vessel was in normal serviceJretween Stockholm and

Tallin. When the vessel finally arrived at the

Turku yard atJme end of August, a 24-hour working system was organized and all the work was carried out by MacGregor personnel; only craneage, gases and power were supplied by the shipyard. Now renamed Meloodia, the vessel started its new service between Helsinki and

Tallin on schedule.

According to MacGregor, conversion projects present a particular challenge, and yfthin its own organization, the company has instituted a close cooperative relationship between its prod- uct divisions and its Global Service Division.

Due to the nature of the coj^ersion business, dedicated modernization j^a conversion teams have been establishe^ror running these pro- jects. Reliable information regarding the cur- rent state of th^^ssel concerned is a vital ele- ment in preMfrmg a conversion tender, and a realistic of the working conditions onboard must ajBo be established. Important items of information are, for example, the dimensions of smictures in the area where equipment is to be installed, the actual location of piping and ven- tilating ducts in the area, and hydraulic and electrical system details. The emphasis is on the wofcd "reliable" because in most cases the original cHNjwings of the vessel are not likely to have been updated after earlier alterations.

In the conversion of the bow door arrange- ment of Mare B^lticum, MacGregor was responsible for the enxk;e project management, all design and strength calculations, the rein- forcement of hull structure HUDOW area, and the design and installation of new&fde-hinged bow doors. In addition, the company modified the bow ramp into a folding type and installed a new inner bow door in place of the collision bulkhead.

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