The main problem was the holes in the ballast tanks. The team closed one the holes by welding an angle bar (for extra strength) over part of the hole and then filling in the rest of the gap with steel plating. The difficulty with other holes was that the deformation of the hull was very bad and it was impossible to weld over the area.

An alternative solution was devised to block the holes.

Following these operations the water was pumped out from the ballast tank and the bow raised approximately 1.2m.

At this point a visual bottom inspection was requested to ensure that there was no other damage.

As nothing was found, the vessel was given authorisation to sail and the full report, photographs and an underwater video of the damage were completed and provided to the owner along with the assessment of damage repairs needed. The repairs and inspection work took only three days to complete and make the vessel seaworthy.

However, this was not the end of the story. The bulk carrier had to unload its cargo at two ports on its way to Antwerp. The first of these was in Spain and here Hydrex was asked to carry out an additional underwater inspection to ensure that the damage had not worsened and the vessel was still seaworthy.

A Hydrex team flew out to do the inspection but the temporary repairs were holding and no worsening of the vessel's condition was found. Because of this assessment the classification society gave authorisation for the vessel to continue on its schedule to Antwerp for complete discharging and then on to dry dock for repairs.

When the vessel had arrived safely in the Antwerp dry dock, Hydrex attended the out of water inspection. The company had been asked to give an assessment, after the initial inspection in Cyprus, in order to provide an estimate of the amount of steel that would be needed for repairs, so that the repair work could proceed as quickly as possible. The team's assessment of the damage and amount of metal needed proved to be accurate. The initial inspection, temporary repairs and overall evaluation helped the damaged vessel return to service as quickly as was possible.

MJInformation No: 22260