First UK Outing for the Dockmaster
The Hammelmann Dockmaster made its first ever appearance in a UK yard late last year. A major British ship repair yard won the multi million pound contract to completely refit a Royal Navy aviation training ship. The contract also called for 8000m 2of hull and topside surface to be UHP water blasted down to bare metal prior to repainting.
The Dutch company Doornbus Vehur were awarded the surface preparation work by the yard because their experience of operating the remote controlled, semi-automatic Dockmaster vehicle enabled them to offer a removal rate several times faster than conventional water or grit blasting methods.
Initial set up and UHP blasting commenced on a Saturday with primer being applied directly onto the freshly prepared surface as the work continued. A single operative with a couple of occasional helpers blasted approx. 1000m 2of hull per 10 hour shift, simultaneously collecting the removed material, which was high in DFT coating and waste water, for further safe disposal.
The job was completed by the Thursday. The Dockmaster system did not interfere with other dockyard activities and, more importantly, was safe to work with and ecologically friendly.
The Dockmaster was in action again the next month, this time at St Nazaire in France. On this occasion, a section of the bow coating of the worlds’ newest, and largest cruise ship, Queen Mary 2 needed removing but manual UHP blasting couldn’t touch it. The Dockmaster completed the 1000m 2job in 10 hours.
Hammelmann have been manufacturing the Dockmaster in various formats since 1969.
The early machines were capable of high pressure washing but as pump design improved and UHP performances became the norm, the concept was adopted to manufacture surface preparation vehicles. A major German yard in Hamburg pioneered the use of UHP Dockmasters and it currently operates six of the vehicles.
MJ Information No: 19245
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