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August 2006 35 the thrusters room strengthening could be completed without impacting on other repairs and the rig's forthcoming operations." As a result of the work, the impact resistance of the pontoons immediately above the thruster rooms has been sig- nificantly enhanced, but without con- ventional invasive and time-consuming crop-and-replace steelwork. The 2005 hurricane season highlight- ed the need for better impact resistance to avoid structural damage caused by objects projected against MODU's hulls when such units encountered severe storms. As a result, Intelligent Engineering personnel are now fielding regular enquiries about the strengthen- ing of pontoons, columns, decks and helidecks. SPS Overlay provides excel- lent impact protection because the elas- tomer core dissipates strain energy over a large area, thereby reducing load con- centrations that can lead to the forma- tion and propagation of cracks. Other contracts completed by IE in the offshore sector include structural rein- statement and strengthening of FPSOs whilst they remain on station. The com- pany's "no hotwork" repair procedures for such craft are attracting considerable attention from a number of FPSO oper- ators. "Many converted FPSOs were elderly single-hull tankers in the first place," said Welch. "They may be expected to remain on station for any- thing up to 20 years. Taking them off to a repair yard is simply not an option." Meanwhile, in a contract with a lead- ing European operator, the first of two offshore supply vessels has recently been fitted with a special impact-resist- ant fender in hull areas prone to damage from deck-crane cargo handling. And IE is working with Monaco-based Single Buoy Moorings on a study of FPSO side shell collision protection using SPS Technology. The study will determine if SPS can provide equivalent protection to double-hulled construction currently mandated under Marpol regulations. The American Bureau of Shipping will assess the results of the study which, if shown to meet the Marpol cri- teria, could mean that single-hulled VLCCs could be converted into FPSOs by using SPS Overlay on the outside of their hulls, rather than installing internal complex cofferdams. Converteam to Perform Upgrade for CCG Converteam was awarded a contract from the Federal Government of Canada to provide mid-life electrical system upgrade services to the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The scope $2.65m contract includes three main elements: upgrade the exist- ing propulsion system; supply a new bow thruster system; and supply new drive systems and motors for the exist- ing cranes. Converteam will design, manufacture, supply, and warrant the Repair SPS Overlay completed. MR AUGUST2006 #5 (33-40).qxd 8/2/2006 6:00 PM Page 35
