Scrubber overboard pipe repairs in the Netherlands, France and Spain
April 19 2021
Recently Hydrex diver/technicians carried out scrubber overboard pipe repairs in ports in France, the Netherlands and Spain. On a 400-meter container ship six pipes were replaced while one pipe was replaced on another container vessel and on a crude oil tanker. In all cases the pipes were protected with a highly chemically resistant coating produced by Subsea Industries.
Exhaust scrubbers are systems that filter out all harmful toxins from exhaust gasses of marine diesel engines. These can severely corrode the pipes of the scrubber which can result in water ingress if not handled quickly enough.
In the examples below all pipes needed to be replaced completely. They were constructed at the Hydrex warehouse in Antwerp. The company’s divers are certified wet and dry welders as well as technicians which allowed them to offer full repairs from start to finish to each of the customers.
The inside of the pipes were coated with Ecospeed to protect them against corrosion. This product is produced by Subsea Industries and is highly chemically resistant. Taking into account the nature of the process taking place inside a scrubber, this is essential for a lasting protection of the pipe. The coating can also be used to protect a newly installed scrubber system from day one.
Fast mobilization
A team traveled to the crude oil tanker’s location in Le Havre. After arriving at the ship they first performed an inspection of the damaged areas on both the waterside and the onboard side of the hull.
Hydrex diver/welders then sealed off the outlet of the overboard pipe. This was done with a custom cofferdam designed and constructed at the workshop based on the drawings sent by the customer.
The stub piece of the scrubber pipe was then removed and replaced with a new one. It was positioned and secured with a full penetration weld. When the welding was complete the surface was cleaned and an MPI was carried out by an independent inspector.
Adapting to the customer’s schedule
The operation on the first container ship was almost identical to the repair described above. The vessel was on a very tight schedule and it was essential that the ship could keep to this schedule during the repair. For this reason the operation was split up in several stages. These were carried out in different ports to fit the customer’s need: Fos-Sur-Mer, Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona.
The operation on the second container vessel was more complex because a total of six pipes were damaged and needed to be replaced. This was also done without disturbing the ship’s schedule and without causing any hindrance for the customer. The repair was performed in Dunkirk Rotterdam, Algeciras and Le Havre.