NAVIGATION AIDS
IMPROVED SAFETY AND COST- EFFICIENCY IN NAVIGATION AIDS
MOST PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH FLOATING NAVIGATION AIDS WILL TELL YOU THAT THE MAIN REASON THEIR BUOYS TEND TO BE RETURNED TO LAND IS NOT COLLISION DAMAGE BUT RATHER THEIR COLOUR FADING OVER TIME UNTIL THE MARK IS INDISTINCT ENOUGH TO NEED REPAINTING SO AS TO NOT POSE A DANGER TO MARINERS.
The majority of the cost of ownership of any buoy is directly correlated to the lifetime maintenance requirement rather than the initial purchase cost. Furthermore, the bulk of this maintenance cost will be incurred on the occasions when that buoy has to be lifted out of the water and brought back to land for refurbishment or repair.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE The guiding principle at Fendercare Marine for Hippo products is the continuous improvement and development in the design, manufacture and supply of lightweight yet extremely stable buoys which will only need to touch land under exceptional circumstances. This will reduce the scheduled maintenance programme to as little as a regular in- water lift to inspect the moorings and to jet-wash off any marine growth or bird deposits.
UV-STABLE INTEGRATED PIGMENTATION SYSTEM The company is now able to offer a proven UV-stable integrated pigmentation system, which provides a level of colour-stability that’s unrivalled amongst plastic buoys to address the most common reason for expensive returns to land.
Also, the hulls of their buoys are made of self-fendering elastomeric materials to offer exceptional collision resistance providing a best-in-class solution to the second main reason for buoys needing to come onshore and incur all the associated vessel and workshop costs.
CASE STUDY The best illustration of this in practice is their work with the U.S. Coastguard. Having solicited Expressions Of Interest from plastic buoy manufacturers worldwide with a view to assessing potential replacements for their significant
fleet of steel buoys, the Fendercare Marine Hippo buoy was one of only three selected by the US Coastguard to evaluate over a seven-year period.
As they enter year seven of this important trial, the Hippo buoy is the only one left out in the water, the other two buoys having been returned to land by this point due to mechanical failure or loss of colour.
SUMMARY In summary, when you are looking at specifying or purchasing navigational buoys, don’t just look at the upfront cost but think about the internal construction, the colourfastness of the external material, and the longer term maintenance costs.
This will inevitably lead to improved safety and reduced costs in the long run.
Fendercare Marine
www.fendercare.com
e = See enhanced entry online
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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