In rapid succession of late the yard, in Rendsburg on the Kiel Canal and part of the German Naval Yards (GNY) group, has carried out repairs and maintenance not only on two 300 ton jack-up pontoons but also on three German Navy ships.
Maintenance on the jack-ups was ordered by the Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA) in Brunsbüttel at the southwest end of the Kiel Canal. The units were sent to sister facility German Naval Yards Kiel for work by Nobiskrug personnel.
The two 34m long and 6.5m wide pontoons were lifted ashore by a 900 ton gantry crane. After cleaning they were moved to a covered hall for maintenance of mechanical parts including winches. Corrosion protection was renewed and the pontoon’s existing hydraulic mechanism was replaced with a more efficient and eco-friendly generator and electro-hydraulic combination.
The main part of the job was the installation of more than 100m of 60mm cabling. The cabling is for attaching the jack-up barges to the sliding Kiel Canal lock gates in Brunsbüttel and Kiel-Holtenau in order to stabilise them and take their weight when they need to be removed. Nobiskrug has regularly repaired those same lock sliding doors in the past.
The combat support vessel Frankfurt Am Main went back into service in September after spending two and a half months in the 426m long dry dock at German Naval Yards Kiel.
A Nobiskrug team repaired stern damage on the174 m long Navy ship over about ten weeks. Along with extensive steel works and the replacement of some 40 tons of steel, the yard also carried out scheduled maintenance and pipe work.
The ship was the third German Navy vessel to dock this year with a yard in the GNY Group for repairs and maintenance. It followed the 83m reconnaissance vessel Oste in July and the 143m frigate Hessen earlier in the year – all for repairs and maintenance work. Oste underwent extensive maintenance as well as underwater hull, superstructure and tank conservation, Nobiskrug reported. The yard also carried out a status survey and other maintenance work.
Nobiskrug Repair Department Director Bernd Wittorf said the Navy depended greatly on its support vessels and relied on the yard to deliver them “fully operational and on time after extensive repair work.” The visits “demonstrate the strong confidence in our shipyard group and confirm the high quality of our work”, Wittorf said.
Late last year, Nobiskrug’s other sister yard, Lindenau Schiffswerft in Kiel, carried out maintenance and other work on two German GEOMAR research ships – the 54.6m Alkor and the 60.8m Poseidon.
By Tom Todd
