Drydocks World-Dubai, the region’s premier ship repair, conversion and new building yard and subsidiary of Drydocks World, has installed a trial version of a Grounding Avoidance System on the 46,803-tonne oil tanker, British Tenacity for BP Shipping. The installation of such a system on a sea vessel is an industry first.
Personnel from Drydocks World-Dubai worked for 12 days to modify British Tenacity’s bow and fabricate the structures required to accommodate the system’s transducers and a new Navigation Display System on the vessel. Drydocks World-Dubai’s advanced fabrication workshop, one of the largest of its kind in the region, used approximately 11 tonnes of Grade A steel to fabricate the refurbished bow area.
The Grounding Avoidance System, developed by Marine Electronics Ltd. in conjunction with BP Shipping, is a three-dimensional, forward-looking sonar system that helps identify obstacles anywhere in the water column up to a range of one kilometre.
Nawal Saigal, Managing Director, Drydocks World - Dubai, said: “This is a proud moment for us. The cooperation with BP Shipping in installing the advanced Grounding Avoidance System was a unique opportunity for Drydocks World-Dubai to prove its capability in handling complex and sophisticated engineering assignments. The forthcoming Nor-Shipping 2009 in Oslo, offers an important platform for Drydocks World to highlight this achievement and many more across our yards.”
This technology – which is being trialed - was installed on the vessel, with the project completed ahead of the Nor-Shipping 2009 international ship building exhibition and maritime conference. The conference – which will be held in Oslo, Norway, from June 9-12 - will see Drydocks World showcase its world-class services across the Middle East and Southeast Asia regions.
The completion of this technical operation marks a new milestone in Drydocks World-Dubai’s growth graph and has reaffirmed the yard’s capability to undertake and execute challenging maritime engineering assignments with competence.
The project with BP Shipping follows a high-profile project for Norway-based Aker Solutions. Drydocks World – Dubai completed the fabrication of two giant 16,000-tonne semi-submersible rig hulls for Aker in 2007-08, delivering both 120-metre long drilling rig hulls within eight months of each other.
Drydocks World has long established relationships with the Norwegian shipping industry. Its participation in the Nor-Shipping 2009 exhibition reflects on the sustained effort to further strengthen these ties. Drydocks World will be located in Hall D, stand D06-06.
© 2009 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
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