In November SPS, with its licensee, SRC Group, delivered a repair project for Carnival Cruises on board the ‘Queen Mary 2’.
This project was undertaken during a scheduled cruise between New York and Southampton and involved an 88 sq m permanent repair on the ‘tween deck (Deck 8).
The repair job took just 11 days to complete; two days ahead of schedule and was inspected and approved by Lloyd’s Register on both sides of the Atlantic.
A team of seven SRC steelworkers joined the vessel in New York along with an SPS project manager/injection engineer. Working in a height restricted area, the team created 24 cavities to be injected with an SPS elastomer core to fully reinstate the strength and integrity of the structure.
“The team was able to complete the repair under challenging circumstances whilst the vessel was in-service. In order not to impact on our guests’ cruise experience, restrictions were placed on when works could be undertaken, which the team worked around, delivering the project on time with minimal disruption,” Andrew Menzies, Deck & Safety SME, Carnival UK, said.
Another repair job involving a cruise ship was undertaken in Sembawang Shipyard, Singapore.
This involved the ‘Sea Princes’s, where an SRC team went on board to execute an SPS repair on deck 14 and, in just 13 days. Some 86 sq m of steel deck was reinstated in an area housing some of the vessel’s ventilation fans.
Meeting the vessel’s tight docking schedule was crucial for the cruise line.
“The SPS overlay upgrade repair on board ‘Sea Princess’ was well prepared, executed smoothly and finished on schedule. Unforeseen issues were dealt with in a professional way and the working area was left behind in a clean condition. It was a pleasure to have them on board during this drydock period, ” said Joop Holtzer, Director, Technical Operations, Holland America Group.
“Our steelwork team, was supported by an SPS engineer who oversaw the elastomer injection of the 23 cavities. Great teamwork between all those involved meant that we yet again completed a first rate job,” said Peter Cortie, SRC Group.
“SPS provides a winning steel reinstatement solution for the cruise industry. Applications include: bulkheads, decks, gym floors, HFO/MGO tank thermal barriers, machinery space upgrade, pool room repairs, side shell protection, vibration and acoustic damping, tank tops, upgrade to ice class and in-service below the waterline repairs. No hot work and low heat solutions are available which increase the breadth of suitable SPS applications.
So, SPS, a steel-elastomer-steel composite that is a permanent, class approved method of repair and strengthening, delivers safe, fast, non-intrusive, simple solutions that can be completed in-service, alongside or in drydock.
“What you might not know is that the inherent characteristics of SPS deliver significant safety and operating benefits and include high impact resistance, A60 fire insulation, blast/fragment protection and vibration damping. SPS has been used by the cruise industry since 2004 on vessels including the ‘QE2’,” explained Ian Nash SPS, Maritime and Offshore Business Manager.
