Hydroscand Plymouth chosen to finish work on the wheelchair accessible boat Artemis

Tuesday, 9th November 2021

Hydroscand Plymouth was invited to tender and won the contract to finish work on the Artemis, the wheelchair-accessible expedition Dazcat.

Multimarine Manufacturing Ltd are the leading UK experts in all custom boat builds and conversions. Oriel Butcher in Marketing and Media said: “One example is the Artemis, which was designed and built on-site in Cornwall to circumnavigate under sail, exploring remote areas.”

Owner Tom, who was an ex-army officer and injured in a friendly rugby match, came up with the Artemis. Oriel said: “The most innovative aspects of the boat are the rig setup and sail handling, as well as the boat manoeuvring, all designed to be managed from Tom’s chair. All of this required some systems to be installed that don’t normally feature in Multimarine boats, which is where Hydroscand entered the picture.”

Multimarine is based in Southeast Cornwall and has been working with our branch in Plymouth for around 5 years.

The Artemis hadn’t been fully completed. So, on recommendation from a local crane company and John, one of the yard engineers who had previously worked with Hydroscand, we were invited to tender. Although we had already completed a few marine projects.

Oriel said: “Hydroscand’s quote came in as the most economically viable. They also presented as the most professional and previous experience of the company indicated they were reliable. They have proven good on all counts and have also installed systems on another highly innovative Multimarine wheelchair-accessible powered trimaran.

“Multimarine are delighted to be working with such a professional and dedicated company with locally based offices and connections.”

Mark Skinner, Branch Manager at our Plymouth branch, said: “We installed the Thermoplastic hydraulic hoses for the boat steering system, which ran from the stern of the boat to the cockpit, linking in with the auto-pilot and the pump.

“We were excited to win the contract. We have worked with Multimarine for many years, and it was great to work with them again. It was a fantastic team effort by everyone at the branch.”

An Industry First – Floating Scaffold Completes 3t Contract Lift

Tuesday, 9th November 2021

In an industry first, floating scaffolding has been used to complete a specialist contract lift on the River Severn. The job further expands the capabilities of the innovative ScaffFloat system that combines patented plastic floats with standard scaffold beams, tubes and clips to make temporary pontoons and workboats for inland and coastal projects.

Working in partnership with one of their Approved Installer Attridge Scaffolding, the partnership was able to provide a full scope of works that included full access to the vertical concrete penstock face of the riverside water works using traditional scaffold, as well as providing two large floating scaffold pontoons for storing and lifting the new eel screens, weighing 2.2t each.

James Attridge said “ This project was almost 12 months in the planning. After an initial site visit with the client, a scheme was put together utilising past experience from other projects. The exception is the floating lift rig. This is where our professional working relationship with ScaffFloat enabled both parties to work together to develop a solution. “

As one of the main UK Approved Installers of the floating scaffold system, they worked with the ScaffFloat team to develop a custom design that met the very site-specific client requirements. Access to the water was very limited and so both pontoons were built shoreside as a skeleton framework, this kept the weight for the crane lift down to 1t. Once afloat, additional tubes, clips and boards were craned down and both pontoons were completed afloat, bringing their weight up to around 3t each.

The first pontoon was used as a storage pontoon, with a 6t payload it was used to store components afloat before they were fitted by the team from Edwards Diving.

The second pontoon was fitted with a custom lifting A-frame, which was designed specifically to lift the 2.2t, 6m x 3m Eel Screens. Designed and built to Eurocode standard with a suitable dynamic application and safety factor, it was also proof tested on-site to over 3t. In addition, Richter provided an independent Cat 3 check to provide further safety assurances.

Toby Budd, MD of ScaffFloat, said, ‘’One of the challenges for this lift was water depth. The eel screens were installed just below the surface, so there was not enough draft or water depth to have the pontoon directly above. This meant the 2.2t lifts had to be done over the bow of the pontoon at a distance of 3m. It was a great project, and we are proud that we achieved the six lifts ahead of time and without any accidents. This is another example of how quickly the ScaffFloat system is developing, customers love the versatility and we have a number of other lifting jobs in the pipeline.’’

Dales Marine Services achieve Silver Award for the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme

Wednesday, 27th October 2021

Dales Marine Services achieved a silver award for the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. Dales Marine is delighted to receive the award, marking the company’s commitment to supporting the Defence and the wider Armed Forces community.

As part of the Award, Dales Marine Engineers had to meet and demonstrate a range of criteria, including employing serving and former Armed Forces members, delivering a flexible training and mobilisation commitment for Reservists and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers.

Dales pledged, demonstrated, and advocated support to the UK Defence and Armed Forces, aligning the company’s values with those of the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation to ensure that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces and their families are treated fairly.

On receiving the Silver Award for the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition, Michael Milne, Chief Executive Officer, Dales Marine, said, “We are very proud to support the Defence and Armed Forces community, supporting those who serve our country.Dales Marine recognises its responsibility to support service leavers and veterans by offering them employment, training, and a new career path within the marine industry. We also look to support reservist and family members of serving military personnel and the forces community.”

Dales Marine Assistant Manager and veteran Robert Hall said “From experience, some forces personnel can struggle with the transition into a civilian working environment, always feeling the need to be on the move (job to job). Veterans who’ve joined Dales Marine Engineers are still here; A testament to the company and its working environment.”

Silver award holders:

must have signed the Armed Forces Covenant
must have already stated their intent to be supportive by using the ERS website to register at the Bronze level
must proactively demonstrate that service personnel/armed forces community are not unfairly disadvantaged as part of their recruiting and selection processes
should employ at least one individual from the AFC category that the nomination emphasises
must actively ensure that their workforce is aware of their positive policies towards defence personnel’s issues
within the context of Reserves, the employer must have demonstrated support to mobilisations or have a framework in place
they must demonstrate support to training by providing at least 5 days’ additional unpaid/paid leave (wherever possible not to Reservist employees’ financial disadvantage).

Skinny Waste Pump Out solves the problem!

Tuesday, 26th October 2021

Tingdene Marinas have a good working relationship with Warwickshire based LeeSan Marine and use them for all of their pump out and waste disposal facilities.

However, when the old (1998) pump out unit, mounted on one of the pontoons at Thames and Kennet Marina, needed replacing there was a challenge.

The new, more efficient peristaltic pump and housing was just too large to fit the space and allow safe “passing” access.

Karl Sutcliffe, Operations Manager for LeeSan explains. “The Marina team came back to us with this problem, but they were pleasantly surprised when I explained that we would simply customise a unit to exactly fit the space and all for the same price”.

Tingdene are a good customer, we have only recently installed one of our Portaway, portable toilet disposal units on this site. We also maintain and service all of their below-ground pumps via our parent company Pump Technology Ltd., so being able to meet their needs was important to us.

The new slim stainless unit, which incidentally operates with exactly the same tokens as the previous one, is mounted on a sealed spill tray with plenty of room for pedestrian traffic to safely pass.

Waste is pumped via a pipe mounted below the pontoon, up the bridge and into the main sewer using a large, below ground pumping station, also serviced by us.”

The Thames and Kennet Marina is extremely well used which means that the pump-out facility needs to be reliable and always available. The new system will provide boatowners with many more years of service.

With its IIID coated, mirror finish stainless steel housing, the unit is the perfect “modern” service added to the site.

Teignbridge Embark on a New Innovate UK Funded Project

Wednesday, 20th October 2021

The High Efficiency Controllable Pitch Propeller project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Announced in March 2020, and part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan to position the UK at the forefront of green shipbuilding and maritime technology, the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition is a £20m investment from government alongside a further c.£10mfrom industry to reduce emissions from the maritime sector. The programme is supporting 55 projects across the UK, including projects in Scotland, Northern Ireland and from the South West to the North East of England. As set out in the Clean Maritime Plan (2019), Government funding has been used to support early-stage research relating to clean maritime. The programme will be used to support the research, design and development of zero emission technology and infrastructure solutions for maritime and to accelerate decarbonisation in the sector.

Decarbonising marine transport in order to contribute to the UK's target of net zero by 2050 and the International Maritime Organisation's target of a 50% reduction by 2050 is a challenging and multifaceted problem that requires new technology to improve energy efficiency and replace onboard energy storage with low greenhouse gas (GHG) alternatives.

This project seeks to address the energy efficiency aspect of the challenge and in so doing, to reduce GHG emissions associated with traditional fuels and make alternative, lower energy density storage solutions such as batteries and hydrogen more accessible. Teignbridge Propellers International Ltd. (Teignbridge) has undertaken initial development activity on an innovative, patent pending, high-efficiency controllable pitch propeller (CPP) solution which reduces capital cost and improves efficiency when compared to competing CPP technologies. This project will set out to bring this technology closer to market from its current, proof of concept prototyping stage through to at-sea demonstration of the technology on HRV1, a unique propulsion system test vessel.

Previous studies have shown that accurate matching of CPP control algorithms to vessels with highly variable duty cycles can improve efficiency by between 8% – 15% when compared to fixed pitch propeller (FPP) alternatives. The principal barrier to entry for this technology is cost. A key target of this project will be to bring the technology within reach of a much larger portion of the marine transport market.

Mark Phare, Director at Teignbridge commented:
This project provides the stimulus, oversight and context in which to explore an innovative Controllable Pitch Propeller concept that we believe will make this technology and specifically it’s energy saving credentials available to our customer base through capital cost reduction. Teignbridge has been designing and manufacturing propellers at our South Devon factory for over 45 years. With this project we hope to add another product to portfolio and at the same time affect a reduction in carbon emissions and reduction in fuel costs for our customers.

Dales Marine successfully decommissions MV Oceanic Pintail, recycling one hundred per cent of the vessel

Wednesday, 13th October 2021

Dales Marine Services Ltd (Dales Marine), an EU List approved supplier of vessel decommissioning, announces the successful decommissioning and recycling of MV Oceanic Pintail. MV Oceanic Pintail, launched in 1987, was owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and operated by its transport business Nuclear Transport Solutions.

MV Oceanic Pintail arrived at the Dales Marine’s Leith dry dock facilities in mid-November 2020, and Dales commenced with decommissioning operations at the end of that month.

Cargo vessels like the Oceanic Pintail are designed and constructed to counter harsh environmental and climatic conditions. Unfortunately, at the end of their serviceable life, they can often be contaminated with unsafe substances that can make decommissioning vessels a complex and hazardous process.

Dales Marine is very experienced in conducting vessel decommissioning safely and responsibly at their Leith dry dock. The dry dock is regularly used for decommissioning ships and is set up to accommodate these types of projects.

On 24 November 2020, MV Oceanic Pintail was issued a ready to recycle certificate, de-pollution, soft stripping, and removal of the accommodation were completed by Dales Marine at the end of March.

The vessel was then prepared for and manoeuvred into the dry dock for the hull’s final disposal, which commenced early August. Dales Marine removed the last piece of MV Oceanic Pintail from the dry dock on 15 September, and the completion certification was issued.

The contract for the project was for the removal and disposal of the vessel, with the client, Nuclear Transport Solutions, stipulating that 98 percent of the vessel’s materials had to be recycled in line with their commitment to environmental responsibility Dales Marine exceeded the target and recycled 100 per cent of the vessel’s materials.

Throughout the decommissioning process, Dales worked closely with its contractors discussing how best to remove the waste material from site for recycling. By working with contractors, they found several solutions to streamline the process. Detailed reports of materials removed, recycled, or repurposed were supplied regularly to the client. Finally, by working closely with contractors, Dales ensured that any waste that wasn’t recyclable was either repurposed, resold or went as waste for energy schemes.

Michael Milne, CEO, Dales Marine Services, said: “Our team’s decommissioning expertise and experience have been invaluable in our achieving the 98 per cent recycling targets. Dales prides itself on being a high achiever in its recycling and greener approach. For this project, having the support and strong working relationships with our contractors and suppliers has allowed us to work together in finding the best solution for improving how we went about recycling or repurposing waste materials from the vessel.”

Teignbridge launches project with the NCC to design the next generation of sustainable composite propulsion systems for marine transport

Monday, 11th October 2021

World-leading propeller, stern-gear and propulsion product designer and manufacturer Teignbridge Propellers International Ltd (Teignbridge) has launched an exciting project to improve the design and modelling of a scalable composite propulsion system, with a propeller diameter up to 6 metres.

The CAPSULE project is a feasibility study aimed at adapting composite material technology developed for the aviation industry to the marine industry. This technology has the potential to not only directly reduce greenhouse emissions but also enable the transition to low-emission and zero-carbon energy systems such as batteries, fuel cells or hydrogen.

Composite Propulsion Systems

Teignbridge will be partnering with the National Composites Centre (NCC), as an integral part of the UK’s High-Value Manufacturing Catapult, which aims to accelerate the growth of UK industrial output by enabling design and manufacturing enterprises to deliver winning solutions in the application of composites. The NCC will bring their expertise to support this new application of composites through material selection, manufacturing process selection, composite design techniques and testing guidance.

Mark Phare, Director at Teignbridge commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with the National Composites Centre on this feasibility study and are confident that the output of the project will be the preliminary design of composite propulsion systems is that it maximises the opportunities and benefits of composite materials to improve efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable the use of low energy density and zero carbon fuels. This new range of stern-gear components represents a new direction for Teignbridge, and we are excited to explore this technology in the marine industry.”

Gary Offord, Technology Programme Manager for NCC Surface Transport, added: “We are very excited about the opportunity this collaboration offers the UK. Teignbridge has a fantastic history in bronze-cast precision performance propellers and stern gear. Merging their maritime and product knowledge with the NCC’s composite expertise creates the perfect partnership for success and a real opportunity to offer the market products that facilitate a route to net zero targets ”

Decarbonising marine transport in order to contribute to the UK’s target of net zero by 2050 and the International Maritime Organisation’s target of a 50% reduction by 2050 is a challenging and multifaceted problem that requires new technology to improve energy efficiency and therefore assist with the switch from fossil fuel to low greenhouse gas (GHG) propulsion system alternatives.

Project CAPSULE is funded through the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, which is funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Announced in March 2020 and part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan to position the UK at the forefront of green shipbuilding and maritime technology, the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition is a £20m investment from the government alongside a further c.£10mfrom industry to reduce emissions from the maritime sector.

The programme supports 55 projects across the UK, including projects in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the South West to the North East of England. As set out in the Clean Maritime Plan (2019), Government funding has been used to support early-stage research relating to clean maritime. The programme will be used to support the research, design and development of zero emission technology and infrastructure solutions for maritime and to accelerate decarbonisation in the sector.

New HYDROMASTER High Speed Azimuth thruster revealed at EUROPORT

Tuesday, 5th October 2021

Hydromaster Propulsion, a manufacturer of Azimuth thrusters based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, recently released a new product which is a revolutionary development in the field of Azimuth Propulsion Units for High Speed vessels. Hydromaster designed and developed their High Speed Azimuth thruster targeting commercial vessels operating in a speed range beyond 20 knots. The thruster features a hydrodynamically optimized underwater thruster body making it possible to enter speeds up to 30 knots and combines high propeller efficiencies with outstanding maneuverability due to its full 360Ëš steering abilities. Designed and built in compliance with the rules of all major classification societies makes it a highly durable thruster suitable for commercial applications with a typical lifetime in excess of 30.000 hours at full continuous duty.

HYDROMASTER will showcase one of their Series D thrusters on their booth at the EUROPORT show in Rotterdam next month in November. The unit, featuring a 350 kW electric PM motor mounted on top, is an L-drive type thruster built for one of the six new 23 knots design Commuter Ferries being built by DAMEN for ‘Blue Amigo’, and are due to commence operation between Centre of Rotterdam and Dordrecht in 2022.

HYDROMASTER stand no. is 4212 in Hal 4 of the EUROPORT.

Collett & Sons Ltd Deliver Two 160Te Shunt Reactors for Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project

Wednesday, 29th September 2021

Collett & Sons have transported two 160Te shunt reactors over 5000 miles, to the onshore substation site for the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project, jointly owned by EDF Renewables and ESB.

Collett were contracted with the full scope of work providing a door-to-door service, including the project management, engineering and the transportation of the two 160Te shunt reactors.

A year before deliveries commenced, Collett’s Consulting Department were contracted to undertake multiple surveys to find the most feasible route. This included all route surveys, swept path analysis reports, topographical surveys, bridge height surveys and wire cable height surveys. This resulted in Collett liaising with local authorities to temporarily remove street furniture and employing tree surgeons to remove obstructing foliage.

The shunt reactors were transported in three stages before arriving at the substation site. First, Collett worked in partnership with a trusted European partner to transport the shunt reactors ahead of their arrival in the UK. The Collett Projects Department were then responsible for all port operations including the loading of the vessel, also chartered by Collett, for the 4800 miles to the Port of Leith in Scotland.

Working closely with the port, Collett carefully planned the cargo’s discharge, including providing crane lifting plans and an agreed programme of works for all loading and discharge operations.

Once at the port, utilising an 800Te crane, the shunt reactors were discharged onto a dedicated 14-axle line modular flat-top trailer. Both shunt reactors were offloaded at the port onto stools for temporary storage. Collett also transported and stored multiple ancillary components at their port side depot in Grangemouth.

Utilising their 550Te capacity girder bridge with 20-axle lines, Collett transported the shunt reactors from Leith Docks to Innerwick. Due to narrow access along the remainder of the route, Collett transhipped each of the two shunt reactors from the 20-axle girder bridge onto a 14-axle flat-top modular trailer in a dedicated road closure area, complete with all traffic management in order to complete delivery. All movements were facilitated under police escort, as well as Collett’s in-house fleet of pilot vehicles.

At the NnG onshore substation site, located in the Lammermuir Hills, Collett’s Heavy Lift Team offloaded and positioned the shunt reactors into their final position using a hydraulic jacking and skidding system.

Part two of the project is expected to take place in the coming weeks when two 180Te super grid transformers are due to be delivered to the wind farm site.

Boardwalk upgrade improves marina access on the River Shannon

Friday, 24th September 2021

Leitrim County Council has recently improved shoreside access to its Carrick on Shannon public marina, replacing its existing fixed boardwalk with a new 340m long by 2.4m wide floating walkway.

Working with Deane Public Works, Inland and Coastal Marina Systems (ICMS), designed and manufactured the new installation which includes a 3m wide fuel berth and eight access gangways with lifebuoy housings and safety ladders, all anchored in place by a new piled mooring system.

The heavy-duty pontoon system, topped with ICMS’ unique glass reinforced concrete (GRC) decking, provides safe and non-slip, all-year-round access to the marina’s on-site facilities for the public and all leisure boat users, which includes local boat hire companies.

“Being a very popular cruising area, it was important that we completed the installation with as minimal disruption as possible to the local access,” says Ger Buckley, project engineer at ICMS. “We achieved this by taking a phased approach, closely liaising with all contractors and programming the activities in.”

Wrapping around the entire length of the marina site, the public boardwalk now connects the quayside to the access road and car park, allowing users to enter the marina via a new gangway on the eastern side and exit on the northern side.

“We’re delighted with the quality of the new boardwalk, an attractive upgrade to the waterfront providing a strong, stable walkway for visitors,” says Shay O’Connor, senior engineer with Leitrim County Council. “Even though conditions were challenging at times with access routes being periodically submerged, the team at Inland and Coastal completed the installation efficiently and without disrupting the activities of the regular commercial users of the marina.

“The boardwalk will provide a new walking route along the waterfront for both locals and visitors and new access for users of leisure vessels which cruise along this section of the River Shannon, boosting the tourist industry which plays a major role here in Carrick on Shannon’s economy.”

Author: CGTeam

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