Hydrex has announced the removal, transportation and reinstallation of a malfunctioning bow thruster it carried out on a 334-metre container vessel in July.
The Hydrex team travelled to Rotterdam where one by one the blades were detached and replaced by blind flanges to prevent oil from leaking from the thruster.
Then the lifting and hoisting equipment that would be used to secure the unit during the second stage of the operation was installed and in the meantime, preparations were made in the bow thruster engine room for the removal of the unit, so that there would be no ingress of water once the unit had been taken out.
The vessel then left for Southampton where it met up again with the team, which immediately continued getting the engine room ready
As soon as the overhauled bow thruster gearbox was delivered to the Hydrex headquarters, the diver-technician team and the unit were mobilised to the container vessel's next port of call: Le Havre.
After fast stops in Dunkirk and Hamburg the team met up with the vessel in Rotterdam where the chain blocks were removed, following which the propeller blades were reinstalled one by one. The ship then sailed to Southampton where the brackets were secured, the pad eyes removed and the propeller blade bolts secured with wire, which concluded the repair.
The vessel can now manoeuvre inside ports again without the need of a tug.
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