Viking Vanquish, a high-capacity 3D seismic survey vessel operated for CGG, underwent a 21-day program of works at Gibdock. Work involved tailshaft withdrawal and the full overhaul of the shaft, couplings, liners, and related equipment. (46)
Under Repair Mediterranean yard Gibdock competes in a market looking to turn the corner By Clive Woodbridge he Mediterranean ship repair sector has experienced significant change in recent years. Union Naval Barcelona, formerly one of the most active Spanish yards, has stopped operations; the port of Marseilles has leased its large graving dock to the Italian San Giorgio del Porto group on a long-term basis; and another Italian repairer, the Palumbo group, has taken over Malta Drydocks following its privatization by the Maltese government. In the Eastern Mediterranean, there has been significant investment by Turkish yards, boosting their repair and conversion capabilities and enhancing their competitive position. Amidst the upheaval, Gibraltar s Gibdock has built on more than a century of experience and the natural advantage of a strategic location in the straits of Gibraltar. From its position at the gateway to the Mediterranean, the yard competes for the wide variety of vessels passing by and identifies opportunities for growth based on its track record in the industry. The company has three drydocks, ranging in length from 154 m to 272 m, which are served by a total of seven dock cranes, with capacities from 8 tons to 45 tons. In addition, Gibdock has two alongside repair quays, the 300 m long main wharf and the 435 m long south mole. With these facilities, the company provides repair, maintenance, and conversion services to various ship types and as a result has been able to take advantage of prevailing market trends in the region. The offshore vessel sector is one of these market trends, with the Mediterranean becoming a more popular location for specialist owners and operators to undertake repair and refit work. Offshore opportunities There is a growing amount of offshore exploration and production activity in West Africa January 2014 marine technology (47)
and the Americas, points out Richard Beards, Gibdock s managing director. We are ideally located for operators to carry out necessary work to their vessels before redeployment in these areas, especially when relocating assets from Northern Europe or Asia. Over the past year, the company has docked a series of complex ships for owners and operators. For example, Gibdock secured its first drydocking contract from Technip, a world leader in project management, engineering, and construction for the energy industry. Wellservicer, a multi-role diving support vessel with subsea lift capability, went through an intensive and relatively complex class renewal docking at the Gibraltar yard in summer 2013. The main scope of work for the 111.4 m long, 9158 gt DP-class 3 Wellservicer included an overhaul of the ship s three tunnel thrusters and three azimuthing thrusters. These were removed to the yard s workshops, disassembled, and put through a rigorous maintenance program before rebuilding, with Gibdock engineers working in close collaboration with Technip s thruster supplier, Rolls-Royce. The Wellservicer project also included the removal of the two small deck cranes and their replacement with two new five-ton capacity units. This required deck plate modification, including work to the vessels under deck stiffeners. Another recent offshore visitor to the yard was the seismic survey ship, WG Cook, for returning client Western Geco. The vessel went through a major 19-day refit at the yard in preparation for a new deployment off the shores of Canada. Gibdock allocated its largest drydock for this project, which enabled a variety of yard equipment to be deployed simultaneously. The dock s heavy lifting capability was also brought into play, with one of its three cranes being occupied continuously by the need to carry out a 5 m exhaust extension and modifications to The Gibdock facilities are situated close to the region s commercial center as well as to the Rock of Gibraltar. The company has three drydocks, ranging in length from 154 m to 272 m, which are served by a total of seven dock cranes, with capacities from 8 tons to 45 tons. the vessel s main mast. Repairs carried out during the docking also included the replacement of the ship s thruster z-drives, the removal of the box cooler, modifications to the sea chests, and hull blasting and painting. A particularly demanding part of the WG Cook project was the upgrade and modification of the vessel s hydraulic pipes and the modification of the hydraulic lines after the relocation of items of equipment. Overall this was a labor-intensive project, and approximately 300 personnel from the yard and the owner were onboard the vessel at its peak. Gibdock recently passed a significant milestone in its drive to attract wider oil and gas work, as it completed its first assembly pad, called pad 1. It is a custom-designed assembly area with optimally-positioned piles and pile caps for the construction and assembly of medium-sized packages for the oil industry. It includes a load-out quay and draws on service craneage. The first of two fabrication pads that are planned, pad 1 adjoins the 400 m long south mole waterfront, which has a 12 m draft to accommodate semisubmersibles, and which has been cleared for dedicated semisub/floating production storage and offloading/drilling unit work. Initially, the company is focusing on Mediterranean and North African projects, but there also is interest from operators serving West Africa. The facilities also offer a viable alternative for North Sea projects. The company plans to target straightforward packages, preassembled units, and structural work before bidding on major fixed platform jobs. In the near future, the company plans to bid direct to exploration, production, and contracting (48) marine technology January 2014
parties for complete module and well-head deck jobs. During the past year, Gibdock made several investments. These include measures to improve safety within the yard, including the completion of a new system of safe walkways for visitors and staff. It also has recertified its integrated management system with a team from Lloyd s Register Quality Assurance visiting the yard to carry out a thorough audit of its systems including ISO18001, ISO14001 and ISO9001 standards. Specialist work Outside of the offshore market, there are a wide range of other smaller, specialist ships that operate in the Mediterranean that tend to be drydocked locally, as it would not be cost effective to sail them further afield. An important source of business is the fleet of dredgers that are used for various port and other marine construction projects in this area, and Gibdock is attracting its share of contracts from this sector. The company recently completed its first project for DEME, for example, one of the world s leading dredging companies. The Belgian group commissioned alongside maintenance and repairs to its rock cutter suction dredger, Ambiorix, which is among the most powerful vessels of its type in the dredging industry. The 124 m long, 28,200 kw ship underwent a 12-day overhaul berthed alongside Gibdock s south mole. The company was tasked with fabricating additional dredging equipment and carrying out wear and tearrelated repairs to the cutter heads and cutter ladder front, following an assignment the vessel undertook in Morocco. The most challenging part of the job was a repair to the four cutter heads and the cutter ladder front wearing plates, the latter requiring a rigorous welding procedure to upgrade worn wearing plate areas. Each of the cutter heads on the Ambiorix weighed in at 27 tons, and their transportation safely from the vessel to the company s workshop was also a relatively demanding exercise. Repair and refurbishment of offshore vessels has proved a notable area of growth in an otherwise flat Mediterranean repair market. Tugs and other workboats are also regular visitors to many Mediterranean repair yards, and Gibdock is no exception. Boluda Maritime s 75 ton Tron is a good example of this, as Gibdock carried out a package of work to its Voith Schneider propulsion systems during a 15-day drydock at the yard. Containerships The Mediterranean region is an important operational center for the container shipping industry, straddling the key east-west trade lanes in particular. As a result, it is home to several major container shipping hubs, including the ports of Algeciras and Valencia in Spain, Tangiers in Morocco, Malta and Gioia Tauro in the central Mediterranean, and Port Said to the east. The proximity of these hubs is a significant advantage to regional ship repair yards, as the yards can dock container vessels without any significant deviation from shipping routes. Gibdock has seen its container vessel business grow in recent times, and has developed ties to the German shipowner community. For time-pressured container ships, it s fair to say that they think location, location, location first, says Richard Beards. The Hanjin and Maersk terminals are close by in Algeciras, while the fast-growing Tanger Med Terminal is just across the strait. Vessels can call here with practically zero deviation, allowing them to remain on scheduled runs without costly diversions. January 2014 marine technology (49)
One of the company s largest containership projects in the past 12 months involved the Aldebaran, a 2008-built 2,785 TEU capacity containership owned and managed by Reederei Horst Zeppenfeld, which went through an extensive package of works at the yard. As part of this project, Gibdock was called upon to remove three deck cranes weighing more than 50 tons each from their foundations and transfer them ashore using two mobile cranes. One 250 ton-capacity mobile crane was used to support the jib end of the crane while a second, 500 ton-capacity mobile supported the crane housing. Once ashore, each of the cranes was placed on two sets of wooden blocks, one to support the crane housing and the other the crane jib. Scaffolding was erected around each crane pedestal to provide a working platform for the next stage, and three crane pedestals were then prepared and bevelled according to manufacturer guidelines to accept their new foundations. Other German shipowners and operators that have docked ships at Gibdock in the last year or so include H. Peterson, Briese, Reederei Nord, Intersee, and Interorients. These projects have included afloat steel repairs, stern tube renewals, and bow repairs. Most of the vessels docked by German owners have been containerships, but bulkers and tankers under German management have also been repaired at the yard. Passenger vessels The Mediterranean is home to many ferry services, and is one of the main destinations for cruise ships during the European summer months. As a result, it is not surprising that passenger ships represent a core element of work for many Mediterranean repair yards. Gibdock has been able to capitalize on growing local demand. Ferries make up a significant amount of our workload in the first part of the year especially, says John Taylor, operations director, as regional operators dock their ships for refits and routine maintenance and repairs prior to the summer peak season. Our The Spirit of Adventure, part of the Saga fleet, is shown in drydock. Competition is fierce among Mediterranean yards for high-end cruise ship work. docks enjoyed a high level of occupancy over the first six months of 2013, largely as a result of repeat business from leading Mediterranean ferry operators. An especially notable project completed earlier this year involved collision damage repairs to a high-speed catamaran. The main task for the company was carrying out work to the damaged vessel s hull, which included repairing a hole measuring approximately 50 m x 30 m along the starboard side. In addition, Gibdock has undertaken cruise ship work for operators such as Thompson Cruises, Pullmantur, and Saga. Most evidence points to the fact that 2013 has been as tough as 2011 and 2012 for Mediterranean ship repair. The ship repair market generally is going through a difficult phase as a consequence of the global financial crisis and its impact on the shipping industry. Mediterranean yards like Gibdock are not immune from such pressures. Shipowners and operators are tending to only commission repair and maintenance work that is absolutely necessary, says Taylor, and this has affected the average amount of work authorized for each docking. These are not easy times for anyone in the ship repair business, and that includes all yards in the Mediterranean. However, by focusing on markets with growth potential (like offshore) and those where we can capitalize fully on our geographical location and our particular skill-sets, we believe Gibdock has been affected less than other yards in the region. MT Clive Woodbridge is a freelance journalist who has been writing about shipping, ports, and transportation issues for more than 30 years. (50) marine technology January 2014