Hydrex Revolutionises Underwater Bow Thruster Operations

Posted on Dec 20th, 2013 with tags BOW, europe, Hydrex, interview, News y topic, Operations, !evo"utionises, #u sea, $hruster, %nderwater&

Hydrex was the first company to show that it was possible to remove and then replace thrusters by creating a dry environment underwater. Using the Hydrexdeveloped steel mobdoc s to seal off the thruster tunnel! with an access shaft protruding above the water! wor teams accessed the thruster tunnel and removed or repaired the thruster within the tunnel in complete safety. $his was done in conditions si'i"ar to those a ove water& Hydrex has since then deve"oped this techno"ogy (urther using "ightweight ("exi "e 'o doc)s& $hese 'oderni*ed 'o doc)s, which are designed to e easi"y transported around the wor"d, are used to c"ose o(( the thruster tunne" on oth sides& $his a""ows divers to wor) in a dry environ'ent around the unit& Hydrex Production Executive Dave Bleyenberg ta")s a out the history o( on+site thruster operations and 'entions the ene(its this can have (or shipowners in the shipping as we"" as the o((shore industry& Hydrex" How did it all start#

Dave B"eyen erg, We started off with small repairs on bow thrusters: welding anodes, performing bow thruster blade repairs in the wet, repairing the steel belt, We then began looking into ways to carry out on-site repairs in dry circumstances. Emptying the thruster tunnel of water was the most logical next step. n !""# we started doing this by closing off both sides of the thruster tunnel and blowing air into it. $his created a dry en%ironment in which our di%er&technicians could remo%e a blade or perform a seal repair. 'or its inno%ati%e work in this field (ydrex won the )**) +loyd,s +ist -.. /ward in the category of nno%ation in 0a%al -hipbuilding and .arine $echnology.1 Hydrex" But it did not stop at these smaller repairs! did it# Dave, $he next step was to perform complex repairs to the thruster unit itself. $he easiest way to do this was to remo%e the unit in its entirety. $he difficult part was to find a way of lowering the unit into the thruster tunnel without water coming in through the hole connecting the tunnel to the engine room. f the air in the tunnel escapes through the hole, the tunnel will fill up with water %ery fast. We needed to find a way the close off the engine room. /fter lots of brainstorm sessions around the drawing table, we found the solution. $hings went %ery fast after that and we started putting the idea into practice soon after. We %isited engine rooms to get a good idea of how we needed to de%elop the concept. / uni%ersal solution was not possible and we had to adapt it to different si2es. 3ood drawings and ideally a pre-inspection 4of the %essel or a sister ship5 is re6uired to perform a full thruster unit replacement.1 (ydrex: What are the typical problems encountered with a thruster unit that result in a need for it to be o%erhauled7 Dave, $here can be a number of causes for a thruster,s malfunction. $he gearing wheels can be worn down so that the unit does not function as it should, one or more hydraulic tubes can be se%ered so that the correct pitch cannot be established or the feedback cable can be broken, pre%enting correct readings. f a thruster does not function correctly, the %essel has to use an extra tugboat when entering port and this raises the cost of entering and lea%ing considerably. f possible we perform on-site repairs inside the tunnel, to pre%ent a complete remo%al of the thruster unit. We recently did a repair of the stainless steel belt on a %essel in 8ort 3entil 43abon5. /n 9:-meter research %essel needed the stainless steel belt in one of its thruster tunnels replaced. $he belt is installed around the perimeter of a thruster tunnel at the location of the thruster blades. $here the impact of the ca%itation caused by the mo%ement of the blades is the most se%ere. Extra protection against ca%itation damage is therefore essential. When the stainless steel belt in the thruster tunnel suffered cracks, the underlying steel was exposed to ca%itation. $he belt needed to be replaced as soon as possible to pre%ent the tunnel from getting damaged too se%erely. $he owner of the %essel

would ha%e had to take his %essel to drydock if no on-site solution was found. / tailormade, open-top cofferdam was designed by our technical department. t was constructed in a local workshop under the super%ision of (ydrex di%er&technicians. /t the same time a regular shaped second cofferdam was also built. $his allowed us to empty all water from the thruster tunnel and descend into it to carry out the repair. ;ur di%er&technicians remo%ed the old damaged belt and replaced it with a new stainless steel belt. $he actual operation was finished in only fi%e days.1 Hydrex" $oes the si%e of the thruster matter# Dave, 0o. We ha%e also performed se%eral offshore thruster operations. We only need a crane with a large enough lifting capability. 'or instance, we ha%e replaced one of the <*-ton, swing-up, a2imuth thrusters of a crane barge stationed in 3abon with the spare on se%eral occasions. ;ne of these operations had to be carried out in a %ery short time frame because the crane barge was scheduled to lea%e for an operation in 0igeria. /ll repairs and other ser%icing work needed to be carried out before the start of this operation. 'or this reason going to drydock was not an option, as the nearest suitable location was -outh /frica and this would ha%e taken the repairs far beyond the a%ailable time frame. When the first a2imuth thruster was replaced, a large mobdock 4measuring " x : x ) meters and weighing o%er )# tons by itself5 was constructed under (ydrex super%ision in =elgium and transported to 3abon. $here it was stored after the repair to be used at short notice whene%er future repairs were re6uired on thrusters. $his allowed for a %ery fast mobili2ation and thruster replacement on the next two occasions. (ydrex has also de%eloped a permanent thruster repair and replacement system. $his system has been de%eloped so it can be tailored to most %essels. t can be included in the planning for a newbuild, installed on a unit going to drydock or constructed and brought on board at any other suitable time. With such a system on standby any repair work to the thruster that may arise can be dealt with much faster and more easily.1 Hydrex" $espite the difficulty of these operations! they can be performed very fast. Dave, $hat is correct. $he remo%al of the unit can be done in the wet, because it is o%erhauled. We only need to remo%e the blades and close the unit off with flanges. $he reinstallation needs to be done in the dry because you need to reinstall the blades without water ingress. >emo%al can be done within )< hours. >einstallation is usually done in <9 hours. We ha%e now taken it e%en a step further. ;n se%eral occasions in )*!? we ha%e remo%ed the old bow thruster unit and reinstalled a new one in a single operation. $his sa%es the customer extra time because we do not need to mobili2e our di%ers and e6uipment twice. / %essel can sail after we remo%e the unit and close off the tunnel from the engine room. $he reinstallation can then be done at a later date on-site or during the next drydock %isit if re6uired. $his sa%es time in dock because they do not need to remo%e the old unit and they can ha%e the o%erhauled or new unit ready when the ship comes in.

'or bow thrusters unit remo%als or blade replacements in Western Europe we ha%e two workboats a%ailable at our head6uarters in /ntwerp. $he transport of the unit to the manufacturer can also be arranged by us if needed. $his is a package we offer to customers. f a @ob comes in we ask if the thruster needs to be o%erhauled and where it needs to go. -pare parts or thruster blades can be stored at our offices so that they are immediately a%ailable when we start the operation. $here is no need to send the %essel to drydock as all operations can be carried out in port or while the %essel is stationary at sea. 0ormal commercial acti%ities can therefore continue without disruption.1