Page 44: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2011)

MARKET SHIP REPAIR & CONVERSION

When Marine Travelift Inc. delivered the world’s largest mobile boat hoist to Colonna’s Shipyard in

December 2009, the two companies launched a new era in the handling of large vessels. The new 1000C, capable of lifting 1,000 tons (2,200,000 pounds), is revolutionizing the way this Norfolk,

Virginia-based shipyard approaches its business.

Located on the deep-water, mid-Atlantic Port of

Norfolk, Colonna’s features a 17,200-ton floating drydock, a 2,800-ton floating drydock and two ma- rine railways. “We had a mature drydock system with the two floating drydocks and two marine rail- ways, but we needed more capacity,” said Tom

Godfrey, Colonna’s Shipyard president and CEO. “We did an in-depth analysis and concluded that a

Marine Travelift system would give us greater ca- pacity and greater flexibility than the alternatives.”

Today, the yard can eliminate scheduling con- flicts due to the increased number of slots avail- able; in other words, the yard isn’t tying up the 17,200- or 2,800-ton drydock for a 900-ton vessel, which Godfrey called “a mismatch of capacity.”

Next, the yard will be better able to accommodate emergency lifts. This ensures quick-turnaround for customers and improved through-put for the yard. “With drydocks and railways, you have to sched- ule vessels in sequential order,” Godfrey said. “With the Marine Travelift 1000C, we have com- plete flexibility, and our land can accommodate 12 parallel vessels in any sequence. We can schedule vessels according to exact repair needs and return them to service rapidly.”

The Marine Travelift system is capable of lifting many vessel types, including U.S. Navy and U.S.

Coast Guard patrol craft and specialty vessels such as casino and dinner boats. “Our customer base is very diversified,” Godfrey said. “Over a multi-year time frame, it may be evenly split between govern- ment and commercial work.”

Marine Travelift’s founder conceptualized and manufactured the world’s first mobile boat hoist in

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in 1945 — and the world’s largest mobile boat hoist, the 1000C, took shape in that same Great Lakes hometown more than half a century later. www.marinetravelift.com. “We had a mature drydock sys- tem with the two floating dry- docks and two marine railways, but we needed more capacity.”

Tom Godfrey, President and CEO,

Colonna’s Shipyard 44 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

Marine Travelift

Colonna’s 1000C Mobile Boat Hoist

A collision involving the three-year-old multi- purpose general cargo/container vessel Ems, owned by Werse Schiffahrts of Münster, Germany, brought a new customer to Gibdock. The 94m long, 5500dwt Ems (formerly the Buluklu and Rhone) - delivered in 2007 by the Torgem yard in Turkey - was alongside in the port of Montril, near Almeria,

Spain, when the vessel was struck by the bulbous bow of the ferry Ace 2, formerly Euroferry At- lantica, which had broken free from its moorings.

Ems was effectively sandwiched between the Ace 2 and the quay wall, and in the process suffered sig- nificant damage to both her port and starboard sides. Ems’ hull was punctured, causing a large 5m x 4m hole, while significant damage was also caused to the fuel tanks, main deck, cargo hatches, coamings, hatch covers and gangway. One of the fuel tanks was in fact punctured and caused dam- age to a pipe inside the fuel tank which in turn con- taminated the ballast tank. Although not holed on impact against the quay, the port hull shell plating actually incurred a larger area of damage than was caused to the starboard side.

In all, 22 tons of steel was used to repair the hole in the vessel’s side and other work during a 14 day period in Gibdock’s No. 3 drydock.

Gibdock Repairs Damaged Cargo Ship