Page 57: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2018)

Images Courtesy: SPS case study

New Tech to Solve Steel Renewal Problem

The number of cruise passengers structure. For the Queen Mary 2 repair, which the elastomer core was pumped circumstances while the vessel was in worldwide according to the CLIA has bars were welded to adjacent structural using a mini injection unit. The repair service,” said Andrew Menzies, Deck & grown from 17.8m in 2008 to 25.8m in members and in some instances, a struc- was completed in 11 days, two days Safety SME, Carnival UK. “In order not 2017, a staggering 42% increase. With tural adhesive was used, so to avoid ahead of schedule. Lloyd’s Register in- to impact on our guests’ cruise experi- such expansion, order books were buoy- heating deck plating and potentially spected and approved the repair on both ence, restrictions were placed on when ant in 2017 with $6.8b being invested in damaging below deck services etc. The sides of the Atlantic. A normal service works could be undertaken which the new river, ocean and speciality vessels. new steel top plates were then welded operated at all times. “The team was able team worked around, delivering the proj-

However, with global cruise travel con- to the bars to form air-tight cavities into to complete the repair under challenging ect on time with minimal disruption.” tinuing to grow at a steady pace, pres- sure on cruise operators to maintain their existing inventory of vessels is equally

Innovation | Safety | Performance as important as ? eet expansion. Disrup- tion to scheduled sailings and additional dry dockings would be an almost unfor-

PROTECTING YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSETS giveable costly inconvenience making those responsible for vessel maintenance and integrity look to new solutions for old problems. On board Carnival UK’s ? agship, the Queen Mary 2, a permanent steel repair was required to a tweendeck area, situated above a restaurant and stairwell. Conventional steel renewal would have called for insulation, decora-

LOAD MANAGEMENT/EMERGENCY RESPONSE tive panelling and pipework removal and areas of the vessel to be out of service;

TM CruiseMax none of which were palatable. A tem- porary repair had been installed but had reached the end of its service life so to

Proven systems combine rigorously-tested algorithms meet Lloyd’s Register class guidelines a with user-friendly interfaces for quick and consistent permanent solution was required.

results, ensuring that the safety of the vessel is maintained

It was decided to use SPS (Sandwich by providing timely and accurate results onboard. The

Plate Sytem), a steel-elastomer-steel,

Damage Control Ofcer can quickly collect and process permanent class approved composite material with which to make the repair. available data, defne the bounds of the problem, and

The repair was undertaken during a re- evaluate multiple scenarios for remedial action.

turn voyage to Southampton from New

York. A crew of seven steel workers from SRC Group SA, were brought on- www.herbert-abs.com board along with an elastomer injection engineer. Using a small steel vacuum blasting unit, the coatings, areas of cor- rosion and the temporary repair were removed and the steel surface was pre- pared to SA2.5 for SPS requirements. 80cm of head height meant conditions for the team were con? ned. To avoid unsociable noise for 2,695 paying pas- sengers on-board, blasting could not take place during meal times.

The existing steel plating was used as one side of the new composite solution.

A low heat solution was used to ? x the perimeter bars in place. These perimeter bars, with a new steel top plate form the cavities into which the SPS elastomer core is injected to fully reinstate the steel www.marinelink.com 57

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