Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2012)

Gibdock Makes Waves with Back-to-Back Cruise DockingsGibdock has been busy of late, notably with back-to-back cruise ship dockings that includedthe return of the 37,584gt, 1,575-passenger ca-pacity Thomson Destiny (pictured), in for its fourth visit since a first refit in Gibraltar in 2006. Thomson Destiny arrived at the yard in No- vember 2011 to undertake works afloat and then docked on November 21 one day after the Pull- mantur Zenith had left the 260m x 38m x 10mdock after a 12-day stay. ?In many ways this was a routine dry docking, but with two large cruise ships docking one after the other we had to make doubly sure we man- aged the time pressures very carefully,? said Gib- dock Commercial Director, Richard Beards. Both ships had to be completed by very specific dates in order to be able to maintain their cruiseschedules.? The 214m long, 1982-built Thomson Destiny is owned by Louis Cruises and is on long term char- ter with Thomson Cruises. During the two week stay at Gibdock the yard carried out a variety of tasks including high pressure washing and paint- ing of the vessel?s hull, refurbishment of the an- chor chain, sea valves and bow thruster, pipe work and steel repairs in the tanks. Gibdock?s long-time Greek agent, Hellenic In- dustrial and Marine Agencies, was closely in- volved in this project, liaising with the owner to ensure the yard fully met its requirements. ?Gibdock has an excellent reputation among local owners, due to a combination of reliability, on-time delivery and high quality,? says Alkis Koukis, managing director. ?This latest docking of Thomson Destiny went very well and Louis Cruises was extremely pleased with the outcome. Louis Cruises? superintendant, Chrysanthos Chrysanthou adds: ?Gibdock?s project manage- ment has been very successful as the yard was able to handle multiple activities, and adapt to changes and additional requirements, and stillcomplete all works ahead of time. World?s Largest Floating Bulk Terminal Genoa-based Logmarin Advisors, part of the RINA Group, has enabled Brazil?s Vale SA to con- vert the Ore Fabrica (the former VLCC Front Duchess) into the world?s largest transhipment ves- sel. It will shortly come into operation at a site in Subic Bay, the Philippines, where it will operate as a platform for the transhipment of iron ore cargoes from Vale?s 400,000 dwt valemax ore car- riers into capesize vessels for on carriage to markets in Asia. Logmarin assisted Vale by devising and supervising the detailed design of the conversion and by procurement assistance, selection of the Ore Fabrica terminal management, and developing operation and safety procedures, Hazard and Operability analysis, transhipment site identifica- tion and permits. Support includes assistance during commissioning and personnel training. The new cargo handling plant, the only one of its kind, consists of five Liebherr MPG cranes and a sophisticated conveyor belt/loading system designed and built by Bedeschi of Padova. The cargo handling facility is certified by RINA. The conversion was carried out at the Jiangsu Xinrong Shipyard in China. A total of 4,643 tonnes of new plant and structure went into the conversion. The installation of 9,680 KW of power gives the vessel a 5,000 tonnes-per-hour capacity ? sufficient to load a capesize vessel in 36 hours. From design to delivery, the entire conversion took 333 days to complete. (Photo: Gibdock)March 2012 www.marinelink.com 47MR March 12 # 6 (41-49):MR Template 3/6/2012 12:43 PM Page 47