Methane Arctic Benefits from German Technology

The 768.8 x 111.7 x 32.8 ft. (234.3 x 34 x 10 m), 48,454 dwt LNG tanker Methane Artic visited Blohm + Voss Repair dock in the late spring. Besides general overhaul work to the tanker, the cargo tanks were serviced and checked for consistence, the discharge pump controlled, as well as the mooring winches and capstans overhauled. The ship, operated by BG LNG Services, Houston/USA and managed by Ceres Hellenic Shipping, Piraeus/Greece was built in 1969 at Kockums, Sweden. The 35-year-old ship underwent dry-docking in order to bring it into line with latest rules and recommendations. One modifications was to update the deck machinery to meet OCIMF requirements. The mooring equipment was designed for a nominal pull of 150 kN and a static brake holding load of 600 kN. The customer contracted Hatlapa to redesign and modify the existing mooring winches, all within the dry-docking period of 30 days. The task was to increase the rope capacity that by adding another six winch drums to the existing 10 winch drums. Hatlapa connected the additional (declutchable) drums to the single-drum mooring winches, thereby allowing the existing winch drives to be retained. In addition, all 16 spindle brakes of the winch drums had to be renewed according to OCIMF recommendation to a spring-loaded brake design that allows adjustment the brake force to between 60 and 80 percent of the rope breaking load. The completion of this significant modification on time allowed the ship to leave the yard successfully and in proper condition for new challenges.