Prinsendam repairs

[rajkr74]

We are on the Oct 14th cruise from Rome to Ft Lauderdale.  Presently in Cadiz Spain having to stay over night for a cracked tank repair including divers.  As of now we are scheduled to leave here Fri the 19th at 5:00pm local time.  This has changed the schedule for the next 6 ports.  Luckily we are going to Gibraltar which was not on our original schedule.  Hopefully the repairs can get completed since they have been at it since early Thurs morning Oct. 18th while here in Cadiz.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry the Prinsendam is having problems.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

5 hours ago, rajkr74 said:

We are on the Oct 14th cruise from Rome to Ft Lauderdale.  Presently in Cadiz Spain having to stay over night for a cracked tank repair including divers.  As of now we are scheduled to leave here Fri the 19th at 5:00pm local time.  This has changed the schedule for the next 6 ports.  Luckily we are going to Gibraltar which was not on our original schedule.  Hopefully the repairs can get completed since they have been at it since early Thurs morning Oct. 18th while here in Cadiz.

I hope it is done 

[samsonmo]

1 hour ago, we're sailing away.... said:

I hope it is done 

scheduled to leave at 18.00 pm local time.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

9:30 new time. 

[rajkr74]

Yes, looks like it is now 9:00pm local time....seems the Captain's announcement had a tone of "yes are leaving at 9:00PM".

[kazu]

Sorry to hear about your itinerary change with the repairs, but glad the repairs are being done and you are safe.

 

So glad you are cruising with a 'glass half full attitude' and happy about Gibraltar.  We are going there next year (didn't make it last time).  If you click on my link to my spread sheet you'll see the company we are using (John Lopez).  A CC and FB friend of mine was just there a did the tour and was raving about it.

 

Hope the rest of your cruise is without incident, Rick 🙂 and hope you are enjoying the P'dam (repairs and all).

[rafinmd]

Marine traffic now shows Prinsendam on the way to Gibralter.

 

Roy

[Copper10-8]

Prinsendam II in Cadiz, Spain

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

12 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Marine traffic now shows Prinsendam on the way to Gibralter.

 

Roy

Yes we made it to Gibralter

[Krazy Kruizers]

2 hours ago, we're sailing away.... said:

Yes we made it to Gibralter

That's great.

 

Hope you enjoyed your time there.

[ski ww]

Sounds like some serious damage if they need divers, did you hit something?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

35 minutes ago, ski ww said:

Sounds like some serious damage if they need divers, did you hit something?

Had or has a leak in one of the Balesters 

[chengkp75]

36 minutes ago, ski ww said:

Sounds like some serious damage if they need divers, did you hit something?

Could just have been a small stress crack, given Prinsendam's age of 30.  Hopefully just a ballast or void tank, not a fuel tank.

 

Okay, sailing away posted while I was.  Ballast tank is an easy repair.  Drill a hole at each end of the crack, have a diver weld up the crack from the outside, then weld from inside the tank.  Biggest hold up was most likely getting NDT testing of the repair to prove to class that the crack was completely gone.

Edited October 20, 2018 by chengkp75

[rafinmd]

22 minutes ago, we're sailing away.... said:

Had or has a leak in one of the Balesters 

What time do you leave Gibralter, and what is your next port?

Roy

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We leave at 3pm to  Casablanca. 

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Thanks for the photo of Prinsendam I. Seeing it made me think of finding photos when we sailed on her in 1978.

Edited October 20, 2018 by SJSULIBRARIAN

[OlsSalt]

3 hours ago, we're sailing away.... said:

We leave at 3pm to  Casablanca. 

 

 

The romance of it all .....sailing away from Gibralter and on to Casablanca.  

 

Cue in ..............Those faraway places with strange sounding names are calling, calling meeeeeeeee ................ Safe travels. 

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by OlsSalt

[knitter]

Since she is being sold 7/1/19 I imagine some things are being held together with spit and polish. We are on the next to last crusie on her and hope they maintain her decently. 

[knittinggirl]

We were on the old Celebrity Century a few months before it was "sold."  And I got the impression they were doing something similar.  But we did see our share of maintenance men around.

1 hour ago, knitter said:

Since she is being sold 7/1/19 I imagine some things are being held together with spit and polish. We are on the next to last crusie on her and hope they maintain her decently. 

 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, knitter said:

Since she is being sold 7/1/19 I imagine some things are being held together with spit and polish. We are on the next to last crusie on her and hope they maintain her decently. 

Since a vessel cannot be sold without a certificate of class, the class society will ensure that everything is maintained to the same standard, no matter whether the ship is brand new, or being sold in a few months, or even 50 years old (and that older ship will require more maintenance to keep the certificate of class.

[rafinmd]

42 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Since a vessel cannot be sold without a certificate of class, the class society will ensure that everything is maintained to the same standard, no matter whether the ship is brand new, or being sold in a few months, or even 50 years old (and that older ship will require more maintenance to keep the certificate of class.

Just wondering how this works in the Prinsendam's case.  As I understand it she was sold a few months ago and leased back by HAL.  Does the certificate of class also apply at the time the lease ends and the ship custody is transferred to the new owners?  I would think in any case, the owners will be keeping an eye on developments on their ship.

Roy

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

Just wondering how this works in the Prinsendam's case.  As I understand it she was sold a few months ago and leased back by HAL.  Does the certificate of class also apply at the time the lease ends and the ship custody is transferred to the new owners?  I would think in any case, the owners will be keeping an eye on developments on their ship.

Roy

The new owner will have obtained the certificate of class at the time of sale.  When a vessel is leased, the lessee must maintain, and return to the owner at the end of the lease, the vessel in the condition it was originally leased in.

[TiogaCruiser]

13 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Could just have been a small stress crack, given Prinsendam's age of 30.  Hopefully just a ballast or void tank, not a fuel tank.

 

Okay, sailing away posted while I was.  Ballast tank is an easy repair.  Drill a hole at each end of the crack, have a diver weld up the crack from the outside, then weld from inside the tank.  Biggest hold up was most likely getting NDT testing of the repair to prove to class that the crack was completely gone.

So someone has to crawl inside? How big is the access and how does that work.

 

If it’s a fuel tank, how does safety get maintained? Wouldn’t there be fire dangers?

[chengkp75]

28 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

So someone has to crawl inside? How big is the access and how does that work.

 

If it’s a fuel tank, how does safety get maintained? Wouldn’t there be fire dangers?

All tanks have manholes, which are bolted covers about 18" x 30" oval.  The tank is pumped empty, the tank cover opened, and the tank ventilated for several hours with fans to ensure there is proper oxygen available, then the atmosphere is tested to ensure there is sufficient oxygen, and then the tank is "safe for man entry", and if the atmosphere test doesn't show any flammable vapors it is "safe for hotwork" (welding/burning).  The tanks are a couple of meters tall or wide, and there are access holes in the frames to allow passing to all areas of the tank.

 

If it is a fuel tank, then there are a couple of ways to do the repair.  Believe it or not, if the fuel in the tank is heavy residual fuel, and the crack is below the level of the fuel, you can weld directly on the tank, and the fuel doesn't get hot enough to vaporize and ignite.  If the tank is empty, or a diesel fuel tank, you empty the tank, and then you can "inert" the tank with nitrogen (displacing the air), and since nitrogen is non-flammable, you can then do the outside weld without any fire.  Or, you can just wash out the tank (removing the residual fuel), send the washings to the slop tank for disposal ashore,  and then ventilate to remove the vapors, and "gas free" the tank to be "safe for hotwork".  This work is done all the time.  I've done many fuel tank repairs, and several welds on full residual fuel tanks.

 

Many countries require the use of a third party "marine chemist" to certify the atmosphere in a tank is safe for work.

 

As for "tank crawling", it is a part of a mariner's life to climb through tanks to inspect them on a regular basis.  It's not one of my favorite jobs, especially as I get older, but it's something that has to be done.

Edited October 21, 2018 by chengkp75