Underwater Stern Tube Seal Repair in Tasmania
Hydrex diver during removal of the rope guard.
At the end of last year one of the Hydrex diver/technician teams carried out an underwater stern tube seal repair on a roro ship berthed in Port of Burnie, Tasmania.
The ship was suffering from an oil leak, making an on-site repair necessary. Using a Hydrex flexible mobdock the team was able to carry out the entire operation on-site and underwater, saving the owner an expensive and time-consuming trip to drydock.
After arriving on-site, the diving team first set up a monitoring station next to the vessel. The operation then started with a thorough underwater inspection of the stern tube seal assembly.
After the inspection the divers cleaned the assembly and installed the flexible mobdock. By doing this they created a dry underwater environment so that they could work in drydock-like conditions.
The split ring was then disconnected and brought to the surface to be cleaned. After cleaning the entire assembly, the divers removed the first seal and replaced it with a new one which was then bonded. This was done in cooperation with the supervising OEM technician. The procedure was repeated with the other three seals.
A successful operation was concluded with leakage tests, the removal of the flexible mobdock and the reinstallation of the rope guard.
Despite the remote location of the vessel, The Hydrex technical department was able to make all practical logistic arrangements and organize a mobilization of the equipment very swiftly. In the recent past Hydrex has carried out several operations in Australia and Thailand, among which a propeller blade replacement on this roro ship’s sister vessel and hull and bow thruster repairs on cruise vessels in Phuket.