Last month a Hydrex diver-technician team performed a crack repair on the pintle area of the rudder of a 181 meter tanker and performed a detailed inspection of the stern tube seal assembly of the vessel while it was berthed in Ghent. Following this inspection the team replaced the worn seals and installed a spacer ring, thus creating a new running area for the seals.
For years cofferdams (called mobdocks in Hydrex terminology - short for 'mobile mini dry docks') had to be large metallic structures that make a watertight fit to the hull of a vessel in order to seal out water from the area that is being repaired. Hydrex has pioneered many different uses of mobdocks including sealing off thruster tunnels at both ends before removing the water and creating a dry space within.
Eems Transporter' April 2011. Grounding off Karpathos On 3 April the general cargo vessel 'Eems Transporter' ran aground off Karpathos Island, Greece. The unfortunate vessel was heavily aground on rocks.
LOF After an initial refloating attempt by using a tug only, SMIT Salvage together with Megatugs were contracted on 9 April under Lloyds Open Form terms and conditions to refloat the stricken vessel.
Bulk carrier ran aground. In late January the Bahamian registered bulk carrier 'Gdansk, laden with 36,000 tonnes of iron ore, ran aground at km 184 on the Orinoco River in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. Due to prolonged drought conditions the casualty had run onto an underwater rock structure, resulting in a 70 metre gash in her double bottom, breaching multiple tanks and resulting in fuel oil being spilled into the river.
Due to a malfunctioning bow thruster, a 334 metre container vessel had to use the services of a tug boat for port maneuvering, so its owners requested Hydrex to take care of the removal, transportation and reinstallation of the unit. The operation was performed in stages in several locations to allow the vessel to keep to its sailing schedule.
When one of the four 40 ton swing-up azimuth thrusters of an offshore crane barge which was servicing rigs on an oil field off the coast of Gabon malfunctioned, Hydrex was called in to remove the thruster and perform the necessary repair work while the unit stayed at anchorage just outside the field.
While it is possible to maintain location with three thrusters, the fourth needed to be repaired straight away.
A Titan Salvage team is working in Haiti to remove navigational hazards, including the collapsed Washington gantry crane, in Port-au-Prince for the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), in an effort to increase the cargo throughput in the heavily damaged port.
State-of-the-art preservation of historic buildings and monuments: The Volkerschlachtdenkmal (‘Monument to the Battle of the Nations’) in Leipzig is considered to be Europe’s largest memorial. Its construction required a total of 120,000 m³ of tamped concrete and 12,500 m³ porphyroid granite.