Dry dock repair plans get resounding thumbs up

“At long last,” said Deon Chetty, production manager of ship repair company, Elgin Brown & Hamer, as Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) announced that the Prince Edward Graving Dry Dock in Durban would be undergoing a R30-million repair project on its outer caisson over the next four months. “There’s been a whole lot wrong with this 90-year-old dry dock and it has been so unsafe that we haven’t been able to utilise it for the past three years,” he added. This, according to TNPA, is the third and final phase of the repair programme on the structure. The project is expected to run from this month to November, with the nonoperational period occurring over August and September. And TNPA assured the press briefing that no repair bookings had been received from industry for that shutdown period. The successful bidder, Durban-based engineering firm Channel Construction, along with managing contractor Sebata Group, and KwaZulu-Natal’s only naval architecture firm, Naval Africa, are now working on the project. The schedule for the programme sees Channel Construction working 24-hour shifts – with the majority of the work to be carried out offsite at the contractor’s Bayhead workshop. TNPA expects the Durban dry dock outer caisson repair to be completed in November, along with a concrete refurbishment programme, replacement of crane rails, replacement of two aged electrical overheard cranes and refurbishment of the inner caisson. Also included in this programme is the procurement of new Jib cranes, a mechanical pump house upgrade, replacement of workshop equipment, installation of a new firefighting system, installation of new Capstans, replacement of the f loating dock and procurement of six compressors. The main job is the rebuilding of that outer caisson – a structure 35 metres long, 14m in height, 6m wide, and with a mass of 900 tonnes – but currently positioned at the back of the dock and supported for inspection and rehabilitation. According to information released to FTW by Durban port manager, Moshe Motlohi, the tank section of the caisson was found to be in severe structural disrepair and in need of urgent remediation. It was concluded that this section in its entirety should be removed and rebuilt to its initial design condition. After a three-year wait, said Chetty, things had better go right. “TNPA has made a big hooha about this project. But, if the schedule is not maintained, the ship repair industry will go bananas. We’ve been waiting, for example, for over two years just for TNPA’s procurement to take place." CAPTION Pictured at the official announcement of the dry dock repair project, from the left: Moshe Motlohi, TNPA; Martin Cloete, Channel Construction; Rishaan Chabilal, Sebata Group; and Sibusiso Nhlabathi, TNPA. In the background is the Africa Mercy ship which is presently undergoing repairs in the dry dock.