Back to work for TV star dredger
Arco Beck sails out of the River Tees for trials prior to a return to duty.
A dredger which was featured on the ITV detective series Vera whilst laid up by the economic downturn has been restored to functionality by the A&P Tees ship repair yard.
The 5,891dwt trailing suction hopper dredger, designed to extract sand and gravel from the seabed, was laid up in 2009 when its owners, Hanson Aggregate Marine Ltd, had excess capacity in its nine strong fleet of specialist aggregate dredgers. The Arco Beck was thus ‘mothballed at Sunderland until business improved.
Captain Jae Jones, operations manager of Southampton based Hanson Aggregate Marine said, “The Arco Beck was unfortunately the logical choice to be laid up because although she is a good ship she isn’t as flexible in her dredging and discharging capability as the other vessels of our fleet.
“But in that time she did become a TV star. She featured in an episode of the detective show Vera. There was a lot of action going, with cars screeching up alongside her and actors running through the engine room. Some of our staff even appeared as extras!”
Now the 99.8m long vessel is needed back at work and was towed down to A&P Tees in mid-June for a major refit and overhaul.
A&P Tees project manager Mike Wappett said the Arco Beck had undergone the removal and renewal of 50 tons of steel around the hopper, coamings and the main deck. The propeller shafts and hubs were overhauled and refitted with new seals, the hull blasted clean and completely repainted.
Mr Wappett said, “The job went remarkably well, the steelwork was ahead of schedule but there were a few challenges placed upon everybody involved in bringing the ship back into service.”
All the cabins were refurbished with new carpets and curtains and the galley refitted. The crew of ten are aboard for three weeks at a time and in the near future the vessel will be operating in the River Thames area and in Belgium and France.
Captain Jones said, “Ours is a very specialist, niche industry because of the nature of the work involved and A&P Tees have developed the knowledge needed for these vessels.
“Because we have been coming here for a number of years we have built up a good working relationship with the yard, its staff and management. A lot of it is built on trust, personalities and familiarity with the vessels.”
The Arco Beck has now sailed out of the River Tees to do load testing off Humberside.
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