SeaQuest achieves Chinese dry-docking ahead of schedule

The MV San Felice completed her retrofit on 5th March at COSCO Nantong under the supervision of a SeaQuest team.

The work list included: routine dry-dock works, hull blasting and painting, cargo holds blasting and painting, maintenance of the hatch cover hydraulic system, other minor deck and engine works, and the installation of an Alfa Laval PureBallast BWTS, including ballast lines modification, new electric cabling and remote control system. The duration of the repairs was estimated at 28 days.

The works had originally been scheduled for early December 2019, but were postponed for commercial reasons before COVID-19 struck to 28th January 2020, just ahead of Chinese New Year.

In the last week of January 2020 China was severely hit by COVID-19 and COSCO Nantong, as well as all its subcontractors, were forced to stop all activities until 8 February 2020.

Yard activities were reactivated on 9th February, although many problems had to be overcome: there was a severe lack of local manpower for another couple of weeks. Receiving necessary materials on board was also problematic. At the same time China implemented a travel ban that affected all expatriate superintendents, necessitating the appointment of a Chinese superintendent, recruited from the SeaQuest local team.

However, thanks to the excellent relationship between SeaQuest and the yard’s top management, the vessel was included in COSCO “First Priority Vessels” list. Also critical were SeaQuest’s long-standing connections with the domestic industry and technical experts, which meant that MV San Felice was successfully re-delivered to her owners and charterers two days ahead of schedule on 5 March 2020.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/ports-terminals/13032020/seaquest-achieves-chinese-dry-docking-ahead-of-schedule/