Feature 4 | FERRIES AND RO-RO VESSELS Key customers keep returning to Remontowa
Poland’s Remontowa shipyard continues to benefit from having a loyal client base including several leading European ferry operators.
Remontowa in the 15 months from the beginning of 2011 to the end of March 2012, underlining its position as one of the foremost yards in this particular sector. January, both this year and last, were peak months, with respectively eight and seven ferries being worked on simultaneously. Remontowa has close ties with leading
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ferry operators active in the cross-channel, North Sea and Baltic markets especially. Clients regularly docking ferries include Brittany Ferries, Stena, Finnlines and Louis Dreyfus for example. Britanny Ferries is a long-term partner
and its ferry, Normandie, was in the yard for a three week stay this January. Besides docking for general repairs and maintenance work, the ship had its four main engines and two auxiliary units overhauled, along with numerous pumps, coolers, heat exchangers, heaters, valves and life-saving equipment. Te hull, car and open decks were also cleaned and painted during its stay at Remontowa. Another ferry for the same operator, Bretagne, came to the shipyard shortly aſterwards for a wide range of work in its machinery spaces and piping upgrades. Two further Brittany Ferries’ ships, Pont Aven and Mont St Michel, were also docked in the early part of this year, for
early 50 ro-ro vessels of various types, including ferries and ro-pax ships, were docked at
a mainly routine, but still quite extensive range of general equipment overhauls, repairs and maintenance work. Other early 2012 visitors included the
ro-pax Baltivia, operated by the Polish company Polferries. Te scope of work in this case included overhauling, repairing and load testing four internal ramps, as well as general overhaul work, repairs and maintenance. Baltivia was followed by Polferries’ car and passenger ferry Scandinavia, which stayed at Remontowa for almost two weeks in February 2012, while another Polish operator, Unity Line, brought one of its largest ferries. Skania, in for a package of work, lasting almost two weeks in the same month. Another key customer, Finnlines,
has this year docked four large ro-pax ferries, Finneagle, Finnclipper, Finnlady and Europalink. Europalink was serviced in the smaller of the two former Gdynia Shipyard’s drydocks, which have been rented out by Remontowa to ease pressure on its own floating docks in Gdańsk, and was given a protective coating specially developed to meet extreme weather conditions. Stena Lines is also an important ferry
client for Remontowa and its Stena Feronia underwent an extensive range of overhaul and maintenance works, leaving the yard early January 2012. The ship also had some 80tonnes of steel
Stena Line entrusted the Polish shipyard with the major modernisation and upgrading of four ferries.
Britanny Ferries’ Pont Aven at Remontowa earlier this year.
structure replaced to repair punctures on both sides of the vessel. Last year Remontowa extensively
modernised two Stena vessels, Stena Superfast VII and Stena Superfast VIII, with some significant structural changes, including car deck modifications and the refurbishment of passenger spaces during a refit in Gdansk. This project was preceded by another significant upgrade to sisterships, this time Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica, now known as Stena Scandinavica and Stena Germanica III, which involved the fitting of a new deck, thereby extending the passenger capacity through additional cabins and public areas. Existing passenger facilities were also refurbished and rearranged on both vessels and new ro-ro and cargo access equipment installed. The range of ferry types handled by
Remontowa is very wide, and is not restricted to the large conventional ro-ro types. Basto 4, a double-ended ferry that sailed from Norwegian fjords for servicing at Remontowa, arrived at the Gdansk based yard in early February and stayed a month at the yard for a significant package of works. The yard has also docked a number of car carriers for operators including Wallenius and UECC in the first quarter of 2012, demonstrating its versatility. SRCT
38 Shiprepair and Conversion Technology 2nd Quarter 2012
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