Colombo Dockyard carries out emergency propeller repairs on Norwegian-owned bulk carrier in Trinco

MV Star Norita accommodated at Ashroff Jetty – Trincomalee Port, work continuing day and night

Colombo Dockyard Plc has recently carried out emergency propeller repairs on a Norwegian-owned bulk carrier in Trincomalee. The afloat repair was completed two days ahead of the planned duration, saving time and money for the client.

The Mv. Star Norita (LOA 190 x Beam 32.26 with GRT 32,371T) bulk carrier had experienced damages on her propeller blades followed by undue vibration, noise and high fuel consumption. She had completed her cargo operations at Haldia and were looking for emergency repair support.

Considering the less diversion time, ample berth availability with calm water for such an operation, Colombo Dockyard proposed to trim the propeller blades by berthing the vessel bow down at Trincomalee port. Accordingly, the vessel sailed from Haldia to Trincomalee and the Colombo Dockyard’s Rapid Response Afloat Repair Services team (RRARS) was mobilised to attend to the repairs at Trincomalee Port.

RRARS team arrived at Trincomalee on 14 May evening and necessary pre-planning was carried out to attend the vessel soon upon berthing on 15 May morning. The team immediately erected the scaffolding hanging to the rudder, inspected the extent of damage on each blade, marked damaged areas and took the dimensions. 

Accordingly, they have prepared the damage report with the exact dimensions and position of the damage and communicated it to vessel owners, surveyor from the classification society Lloyd Register. The biggest damage was observed in blade No. 4. Yard defined the cutting profile from the blade together with the class surveyor on site. The extent of damage on other blades also compared and agreed to proceed with the same profile on all four blades.

The on-site team prepared a cutting template, accordingly marked on the blade, commenced cropping the damaged portion accordingly, prepared the edge with smoothening, shaped the profile with grinding, cleaned the treated surface and carried out DP testing to ensure it is free from cracks. The same process was done for all four blades sequentially.

The job was initially quoted for five days, but the yard team completed and handed over the vessel for sailing at 2000hrs of the third day, two days ahead of the estimated duration. The RRARS team travelled from the west coast to the east coast across the country, where travel restrictions were imposed and partial lockdowns were imposed due to the third wave of COVID-19. 

After the propeller damage, the vessel observed the fuel consumption as 26-27 MT at 89 RPM with heavy vibration and noise. Even during repair, it was observed that the holding nuts of the rudder inspection cover came out due to vibration. The feedback from the vessel after the repair was successfully carried out at eco speed of 96 RPM, the fuel consumption came back to the desired original parameters which are 23 MT, a saving of 4 MT of fuel per day and no vibration or undue noises from the propeller. 

The Sri Lankan Government has already initiated the development plans for Trincomalee Port, where Colombo Dockyard was also invited to look at possible opportunities.  A senior team from Colombo Dockyard visited the Trincomalee Port and inspected potential areas for development, especially for ship repairing and shipbuilding activities. As a result of this visit and the full co-operation of the SLPA team, smooth execution of this repair operation was facilitated and carried out in afloat condition.  Special mention must be made of the officials Resident Manager (Trincomalee) K.A.K.N.W. Weerasinghe and Deputy Harbour Master Capt. Sriyantha Arampath.

The project team was coordinated by Head of Afloat Repairs Venura Wanasinghe and the production team was headed by S.L. Liyanage. The Colombo Dockyard’s overseas representative for Norway Harald Vinnes of HV Trading played a key role in securing the project and coordinating the commercial matters smoothly. The local agents for the vessel Wilhelmsen Meridian Navigation Ltd. also provided the necessary logistic support to facilitate the project completion meeting owners’ requirements.

Colombo Dockyard PLC operates in collaboration with Onomichi Dockyard Co. Ltd., Japan since 1993 providing ship repair and shipbuilding services to the global marine fraternity at one of the most strategic marine hubs, Sri Lanka.  

Repair work day and night to provide a fast turnaround time for the client

 Propeller repair work being attended in afloat condition

The bulk carrier accommodated at the Ashroff Pier during her emergency repair call