Somewhere during an offshore action, things went wrong. The portside propeller was hit hard. The measuring equipment immediately made it clear that something was wrong with the propeller.
It was decided to call in at the port of Zeebrugge and have a diving inspection carried out. Our company Submar was assigned to do a detailed inspection and, in case of damage, to map it out very precisely. Stijn jumped into the water and immediately saw what was wrong. Several (smaller) cracks, some missing pieces and a blade that appeared to be bent. The problem was that the ship was 100% booked for some important offshore assignments. So going into a dry dock to change the propeller blades was the last option. Continuing to sail with the detemined propeller damage was also out of question, as that would quickly make things worse. Together with the technical specialist of the client we discussed the matter and after decisions were made Submar could take action.
Our company was given the task of cropping two propeller blades and grinding and polishing a number of places. The idea was to keep the imbalance and the accompanying vibrations within limits. Later on, the ship would be sent to a dry dock to replace the damaged blades. This assignment gave us the opportunity to put our cold cutting robot into practice for the first time! We had already carried out several tests with the robot, which was designed and built in-house.
For understandable reasons we can’t show pictures of the robot, but we are happy to show you the pictures of the results after cutting. Thanks to our ladies, with their feminine touch, the propeller blades where finished to the last detail. Exactly at the agreed time, the diving work was completed and the ship could leave again.
Another satisfied customer!
Propeller Blade Cropping
