Cathelco Supply Equipment for Newbuilds at Remontowa

Cathelco are supplying equipment for a number of specialized vessels which are being built at Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk.

The yard has received orders for five ice classed containerships from Greenland’s Royal Arctic Line (RAL) which are to be delivered by mid 2015. One of the vessels, a 606 teu containership, will replace the Arina Arctica and act as a feeder between Denmark and Greenland as well as being used for special tasks in Antarctica.

Cathelco are supplying an impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system for the vessel which will safeguard its hull against corrosion. The system has been designed to provide effective and reliable protection in Arctic waters where lower levels of salinity have important implications

“The sea water in the Arctic is naturally colder and has lower levels of salinity which means that it is more difficult to pass an electrical current through it. Because the sea water has a higher resistivity, the current requires a higher driving force and therefore we are supplying a 50 volt control panel, instead of the normal 24 volt which would be used in more temperate waters”, said Stephen Ellis, project development manager at Cathelco.

Another significant difference is that the ICCP system will use four elliptical anodes mounted in pairs, port and starboard at the aft of the vessel, as opposed to just one on either side of the ship, as would be sufficient in warmer waters with higher salinity.

Cathelco ICCP systems are also being supplied for two 100 teu containerships which are being built at Remontowa Shipbuilding for RAL and a further two 30-teu vessels which will replace the older tonnage.

Another vessel on the Remontowa Shipbuilding order book is an anchor handling tug/supply vessel (AHTS) which is being built for a Canadian owner to support the ExxonMobil fields off Newfoundland and Labrador.

The innovative vessel, 87.3 meters in length with a wave piercing bow, will be built to the Rolls Royce UT 782WP design and specially optimized to withstand the harsh operating conditions of the Grand Banks.

Cathelco are supplying an ICCP system to protect the hull against corrosion using their latest Quantum thyristor control panel. This provides comprehensive information about the performance of the system with an RS485 function which enables data to be relayed to control room or bridge computers and automatically logged.

In addition, Cathelco are providing a seawater pipework anti-fouling system to protect seawater lines against blockages caused by barnacles and mussels. Four seachests serving the engine room and fire fighting equipment will be installed with copper and ferrous anodes fed with an electrical current from a control panel. The copper anode produces ions which create an environment where barnacle and mussel larvae do not settle or breed. At the same time, ions from the ferrous anode produce an oxide coating on the internal surfaces of pipes to suppress corrosion.

Cathelco equipment is also being supplied for a dynamically positioned cable lay vessel (CLV) which is being built for a Norwegian owner. The new ship will have a length of 95.3 meters, a cable payload of 4,250 tons and accommodation for 60 people.

The vessel will be installed with a Cathelco ICCP system to protect the hull against corrosion. A seawater pipework anti-fouling system is also being provided to protect pipes and equipment connected to three seachests.