On-site bearings replacement
TTS Marine has completed an offshore replacement project onboard the Sendje Ceiba Floating Production, Storage and Offshore (FPSO) vessel, to replace bearings in cranes without needing any shoreside assistance.
A
n FPSO in need of crane bearing replacement, owned by US oil and gas producer Hess Corp, and
anchored off Equatorial Guinea, West Africa, presented a challenge to TTS Marine as the vessel is permanently anchored and cannot go alongside. “This adds complexity to the project,
because it’s difficult to get help from outside to do the job,” said Leiv Håland, service manager for TTS Marine Cranes division. “To bring out a floating crane would cost an enormous amount of money, not to mention the losses incurred if the ship went off-hire.” Te bearings that were replaced were the
largest that TTS has supplied. Commenting on the conditions that the work was carried out under, Leiv Håland said: “We replaced the main parts of the cranes out at sea without any help from shore cranes. Te supports we needed at both ends of the crane foundation, for sliding the old bearings out and the new ones in, had to be bolted on. We weren’t able to use hot work, so the team had to do a lot of manual drilling, as well as a considerable
Bearings replaced onboard FPSO Sendje Ceiba.
amount of climbing. It was a very interesting and very complicated job.” Te project involved the liſting out of the
old bearings and replacing them with new ones, whilst at sea was - a first for TTS. “It took about four weeks to replace the bearings, one for each of the two cranes,
mainly because we needed to avoid disrupting the vessel’s operation,” said Mr Håland. “We had to work during routine breaks from production. We were therefore able to save a considerable amount of money, avoiding the risk of an off-hire period during the entire installation.” NA
Explosive warning for shipping London Club warns on the dangers of chemical cargo misdescription.
misdescription by shippers of a chemical cargo. The cargo being transported was
T
calcium hypochlorite, a chemical mainly used in the purification of water. The chemical contains properties that make it extremely dangerous when it get too hot or is contaminated, which can then lead to fire or explosion. In its latest issue of StopLoss Bulletin, the
Club said: “Given the nature of modern transport logistics, there is a strong
The Naval Architect February 2009
he London P&I Club has reported one its members suffered an onboard fire due to the
likelihood of further such misdescriptions occurring, either intentionally or inadvertently, particularly since international rules to ensure transportation of chemicals are not applied universally.” Several incidents occurred in the late
1990s, some involving explosions in onboard containers, resulting in extensive damage to large ocean-going ships. In reaction to this the International Maritime Organization (IMO) issued guidance on the carriage of calcium hypochlorite, and the IMDG code was amended. A number of carriers went further, and simply refused to carry calcium hypochlorite cargoes.
The Club added: “Voluntary schemes
do exist, however, to promote safe practice in the carriage of chemicals. One such is the Chemical Distribution Institute (CDI) Marine packed Cargo scheme, which has already been adopted by major shipping lines, terminals and freight forwarders. Te scheme, which is shortly to be renamed the International Marine Packed Cargo Audit Scheme, provides audit reports on each category of service provider in the distribution supply chain. It includes shipping companies, ships, tank container operators, container freight stations, freight forwarders, ship agents, and container terminals.”NA
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