During a routine underwater inspection at the Port of New York and New Jersey, American divers had established that there was a fracture to the starboard bilge rail which subsequently became a 530mm crack in the actual hull plating running vertically along a transverse weld.

The owner made arrangements for UMC to undertake the work and UMC booked an alongside berth as the vessel sailed from New York to pick up cargo in the UK. UMC's design team produced specific CAD drawings and procedures for the job, which were formally approved by DNV.

When the vessel arrived, a team of specialist divers removed a 1,200mm section of bilge rail in order that a specially constructed cofferdam could be fitted. Once fitted, the divers continued dressing the cut sections of bilge rail. With the cofferdam drained, the team removed the internal cement box and strong back, then the section of hull plating containing the crack. A new pre-rolled plate was cut to size and a final insert was positioned. Upon completion of full penetration root welding, non-destructive testing confirmed the weld was good. The cofferdam was removed, the external weld penetration inspected, and UMC divers applied an underwater coating around the exposed weld and plate.

UMC divers also installed a new sea chest grid which had been pre-fabricated by UMC's technical team. The vessel's time in port was used to maximum effect without recourse to expensive dry docking.

MJ Information No: 18736