In January 2019, the 334-metre container vessel MSC Paris underwent an underwater repair during an extended port stay in Jebel Ali, Dubai. The work was performed by specialist divers at Wärtsilä’s new underwater services office, the only one in the area that can offer this kind of service. Thanks to the technical repair work, which included a hyperbaric bow thruster overhaul and seal exchange, the customer was able to minimise the impact on the charter terms as well as save time and money.
Taking any vessel into dry dock to perform critical repairs or planned refurbishment is a big undertaking. For a large container ship the process can involve unloading, storing and reloading up to 18,000 containers in addition to any work that needs to be performed. Trident, a Wärtsilä company, solves this problem by providing innovative underwater services for propulsion, hull and machinery repair, as well as overhauls and maintenance.
Although there is no shortage of underwater service companies in Dubai, Trident is the only one that can undertake technical repairs in addition to standard ship husbandry. So when the MSC Paris needed a thruster hub overhaul, Hamburg-based ship management company Hammonia Reederei turned to Trident. “We knew and trusted Trident’s capabilities and expertise from previous repair projects, so it was only natural we turned to them when the MSC Paris needed an overhaul,” explains Christian Letzner, Fleet Manager at Hammonia Reederei. “There is no other diving company in Dubai or Fujairah that can perform this type of repair and with Trident we knew we were in safe hands.
We knew and trusted Trident’s capabilities and expertise from previous repair projects, so it was only natural we turned to them when the MSC Paris needed an overhaul.
Preparations for the repair were carried out in Spain but in order to minimise the impact on the vessel’s operation and charter terms the hyperbaric bow thruster hub overhaul itself was carried out in Dubai – something that would have been impossible before the opening of Trident’s new office.
When the vessel arrived in port, all the necessary diver technicians and equipment were ready and waiting, further minimising downtime. The thruster hub overhaul was more complex than usual because rather than just exchanging a blade or replacing a shaft seal it involved taking the entire hub apart. The work went exactly to plan using methods that meet the requirements set out by manufacturers and classification societies – keeping the MCS Paris out of dry dock and firmly on schedule. “The planning and execution of the work by Trident’s team meant that disruption was minimised and the MSC Paris could be on her way again in the shortest time possible,” remarks Christian Letzner.
Trident’s new Dubai office is the latest addition in a network of five locations that provide technical repairs and other underwater services. Specialist teams of certified diver technicians and propulsion experts can be dispatched anywhere in the world in a matter of hours to carry out class-approved repairs as well as inspections, refurbishment and equipment installation or replacement.
