Running Repairs: Work Completion

How Running Repair Work is Completed

Running repair work is done in different ways.

Hulls, decks, and other large pieces of equipment that cannot be easily removed are often repaired “in situ” (or in place).  

Large cumbersome equipment like pumps, engines, compressors and electrical components may be fixed in situ, or sent back to the shop for repairs.  They can become part of what is known as the R and O pipeline, short for “Repair and Overhaul”.

In situations where there are enough ships in a specific class to warrant the owners having spares on hand, equipment is often pulled off the vessel and replaced with a completely rebuilt and tested one that has been cycled through the repair chain. This type of maintenance in the navy is referred to as R X R and M X E.  RXR stand for “repair by replacement”.  MXE stands for “maintenance by exchange”.

Scheduled repairs will include servicing machinery, small repairs, changing oils and lubricants, welding and painting. Communication equipment can be serviced or replaced and navigational radars fixed if they are not working properly. Essentially anything that can fit into the work period will be contracted and payment will occur upon completion.

The materials to perform the repairs will be sourced and may even need to be pre-purchased if there is a long lead time on specialized parts. Some old machinery may even need parts manufactured if the suppliers have gone out of business, or if they are located on the other side of the world. All of these arrangements happen behind the scenes of the production shops and are done by estimators, engineering staff, and materials procurement personnel.

Running repairs can take weeks or even months if something as large as a main engine has to be removed through the side of the vessel. The work – which can range from hundreds to thousands of hours – must all be done within a specified window of time.  In some cases, such as cruise ships for example, the owners stand to lose large amounts of money if a ship is not operational.   The owners may be prepared to pay premiums to pay for workers to work around the clock: 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A ship owner may require a performance bond from the repair facility guaranteeing that the work schedule won’t be adversely affected by lack of material, lack of workers/specialized trades or even by a strike. There is a lot of money to be made and lost by both parties and honesty and integrity on both sides ensures repeat contracts.

Emergency Dockings, Non-scheduled Dockings, and Running Repairs

Sometimes a ship will require running repairs because of catastrophic equipment failure or damage from a collision. If the boat is still in the water it is difficult to assess the extent of the damage.  In these cases the ship is either drydocked, or photographed by divers.   The request for work like this is often described as “open up and inspect.”

Once the hull has been properly surveyed for damage or the equipment has been opened up and had the broken parts identified, the ship owners and the repair facility will enter the next phase of negotiation. An estimate will be given and the owners may decide to have the work done or, opt to take the ship somewhere else if the price is too high.

The owners could also choose to degrade the vessel or restrict its operation in order to defer the repairs to a scheduled maintenance period. A ship can be degraded if the owners have the option of reducing the speed of the ship, only carrying a partial cargo load, or even restricting sailing to local waters.

It is common if the owners have multiple vessels to degrade or even tie up the vessel until an informed decision can be made on material procurement, cost, or timelines. If the ship requires an emergency docking a suitable drydock must be found.

Periodic Docking

 For reasons of safety, ships must be regularly taken out of the water, drydocked, and inspected. Most ships are inspected every five years.  

The first step after the ship is out of the water is to pressure wash the entire underwater hull so that a complete inspection can take place. The hull of the vessel will be examined for wear and thickness, and also for any damage from log-strikes.  The paint will be examined to see if touch-ups are required to prevent further corrosion.  If a contract is in place, the repair work will be done immediately.

The anchors and chains will also be ranged out to check for wear. Propellers, rudders and tail stock supports will be examined.  The owners may choose to repair problems that have the potential to grow overtime. Sea water inlets that allow huge amounts of ocean water to enter the vessel as cooling water will also be examined for wear, corrosion, and marine growth.

The heavy cranes alongside the drydock will be used to remove such things as the radar or navigation gear, or other rusty or defective gear high up on the mast or on top of the main house areas of the vessel.  

While all of this work is going on, the ship’s staff and/or shipyard engineering staff, will take the opportunity to do what is called a refit survey, which involves inspecting all the machinery. If critical items are identified as needing a fix, the work can be done during the current drydocking event.  If machines are wearing as predicted, but are still serviceable, then a materials list can be started so that the parts can be bought well in advance of the next maintenance schedule.

Structural tanks with perimeter bulkheads that are against the water will also be rigourously examined and any repairs will be made to them to prevent leakage of fuel, lube oil, black water or other deleterious liquids.

A ship’s staff may be onboard during the repair work, so updates to cabin or living spaces may not happen, but the opportunity to draw up plans and identify materials for the future may begin. Also, as many ports prohibit painting over open water, the ship may receive a quick coat of paint when it is in the dock as the environment can be more readily controlled and paint spills can be contained without endangering fish or other wildlife.

All of this activity can take place in a timeframe that ranges from several weeks up to many months.