The recently acquired trio is upgraded to Sirius standard at Fayard in Odense.
It´s the attention to detail that is the key to functionality and profitability when converting the trio. -The whole ship is upgraded, we look at everything says Urban Netser who is involved in the reconstruction of Nautilus, Neptunus and finally Nimbus, Urban himself will sign on as captain on Nimbus when the conversion of the trio is complete. -We have a great deal of experience from this type of ships but they were all built in the 90´s, these are built 2006 – 2008. This is in line with our strategy to co operate with the major oil companies and trade in the Baltic and the North Sea says Jonas Backman, MD of Sirius Shipping who is grateful for the opportunity to renew the fleet in this otherwise strained market. -We have been able to maintain the transport volumes because we managed to modernise the fleet and meet the demands from our customers.
The whole grating is removed, hoses and cables runs all across the deck to supply welders and electricians with gas and power. On the forecastle a new cover is built, it´s to protect the hydraulic winches, designed by Ö-varvet and Sirius. The winches come with new controls to allow the crew to operate the winches close to the railing for a better view during mooring. -The hydraulic winches are run on the same pumps as the bow thruster, It´s a great system since the pumps are already running when we arrive, says Johan Göthesson, master on Neptunus. -We are moving a winch from the forecastle to the aft, says Urban Netser and continues to point out numerous alterations and improvements. -The mast that was placed all the way ahead, typically for turkish vessels, will be moved to the new deckhouse for the winches.
All tank cleaning pipes on deck are being replaced with insulated pipes from Lugstor, were all flanges are in stainless steel. -The vessels are only four, five years old but the pipes are completely worn out, we are replacing everything, says Urban Netser. A brand new deckhouse for the manifold is lifted onboard and welded in place. -Here is all the equipment for the SEMPEP and oil decontamination, says Urban Netsner and points out the emergency plan that all tank vessels must have. -There is also a workbench and tools so that the crew has a place to work without having to visit the engine room. There used to be tools spread out in numerous places on deck but no place to do the work, we have put everything in the deckhouse.
“We have been able to maintain the transport volumes because we managed to modernise the fleet and meet the demands from our customers”
Jonas Backman, MD
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The crane used for lifting onboard hoses and other equipment is also placed by the deckhouse -It is actually not placed in the optimal position, It should have been placed aft of the manifold but we can not put it there so we lengthened the crane from 16 to 20 meters instead. -Everything that´s lifted onboard when taking provisions goes in to the superstructure, not on deck, the previous management compensated that with having a larger crew, 18, we will only be 11 says Johan Göthesson and continues. -We are building a brand new platform for the gangway and a stowing place for the gangway that can be reached with the crane.
They used to have enough hands on deck to be able to lift and carry the gangway every time it was used. Same thing with loose hoses for connecting cargo holds, here were building a fixed connection with valves between the holds. It´s a complete crossover with fixed valves instead of flanges with seals and 24 bolts that needs to be unscrewed every time. Wonderful hulls Sirius purchased the vessels from SRAB who had operated them since day one. The two masters overseeing the reconstruction calls the ships ”standard vessels”, without any extra whatsoever. -The hulls are wonderful, easily propelled and fast. It was the layout that was time consuming to operate says Urban Netser. -They are built for a crew of 19 but there are no day rooms, only cabins. The layout on the bridge was completely wrong. You couldn’t reach anything from either of the two chairs, everything was spread out. On the other hand there are some great features like a Transas ECDIS and a Danfoss loading system. Nice details in a standard vessel. -Now we have put the puzzle together and with the pilot/co-pilot system everything is visible from both chairs.
Anders Bejre, technical superintendent agrees with Urban. -We knew from the start that they were basically good vessels and it doesn’t seem like there was a shortage of funds onboard. For example, we have found several instruments in a cabinet onboard, the kind of instruments that we only had a few of in the entire Sirius fleet, says Anders Beijre.
What the public was shown that day was a tanker with unique equipment for cleaner operation. Some months earlier, Sirius Shipping and Preem made public that they were to install completely new technology, a combined catalyst and economiser called a Catamiser, on board the chemical tanker Olympus. When Olympus left the Danish shipyard Fayard in June 2011, it was as the first tanker in the world to have been retrofitted with equipment that reduces NOx emissions with 90 per cent. The system – developed by Gothenburg-based GESAB – also reduces the ship’s fuel consumption and noise levels. The successful installation made Olympus the cleanest ship of its kind.z
“We may do 75 to 80 voyages per year, that is twice as many calls in port”
Anders Backman, Fleet Manager
In order to lighten the workload, unnecessary details has been removed. -Just in front of the superstructure there was a large platform with a foam gun, only the platform should require at least 30 hours of maintenance per year. We removed the platform, the foam gun doesn’t need it to be functional, says Urban Netser. -We also had a stern pipe, to be able to load from aft. That’s something we never use so we removed that and yet another platform, there goes more maintenance, says Johan Göthesson and continues. -The vessels are standardised and built to use anywhere, not at all like the Sirius standard. The captains talk a lot about simplifying and removing redundant and unnecessary features that requires maintenance and complicates operation. Their focus is to create simplicity in operation and maintenance. -Everything will not be complete here on the yard, there is always more work to be done. During the winter when the weather doesn’t allow work on deck we will focus on the interior and when spring comes we continue on deck. In a year or two everything will be the way we want it, says urban Netsner.
The reasons why the ship has to be easier to operate is not only due to a smaller crew, the trading pattern will change. -We may do 75 to 80 voyages per year, that is twice as many calls in port, maybe every other day so we really need the ships to be easy to operate, says Urban Netsner. Even though there were, and are lots of equipment onboard, lots are missing. Like insulation in the fan rooms aft of the superstructure.The rooms are being insulated now, that will lead to a way better indoor environment and will lower the sound levels around the ship.
-There was no other way to the engine room but trough the interior so we made a new
access hole with ladder from poop deck. The opening that was designed to hoist to and from the engine room and workshop had no hinges or lock but was bolted down with 40 bolts that had to be removed every time it was opened. It was probably not opened very often. -The interior was worn out and that makes sense since everything that went to and from the engine room had to pass the interior. On top of that the aisles and compartments were tight, says Johan Göthesson. In the engine room a new traverse beam has been installed to assist lifting and moving of heavy equipment, the auxiliary engines as well as the main engine has been overhauled. -The most important thing is to service the main engine. When the weather is bad you need to be able to trust the main engine, says Christian Rosell, Chief Engineer on Neptunus, he is also pleased about the window between the control room and the engine room but first things first, the main engine is most important.
-It has been hard to find out whats been done in the engine room previously, due to different management, the documentation is not complete, says Christian Rosell. Even auxiliary engines and generators are being overhauled by Franssons maskinservice. -The engine room was very unsystematically designed before, now, things are different.
The interior was also very barren, not really designed to house people. -We also put in a new changing room for the engineers and in the control room we installed a new work bench in the same wood-like material as in the rest of the interior. ll couches, tables and benches are new, narrow passages in the laundry room and to the mess are widened by moving walls, everything to make the living quarters more homelike.
In the galley, a new waterproof flooring is put in and 2 new storage rooms are fitted along with some new galley equipment. A couple of cabins are converted in to an extra dayroom, the only place onboard where smoking is permitted. The biggest change is the redesign of the deck office were the controls are arranged in a logical order. In one of the ships, the control panels for the Framo loading pumps had a reversed order for the pumps on the schematics, of course the buttons for the pumps were in the same wrong order, a setup designed for errors. In addition the combined narrow entrance and changing room has been removed, now the control room is as large as an average living room. Due to the location of deck office, it can function as reception for visitors and shore personnel. -I think the captain will spend a great deal of time here, It’s much better to let everyone gather here rather than letting them make their way up to the bridge. The vessels will also get new equipment for data communication. A prerequisite for being able to complete all this work in time was to make sure that Johan Göthesson and Urban Netsner among others were permitted to investigate the condition and layout of the vessels before they were officially taken over by Sirius in Göteborg this summer past. -The first priority was to determine the condition of the vessels, after that we started planning how we wanted them to perform and what we could rebuild, says Urban Netsner. After the official take over, the Sirius crews got familiar with the 3 vessels in regular trade before they in due order docked at Fayard in Odense for 4 or 5 weeks each.
Superintendents Anders Bejre and Anders Backman agree that It was very fortunate that the Sirius crews could go out to get to know the ships before docking. Both men are pleased with the end result even though they have only seen one of the ships leave the yard. -I think we are very close to how we would design a new ship. The other day we talked about just that and came to the conclusion that if we had built new ships, this is what we would order. For the crews, the vessels will be top of the line to work and live on, says Anders Backman. -Not only will they be a home away from home for the crew, also the work environment will be very good and we are upgrading to meet the Danish maritime Administrations demands, says Anders Bejre. It is a very big job to upgrade the vessels, a rough estimate shows that the yard has 120 people onboard every day, the staff and subcontractors performs around 50 000 hours on each ship.
In addition, our own crew and suppliers put i around 5000 hours per ship, says personnel manager Per Barkman.