In Ship-Shape

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The dry dock is a unique experience. Every year the Africa Mercy comes out of the water for clean-up, inspection and a fresh coat of paint. Yesterday she began her annual dry-dock in Las Palmas de Gran Canaries. Jim Paterson, Senior VP of Operations, said:

“The two weeks dry dock is the end of a five years cycle. The work will consist of taking the ship out of the water, valves inspection, cleaning and painting. In addition an AC unit will be replaced and repairs in the Galley. It is a straight forward work, we don’t expect any difficulty.”

The Astican shipyard in Las Palmas de Gran Canaries uses a syncrolift system for lifting the ships out of the water. The vessel is maneuvered over a submerged cradle, which is then lifted by a set of synchronized hoists through rails to where the work is done. Syncrolift system has the capacity to handle several vessels at the same time.

Marine Operations is responsible for the shipyard phase. I don’t need to work with the dry-docking, but I have had my share of dry-docking during my seven years as an engineer on the Anastasis. I can say that literally I knew that ship from top to bottom.

In the dry-dock barnacles, seaweeds and other creature are scraped, the hull sandblasted, or water blasted. Underwater suctions and discharge valves are opened, overhauled and inspected. When the ship goes back in the water it is in ship-shape for another year of service.

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