Terry Hutson
THE DURBAN firm IMAC was able to put its patented cofferdam technology to good use recently when cracks in the hull of Safmarine container ship Nolizwe were discovered forcing the 1981-built ship to undergo repairs while in Durban.
This saved Safmarine the costs of having to use the dry dock, as well as much valuable time. IMAC has developed a cofferdam process that can be shaped to match the section of the ship it has to cover.
Once this has been firmly positioned, the offending steel plates can be cut away and replaced as required, or other repairs undertaken, as in the case of rudders.
In the case of Nolizwe, plates on either side of the ship were slightly cracked and two cofferdams were constructed while the ship lay alongside berth 104 at Durban's Pier 1. This work should have been completed over the weekend except that further cracks were discovered, extending the job by a few days.
Nevertheless the savings in time and use of infrastructure at the dry dock makes the system extremely attractive to ship owners. IMAC is due to repair another ship this week, using a cofferdam to cover the rudder of the vessel this time, again without the need for docking the ship.
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