Shaft Seal Replacement- UNDERWATER DURING CARGO OPS

No one ever plans to perform shaft seal repairs to their vessel.  These failures typically happen at the most inopportune time and in the most remote locations.  While a vessel was transiting in the South Pacific, issues with the shaft seal developed.  Subsea Global Solutions was immediately put on alert together with the seal manufacturer.  Under consultation from the seal manufacturer and considering the location of the vessel it was decided to perform an inboard temporary repair to allow the vessel to transit to a suitable location to perform a permanent shaft seal replacement.  With this temporary repair in place the vessel transited back to the North American West Coast where Subsea Global Solutions’ West Coast office attended the vessel while it performed cargo operations.  Subsea Global Solutions deployed one of its dozen Transhab flexible hyperbaric cofferdams specifically designed to create a dry hyperbaric environment around the shaft seal system.  Due to the unique design of this particular vessel’s stern tube, the engineering department at Subsea Global Solutions created a unique adapter flange to accommodate this Transhab fit up.  Since the Transhab system is completely independent of the sealing system it allows a complete shaft seal replacement, housing replacement, liner replacement and even a shim installation or removal; all done in a dry hyperbaric environment.

Once the TransHab was installed the seal area was “de-watered” and a Original Equipment Manufacturer approved seal replacement was performed by certified and trained diver technicians.  Seal replacement included the replacement of all of the lip seal rings utilizing an approved dry hyperbaric bonding method.  Subsea Global Solutions is the only underwater service contractor that consistently trains annually with this seal manufacturer and maintains diver technicians certified to service and bond new shaft seals in a dry hyperbaric environment.  By maintaining diver technicians fully employed with this high level of training, Subsea Global Solutionstogether with the Original Equipment Manufacturer can provide a full factory warranty on this seal replacement.

Once the shaft seal was replaced the rope guard was welded back into place utilizing the “A” class wet welding procedures developed by Subsea Global Solutions and are class society approved.  By utilizing coded divers to this procedure, the welding performed was considered permanent according to class thus eliminating any notations on this repair performed.

The vessel sailed away with a completely renewed shaft seal system with a minimal impact to its schedule.  This critical repair allowed the vessel to remain in service even though it had years ahead of it to it’s next scheduled dry docking event.

Subsea Global Solutions is your one source for global underwater service.  The Cornerstone of our success is our ability to put your needs first and foremost in  the solutions we develop.  We remain your trusted resource in and out of the water so please feel free to contact us at any time. in any one of our 10 locations globally!

http://www.subseasolutions.com

Encuesta

Los accidentes ocurridos en el buceo profesional en los últimos meses nos plantean algunas preguntas que necesitan respuestas claras y constructivas. Una de las cuestiones que la comunidad de buceadores profesionales debería debatir es sí el uso de equipos autónomos en el buceo profesional debería estar permitido.

Actualmente existe una fuerte corriente que se prepone debatir sobre la prohibición del uso del equipo de suministro autónomo de aire para el buceo profesional.

Por favor, participe marcando una de las respuestas al lado.

PT. AOS Passes IMCA Divers Evaluation

Posted on Sep 15th, 2014 with tags asia, Imca, KB Associates, Michael Whelan, News by topic, PT. Advanced Offshore, Ravi Rohidas, Subsea,Surface Supplied Diver Assessment, TOTAL Indonesie.

The first batch of 12 experienced divers from PT. Advanced Offshore Services has successfully completed their Surface Supplied Diver Assessment at TOTAL Indonesie (TEPI) offshore site installation in Balikpapan. The assessment was carried out in accordance with the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA).

The diver assessment was part of PT. AOS and TEPI commitment to bring the competence level of local divers to international IMCA’s standards. With the support of TEPI, PT. AOS aims to raise the standard of divers and diving team, of both the National (Indonesian) and other staff through various initiatives and training. PT. AOS has since arranged various diving competency courses such as IMCA Diver Medic, IMCA Trainee Air Diving Supervisor, KMB DSI Helmet Technician course and other similar courses for their personnel.

KB Associates Pte Ltd (KBA) is the only company approved by IMCA outside the UK to conduct the experienced diver assessment program and were contracted by PT. Advanced Offshore Services (PT. AOS) and TOTAL Indonesie (TEPI) to conduct the assessment. The assessment requires the divers to complete a theory review and exam and a range of practical assessments while using an IMCA compliant surface supplied air diving system and support equipment. The practical tasks included use of airlifts, underwater burning equipment, inspection and photography, a range of u/w tools, emergency diver recovery drills – dives to 40m and DDC drills over the 14-day period.

Michael Whelan (KBA’s assessor) has over 30 years of experience as a diver, diving supervisor and commercial diver trainer, and he was supported by Omar Bin Othman from Singapore. Michael said: “The divers showed that their experience over the years has given them a good foundation and the assessment went really well. During the assessment the divers were able to demonstrate their skills and knowledge while reinforcing the safety standards required in areas such as conducting emergency drills.”

Ravi Rohidas from Advanced Offshore has commented: “I would like to thank TEPI Balikpapan, TEPI Handil, LSM provider Team and Darren Brunton & his team – Michael Whelan and Omar Bin Othman from KB Associates Singapore as well as the team of PT. AOS for all their efforts in the successful completion of this assessment, we are now looking at the next step for the diver competency development with IMCA Diver Medic training.”

Discussions are in the plan for the second batch of local Indonesian divers to be assessed as part of the PT. AOS and TOTAL Indonesie’s initiative and dedication to raise the commercial diver competency standards and safety for local national divers.

Press Release, September 15, 2014

SMM Exclusive: Hydrex Drive for Innovations

Posted on Sep 15th, 2014 with tags Drive, Ecoshield, Exclusive, Fuel saving, Germany, Hamburg, Hydrex, Innovations, News by topic, Offshore Energy:, Rob Wolthuizen, SMM.

Hydrex, one of the leading underwater repair and replacement specialists, exhibited a range of its products at this year’s SMM in Hamburg.

After our last year’s interview with Mr. Rob Wolthuizen during Offshore Energy, our reporter took the chance to speak with Mr. Wolthuizen again at the SMM trade fair.

Hereby we’re bringing you a part of their conversation.

After the last year’s interview our readers became more familiar with Hydrex’s services and products, so were there any new developments that happened during the past year?

Rob Wolthuizen: In the past year we had a breakthrough in the market of rudder and thruster protection with the product called Ecoshield.

Ecoshield is specially designed for giving thrusters and rudders protection against cavitation.

This means that we can offer something to shipowners where they can protect underwater equipment for the lifetime of the ship.

In April you received a Seatrade award for Ecoshield, what does this mean to you?

Rob Wolthuizen: It means that it is recognized by other parties in the market.

The jury of this award is composed from international leaders in the industry and we highly appreciate that they have recognized this product and awarded it with this prestigious award.

In the past several months your team conducted a lot of projects all around the world, could you tell us what projects do you have planned for the future?

Rob Wolthuizen: We are working on some new innovations which are now at a stage of protection of intellectual property and we’re not disclosing any of the information.

What are you major future plans besides new developments?

Rob Wolthuizen: Another recent development is fuel saving solutions.

The first one is special buffing technology we developed for propeller blades. This is the most advanced surface treatment you can get on the market at present.

The second fuel saving technology is installation of Propeller Boss Cap Fins (PBCF).

The PBCF can recover energy loss of a propeller hub vortex in the propeller’s backward flow. Some tests by MOL showed a decreasing fuel consumption by 5% when operating at the same speed, or boosts speed by 2% with the same fuel consumption.

This is service we supply worldwide for large shipping lines like CMA CGM Group, Gearbulk etc.

Who are your major clients?

Rob Wolthuizen: I just mentioned two of them, we also work with Höegh Autoliners in Norway, Wallenius, Seaspan, Oceanex, Maersk, and you name it.

Where do you find inspiration for innovation?

Rob Wolthuizen: The inspiration is found in the fact that we are strong believers that if we don’t innovate we’re not going to survive.

It is one of the major ways to differentiate us from the rest of suppliers.

The degree of innovations keeps people very alert, it gives them drive to do new things which is attractive for engineers and sales people.

How important is client feedback for you?

Rob Wolthuizen: Very important, it is actually the most important.

If we get no feedback we feel like we are failing, so this is why we’re continuously evaluating the projects with our clients.

They hire us for substantial money and the underwater service we give saves them a lot of money as well, because they don’t have to go to drydock.

Could you share your impressions about this year’s SMM with our readers?

Rob Wolthuizen: It was a really good exhibition for us and prior to the exhibition we did promotional activities in several countries around the world so we had our agents active to make sure that we get full attention especially for Ecoshield and try to attract visitors to our stand.

Are we going to see you at Offshore Energy 2014?

Rob Wolthuizen: We are thinking about that and that is in relation with one of our new innovations. Depending on how far we are at that moment we will definitely consider exhibiting because it is going to be an offshore application.

Would you like to add something?

Rob Wolthuizen: I can only say that the increasing business is the best reward of our customers that we get and it makes us all feel confident and we perform services as they expect that we would perform them and we hope to even improve that.

Subsea World News Staff, September 15, 2014

Spanish Navy Divers Remove Explosive Ordnance Off Tarragona Coast

Posted on Sep 2nd, 2014 with tags DIVERS, europe, Explosive, Navy, News by topic, Ordnance, Spanish, Tarragona.

A Spanish Navy divers disposal team (UBMCM) has neutralized three hand grenades found off the Tarragona coast.

The explosive ordnance was found by a diver on Saturday at a depth of about 3.5 meters at Forti Queen.

Navy divers neutralized the grenades by a controlled detonation explosive charge. Afterwards the team removed the remains of shells to minimize environmental impact.

During the operations Maritime Service and the Civil Guard GEAS and the local police in Tarragona delimited a safety zone at sea and on the ground.

Subsea News Staff, September 02, 2014; Image: Armada Espanola

DNV GL Approves SGS’ Permanent Underwater Wet Welding Repairs

Posted on Sep 2nd, 2014 with tags DNV GL, europe, News by topic, repairs, SGS, SMM Hamburg, Subsea, Underwater, Wet Welding.

DNV GL and Subsea Global Solutions LLC. (SGS) announce that they have completed an extensive joint research and development program, that will allow permanent repairs to be carried out by underwater wet welding on certain areas of vessels.

Subsea Global Solutions’ global network of coded welder divers will be available to perform these permanent repairs on a case by case basis utilizing this procedure in suitable locations throughout the world in accordance with the approvals given by DNV GL.

Over the last two and a half years, Subsea Global Solutions welded in excess of 80 groove weld test plates underwater at depth in their training facilities in Miami, Florida, Long Beach, California and Terneuzen, the Netherlands. The non-destructive and mechanical testing of the plates was performed at the DNV GL lab in Hamburg, Germany. All data collected was shared between SGS and DNV GL during this procedure development program.

At the End of April 2014, test plates were welded in the training tank in Miami Florida, with a DNV GL welding engineer in attendance. The non-destructive and destructive testing was again performed at the DNV GL lab in Hamburg. Welding of the plates as well as non-destructive and destructive testing was performed in accordance with AWS D3.6M:2010 Class A. The results of the non-destructive and destructive testing were very positive with all welded test plates exhibiting metallurgical properties equivalent to permanent weld repairs performed “top-side” dry.

DNV GL also announced that during the SMM in Hamburg, Subsea Global Solutions representatives Rick Shilling (Executive Vice President), Kevin Peters (Vice President) and Uwe Aschemeier (Sr. Welding Engineer) will receive the certificate from Dr. Robert Surma, (Head of Ship Systems & Components, DNV GL) on Tuesday, September 9, 2014 at 16:00 at the DNV GL booth (No. 207 in Hall B4.GF (ground floor), to celebrate this achievement in underwater ship repair and maintenance.

Press Release, September 02, 2014

A pesar de todo, encontramos situaciones peores...

Buscando oro en una peligrosa práctica conocida como la minería del compresor

Buceadores filipinos desaparecen en el agua opaca como la leche con chocolate cavando a ciegas en busca del oro atrapado en el sedimento fangoso. Es un negocio riesgoso: Cuando los mineros bajan más profundo, los túneles submarinos podrían colapsar o puede fallar el compresor que proporciona aire. En el vídeo, Hari Sreenivasan informa sobre una peligrosa aventura emprendida por adultos y niños.

Los niños en algunas comunidades rurales pobres de las Filipinas, algunos de tan sólo 13 años, están haciendo una vida para sus familias por medio de buceo en profundos túneles bajo el agua para buscar oro en una peligrosa práctica conocida como la minería del compresor.

La minería del compresor se originó en las Filipinas a mediados de la década de 1990. La práctica fue inspirada por los pescadores que utilizan los motores de los compresores, que empujan el aire a través de un delgado tubo, para bucear bajo el agua profunda para la captura de peces de arrecife. Sin embargo, con las potenciales averías del motor y los colapsos de túneles, es una empresa extremadamente peligrosa.

El buzo Elias Delima, de sólo 15 años de edad, dice que hace el doble que otros mineros, alrededor de $5 por día. Cuando se le preguntó por qué se toma el riesgo, dijo: "Para conseguir el oro, para ayudar a mis padres y tener algo de dinero para mí mismo". 

La minería del compresor fue prohibida oficialmente en las Filipinas en 2012, pero aún continúa en algunas zonas, como el pequeño pueblo de Santa Milagrosa. Los mineros allí pagan a la policía local $11 al mes por trabajador para que miren hacia otro lado.

Más allá del peligro inmediato de la industria no regulada, Julie Hall de la Organización Mundial de la Salud dice que la minería del compresor también plantea riesgos a largo plazo para la salud para los niños, incluyendo la mala calidad del aire impulsado a través de los motores de los compresores y los efectos de la presión del agua en el cuerpo.

"Es probable que ese aire que se aspira a través del tubo se mezcle con los gases del diesel, con monóxido de carbono, con otros contaminantes, porque está muy cerca del motor que impulsando el compresor", dijo. "El cuerpo está bajo mucha presión. Pueden formarse en el torrente sanguíneo pequeñas burbujas de gas, y esas burbujas de gas pueden bloquear el suministro de sangre a pequeños trozos de su cerebro o pequeños trozos de su pulmón"