AEGIR-Marine expands propulsion services to hydraulics
AEGIR-Marine has launched a new propulsion hydraulics workshop from its office in Dubai that offers ship-owners comprehensive overhaul and repair services of propulsion equipment such as controllable pitch propellers, azimuth and tunnel thrusters. By extending its propulsion services scope to encompass hydraulics, AEGIR-Marine will now be able to provide its clients in the Middle East region with a ‘total package’ of propulsion services that includes both mechanical and hydraulic aspects.
Housed in a 40-foot container, AEGIR-Marine’s new propulsion hydraulics workshop is fitted out with all the necessary equipment to work on maritime propulsion hydraulic systems. This includes a specialised lathe to manufacture and polish components, a hydraulic power pack to carry out pressure tests, an electrical test bench to work on electronic components, a separate clean room, and a three-tonne hoisting facility. “It is a fully fledged workshop: we can do everything in this one container: disassembling, cleaning, overhauling, assembly and testing,” says Serge Lapré, AEGIR-Marine MEA East Director.
The field of maritime hydraulics is huge, involving a wide range of equipment such as cranes, winches, cylinders and hydro-motors. With this new hydraulics workshop, however, AEGIRMarine has purposely decided to focus on ship propulsion. “Looking in particular at the complexity of the hydraulic system in an azimuth thruster or a CPP, this is certainly a specialist area of expertise,” continues Serge. “To that end, we are very pleased to have one of the best hydraulic specialists in the maritime industry working for us as our workshop manager.”
For AEGIR-Marine, the addition of hydraulics to its Dubai office’s scope of service means it can offer its clients more productive overhauls and repairs. “We have been working on the mechanical part of ship propulsion systems like azimuth and tunnel thrusters and CPPs for many years and what we have noticed, particularly in the older ships, is that the servicing of hydraulic systems often gets overlooked by ship superintendents and technical teams. Now we can combine the mechanical and the hydraulics aspects into one efficient activity.”