The First Dredger Refit of 2021:
The SMS Group Refits the ‘Arco Dart’ in Bristol A successful start to the year – The SMS Group has started 2021 with a D Class refit on behalf of Hanson Aggregate Marine.
The refit of the ‘Arco Dart’ was completed in a Covid- secure environment inside the footprint of The Bristol Port Company, at Avonmouth, Bristol.
The SMS Group has an enviable reputation as specialists in ship repair, marine engineering and major fabrication projects in the Commercial Marine, Defence, Cruise and Superyacht sectors.
Its team in Avonmouth, led by Alistair Rockett, routinely focus on the refit of aggregates dredgers.
Refitting between three and four dredgers per annum, the site is perfectly suited to the most demanding alongside repair and refit schedules – with a complementary workshop.
Hanson Aggregate Marine is Europe’s largest producer of marine-dredged sand and gravel, supplying to a network of wharves in the UK and mainland Europe.
Hanson operates a fleet of purpose-built trailing suction hopper dredgers, which vary in size from 1,300 to 5,500 gross tonnes and are designed to extract sand and gravel from the seabed at depths of up to 50 metres.
The ‘Arco Dart’ was refitted in January. Works included: • shell plate and stiffener renewals and repairs; • the manufacture and installation of new life raft frames; • modifications to breather pipework; • removal and renewal of dredge pipe assemblies; • bi-annual hydraulics works; • motor rewinds and replacements; • renewal of portside mooring bollards; • various machining projects; • electrical works to the main switchboard; • bilge cleanings; • various pipeworks.
Other planned and preventative maintenance took place alongside too, resulting in a comprehensive repair schedule.
Alistair Rockett, General Manager for The SMS Group in Avonmouth, said: “The refit was the first of the year for us in Avonmouth, and it was a great, great success.
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www.dockyard-mag.com February 2021
“Special thanks to Antonios Chatzistefanou from Hanson. He and has team ensured the refit ran very smoothly.
“Given the Covid ‘challenge’ all parties, including Antonios, the crew and the supply chain, genuinely pulled together to complete the refit on time and on budget. It was a pleasure to work for Hanson.”
Tony Body, West Coast Regional Manager for The SMS Group, said: “Creating a Covid-secure environment was key.
“We tested every person prior to vessel attendance, we positioned numerous sanitization stations through-out the vessel, mask wearing was mandatory, additional mess facilities were procured, and daily Covid questionnaires were completed.
“The expertise in Covid-secure ship repair, that we’ve learnt as a business in the Defence and Cruise sectors, transferred to this refit very well.
“We finished off by bio-fogging the vessel pre-handover”.
‘Arco Dart’: 68m LOA, 13m beam, 4m draft, and is registered in SMS’s homeport of Southampton.
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