Major layup repairs on dredger Tridevi Prem completed successfully

Dredger MV Tridevi Prem (7,058 DWT), owned by Mercator Ltd., Mumbai, India, called in for her major layup and dry-docking repairs during April 2012.

Colombo has been attracting many dredgers for repairs over the past decade from all over the globe. Given the good track record, the owner’s automatic choice was Colombo Dockyard for its repairs.

Mercator has been a regular caller, patronising Colombo with its dredgers and tankers and the yard has been servicing its fleet successfully.

The main repair scope consisted of routine dry-docking related repairs and during this call the dredger was accommodated in Dock No. 01 (30,000DWT) dry-dock for her extensive repairs. The repair scope during this call included a wide spectrum of repairs:

1 Drag heads: Carry out extensive build-ups, repairs and renewals



2 Dredge pumps: Build-ups on the housings, overhauling of the pumps, overhauling of the pedestal bearing housings. Reconditioning of the port impellers and balancing.



3 Propeller shafts: Bedding of the port propeller, shaft seal overhaul, withdraw the tail shafts for inspection.



4 Rudders: Carry out repairs on the port rudder skeg to eliminate misalignment, remove and refit rudders, withdraw rudder stocks and renewal of seals.



5 Bottom doors: Renewal of studs, renewal of bottom door seals and securing rings, nuts and stainless steel rods.



6 Bottom door rams: Overhauling of six rams



7 Cleaning of the centre keelson: Complete centre keelson cleaned for inspection. Totally 300 cum of mud and muddy water were disposed and 1,820 sqm were scraped, high pressure washed and cleaned. New bottom opening had to be cut again.



8 Jet pump installation: Renewed the pump with owner’s spares, modified the suction lines; renewed sea suction filter strainer and housing, modifications to the existing pump bed.



9 Pump room and deck sluice valve overhaul: Renewal of buffer rings and retainer rings. Extra man hours spent on the overhaul as the owner supplied spares were incorrect.



10 Overflow duct repairs: Steel renewals on the stationary and movable parts of the overflow duct pipes, overhauling and re chroming of overflow duct ram.



11 Blasting and painting: Blasting and painting of the hull and main deck hopper area.



12 Removal of mud from the buoyancy chambers: 250 cum of mud removed from six buoyancy chambers and all chambers cleaned. Eight buoyancy chambers were cleaned for inspection. This caused complications for completing the for bottom door work. Side openings had to be cut for access and finally pressure testing also carried out.Installation of new air compressors: Air compressors (two) owner supplied.

The project was managed by Ship Manager Priyanka Cooray while the invoicing coordination was handled by Invoicing Engineer A. Sarathchandra. The yard’s production teams worked tirelessly to meet the stringent deadlines and re-deliver the vessel on schedule to the owners.

During the dry-docking call the owner/manager’s interests were looked after by the attending Superintendent Engineers Raj Gudela, Dayal Verakar from the Ship Management Ind – Aust Maritime Pvt. Ltd. and Vijay Arora representing the owners Mercator Ltd. The classification society Indian Register of Shipping represented in Sri Lanka requirements were also met by the yard during this call.

Local agents GAC Shipping Ltd. provided the necessary husbanding services for the vessel during her stay in Colombo efficiently.