Vanport was provided with the opportunity to undertake a multi-facetted project aboard the LMSR Nelson V. Brittin which entailed three fundamental scopes of work.
- Renew hydraulic tubing on underside of stern ramp, as well as replacement of the ramp’s inclinometer & associated conduit.
- Perform complete renewal of wire rope for W1 (Upper) and W2 (Lower) winches.
- Perform industrial support to apply skilled labor as deemed appropriate by OEM (MacGregor) representative.
Renewal of Hydraulic Tubing and Inclinometer
Our customer had observed a failure of hydraulic tubing underneath the stern ramp recently occur on a sister ship. This propelled them to take pre-emptive actions to renew said tubing before they suffered a similar fate. Vanport was contracted for the job with faith from our customer we could meet their schedule needs. First, Vanport contracted a charter to lease a small barge from a local contractor to which we could position a high-reach. After the barge was in location, we instructed the vessel to lower the ramp. With the ramp resting its weight onto the pier we disabled the hydraulics and drained all hydraulic lines. With the hydraulic oil effectively removed we began the tedious process of extracting the individual sections of tubing. The process was tedious in the aspect that extraordinary care had to be taken to contain all oil, as we were working directly over the water. Once removed all opened flanges were blanked to avoid contamination and residual leakage. The old tubing was removed from the site, and the new tubing could now be shop-fabricated using the old tubes as reference. With all tubing bent within exacting tolerances we welded on the code-61 flanges and pressure tested. The tubes were internally cleaned and reinstalled. After successful pressure tests onboard, the flanges were densyl taped and this portion of the project was complete.
Renewal of Wire Ropes for W1 & W2 Stern Ramp Winches
Vanport provided direct labor support and General Contracting services to support the renewal of the (4) wire ropes on the vessels Stern Ramp. Due to the size of the wire ropes Vanport reached out to a trusted subcontractor with large line trucks capable of the task at hand. For reference the two W1 winches utilize approximately 1250 lineal ft of 35mm cable each (~1.375” in diameter), in other words the cable is much too heavy to handle by hand. From an outside perspective our objective was simple, pull the old wire off and put the new wire on. Our paramount focus was to ensure that our plan of attack was bullet proof with regards to safety and efficiency. There is not a climactic ending to this project, we achieve the desired outcome in the exact amount of time we predicted it would take. The customer and ABS were present to witness the final operation upon our completion.
Miscellaneous Industrial Support for OEM Representative
Trusted for our skill and work ethic our customer tasked us to provide direct labor assistance to the on-site MacGregor representative. It was this representative’s objective to utilize our crew to tackle quick fix discrepancies he would come across while auditing the condition of the many MacGregor brand pieces of shipboard equipment. Our support entailed high volumes of hydraulic hose renewals, cylinder refurbishments/rebuilds, winch brake band renewals, etc. It is great to have customers that trust we will deploy our skilled resources fairly, efficiently, and responsibly. It is equally great to work so closely with the OEM representative, as their expertise and involvement expediates the work allowing us to optimize our efficiency.